Last month, a candidate with a perfect GMAT score bombed their final round at McKinsey. They’d memorized every framework, practiced 200+ cases, and could calculate compound growth rates faster than Excel. Yet they failed at something surprisingly basic: explaining their thinking process.
After coaching hundreds of candidates into MBB firms, I’ve noticed the same pattern. Smart people fail these interviews not because they lack analytical horsepower, but because they fundamentally misunderstand what consultants actually do.
Picture this:A healthcare company asks whether they should acquire a diagnostics startup for $800 million. Most candidates immediately start rattling off considerations: market dynamics, synergies, cultural fit, regulatory concerns, integration costs…
Sound familiar? That’s exactly what gets you rejected.
Here’s what actually happened when a candidate I coached faced this exact question at Bain. Instead of listing topics, she asked, “How does the client define success for acquisitions? Is it ROI? Market share expansion?”
The interviewer’s eyes lit up. Why? Because she demonstrated the difference between academic thinking and client-ready thinking.
Management consultants don’t sell answers. They sell conviction backed by bulletproof logic. When a CEO pays $2 million for a 12-week project, they’re not buying your ability to identify issues; any MBA can do that. They’re buying your ability to build an argument so airtight that their board can’t poke holes in it.
Think about it. A partner billing $20,000 per day doesn’t add value by suggesting “let’s look at costs and revenues.” They add value by constructing logical pathways that lead inevitably to clear decisions.
During interviews, every structure you build is a logic map. Not a topic list. Not a brainstorm. It is a roadmap that outlines the precise steps you’ll take to arrive at a convincing solution.