This past weekend, I delivered sessions to a fantastic group of students from Carnegie Mellon, as well as some very talented students from top business programs in India. Whether in Pittsburgh or Delhi, common questions centered around how long should I take to prepare and what steps should I take to prepare for interviews? This really depends on the knowledge and skills that you have already built as well as the time you have until your interview. Typically, you should be preparing 2-3 months in advance of your interview. If you don’t have that time then you can operate under a more compressed timeline. I recommend preparing in 3 phases: (1) Build Knowledge, (2) Develop Skills, (3) Showcase Knowledge and Skills.
- Build Knowledge
To build industry understanding, be able to spark conversation, and develop thought-provoking questions or analogies, start by regularly accessing a library of industry resources. This can be done throughout your career (and should)! One thing Marc recommends and I subscribe to is keeping a case journal of interesting articles and business challenges, how they were resolved, or how you might approach them as a consultant. I recommend subscribing regularly to 2-3 podcasts (one I recommend is The Successful Nonprofit with Dolph Goldenburg – catch me in episode 149) and scanning the headlines of Twitter thought leaders.
- Develop Skills
Build professional relationships and practice your ability to connect with others by setting up regular informational interviews and coffee chats. This enables you to practice in a low-stress environment and better understand which companies might be a good fit for you. Moreover, it allows you to ask questions, gain deeper industry insights, and better evaluate consulting.
- Showcase Knowledge and Skills
Once you have a solid base of knowledge, begin to apply that through case interviews. Case In Point: Government and Nonprofit was written, in part, because there were not a lot of resources and cases for the social sector. The book provides 15 case scripts as well as 15 partner cases to practice. You can also craft your own social sector cases through articles captured in your case journal. I recommend completing 2-4 cases a week as well as giving an additional 1-2 cases a week. Serving in the interviewer role in a partner case is extremely valuable because it allows you to take on that persona, evaluate, and provide feedback. As the interviewer in a partner case, you are able to identify some effective practices that you should consider in case interviews as well as practices to avoid. Take time in your case journal to de-construct cases by reverse engineering the assumptions or actions that led to a decision or outcome. This will help you build and flex your consulting muscles.
These practices are not only valuable in getting your foot in the door, but also should be used throughout your career. I continue to keep a case journal and apply these frameworks, case studies, and solutions to consulting projects.
About the Author
Evan Piekara
With over twelve years of experience consulting and working in the government and nonprofit sectors. Evan started his nonprofit career as a member of Teach For America (TFA), where he served as a teacher, volunteer, and in operational support and training roles for the organization. He has supported BDO Public Sector in the launch of their management consulting practice and has provided strategy and operations, human capital, and information technology support to government and nonprofit clients. At BDO Public Sector, Evan led efforts building internal practice recruiting processes including interview questions, cases, and candidate evaluation criteria and developed their Graduate Advisor internship program.
