1. consultingfact
.com
How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Prepare for a Consulting Career
How To Land a Job
in MANAGEMENT
CONSULTING
1 An Introduction Guide
3. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
contents
Introduction
04
Recruiting
Process
07
Preparation
to interview
rounds
13
Case example
21
3
4. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting Introduction
Introduction
Getting into management consulting is
extremely competitive. You need to have Consultingfact.com aspires to be
excellent qualifications. But this is far from the number one online resource for
enough. These great credentials need to management consulting application and
be presented in a professional cover letter interview preparation. We develop tools
and resume in order for you to make it to and products that will help you land your
the interview rounds. The interview rounds dream job in management consulting.
include as much as six separate interviews,
where it is expected that you can provide Consultingfact.com was founded in
recommendations and solutions to real life Copenhagen, Denmark by a former
business situations with only limited informa- management consultant from McKinsey
tion. No wonder that most applicants find the
application process intimidating. Preparation ject but it is a great place to start your prepa-
is essential to make it through the eye of this ration efforts.
needle. The purpose of this guide is to provide
The goal of management consulting is
newcomers to management consulting with
to offer advisory services to corporations,
a simple overview of the application process
private equity houses, government agencies
and guidelines to practicing case interviews.
and NGOs. These organizations often face
The paper is far from exhaustive on the sub-
4
5. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting Introduction
questions that they are unable to answer due
What Do Management Con-
to lack of resources, lack of competence, or
sulting Firms Look For?
simply because they need an external per-
spective. The top tier management consulting Knowing what management consulting
firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Con- firms look for is a prerequisite for writing a
sulting Group and Bain & Company typically great application and acing the interviews. A
work within several practice areas including: great place to start is always at the consulting
firm’s website. For example, McKinsey looks
for skills in problem solving, achievement,
Practice Areas:
personal impact and leadership whereas Bain
• Change management judge their candidates on criteria such as the
• Corporate renewal ability to add value along with client skills and
• Corporate strategy team skills.
• Cost & supply chain management
We believe that there are key skills and
• Customer strategy and marketing
personal characteristics that all management
• Growth strategy
consulting firms look for regardless of how
• Information technology
they communicate their requirements.
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Organization
• Performance improvement
• Private equity
As a new consultant, you can expect to
work within all of these practice areas and
across numerous industries. Your learning
curve will be steep. Not everybody will make
it to the partner level, but a few years with
a consulting firm is an excellent investment
regardless of where you end up. We can defi-
nitely recommend it.
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6. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
The Six Success Factors in Management Consulting
Structured thinking
The ability to think in a clear and organized way. This is useful for problem solving
and analysis. Math skills also fall in this category and are often used to exemplify
structured thinking skills.
Business judgment
Have a good judgment of business and strategic issues. This is important for case
solving – a key management consulting discipline. A good way of practicing this is
by reading business media and trying to understand the underlying issues behind
different news stories and their respective strategic choices.
Communication:
Both written and oral communication skills are important in management consult-
ing. In this pre-interview phase you should focus on your written communication
skills. Be clear and to the point in your written and oral messages.
Personal impact:
Personal impact is hard to define, but think about it – sometimes you are around
people who are good at influencing others. As management consulting firms look
for future leaders, they will look for that leadership talent in you.
Team skills:
Cooperation with other people is essential as a management consultant, you work
in project teams and are surrounded by both clients and coworkers. These must
be demonstrated while you are presenting during an interview, whether they are
explained or shown through actions.
Drive and motivation:
Know what you like and go for it. People should have a feel that you are moti-
vated for a career filled with challenging assignments and long hours, and that you
can maintain drive even when the things get tough.
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8. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Recruiting
Process
The application process at each of the
major management consulting firms is very
similar. There are three main components: Pre-interview
the application itself, possibly a written test,
and case interviews. A candidate needs to • Cover letter
master all three components to receive the • Resume
offer.
Pre-Interview
Written test
Less than 5% of applicants make it through
to the interview rounds. Some applicants are • Combined verbal and written test
simply discarded based on their qualifica-
tions, while others are sorted out due to sub
standard cover letters and resumes. The key Case interviews
purpose of the cover letter and resume is to
present your value proposition in a profes- • Market estimations
sional manner. A few things to keep in mind • Business cases
when writing your resume and cover letter • Brain teasers
are:
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9. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Cover Letter and Resume Tips
• Customize your cover letter to the specific firm. Each firm is different from
the others. Research the firm you are applying to via the internet or by attend-
ing one of their company presentations.
• The management consulting industry is very conservative, hence keep your
cover letter and resume design simple and professional. Colors and fancy fonts
etc. are “no goes”!
• Proofread and proofread once more. Make sure your grammar and spelling
are correct and please check that you have not committed the common mistake
of writing a wrong firm name. Reading an application to McKinsey with a Bain
name in it will immediately get you discarded – no matter of qualifications
• Send your files in the PDF format to ensure that your format is received
exactly as you intended. A PDF printer can be found free on the internet.
The top consulting firms receive more devices (e.g. calculators or computers) when
than 200,000 applications every year. Typi- performing calculations.
cally, the first screening of an application does
Case interviews
not take more than 45 seconds to complete. It
The case interview is a classic in manage-
is therefore important that your application is
ment consulting. The purpose is to test the
focused and structured, so that the recruiter
candidates’ ability to perform problem-solv-
immediately gets a positive impression and
ing and effectively communicate and present
quickly finds the required information.
findings. Problem solving skills include busi-
Written Test ness judgment, quantitative skills, creativity,
Most management consulting firms logical reasoning, and the ability to structure
also test their applicants via a written test. an analysis. These are all skills that are highly
The written test usually consists of various useful as a management consultant. In real
numerical and verbal multiple-choice ques- life consulting, the client often puts you on
tions. These are often very similar to what the spot by asking a question that requires
you would see in a GMAT. Be aware that most problem-solving skills. The case interview
firms do not allow you to use any electronic form is a great way to test how a person per-
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10. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
forms under pressure, i.e. if he/she easily
Business case
gets frustrated when challenged. Manage-
ment consulting firms are very diligent in • Real life business problem
their recruiting, so expect two to three inter-
view rounds equivalent to five or six separate
interviews. Estimation case
Types of cases • Market sizing
During a case interview, the interviewer • Volume and weight estimation
may use any or all three of the available case
interview types. The business case is by far
the most common of the three, since the case Brain-teaser
is as close as you can get to real life manage-
• Various puzzles
ment consulting.
In a business case interview, you will be
presented to a business situation on either
industry level or at firm level. A business case
can cover all practice areas within a manage-
ment consulting firm.
Business Case Examples
• Company A produces refrigerators. The company is a private equity owned
company and wants to double its revenue within 3 years. What do you recom-
mend the company to do?
• Company B produces wind turbines. The company is the global market
leader, but has recently experienced declining market shares. What do you
recommend Company B’s management to do?
• Company C produces pumps. Due to increasing global competition the
company needs to expand its manufacturing capacity. The company is in doubt
how to do this – should they expand their existing facilities or should they build
a new plant. What do you recommend?
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11. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
A business case is sometimes combined that the interviewee needs structure to get
with an estimation case. An estimation case – to a reasonable answer.
sometimes also known as market sizing case
A third case interview type is the
– allows an interviewer to test your logical
brainteaser. Brainteasers are very seldom
and quantitative skills. The aim of an estima-
the sole case type in an interview. A manage-
tion case is to estimate a quantity of some
ment consulting brainteaser is hard to define,
sort. This could be a market size measured in
since the category includes a wide range of
USD or a volume unit. Other examples could
different questions. Examples of brainteaser
be to estimate the numbers of hairdressers
could be:
in the US or the number of dogs in the UK.
Common for all of estimation questions is
Brainteaser Examples
• Why are manholes round?
• Imagine a 6x6x6 rubik’s cube. How many cubes can be touched?
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12. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Still haven't applied to a consulting firm?
The competition is tough. Top Tier Consulting Firms receive more
than 200,000 applications every year.
Take a look at our guide to Management Consulting Cover Letters and Resumes. We will
show you exactly what to include in your cover letter and resume, how to structure it, how
to write it, and how to format it. Proper structure makes it more likely that the recruiter will
easily find the information required. The design is also very important. This is challenging for a
conservative industry, so you really need to hit the balance here. We will show you examples of
good-looking applications that demonstrate your knowledge of proper consulting presentation.
Management Consulting Cover Letters and Resumes
6 Steps to a Successful Application:
www.consultingfact.com/guides/cover_letter
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14. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Preparation to
interview rounds
The consultancy interview rounds can We will go through these different areas in
be rather demanding. It is likely that you will the following sections. The best way to prac-
need to work on several different develop- tice these is to ally yourself with a friend or
ment areas to reach your potential for the a management consultant who can practice
interviews. Depending on your current level, case interview tests with you.
we recommend 2-6 weeks of daily practice to
Case frameworks
learn to apply all necessary concepts in real
Frameworks are helpful for the case inter-
interview situations.
view solving process, as they allow you to
It is crucial that you prepare these four quickly have an idea of how to approach a
areas for your interview rounds: case problem. Be aware that you will often
not be able to find a framework that fits the
case problem exactly, so always try to use
your common sense in combination with one
• Case frameworks
or more frameworks. If you have studied busi-
• Mental math
ness or economics, then you are probably
• Case cracking practice
already familiar with some of the necessary
• Communication skills
frameworks.
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15. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Below are some of the key analysis areas During the interview process, you need
where you need a framework: to be aware that you should not commu-
nicate that you are using a framework. The
• Company analysis interviewer would like you to use your own
• M
arket analysis problem solving skills, so it won’t help you
• S
trategic options to say something like “I will use Porter’s Five
• V
enture Forces to analyze this market…”
• M
ergers and Acquisitions
Once you have found information about a
• P
ricing
specific framework required, you should draw
• R
evenue growth
it and try to remember the visual details. Visu-
• C
ost reduction
als are usually far easier to remember than
trying to remember specific word contents
of a framework. Below is an example for the
pricing framework.
Price determination framework
Cost-based pricing Competitor pricing Value-based pricing
Added profit Competitors’ Price of Willingness to
Current costs Perceived value
margin prices vs. features substitutes pay
The framework above is really simple – Once you have found and illustrated the
and this is important! For the price deter- key frameworks, you will need to memorize
mination, we could have made a framework these. A good way to do this is to draw them
taking up a few pages. However, you have all once every few days. By doing this, you are
limited time in a case interview – both to solve forced to think about the specific content of
the case, and to communicate the answer. the framework. This method will quickly give
Therefore, it is important that you ask your- you results, and you should feel more confi-
self: what are the key questions that I need dent in the case solving situation when you
to answer using this framework? And for pric- can “see” the framework in your mind and
ing, the different points above are the most can focus on filling in the different answers.
important ones to mention.
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16. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
450 / 25 without using paper. In addition to
Mental math
this, practice your paper math skills for more
During the case interview, you will need
complex math questions.
to do a good amount of mental math – for
market size estimation, case calculations, Percentages and fractions are important,
brain teasers or outright math calculation and you will almost certainly need these
questions. For this, you will need to practice during the interview. There might be ques-
the following areas: tions requiring you to estimate a growth in
percentage or to divide some numbers. In
the latter case, knowing the decimal result
• Addition, subtraction, multiplication
of most common fractions is important. You
and division on paper and mentally
should memorize the results of the fractions
• Percentage arithmetic
from 1/5 to 1/20.
• Fraction arithmetic
• Currency conversion It is very likely that you will be presented
• Chart reading to some charts during the interview – either
as part of a case solving, or as a very specific
Of course, the interviewer will not expect question about what you can read in a chart.
that you can solve complex math problems On the next page you can see the examples
mentally, but you should be able to do more of some of the different types of chart that
simple calculations like 17x22, 229 + 128 and you should quickly be able to read.
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17. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Bar / Line Chart Pie Chart
Stacked Bar Chart Cascade/waterfall chart
100% Stacked Bar Chart Marimekko Chart
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18. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
There are many situations in your every-
Case cracking practice
day life where you can practice math skills.
It is actually quite easy to structure the
The key is to get into a mindset, where it feels
case solving process. During our career, we
more natural for you to work with numbers
have met many bright candidates with a good
mentally. Below are some examples of real life
business sense and excellent mental math
situations where you can practice:
skills – but who did not make it through the
interview process due to a lack of basic struc-
• When shopping – add the numbers ture.
in the shopping cart in your head,
Follow the following the below 10 steps
and see if you can match the correct
when solving the case:
result
• When filling gas – look at your gas 1. Take notes while the interviewer
preents the case
meter and calculate what the price
would have been, if you had chosen 2. Repeat the key case question to the
another type of gas interviewer to ensure that you under-
stood the objective
• When travelling – practice currency
conversion 3. Ask any clarifying questions
4. Ask the interviewer for a little time to
structure your thoughts
5. Draw the case framework and think
about what information you need to
make a recommendation
6. Present the framework
7. Discuss the topics and ask for further
clarifying questions for any relevant
parts of the framework
8. Present the solution and answer the
case question based on the discussion
9. Ask for the interviewers solution
10. Ask for feedback
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19. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
When the interviewer presents the case, make you change your recommendation, so
listen carefully and take any necessary notes. this step is important so that the interviewer
The interviewer will expect that you remem- can see that you are able to process and sum-
ber any information or numbers that he marize your analysis.
gives you. Of course you can forget single
Communication skills
pieces of information, but it is a very negative
Communication skills are one of the most
impression to give if you repeatedly ask for
important success factors for a management
information that the interviewer has already
consultant. It is crucial that you show the
provided.
interviewer that you are a true communica-
Try to involve the interviewer as much as tor. Make sure that you remember to smile
possible in the solving of the case. Often, you no matter how the interview goes and who
will receive hints that will help you and you the interviewer is. This sets the mood and it is
can present that you are able to receive input usually contagious. Also, remember to display
and being able to present clear recommen- confidence by using slow gestures while you
dation based on the discussions. It is easy to speak, sitting straight, and keeping a good eye
get out of track if you insist on “running the contact. The confidence part is really impor-
show” entirely. tant during the case interviews.
Do not be afraid to ask for time to think Another thing is to dress correct for an
through the solution. We have many times interview. Recruiters say all the time that
seen candidates who start candidates should stand
with case solutions imme- out based on their quali-
diately after the inter- fications and not their
viewer is finished with stat- wardrobe, but it is doubly
ing the question. This is a important in the manage-
clear no-go! It is hard for ment consulting sector.
you to confidently present As a management con-
a framework and solution, sultant you will be deal-
unless you take some time ing with executives from
to think it through. You high-ranking companies,
should not be afraid to take two minutes hence the interviewer will want to make sure
time to do this. that you can put forth the company image in
how you act and dress. Forgetting this for the
Once you have discussed the solution,
interview may mean you could forget it in a
remember to wrap up the discussion with a
client meeting.
clear recommendation. The discussion might
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20. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Hygiene and Haircuts
How to dress for an
Nail biting, long haircuts and poor skin
interview
quality are not necessarily the signs of
traits that management consultants aspire
Skirts, Dresses and Suits
to hold. Make sure that your hair does not
Pastels, print patterns and other
cover your ear if you are male and does not
designs are great for the weekend when
come close to touching your collar.
you are with friends. Keep them out of
your wardrobe choices for your first man- For grooming, focus on the things that
agement consulting interview. In fact, interviewers will notice first, nails that
the standard black or charcoal are free from excessive nail polish
suit from a mid to upper level for women and not bitten down to
designer for men may seem like nubs for men. Males who need to
an uninspired choice, but you want shave infrequently should time it so
to create a canvas that the firm sees there is neither stubble nor razor burn.
as able to meet their goals. Pair it
Jewelry
with a sedate white or light blue
Family heirlooms and gifts from
shirt and a blue, yellow or red tie.
friends and relatives may have a per-
Women will likely benefit from pant sonal meaning to you. This is also the case
or dress suits that are conservative in cut for class rings and other signs of member-
and allow them to work without adjust- ship. If they seem gaudy or ostentatious,
ment. Shoes should not look like they though, you set off warning signals. Keep
came from Sex and the City, either. the jewelry to watches for men and per-
haps a ring, and simple earrings for
More so than the clothes them-
women in addition. Large gemstones
selves is the attention to detail in preparing
can also be a bit overpowering in setting a
them. Have your clothes professionally
first impression.
cleaned and pressed prior to the interview.
Make sure that all shoe wear is polished With all those aspects marked off
and free from dirt. Above all, make sure your checklist, you can be sure that your
that there are no rips or stains on any items responses to questions will be what the
you plan on wearing recruiter remembers most, not the striped
shirt that belongs in a club or disco.
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22. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
Case example
The case below focuses on pricing, and is the structure used here and get hints on how
a real life example. You should be able to see to structure your own case solution.
Our client is a global airline which has
proven successful with their efficient opera-
tions, even during the recent financial crisis.
They are now considering starting a flight
service between Paris and London. There
is a larger effort ongoing in making a busi-
ness case for this flight service and you have
been giving the assignment of pricing. How
should the client price its tickets?
Candidate: So, our client is a global airline is one discount class on the whole flight. We
considering launching a flight route between will operate with fixed prices when custom-
London and Paris, and they want to know how ers order the tickets at latest 1 week prior to
to price the tickets? departure. Then the price will increase – but
let’s forget that and find a baseline price.
Interviewer: Yes
Candidate: Alright. Can I have a minute
Candidate: Can you give me more infor-
to structure my thoughts?
mation about the flight and service, and how
deep pricing considerations you need? Flight Interviewer: Sure
tickets can have very different classes and
Candidate: There are three ways to decide
prices, also depending on the time of pur-
a price: value based price, cost-based pricing
chase.
and competitor-based pricing. As these are
Interviewer: That’s a very good point. discount tickets in a competitive market, it
This flight is a discount-only flight, so there would not make much sense to use value
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23. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
based price as the price levels would be given all competition comes from other flights and
to us from the current market. So there are the Eurostar train service. It is important to
two ways in which we can price discount tick- compare with the relevant alternatives when
ets. I assume that there is a significant com- pricing. I would not include the car alterna-
petition already with other airlines, and there tive, as the product.
are also substituting products. So we need to
Interviewer: Ok, fair enough
look at the alternatives and use competitor
pricing as input. Also we need to make sure Candidate: First we need to calculate the
that we cover our costs. price of the Eurostar in to EUR in order to
make it comparable. I know the exchange rate
Interviewer: Sounds like a good approach.
for EUR/GBP is approximately 1.10. Does that
Our costs would be EUR 45 per passenger.
seem reasonable?
This will include all variable costs, as well as
staff, flight lease and airport fees. Interviewer: It is reasonable estimate,
but I can give you the actual exchange rate.
Candidate: Alright, so we will need to
Currently it is 1.13
look at the competitors offerings. There are
three types of alternatives: Other airlines, the Candidate: So we say 1.13 times GBP 70.
Eurostar train service or driving by car. Do you That equals EUR 79.10. GBP 100 times 1.13
have any information about the prices? equals 113.00
Interviewer: Yes, the other airlines charge Interviewer: Right on
between EUR 40 and 60 for discount airlines,
Candidate: Now we need to adjust the
and the traditional flag carriers charge EUR
price of the alternatives with the product con-
50 – 70 for discount tickets. The Eurostar
tent. I am assuming that the alternative flights
train service has varying prices between GBP
use the same airports, hence the product is
70 and 100. The price to get a car through
directly comparable in regards to convenience
the tunnel is EUR 50. How will you do the
and time. The Eurostar train travels slower
analysis?
than the planes, but since the train departs
Candidate: First task is to compare the dif- and arrives at the city centers of London and
ferent competitors’ prices vs. features so that Paris, it is actually faster and more conve-
we are comparing the right things. I would nient. This means that all other things being
not include the car product as this is simply equal, the consumer should be willing to pay a
a different product in terms of costs, time premium for the train ticket. This means that
and convenience. I will assume that almost train price of EUR 79-113 serves as an upper
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24. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
bound in this pricing exercise. make a comparison:
Interviewer: Ok • Alternative discount flights: EUR 40 -60
• raditional flag carriers: EUR 50-70
T
Candidate: Next we need to look at com-
• urostar train: EUR 79.10 - 113.00
E
plementary products that can be sold with
the tickets
Based on my analysis, I would recom-
Interviewer: Why are you interested in mend the client to price its ticket between
that? EUR 40-60 i.e. similar pricing as the direct
competition.
Candidate: Well, I noticed that our com-
petitors can sell tickets below our cost base Interviewer: I came to a similar conclu-
and that made me think that there might be sion, but I still have one question: Why do
some additional revenue per customers. For think the price is given as a range and not as
example revenue from baggage handling, car single data point
rent, hotels and similar
Candidate: Well, there can be multiple
Interviewer: True explanations for that. The price range can
represent differences in service levels, timing
Candidate: I would estimate this addi-
of the flight, brand equity and the carriers
tional revenue to be EUR 5 per passenger on
choice of distribution channel.
average
Interviewer: Okay, I think we covered
Interviewer: That is a rough estimate,
most elements of the case, so let us stop here.
but okay
Thank you very much for time. We will get
Candidate: This means that from a cost back to you with some feedback.
perspective, the lower bound is not EUR 45
but EUR 40. Based on the analysis we can now
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25. How To Land a Job in Management Consulting
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