837: How to Network with a Senior Partner (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Release Date: 01/20/2026
869: Misunderstanding "Being Analytic" (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Aspiring and some young consultants tend to have a narrow outside-in view of management consulting. They make significant assumptions about why and how strategy studies are done, and try to replicate this assumed behavior. They think "being analytic" means analyzing things before every decision is made. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here:
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868: How to Network with a Senior Partner (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Networking with a partner is counter-intuitive. It is much easier to network with a McKinsey / BCG partner for at least four reasons. First, partners always return emails. Second, partners are generally willing to take a call just to explore your profile. Third, partners are less hung up on things like degrees etc. since they look deeper at a profile. Fourth, partners are accessible with easy to find details. That said, the trick to networking with partners is to treat them as a peer. As soon as you place them on a pedestal, you will kill your networking chances. Here are some free...
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867: Be a professional, don't be a business person (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
What is your understanding of the consulting culture or philosophy? What do you think defines and separates the top consulting firms from the others? For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we spoke about the real culture of consulting firms apart from what people think it is and what distinguishes great consulting firms from others. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: Enjoying this...
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866: Sanity Checking Estimations in Cases (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Many candidates forget to sanity-check their calculations in a case. That is a bad idea. Without a sanity-check there is no way to meaningfully assess the accuracy of your answer. More important, how you perform the sanity check is the key. All sanity-checks must involve the reduction of the answer to a number that you can intuitively compare to your own experiences. Unless you do this, you can never defend your answer. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning resume free...
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865: Harsh Partners (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Being a young business analyst or associate on the receiving end of blunt and harsh feedback from a partner is a very jarring experience. However, it is also somewhat of a compliment. I never understand this very, very important point until my mentor, a senior partner, pointed this out to me when the managing partner gave me a very time about an initiative I was running. In hindsight, this was one of the most profound lessons I had in my consulting career, and the managing partner became a huge ally when I was up for partnership. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used...
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864: What Michael Jordan Can Teach You About Strategy (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Aspiring NBA stars make a classic mistake when trying to watch, analyze and replicate the reasons why someone like Michael Jordan was so successful. In this podcast I explain why aspiring management consultants and those in industry make the very same mistake when watching, analyzing and replicating the reasons why McKinsey and BCG are so successful. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here:
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863: Five phrases to avoid (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Communication and image in a case interview is governed by both what you say and how you say. It is true that how you say something tends to carry more weight. However, in some case, certain phrases should definitely be avoided because they cause much damage it is very hard to recover from them. We discuss them in this podcast. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here:
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861: Making sexist comments in interviews (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we speak about candidates making sexist comments in interviews. Due to culture, tradition and even good intentions, candidates make sexist remarks. Sometimes, a very innocent remark may come across as sexist. This podcast examines some the incidences we have encountered which have hurt candidates in cases. It is wise to think about your own inadvertent sexist behavior. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning...
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860: Too Junior For a Partner Meeting (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
For this episode, let’s revisit a classic Case Interview & Management Consulting discussion where we talk about an associate we placed at BCG who emailed us with a dilemma. A senior partner and managing director of the firm was visiting her office and she wanted to meet him. Her colleagues told her to forget about it as she was too junior to warrant his attention. Her peers who gave her this advice may have a few years at BCG but they clearly do not understand the culture of the firm at all. Senior partners always make time for consultants and are always looking to meet young and...
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859: Guidelines When Seeking Help In Case Interviews (Case Interview & Management Consulting classics)
Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking
Going into interviews, aspiring consultants will be relying an a huge number of people for help: peers, classmates, consulting alumni, consultants, career counselors, etc. For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we speak about simple suggestions on how to seek and use help without hurting your relationships in the long-term. Here are some free gifts for you: Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced...
info_outlineNetworking with a partner is counter-intuitive. It is much easier to network with a McKinsey / BCG partner for at least four reasons. First, partners always return emails. Second, partners are generally willing to take a call just to explore your profile. Third, partners are less hung up on things like degrees etc. since they look deeper at a profile. Fourth, partners are accessible with easy to find details. That said, the trick to networking with partners is to treat them as a peer. As soon as you place them on a pedestal, you will kill your networking chances.
Here are some free gifts for you:
Overall Approach Used in Well-Managed Strategy Studies free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/OverallApproach
McKinsey & BCG winning resume free download: www.firmsconsulting.com/resumepdf
Enjoying this episode? Get access to sample advanced training episodes here: www.firmsconsulting.com/promo