Thanks for joining me today my name is Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay? So good afternoon. Thank you for joining me today. My name is Michelle Gardner. I am the associate director for the Sc. Johnson College of Business, the Dyson School. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and again thank you for joining me today for today's Summer Chat Series presentation on case interviews. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So we're just gonna jump in Michelle Gardner (she/her): all right. just to advertise future events as well. If you're not aware. Today we are doing case interviews like, I said, but there will be sessions in the future as well. So be sure to be on the lookout for registering for them. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay, so our agenda for today. Michelle Gardner (she/her): so Michelle Gardner (she/her): sorry about that. Alright. So we're gonna start with, what is a case interview types of case interviews, how to prepare, then a quick preview of a case interview. I'm a practice case interview, that is, and then resources and questions. All righty. Michelle Gardner (she/her): okay, so let's jump in. What is a case interview? A case interview is used by companies to assess your critical thinking organization and problem solving skills. Michelle Gardner (she/her): A case includes multiple parts, including math questions and creative questions. And they are either interview or lead or interviewee lead. Michelle Gardner (she/her): as I'm sure most of you know. the most common industry that uses case interviews is the consulting industry. Mvb. Firms and big 4 firms, as they're called in the consulting field. They utilize case interviews during multiple rounds of interviews. So you must, must must be prepared to do a case. Interview Michelle Gardner (she/her): interviewer lead versus interviewee lead. So with interviewer lead, It starts with a prompt. An example would be, a company wants to enter into the coffee industry, and they have asked you to research. If it's profitable or not to enter into this industry. Michelle Gardner (she/her): the interviewer will then ask questions such as, Do you believe the coffee industry is profitable. Can you tell me what the coffee market looks like? Michelle Gardner (she/her): What's the coffee market's biggest competitors? What are the barriers? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Then an evaluation is done meaning, they will guide the case. The interviewer, that is, with specific mask questions and creative questions based on the original prompts key thing, and you are required to structure your thoughts and answer these questions. Once they're done asking these questions, they will prompt you to wrap up your final thoughts and prepare a final recommendation. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Please know, with an interviewer lead case, you should still try to lead the case, and what I mean by that is, you should still continuously ask for additional data or ask that you want to go in this certain direction, such as you know, I want to look at the competitors, or I want to look at an analysis of the coffee market. and whether or not it's profitable. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and the most notable companies that do interviewer led cases are Mackenzie, Oliver Wyman, Strategy and and Accensure. Michelle Gardner (she/her): An interviewee led. Michelle Gardner (she/her): It starts with a prompt such as an example. An airport wants to know whether they should in-source or outsource the icing services for that airport, and it's your job to lead the case after this prompt. So once you're given the prompt, you should ask clarifying questions. Michelle Gardner (she/her): structure your thoughts and it, and structure the case, and then tell the interviewer where you want to lead the case from there. So, for example, after you pro provided the structure for the case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): you should say next, I would like to take a look at look at the market for de icing services. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Alrighty. So case structure. So first, you want to listen to a prompt again, another prompt example. A wine making company is considering investing in the beer industry, and they want to know if this will be profitable. Michelle Gardner (she/her): You want to take notes when the interviewer is reading off the prompt, and then, after they've done reading the prompt, you want to summarize the prompt back to the interviewer, not verbatim. Now ask clarifying questions after you summarize the prompts. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and then, after your clarifying questions, ask for a minute or 2 to structure your thoughts, to formulate a structure. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and you'll see on the right hand side of the slide. Right here is a sample structure. It's an example. We call this a bucket structure. This is probably one of the more popular ways to structure a case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): always, always, always like, I said, try to lead the case. I'm gonna keep saying that and tell the interviewer what direction you'd like to take the case in that for math questions. Michelle Gardner (she/her): State your plan on how you're going to solve the math problems before you actually start doing the calculations Michelle Gardner (she/her): for charts and exhibits. As well. Take a minute not a minute, but 20 or 30 seconds or so to review the exhibit before giving any thoughts. And then, lastly, for creative questions, structure your answers similar to how you would structure the case so similar to how this is a bucket structure. This is how you want to structure your answers to the creative questions as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then, finally, the final recommendation, the final recommendation, should be one sentence I provide or I recommend this company does X, y. Z. And provide supporting data, usually 2 to 3 supporting pieces of data Michelle Gardner (she/her): and then provide 2 to 3 pieces of or 2 to 3 risks and 2 to 3 next steps. And you can also provide solutions to the risks as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): All right types of case interviews. So we have market entry, which is evaluating whether a company should enter a particular market or not. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Profitability goal is to see if a company can boost their profits. Michelle Gardner (she/her): mergers, and acquisitions, or M. And A. Evaluate whether a company should acquire another company market sizing, estimating the size of a market on a given metric. And then, lastly, the wild card, which is a surprise, and it's an unusual case topic. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I will note, though, a really really good caser, there always uses multiple structures in one case, in order to provide a final recommendation. And we'll talk about that more later. Michelle Gardner (she/her): That first market entry. Should a company enter a specific market. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So a prompt example, a popular wine making company is thinking about entering the brewery market. The CEO has hired us Michelle Gardner (she/her): to help them determine if they will be profitable, profitable key questions here that you can ask, what is the size of the market? How competitive is the market? Is the market currently growing? What are current market trends? What is the customer base look like types of products? Associated distribution costs? What are the regulations? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Market entry cases usually contain some sort of market sizing structure as well within them. So make sure you know that Michelle Gardner (she/her): profitability. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So how can we reach a process goal? So a prompt example. Again, here is your client has been experiencing a decline and revenue. They want to explore ways to increase their revenue key questions you can ask, here are, what are the costs associated with clients products? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Can you provide information on the current revenue of a company? How competitive is the market? Michelle Gardner (she/her): What is the customer's perception of the company and its products? What are the types of products that the company sell? What are the regulations associated with this market. Michelle Gardner (she/her): a case might not always be presented as a profitability case. That's a tricky one there. So you need to ask clarifying questions to decipher whether or not, it is a profitability case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Mergers and acquisitions. Should a company merge or acquire another company, so prompt example for this is a PE firm is considering acquiring a large entertainment company to expand into the entertainment sector. Should they make this acquisition. Michelle Gardner (she/her): questions here could be, what are the costs associated with the acquisition. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Can you provide an analysis of the target company? What is the long term goal for acquiring this company? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Are the company cultures compatible? Michelle Gardner (she/her): And I will note here with M and A. cases. They usually incorporate components of each of the other 3 clearly defined case categories. So that means profitability market sizing. And then, Michelle Gardner (she/her): excuse me the Michelle Gardner (she/her): market entry. Excuse me. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then, lastly, we have Michelle Gardner (she/her): wild card. So the goal is just to answer the question in a structured way for a wild card. Michelle Gardner (she/her): A prompt example here. And this is a real life, prompt as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Your client is a major European football company, and they want to help Michelle Gardner (she/her): they want your help in reducing player industries. How would you approach this problem? So in the chat Michelle Gardner (she/her): I'd like all of you all to tell me, what questions would you ask in order to solve this case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and said, How much are they spending on their medical staff? Get it? What are the most common industries? Good job, anything else? Michelle Gardner (she/her): What's their recovery process like? Are they doing anything to mitigate in the injuries good. Michelle Gardner (she/her): are injuries reoccurring good. How many injuries occur? Currently Michelle Gardner (she/her): all really great questions. What are the current and historic injury rates? Are they currently increasing or decreasing? Very good. How many industry slash clients do they serve? Okay, good. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I would, tailor that a bit to focus more so on the prompt. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So the industry would be European football and then the clients, of course, in this case Michelle Gardner (she/her): is the European Football Company, but also their players. So be a little bit more specific with your questions. Competitors regarding insurance. No, that is a very. I like that a lot, Jenny. So within a case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): it's really impressive to the interviewer. If you bring in outside knowledge or creative questions that not are not necessarily thought about. So if you can bring your outside knowledge of the European Football League. That is really impressive. And that's exactly what you want to try to do. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Really, great job guys. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay, so it's even the case preparation. Now. So Michelle Gardner (she/her): begin prepping 3 to 4, or, in my opinion, more months in advance. so this is my recommendation. A lot of the students that I work with. Michelle Gardner (she/her): They start prepping 3 to 4 months in advance, and they literally go into their calendar, and they schedule 30 min to an hour a day, or once a week, where they're practicing case interviewing either structure drills, live case interviews, math drills, whatever it may be, but for months in advance Michelle Gardner (she/her): find a case partner or partners. This is an essential component of case preparation, because you cannot prep for cases by yourself. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I recommend you diversifying your partners. So find multiple partners. So one could be a career coach. One could be a peer that's at the same level as you. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and then one could even be a Cornell alum, who works in, let's say the consulting industry was well versed in case interviews, and then schedule times, where you can practice with them Michelle Gardner (she/her): on a weekly basis like I said, because getting that feedback diversified feedback is going to be really, really helpful for improving your case strength or your case skills Michelle Gardner (she/her): practice 40 to 50 live cases. So this number was actually given to me Michelle Gardner (she/her): from alums. My alums have told me, and Alums that we're in the consulting field. That is, that they practice around 40 to 50 live cases to be able to be proficient and casing for their interviews. Michelle Gardner (she/her): create a Google doc and track your feedback. This is a really good tool to track all of the feedback that you're getting in order to reflect and then improve upon your skills and then practice structure drills and math drills. Michelle Gardner (she/her): We're going to Later in the presentation, go into resources. And you're gonna see, one of the resources has really great structure and math drills. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And I recommend breaking up casing, too. So for 30 min a day practice structure drills where you're just getting used to the structures. Then another 30 min the next day, practicing math drills where you're really Michelle Gardner (she/her): getting really good at solving math problems for casing Michelle Gardner (she/her): and then practice casing until you're done with recruitment. This is a really important piece, too, because a lot of students feel like they can practice cases for like a month or 2, and then take the summer off, or, you know, take winter break off, and then when they get to recruitment. Michelle Gardner (she/her): they're a little bit rusty because they've taken so much time off. that they've forgotten kind of the structure of a case. Or you know how to solve a certain type of math problem. so it's really important for you to stay fresh and continue to practice casing all the way until you're done with recruitment. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And this is advice from Cornell. Alums. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Please do not cram. It's better to practice one case per week for 6 months than the cram 2 weeks before, in my career. So far I've only worked with one student out of all of my students who has crammed Michelle Gardner (she/her): 2 weeks before the case and has got has landed an internship or a full time position. It's very, very rare to be really good at casing when you cram Michelle Gardner (she/her): , Do's and don'ts from alums Michelle Gardner (she/her): be, do be prepared. Take careful notes and summarize the prompt, ask clarifying questions, do lead the case, even if it's interviewer lead. Lead the case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): go at your own pace, connect everything back to the prompt you're answering. Show your personality in the case, and walk the interviewers through your math before you start the math. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Don't take a back seat and let the interviewer drive the case. Do not ignore the interviewer when they try to lead you in a certain direction. So this is referring to sometimes, when you're leading the case, you lead it down a route that the interviewer does not want. For example. Michelle Gardner (she/her): let's say you're you are interested in looking at competitors for a wine company, but an interviewer doesn't have the data on competitors. They're going to lead you in a different direction, and you want to follow that leadership, or that will be. You do not want to go completely in a different direction from what the interviewer wants. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Don't get snippy with the interviewer, and don't get rattled. Stay calm. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Part of the case. Interview is really a stress test, so if you can stay calm under pressure. It's a really really good sign for the interviewer. Don't forget to connect everything back to the original problem, the prompts Michelle Gardner (she/her): and don't be robotic and don't use the can free framework. Remember what I said before. A really good caseer uses all of the framework within one case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and don't fail to walk the interviewer through your math. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay? So we're gonna do a quick preview of a case as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I'm going to have to. Michelle Gardner (she/her): pull up Michelle Gardner (she/her): so I'm gonna do a brief walkthrough. So this is management consulted one of our best resources for Cornell students, and I'll elaborate a bit more about it. in the next slide. But I just want to give you a quick run through of what a stereotypical interviewer led Case would look like. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So first, of course, this is the prompt that you'd be given. You know your client is a US Airline. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Basically, the prompt is saying they're looking to in-source airplane,  deicing services, and currently they are outsourcing deicing services. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and they want to see if it's worth it to insource instead. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So after the prompt, you should case recap. This is more of a grading, Rubrik, but I just wanted to share the steps as well. So after they read you the prompt recap the prompt to you. Remember, not verbatim. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Then afterwards ask clarifying questions Michelle Gardner (she/her): followed. So after you've asked clarifying questions, they've given you data to answer your questions, then you should take a minute or so to structure your thoughts. And this is one example of a structure. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And here's another example of a structure. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And next, after you've structured your thoughts, you can say something along the lines of to lead the case. I'd like to look at comparison between outsourcing services versus insourcing services. And this is what a typical math question would look like. See? With this one, though they actually with an interviewer led, they'll actually have highlighted areas sometimes because they want you to solve the math problem and solve these areas. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And so again walk Michelle Gardner (she/her): your interviewer through how you'd like to solve your math. So here are the formulas, and how this person is going to solve the math. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and then next steps. After that you want to lead the case again by talking. Michelle Gardner (she/her): say, or talking about where you'd like to lead the case next, I'd like to look at you know Michelle Gardner (she/her): what would be the payback period for insourcing icing, deicing. And so next, this is another math question. So this is a chart example. this is what deicing investment costs. So they would want you to take a few minutes or so, or a few seconds or so, I should say. Michelle Gardner (she/her): analyze the chart, and then provide your feedback of what this chart means now obviously based on this. It means, you know, it'd be a greater than 4 year payback period based on this chart, and then you would want to lead the case again to the next steps Michelle Gardner (she/her): next, this is an example of a creative question. So how would you decrease payback period? Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then this is how you'd like or how you should structure a creative question. So this is a really good comparison. This would be a level one, a low, scored creative question. Answer. It's only one sentence. There's not much information, etc. Michelle Gardner (she/her): This would be a high level level 2 or a high, scoring, creative question. Answer. So see, they've broken it down. Investment costs lease versus purchase, decreasing labor, etc., Michelle Gardner (she/her): broken it down into bucket similar to structures. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then finally, the interviewer would say, you know I don't have any more data for you today. Please take a minute or so to structure your thoughts and provide a final recommendation. And this is how you would want to structure your final recommendation. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So again, a one sentence, final recommendation, I recommend continuing to outsource the deicing services. Michelle Gardner (she/her): 2 supporting data pieces. Why you recommend continuing to outsource the deicing services. Michelle Gardner (she/her): then risks and next steps. See? This person did not provide solutions to the risks. But again I would recommend doing so if you can, and then next steps Michelle Gardner (she/her): all right. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And again. I know I kind of went through that pretty quickly. Michelle Gardner (she/her): but I promise you I'll have time for questions at the end. Resources? All righty. so these are our best resources on campus. So management consulted was the resource that I showed you the case interview just now. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Management consulted is an amazing resource for people who want to keep practice case interviewing it has a Linkedin where you can find partners to practice casing with. It has math drills, structure, drills. It has classes and workshops on casing. It also has 500 plus cases from MBB, big 4 and boutique firms. Michelle Gardner (she/her): so you can practice casing with partners. Michelle Gardner (she/her): We also have the Cornell career toolkit. We have a consulting module listed here, but we also have an interviewing module that does cover case interviews within that module as well. So there's 2 different modules within the Cornell career toolkit that you can utilize Michelle Gardner (she/her): to familiarize yourself with case interviews. Then we have rocket blocks, rocket blocks, again, has an abundance of different practice case interviews. You can do Michelle Gardner (she/her): next. We have case questions interactive, which is actually a Cornell created case interview prepping system. you do need to go on and create an account. but it has an abundance of different resources that are similar to management consulted. Michelle Gardner (she/her): and Michelle just asks, is rocket blocks free for Cornell students. Yes, it should be free for Cornell students, since it is a Cornell system. Great question. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then, lastly, we have case interview.com and this is actually a very popular source as well. It is run by a Mackenzie. He was a Mackenzie consultant, and has since left Mackenzie to create his own case interview prepping system. He has a few books as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): but there is also structure drills, math drills, workshops as well as an abundance of practice case interviews that you can do as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then, lastly, there is career coaching appointments as well, so you can schedule from with me, and, for example, you can schedule an hour session to do practice case interviews. Michelle Gardner (she/her): All right. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So I am going to open it up for questions. you can put questions in the chat. Michelle Gardner (she/her): or you can feel free to, you know. Turn your screen on it and ask them as well, and we can have a conversation. I know there's some in the chat right now. So I'm gonna go ahead and answer those So Justin said, will the slides be posted anywhere. I'm actually gonna send you these slides. via email. So be on the lookout in your email. Okay. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Charlie asked, how do we get the school specific registration link for management consulted? That is a great question. so within the Powerpoint presentation that I'm going to send you, it actually is linked to the Cornell registration portal, basically on management consulted. And you can click on that to access management consulted, you'll have to create Michelle Gardner (she/her): a profile. And then, once you've created that profile, you'll have access to all of the resources within management. Consulting. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Eric asked, how would you recommend rising juniors study for case interviews with deadlines approaching in August. Michelle Gardner (she/her): That is a great question. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I would say, Eric, if you're looking to Michelle Gardner (she/her): find an internship or a full time. yeah, it doesn't specify in your question if you're doing internship for full time for 2024, and the deadlines are approaching this summer. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I would say literally, you should find a partner, an internship. Okay. thank you for that clarification. Find a partner. reach out to career services and start casing on a daily basis. Honestly, 30 to 45 min a day. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Practice those cases again like I said, management consulted also has a Linkedin where you can connect with peers. So that's a really good option for you as well. If you're looking for partners in such a short time, span. Michelle Gardner (she/her): But I would say, literally use your planner, your calendar or Google Calendar. However, you map out your schedule and schedule in 30 min, 45 min a day where you're practicing cases with case interviews. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay? Michelle Gardner (she/her): So if the interview is online, how do you recommend engaging the interviewer? I've heard to show the interviewer your notes, but not sure how to do this online? So that's a really good question. And I will actually say, because of Covid. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Most of the casing that is done during recruitment is now done virtually. It's either done via zoom, teams a bunch of those Prof or online platforms. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I wouldn't necessarily share your notes, so I would communicate your notes to the interviewer. Michelle Gardner (she/her): one of the things that they're grading you on is your communication skills. So you need to effectively be able to communicate your notes to the interviewer, and not necessarily share the the notes with your interviewer. If they ask for you to share your screen. That's one thing. but you should learn how to effectively communicate your notes to the interviewer. Because if that's what you're gonna have to do in a real world situation. Michelle Gardner (she/her): the next question, have you ever worked with someone who doesn't have a business slash consulting background, but has done well on the case. Interview? Michelle Gardner (she/her): yes, you the beautiful thing about. So I'm I'm gonna make the assumption. But please clarify. If this is not the case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I'm gonna make the assumption that you're still you're going into consulting. Obviously, because you're doing case interviews. Michelle Gardner (she/her): The beautiful thing about consulting and why it's my favorite industry is because consulting loves to recruit students from all different industries, not just business. Michelle Gardner (she/her): backgrounds. The reason why is because they want creative thinkers. So if you have an arts and sciences background. Let's say you're majoring in history. or you're majoring an art. they love those creative backgrounds. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And honestly, it's I would just say if you give yourself enough time, so 3 to 4 months in advance. or if you want to give yourself even more time, 6 months in in advance. If you're nervous and you're continuously crafting those cases cases and building your foundation. I've worked with a lot of students who have done really well, I've worked with a lot of arts and sciences students Michelle Gardner (she/her): who have done  Who have landed full time positions actually. And a lot of the MBB. Firms, Mackenzie, Bain and Bcg, they don't just have. You know, students from my school Dyson students. They have students from Nolan school. They even have engineering students. So it's completely possible. Michelle Gardner (she/her): next question, do you have resources plus tips for product management Specific case interviews? Yes, I do. And I can actually send you those after this as well. I can incorporate it into the email that I sent to everyone.  Michelle Gardner (she/her): the resources call breaking into tech. And he's basically this tech guru that covers everything that's revolving around tech. Products Management is one of those things. Obviously. And so he does have resources for case interviews for product management. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Will there be full time? Slash internship? 2024. Recruitment for non nba master students after August? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Oh, I see what you're saying So recruitment for consulting ends Michelle Gardner (she/her): mid to late fall. right now, what we're seeing recruitment wise is mostly the MBB. And big 4 firms small percentage, I should say, as big four firms that have their applications open now. Michelle Gardner (she/her): a lot of consulting firms have multiple deadlines. So, for instance, Mackenzie will have a deadline in July. Michelle Gardner (she/her): then one in August, and then maybe one in September. They usually have a recommended deadline. it's similar to college admissions. They have, like an early admit, deadline, and then a recommended deadline, and then a late admission set line. I tell students to submit their applications when they're ready to case. So it really should revolve around how prepared you are for casing Michelle Gardner (she/her): But Michelle Gardner (she/her): for boutique firms and big 4 firms they so for a lot of the Big 4 firms. They won't start opening up applications until Michelle Gardner (she/her): late July, early August, and they'll go into the fall as well as boutique firms so yes, you still do have time. Michelle Gardner (she/her): On rocket blocks. There is no Sso login. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Oh, so rocket blocks is not a Cornell system. It's an external system. It's just one of the resources that we recommend. So there's no Cornell student login. So you do have to create your own account and everything. and Cornell unfortunately, does not pay for the coaching blocks and everything that rocket blocks offers. Michelle Gardner (she/her):  what would you recommend? A rising sophomore interested in consulting to start doing in terms of prep? Michelle Gardner (she/her): So a rising sophomore, you would be preparing for internship. Okay? I would honestly start familiarize at this point, start familiarizing yourself with all of the resources management, consulted, rocket blocks, etc. Michelle Gardner (she/her): In my opinion it's never too early to start case prepping And so if you wanted to case prep on like once a week Michelle Gardner (she/her): for a little bit, I would also say. Michelle Gardner (she/her): if you're going into consulting something that you should focus on as well as case prep. For the fall is networking because networking is essential for the consulting industry. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Alexa, are you at a disadvantage If you submit later? Michelle Gardner (she/her): I'm assuming I must please please clarify. If I'm assuming wrong I'm assuming, if you mean, like, the latest deadline Michelle Gardner (she/her): the reason why I don't recommend submitting at the latest. The final deadline is because usually consulting companies. Their applications are basically on a rolling basis. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And so, even though they have that late deadline, as they call it. Michelle Gardner (she/her): They might close their applications before that late deadline even gets there, because they've already filled their spots for the this the summer, you know, for this one it'll be Michelle Gardner (she/her): the 2024 summer. So if you wait to the last deadline, you're it's kind of a risk. because you're not gonna be at the top of the pool, and they it's first come for serve And so they might not even get to reading your application? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Any other questions? Michelle Gardner (she/her): These are all really great questions. Guys. Michelle Gardner (she/her): what is the timeline for project management? Consulting? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay? So someone in the chat is, what is the timeline for PM. APM and consulting recruitment. So for PM, and a APM, I'm assuming you're saying project product management. they're gonna recruit starting later in the fall. Michelle Gardner (she/her): yeah. But consulting recruitment is super super early. And so for consulting recruitment. Michelle Gardner (she/her): basically right now they are recruiting for summer, summer or summer, 2,024, they usually recruit a year in advance. so you need to be ready to recruit, basically a year in advance. So Michelle Gardner (she/her): let's say you are a rising sophomore. you should start case prepping, and you know, finalizing Resume's cover. Letters starting January, February 2024. Michelle Gardner (she/her):  Rachel said, what exactly do you mean by networking? Is it joining clubs on campus connecting with alumni messaging recruiters? Michelle Gardner (she/her): That is a great question. It is Michelle Gardner (she/her): well, besides joining clouds. It is all of the above. You don't need to join clubs to network Michelle Gardner (she/her):  But you need to connect with alumni, and you need to connect with recruiters. You need to be attending career fairs attending information, sessions, coffee chats, events that recruiters, companies, etc., put on. They'll either host them in person on campus Michelle Gardner (she/her): or they'll host them virtually they off. They usually offer both for accessibility reasons. so you should be attending those, and I honestly recommend making sure that you introduce yourself personally. Follow up Michelle Gardner (she/her): as well as getting to know the alumni at the companies that you're interested in There are some workshops on that working as well. I don't wanna Michelle Gardner (she/her): waste too much of the time here about not working happy to chat more. You'll. You'll get my email after this session, and I'm happy to chat more about networking in the future. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Whin says a friend of mine and myself, our senior biology majors, and we don't have any experience. Can we land a full time consulting Job after we graduate? Yes. Michelle Gardner (she/her): if you prep Michelle Gardner (she/her): if you become proficient in case interviews. You're really good at behavioral interviews. Make sure your resume and your cover letter are tailored to the consulting industry and not the biology industry. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Yes, it is very possible to land a job in the consulting industry like, I said, that's the beautiful thing about the consulting industry is they want people from all different backgrounds from all different majors. I mean. Michelle Gardner (she/her): because they they really encourage that diversity, that creativity. they don't just want stereotypical business students. Actually, because the whole point of consulting is solving problems and helping companies and people and consulting companies have an understanding that not just the stereotypical business major has all the answers to that. So yes, it's very possible. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Max says. How can I get started with networking? What kinds of relationships are most valuable for getting into consulting? Michelle Gardner (she/her): again. I don't want to go really, really end up with networking, because we want to focus for this session on case interviewing. So like I said, I'm happy to chat afterwards. I'll put my email in the chat as well. But Michelle Gardner (she/her): the most pivotal networking relationships that you can build are with the alums at the companies that you're interested in and the recruiters. I'll just say that. And then, if you have any other questions concerns. We can chat afterwards as well happy to chat Michelle Gardner (she/her): as a rising junior. Are there any internships aside from consulting that would be good for going into consulting professionally after graduation. I want to make sure. I understand that there any internships aside. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay, so you're saying, if you do like a non consulting internship. What are the good ones? If you want to go into consulting after graduation, is that correct? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay, I honestly recommend the financial industry. The tech industry, which I know both are very volatile right now. Michelle Gardner (she/her): But those skills are very transferable. Michelle Gardner (she/her): but those 2 industries are really good industries to get internships at. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I would also say, if you wanted to try to get an internship at startups, because startups are really good companies where they're usually small, because obviously they are a startup and they usually allow their interns to gain a lot of experience Michelle Gardner (she/her): with a bunch of different things so like you could be doing anything from, you know, managing social media to, you know, doing research on competitors, etc. So startups are really good. But honestly, there's Michelle Gardner (she/her): you can gain transferable skills and any type of internship that is transferable to consulting as well. But I would say Michelle Gardner (she/her): the biggest ones, if you're shooting, for something would be usually finance or tech. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay. Sophia, can you? Michelle Gardner (she/her): Yes, I just put my email in the chat. I have everyone's email in this session as well, though, and you will be hearing from me afterwards. I'll send the Powerpoint as well as the list of resources as well. So please do not worry. You will hear from me. Michelle Gardner (she/her):  What is the biggest mistake candidates make when casing? Oh, this is a very good question. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Biggest mistake. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I think it honestly depends on the company that you are case interviewing with Michelle Gardner (she/her): So again, remember, when I was talking about interviewer led versus interviewee led and the different. I gave you examples of the different companies that do interviewer led versus interviewee led. You really want to pay attention to those, because those Michelle Gardner (she/her): those companies use that information when it comes to scoring. So. Michelle Gardner (she/her): for example, if you're not leading the case in an interviewee led case, if you're waiting for the interviewer Michelle Gardner (she/her): and to, you know, direct you. That's a really really big mistake. And you're going to get a really low score. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I would say. Also. Michelle Gardner (she/her): another big mistake is not making sure the math is 100. Not trying with the math. I've heard a lot of students think that your math doesn't have to be 100% accurate. And nowadays, from the consulting companies, we're hearing the exact opposite that they want the math more accurate. So really making sure that you practice those math drills and nailing the math is really important as well Michelle Gardner (she/her): says, what does the product management time look like? Michelle Gardner (she/her): good question, so they will begin recruitment, probably in the fall. for next summer. So summer 2024, they're a bit later than you know. The finance of the consulting industry. So you haven't missed the timeline yet. Michelle Gardner (she/her): These are all really great questions, guys. Thank you. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Anything else. Michelle Gardner (she/her): What firms is Cornell a target school at? Michelle Gardner (she/her): good question. Michelle Gardner (she/her): we are actually a target school for Mackenzie, Bain, EY Michelle Gardner (she/her): I can actually Michelle Gardner (she/her): Deloitte It's a majority of the MBB. And the Big 4. I can provide you with a list after this as well. Mackenzie and Baine. Michelle Gardner (she/her): E. Why, and Deloitte are probably are for the yes, we obviously still have students that go to BCG, which is the other MBB firm? as well as KPMG and PWC, the other Big 4. but those are the 4 that I was a, our, our target school, or we are a target school for them as well as we're very. We have very close relations with those companies. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Should sophomores be applying for summer 2024 MBB. Internships? Yes, right now. MBB. Internships are open. Their deadlines are coming up. Michelle Gardner (she/her): So you do need to start preparing and submitting your applications for summer 2024. Michelle Gardner (she/her): jumping on that question which strategy consulting firms are more likely to hire international students with F1 visas? Michelle Gardner (she/her): That is a really great question. within handshake the beautiful platform tool that for now has the company's profiles will actually state whether or not a consulting company supports international students. So before applying, I would review the company's profile within handshake and make sure that they support international students Michelle Gardner (she/her): their questions. And again, I'll put my email on the chat one last time Michelle Gardner (she/her): and feel free to reach out if you have any other questions concerns. But, like I said, you will hear from here from me as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): No. Michelle Gardner (she/her): we have about 6 more minutes. If you all don't have any question any more questions, we can sign off early. If anyone else has any questions or concerns, feel free to stay on, and I'm happy to answer them until one. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Okay. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Rachel, I'm a rising senior psychology student wondering if there is a list serve of firms or opportunities available for non Dyson students. Rachel, can you clarify what you mean by a list? Serve of firms? Rachel Kodysh: just kind of like a place like opportunities to sign up for just because I'm not as exposed to Rachel Kodysh: the consulting realm as like Dyson students and finance students are, I guess. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Yeah. And do you mean like training opportunities, like workshops and such? Michelle Gardner (she/her): So handshake is Cornell's best platform. All of the companies, especially the consulting companies that want to recruit Cornell students. We tell them they need to post their positions on handshake. What I would recommend you doing if you're having a hard time finding opportunities on handshake Michelle Gardner (she/her): is using the the favorite tool, basically, or starring it, you can literally go in the handshake and Michelle Gardner (she/her): follow, I think, is actually what it's called the companies that you're interested in the positions that you're interested in and based on industry as well. You can also use the filter tool. So let's say you're looking for consulting internships for summer. 2024. You can go into the job site Michelle Gardner (she/her): and filter, based on like consulting industry, and it'll pull up all of the opportunities that are listed. but handshake is really the best resource for finding opportunities for internships and full time, as well as actually resources for workshops. So Michelle Gardner (she/her): Cornell career services Central, Dyson, all of the career services across campus. We post all of our events in handshake. and I would you can filter that by going to the events Michelle Gardner (she/her): and finding all the events that are posted. I would say to externally from Cornell University Michelle Gardner (she/her): management consulted, has amazing workshops, classes, etc. that are really really great tools for students. So what I would do is sign up for create an account within management consulted first and then sign up for their newsletter as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I think they send their newsletter on like a daily basis, basically. And they provide an abundance of resources. and they even provide like updates of when deadlines are coming up for internships and full time opportunity. they provide live workshops, and they do a really great job. So I would highly recommend signing up for that Rachel Kodysh: thank you so much Michelle Gardner (she/her):  sofia to clarify around, when would case interviews start for summer 2024? Michelle Gardner (she/her): So that's a great question. So Michelle Gardner (she/her): let's say you submit your application Now for Mackenzie. you usually hear back within 3 weeks of your interview. Schedule usually there's at least 2 rounds of interviewing at firms, and each round has case interviewing. So you have to be prepared is like, I said. That's why, as soon as you submit your application, you should really be prepared to case Michelle Gardner (she/her): That's why I tell my students at least that they shouldn't submit their application until they are ready to case because you will experience multiple rounds of case interviews. during the recruitment process. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Hi, Michelle, I'm an MENG student graduating in fall 24. Should I focus on product management interview prep. Right now, or casing? Michelle Gardner (she/her): my preferred for you. Okay? So when you say, pm, interview prep. Right now, are you just talking about behavioral interviews, technical interviews? Can you specify a bit? Michelle Gardner (she/her): All of them? Michelle Gardner (she/her):  so I would say, manage your time. So behaviorals and technicals are still very important. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I would say. Michelle Gardner (she/her): behavioral Michelle Gardner (she/her): first, you want to get like to tell me about yourself like, get all of that situated first and then more So focus in on case interviewing the behavioral interview is still a really important factor of the recruitment process. It's Michelle Gardner (she/her): basically to see if you're a good cultural fit like that's how they define that as the behavioral interview. But the case interview is a make or break for most industries. Michelle Gardner (she/her): The reason why is case interviews are waived heavily because they're based on real life situations that that company is facing. So they're based on real life problems or real life clients that those companies have right now. Michelle Gardner (she/her): so what I would recommend doing is do a little bit of both each week. So like I said before. Michelle Gardner (she/her): you know, use your Google Calendar if you have like a regular paper and pencil agenda, like I do, and schedule an hour, you know. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, where you're practicing case prep. And then on Tuesday, Thursday, your Tuesday. Excuse me, you're practicing behavioral interview prop, and just do a little bit of at a time until you're proficient in both. Michelle Gardner (she/her): And then I would say, technical interview, too. It's very the rigor. It's very similar to casing. So you want to practice months in advance as well. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Any other questions. Michelle Gardner (she/her): We are actually a couple. Oh, go ahead, Rachel Rachel Kodysh: Sorry. I just had a question about resources in terms of learning about how companies function and how exactly to answer like mathematical and like financial questions when they come up in the case, interviews like, just anything about like the markets or yeah, obviously, those extremely important aspects of the case. And for you. Michelle Gardner (she/her): gotcha. So you mean, like, what type of formulas will you use like? How do you identify? What type of formulas you use in a specific case? Rachel Kodysh: Yes. And like, what specific financial factors you need to focus on studying when you're researching different industries like. Michelle Gardner (she/her): yeah? great question. So that is really dictated by the structure. Remember those frameworks that I talked about within the presentation. And so Michelle Gardner (she/her): what you want to do. This is why it's a really good idea to break it. Break your prep. Down into structure, slash framework drills, and then math as well. And again, management consulted does a really good job of prepping you that way, too. And so first, you want to do those structure drills Michelle Gardner (she/her): which basically help you identify whether it's an M and A case, or it's a market sign in case it's a profitability case. Or you know, it's a lot of cases on one Michelle Gardner (she/her): Then from there is how you can identify what math formulas to do. So they work with each other. So I would recommend doing those drills through management kind of stuff that to help you identify what math formulas to use, for which structure and I will say to you like, I said in the presentation. Michelle Gardner (she/her): a good caseer uses all of the frameworks in one case. So like you have a an a an M and A case. Michelle Gardner (she/her): you'll probably do market sizing, you'll probably do profitability. You'll do formulas for both of those things, so I would just be able to identify when and where you need to use them. Rachel Kodysh: Yeah, I guess my question is like, how Rachel Kodysh: how to identify when and what we use the formulas just like a general understanding of how companies function, and like what specific aspects? to research in those industries like not necessarily the formulas exactly, but like what steps you take to actually understand what those you know numbers stand for. Michelle Gardner (she/her): Oh, I like more. So like a general business sense, and not so not Rachel Kodysh: not just for caseing. Yeah. Michelle Gardner (she/her): I that's a really great question. I would honestly say, like, take a foundation, a business foundations Course. strategy courses are really good for that. But yeah, I would take a course in it. If you have room in your schedule. Rachel Kodysh: yeah, that's that's where it's, tough, thank you, yeah. Michelle Gardner (she/her):  alrighty. So we are over time. Thank you so much. You've been a great audience, and like I said, you'll be hearing from me, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer. Alrighty.