A self-assessment guide, aimed at MBA students that applied without success to consulting firms for summer internships. Aims to assist them figure out what they need to work on

1. Consulting Careers
‘Performance in On Campus Recruitment’
Self-Assessment Guide
Introduction
Applied to consulting firms during their on campus recruitment campaigns, but were
disappointed with the outcome?
Use this tool to assess your performance and determine what wrong and what you need to
work on if you still want to apply for consulting jobs. This guide aims to assist you to think
deeply about your performance, your strengths and weaknesses. That process will only be
as good as you are honest with yourself. Remember, your calibration should be against the
competition – your peers/colleagues who also applied to those firms.
I hope you find it a useful and structured approach to the question, and would encourage
you to work through it on your own in the first instance, and then get input from people that
either know you well or are experts/experienced in the recruiting process.
The framework is a more or less MECE breakdown of your milkround performance:
1. Experience Do you have the right professional and academic
experience?
2. CV and cover letter Did you reflect your full potential value?
3. Case interviews Did you reflect your problem-solving ability?
4. Fit interviews Did you showcase adequately other attributes?
5. Application strategy Did you apply to the right firms, offices?
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 1
www.problemssolved.org

2. Summary
Come back to fill in this table once you’ve worked your way through this guide!
Assessment factors Score
Experience
CV and cover letter
Case interviews
Fit interviews
Application strategy
Score each factor from 1 to 5
1 Very strong
2 Strong
3 Neither weak nor strong
4 Weak
5 Very weak
The key actions I need to take as a result of this assessment are:
1. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 2
www.problemssolved.org

3. 1. Experience
The quality of your application will not matter if your professional and academic
experience does not match what the recruiting firm is looking for.
This may be as simple as ‘too little’ or ‘too much’ work experience – the strategy
consulting ‘sweet spot’ for MBA entry level is 3-5 years with fast-track
promotion/achievement record.
For a detailed and more robust evaluation of experience, please see the
accompanying guide “Strategy Consulting CV Self-Assessment Tool”.
Do you have the right professional and academic experience?
Score your experience1:
Factor Score
Academic Out of 4…
Professional Out of 4…
‘Other’ Out of 2…
Total Out of 10…
If you score fewer than 8 out of 10, you may find it very hard to get consulting offers.
You will need to think very carefully about which firms and offices you apply to in
order to maximise your chances (leveraging your strengths and experiences relative
to the competition).
You will also need to think carefully about whether you have the options to boost your
experiences in key areas and how much effort to put into that (eg your academic
performance, or alternative professional experiences, or stand-out personal travel,
sporting or other accomplishments).
1
Please see London Business School Consulting Careers ‘Strategy Consulting CV Self-
Assessment Tool for detailed guidance
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 3
www.problemssolved.org

4. 2. CV and cover letter
The aim of the CV and cover letter (and application form if there was one) is to get
you an interview. For marginal interview performances, they may swing you into
second round, but it’s unlikely. If you didn’t get shortlisted for interview then,
probably, you slipped up either here or in your Application Strategy2.
Did you reflect your full potential value?
Score your CV and cover letters
Assessment factors Score
My CV and/or cover letter was badly written (spelling mistakes, bad
English, copying information straight from their website)
I undersold my achievements (eg technical CVs that don’t translate)
I need a brand name on my CV
I need international exposure
I just don’t have the experience they’re looking for3
Overall
Score each factor from 1 to 5
5 Agree strongly (ie I was very weak
on this dimension)
4 Agree
3 Neither agree nor disagree
2 Disagree
1 Disagree strongly (ie I was very
2
See “Application Strategy” on pp. 7-8 strong on this dimension)
3
See “Experience” on previous page
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 4
www.problemssolved.org

5. Case interviews
Consultants use tests, case interviews and similar exercises to assess problem-
solving skills – shorthand for ‘smarts’.
Did you reflect your problem-solving ability?
Score your problem solving performance
Assessment factors Score
I didn’t do enough practice (case interviews, case book)
I forced inappropriate frameworks on the problem or used standard
frameworks and was too nervous to deviate from them
I’m weak on the financials/maths
I’m reluctant to stick my neck out – state a point of view
I practised a lot but I can’t seem to get it
Overall
Score each factor from 1 to 5
5 Agree strongly (ie I was very weak
on this dimension)
4 Agree
3 Neither agree nor disagree
2 Disagree
1 Disagree strongly (ie I was very
strong on this dimension)
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 5
www.problemssolved.org

6. Fit interviews
Consultants use fit questions (and case interviews!) to look for other key success
attributes – ‘smarts’ plus…
Score each factor from 1 to 5
 Drive
5 Agree strongly (ie I was very weak
 Motivation
on this dimension)
 Credibility
4 Agree
 Likeability
3 Neither agree nor disagree
 ‘Spark’
2 Disagree
Did you showcase these attributes?
1 Disagree strongly (ie I was very
strong on this dimension)
Score your ‘fit’ performance
Assessment factors Score
I didn’t put enough work in before the interview, developing clear and
compelling examples demonstrating eg leadership, teamwork etc
I focused too much on work experience examples and didn’t highlight
my extra-curricular experience
I haven’t had enough leadership experience
I came across as too arrogant/not confident enough/etc
I just didn’t feel that I fit with their culture
Overall
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 6
www.problemssolved.org

7. Application strategy
Did you apply just to all top tier strategy houses?
Not even all of those?
Are you better suited to others?
You can ‘boost’ your hirability, or you can ‘wreck’ it, depending on to whom and
where you apply. With all of the following exceptions, you need to really understand
your potential strengths and weaknesses as well as the demands of the particular
recruiters to whom you are thinking of applying.
Languages
You must meet the language requirements of the firms/offices for which you are
applying. In a region, especially in Europe, firms without widespread office networks
in particular will value fluency in numerous regional languages (ie in Europe –
European languages).
Geographic ‘connection’
Increasingly, firms are seeking strong geographic connection with the offices to which
you apply. This means either being a national, or having lived and worked in the
country for a substantial period previously. Specific requirements vary greatly, by
recruiter and country. A good guideline is McKinsey’s stated general policy (even
they make exceptions though): if you were educated in a country, you need at least 1
year’s experience working there. If you were not educated in a country, you need 2.
Sector or functional specialisation
Too many to mention, but examples of experiences that are highly sought after by
recent recruiters from London Business School include:
 Defence
 Public Sector
 Aerospace
 Pharmaceuticals
 Telecommunications
 Supply chain
 Lean/operations improvement
 Sales and marketing
Previous consulting experience
This is nearly irrelevant to most strategy consulting recruiters. However some, in
particular smaller, firms may place particularly high value on previous consulting
experience.
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 7
www.problemssolved.org

8. Did you apply to the wrong firms/offices?
Score your application strategy
Assessment factors Score
Their work is very financial/analytical/…[insert style] and that is not my
strength
I applied to the London/Moscow/…[insert location] office and my
written English/Russian/…[insert language] is not fluent enough…I’d
increase my chances by applying to my home office next time
I applied to the London/Moscow/…[insert location] office but do not
have enough work experience or a strong enough connection with the
country
I don’t think I fit their culture…we just didn’t click
I didn’t put enough work into thinking about ‘why them?’ and ‘why their
firm would want me’
I didn’t spread the risk enough, given market conditions
Overall
Score each factor from 1 to 5
5 Agree strongly (ie I was very weak
on this dimension)
4 Agree
3 Neither agree nor disagree
2 Disagree
1 Disagree strongly (ie I was very
strong on this dimension)
J-P Martins, Associate Director Consulting Careers 8
www.problemssolved.org