7 Things Bain, BCG & McKinsey Look For In Their MBA Hires

Bain, BCG, and McKinsey hire hundreds of MBA graduates into consultant roles each year. But what skills and characteristics do the Big Three consulting firms look for?

5. Improvisation

Working as a consultant requires living outside of your comfort zone, constantly adapting to new clients and challenges, and entering the unknown.

The best way to describe it, thinks Keith (pictured below), is imagining you’re playing in a jazz quartet.

“There’s no script, so you’re going to play a bit, then pass it on to a fellow team member, who’ll do the same. Together, you’ll make great music, but the direction is improvised.

“I think some students want to be perfect and play classical music and don’t want to share their insight or preliminary analysis until it’s right. The truth is I need them to share because what they share may not be perfect, but it’ll spark something in somebody else. I need students who are comfortable in that sort of environment.”

6. Who you are beyond your CV

All of the above skills are vital once you become an MBA consultant. But getting through the consulting interview requires one key thing: to show who you are beyond your resume.

“The best interviews are conversations and we want our candidates to share who they are beyond their resume,” explains Brian. “We know candidates spend lots of time prepping for the case study portion of the interview and encourage people to focus time on the personal experience portion too.

“Think of examples of when you led a project, solved a problem, or used your entrepreneurial mindset. This portion of the interview is a great opportunity for candidates to stand out, show who they are, where they excel, and what’s not on their CV.”