Are there any resources you can point me to in order to improve my consulting math? Management consulting is a route I want to take after university but the biggest thing standing in my way is the lack of math skills I have (I study Law and Political Science).
Combined with the following ask:
Mr. ENTJ, I’m extremely artistically inclined but somewhat incompetent in mathematics. Yet I’ll be studying Commerce at the most prestigious university in my country in the Fall of 2018 for undergrad. To what degree do I need mathematical knowledge to be successful in business and how can I improve my grasp on mathematical concepts? I lack interest in numbers and symbols so I’m wondering if there’s a more creative/artistic way of looking at it.
Hi Mr-entj. How much math did you have to learn to be good at business? I’m horrible at it but looking for ways to improve and quickly before I graduate.
It depends on what kind of business you’re looking to do but generally the math concepts in college are much more complex than anything you’ll use in the real world. Unless you’re an analyst for a think tank in Washington D.C. weaving complicated macroeconomic models, consulting/business math is straightforward. Don’t be intimidated.
Conversions (units of measurement)
Algebra (especially finding unknowns)
Basic Finance (especially interest, compound interest, risk)
For mental math (important in the case interview), the expectation is you can do problems like these in your head:
$1 million increased by 50% = ?
15,000 decreased by 30% = ?
The majority of business math will come in the form of word problems because the real world isn’t going to come up to you and ask: “Hey, my company is failing and I need to figure out what’s wrong, what’s 200x+3= 50,000? Solve for x, thanks.”
They’ll ask you questions like these instead:
“Hey, my company is failing and I need to figure out what’s wrong. Can you identify which department is underperforming the most, quantify by how much, and recommend solutions?”
“I feel like we’ve increased our financial performance this year, can you show me which specialization brings in the most revenue with the lowest overhead?”
“Our community clinic needs to save money to stay open, can you find a way to identify the least utilized services and the highest utilized services? Can you measure the impact to our patients if we change any of these services?”
“Hey, we put in that solution a month ago and we want to know how well it’s working. Can you figure out if we solved our problem and by how much?”
The key takeaway is you have to understand what’s going on, what message the data is telling you, and the cause and effect of your actions. Questions that might come up include:
What the hell is going on here?*
How are we measuring success? Is it making more money? Is it losing less money? Is it higher output? Is it better quality scores? Is it fewer errors? What’s the metric for success?
How do I know we’re successful? How do we quantify and measure it?
If I want to increase variable A, what do I need to change/move/increase/decrease/close/open to make it happen?
If I increase variable A, what impact (if any) will it have on variable B?
The data says that C has decreased, how much impact did D or E have on that change (if at all)?
*critical question to answer in any business environment.
Data visualization. All data and insights gleaned from calculations need to be translated into a data visual (graph). People will run for the hills if you hit them with a giant wall of text summarizing week to week revenue reports; that’s not a stimulating read so use graphs. Learn histograms, line charts, pie charts, waterfall charts, etc. Know how to read them, how to use them, and when to use them.
Microsoft Excel like the back of your hand. This program will be used to run numbers and process data. Learn VLOOKUPs, pivot tables, shortcuts, and all the goodies.
Tableau is a powerful data visualization software that’s very popular. It’s used to produce dynamic charts and graphs that automatically update based on fresh data.
SQL if you’re a glutton for punishment. SQL is used to query for data, knowing SQL makes you infinitely more attractive in the job market.
Math: Consulting Math, Math 2, Math 3, Math 4, Business Math concepts, GMAT books are also useful
Graphs: 44 Types of Graphs and How to Use Them, Working with charts, graphs, and tables, Data Visualization 101, Types of Graphs
Excel: Excel Formulas, Formulas 2, Formulas 3, Excel Shortcuts, Shortcuts 2
Tableau: Tableau 101, Tableau Community Forums, Hot Keys & Keyboard Shortcuts
SQL: SQL Tutorial, SQL Tutorial 2, 18+ Best Online Resources for Learning SQL and Database Concepts (2018 revision)