When it comes to "consultation", most people probably think of this profession as "high salary", "high intensity" and "high sense of accomplishment". They wear men's suits and ties, and women's makeup is exquisite, and they are full of style when walking. In short, they are a gro

When it comes to "consultation", most people probably think of this profession as "high salary", "high intensity" and "high sense of accomplishment". They wear men's suits and ties, and women's makeup is exquisite, and they are full of style when walking. In short, they are a group of elites.

Why do you naturally think that "consultant" = "elite"?

Regarding elites, Wikipedia explains this: elites are a small group of people in society. Compared with ordinary people, elites have better qualities, abilities, wealth or privileges. In traditional society, aristocrats and professionals are regarded as elites.

It can be seen that elites have the characteristics of "small number of people", "high ability" and "professional". These are exactly matched by the consultant's description.

Why?

For example, a very mature project manager in the field of consulting (domestic) has an hourly consultation fee of nearly RMB 3,000 (the service fees and personal salary charged to customers are not so high). Whether you agree or not, you have to think about what they rely on? The essence of

consulting work is to solve specific problems for customers.

For example, an enterprise will encounter various problems during its operation, such as business operations, market development, financing and mergers and acquisitions, human resources, etc. When these problems cannot be resolved internally, the intervention of external third-party forces is required. Consultants are the people who contribute capital to help the company solve problems.

is like an autonomous vehicle company. Please consult a company to help it develop a strategy. The consultant is neither an expert in this field nor has he been engaged in related work. How do they help customers solve problems?

The secret is that they solve problems in a more structured way. In plain language, when faced with complex problems in various fields, they use a set of thinking frameworks and models, such as McKinsey's 7S and BCG's BCG's BCG Matrix to disassemble, analyze and solve problems.

Maybe you will feel that this kind of structured thinking is innate, or you feel that you have no similar experience before. Only a few people have this kind of thinking, so you can spend very little energy to improve it.

If you think so, you are a big mistake!

, especially those who want to work in a consulting company in the future, they cannot escape the interview process Case study (hereinafter referred to as case analysis) and Fermi estimate (hereinafter referred to as Fermi presumption). If you do not accumulate a problem-solving framework and have the ability to skillfully apply the framework, you will almost encounter ruthless defeat in the round of case analysis and Fermi's presumption. Is

that exaggerated? Not an exaggeration at all, it is a fact.

Suppose you are given two questions now, “How many vending machines are there in Japan?” “How to increase the income of beauty salons twice?”, each question has 20 minutes of preparation time, do you have any ideas for solving the problem?

If you are blank and don’t know how to start analyzing, don’t rush and read it down.

First of all, from the definition point of view, Fermi presumption refers to: using existing knowledge, scientific estimation of data that are difficult to obtain through investigation in reality. Representative questions such as: "How many cars are there in Japan?" "Now, how many people are watching mobile phones around the world?"

case analysis refers to: it can be regarded as the application of Fermi presumption. Unlike Fermi presumption, based on the estimation of the numerical value, we must finally give solutions and countermeasures for specific problems. Representative cases such as: "If you want to triple the size of Japan's automobile market in five years, what should you do?" "Please use your mobile phone and give a plan that can provide services to 1 million people within one day."

Then, as a very important part of the interview in a consulting company, it is also the link with the highest proportion of screening. How can we prepare to successfully pass the Fermi presumption and case analysis election test?

A HR who once worked in three consulting companies and is currently responsible for recruiting management trainees is: "Diligence can make up for your shortcomings, and practice more."

In fact, no one is born with this talent, and everyone masters it through continuous practice.Once in the role of コンンンー, the company will provide resources to train this part of its employees to adapt to the company's research methodology. What exactly do

Fermi presumption and case analysis examine?

During the interview stage, the interviewer hopes to see your ability to solve problems through logical and efficient methods. To put it bluntly, you must demonstrate your basic understanding of case analysis and future development potential.

For beginners who have never been exposed to these two types of interviews, modeling is the beginning of success. As mentioned above, before solving problems, first master the thinking framework and model for solving problems.

To give a simple example, you must know "how to split costs into variable cost and immutable cost", "break down revenue into pricing and quantity", encounter marketing problems, know "using 4P model" to solve the problem, know "using (MECE) independent of each other, completely exhausted" thinking method to classify... etc.

The above are some methodologies or business models that the interviewer hopes you will use during the interview.

Seeing this, you must have known the first step of winning elements in dealing with Fermi’s presumption and case analysis — building a thinking framework for solving problems.

Next, we must know how to use these models.

only knows the XX framework, and the XX principle is far from enough. Compared to knowing the framework itself, what is more important is that you know how to use these frameworks and models to solve problems and give the final solution.

The relationship between thinking model and ability

In fact, case analysis questions will not only appear in the selection of consulting companies, but also have a high question setting rate in companies such as the Internet and fast-moving consumer goods fields. Here I can’t help but ask, why do companies like to select talents by “giving cases”?

Before answering this question, we must first figure out what exactly is the corporate interview meeting? In other words, what are the abilities factors that the interviewer determines our stay or not?

First, we define "ability".

The explanation in Longwen Contemporary English Dictionary is: the state of someone who can accomplish something, and the skill level of someone who does something.

Generally, the ability we mentioned refers to specific XX abilities, such as your ability to cook, composing, dancing, etc.

Therefore, ability can be interpreted as that in a certain aspect, you have the ability to complete and accomplish XX things.

Of course, different fields, different companies, and different job types have different abilities to focus on inspection during interviews.

Go back to the question just now, even companies in different industries, why do interviewers make good use of the "giving cases" method to select talents?

Through "case analysis", enterprises can understand, analyze and evaluate a person more comprehensively in a short period of time. Corresponding to

, we can also present our expression ability, logical thinking ability, and problem-solving ability to be close to complete to the interviewer in a short period of time through case analysis.

Some people can’t help but wonder, is “case analysis” the best way to interview (optional exam)?

is not.

However, "case analysis" will force you to learn more valuable things by yourself, making the interviewer more favorable to you.

I heard a joke before: 100 Case exercises = 1 McKinsey Offer, and the opposite statement is that if it were so simple, then McKinsey Offer would have been a mess!

This tells us that pursuing the number of practices desperately does not guarantee that you can practice successfully, and that you will be satisfied with the interviewer. Under the premise of guaranteeing quantity, the most critical decisive factor is the quality of your practice.

At this time, what to practice and how to practice becomes very important.

If you just practice blindly, the final result is that even if you practice 100 Cases, you may not be able to step into the MBB door.