What can I do to bolster my chances of a seamless lateral

I'll break this lengthy post into several parts. The first will be the lateral recruitment landscape in Consulting, the second will be an overview of Consulting and the third (+ fourth) will be on preparation notes surrounding coffee chats and cover letters.

Feel free to ask follow ups and not read the whole thing. This is really just here in case you need it. Like a swiss army knife, pull out the useful info.

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Lateral Consulting Recruitment - Moving from Finance to Consulting

Moving from Commercial Banking to Consulting may prove a bit challenging, but there are a number of relevant skills you can highlight in your lateral job search. For starters, you have corporate experience in a client facing role with financial acumen. There are technical skills you can highlight to bolster your application package; keep in mind that the resume makes up about 60-70% of the application and the cover letter makes up the remaining 30-40%. 

From a technical skill set: 

• Boast your market research and due diligence  you've analyzed within the Commercial Banking landscape.   
• Your presentation decks, communications (whether word docs, memos, financial product pitches, etc.) are all great evidence of your ability to communicate and synthesize relevant information for the target audience. 
• Speak on your financial modelling, research, analytical tasks all as evidence of your work ethic and competence to perform in a high-pressure situation. 
• All of the technical software you've used will be relevant: Advanced MS Excel, PPT, Database software  use CapIQ, Bloomberg Terminal, etc.
  • Although you won't be using CapIQ or Bloomberg Terminal, you will be using database technology

Once you've polished your resume after checking a few positions to highlight your experiences, then you can begin reaching out to ~30-50 consultants to understand the firm-specific lateral hiring demand. This will help assess whether you'd be a good fit (technically and culturally) at the firms and help assess what practices, teams or offices you'd like to work at. By the end of this, you should ideally have some people vouching for you within the firm, either in the immediate short term, or just to notify you the next time an opportunity becomes available. 

The differences exist in the scope and mindset of consulting: Commercial bankers ask how much debt can the company finance this year, Consulting analysts ask what problems are they facing from reaching their strategic goals. 

To have a better understanding of that, I'd advise the usual circuit of Consulting Interview Prep: reading Case Interview Secrets and Case In Point, going through Crafting Cases, PrepLounge, RocketBlocks, Mock Interviews via University Consulting Books. 

I would like to highlight that the consulting mindset is best captured by Case Interview Secrets (more useful for on-the-job in my personal opinion) and the consulting interview components are best captured by Crafting Cases (legendary free 7-day crash course). I'll dive into the resource list specifically next. 

The Reason Finance Folks go to M&A/PE Groups

After ~1.5-2 years, most analysts in consulting shops begin to specialize in a function and industry experience. When high finance folks (IB analysts) choose to exit, they do so at the intermediate level (experienced analyst, or associate/consultant position - the title differs by the firm). In doing this, it's easier for them to negotiate higher seniority/relevant skill set by applying to M&A/PE groups. Even within those specialized groups, analysts/consultants can opt for other work assignments within reason. Within your realm of expertise, you can differentiate yourself by looking into financial transformation, business design or M&A groups within consulting firms. This would allow your skills to be directly relevant to the roles, and give you opportunities to opt for other assignments once you're in the firm.  

Let me know if you need any guidance on the recruitment process or resources. 

The Interview Process for Lateral Hires

For the lateral hiring market, most positions are not publicly disclosed, rather first released to employees at the firm where they bring forth candidates that they find would be a good fit. Essentially, knowing someone at a consulting firm looking to hire for their team will give you the best chance of getting the first interview. Of course, not all applications at the lateral hire are internal, but it is a first line of applications. The below is a traditional hiring process at the new grad. level, although most firms also carry out this process, the trend often observed is the focus shifting from technical execution of case interviews to professional experience. Of course, technical case interviews will be tested, but I've seen it hold relatively less weight compared to new graduate programs/positions.

The interview process is often broken down as such: 

• HR Interview - ~15-30 minutes around classical questions and behavioural questions. They may ask what you know of the firm/role/office and often ask the boilerplate start date, work authorization, salary expectation questions
• Round 1 - ~45-60 minute interview (2 of them!) of behavioural and case interview component, the first round often has light cases that cover market sizing, factors to consider, and some analytical framework or calculation 
• Round 2 - ~45-60 minute   (2 of them!) of behavioural and case interview component, in the second round, the case is often more robust following a three part analysis (market sizing, quantitative analysis/strategy and marketing/implementation considerations or brainstorming). 
• Final Partner Chat ~ 30-60 minutes which could be as short as 15 minutes with just one partner shooting the sh-stuff or 3-4 partners of a particular practice. Generally, they may ask a market sizing or factors questions to see how you think, but the emphasis is heavily more on the fit component. 

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Appendix - ULTIMATE CONSULTING GUIDE

Management Consulting Firms and Practices

• The thing with "management consulting" is that firms will call themselves management consulting firms despite their niche focus. When most people refer to management consulting, they reference strategy consulting, but there are a lot of niches in that. 
• Most times, when people refer to "management consulting", they imply strategy consulting, but many, many firms call themselves management consulting firms regardless of their area of focus. 
• Here is a crash course into what management consultants do by MConsultingPrep: 

Some management consulting firms: 

• HR Consulting Firms: Mercer, Korn Ferry, Aon
• Economic Consulting Firms: Charles River Associates, FTI Consulting, NERA Economic Consulting
• Turnaround & Restructuring Firms: Alvarez & Marsal, FTI Consulting, Alix Partners
• Strategy Consulting
  • Big Four Account Firms with Strategy Arms: PwC, Deloitte, EY, KPMG
  • Big Three Consulting Firms: Bain, BCG, McKinsey
  • Pure Consulting Shops: LEK, Oliver Wyman, Accenture

Moving from Finance to Consulting

• Finance to consulting is actually a lot easier than some people may think. The reason being a lot of the technical skills, mindset aside, is almost directly transferrable, on top of that, experience in IB is considered the gold standard as you're already familiar with the work demands, and variable nature of the work environment. 

From a technical skill set coming from Finance or Comparing the Technical Skills gained in Finance: 

• Market research and deconstruction of companies analyzed within IB/PE
• Presentation decks, communications (whether word docs, memos, CIMs, Pitch Decks, Equity Reports, etc.) are all great evidence of your ability to communicate and synthesize relevant information for the target audience. 
• Financial modelling, research, analytical tasks all as evidence of your work ethic and competence to perform in a high-pressure situation
• All of the technical software used will be relevant: Advanced MS Excel, PPT, Database software  use CapIQ, Bloomberg Terminal, etc.
  • Although it won't be using CapIQ or Bloomberg Terminal, you will be using database technology

For the Recruitment process, this the general timeline: 

• June to July/August - Coffee Chats, Information Sessions, Recruitment Events 
• July - September - Initial applications posted for Full-Time positions for the following Summer/Fall
• September - October - Interview process/interviews held
  • Interview process in Consulting: 
    • HR Interview - ~15-30 minutes around classical questions and behavioural questions. They may ask what you know of the firm/role/office and often ask the boilerplate start date, work authorization, salary expectation questions
    • Round 1 - ~45-60 minute interview (2 of them!) of behavioural and case interview component, the first round often has light cases that cover market sizing, factors to consider, and some analytical framework or calculation 
    • Round 2 - ~45-60 minute   (2 of them!) of behavioural and case interview component, in the second round, the case is often more robust following a three part analysis (market sizing, quantitative analysis/strategy and marketing/implementation considerations or brainstorming). 
    • Final Parter Chat ~ 30-60 minutes which could be as short as 15 minutes with just one partner shooting the sh-stuff or 3-4 partners of a particular practice. Generally, they may ask a market sizing or factors questions to see how you think, but the emphasis is heavily more on the fit component. 
• The above process is true for large, well-established consultancies, boutique consulting firms hire on an as-needed basis and have year-round postings looking for 0-3 years or 3-5 years of experience dependent on client work and employee capacity.
• Consulting cases are sometimes tailored for the practice you apply for; for example, if you apply for restructuring consulting analyst, you may have a restructuring case study, if you apply for financial & business operations, you may have a revenue and cost analysis focused on business utility and capacity, and so on. The general principle is that some firms have specific case styles; Oliver Wyman is often quantitative heavy, Bain often gives some Private Equity case, McKinsey gives revenue optimization and non-traditional cases (implementing financial institution security in developing country, etc.
• University Case Books dedicate a good amount of time diving into the recruitment process from a dates and firm specific view. 

In case interviews, this is the general resources list that is widely used: 

• CraftingCases (free) - has articles + free 7 day crash course - personal favourite of mine since it dives into case components, has self-study drills and walkthrough examples
• PrepLounge (free) - has a market for matching individuals case prepping with one another - it's a hit or miss where you sometimes find some incredible people globally and many students casing for the first time
  • CaseCoach (free) - has a been attracting more users as the market for matching individuals as case partners. Personally, I haven't used it - but I've heard good things.
• RocketBlocks (free trial) - offers 7 day free trial and has (in my opinion) the most helpful consulting drills to practice mental math, case structuring, data extrapolation and some other stuff 
• Victor Cheng's Looking Over My Shoulder (paid) - a paid case interview walkthrough where you hear an interviewee deliver a case and the narrator highlights why the execution was good, this is *invaluable* after you've done ~5-10 cases and become conscious of the case cues to hit 
• Case in Point (free) - offers a *foundational* understanding of the case interview process along with some basic/rudimentary frameworks - this gives you a bit of insight into the high-level areas to brainstorm around and some common questions, but keep in mind that frameworks need to be customized for the case
• Case Interview Secrets (free) - offers a more in-depth look into the consulting mindset and how to structure frameworks from scratch - I'd argue this is more applicable to on-the-job thinking, but I've seen it work really well (and I've referenced it myself)  
• University Case Books (free) offers more cases than anyone could possibly cover in a lifetime; you can find them by simply googling a university + Case Book and a year. "Darden 2013 Case Book" for instance.

Here is my proposed breakdown: 

• Begin by reading Case in Point, of the 300 pages, about 100 relate to the foundational frameworks/understanding of the case and 200 pages give examples of cases and solutions. Reading the first 100 pages doesn't take too long since it's not too content dense
• Once you have an overview understanding of the case interview process, begin by spending 7 days in the following order:
  • CraftingCases Module x 1 - can take anywhere for ~3-4 hours
  • RocketBlocks Drill - can take 30 mins to 1 hour
  • Mock Cases - depends on stamina, but each mock case takes about 30-45 mins [either through friends, PrepLounge or another service]
  • After about 5-10 cases, I'd recommend listening to LOMS for a few hours and reflecting on where you need to improve on the case component. 
• There's no one size fits all for casing and the breakdown above is assuming (1) you have an abundance of time and (2) you have no prior consulting exposure. Over time, candidates move on from reading frameworks/concepts to simply doing x number of cases a week. Those that pass MBB do anywhere from 10-50 cases, of course, there are exceptions with some people that are naturally skilled in casing, not me of course - I did 40-50 myself. 

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Appendix -  How to Navigate the Coffee Chat

With regard to coffee chats, it's great to simply learn more about the industry and firm's you're interested in. The referrals themselves hold less value with MBB (McKinsey in particular), but the conversations are often revealing about the work, culture, client exposure for the particular offices you're interested in. They also help keep you informed of the general recruitment timeline and recruitment process which can be a huge advantage. I remember reading a LinkedIn post about a full-time program the actual day after they stopped taking applications. All in all, don't consider it a closed conversation with the intent to get a referral as the only value proposition of the conversation. Rather see it as exploratory - you have an opportunity to speak to a colleague and maybe even mentor about their experience in the field with a similar educational background as yourself and you can determine if this is something you see yourself enjoying. 

As for how to go about coffee chats, I wrote up my personal approach in a former post and pasted it below: 

1. Finding the Right People
 

Look for colleagues at your local office(s) through LinkedIn. Filter by the following:

• Geography - look for your top two to three offices, often if you have a team or know the different practices that the London office is known for, you can reach out to an array of colleagues across different practice groups
• Seniority - look for a range of colleagues that:
  have just begun working (~1 year or less) for a realistic view of the training and experience as well as some more senior.
  • Have a few years of experience and may be in charge of analysts (~2-5 years of experience). Dependent on the firm, this could be Senior Associates, Managers, Engagement Managers, etc.
  • Have been at the firm for at the Partner level (~7 years or more). Often the ultimate hiring decision falls to Partners, so if you manage to get a Partner on the phone (via cold email), then you'd better understand the practice the Partner operates in and come in with questions prepared for an open discussion.
• Connection - look for colleagues that come from your educational background, around your age group, or share some commonality (it may even be a club or sport).
   

2. The Elevator Pitch
 

When reaching out to people via LinkedIn or cold email, always keep it to three sentences or less with resume attached for emails.
 

The message could be something along the lines of "Hi X, I'm a x year university student looking to learn about your experience at McKinsey. I see you've worked as a [Position] and have taken on projects in [Sector] and [Sector] sectors. Do you have 15-30 minutes for a coffee chat via Zoom or over the phone?"
 

You want to keep it very short with a call to action (to have them get on a call with you) and attach your resume so that you save them the trouble of searching you on LinkedIn.
 

Note: do NOT take any rejections/ghosting or otherwise personally, most people are busy with work, their own lives, their hobbies/interests, wanting to chill outside of work, so if someone connects on LI but doesn't respond or ignores your email, understand it's just because they're busy with their own situation. In contrast, if someone is willing to get on the phone/zoom, they're taking time out of their day to do you a favour.
 

3. The Coffee Chat
 

In the coffee chat, don't talk about yourself, do provide context for the call. a quick 30-60 seconds about why you wanted to speak to them sparks the conversation and guides the discussion. I often say: "hey, thanks for the call, just to give some context, I wanted to learn about your experience give my position as x, y, and z."
 

Have open ended questions and just treat it as a conversation. If you're curious about the recruitment process, then transition and ask, but be prepared to not use any question you prepared.
 

At the end of the chat, you can either ask directly or give the prompt "is there anything you'd advise I do when applying to stand out?" - in my experience, most folks will advise I send them my resume for an internal referral or ask I connect with another colleague/HR at the firm.
 

Ways to mess up a coffee chat:

• Being robotic and asking questions as if interviewing the person - if the colleague is telling a story, or really fascinated in a discussion, ask questions to further that then say "okay, so question #3 - do you refer people on the first chat".
• Being unprepared and asking questions that could be found on LI - if you got a chat with some from McKinsey but didn't look up how long he's been at the firm, or what projects/sectors he covers (if available on LI), then it just reflects poorly on you
• Talking too much about yourself - some people spend too much of the time speaking on their unique circumstances rather than asking open ended questions. I understand the impulse of wanting to connect, but it's important to understand that people love to talk about themselves when given a chance, so you need to be fascinated more than you need to be fascinating.
   

4. After The Coffee Chat
 

It doesn't matter if you end up working at the firm or not, keep the people who made time out of their day to connect, informed of your growth and update them. I made some fantastic friends through just connecting at whim via LinkedIn or email. It's important to not be so transactional think that now recruitment has ended, there's no further reason to speak to person X. In contrast, it works great to learn more about the assignments or projects and share my own experiences over a few coffee chats (or emails).
 

Final Note
 

Keep in mind, referrals only really make sure your resume/application package is read, it does not guarantee an interview and many people have gotten into these big firms without them. Nonetheless, outside of getting a referral, coffee chats help determine if the firm is a good fit for you. I had a friend who was dead set on getting into MBB until she spoke to a senior associate. The Senior Assoc. said how at this one project, he was working ~13 hr + days (for weeks on end) due to understaffing and tight deadline on a DD case. That was a bit of a reality shock to my friend who realized the intensity of the workload and the mental & physical toll it takes on a person.
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Appendix - Notes to the Candidate: The Cover Letter  

In an application package, the general principle is that the Resume matters a lot more than the cover letter. I'd argue that the weight is ~60-70% for the resume and ~30-40% for the cover letter. The general rule of thumb is that a good cover letter may help, but a bad cover letter will hurt your chances. As for tailoring it, keep in mind that dependent on the firm and individual, the cover letter may go unread or read by a centralized national headquarters.  
 
All this to say that customizing and tailoring it is great, but always remember not to overemphasize it’s significance. Any exposure to the firm shows you've done your research and that you've networked. 

Anatomy of a Cover Letter 

Overall, I would advise strengthening the contents, writing in more succinct and formal structure.  

• Introduction Paragraph 

• Begin listing the position, firm, office and team/practice if applicable. 

• Highlight high-level research; this could be a catchy engagement; core/cultural values or some folks you met. Do not be too vague with "positive experience" or anything that could generally be applied to every firm. 

• [Opinion] - I prefer to end my introductory paragraph with a one line synopsis of my experiences; "As a recent graduate in x with internship experience in y, I find I would make a great fit for z" 

• Body #1 - Why Consulting 

• Thesis: Introduction as well as thesis  - "I enjoy working in the fast-paced environment and tackling complex problems across the variety of industries."  

• Tie your past experiences to these reasons as to what peaked your interest in consulting. It could be leadership experiences, internship experience, case competitions, or anything you're proud of having accomplished that is professionally relevant to consulting (i.e. executive position in a consulting club, etc.) 

• Conclude the paragraph reiterating your interest in the position/firm or more generally, in consulting.  

• Body #2 - Why This Firm 

• Thesis: "I have admired MBB for its incredible impact in [Country]'s fight against the pandemic, the firm's insights into the global private markets, and their continued commitment towards social responsibility."  

• Emphasize research into the company that may be highlighting flagship practices [Bain PEG, BCG Technology, McKinsey PIPE], their corporate social responsibility or pro-bono consulting teams, one of their hundreds of articles or research papers they published, a publicly disclosed case study or contract they've won, or that office's practice focus. 

• Conclude the paragraph tying it back to how you can add value to their organization; this may be a passion for CSR/pro-bono consulting or other high level discussion. 

• Conclusion  

• You should end this in 1-2 sentences and specifically adjust your word choice for your audience. "Based on this" is redundant as compared to "I would welcome an opportunity... to discuss my qualifications with you and learn more about MBB at your earliest convenience. Thank you very much for your time and consideration."