-------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT ------------------------------------------------------------------
!!! I do not offer simple "case practice sessions" !!!
The goal of my coaching is to transform my mentees' thinking, their articulation of this thinking, and the execution of the corresponding analyses in a way that the world's most prestigious Strategy Consulting firms (McKinsey / BCG / Bain) regularly fall over themselves to get them on board.
From my coaching programme, my mentees build a maturity and rigor of thought that lies WAY above anything that you can see in the pertinent case literature (“Case in Point”, “Case Interview Secrets”, and the likes) and anywhere on the internet. In fact, their ability to think through issues from first principles then even lies way above the level of most young MBB consultants in their first 24 months on the job. Thinking through ANY type of problem from first principles is a skill that consultants usually only learn as Senior Project Leaders (aka Senior Engagement Managers) at MBB – a level of seniority that none of the authors of the popular case books has ever reached! Hence, demonstrating this kind of thinking during interviews is a surefire way to stand out head and shoulders above practically all other candidates who interview in the same batch.
Here is a nice illustration: One of my mentees who started at McKinsey (after having rejected a counteroffer from BCG) met his first-round interviewer over lunch. This (former) interviewer confessed that immediately after the interview his thought had been “Incredible! This guy should rather have interviewed me…”, and that he had never seen such “partner-like thinking” from a person straight out of school.
Over the last couple of years, more than 350 current consultants at McKinsey, BCG and Bain have gone through my coaching program to join their respective firm. Many of them even had the luxury to choose between at least two MBB offers. They are now thriving in their jobs, doing exceptionally well and they tend to progress significantly faster than their average peers. I am 100% convinced, that this is also a direct consequence of the transformative nature of the coaching programme they went through.
Moreover, at least five current coaches on Preplounge are former mentees of mine which have been trained by me to join McKinsey or BCG!
--------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT ME --------------------------------------------------------------------
My name is Dr. Sidi S. Koné. I am a fulltime career coach and one of the world's most prolific experts for MBB-centered interview preparation. I am also the founder and CEO of two companies in this domain, with clients across all geographies.
I am an experienced former Strategy Consultant groomed at McKinsey and formerly BCG, who later served as Head of Corporate Strategy at a several billion dollars global Sports Media & Entertainment corporation.
As a Strategy Consultant for McKinsey and BCG, I have led large consulting teams and worked for top level clients in Germany and Europe as well as numerous countries across Africa and the Middle East for 7 years.
I served as a member of the core recruiting teams in BOTH McKinsey and BCG. In this function, I have formally interviewed hundreds of applicants. Hence, I am using the REAL evaluation criteria and scoring methods that McKinsey and BCG base their decisions on and that you will be evaluated against when interviewing with these firms! Knowing both firms deeply from the inside, I can give you unique insights into the nuances that will make a difference for McKinsey or BCG respectively!
--------------------- I DON'T TEACH FRAMEWORKS, I TEACH THE RIGHT WAY OF THINKING --------------------
When building your case solving muscle, it is much more important to focus on quality, rather than quantity! If you fail to develop the right thinking frame, routines, and habits, the effect of doing more practice cases will be actually detrimental! So scrutinizing the right elements in terms of how to approach business problems by means of a rigorous and bullet-proof thinking frame has to come very early in your process!
For example, probably the BIGGEST misconception that I unfortunately see with many many candidates who want to build up their case solving muscle is the failure to acknowledge and internalize the following:
Structure DOES NOT equal frameworks!
The multiple frameworks that you can find in pertinent case literature (e.g., "Case in Point", "Case Interview Secrets",...) for different types of business questions are nothing more than a very basic toolbox in terms of which areas to look into for certain types of problems. However, they are very poor regarding HOW TO APPROACH a case and HOW TO DRAFT A ROADMAP for solving the case. This approach and roadmap needs to be rooted in rigorous and specific logic, and this is a completely different requirement than “learning and applying a framework”. This "framework learning philosophy" is the very reason why an overwhelming majority of candidates will not get an offer. Hence, teaching my mentees how to approach ANY type of business situation by means of first principles rather than "frameworks" is one of the fundamental elements established early on in my coaching sessions.
------------------------------------------------- TRACK RECORD AND OFFERING ---------------------------------------------------
As a private interview coach, I have helped more than 300 candidates to break into consulting in the last years.
- Roughly 75% of these successful candidates secured offers from either McKinsey or BCG
- The remaining offers distribute across Bain, Booz/S&, Roland Berger, and Oliver Wyman. I am NOT focusing on smaller firms!
One interesting fact: several of my mentees have been offered full-time contracts by McKinsey already after the first round! McKinsey was so convinced of their performance that the Firm deemed further rounds unnecessary (this is testified in some of the 130+ reviews on my profile! Feel free to scroll down in order to read through all of them.).
As of today, I am the only expert on Preplounge who has worked several years as a full time consultant AND interviewer for two MBB firms. Given this experience, I can also offer well-founded perspectives when it comes to assessing cross-offers - specifically concerning decisions between McKinsey and BCG offers!
I offer both, Case Interview Preparation and Personal Experience/Personal Fit Interview Preparation.
I look forward to help you land multiple MBB offers!
