S24E1: The Hottest Consulting Sectors to Target in 2026

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1. 

   S24 · E4 · 5 Aug 2026 · 18 min

   S24E4: She Bombed MBB Her First Try – Then Landed 2 Offers the Next Time

   Send us Fan Mail Sharon had everything going for her. Top-tier MBA. MBB interview invites across the board. She'd done 50–60 cases – but didn't make it past a single first round. What held her back wasn't her profile. It was her approach. So she came back the next year when the stakes were even higher. This time, she did it differently – and landed McKinsey and Bain. Katie breaks down what shifted and what re-recruiters (and first-timers who want to avoid the same trap) can take from Sh...

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   S24 · E3 · 31 Jul 2026 · 9 min

   S24E3: 3 Questions That Kill Your Case Interview Opening

   Send us Fan Mail "Any other objectives?" sounds polite. But in a case interview opening, it costs you points. Namaan breaks down the 3 questions that kill candidates in the first 2 minutes of a case. The case opening is the first section that gets scored. And it's nearly identical every single time. So if there's one part of the case you can walk in ready for, it's this one. Get the opening right, and the rest of the case gets easier. Resources: If you struggle with case openings, Black Belt ...

3. 

   S24 · E2 · 29 Jul 2026 · 8 min

   S24E2: How Consulting Firms Really Score Case Interviews

   Send us Fan Mail You can nail every case you practice and still get rejected. That's because firms aren't grading you on vibes. McKinsey scores you piece by piece – opening, structure, math, brainstorming, closing. Other firms use 3 buckets instead: structure, problem solving, communication. Either way, a 4 out of 4 in math won't save a 1 out of 4 in brainstorming. Firms want you solid across the board. In this episode, Namaan breaks down exactly what's being scored – and why doing 100 more p...

4. 

   S23 · E30 · 22 Jul 2026 · 29 min

   S23E30: Top 10 Retail Consulting Firms and the 4 Lanes Reshaping the Market

   Send us Fan Mail Consumer and retail consulting used to be one market. Now it's 4. Each lane pulls a different lever – growth, margin, or talent. Firms that used to compete on "we do consumer and retail" are getting picked apart by specialists who can prove which lever they actually move. In this episode of The Briefing, Japheth sits down with Namaan to break down the 4 lanes reshaping a $70B market, why AI stopped being enough on its own, and why private equity's longer hold periods are turn...

5. 

   S23 · E29 · 17 Jul 2026 · 24 min

   S23E29: How to Build Business Acumen for Consulting

   Send us Fan Mail Building business judgment is learnable – most candidates just go about it the wrong way. Tauseef Charanya spent 10 years at BCG, conducted over 300 case interviews, and coached hundreds of candidates through the process. In this episode, he explains what business acumen actually looks like in a case interview, why work experience alone doesn't build it, and the 4 layers you need to hit to get an offer. Resources: If you're ready to work on your business acumen with an ...

6. 

   S24 · E28 · 9 Oct 2026 · 34 minNew

   S24E28: Top 10 Healthcare Consulting Firms and Who Leads Each Segment

   Send us Fan Mail Almost every large consulting firm has a healthcare practice. Far fewer have a healthcare position. In this episode of The Briefing, Namaan breaks down our 2027 healthcare consulting research. The big finding is that healthcare consulting splits into two sides, care delivery and life sciences, and a firm that’s excellent at one is often absent from the other. So the question for any practice leader is which side your firm has built a position on. McKinsey, BCG, and Bain take ...

7. 

   S24 · E27 · 7 Oct 2026 · 8 min

   S24E27: Busted: The Online Assessment Isn't the Hardest Part of Recruiting

   Send us Fan Mail "I need to start prepping for the online assessment now, because it's the hardest part of getting an interview." Katie hears some version of this on her calls all the time, and it's easy to see why. The test can feel like a weird game you have no way to practice for, and it's the first thing standing between your application and an interview. So in our first episode of Case Busters, Katie puts it to the test. Should you really be grinding practice tests months before you appl...

8. 

   S24 · E26 · 2 Oct 2026 · 6 min

   S24E26: The 3-Part Case Interview Closing That Can Rescue Your Score

   Send us Fan Mail In most cases, your interviewer already knows how they'll score you by the time you reach the closing. But when it's a close one, the closing is the tiebreaker, and it can rescue your score. Namaan breaks down the 3 parts of a closing that works: the recap, the recommendation, and the risks and next steps. Practice it in every case, so the closing is ready to rescue your score when you need it. Resources: Start my free Case Foundations course – it covers all 5 core components...

9. 

   S24 · E25 · 1 Oct 2026 · 26 min

   S24E25: Ex-Deloitte and Bain Coach: Big 4 Interview Formats You Haven't Practiced

   Send us Fan Mail Big 4 interviews are around the corner – and most candidates need 6–8 weeks of prep to be ready. Mitali Jalan spent years at Deloitte and Bain, then coached 400+ candidates. She sees one gap sink strong applicants again and again: they practice 1-on-1 cases and never practice the other formats the Big 4 use. Think group cases, written cases, presentations, and AI-assisted or Excel cases. And behavioral prep matters just as much – at some firms, it carries equal weight to...

10. 

    S24 · E24 · 25 Sep 2026 · 56 min

    S24E24: 80% of AI Projects Fail. These 2 Firms Explain Why.

    Send us Fan Mail 80% of AI projects fail. Only 10 to 20% of enterprise AI pilots reach production, and 2 firms break down why. Ugo Philippart of Emerton Data calls his firm the fire squad companies phone after an AI project has failed. Damien Chan of Adastra says over 75% of its pilots make it. Both measure performance from day 1. Most teams wait until a system is underperforming. That gap turns a pilot into a failed project. And if you want a career in consulting, this is what the work looks...

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