Management consultant interviews: 10 critical preparation steps

Here, I’ll focus on 10 important steps to prepare for business consulting interviews. As an overall piece of advice, the best way to become a strong interviewer is to interview in live situations frequently - thus the reasoning behind spreading a very wide net and applying to many different consulting firms.

Getting ready for case studies

1. Buy Case In Point - a strong, 100% case-focused manual

2. Peruse Victor Cheng’s website www.caseinterview.com - as a former McKinsey consultant, Victor has a strong grasp of successful case study techniques and strategies

3. Practice online case studies - most firm websites have plenty of cases (some like Bain even have video case studies). The key is to answer the question yourself before reading the suggested answer. There are good consulting websites with case study materials as well, including Rice’s Consulting Club

4. Practice a lot with friends - if no friends have interest, search consulting forums and other recruiting hubs like Vault for partners

5. Practice guesstimation/sizing questions in spare waking moments (eg, if you see a Ford while driving, think about how many Ford cars are manufactured in Mexico). It seems silly, but this is exactly how to become an expert at case studies

The key here: practicing as many cases as you can with actual consultants. Don’t underestimate their capacity to help you

Fit/experiential interview prep

1. Create fake fit interview questions and prepare sample responses - avoid rote memorization, but outline your main bullets.

2. Practice responding in front of a mirror - this helps you with body language, pacing, hand gestures, and so on

3. Practice with colleagues - make them ask you questions with no prepared responses. Improvisational skills will serve you well in your business career

General interview prep tips

1. Wear something that looks clean, sharp, and makes you feel confident - first appearances are deceptively powerful. Dress like a management consultant, and people will think you deserve an offer.

2. Talk to as many consultants as you can - the better you understand the actual job, the more comfortable you are with consulting terms like “5,000 mile view” and “good client hands“, the better you’ll do. It’s also great for consulting job networking

That wraps up our tour of the necessary steps to prepare for management consulting interviews. Good luck!