Let’s be real – the “tell me about yourself” interview question can be really intimidating. I remember stumbling over my words, in my first consulting interview, when the interviewer asked me this question. 

But now I can tell you with experience: this question is an opportunity, not something to fear. With the right preparation, you can use it to connect authentically and show why you’re the perfect fit. 

In this guide, I’ll share the insights I’ve gained over the years to help you craft a winning answer. My goal is to help you relax and be your best self in the hot seat. Together, let’s transform this tricky question into your secret weapon!

Why Interviewers Ask You: “Tell Me About Yourself”

Many candidates think this question is just an icebreaker or a chance to ramble about their life story. But make no mistake – there’s more to it than that.

Here are two key reasons interviewers ask you to tell them about yourself:

To gauge if you have the skills and experiences to excel in consulting.

Telling your life story won’t cut it here. Interviewers want to hear about your professional background, achievements, and abilities that equip you for a consulting role.

To assess your communication skills.

How you structure and deliver your response gives interviewers a sense of your communication abilities – a critical skill in consulting. They’re looking for concise, compelling responses.

See the difference? This question isn’t just about getting to know you as an individual – it’s specifically about assessing your consulting potential.

Keep this purpose in mind as you craft your response. Every experience you highlight should clearly connect back to consulting skills and challenges.

What Skills and Experiences to Include in Your Answer

Resist the urge to recite your entire resume from start to finish. This is your chance to feature your greatest hits – the skills and achievements that showcase your consulting superpowers.

Follow these tips to hone in on your most compelling experiences:

Link skills directly to consulting competencies.

What abilities do top consultants consistently possess? Deep analytical skills, strong problem-solving, intellectual curiosity, strategic thinking, project management, communication, and leadership skills, just to name a few.

When selecting experiences to highlight, zoom in on ones that allowed you to demonstrate these prerequisite consulting skills.

Emphasize achievements, not just responsibilities.

Anyone can list job responsibilities on their resume. What interviewers really want to hear is how you drove impact and delivered tangible results in each role.

Quantify your achievements with numbers and data wherever possible to clearly demonstrate your value added.

Choose roles that show progression.

You want to show a clear upward trajectory in increasing scope, responsibility, and leadership over time. This demonstrates your ability to take on new challenges and grow – critical for success in consulting.

Showcase experiences relevant to the firm or industry.

Do your homework on the firm’s specialization and tailor your examples accordingly. If you know McKinsey does a lot of healthcare work, highlight any healthcare-related experiences.

This shows the interviewer your genuine interest in the role and firm.

By carefully curating your examples using these criteria, you can craft a response that sings your praises as a stellar consulting candidate.

How to Structure Your Response for Maximum Impact

You could have the most remarkable experiences in the world, but if your answer lacks structure, it can fall flat.

That’s why having a solid framework is essential to delivering a smooth, compelling answer that showcases your strengths.

Here are some effective structures to consider:

The Past-Present-Future Approach

This straightforward structure has a logical flow that tells the story of your professional journey. Here’s how it looks:

The Past

• 1-2 sentences briefly summarizing your background and early career experiences that set the foundation for your skills.

The Present

• Describe your current role and 1-2 major achievements or projects in recent years that demonstrate skills critical for consulting. Provide specific details and numbers.

The Future

• Explain why you are now interested in transitioning to consulting, and why you believe this firm in particular is the right fit for the next phase of your career.

This format works well because it frames your experiences within the arc of your career progression. Keep it concise – no more than 2-3 sentences on each section.

The Skills-Focused Approach

For career switchers or those with less traditional backgrounds, a skills-focused structure may be more effective. It puts your transferable abilities front and center.

With this format, you’ll highlight 2-3 key skills highly valued in consulting, provide an example of how you demonstrated each skill, and explain how this skill would make you an outstanding consultant.

For example:

Analytical Skills

• In my business analyst role at XYZ Company, I developed a demand forecasting model that improved inventory management by 15% and reduced waste. This shows my ability to synthesize data to drive solutions.

Leadership

• As project manager on a recent ERP implementation, I led a cross-functional team of 8 to execute the rollout plan, resulting in a successful on-time launch. This demonstrates my leadership abilities in complex team settings.

The goal is to provide tangible evidence of how your skills would translate to consulting. Prove it with real examples and outcomes.

The Storytelling Approach

Humans are wired to respond to stories. If you have a compelling story about how your experiences led you down the path to consulting, use it!

This structure involves choosing a pivotal career moment or decision, then walking through how it impacted your journey and shaped critical skills, such as:

• “Earlier in my career, I pivoted from engineering into a business analyst role. This exposed me to business strategy and data-driven decision making, which sparked my interest in consulting.”
• “When I volunteered to manage a struggling project no one else wanted to take on, I learned the importance of rolling up my sleeves to dig into ambiguous problems. This led me to realize I wanted to tackle the types of complex challenges faced in consulting.”

The narrative should wrap up by clearly connecting the dots on why this story highlights your passion and aptitude for consulting.

No matter which structure you choose, the key is setting up your answer to emphasize targeted skills and achievements. Think of it as crafting your personal consulting commercial.

As you prepare your response, be aware of these common pitfalls that candidates often fall into when answering the ‘Tell me about yourself’ question:

Pitfall	Why It’s a Problem	How to Avoid It
Too personal	Off-topic, unprofessional	Focus on career, skills
Too long	Loses interviewer’s attention	Aim for 2-3 minutes
Too rehearsed	Sounds inauthentic	Practice, but stay natural
No structure	Hard to follow	Use a clear framework
Irrelevant info	Wastes time	Tailor to consulting
No enthusiasm	Seems disinterested	Show genuine passion

Ways to Customize Your Response for Different Firms

Here’s a reality check – there’s no one-size-fits-all answer in consulting interviews. Each firm has its own distinct culture and priorities when it comes to hiring.

Big mistake number one is giving the exact same canned response in every interview. To stand out, you need to tailor your answer to each specific firm.

Here are two ways to customize your response:

Research the firm’s values and culture upfront.

Spend time browsing their website, especially pages that talk about values, mission and culture. For example, if Bain emphasizes collaborating with colleagues, highlight experiences that showcase your teamwork abilities.

Weave in industry expertise where relevant.

If you’re interviewing with a firm known for healthcare work and you happen to have hospital experience, make sure to feature that. It demonstrates alignment with their core business.

Even small customizations to highlight specialized experience or firm fit can make a big impact. It signals to the interviewer that you did your homework on what makes their firm unique.

Key Points to Response “Tell me About Yourself”

You’re almost there! Now let’s ensure you incorporate elements that really make your answer pop.

Highlight both soft skills and analytical skills.

The best consultants exhibit both. Speak to your leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence. But don’t downplay your smarts either – showcase analytical and problem-solving examples too.

Demonstrate an upward career trajectory.

Wherever possible, show progression to expanded scope and impact. This conveys your ability to successfully take on greater responsibility.

Quantify achievements with numbers.

Attaching data and metrics to your accomplishments makes them more concrete and compelling. For example, rather than saying “I increased sales,” say “I increased sales by 20% over 2 years.”

Emphasize skills in high demand in consulting.

Adaptability, learning agility, collaboration, intellectual curiosity – sprinkle these in where you can. They signal you can keep up in consulting’s fast-paced environment.

Show, don’t just tell.

Anyone can claim to have strong skills. You need to back up those claims with real-world examples and outcomes that prove them.

Connect the dots for the interviewer.

Don’t make them work too hard to see how your background relates to consulting. Show the relevance of your experiences and abilities to the role.

Conclude by expressing genuine interest and enthusiasm.

End your response on a high note by conveying your passion for consulting and the opportunity to develop your skills further in this role. Let your excitement shine through.

Master these elements, and your answer will not just inform – it will inspire.

Expert Tips to Deliver a Perfect Response

You put in the hard work to craft an amazing response on paper. But the job isn’t over yet.

Your delivery will make or break the impact of your answer. Here are some pro tips to nail the execution:

Practice out loud until polished.

No one delivers a perfect answer off the cuff. Practice until the flow and pacing feel natural. Time yourself to ensure you stay within 2-3 minutes.

Maintain eye contact and confident body language.

Good posture and steady eye contact increase your executive presence and convey confidence in your words. Avoid nervous gestures like fidgeting.

Modulate your tone for maximum engagement.

Avoid speaking in a flat, robotic monotone. Use inflection strategically to emphasize key points and keep your listener engaged.

Pause at transition points between sections.

Whether moving from past to present or story to conclusion – well-timed pauses act as punctuation that enhances flow.

Sprinkle in smiles and nods when appropriate.

Used judiciously, these cues invite your listener to warm up to you and convey your sincere interest in the conversation.

Adapt your delivery based on interviewer reactions.

Observe their facial expressions and body language. If they seem to perk up during certain parts of your answer, make a mental note to expand on those points in future interviews.

With the right mix of stellar content and polished delivery, you’ll have interviewers eating out of the palm of your hand in no time.

A Sample “Tell Me About Yourself” Response

Here’s an example of how these strategies might play out in a real interview. Let’s imagine Andrew is interviewing for a strategy role at McKinsey:

“Well, I started my career as a business analyst, which gave me foundational experience in data analysis and operational efficiency. I enjoyed that work but found myself wanting more big-picture strategy exposure.

So I pursued an MBA and stretched myself to take on new leadership roles, like managing the consulting club. That’s where I discovered my passion for tackling ambiguous business challenges and collaborating with cross-functional teams.

Most recently, I led strategy for my region at a tech company. I’m proud that the pricing optimization plan I spearheaded increased profit margins by 5%. But I’m looking to expand my strategic skills on a larger scale.

McKinsey really excites me because of your global reach and the complex challenges your clients face. If given the opportunity, I’m confident I could use my analytical and leadership skills to drive impactful strategies and serve our clients well.”

Notice how Andrew focuses the answer on his strategic skills, leadership growth, and aligns his experience with McKinsey’s consulting focus? That’s how you craft a compelling, customized response.

Final Advice

Here’s my last piece of advice: be yourself. Use this question to share what inspires you about consulting in an authentic way. At the end of the day, interviews are about human connections. If you can have a genuine, engaging conversation, you’ll leave a memorable impression.

I hope these tips give you the preparation and confidence to ace this question. Wishing you the very best as you embark on an exciting consulting career. You’ve got this!