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My background

I attended a top 10 business school in a general management program and joined LEK Consulting upon graduation. I was with LEK for approximately 2 years during which time I worked on ~8 consulting projects. My functional experience on those cases spanned growth strategy, operational improvement, M&A, and strategic planning. From an industry perspective, my case work spanned several diverse industries including private equity, technology, life science, and healthcare. I know work in a Corporate Strategy group at a top rated venture backed start-up.

My perspective: Management Consulting

My decision to enter management consulting post business school was driven by a few factors: 1) my passion for the fluidity and diversity of project based work, 2) my desire to gain broad exposure to a variety of functional areas (e.g., marketing, sales, operations), and 3) a desire to gain formal training in strategy development.

I believe that management consulting, second perhaps only to an entrepreneurial endeavor, teaches you more about different industries and functional areas than any other post-business school exit opportunities. The pace of work is quick, hours can be grueling, and the work is often at a very detailed level (even 'blue sky' strategy projects); what one gains in return the opportunity to work with and for senior executives to solve their most pressing challenges. Consulting forces a rigorous, analytical, and systematic approach to problem solving---key transferable skills to any job.

Resume for LEK Consulting

In terms of how to make your resume stand out, ensure that you emphasize your achievement (not just your function or activity). LEK looks for candidates with strong analytical ability, demonstrated leadership, and proven team players. Particularly for post-MBA hires, having experience with the last two criterion (leadership and team) are critical. If your pre-business school experience was not extremely quantitative or analytical, be prepared to articulate how you've taken steps to develop this area (e.g., coursework). And of course, the case interview will also demonstrate your analytical ability.

An effective way of communicating your achievements is to orient your resume by articulating the project, your specific activity, and quantifying the impact or outcome of the project. This approach is useful even if you do not have experience in a typical, project based employer. We reviewed all resumes and did not use software programs to scan resumes so keywords are not particularly useful.

Lastly, be thoughtful in what you list down for your outside interests. I utilized this section often in the behavioral interviews; digging in to a candidate's personal interests can often demonstrates the candidate's passion and focus.

The LEK Consulting Interview

LEK employs your typical case based interview. As with many other management consulting firms, the cases are meant to test both your analytical / quantitative rigor as well as your strategic thinking. For those interviewing for Associate positions (typically after undergraduate university), the emphasis will be more on the analytical side; for post-business school candidates, the focus will be on both analytics as well as strategic thinking. I conducted a fair number of interviews while with the firm and I always used a case that I had actually worked on. I prepared for these interviews by conducting many case practice sessions with my classmates during the recruiting year.

There are typically 2 - 3 rounds of interviews prior to an offer being extended. For me, there were 2 rounds: 1 on campus at my business school, and a second round in the LEK office. Note that the office you interview with for the final round may not be the exact office for which you are given an offer. The first round had two back-to-back 45 minute case interviews, both conducted by senior engagement managers (3-5 years post business school). My first interviewee made sure that he did not ask me a case question in an industry that I had significant previous experience in (biotech). The case was a combination of market sizing (quantitative) and strategic prioritization of which markets to enter. My second round interview was purely strategic in nature--should a private equity firm buy a target company? As with case interviews with most firms, an open dialog with your interviewer, clear articulation of your thought process, and clear, evocative questions are recommended ...

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