i was overwhelmed prepping for ib interviews—technical, fit, casework—while juggling classes and an internship. veterans recommended a blunt, prioritized plan: focus first on accounting and valuation fundamentals until you can teach them in 10 minutes, then move to 50 core behavioral stories (one-liners + impact), and finally 20 mock technical drills under time pressure. i learned the hard way that scattershot practice wastes weeks. what’s one concrete, repeatable weekly schedule you followed that actually got you offers?
there’s no magic: do the boring stuff until it’s boring. i drilled three templates—walk me through a deal, a time you failed, and a valuation walkthrough—and used them for every interview. mock interviews are overrated when they’re soft; do them with someone who will interrupt and ask follow-ups. practice under pressure or you’ll choke. and btw, stop memorizing entire ten-minute spielz; make them short and sharp. hiring managers prefer clarity over theatrics.
if you’re cramming, stop with fancy questions. perfect your 30-second intro and three stories that map to leadership, problem-solving, and ownership. also, practice doing a valuation while someone times you. most people fail from nerves, not knowledge. so simulate stress and you’ll win.
i used a 6-week plan: weeks 1–2 accounting, 3 behavioral, 4 valuation, 5 mocks, 6 polish. saved me so much time. anyone else try this?
i started journaling one-line answers daily and it helped me answer fit q’s smoothly. tiny trick but works!
A practical, reality-tested approach I advise is to structure preparation across three layers and align them with measurable milestones. Layer one: fundamentals—accounting mechanics, LIFO/FIFO, basic valuation—achieve fluency by explaining concepts aloud under timed conditions. Layer two: structured storytelling—prepare 8–10 stories mapped to common competencies and distill each into a 30–60 second opener plus a one-sentence result. Layer three: application—regular mock interviews with targeted feedback, focusing on follow-up questions rather than recitation. Allocate 60% of early prep to fundamentals, 30% to stories, and 10% to mocks; shift toward 50/20/30 in the final two weeks. Track progress with short checklists so you can iteratively close gaps. What part of this plan feels hardest to execute for you?
during my prep i kept a ‘stupid question’ list—things i messed up under pressure. revisiting them weekly stopped them from reappearing. weirdly helpful.
from tracking my own prep across 10 mock rounds, targeted practice beats volume. I logged time spent per topic and success rates in mocks. Accounting practice had diminishing returns after ~12 hours—after that, time on scenario-based follow-ups improved mock scores by 35%. My recommended split is 40% fundamentals, 35% mock Q&A with harsh follow-ups, 25% deal reviews/stories. Use a simple spreadsheet: record topic, hours, mock score, and top failure mode. Adjust weekly. If you want, I can share a blank template I used to optimize my schedule.