Consulting
On this page
General Information Sites
Case Interviews
Industry-Specific Internship Links
Books
General Information Sites
Spotlight on Careers: Consulting
Vault Guides - The best consulting overviews accessible via the Password Information Page. Downloadable documents:
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- Career Guide to Consulting
- Vault Guide to the Top 25 Consulting Firms
Association of Management Consulting Firms
International association of firms engaged in management consulting. The association maintains an online database of member firms.
Case Interviews
Many of the top consulting firms offer case interviewing tips and practice cases on their web sites. A few are linked below, but be sure to check out others.
Ace the Case
One of the largest sources of sample management consulting case interview questions on the net.
McKinsey & Company Interactive Case
Great case question practice.
Case Questions with Marc Cosentino
CaseInterview.com
Free Video Tutorials, Frameworks & Examples from a Former McKinsey Interviewer
Rice MBA Case Study Interviews
Comprehensive list of resources to prepare for a Case Study Interview.
Industry-Specific Internship Links
Books
Business (BUS)
First-Hand Accounts / Biography
Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything . Kawasaki, Guy. New York: Portfolio, 2004. From the panel of the book jacket: “A new product, a new service, a new company, a new division, a new organization, a new anything—where there’s a will, here’s the way…. Whether you are an entrepreneur, intrapreneur, or not-for-profit crusader, there’s no shortage of advice available on issues such as writing a business plan, recruiting, raising capital, and branding…. In [this book], Guy Kawasaki [offers] the essential guide for anyone starting anything, from a multinational corporation to a church group…. From raising money to hiring the right people, from defining your positioning to building a brand, from creating a buzz to buzzing the competition, from managing a board to fostering a community, this book will guide you through an adventure that’s more art than science—the art of the start.”
Confessions of a Street Addict . Cramer, James J. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002. From the panel of the book jacket: “In the most candid look at Wall Street since Liar’s Poker, James J. Cramer, co-founder of TheStreet.com, radio and television commentator, and for years one of Wall Street’s premier money managers, takes readers on a no-holds-barred tour of life on Wall Street—revealing how the game is played, who breaks the rules, and who gets hurt…. Throughout the book, Cramer is characteristically outspoken, outrageous, and candid about everyone, himself included. There has never been a high-wired, high-octane book about Wall Street like this one.”
Liar’s Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street . Lewis, Michael. New York: Penguin Books, 1990. From the back cover: “Michael Lewis was fresh out of Princeton and the London School of Economics when he landed a job at Salomon Borthers, one of Wall Street’s premier investment firms. During the next three years, Lewis rose from callow trainee to New York- and London-based bond salesman, raking in millions for the firm and cashing in on a modern-day gold rush. [This book] is the culmination of those heady, frenzied years—a behind-the-scenes look at a unique and turbulent time in American business. From the frat-boy camaraderie of the forty-first-floor trading room to the killer instinct that made ambitious young men gamble everything on a high-stakes game of bluffing and deception, here is Michael Lewis’s knowing and hilarious insider’s account of an unprecedented era of greed, gluttony, and outrageous fortune.”
Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle . Rolfe, John and Peter Troob. New York: Warner Business Books, 2000. From the back cover: “Forget what you’ve read, forget what you’ve heard, forget what you’ve been taught. [This book] pulls off Wall Street’s suspenders and gives the reader the inside skinny on real life at an investment bank, where the promised land is always one more twenty-hour workday and another lap dance away…. Fresh out of Wharton and Harvard business schools, John Rolfe and Peter Troon ran willingly into the open arms of investment bank giant Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. They had signed on as foot soldiers in a white-collar army of overworked and frustrated lemmings furiously trying to spin straw into gold. They escaped with the remnants of their sanity—and, ultimately, this book. Uncensored, unsanitized, and uncut, it captures the chaotic essence of the Wall Street carnival and the outlandish personalities that make it all hum…and it will become the smartest, most entertaining investment you’ll make this year.”
Management Consulting / I-Banking / Case Interviewing
Case in Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation . Cosentino, Marc P. Needham, MA: Burgee Press, 2007. From the back cover: “Cosentino demystifies the consulting case interview. He takes you inside a typical interview by exploring the various types of case questions and he shares with you a system that will help you answer today’s most sophisticated case questions. With over fifteen years of experience coaching and preparing Harvard students for consulting interviews, Cosentino offers you the expert advice you need to land a job in the competitive field of management consulting.” See also: 2005 edition.
Careers in Management Consulting (WebFeet Guide). San Francisco: WetFeet, Inc., 2007. From the back cover: “Whether you’re attracted by the big bucks, the intellectual rigor, the glamour, the work, or a combination of the above, you’re not alone. Consulting firms are traditionally among the largest employers of top MBA and college graduates. It’s a high-paying, high-profile field that offers the opportunity to take on a lot of responsibility right out of school and quickly learn a great deal about the business world. [E]xpect competition for jobs to be as tough as ever. You’ll need to do your homework to land a job with a top consulting firm. The Insider Guide is the perfect place to start…. [Includes] The state of the industry today…; Industry rankings of the major firms…; Profiles of 22 top management consulting firms…; Typical responsibilities for analysts and associates and profiles of real people working in consulting today; What consultants really love—and really hate—about their jobs; How to prepare for the recruiting process….”
Ace Your Case® II: Fifteen More Consulting Cases . San Francisco: WetFeet, Inc., 2004. From the back cover: “The case interview: analytical, quantitative, creative, challenging…but isn’t that what consulting is really about? …Provides 15 more case questions that you can use to practice and sharpen your case-cracking skills. [Includes] An introduction to the case interview—its role in the process for consulting firms; An explanation of the most common case question types, from market-sizing questions to resume questions; Tips for handing each kind of question; Insight into consulting recruiters’ interview objectives…; Practice questions you can complete on your own; Detailed examples of good and bad answers for each practice question, along with tips for improving your own answers and recovering from mistakes.” See also: Ace Your Case I.
Vault Guide to Investment Banking . Prior, Chris and Tom Lott. New York: Vault Inc., 2001. (Red binder in BUS section of Career Services library). From the Table of Contents: “The Industry—What is an Investment Bank?; Commercial Banking, Investment Banking and Asset Management; The Equity Markets; The Fixed Income Markets; Trends in I-Banking; Stock and Bond Offerings; M&A, Private Placements, and Reorgs. On the Job—Corporate Finance (The Players; The Role of the Players; The Typical Week in Corporate Finance; Formulas for Success); Institutional Sales and Trading (S&T) (Trading – The basics; Executing a Trade; Trading – The Players; Trading – The Routine; Institutional Sales – The Basics; Institutional Sales – The Players; Private Client Services); Research (The Players and the Product; Three Months in Research; Research – The Ties that Bind); Syndicate: The Go-Betweens. Appendix—Glossary; Recommended Reading.”
Miscellaneous
The Business Style Handbook: An A-to-Z Guide for Writing on the Job with Tips from Communications Experts at the Fortune 500. Cunningham, Helen and Brenda Greene. Chicago: McGraw-Hill, 2002. From the back cover: “[This book] is today’s most comprehensive, practical and easy-to-use guide for writing efficiently on the job. This helpful reference grammar focuses on the writing issues identified as most important in the workplace by communications executives from the Fortune 500. Written in plain English, it is filled with tips and advice for improving your on-the-job writing skills. [This book] provides more than 1,200 A-to-Z entries covering: Usage; Grammar; Punctuation; Spelling; Style. Filled with business-focused guidance plus straight-talking recommendations from top communications professionals, [this] is the most valuable desktop tool….”
