Sarah Chang is a Columbia University graduate who will be joining McKinsey later this year. I came across a recent post of hers, and asked for permission to reproduce, which she has graciously agreed to.

She catches on to a few things that many students overlook. I always teach students the art of assumption-question, to always link numbers back to the original questions, to ask "so what?" and other tips and tricks that help you stand out as a candidate. It's a long list but worth the read. Her one mistake? Not numbering her points, in true consultant fashion! 

You can find the original post here and some of her other thoughts and musings on her personal site. I've reproduced the post in full below:

CASE INTERVIEWS: WHY THE RIGHT ANSWER IS NOT ENOUGH & WHAT TO DO INSTEAD

A recent blog post from Bain Voices is a description from a new consultant on the types of cases that she faced in her first- and second-round interviews at Bain & Company. Unlike many more, marketing-speak postings from firms, I found it provided real insight into the types of interviews you can expect to face. She breaks it out into four types of cases:

1. The Seemingly-Easy Question

“Would it be profitable for us to open MyPizzaCo to compete with PopularPizzaCo around the corner from here?”

2. The Charts & Data Overload Question 

A recent blog post from Bain Voices is a description from a new consultant on the types of cases that she faced in her first- and second-round interviews at Bain & Company. Unlike many more, marketing-speak postings from firms, I found it provided real insight into the types of interviews you can expect to face. She breaks it out into four types of cases:

1. The Seemingly-Easy Question

“Would it be profitable for us to open MyPizzaCo to compete with PopularPizzaCo around the corner from here?”

2. The Charts & Data Overload Question 

One of my first managers once told me that the secret to getting things done is to "work smart, not hard". And while success will always require hard work, there are a few things you can do to make the process a little bit smoother for you. Short on time? London Business School has conducted an analysis on the most popular types of case interviews. By studying up on your approach to these types of cases, you can maximize your odds of success.

Unfortunately, getting the interview doesn't always mean getting the offer or even the final round. The following is an excerpt from an e-mail exchange with a Political Science student who used The MCN's resources to secure interviews with McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. While things didn't work out, you can learn from his experiences.

At the beginning of the year, I spent almost 2 months helping 5 students prepare intensively for their case interviews. And to illustrate how much feedback and practice can affect your odds of success, take a look at what happened...

When you successfully secure a first-round interview, does your CV matter anymore? The answer is not especially. Only candidates with strong CV's will get selected to begin with - transferable skills are important but not especially influential when it comes time to make an offer. But what about your first-round performance? Click through to see why it has more of an impact than you think.

I was discussing the interview process with a consultant at a Top-10 firm that has interviewed well over 100 students over the past few years. One of her comments? "There's nothing more frustrating than a student who assumes they know nothing about an industry just because they don't know it in a business setting".

The fact is: you know more about an industry than you think. Yes, you might get a case about custom-building high-end cars and you aren't making that kind of money as a student (...yet). The difference between a good interviewee and a bad one:

Interviewer: "What can you tell me about the competitive landscape for this firm?"

1. "Well I don't know much about this industry as I ride my bike to school every day. Can you tell me if the industry is fragment or consolidated?"

2. "Hmm, I can't say this is an industry I'm intimately familiar with, but I think I can make a few guesses at what the competitive landscape looks like. I imagine that it's a very service-oriented industry, with a strong emphasis on providing excellent customer service and high levels of customization that will keep customers happy. I'm also assuming that reputation is important, because of how much a buyer would be investing in making their car purchase. Thus, I'm assuming that there are high barriers to entry for new competitors because they would need to build up both the service levels and the reputation to attract customers."