The management consulting recruiting process is tough and very thorough with ~200 candidates competing for each place at some firms.

I've written previously about the different stages of the process and there's a lot of information available on what candidates can expect. However, there's much less information out there on what happens 'behind the scenes' and how consulting firms come to their decisions on who to hire.

Here I outline the three crucial behind-the-scenes stages of the recruiting process that you should know about. The below is based on my experience at McKinsey in London- other companies or even offices may have different processes but I'd bet that they're all pretty similar.

The recruiting process for top consulting firms is long and thorough and very, very competitive. 

One of the most common requests I receive is to recommend resources to help prepare for the consulting recruiting process. My standard response is to recommend the 3 books that helped me immensely when I was applying:

• Case in Point by Mark Cosentino: This book is in its 8th edition and there's a reason. I cannot recommend it highly enough as a preparation tool for case interviews. It gives a great overview of the process and contains 40 highly readable cases. Some people feel that Case In Point is too basic to fully prepare for top-tier consulting case interviews. I strongly disagree- it's the only case study book that I used and it was enough to help me land a job with McKinsey. My only criticism would be that 40 cases wasn't enough and after finishing them, I wanted more
  

• Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng: This is an excellent and very readable overview to the case interview process. It explains in detail each part of the interview and helps to unpick some  what your interviewers will be looking out for. I recommend it as an adjunct to Case in Point
• The McKinsey Mind by Ethan Rasiel: Rasiel's book gives an overview of some of the key skills that top consulting firms teach their consultants. It's based on his experiences at McKinsey but his advice is equally applicable to all top-tier consulting firms. For example, making sure that you use top-down communication and apply the 80/20 rule on both your CV and in your interviews, will improve your chances of landing any consulting job
  

These books are all widely available at a minimal cost. In general, I would recommend caution before buying any of the expensive, 'proprietary' materials available (i.e., I've heard of some case interview resources that can cost thousands of dollars)- I didn't meet anyone at McKinsey who admitted to finding these useful.. 

There's no 'magic bullet' that will guarantee you a consulting job. The only thing you can do is make sure your CV is as strong as it can be and practice, practice, practice your fit and case interview skills. These resources, and a good practice partner, will give you a great chance of doing that.

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One question that readers have asked me a few times is ‘how can I make a transition to MBB from a ‘Tier 2’ consulting firm?’

I wish there was an easy answer to this. Unfortunately, there’s not. It is (obviously) possible to move laterally from another consulting firm to MBB- I can think of several of my ex-colleagues at McKinsey who did this, one of whom is now a Partner- but it’s difficult. 

From looking at the background of these people, I can see a few trends. They all either:

• Left consulting to gain industry experience before applying to McKinsey
• Left consulting to do an MBA before applying to McKinsey
• Had built real expertise in a high demand area at the Tier 2 firm (e.g., marketing analytics, financial risk management) that they could transfer to McKinsey
  

That doesn't mean it's impossible to make this transfer without doing one of these- it just suggests to me that it's rare.

Management consulting is competitive. Top consulting firms receive many thousands of applications each year. As a result, the consulting recruiting process (outlined here) is lengthy and very thorough.

On average, top firms receive about 200 applications for every one offer they make. The diagram below summarises your odds of getting through each stage of the process- it's based on talking to people involved in the recruiting process at different firms and my own experience in interviewing.

My view on this is not the standard one. If you're applying to a consulting firm in Europe, I do not think that networking or 'knowing' the right people will significantly improve your chances of getting a job at a first or second-tier consulting firm.

Networking with current consultants has two benefits:

1. It helps you to better understand why you'd want to be a consultant and some specifics of the firms that you're applying to (for example, whether they have a Junior Associate role. This is valuable, but will realistically not improve your chances of getting a consultant job in any way
   
2. It can help you to get an internal referral (i.e., the consultant submits your CV and cover letter to the recruiting department instead of you doing it yourself).
   

You'll need to pass a CV (or resume) screen to land a consulting interview. My top 3 tips for building a CV that will do this:

• Keep it short: Your CV should be 1 page of A4. If you have more than 5 years of relevant work experience 2 pages is acceptable, but 1 page is still better. Anything longer is inexcusable. Someone once sent me a 17 page CV- I used it for years as an example of how not to write a CV

• Give context for your achievements: When mentioning an award, help the person reviewing your CV by explaining why it's an achievement. For example, if your CV mentions a university prize you won, briefly explain the selection criteria, how many people received the prize and how many were eligible

Consulting is a tough industry to break into. You'll be competing against a lot of smart people for each job. This means that firms can be picky about who they hire and the assessment process is very thorough.

In general, to land a job offer, you need to pass 4 stages (and these stages are the same irrespective of whether you're applying for a business analyst or an associate position):

1. CV screen: Most consulting firms ask for a CV and cover letter. This is good news as it makes it easy for you to apply to a large number of consulting firms without investing too much time (click here to see my tips on writing a CV for consulting)

2. Aptitude test: At most firms, some kind of aptitude test is the next step in the process. These test verbal and numerical reasoning and are designed to assess potential, not knowledge. This means that they are difficult to prepare for but it's helpful to familiarize yourself with the type of question asked by completing a couple of practice tests