Present Yourself Properly at Your Consulting Interview
During your consulting interview, you might get a quite open-ended question such as “tell us something about yourself”. It is very important that you prepare for this, as you have a chance of creating huge impact in the interview. We’ll give you some ideas in this article. Read more…
If you get an opportunity to present yourself then you need to have prepared – and practiced – a two-minute speech about yourself. A good story line for such a presentation is:
- Tell about your career plans and ambitions
- Explain very briefly what your educational background is
- Tell very briefly about any previous jobs you had or membership of relevant organizations
- Tell a few keywords about how you are as a person
This structure is very important and has worked very well for us countless of times. You start and end your presentation with personal statements and this is important. Top tier management consulting firms as McKinsey, Bain, Booz and BCG are all looking for people with leadership personalities. They want to know how you are as a person.
In between the personal parts you tell more boring facts such as your education and professional experience. They already know this, as they have (hopefully) read your resume. They don’t care about listening once again about your major. But you have to mention it, to show professionalism.
Our best advice is for you to practice this speech in front of the mirror very well. Talk slowly and confidently. And you should not spend more than 2 minutes. Let the interviewer ask you the questions that he/she has, instead of him/her waiting for you to finish.
Are you going to apply to a consulting firm or going for an interview soon? Take a look at our free guide on how to land a job in management consulting.