Case Interview Preparation & Management Consulting | Strategy | Critical Thinking

For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we talk about brainstorming with definitions. Brainstorming is very difficult and a crucial skill to have when solving cases, especially with McKinsey where the interviewer will constantly ask you to probe and brainstorm different areas of the case. This podcast examines the initial parts of the brainstorming structure. Since brainstorming happens in such a rapid-fire format and appears unstructured, the speed at which it is done creates the illusion it lacks structures. Yet, it does have structure, but is merely done very quickly in the candidate's mind. This podcast will teach candidates how to generate a structure/definition that can be used to guide the development of options or paths in the brainstorm. 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

For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we talk about the importance of you, the candidate, never ever giving the interviewer the benefit of the doubt, why this is vital, how to do this in a case and the improvement it will immediately deliver. The main value of adopting this mindset is that you tend to explain everything to the interviewer because you assume he is not aware of all the answers. If you enter an interview, assuming the interview is "perfect", you will tend to make assumptions which hurt your chances and damage your image. 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

Entering BBM with a weak school on your resume can create problems. Though, all of them tend to be created by the candidates themselves. These consultants tend to have so many incorrect preconceived ideas of the firm that even when a McKinsey partner tells them something, they tend to go with their preconceived ideas. As strange as that may sound, that is what we have seen happen in many cases. There are certain things you can do this alter this spiral, should it occur. 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

Reading graphs is a perennial problem for many candidates. Yet, the problem is not the interpretation of the graphical data itself. Rather, it is knowing what to do with that data once you have interpreted it. This podcast introduces a simple 4-step process we introduced for a Yale doctoral client, Felix, and a technique called the One-Sentence-Test which we again developed for the same client. The improvement in her answers warrants sharing this technique. You can see Felix's Improvement in Season One of The Consulting Offer. 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

Far too many candidates demonstrate poor knowledge of consulting by insisting that they want to work for McKinsey strategy and not operations or BTO. This is a flawed strategy which will only hurt their chances in the short, medium and long-term. This podcast explains why and how to compensate for this misunderstanding. 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

You have been brainwashed by every single forum and case book to assume that McKinsey wants a framework and set of hypotheses, that you have stopped listening as carefully to the interviewer and simply providing hypotheses even when the interview is not asking for them! 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

For this episode, let's revisit a Case Interview & Management Consulting classic where we discuss consulting firm's training. Too often clients ask the wrong questions when it comes to assessing training at consulting firms: do smaller offices have poorer training, should I attend training as soon as I join, does BCG have better training than Bain etc. When considering training you need to both consider formal and informal training. As we show, formal training is very useful, but not at all for the hard/technical skills it purports to impart on attendees. Informal training, also known as training on an engagement, is most effective when consultants can practice under diverse conditions. In other words, the more you travel and work with foreign teams, the better will be your training. Some firms encourage more global staffing and others far less. That counts. 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

Author and strategic thinker, Rich Horwath, discusses the essence of strategy, the importance of strategic thinking, body language and open-mindedness in leadership, strategy implementation, and creating value for customers and the world.

Welcome to an interview with Rana Salman, M.B.A, PhD, a renowned expert in the sales industry who is transforming the performance of sales teams worldwide. With a background in marketing and years of experience in enterprise-level B2B sales, she has established herself as a trusted partner for global organizations seeking to elevate their sales strategies and execution. As the founder of Salman Consulting, LLC, Salman collaborates with midsize and Fortune 500 IT companies to create tailored sales strategies, develop compelling sales content, and deliver impactful training sessions. Whether it's in-person, through webinars, or on-demand, her expertise in sales and sales enablement ensures an optimized end-to-end customer experience that fosters loyalty and drives revenue growth. Beyond her consulting work, Salman is a cofounder of WiSE (Women in Sales Enablement), a thriving networking group connecting female sales enablement professionals from around the world. Through WiSE, she facilitates the exchange of ideas and knowledge-sharing among industry peers. She was recognized as one of the Women Making an Impact in Enablement by Sales Enablement PRO in 2022 and named one of the Top Female Sales Practitioners for Your Next Panel, Presentation, or Podcast by Sales Hacker in 2021. Her expertise has also led her to be a sought-after guest speaker at prestigious events like the Texas Conference for Women, Sales Enablement Society Conference, and Competitive Marketing Summit. Get Rana's book here: https://rb.gy/i7ix7c Sales Essentials: The Tools You Need at Every Stage to Close More Deals and Crush Your Quota Here are 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

Welcome to an interview with a Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, at Northwestern University, Lan Nguyen Chaplin. In this episode, we focused on how to disrupt a system that was built to hold you back. We also touched on to move past an embarrassing moment at work. Lan Nguyen Chaplin, Ph.D. is Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications, at Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. She is also a member of the Core Faculty, Golub Capital Social Impact Lab at Kellogg School of Management. She received her Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Minnesota (Carlson School of Management), and her B.A. in neuroscience with a concentration in behavioral medicine from the University of Pennsylvania. She was named one of the Top 50 Undergraduate Business Professors in the world by Poets & Quants (November 2018) and set a new record for top undergraduate professor nominations in the process. She has taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Villanova School of Business, University of Arizona, Eller College of Management, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was also the Head Coach of the Illinois Women's Lacrosse Club team, and the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. Professor Nguyen Chaplin conducts research in the areas of children's consumer behavior and branding. She publishes in outlets including, Science, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Consumer Research, Psychological Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Child Development, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. Her research has been covered by TIME, Forbes, National Geographic, The New York Times, Fortune, Esquire Magazine, MSN, NBC Boston, ABC news radio, CBS news, Washington Times, Yahoo! Finance, Yahoo! Parenting, Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, New York Magazine, Popular Science, Psychology Today, and Glamour. Her article with Marsha Richins titled "Material Parenting: How the Use of Goods in Parenting Fosters Materialism in the Next Generation," won Best Paper published in the Journal of Consumer Research (Financial Times top 50 business journals), in 2018 and was one of the most highly cited JCR articles in 2016. Her work on the development of materialism in children won one of the most prestigious awards in the marketing discipline—the ACR-Sheth award for public purpose research. She and her collaborators have presented their research throughout the USA and around the globe (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, and Singapore). She serves on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Journal of Consumer Affairs, and Journal of Positive Psychology. Professor Nguyen Chaplin teaches at the Ph.D., MBA, and undergraduate levels and has received numerous teaching accolades. Visit Lan's website: https://lanchaplin.com/ 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