How do you get better at final round interviews?

I used to suck at cases entirely and fail all of my first rounds. I had a fair amount of those before, but now I'm seeing that for the first rounds I pass (a growing number), I fail the final rounds, hard.For example, I interviewed with Altman Solon for the first round and I did really well on the cases (not perfect, but I answered every question with ease and only had to be prompted once).

However, I just had the superday and I stumbled. hard. I have an offer so I don't really need to pass, but I'd like to have more options if it's even possible at this point. 

 
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I think it really depends per person b/c people struggle with different things, but I think confidence is a huge thing. Gotta try your best to not get flustered and stay confident even through tough questions. For me, this just took a ton of practice and almost a careless attitude to try and remove the pressure of interviewing. I think another thing is being unique in your approach, the interviewers talk to so many kids back to back and they all use the same frameworks so differentiating yourself in your approach is big. 

If you get your interviewers in advance, I would also recommend looking up what industries they specialize in/work a lot in b/c at some firms they will likely give you a case from within that industry.

 

It might seem vague, but practice is the answer. If you make it to a final round interview having done well, but not great on the case it means your behavioral interviews are what carried you. This is a big advantage as answering behavioral questions can be the hardest thing to learn. We can infer that maybe you need to improve your cases and industry knowledge, which you do by simply practicing dozens of cases and reading up about various industries. 

 

Like anything else, I think great quality practice helps you the most i.e. not just going through the motions. The best option is practicing with current consultants but if that's not possible try to find someone that's smart and knows how to case (preplounge is good for this). The more reps you get in, the better you also get at picking up the small stuff and "speaking" the right way. Something that a lot of people tend to ignore is general business knowledge which you acquire through reading financial news regularly. 

 

You need to get the reps. Practice is what makes perfect. The best way to practice is to work with someone already in the industry who does recruiting for them and get them to listen to your answers and give you feedback. 

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

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