Client Testimonials

Deloitte S&O MBA declines McKinsey for Corporate

I have many great moments of working with Michael but the most far-reaching moment occurred when I received offers from McKinsey and a Fortune 500 company to join as a strategy manager. I had been a Senior Consultant at Deloitte S&O in London and was wrapping up my MBA. I thought the decision was a no-brainer. All my friends were high-fiving me for getting into McKinsey – it was a bad year for recruiting and only a few people got in. Michael provided a new perspective for me. He pointed out that by going to McKinsey as an associate I was actually taking a step back because I had already been the Deloitte equivalent in a fairly good office. He also showed me – which he proved via a simple LinkedIn search while sharing screens – that the role I was offered as strategy manager was something I may or may not get after McKinsey, and if I did, it could only happen after spending about 2 or 3 years as an associate. He basically said that the strategy manager role is the role people take after working at McKinsey for a few years and I was being offered it…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

SAP manager Venkat approach to McKinsey BTO

Did you enjoy the program? If yes, how? This program was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I have total admiration for Michael and he introduced me to Marvin Bower. Michael is the modern Marvin Bower. Values mean everything to him. It was not always smooth sailing in the program but Michael and the team made a sincere effort to help me and they succeeded. There are many reasons why the program was pleasant for me but one reason stands out. I was not happy with my role at SAP and had quit. I had an MBA from a good school in the US, but was an Indian national and had never been able to break out of the technology field. I quit my job without telling Michael since I just could not think about going back into a technology role. Michael did not agree with my decision but was very sympathetic to my personal and financial constraints. We would speak around my availability and I was also given many free sessions which generously helped me. I sincerely felt that Michael was committed to helping me succeed. The McKinsey BTO action plan we developed was 100% focused…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

McKinsey associate aims for work-life balance

I had a few Michael Moments over our 6 months rough ride together. The best moment came at the end. After all the effort, pain, sweat, missed dinners, lost weekends and tough preparation, I finally received my McKinsey offer and sent Michael a thank you note. He sent back a note congratulating me and telling me to take my wife out for dinner. He however pointed out I should not get drunk since getting the offer was not the destination of our plans. We needed to plan my career and think through what I wanted from McKinsey – he was free to discuss that the next day at 7am my time! I was happy and scared by that. Though it is typical Michael. He takes a long term view of things and I am glad I focused on planning my career with him. Although I did get drunk the night before and postponed my call the next day. Sorry Michael! You just cannot eat Thai food without good beer! You would know that! We have published the most useful client feedback. Our commitment to confidentiality prevents us from disclosing the identity of our clients and other confidential information, and we…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

US Military Captain ignores MBA into McKinsey

Did you enjoy the program? If yes, how? The training was very effective – I enjoyed it. I found Michael easy to engage and it was just a very nice set of exchanges overall. I looked forward to the sessions. As a military officer having served 2 tours in Afghanistan, I had a strong engineering background and expertise with the Marine Corps but very little analytic exposure to business problems. Each session with Michael was like a mini-MBA program and he went out of his way to teach me vital concepts like productivity, NPV calculations, time series analyses, market analyses, supply chain dynamics, competition analyses, margin calculations and more. I ended up signing up for 24 hours in total since the sessions were so good and far better than the training I was receiving by finding training partners online. The recommendations provided were very specific to my target office and I felt that Michael and his FC had good knowledge of how that office worked, what the recruiter would say and how I should handle my discussions. Michael put my needs first many times and offered me free lessons and regularly did more than was required. Did the program meet…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

PhD teamwork for McKinsey group interviews

I hope Michael will have a very special birthday and I was very happy to be asked to contribute to this book. My Michael Moment came in my second round with McKinsey. It was a group interview with 4 PhD candidates and I was terrified of my chances. I was at a weaker school and the other candidates were from Harvard, Yale and so on. I sent Michael an email asking for advice and this was his response: This is not a competition. If you see it as a competition you will fail. Your job is to help the team succeed. Every time you want to say or do anything, ask yourself if it helps the team succeed and makes the team feel better about themselves. If you can do both, you will get through. Also remember to build on a point and not dismiss it – this makes people feel worse about themselves. That is counter to McKinsey values of trust and support among colleagues. Just don’t abdicate your responsibility of politely guiding the team towards the right idea. It is my moment because I felt that I got the offer in this round and the rest of the interviews were…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

MBA on a very counter-intuitive BCG strategy

Did you enjoy the program? If yes, how? The program was one of the best journeys of my life! Well before doing my MBA I wrote to Michael and asked for his advice. He recommended INSEAD or Ivey for the 1-year program and several of the US programs for the 2-year programs. He strongly encouraged me to consider the limitations of a 1-year program and that I would not have any room for mistakes. I signed up and went with Ivey. Big mistake? Hell Yeah! My grades were tanking by September and I did not see any way out. I was struggling to prioritize and decided to major in finance modules to show off my analytic skills. Bob Whites course was killing me. At this stage Michael gave me some very useful advice which changed everything for me and put me back onto track: 1) I should ignore consulting in the September recruitment and join the internal strategy team at a bank. Consulting firms apparently liked this profile and I could apply to McKinsey the next year in December – in about a year’s time. If I applied in September and was declined it would be hard to ever get…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

Vancouver undergrad into McKinsey Asia

Did you enjoy the program? If yes, how? Yes, I always enjoy speaking to Michael and his team. I have an extended relationship with Michael and reached out to him for a different initiative at Firmsconsulting, but I was not successful getting selected for that. We built a good relationship from my early decline and we exchanged emails over the year leading up to me applying for the program. Michael knows management consulting, the Canadian market and the inner workings of the firms - down to the office level in some cases. He is a professional with a passion for teaching. All our sessions were well planned and focused on my vital development areas. I found the networking advice very helpful since I was living in Vancouver and our management consulting alumni network was very small - pretty much non-existent. Michael worked with me to arrange trips into Toronto and meet the appropriate people. He is my good buddy and mentor. No doubts on that point! Did the program meet your expectations? If yes, how? My knowledge about management consulting was weak when I joined the program. I was looking for a program to educate me, help me set goals…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

Experienced non-target at BCG Middle East

Did you enjoy the program? If yes, how? This was a great program. I signed up but was not motivated to push through due to low personal drive - after tonnes of practicing and several earlier rejections I was just so tired to start again. It was a final opportunity to get into MBB Boston and I wanted something that could get me there. I had practiced with a Firmsconsulting graduate and thought his skills were exceptional. He had good things to say about the program so I thought, what is there to lose? Besides the last few thousand dollars in my savings! The program was unusual because Michael lit a fire under me. I had edited my resume with another well-known program and Michael tore it to pieces in about 5 minutes. He had about 25 edits just for the educational section and they all made perfect sense – though not initially and I really needed to think about them until I understood them. My first resume editing session was 63 minutes with Michael talking me through a long list of changes required. I was stunned, terrified, excited and irritated at the same time. Stunned that Michael’s comments rang…

Client Testimonials

Client Testimonials

Undergrad. on ex-partner apprenticeship case model

Did you enjoy the program? If yes, how? Yes, it was the best professional learning experience I have ever had (seriously, not making this up). Here’s how: 1 - The learning method was an apprenticeship model – I was mentored by a single mentor, as opposed to a traditional (virtual) classroom 2 - The instructor was a industry-expert – I was mentored by a former Partner of the top 3 Management Consulting firms 3 - The learning content was tailored to me – I had an assessment session in which the mentor designed a customized program Did the program meet your expectations? If yes, how? Yes, it even exceeded my expectations Here’s how: 1 - I was given more amounts of training hours -- not merely for the sake of more time, but due to better prepare my actual consulting interview 2 - I had the flexibility to discuss with the mentor (via chat) any other items related to Consulting (e.g. advice on managing my career, business education, anything that’s relevant) What was the most important learning’s from the program? Two things: 1 - How consultants think – Case Interview Structure: confirming & operationalizing the key question, setting up MECE…

Client Testimonials