Presentation Transcript

1. Preparing for Consulting Interviews

   Planning for the Summer! May 2, 2014 Advanced Professional Degree Consulting Club
2. Advanced Professional Degree Consulting Club 1
3. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 2
4. Roadmap 2014 – 2015: MBA Recruiting April - May June July August September October Research Firms Network – Info Interviews Run 5-10 Cases Info Interviews over Summer with Target Firms Run 5-10 Cases per Month (~20 over Summer) Update Resume + Cover Letters, Draft Apps Polish Resume + Cover Letters Info Interviews with Target Firms Case + Behavioral Interview Prep Mock Interviews Applications + Interviews 3
5. Roadmap 2014 – 2015: APD Recruiting April - May June July August September October Research Firms Network – Info Interviews Run 10 -15 Cases Polish Resume + Cover Letters Polish Behavioral/Fit Stories Info Interviews with Target Firms Run 5-10 Cases per Month (~20 over Summer) Update Resume + Cover Letters, Draft Apps Mock Interviews Applications + Interviews 4
6. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 5
7. The consulting interview: what is it? 6
8. The consulting interview Behavioral / fit interview What is it? Questions about your background. Designed to assess your fit with consulting and the specific firm you’re interviewing with. Mechanics Interviewer will ask you a question (first one is usually, “Walk me through your resume”). Take 1 – 2 minutes to respond. Interviewer may ask a follow-up question or may move on to next question. What to do: Know your stories (based on your work, school, and other experience) well. Be confident, concise, and structured. Smile and let your personality through. Sample behavioral/fit questions: Tell me about a time you overcame a challenge when you were working on a team. Tell me about a time you had to convince someone when you didn’t have formal authority. Tell me about a time when you exhibited leadership. Why consulting? Why Carlson / University of Minnesota? 7
9. The consulting interview Case interview What is it? An ambiguous business problem that you need to approach with a logical structure and work with your interviewer to solve. Two common case interview methods: “Go with the flow” cases (typical of most firms) – you will determine which areas to explore and lead the discussion, i.e. drive the case. “Command and control” (typical of McKinsey) – interviewer will guide the discussion. Case typically has heavy brainstorming components and quantitative work. Common case types (not comprehensive): Profitability Market Entry Acquisition Industry Analysis (incl. non-profit) Market Sizing Capacity Expansion (incl. outsourcing) Investment Decisions 8
10. The consulting interview Case interview 9
11. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 10
12. Case frameworks What is a framework? A framework is your structured, logical approach to solving a case question. After prompt is read, candidates usually takes ~1-2 minutes to create a structured approach to explore the issue at hand. Representative of actual consultanting work with clients. Hypothesis: X is the cause of Y Main Issue 1 Main Issue 2 Main Issue 3 Sub-point 1 Sub-point 2 Sub-point 3 Sub-point 1 Sub-point 2 Sub-point 3 Sub-point 1 Sub-point 2 Sub-point 3 11
13. Example case Your client is the owner of a local brewery who has sold craft beer in Minneapolis for the last 5 years. The brewery has suffered declining profitability in the last few years. Your client has approached you to help him determine how to remedy this situation.
14. A MECE framework example Your client is the owner of a local brewery who has sold craft beer in Minneapolis for the last 5 years. The brewery has suffered declining profitability in the last few years. Your client has approached you to help him determine how to remedy this situation. Change over time Price(s) OK – but is this enough to answer the client’s question? Revenue Volume Profit Fixed Costs Variable Source: Fuqua Consulting Club
15. A more comprehensive, structured approach Your client is the owner of a local brewery who has sold craft beer in Minneapolis for the last 5 years. The brewery has suffered declining profitability in the last few years. Your client has approached you to help him determine how to remedy this situation. Context Maturity? General economy? Regulations? Competition? Customer behavior? Etc. Getting there – but this approach is generic and lacks anycustomization to the client 2. Isolate Causes Change over time Price(s) Revenue Volume Profit Fixed Costs Variable 3. Evaluate Solutions Raise price? Expand? Relocate? Liquidate/close shop? Other?. Costs/benefits Risk Source: Fuqua Consulting Club
16. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 15
17. Effective preparation strategies for the summer Behavioral/fit questions 16
18. Effective preparation strategies for the summer Cases 17
19. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 18
20. 2014 Recruiting Checklist for Full-TimeMBA Candidates 19
21. 2014 Recruiting Checklist for APD Candidates 20
22. Recruiting dates approaching for APD students Application Deadlines: McKinsey: July 20 BCG: August 10 Others: reach out to the firms you’re interested in Interviews: McKinsey: August BCG: “Bridge to BCG” workshop – June, interviews Aug & Sept Others: Aug – Sept Bottom line: APD recruiting can be flexible and complicated – do your homework 21
23. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 22
24. Panelists: Jake Titus Katie Williams Alyssa Callister Andy Luo 2nd-Year MBA Deloitte 1st-Year MBA McKinsey 1st-Year MBA Gallup APD McKinsey 23
25. Agenda Presentation: Roadmap: now to fall recruiting The consulting interview Case frameworks Effective preparation strategies Creating your own timeline and prep plan Panel Discussion Organize case study small groups, networking social hour 24
26. Organize case study small groups, networking social hour Questions to ask others to form small groups to practice cases: What are your goals What firms are you interested in? What time availability do you have? How much and when do you want to practice this summer? Optional Google doc to sign up for case interview small groups: http://bit.ly/1mWgSCC 25
27. Contact Info 2014 – 2015 Carlson Consulting Club Luke Wilcox, President wilco250@umn.edu Amit Aggarwal, Vice President aggar036@umn.edu Mike Jennings, Vice President jenn0147@umn.edu DhruvSuhag, Vice President suhag003@umn.edu https://sites.google.com/a/umn.edu/carlson-consulting-club/useful/ 2014 – 2015 Advanced Professional Degree Consulting Club Tim Pearce pearc081@umn.edu NicKramerkrame489@umn.edu http://www.umnapdcc.com/resource-page/ Graduate Business Career Center Ashley Bowes Johnsonabowes@umn.edu Michelle Moylan moyl0002@umn.edu Thanks to Victor Cheng, Marc Cosentino, the Fuqua Consulting Club, and the Wharton Consulting Club for providing inspiration and ideas for the content of this presentation. 26