By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Updated July 8, 2026. Case interview note-taking is an important skill to master as it directly influences your ability to think and structure. For most candidates, they turn into a scribbled mess that slows them down and breaks their train of thought halfway through the case. Interviewers never…
Read more
Updated July 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant The MBB consulting ban period (also called the “cool-off period” or “reapplication policy”) is the time you must wait after a rejection before applying again to the same firm. McKinsey enforces a 18-24-month ban. BCG enforces 12 months for undergraduate / Master’s candidates and…
Read more
By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated June 2026 The Pyramid Principle is a top-down communication method created by Barbara Minto at McKinsey: you lead with your main answer (the governing thought), support it with three or four grouped arguments, and back each argument with evidence. Instead of walking the listener through your…
Read more
By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Last updated July 8, 2026 Every candidate walks into a case interview terrified that one wrong number will cost them the offer. So they freeze, chase a flawless run, and make worse mistakes than the ones they feared. After my time at McKinsey and delivering 2,200+ mock…
Read more
By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated June 12, 2026 A second-round case interview is the final, partner-led round of consulting recruiting, and it is not harder than your first round. The case standards, the skills tested, and the evaluation criteria stay the same. What changes is who sits across from you, what…
Read more
Florian spent five years at McKinsey as a Senior Consultant and is a highly experienced consulting interviewer and problem-solving coach. Having conducted interviews with hundreds of candidates, he understands exactly what top-tier firms look for in successful applicants.
He founded StrategyCase.com to make top consulting careers more accessible by providing tailored, up-to-date insights into the recruiting process. Recognized as the most successful case and fit interview coach, Florian has helped his clients secure 700+ offers at MBB, Tier-2 firms, Big 4 consulting divisions, in-house consultancies, and boutique firms over the past four years.
He is the author of “The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview,” “The 1%: Case Interview Workbook,” and “Consulting Career Secrets”, all available on Amazon.
