看下大名鼎鼎的《Case in Point》(8th ed., by Marc P. Cosentino)，练习一下英文输出...（小疑问：从Word文档复制过来发现格式有点不对，有时两个词会连到一起，改完保存都不管事儿是怎么回事...？）
Books of this category are similar in the structure -- from generally discussing the consulting industry to introducing how the interviews are like, to preparing you for different rounds (before-hand and on-site), and to the industry “jargons” and the somehow fixed “mindset” that you need to bear in mind (in case you can’t benefit from your experienced past and fail to compete with a fresh graduate having a minimal real-world work experience just because he’s more apt for using the insider terms and frameworks).
Here I’d like to (rather randomly) discuss something that made me pause to think when reading the first 50 pages – so today's sharing is not about dealing with actual case preparations or techniques but more about getting started. I’m into the author’s very readable way of expressing (also I’m amazed by his power of putting all the details and pieces together into sensible categories), so I'll paraphrase as less as possible.
1) a very good conclusion that can be literally memorized for basics during interviews:
“Consulting firms are in the business of renting out brains. Consultants get paid to synthesize massive quantities of foreign data, toss out the irrelevant information, structure an approach to a given client issue, and hypothesize logically and creatively before people of power and influence.” --well it's the best way of putting it as far as I've seen yet.
2) It’s all about preparation -- anything on your CV is fair game.
An interesting way to think about your past (or your life):
“Your life is a newspaper article. What’s the headline?”
3) In the first part of the interview (questions about yourself), you should be responding, not thinking.
4) When preparing: bullet-point the answers (instead of writing passages --that’s what a candidate who’s going to be interviewed in a non-native language might attempt to do). BTW I don’t see the point at all where some teachers in New Oriental Education write every word, recite the script and even brag about it.
5) “You want to get labeled.” Go your stories deep, come up with memorable and captivating tales. If the interviewer later sees your name and thinks “Which one was he/she?”—your candidacy is over.
6) “In fact, McKinsey’s and BCG’s biggest competitor is Goldman Sachs – not each other.” –this sentence appears when the author presents the idea of similar job skills (and how to answer the question like “with which other industries are you interviewing”.
7) “Top-tier firms often get 400 CVs for 100 1st-round interview slots.”
8) Before the interview ends, we usually get the chance to pose one or two questions to our interviewers. (When I was on the other side of the table about three years ago – filling in the HR role trying to hire, none of the candidate impressed me in this part. ). Actually pre-interview googling is a must, and “Questions for which you can’t locate answers are excellent questions for you to pose to your interviewer.” Some examples listed in the book:
^ How much client contact does an entry-level consultant have the first year?
^ How many consultants does the firm expect to hire this year?
^ How is a case team picked?
^ Is it possible to transfer to other offices (international offices)?
...
9) In fact, best ways to collect these answers mentioned above: career fairs; alumni/past employees; company information meetings
BTW, the author mentions: “One of the best-kept secrets of company presentations is to go early.” I’ll cite the whole paragraph just because it’s very useful and I’ve only done the opposite (go in the very last minute or even not go at all)… so quite a reminder:
“If a company presentation is scheduled to start at 6 p.m., show up at 5:45. Most students won’t arrive until 6 p.m. or a little after, but the firm’s representatives show up at around 5:30 to make sure the room is set up correctly and the cheese table is laid out nicely. If you show up early, not only will it impress the consultants, but it also will allow you to get at least five minutes of quality face time with one of them. They are more likely to remember you if you talk for five minutes at the beginning of the night than if you hang around until the end hoping for 45 seconds of their time. They are also more likely to have their business cards with them. Remember to ask for those business cards and send a follow-up email.”
Another tip: “Have your list of questions with any specific facts or figures you’ve dug up written out when you walk in for the interview. This shows that you have done your homework and have given this interview a great deal of thought. Besides, if you freeze up, it’s all right there in front of you.”
I’ve already written too long… I’ll share more next time ;)
