Session 1: Calibration Call and Resume

Although we use the name Samantha below, Felix, Sanjeev and Rafik went through the same program.

In her first session, a 60 minute calibration session, Samantha is provided no warning about what to expect. We want to see how she really thinks, especial...

Session 2: Starting to Rewrite the Resume

A coach needs to know his/her student. That is why we start with the resume. By asking careful questions about every part of the resume, and we mean every part, not only can we write the resume to build the profile we want to create of the candidate, b...

Session 3: More work on the Resume & Office Strategy

Samantha has now translated her resume into an understandable, quantitative and elegant format. It reads in a crisp and straightforward way which anyone will understand, especially those who have no experience in her background, and into an ...

Session 4: More work on the Resume and the Cover Letter

Now that we know Samantha remarkably well through the process of extensively rewriting her resume, we will have her update her LinkedIn profile and begin her cover letter. Although we prefer to complete the cover letter before beginning t...

Session 5: Estimation Questions

You cannot pass a McKinsey, BCG or Bain case unless you can brainstorm. Although, you may never receive an isolated/explicit brainstorming case, the skill is needed to identify drivers and build out an analyses structure, without the need to memorize frameworks....

Session 6: Brainstorming

This is easily the most important session of the training. Due to data degradation there are audio problems in parts of this video.

Building off the estimation approach, we now move to brainstorming. You should think of brainstorming as an equation from the estimati...

Coaching Session 6 (Brainstorming) also includes Sanjeev's Session 6 since there are audio problems with Felix's Session 6.

Session 7: Profitability Cases – BCG Approach

In each training session, from this day onward, we will do a brainstorming case, estimation case and full case.

It is vital to layer case difficulty.

Why would this be an important teaching strategy? If we gave the candidate a complex deregul...

Session 8: Volume Cases

Samantha must now be able to handle all types of simple estimation cases and all types of brainstorming cases. The technique she has learnt for full cases can also be applied across all types of full BCG-type cases, and we want to see her do just this.

We want to see...

Session 9: Debrief

No matter how many times we implore a candidate to ask questions or to simply ask for advice, being under pressure to learn as much as possible, they struggle to do this in the coaching sessions. To rectify this we regularly set up debriefing sessions which have no agenda.
...

Session 10: Communication Fundamentals

In this session, we deliberately use incendiary questions to see how candidates respond to racial, gender, ethnic, political etc. discrimination.

By this stage of the coaching Samantha would have clearly seen that effective communication leads to bette...

Session 11: Realistic Estimation Cases & Data Cases

Here we teach candidates how to solve demand-driven estimation cases from the supply-side, when the demand approach is too difficult to use, and vice versa, as well as estimations for enclosed spaces, for small spaces, multiple equations etc....

Session 11: Realistic Estimation Cases & Data Cases

Here we teach candidates how to solve demand-driven estimation cases from the supply-side, when the demand approach is too difficult to use, and vice versa, as well as estimations for enclosed spaces, for small spaces, multiple equations etc....

Session 12: Market Entry Cases & Strategy Cases

When teaching market entry cases, we keep Bain in mind, since their approach, heavily influenced by their PE work, is the most comprehensive and realistic for acquisitions to enter a new market. The approach we teach here can be used to tackle an...

Session 13: Operations Cases, Pivoting to the McKinsey Approach, Mid-Point Feedback & Unstructured/trend cases

All cases done from this session onward to the end are done in the McKinsey-approach and the answer-first approach. This is a tough session which builds on the techniques taught earli...

Session 14: Competition Strategy Cases & Content Traps

Congratulations to the final 2 candidates who make it past session 13.

Special congratulations to the candidate who now will be coached by Michael Boricki, ex-big 3 strategy principal, and mentored by the former-McKinsey director and wo...

Session 15: Pricing Cases

There is no framework for pricing, but there is a simple way to approach pricing problems.

Candidates are too often, incorrectly, taught that there are just 4 pricing strategies: product-based, cost-based, market-based or competition-based. In reality, there are a ...

Session 16: Pricing Cases

There is no framework for pricing, but there is a simple way to approach pricing problems.

Candidates are too often, incorrectly, taught that there are just 4 pricing strategies: product-based, cost-based, market-based or competition-based. In reality, there are a ...

Session 17: Deregulation Cases

If consulting cases would be grouped into seasons, deregulation cases would be Halloween – they scare everyone!

We use deregulation cases to show candidates that just because something appears intimidating, it does not mean it should always have fancy structur...

Session 18: Fit/PEI

While fit is done in this session, we expect candidates to have prepared adequately leading up to this session by listening to podcasts 58-65, listening to other podcasts, leading samples, collecting our feedback, loading more samples etc. If a candidate does poorly here it...

Session 19: Random Full Case & Random Drills

Candidates should now be in the interview process and/or practicing with colleagues. The candidate needs to be become skilled at applying the case techniques with as many different interview styles as possible. They should be practicing and networki...

Session 20: Energy, Conciseness, Brainstorming, Communication & Objective Functions

The five areas highlighted listed above are the most important areas the remaining candidates need to focus on. We find the development areas are split neatly down the middle.

• Felix needs to focus on not w...