Your preparation journey

Our perspective on how candidates could approach their preparation for management consulting interviews

“I thought I was prepared for my interview after solving 50+ cases, but the interviewer kept throwing me unconventional questions which got me completely lost”

We heard that line way too many times from candidates that already got rejected by their first choice consultancy. Putting a lot of practice into preparing for your management consulting interviews is great, and we hope you are doing or planning on doing that. However, candidates need to consider how they prepare.

Below we share our perspective on a potential preparation journey with a view on choices that candidates need to make and potential pitfalls they need to be aware of.

Step 1. Problem Solving fundamentals

As you most probably know, at the core of management consulting interviews are cases. Case interviews mostly focus on testing your Problem Solving skill, which can be defined as your ability to break down a problem into building blocks, find answers to each of the building blocks and synthesize those answers back into a single solution for the main question.

It is good practice to start your preparation with understanding the fundamental elements of problem solving and how they are applied in a case context. There is a multitude of materials available for preparation, including books, articles, videos and practice cases. In general, you will see two different approaches to problem solving in case interviews that we describe below.

  • Problem Solving "By analogy"

    A very widespread approach to solving cases is based on thinking “by analogy”. In essence, this approach is based on categorizing the case at hand into a certain type (e.g. “market entry”) and then applying a solution that a candidate has seen before for similar type cases, sometimes with some modifications.

    This approach usually involves memorizing case-type specific playbooks with frameworks, snippets of facts from various industries, and sets of questions to ask the interviewer.

    Problem solving “by analogy” has its merits, particularly because it provides a starting point for candidates that don’t know how to approach a case from scratch and need to use a reference.

    The main disadvantage of this approach is that candidates get lost when getting an “unconventional” case, something they didn’t encounter before, or they get disoriented when misclassifying a case at hand.

  • Problem Solving through logic

    This problem solving approach is widely used in top-tier consultancies and is based on deriving custom solutions for the problem at hand from scratch. In the context of case interviews this approach doesn’t require memorizing anything or trying to categorize the case. Instead, it requires identifying the main objective of the case and breaking it down into MECE, multi-leveled structures that are tailored for that specific case and derived with logic only, without any industry expertise. It is followed by populating the structure with hypotheses and gathered facts and insights.

    The main advantage of this approach is the candidate’s ability to approach any problem or case question, no matter how “unconventional” and no matter if that is something they have not encountered previously.

    This approach might appear more challenging as our brains are wired to think by analogy and we naturally lean towards repetition of familiar patterns. At Buildaskill, we practice this approach to Problem Solving.

As a support tool for candidates to kick off their preparation we developed a course called “Problem Solving method” that explains key problem solving elements and demonstrates how they can be used in a case interview context.

Step 2. Case solving practice

Once you grasp the theory of problem solving fundamentals and how to use them in the interview context, it is time to apply them in practice. Mastering problem solving as a skill requires a lot of practice and we hope you are planning on doing that. One important thing to consider when it comes to practice is to aim for diversity, both of practice partners and cases. Different practice partners will get you used to different styles of interviewers, while different cases will test your logic on different types of problems.

Below we discuss different types of practice and how they can be utilized to get most value out of your preparation.

  • Peer practice

    There are a few platforms providing candidates with opportunities to practice cases with each other. It is a good exercise that allows candidates to get used to the pace and flow of cases and people with different interviewing styles. Keep in mind though that not all the peer interviewers you encounter can give you good feedback, so take that into account. We also suggest to go beyond those platforms in finding more partners. Perhaps the consulting firm you are aiming for is organizing some recruitment events or workshops that you could attend and find partners there. Or you can look for others at your university who also want to prepare.

  • Practice with consultants

    A very good way to practice cases is to practice them with current or former consultants. It might be more accessible to some (e.g. those in MBA programs) than others, but you can get entrepreneurial (another skill needed as a management consultant by the way) in finding consultants who would practice with you. For instance, through LinkedIn you could find graduates from your university who joined a consultancy and ask for their help as fellow alumni. Or you can reach out to consultants in your target office, ask them to tell you more about their work and ask if they would be willing to do a case with you. And of course ask around your friends and their extended circles.

  • Individual practice

    Individual practice can be very beneficial for working on a specific element of problem solving that you realize that you struggle with when doing your practice with others. In particular, individual work is great when practicing structuring problems. Take as diverse case prompts as possible and build MECE structures for them, then cross-reference them against important facts and insights offered as part of those cases. Your aim is to have all of them covered by branches of your structure. If there is an important fact that doesn’t fit in, your structure has a gap.

Reach out to us if you need help in finding peer case partners. If we have suitable candidates, we will happily connect you.

Step 3 (optional). Case interview coaching

Do you need coaches to help you with your preparation? Not necessarily (or at least to a limited extent). If you feel you are doing well in your practice and if you have access to good practice partners, there is often really no need to utilize support from coaches. To help you decide, below we discuss types of coaching you might encounter on your preparation journey and situations when it can be beneficial.

  • Work with an isolated challenge

    As you go through your practice you might discover that you consistently struggle with a specific step in problem solving, or perhaps that there is a problem type that you find intimidating. You might feel that peer or individual practice is not enough to solve your specific problem and you need a coaching session.

    It is best to reach out to the coach and explain the issue beforehand so that you can discuss how to best approach your isolated challenge and give them an opportunity to prepare.

    In this type of session, you would not go through a case end-to-end, instead, you would work on a set of exercises tailored to remedy your specific problem or on the set of case questions you encountered previously and found challenging.

  • Mock interview

    This is the most widely spread style of coaching where a coach would give you, as a candidate, a case to solve and provide you with comprehensive feedback with overview of all the improvement areas. This type of coaching session doesn’t allow for enough time to work through a specific challenge that a candidate struggles with.

    Such a session can be a good fit when (1) you feel you are not getting new feedback from your practice and you wonder if you could uncover new areas for improvement with a coach (2) you feel well-prepared and you want a final test or a confidence boost (3) you have absolutely no access to current or former consultants and never practiced with them, so you need a more “professional” view on your performance

If you believe you would benefit from a coaching session, read more about how we work with candidates.

Step 4. Other competences

When you believe that your Problem Solving is strong and you are prepared for your case interviews, it is time to polish your top-down communication and confidence to make it really shine through, understand if you have any gaps when it comes to your soft skills and prepare your stories for the behavioral part the interview. Reach out to us if you have questions about specific competences.

How we support your preparation journey

  • Course: "Problem Solving method"

    We suggest that you start here. Problem Solving is the most important and foundational skill of a management consultant and this is the first thing to master. In this course, you will get a grasp on the key elements of problem solving and get examples of how to apply them in a case interview context.

    Explore

  • Live coaching: Problem Solving

    If you would like additional support once you start practicing the Problem Solving method, we are here to help. A good way of using a coaching session is to work through specific cases or problem types that you encountered when practicing and found most challenging. Alternatively, you can describe an issue to us and we will prepare fitting exercises.

    Explore

  • Live coaching: other skills

    When you feel that your Problem Solving muscle is strong, you might need support in building other skills that would make you a good management consultant, such as your leadership skills or top-down communication. We can support you in identifying what you need to work on and what kind of behaviors you need to practice.

    Explore

  • Mock interviews: testing your skills

    Perhaps you prepared using our approach, perhaps not. Often, candidates want a final confidence boost, advice on finishing touches for their performance or just want to know how a real interview will feel. You can test yourself in an immersive interview simulation with a former partner and get concrete improvement suggestions.

    Explore