In this post we wanted to cover three topics that many club members have reached out to us about, which are:
- What does McKinsey, Bain, and BCG (MBB) recruiting look like for most Wesleyan students?
- What other consulting companies recruit from Wesleyan?
- What kinds of atypical tests (neither a traditional case nor behavioral interview) are out there, and how do I succeed in them?
MBB Recruiting
Getting an offer in consulting can be broken down into networking and interviewing. This is especially the case with MBB firms, given that we have not been historically considered a target school.
You should start by connecting with lower level members of the firm (Analysts & Associates) to learn about the culture, day to day at the firm etc. before you reach out to a manager or partner. Partners are almost always willing to refer you from within–that is, if you can get on their calendars. When you’ve networked effectively, there won’t be a doubt in your mind that you’ll be interviewing soon.
Here is the typical MBB format for interviews:
1st round: 2 back-to-back 40 minute interviews with Post-MBA level consultants (title varies by firm). Each interview contains a ~25-30 minute case with a few behavioral questions and maybe some time at the end for you to ask questions too.
2nd round: 3 back-to-back 40 minute interviews with partners or upper level managers. Typically these interviews consist of 2 cases, similar to the first round, but with the addition of one interview being purely behavioral to evaluate your fit at the firm.
Also note that you are allowed (and even encouraged) to ask for feedback from your interviewers between rounds of interviews for how you can case better in your next round
Consulting Recruiting at Wesleyan
| Analysis Group — Economic consulting | |
| Argus/Verisk — Data analytics & Advisory | |
| Boston Consulting Group — Cardinal Internship posted ~July, one partner vets Wesleyan applicants | |
| Booz Allen Hamilton — Management consulting (public sector specialty) | |
| Brattle Group — Economic consulting | |
| Brunswick Group — Management consulting | |
| Capital One — In-house strategy positions | |
| CCS Fundraising — Fundraising consulting | |
| Compass Lexecon — Economic consulting | |
| Charles River Associates — Economic consulting | |
| Dalberg Advisors — Strategic consulting | |
| Ekimetrics — Strategic consulting | |
| Hagerty Consulting — Environmental/sustainability consulting | |
| McKinsey — Gilbert Clee scholarship for students in their penultimate year at Wes | |
| Out Leadership — Management consulting | |
| Putnam Associates — Life sciences consulting | |
| Seurat Group — Consumer paged goods consulting | |
| Trinity Life Sciences — Life sciences consulting |
Atypical Assessments
For atypical testing, companies are constantly changing their offerings and we as a Wesleyan community are experiencing more and more tests. For this article, we’ll speak about what we’ve encountered so far and how to succeed in circumstances moving forward.
McKinsey: PST
Seurat Group: Quantitative Case Study
BCG: Pymetrics Test
Your performance on these tests along will not be the reason why you get a job, however, doing poorly may prevent you from receiving an offer to interview.
Learn more about these types of assessments here
Tips to remember:
If you are to encounter either one of these tests or even one at a different firm, keep in mind the following:
- Firms use atypical tests as a way to select the best candidates, and sometimes can use asynchronous methods to minimize the amount of time that their employees spend in recruiting
- Each test is designed to assess the same skills that a case interview would test: your problem solving skill set, your ability to structure a problem, whether you can think critically, and if you can sort out extra information.
- Approach each test the same way that you would approach a case! Diagram your framework if possible, test hypotheses, stay structured…
- Take your time to read the directions for each task fully. You aren’t evaluated on how fast you read.
Any further questions, comments, concerns?
Feel free to reach out if you have any experiences to add!
