Sign Up and Ace the Consulting Recruiting Process

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Are you considering a career in management consulting? You are probably aware that the competition for this type of job is tougher than ever. You will be competing against the best of the best. We can help you prepare for the whole recruitment process.
ConsultingFact Academy is an online course that teaches you everything you need to know to get a consulting job: from case interview prep to networking and writing your application. Don’t read old case prep books and spend hours searching the internet for outdated advice.
This is an innovative concept with video learning, community interaction, and regularly updated content. Read below the typical reasons why candidates fail to get a consulting job, and how ConsultingFact Academy can help you!

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Why Do Candidates Fail to Get a Management Consulting Job?

Let’s first look at real-life examples and why five candidates failed somewhere in the recruiting process for a top-tier management consulting firm. With their capabilities, they were expected to outshine other applicants. But, they didn’t.

Problem 1: Not selling yourself using consulting success factors

Stephen, a promising fresh graduate, submitted his application to a top-tier consulting firm in the city. The recruiter glanced at it, skimmed its contents, found no relevant skills and keywords and decided to discard his application. It made no impact at all.

Using a generic cover letter and resume is a huge mistake. Your cover letter and resume need to be specifically tailored to consulting, selling you in a way that triggers the attention of consulting recruiters. Think of it as a checklist. You need to emphasize the strengths that mentally check off boxes in the recruiter’s “checklist” as she/he glances at your application. Recruiters have short attention spans, and will probably spend less than one minute on your application.

Problem 2: Not realizing the importance of knowing the right people

Kathleen will soon graduate from an Ivy League institution, backed by top-5% grades and extensive professional experience. Her application is superior, but she did not even land an interview. She didn’t realize how few graduates her chosen firm was hiring this year. Those who were hired had used their networks and built connections within the firm.

Most consulting applicants have superior qualifications, and the recruitment process is very professional. However, consulting recruiters are still human. If you demonstrate social proof and get an internal recommendation from a consultant, your chances of landing an interview are much higher. In some consulting offices it is almost impossible to get an interview without networking.

Problem 3: Low test score in numerical, verbal and problem-solving tests

Among 100+ applicants, Yan was one of those who landed an interview. He was asked to do a problem-solving test. He started panicking almost as soon as he started answering the first page. He simply forgot how to divide large numbers on paper and answered a few crucial questions wrong. Even though the interview went well, Yan did not get a job offer because of a substandard test score.

Getting low scores on tests leads to negative interpretations of your ability to perform problem solving and analysis. These activities make up a large part of everyday consulting life, so a bad test score is a sure way to get turned down. What might be surprising is that this is actually the easiest part to prepare for. You should be able to improve your test score a lot.

Problem 4: Not demonstrating a high-value personality and confidence

The recruiter was impressed with Jorge’s application, so he was invited for a first interview round. During the conversation, he fidgeted, stammered and avoided eye contact. Although he did great on the tests and the case interview, the recruiters weren’t sure that he demonstrated confidence and leadership. He was turned down.

Lot of factors can destroy your image as being a high-value, confident person. Some of these are improper clothes, communicating self-doubts nonverbally, unconscious tics, such as touching your face, speaking fast, etc. This is one of the main reasons why applicants get turned down. You can do a sub-standard case interview and still get the job if you project confidence. You can do a great case interview, but you will probably not get a job if you don’t appear confident.

Problem 5: Unprepared for case interviews

Edward was in the final step of the screening process: the consulting case interviews. The recruiter presented a market entry case and asked Edward whether a company should enter a new market. Edward didn’t have a great framework and ended up focusing too much on marketing and had no financial considerations. The recruiter was very surprised about the lack of proper focus and turned Edward down.

Case interviews are a key part of interviews at all consulting firms. You need to demonstrate great problem-solving skills and the ability to create structure for analysis of cases and presentation of recommendations. After all, this is what you will be doing as a management consultant when you get the job.

“The case interview is only one dimension of the recruiting process,
but it is typically the part that raises the most anxiety.”
Bain Recruiting Website, Joinbain.com

ConsultingFact Academy Will Push You and Motivate You

As we just showed you, getting a consulting job is much more than preparing for case interviews. We have developed ConsultingFact Academy — an online course and exclusive community. The Academy is an innovative concept that will prepare you and push you toward getting your dream job. Read below more about ConsultingFact Academy.

Comprehensive Help

We will cover the whole process – everything you need to know. How to network, write a cover letter and resume, prepare for tests, do the case interviews, and the fit interviews. Don’t worry – we still have many cases for you to practice. There is a lot of material to read and videos to watch, all based on real-life experience and interviews with consultants.

Multimedia Learning

Learning should be fun even for a serious business career like management consulting. A part of ConsultingFact Academy is video-based, making it easier to learn. Take a break from the monotony of reading for hours.

Community Interaction

Community and peers are a great way to push yourself. ConsultingFact Academy is not only an online course, but is also a way to connect with other applicants. You can easily schedule mock interviews, share the benefit of your experiences and help each other. You can easily comment on all our content and discuss with others. This is more fun and interacting with others is the best way to learn.

Actionable Advice

Consultants in the real world are action-oriented, not theoretical. Why, then, are most prep books for your future consulting career so theoretical? We want YOU to take action. The material in ConsultingFact Academy is based on actionable advice and guides to help you DO stuff and make progress. Not just theory and abstract explanations.

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Continuous Update

ConsultingFact Academy is not just a book you buy. This is a subscription to a membership club that is updated frequently. We are continuously updating our content, adding more cases for you to practice, and we are also working on a module in mental math (a very helpful skill in the recruiting process).

Access Anywhere

You can access ConsultingFact Academy anytime and anywhere. No need to bring bulky books and manuals with you. Learn about consulting on the go! Knowledge will be at your fingertips. You can access our course from iPhones, iPads and other smartphones and tablets.

Seven Modules Cover The Whole Recruiting Process

ConsultingFact Academy contains seven modules. They are arranged conveniently to make it easy for you to track your progress. You will gain access to all content, so you can focus on modules that are important to you.

	Foundations This module contains the information you should know before you send your application. We will address the application process, key success factors, and why networking is so important. You will also learn how to network properly in a detailed networking course.

	Resume Module 2 outlines and elaborates all sections of a superior resume. It also teaches you how to highlight strengths in this powerful self-marketing tool. You will see good and bad examples throughout this module so you can quickly start writing your own resume.

	Cover Letter In this module, we will give you guidelines on how to qualitatively present your credentials in a cover letter. We will show you what and what not to include through easy-to-understand examples. The cover letter is very important as it demonstrates your written communication skills – one of the key success factors.

	Tests Module 4 consists of videos about various tests. Some consulting firms will require you to take several tests. We will deep-dive into numerical reasoning tests, verbal reasoning tests, logical/abstract reasoning tests, as well as personality tests. This module will help you prepare for these tests and improve your score.

	Fit Interviews In fit interviews you need to demonstrate your personality, experience and your career plans. You will learn how to present yourself properly and avoid the typical mistakes. We will guide you through typical interview questions and answers and help you avoid the trick questions. Finally, we will help you present yourself confidently.

	Case Interviews This elaborates the nature of case interviews, their structure and type. You will learn all the necessary steps on how to solve a case interview in a structured way. We will also present ten of the most common frameworks used for case interviews. These frameworks will help you feel more confident and focus on analysis and recommendations.

	Practice Cases Practicing cases in mock interviews is very important. The whole of module 7 contains nothing but practice cases. We will show you real-life cases accompanied with charts and other supporting data. Forget text-cases from case text books – consulting firms don’t present cases like this anymore. We will walk you through answers and explain in detail how to answer the cases.