Confessions of a McKinsey Consultant

Welcome to the Evisors Webinar
Visit us online at www.evisors.com
Careers in Management Consulting
featuring
Andrew D’Souza
Hosted by: Career Advisors on Demand..com/webinars

I. About Andrew
II. What is management consulting?
III. How to research the industry
IV. What are firms looking for?
V. What to expect in the interview
VI. Q&A

About Andrew
• University of Waterloo - Systems Design Engineering ’08
• Consultant with McKinsey – summer ’07, ’08-’10
• Chief Revenue Officer at Top Hat Monocle (education startup), formerly
Head of BD at TopProspect (VC-backed recruiting startup)
• Internships in manufacturing (GM), R&D (Xerox), banking (PwC)
• Sports fan – took a month off McK to work at the Vancouver Olympics
• Travel / wildlife enthusiast – lived on a game reserve in South Africa for
a summer
• Evisors consultant for over a year – contacted by Evisors through Quora

What is Management Consulting?
Prioritization: Solving resource-allocation problems
Strategy
“What should we do
with our resources?”
Operations
“How do we do this
most effectively?”

Overview of the
Management Consulting Industry
The big 3
firms
McKinsey
BCG
Bain
Traditional
firms
Arthur D Little
Booz & Co
Monitor
A.T. Kearney
L.E.K.
Etc…
Diversified
mega-firms
Accenture
Deloitte
Oliver Wyman
IBM
Etc…
Specialized
shops
Hewitt
Hay
Novantas
ZS Associates
Etc…
Internal
corporate
groups
PepsiCo.
AMEX
Google
Disney
Etc…
Strategy Operations / Implementation

I. About Andrew
III.How to research the industry
VI. Q&A

How to Research the Industry
Firm websites – general info & key words, practice consulting cases
Info sessions – if they don’t come to your school, try crashing another school.
Connect with the consultants and set follow-up coffee chats
Books / websites – Vault, Wetfeet, Management Consulted, Ace the Case, Case
Interview, MBA Case, Case Questions, Case in Point, The Fast Track
What else to do?
• Set up “Google alerts” for the firms you’re interviewing with
• Perform a basic literature search (e.g., Factiva) for recent news
• Quora – read questions, ask your own, even answer some
• LinkedIn – reach out to alumni or other connections (after you’ve done your
own research)
Fun stuff – Hou$e of Lie$, GettingDrunkInFirstClass.com, Consulting Demons

I. About Andrew
IV.What are firms looking for?
VI. Q&A
Hosted by:See the rest at evisors.com/webinars/webinar/23

What are Firms Looking For?
Problem Solving
• Logical thinking/reasoning
• Comfort working with numbers/data
• Intellectual horsepower (academics)
Achievement
• Do something impressive
• See things through to completion
• Take ownership of something big
Leadership
• Bring others to your point of view
• Effectively lead teams
• Someone others want to work with
Personal Impact
• Build relationships
• Communication skills
• Navigate a diverse organization
“Could I put this person in front of a client?”

I. About Andrew
VI. Q&A

What to Expect in the Interview
• 1st Round: on-campus for target schools; phone screening
for non-target schools; written test (sometimes)
• 2nd Round: 2 in-person interviews with Associates
/Managers (usually pretty structured)
• Final round: 4 in-person interviews with Partners (usually
less-structured, more in the partner’s domain)
• Fit/Behavioral questions
– Walk me through your resume
– Why consulting? Why our company?
– Tell me about a time when…be ready for the drilling!
– What questions do you have for me?
• Case Interview
– Market sizing: What’s the market for beer in the UK?
– Strategy: New market, new product, M&A, pricing, competitive
dynamics, etc

I. About Andrew
VI.Q&A

Q&A

Questions & Answers
Question 1:
What consulting companies look more
towards candidates with entrepreneurship
experience?
Hosted by:See the answer at evisors.com/webinars/webinar/23

Questions & Answers
Question 2:
Does a consultant work on average 70 hours
per week?

Questions & Answers
Question 3:
What types of people are fit to work at a
consulting firm?

Questions & Answers
Question 4:
What advice do you have for those
interested in independent consulting? What
can you say about small-size consulting
firms?

Questions & Answers
Question 5:
What are the 3 top skills needed to become
a successful consultant?

Thanks for joining and good luck!
Book your session with Andrew at
www.evisors.com/expert/704
Consulting interview prep
Career advice – compare consulting, operating roles and
startup/entrepreneurial endeavours
Business plan feedback – interested in starting a company? What
does it take?

Confessions of a McKinsey Consultant

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