Updated July 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant The 12 items every new management consultant should buy before their start date are a well-fitted suit, dress shoes, a durable carry-on suitcase, a structured laptop bag or backpack, noise-cancelling headphones, a portable charger, an e-reader, a universal travel adapter, a sleep mask and…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated June 2026 Yes, you can move from a PhD to consulting, and McKinsey, BCG, and Bain actively want you. They recruit advanced-degree candidates through dedicated Advanced Professional Degree (APD) pipelines, and PhDs usually enter at the post-MBA Associate level, not the analyst track. The pipeline is…
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Updated June 2026 | By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Orphoz is McKinsey & Company‘s implementation and transformation arm: a wholly-owned “McKinsey company” whose consultants execute strategy and deliver measurable results on the ground, rather than only advising on it. If McKinsey designs the plan, Orphoz is often the team that makes it happen.…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated July 2026 Yes, you can move from a Tier-2 firm to MBB, and you start from one of the strongest positions there is. If you are at Oliver Wyman, Kearney, L.E.K., Roland Berger, or Strategy&, you already do work that looks a lot like what McKinsey,…
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Updated July 2026. By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Consulting terms and jargon are the shorthand management consultants use to move fast: terms like MECE, deck, deliverable, boiling the ocean, and buy-in that pack a whole idea into two words. You do not need to memorize all of it to break into consulting. But…
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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.
