Why am I doing this?I am coming to consulting from PhD background and I have a few weeks before I start working.
I remember the stress of preparing for the fit part and having no clue on how to answer questions about leadership experience or my biggest weakness. And not everybody has friends in consulting who can guide them through this process.
Why for free?I don’t want the responsibility. Plus I might get in trouble with my firm if I tried to run this as business. Plus I will be only doing this for a few weeks.
Where exactly will you be working (firm and country)?I am starting at either McKinsey, Bain or BCG and that I have done interviews and got offers on two continents.
Why fit training? Some people lead lifes worth reading about but only a few of them actually write interesting memoires. Storytelling is hard, even when you have a great story to tell.
And as far as consulting interviews go, who tells the best story wins.
Before my interviews, I have spent 2 months preparing for the fit portion of the interviews with an HR professional. I have improved quite dramatically my fit in a way that I don’t think it’s possible to do with the case performance. I had I great story to tell but did not know how to tell it. Ironically, I ended up having the most compelling answers to questions which I believed to be about my weak points.
What makes you think you would be any good at it?Because I have helped some people I have done case prep with fit training with the fit and they got offers from McKinsey, BCG and ATK. At the very least it shows I did not hurt them THAT much.
Do you train cases too?Hell no. Several reasons for that:
1) I find it boring
2) There are A LOT of resources on case training.
3) The two things you must show in the case analysis is that you are smart and have good business judgment. One of these traits is innate. The other might be too.
4) The fit part of the interview is more important than case part, especially if you are applying to a smaller office.
If I write to you, does that guarantee you will help me?Actually, I totally want you to jump through hoops (mostly for your own benefit). Write me clearly stating the following:
1) What is the single most impressive thing about you;
2) What is your background;
3) What position you are applying to and to which office;
4) Which firm are you targeting and why;
5) What makes you think you would be a good consultant.
I will give preferences for people who (i) do not come from standard background (PhDs, for example), (ii) who really could use my help and don’t have resources for fit prep readily available and (iii) who are serious about consulting.
Write to you where?mark.consulting.training@gmail.comYou will try to sell me something, won’t you?No.
Really?Well, if you insist, how about some timeshares in Minnesota…
