Management Consulting and Case Solving

for Dummies

2. Why Consulting? What is the process of

getting into a Consult firm?

Issac Jojy

PGP 2014-16

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Why do you want to get into a consulting firm?

• Why do you want to get into a consulting firm is a question you need to evaluate – you need to
gather data and have a fair idea whether consulting is something you’ll be interested in. I have
given you a flavor of what consulting is in the previous document. But you need to speak to more
people and do your research to have a better idea on what consulting has in store for you.

• May be you want to just try out consulting for summers and decide later whether it is your thing
or not. But still, do your bit of research. This is an iterative decision making loop. Sometime during
the decision making process, you might decide that it is your thing or it is definitely not your thing,
but do not take for granted that everyone is meant for consulting just because someone else is
going for it. That is just a dumb/stupid way of making a decision that can affect your future.

• Just because you think consulting is good doesn’t mean that it is be apt for you. You need to be
open to other options like marketing, finance, operations, gen. man. All of them have their own
merits and demerits, as is the case with consulting. Do not decide that consulting is your thing
because your friend might be going for it or because of the over-hype, about which I’ve already
mentioned in the previous document.

• The onus is on the candidate to put in the effort to make this decision. Resources to make this
decision can be seniors, friends working in consulting firms, google and various consulting ppts
that happen on campus, where you’ll get a better flavor of what each consult firm does, the merits
and demerits of consulting, the lifestyle etc. Ask the speakers genuine questions that you have
regarding the field and the nature of work that you can expect to do in these firms.

• If you’re looking for a relaxed 9 am – 6 pm type job profile and you’re convinced for a fact that
you want that kind of a relaxed lifestyle, let me tell you upfront that consulting is not your thing
and you’ll not be able to fit in. Consulting is about diversity in lifestyle and work, continuous
learning and self-improvement, making content for ppts, brainstorming with a lot of awesome
minds, team discussions, team parties, regular collaborative interaction with clients, lunches and
dinners with senior partners, team leads etc. and a lot lot more.

• From my personal experience during my summers, I did not like it at the start. But like every field,
there will be an inhibition at the beginning for everyone because we’re not used to it. I went
through the learning curve and with time, I started loving the problem solving part of the work,
team discussions and brainstorming sessions with team members as well as the clients. The work
hours can get hectic. For the first 3 weeks of my intern, my average sleep hours on weekdays was
3-4 per day. There were even stints with 3 continuous night outs. That was because of a major
client meeting we had and I realized that it was a tough deadline. Post that meeting, things got
settled and it was more of a 9am – 9pm type profile ( + or – a few hours depending on the work
load). But thing with consulting is the diversity involved is huge that one cannot predict what will
happen in the next day. I loved the problem solving part of it. In the firm I interned, most of the

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 ppt work was outsourced to another internal company department specialized in making ppts,
which gave me more time for brainstorming, team discussions and opportunity to think and use
my brain. (I feel all consulting firms will move in this direction shortly)

• So that is my take on consulting. You’ll have to do your bit of research and acknowledge that even
after your research, chances are that you still might not have complete clarity on whether
consulting is your thing or not and you might figure it out only during your summers, but that
shouldn’t stop you from putting in effort to do the basic research. You should ideally be open to
all fields if you’re a person without clarity on what to do in life and get data points about each field
to take a reasonably rational decision.

What is the process of getting into a consulting firm?

So first thing is you need to do your research using the resources I mentioned in the 4th bullet point
in the previous section. What is the process that is followed on our campus for consults and how I
handled the same is a question a lot of pgp1s came asking me. The process is simple

o PPTs by the consult firms: Most firms have a ppt before the resumes are sent to them. Make
use of these ppts. Listen well to the nature of work, lifestyle etc. Ask genuine questions (if any)
that you might have regarding whatever content they present. I wouldn’t suggest putting cp for
the sake of putting cp. If you have something genuine to ask, do ask. Don’t ask questions regarding
your cv to the firms when they come for these ppts. Last year I remember – At the end of one of
a ppt, when the speaker was open to questions – Someone asked “I’ve heard that you look for cvs
with more than 2 spikes. Is that true” The speaker was a senior chap, was irritated by the question
(I don’t think he even knew what a spike really meant – These are just random terms people use)
and he gave the most apt response – “How does our shortlisting criteria matter – Can you go back
in time and change your life if we tell you the shortlisting criteria.” I loved that answer. That was
the same thing I was thinking when I heard the question being asked. Just ask genuine questions
you have. Don’t worry if you don’t have questions at this stage, when you’re reading this
document. During the ppt, just listen attentively and you’ll naturally have questions and even if
you don’t have questions, it’s ok.

o Send your resumes to the consult firms before the deadline: Your resumes have been
finalized. At this stage, there is absolutely nothing you can do to go back in time and change your
life to add or delete points from your resume. Whatever is over is over. Just be happy that you’ve
reached IIMB from wherever you were in your life. Don’t crib about what did not work out for
you in the past. Those thoughts are in no way helping you deal with your current situation. Be
happy about what all worked out for you. Period.

o Release of shortlists: Companies have their own criterion to shortlist students. It is not necessary
that your profile will match their criteria. Summer placements is not the end of the world. If you
don’t get shortlisted for whatever reason, just train your mind to think that those companies don’t

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 deserve you because they’re judging you based on who you were yesterday and not who you are
today. But the onus is on the candidate to have put in the maximum effort to improve his/her
skills and capabilities from yesterday to today. I have seen people crying (like actually crying)
because they did not get shortlisted. It’s then I feel they should be reminded that they’re adults.
Common – I know I’ve got into a consult firm and have an offer – But my mindset even before
coming to this campus was the same – Don’t take life so seriously. If you’re in, you’re in. Else, just
think that the firms do not deserve you because you’re unique in your own little way.

o Case Interview Preparation - The period between releases of shortlists to the day of interviews
is crucial. Candidates are generally not used to the case method of solving problems. Trust me –
It is a brilliant way of solving problems. It’s just that candidates are not used to it. So was the case
with me after the shortlists started coming. Like for everything you want to be proficient at, there
is a learning curve that you need to go through. There will be a lot of inhibition and resistance to
internalize the case method at the beginning of the learning curve. It requires effort and in a matter
of time, you’ll cross the threshold and you’ll start enjoying solving cases. I crossed the threshold
and love solving cases so much that every problem that I face in real life I use the same case
approach to solve it and I’m able to do it very efficiently. Anyway, let me stop digressing too much
and get to the point. Broadly, there are few resources that one can use to get proficient in the case
method of solving problems. I’ll be discussing only the resources that I used. This doesn’t mean
that there aren’t other resources. It is just that within the limited time, I put in my effort only on
these resources and the return on my time investment on these resources was really good. If you
feel that there are other better resources, you should definitely go for that as well. The following
are the ones that I used.

Self-Preparation (Document 3)

Case Group: Case group can be in members of 3-4 (Document 3)

Case prep workshops by the Consult firms (Document 3)

Online resources, ICON resources (Document 3)

Other Resources (Document 3)

Buddy system: Consult firms assign consultants as buddies to assist in the preparation.
This was possibly my most valuable time investment for accelerating my learning curve
(Document 4)

o Consult Dinners: During the last week before summer placements, the consult companies have
dinners for the shortlisted students. People usually get scared when it comes to these dinners and
are not sure how to handle these dinners. I’ll tell you how I handled these dinners. (Document 5)

o Problem Solving Test (PST) – Last year, only 1 firm did this and that has been the case with that
firm for a while. Since I’m anyway talking about the whole process, I thought I should mention
this as well. They give cases in an exam sheet with multiple choice questions. It is just basic math
and logical reasoning skills required to solve the problems. There are a few sample PSTs available
on their website for practice. Shortlisted students need not bother about this until the last week
before summers. The firm will inform you and give you sufficient time. Preparation as such is not
required. Just an open mindset to think and analyze problems is more than sufficient.

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o Preference Submission: I’m not enclosing a separate document to talk about this. Basically, you’ll
have to submit on the placement portal your preferences amongst the companies for which you’ve
been shortlisted. Placecom has some algorithm to which the preferences of candidates are input
and they send you to the different firms on the day of placements depending on that algorithm.
Personally, I would just suggest to go with whatever your gut tells you to go for in terms of giving
your preferences. If you use too much of this game theory fundaes with regard to preferences, you
might end up someplace you do not want to be in. And after giving in preferences as per what
your gut tells you and if you still do not get what you want after the interviews, just be happy that
you tried your best and you don’t have to live with regrets. Acknowledge that summers is not the
end of the world. You’ve come all the way till IIMB and there bigger better things in life as well.
So yeah, that’s about it with regard to preference submission. Just follow what your gut/heart says
based on inputs you get from the various company ppts/seniors/other resources. This is just my
take on it. You can do whatever you feel is right for you.

o Interview with the Consult Firms: How to handle the interview day will be discussed in
Document 6. Document 7 onwards, I’ll talk about the case method of solving cases and the
frameworks I used for myself to solve cases. These frameworks were created as a result of using
all the resources I had mentioned early in this document. I’m not in any way stating that these
frameworks are completely robust. You can go through it and see whether it works for you and
take it, if found useful.

As mentioned before, in the documents that follow that I’ve documented just my way of having
handled the various process components of having got into a consult firm. It need not suit your
character and requirements completely. If you feel that it suits you, you can use my tips.