How to Best Position Myself for MBB Internship?

Hi there, 

What a great question!

I've written two articles on PrepLounge that address exactly how to be an effective consultant when you get started. Try to implement that advice and that should put you in the top quartile of firm performers and help you get a full-time offer.

Here they are:
https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/entry-level-consultant-what-is-it-like

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/management-consulting-working-hours

Best,

Cristian

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the BCG offer!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, remember that the most important factor in securing a full-time offer after your internship is to perform well in your role and demonstrate your value (potential) to the company.
• While many interns perform well in their role, they miss out on demonstrating their value (potential) to the company due to a lack of visibility. As such, in order to operationalize demonstrating your value (potential) to the company, I would highly advise you to speak up, be proactive in seeking out opportunities to contribute, and take on responsibility.
• Still, in order to perform well in your role, it's important to critically assess your methodological, industry, technical and people skills, and work on areas where you feel you may need improvement.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your BCG internship, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there,

Congratulations on the BCG internship offer! In terms of your question:

Q: Any advice on how I can prepare to best position myself for success in the role? It could be anything from attire to skills development.

I would recommend the following:

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IT TOOLS

You are probably fine with Excel and PowerPoint, if not you can take a quick course to review the basics. You can check in advance with your office if they recommend training on any other tool, such as Alteryx or Tableau and if so, do some prep on that.

One of the most important things you can learn with any IT tool is shortcuts – they will increase substantially your productivity.

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INDUSTRIES

If your office specializes in specific industries where you would like to work, it would be good to get a minimum knowledge of them in advance. You will still learn the most during the job so this is not strictly necessary.

You can find some tips on recent consulting trends here:

▶ 11 New Consulting Trends You Should Know

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READING LIST

A good way to invest your extra time before starting is to… read. You probably won’t have much time to do this later and reading can help you substantially to accelerate your personal growth.

Personally I don’t have much time to read, so I listen to books – Audible is great for this. You can easily listen to a book per week with minimum effort. You absorb books differently when you listen, so you have to check if this works for you.

The following are some books I would highly recommend to develop a growth mindset – key in any industry with high pressure. You can expand the list with anything you want to learn – just try to find a few really good books on that topic.

• The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy (great book on long-term planning)
• Tiny Habits – BJ Fogg (excellent, science-based book on habits formation)
• The Mediations – Marcus Aurelius (written ~ 2000 years ago but incredibly actual – the personal diary of the most powerful man in the world at the time)
• The 80–20 Principle – Richard Koch (very smart life tips from one of the founders of LEK)
• Peaks and Valleys – Spencer Johnson (crisis management tale – from the same author of the famous “Who moved my Cheese”, I personally found this book a lot more interesting and applicable)
• The Gap and the Gain – Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy (excellent book in terms of mindset for happiness)

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FIRST WEEKS

Below you can also find some tips for the first weeks I usually recommend – you are probably familiar with most of them, but it might be useful to review the list just in case:

1. Take notes during meetings/discussions with your manager – this will help you to remember details and will show the team that you care.
2. Always double-check. The first impression is very important when you join a new company: if you show you are reliable from the beginning, you will create a good reputation. Double checks should be done on expectations for your job, your Excel analysis, your slides – basically everything.
3. Define priorities before starting any set of tasks. You want to identify the most important activities and prioritize them, applying the 80-20 rule. Align with your manager to define them at the start of the project whenever possible.
4. Socialize with your colleagues and start to build a network. A good start is key to develop good relationships long-term. Try to build connections in your first weeks with your peers to build a network.
5. Align with your team on your private life activities. You might want to organize some space for personal activities (sport/ friends/ family). It is better to align with your manager/teammates from the beginning on your core needs so that there are no surprises later­ on.
6. Ask for feedback every two-three weeks – this will show you are proactive and willing to learn.
7. Ask for help when you don't know what to do – better to let know you are in trouble with meeting a deadline than missing the deadline.
8. Be approachable and respectful to support staff – these people are generally great and influential in the company as well.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offer!

MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know that no-one can perfectly prepare for the job and that's the point: You will mess up, you will learn, you will be trained and supported. That's OK!

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First: Read the 25 tips in my consulting handbook

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Second: In terms of things you can learn/do to prepare beforehand:

1) Daily Reading

• The Economist, The Financial Times, BCG/Mskinsey Insights

2) Industry deep-dives

• Learn, in-depth, how the industries/companies your office advises, work. (PM me for an industry overview template)

3) Analytics tools

• Alteryx, Tableau, etc.

4) Excel

5) Powerpoint

• Best practices/standards
• Different layouts
• Quickly editing/updating slides
• Thinking in PowerPoint

6) Presentation skills / sharp communication

• There are some online/virtual classes for this

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Third: In terms of doing well in your role when you're there:

1) Understand the context/prompt (what role are you in, what company, who's watching, etc.)

2) Understand the objective (what, specifically, is expected from you...both day to day, and in your overall career progression)

3) Quickly process information, and focus on what's important - Take a lot of information and the unknown, find the most logical path, and focus on that.

4) Be comfortable with the unknown, and learn to brainstorm - think/speak like an expert without being one

In summary, there will always be a flood of information, expectations, competition etc. and not enough time. Find out which ones matter when. (i.e. be visibile and focus efforts on the things that people care about)

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Fourth: Here are some great prior Q&As for you!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-makes-a-good-consultant-how-to-get-a-good-review-6790

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-hard-is-it-to-excel-in-top-consulting-firms-6762

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-become-an-engagement-manager-and-partner-quickly-6722

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/need-to-learn-skills-in-the-ample-free-time-before-starting-at-an-mbb-what-should-i-do-6774

Hello,

Congrats on securing the internship!

There has been a lot of detail already shared by other coaches. I'll give a few perspectives based on my time in consulting

1. Understand the ‘passing mark’
   • Clarify what the evaluation metrics and expectations are
   • Ask your PL what it means to demonstrate them
2. If in doubt, ask
   • Better to ask and clarify and get the right answer, than assume and go down the wrong path
3. Leverage people in the firm
   • Ask for advice and tips from other Associates/Consultants/PLs - many of them were once interns themselves
4. Keep an open mind and a growth mindset
   • Be willing to make mistakes and learn from them
   • Don't let mistakes demotivate you, and on the flipside as well don't get defensive when receiving feedback/criticism

During my time in BCG, I've managed and also given inputs on hiring decisions for interns - happy to chat more if helpful.

All the best!

Hi there,

Congrats!

I would tackle this problem from an 80/20 perspective.

I have never seen an intern not get a return offer because their Excel or PowerPoint skills were not up to par.

Why?

a. The knowledge you need for both is very basic

b. These are technical skills and can easily be learned

The main reason why interns fail is that they are not present/visible enough.

• Be present in the team room and team meetings (speak up, synthesize, summarize, build on others points, present your insights and implications,…)
• Be visible in front of clients (get to know them, small-talk, inlcude them in the problem-solving process)
• Be visible in front of leadership (reaching out to partners, sharing insights, demonstrating ownership of your work)

Consulting is not for shy people. You can work on the most accurate mindblowing analyses and visualize them with a killer slide. If you fail to show your presence, you will not get a return offer.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

you should be engaged in a number of ways during the internship:

• be proactive with your team and offer support where you can, don't just wait passively until they talk to you or give you tasks
• proactively ask your manager for regular feedback and make it a point to work on it so that you can showcase a learning curve in the highlighted areas
• participate in team discussion and don't be afraid to share your own ideas, suggestions and observations (it's not about being right or wrong compared to more senior consultants, it's about your underlying rationale) - consulting firms want people who think for themselves so demonstrate that
• network within the company, both inside and outside of your project team - have chats with people at the office, make sure they know your name, participate in office/practice events and the likes

I hope that helps to give you an idea.

Best