Question:
I just wanted to inform you that I followed your approach to networking with consultants at the top consultancy firms (MBB).
I had many meetings and spoke to several Partners at the firms in person after using social media to get in contact with them. At one meeting (just three weeks ago), my informational interview with a Partner at Bain turned into an on-the-spot interview as he was so impressed with my achievements and CV to date.
Whilst, the competency questions went really well and my interpersonal skills shined through, which he noted, my performance during the estimation questions, etc., was not as good. This was due to lack of practice – I was unaware that the informational interview would turn into an on-the-spot interview.
Nonetheless, he took my CV and said he would pass it on to the recruitment team. I anticipate interviews will be [in 3-4 months], hence why I was considering purchasing LOMS as soon as possible. That would give me 3/4 months to prepare.
Alongside the LOMS programme, is there anything else you recommend I must know? My quantitative skills also requires some fixing as it has been a long time since I did maths (almost 4 years ago). Will the LOMS programme help me improve my quantitative reasoning skills? Also would you recommend me getting ‘Case In Point,’ as I already have your book ‘Case Interview Secrets‘?
Indeed it is a difficult time for those undergrad students who are doing internships abroad during the summer, as we have to manage our work placement and also use the summer to effectively prepare for the upcoming interviews. I am also setting up a venture which has increased the workload.
Thank you for all your help and your fantastic resources. I read your emails everyday.
My Reply:
Yes, those informal cases can be a bit of a surprise!
In terms of the regular interview, LOMS helps a lot, as does having someone to practice with. If you don’t have anyone near you, I will be introducing a partner finder service soon at www.CaseInterviewPartner.com .
Bottom line – LOMS repetition and live practice repetition help a lot. The more the better.
In terms of math, for basic computations I suggest using my free practice tool www.CaseInterviewMath.com – you can compare your scores to scores of other people in the community. This improves basic math skills. The other type of quantitative math is structured estimation math (more complicated than the estimation practice questions on caseinterviewmath.com).
See the chapter on Estimation Questions in Case Interview Secrets for examples and the general methodology. Once you get the general approach down, practice doing it in everyday life — estimate the average total revenues of Mexican food restaurants in London in a year, estimate the number of tires sold in India in a year, etc…
If you execute the plan above, you will be in very good shape for the live interviews.
Good luck!