How can I ensure a full time offer after a summer internship at top management consulting firms?

Question

Dear community,

I'm extremely grateful about the preplounge-community which helped me a lot to get the internship offer from BCG and McKinsey (still undecided though which to choose).

One really important question where I would need helpful advices on how to perform best during the internship to get the full time position offer? What do I need to consider to maximize my chances to get the offer?
I'm already trying hard to gain Excel-skills :-)
Many thanks in advance!! Ibrahim

Answer 1

Hi Ibrahim,

First of all, congrats on the offers! Definitely a good problem to have in terms of deciding where to go.

As far as securing an offer goes, there's three things that I think you should account for during your internship.

1) Mistakes are inevitable throughout the summer. The main thing you'll be looking to do is avoid making big mistakes and avoid repeating the same mistakes. The expectations for your internship aren't for you to come in and save the company (if you do, then that's great) but rather for them to get to see you in a team and client environment in order to assess your performance and potential growth.

2) Building on my first point, consulting is a people-driven job and, because of this, a significant portion of your evaluation will come down to your fit with the firm. This doesn't mean networking non-stop; instead, you need demonstrate your ability to be a strong follower, leader, and client-facing intern who will not crack under pressure. At the same time, it helps if you are able to bond with your peers, client team, and overall office during your stay. In short, the team wants to determine if they can see you working with them for the long-haul.

3) Lastly, and many will probably say this to you, attention to detail is key. As mentioned in the first point, you need to minimize the impact of your mistakes as well as the frequency of mistakes you make. Treat each draft deck, slide, research paper, spreadsheet, etc. as a final version. By doing this, you'll provide a higher standard to your work which will speak volumes of you as a professional.

If something is unclear to you about any assignment, ask right away and never leave margin for error. Whenever you have time for more work, ask how you can help your team. If there isn't enough work or if you're interested in other initiatives / tasks, reach out to others within your network. It's things like these that make a difference.

Hopefully this helps and best of luck with your internship. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,

Carlos

Answer 2

Hi Ibrahim,

I agree with the points mentioned by Carlos; below you can find a couple of additional tips from a previous post I wrote to do better in the internship:

Take proactively notes when your manager tells you something – this will help you to remember details and will show you care about them to the team.
Ask for feedback every two-three weeks – this will show you are proactive and willing to learn.
Always, always, always double check. First impression is very important in consulting: if you show you are reliable from the beginning, you will create a reputation of a reliable person.
Ask for help when you don’t know what to do/are stuck – better to let know you are in trouble with a deadline then missing the deadline.
Be social and respectful with the support staff – these people are great and influential as well in the company.

In terms of what to do before your internship starts, a review of Power Point and in particular Excel, as you are doing, would be helpful.

Eric and Elias also provided some good points here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-do-well-in-consulting-343#a704

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Answer 3

Don't make big mistake is enough to get return offer i guess. They want you to be full-time that is whay they give you the internship. Try your best and take your initiative and network, you will be fine. And I'll suggest you take the Mckinsey offer unless you would like to pursue career in healthcare and retail industry you may need more insider tips.

good luck!

Answer 4

Dear Ibrahim,

My congrats on your offer! First of all, you should pay your attention to your internship, try not to make mistakes, and get the best results.

Be very productive, and due to this, you can significantly increase your chances to get a job offer.

If you need any specific tips regarding your further steps in your career, just write me a DM!

Best,

André

Answer 5

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Answer 6

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Answer 7

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