By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant. Updated September 24, 2026. Ask anyone to name the top consulting firms and you get the same three back: McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. Yet most candidates cannot say what truly separates them, and that gap shows up in their applications and their interview answers. The Big 3 consulting…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated June 2026 The McKinsey PEI (Personal Experience Interview) is the behavioral half of the McKinsey interview, and it counts for as much as the case. Most candidates spend 95% of their prep on the case and treat the PEI as an afterthought. That is exactly why…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated June 2026 The SCORE framework is a five-step method for answering behavioral interview questions: Situation, Complication, Outcome expectation, Remedial action, End result. I developed it for the candidates I coach because the standard advice, STAR, kept producing the same flat answers: a situation, a task, some…
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Updated September 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant A consulting resume is a one-page, single-column document that proves three things McKinsey, BCG, and Bain screen for in under 10 seconds: structured problem-solving, leadership, and quantified impact. The screener reads the top third of the page first, looks for measurable results, and cuts…
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Updated July 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant The 42 best free case interview examples in 2026 are the ones the consulting firms publish themselves, six from McKinsey, four from Bain, three from BCG, eleven from Deloitte, plus official cases from Kearney, Strategy&, Accenture, Roland Berger, Oliver Wyman, Simon Kucher, OC&C, Capital…
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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.
