I vividly remember the last consulting interview during first-year MBA recruiting season.
I was tense. My confidence was dwindling. I had managed to get interviews with three firms but only made it past the first round with this final company. The recruiting coordinator mentioned she’d get back to me by the end of the day.
5pm rolls by, no call…
8pm, no call…
I decided I wouldn’t get the call that night, but kept my hopes up that the recruitment team was tired and still deciding between candidates.
The next afternoon I saw a missed voicemail from the firm. I could somehow feel the rejection OOZING from my phone. Of course, I picked it up and received the gut wrenching words that ended my chances for a consulting internship that summer.
The worst feeling wasn’t the rejection, however. The worst feeling was that for the first time I wondered whether I was meant for consulting. Was the reason I was rejected that I didn’t THINK like a consultant?
I’d known for some time that making the transition from sales management to consulting wasn’t going to be easy. But now I had to face up to a basic question, “If I don’t think like a consultant, who is going to hire me? Can I even learn to think like a consultant? What can I do differently?”
My answer came, a year later, when I made it to second rounds with seven consulting firms and received three offers. I’d be lying if I said it was easy and didn’t come with a heavy work load. To get those offers I actually had CHANGED how I THOUGHT. I began to THINK like a consultant! And here’s how:
1. Get REAL experience
I know I know…its’ a Catch 22. To get real experience you need to get the job. To get the job you need real experience. Well, I think most business programs provide opportunities to gain experience to support this thinking style. For me, it was the following:
- Pro-bono consulting work through my MBA program
- Taking the lead on group presentations that required strategic thinking and compiling a power point slideshow
- A separate consulting project for an outside company that partnered with our school
- A summer internship with the following components: high-level strategic thinking, PowerPoint creation, presentation, internal and external interviews, management support
2. Choose classes that improve your weak spots
I’m sure this is different for each person. For myself, I took every available class on strategy and I bolstered those classes with courses heavy in quantitative analysis. I focused my studies to help me effectively develop mental models and frameworks. Ultimately, I think the courses that are most relevant to thinking like a consultant are those aimed at synthesizing large amounts of data and thinking within frameworks. In particular, the more important classes for me were Data Science, Finance, and Strategy.
3. Get critiques from consultants who give or have given cases
This was critical for me. Casing was new to me when I started my business program, so I took advantage of every resource at the school to improve my skillset. I worked with second-year students, faculty, staff and members of the alumni. I reached out to contacts at consulting firms. I critiqued cases for other students. If the resources at your business program are limited, consider reaching out to experienced consultants. Getting expert feedback on your casing is hugely important.
4. Add extra-curricular activities that reinforce your classwork
For me, this was investing in stocks and reading the WSJ daily.
Once classes ended in May, I had roughly a month off before starting my internship. I took that time to conduct due diligence into potential stock investments. I changed the focus of my investment research, spending 2-15 hours developing a case for each company I was thinking about investing in. Researching a company, listening to investor calls, valuing the company, and ultimately determining whether the business will be successful requires thinking both on a macro and micro level, something that you are tested for in cases. Especially on the macro side!
If you don’t feel you have time to invest in reading the WSJ, try to think how you could incorporate 10-15 minutes a few times a week to at least gain some exposure. Look at articles in the business section as though you might have to become a consultant to the firm involved in the story. You’d be surprised how many articles sound just like a potential case!
More than anything, though, what mattered for me was that I built a PLAN around how to improve. For you, maybe it’s not thinking like a consultant, but how to differentiate yourself in the final round. In that case, be honest about your weaknesses, seek out people who have expertise and take their advice. Best of luck!
Cameron Hector is a bay area native soon to be dedicated consultant at L.E.K.’s Chicago office. Former semi-professional soccer player turned competitive long distance athlete.
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