on interviewing

So my baby brother is in the midst of interviewing for summer internships and being the fabulous older sister that I am, I have been helping him prep.  While I consider myself quite well-versed when it comes to the traditional consulting-style case study interview (thanks to 20+ interviews my senior year and then a two-year stint in the biz), that wasn't always the case.

For those of you unfamiliar with the case study, it's basically a business problem - full of all sorts of mental math - that you have to solve on the fly. out loud. in front of your interviewer.  Not exactly the most fun thing in the world.

 
When I was his age, I didn't even know what a case study was.  For my first official consulting internship interview, I didn't prep beyond the traditional why-are-you-interested-in-consulting or tell-me-your-top-five-strengths type of questions.  I was actually ready to go in sans pen and paper - it was only thanks to the well-dressed applicant sitting besides me in the waiting room, that graciously offered me one of his six extra pencils, that I was able to scribble notes on the back of my resume as my interviewer spit an array of multi-digit numbers at me.

While I was able to miraculously get through my first round despite a complete and utter lack of preparation, I got mutilated on my final round - telling my interviewer that with 2.4 million customers buying 4 ice cream cones a year at $5 a pop, our client would have $48 trillion in revenue. 
Brilliant.

1

When the real deal came around (interviewing for a full time position at the same firm), I was determined - spending countless hours prepping with my friends, my family, and my beautiful full-length mirror. 

I sat down across from my interviewer - a tall, but young fellow who looked like he had some difficultly cracking a smile - and introduced myself.

"So shall we get on with it then?" he asked pulling out his prep packet for the case that was about to ensue.
"Let's go for it!" I chimed cheerfully.
"Okay.  Now you've just been assigned to a case team working for the Milwaukee Brewers - "
I cut him off mid-sentence: "Oh. my. goodness. What a coincidence!  I am FROM MILWAUKEE!  Can you believe it?"
Awkward pause.
"Yes, I can.  I selected the Milwaukee Brewers because it says here on the top of your resume that you're from Milwaukee."
"Oh."
"So shall we get on with it then?"

Somehow, the rest of the interview ended up going surprisingly well and by some incredible miracle I ended up making it on the final round and nailing the job.  Just goes to show that sometimes this kind of stuff is just a whole lotta luck.  Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes in doesn't.

So little bro - good luck on those interviews.  You're a hell of a lot smarter than me so they'd be crazy not to take you, BUT if they don't, don't sweat it - things have a way of working out for the best.
And there's always the full-time round.

xoxo
KK