Victor Cheng - Case Interview Secrets: A Former McKinsey Interviewer Reveals How to Get Multiple Job Offers in Consulting

Victor gave me a clear understanding of how to structure a case interview using a highly logical approach. This helped me get offers from BCG and a boutique firm and make it to McKinseys final round before opting out. Thanks, Victor!

Martin Pustilnick

Associate

Boston Consulting Group, Argentina

In my first attempt to break into consulting, I failed every one of my interviews with McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Oliver Wyman, Monitor, Booz and probably a few others. On my second attempt two years later, I followed everything Victor Cheng suggested and took advantage of every resource he provided...and received an offer from McKinsey!

Daniel Suo

Business Analyst (Offer Recipient)

McKinsey, Stamford

Without Victors help, I never would have gotten an offer from BCG. What he teaches really makes the difference between getting an offer and not.

Puttipath Tasnavites

Associate

Boston Consulting Group, Thailand

After following Victors guidance, I had a complete breakthrough in my case interview performance and got an offer from Monitor.

Marine Serres

Senior Consultant

Monitor & Company

Coming from a non-top-tier business school, I received an offer from BCG by following Victors advice.

Andrew Chau

Associate

Boston Consulting Group, Canada

(On Leave to Consult for the United Nations)

As a PhD candidate in engineering, I had an academic background that left me completely unprepared for the case interview process. When I started, I looked at all the case preparation materials I could get my hands on. But none of these materials taught you how to think.

Thats when I found Victor Cheng. Instead of asking you to memorize 12 different case systems or what question to ask exactly when, he teaches you how to think like a consultant.

After my case interviews, I learned that Id solved cases that the interviewers hadnt seen anyone solve before, and I usually did so with ample time to spare. I ended up getting my dream job. Thank you, Victor!

Zach Jacobson

Associate

McKinsey, New York

Rather than teach to the test, Victor teaches you how to think like a consultant. Its an approach that required me to memorize nothing more than a few simple business ideas yet allowed me to perform well in the case interview regardless of the type of case I received. I could not have gotten my BCG offer without his help. Thank you, Victor!

Warren Cheng

Associate

Boston Consulting Group, Hong Kong

Victor and all his materials on the case interview are by far the best resources on the topic that exist. In asking my interviewers for feedback between rounds, all three times they told me my performance was really strong and they could not think of anything that needed improvement.

This kind of feedback helped keep my confidence high so that I continued to perform well. The combination of Victors advice and hard work made all the difference for me.

Dmitry Papulin

Business Analyst

McKinsey, Dubai

Victor taught me how to prepare both technically and mentally, and this is what makes the difference between him and the competitors.

The feedback I received after my first few case interviews was that I seemed to know what I was doing, was confident and demonstrated a thinking process that was well-structured.

Without Victors help I probably wouldnt have gotten the offer from BCG. Thank you, Victor Cheng!

Istvn Mag

Associate Offer Recipient

Boston Consulting Group, Hungary

Victor is effective because he focuses on behaviors and habits that make you successful and not just on frameworks. With his help, I received a McKinsey Summer Associate offer.

Abhi Patangay

Kellogg School of Management

Victor tells you not only what to do in an interview but also why you should do it. Knowing the logic and reasoning behind what consulting companies were looking for made it much easier to demonstrate my consulting strengths and resulted in my securing a summer position at BCG.

James Nauss

Summer Associate

Boston Consulting Group, Canada

A F ORMER M C K INSEY I NTERVIEWER
R EVEALS H OW TO G ET M ULTIPLE
J OB O FFERS IN C ONSULTING

VICTOR CHENG

Innovation Press
Seattle

This book and the information contained herein are for informative purposes only. The information in this book is distributed on an as-is basis, without warranty. The author makes no legal claims, express or implied, and the material is not meant to substitute legal or financial counsel.

The author, publisher, and/or copyright holder assume no responsibility for the loss or damage caused or allegedly caused, directly or indirectly, by the use of information contained in this book. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any liability incurred from the use or application of the contents of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Throughout this book, trademarked names are referenced. Rather than using a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we state that we are using the names in an editorial fashion only and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.

Copyright 2012 Victor Cheng

All rights reserved.

Published by Innovation Press

93 S. Jackson St., #75551, Seattle, WA 98104

ISBN 978-0-9841835-3-1

For Julia and the girls

The free companion items to this book, including video demonstrations, printable versions of handouts, and book updates, are available at:

www.caseinterview.com/bonus

Please access these additional resources now before you forget.

VERY FEW PEOPLE succeed entirely on their own. Im no exception. I want to thank my parents who put me in educational environments where my talents had the room and opportunity to shine.

I also want to thank two people who helped me get my multiple job offers in consulting. The first is Josie Welling, a Stanford Graduate School of Business alumna and former Oliver Wyman consultant who gave me my first practice case interview. I didnt know Josie at all. We didnt have any friends in common or anything. I more or less out of the blue asked her to help, and she was generous enough to oblige. I was never able to pay her back, so I started thinking about how I could pay it forward. If Josie was willing to help out an eager undergrad, the least I could do was the same. The result is www.caseinterview.com . And while I receive a lot of emails from around the world thanking me for creating the site, I have to in turn thank Josie for her inspiration.

I also want to thank Kevin Lo, a former Bain intern and consultant who is a friend of a friend. He was kind enough to spend an hour with me on the phone and introduce me to the concept of a framework, which up until that point I had never heard of before. The frameworks you see in this book are based largely on the ones he shared with me during that phone call. I still have my original notes.

PART ONE

Chapter 1

IF YOURE APPLYING to a top strategy management consulting firm, youll soon discover an unusual obstacle in your waythe case interview. Its a unique interview format that firms such as McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Oliver Wyman, A.T. Kearney, Monitor & Company, and Roland Berger use.