TA Handbook
A guide for STRAT 325 Teaching Assistants
Introduction
Thank you for contributing your time and effort to STRAT 325. This course is designed as a high-touch experience where students receive sustained, individualized support as they develop consulting skills and navigate the recruiting process.
You will be assigned to one pod of 7-8 students who become your primary responsibility throughout the semester. Your role is to mentor these students as they build mastery of The Consultant’s OS and prepare for management consulting recruiting.
Your Role
Unlike traditional TA roles focused primarily on grading, this position emphasizes mentorship. You will:
- Develop deeper relationships with students in your pod
- Provide individualized guidance, feedback, and accountability
- Support students through group-based projects
- Help teams structure their thinking, diagnose weaknesses, and improve execution
Success Metrics
Your barometer for success: by semester’s end, your students have demonstrated mastery of The Consultant’s OS and have had repeated, meaningful opportunities to practice each skill across both recruiting preparation and applied consulting work.
Pod Structure
Approximately 48 students are registered, with eight teaching assistants/case coaches. Each TA mentors approximately 6 students organized into a pod.
Pod Purpose
Each pod serves three functions:
- Support system: People rooting for students’ success and checking in on progress
- Practice interview partners: 7 peers to practice behavioral and case interviews with
- Peer feedback: Resume reviews, story refinement, and honest input
TA Touchpoints
| Touchpoint | Timing | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Goals Worksheet + Chat | Week 2 | Establish recruiting goals and development focus |
| TA Mentoring Session 1 | Weeks 4-5 | Baseline practice interview, identify focus areas |
| TA Mentoring Session 2 | Weeks 9-10 | Progress check practice interview, calibrated feedback |
| TA Mentoring Session 3 | Week 14 | Final practice interview evaluation with full context |
Note: TA Mentoring Sessions replace the previous 4 feedback sessions. Each session is a full practice interview (behavioral + case) that allows you to track student growth over time.
Individual Mentoring
Most assignments in this course are completed individually. Your role is to assess progress against The Consultant’s OS toolkit, helping students build both external competence in core skills and internal confidence in applying those skills under ambiguity and pressure.
Goals Worksheet + Chat
What it is: Students complete a Goals Worksheet before meeting with you for a 20-minute conversation. This worksheet becomes a living document you’ll reference throughout the semester in TA Mentoring Sessions.
Goals Worksheet Sections:
- Career Direction: Ideal first 2-4 years, summer 2026/2027 plans
- Target Firms: Top 3 firms with rationale
- Self-Assessment: Rate 1-4 on each practice interview rubric dimension
- Development Focus: 2-3 priority skills + action plan
- Definition of Success: What “winning” looks like by May
- TA Notes: Your observations, commitments made, flags to monitor
During the chat, explore:
- What does an ideal first 2-4 years of your career look like, and why?
- What does “success” look like at the end of this recruiting season?
- What are your plans for summer 2026 and summer 2027?
- Which firms are at the top of your list? What differentiates them in your mind?
- Which practice interview dimensions (behavioral or case) are your biggest opportunities for development?
- How should I push you to success? What’s your preferred learning style?
Grading the Goals Worksheet:
Students should clearly articulate:
- Summer 2026 and 2027 plans: Concrete strategy for securing an internship, or if already secured, how they’ll maximize learning
- Development plans: Honest self-assessment on the 6 rubric dimensions, with targeted actions for improvement
- Underlying motivation: A genuine “why” connecting personal goals, career objectives, and effort required—not generic rationale
Using the Worksheet Throughout the Semester:
Reference the Goals Worksheet in each TA Mentoring Session:
- Session 1: “You said quantitative rigor was weak—let’s focus on that in today’s case”
- Session 2: “Your self-assessment said Structure was a 2. Looking at your feedback data, you’re now averaging 3.2. Great progress.”
- Session 3: “Did you achieve what you defined as success in Week 2?”
TA Mentoring Sessions
You will conduct 3 practice interviews with each student over the semester. These sessions serve as both skill development and assessment opportunities.
Practice Interview Format:
Each session combines behavioral and case components, mirroring the actual MBB interview format:
| Component | Time |
|---|---|
| Behavioral (1-2 questions) | 15-20 min |
| Case | 30-35 min |
| Feedback | 5-10 min |
| Total | ~60 min |
Session Focus:
| Session | Timing | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Session 1 | Weeks 4-5 | Baseline assessment—identify strengths and focus areas |
| Session 2 | Weeks 9-10 | Progress check—compare to baseline, calibrate feedback |
| Session 3 | Week 14 | Final evaluation—assess growth, prepare for real interviews |
Key Guidelines:
- Use a different behavioral story and different case each session
- Reference the Goals Worksheet: “You said X was weak—let’s see how you’ve improved”
- Complete the feedback form after each session so students can track their data
- Same TA for all 3 sessions allows you to observe growth arc and provide contextual feedback
Approach:
- High support + high expectations: Feedback should be timely, candid, and growth-oriented
- Build, don’t discourage: At least 80% of the conversation should focus on what the student is doing well
- Specific and actionable: “Your frameworks are getting more MECE. Next, focus on stating your hypothesis before diving into branches”
Your Load: 3 sessions × 6 students = 18 sessions over the semester (~1.2 hrs/week)
Resume Reviews
After class instruction on resumes, students produce a consulting-ready resume built around quantified scope and impact.
Your responsibilities:
- Resume v1 review: Provide detailed feedback on bullet quality, formatting, experience selection, and clarity
- Identify gaps: Note which sections need development (Education, Experience, Leadership, Skills)
- Resume v2 review: Grade based on polish, responsiveness to feedback, and quality of development plan
What to look for:
- Each bullet communicates scale, responsibility, and results
- Quantified scope (team size, budget, users) and quantified impact (% improvement, revenue, outcomes)
- Strong action verbs and leadership demonstration
- Error-free, professionally formatted
Networking Tracker
Students create a spreadsheet to track recruiting and networking progress.
Required components:
- Target firms list
- Networking activity log (who, what discussed, next steps)
- Planned outreach
Your responsibility:
- Confirm the tracker is effective and actively used
- Reference during feedback sessions to assess progress and identify next steps
- Grade initial submission on completeness; subsequent check-ins on completion basis
Practice Interview Support
Students complete 10 practice interviews over the semester: 7 with pod peers and 3 with you. Since students act as both interviewees and interviewers, all practice interview guidance—frameworks, checklists, scoring rubrics, and case libraries—lives in the Assessments page.
Key resources for students (and you):
- Behavioral & Fit Interviews — PARADE framework, interviewer checklists, sample questions, scoring anchors
- Case Interviews — Interviewee tips, interviewer guidance, case library, scoring anchors
- Giving Feedback — Feedback delivery framework, calibration guidance
TA-Specific Guidance
Your 3 sessions with each student are different from peer practice in important ways:
| Your Sessions | Peer Sessions |
|---|---|
| Same TA for all 3 sessions—you track growth over time | Different partners each time |
| Reference Goals Worksheet to personalize focus | General practice |
| Higher-stakes calibration (students weight your feedback more) | Peer-to-peer learning |
| Comprehensive feedback using full rubric | Completion-based grading |
Session Preparation
Before each practice interview:
- Check how many practice interviews the student has completed
- Reference their Goals Worksheet—what are they focusing on?
- Establish a specific goal for this session
- Select a case and behavioral question that align with their development needs
- After the session, complete the feedback form so the data goes to their record
Firm Differences Disclaimer
While interview styles differ across firms, avoid over-indexing firm-specific nuances during the course. The goal is building a strong generalist foundation that transfers across MBB firms.
- McKinsey: More hypothesis-driven, expects a POV early
- BCG: More insight-focused, values creativity
- Bain: More practical/results-oriented
Use a broadly generalist style as the baseline. Firm-specific customization comes after mastery of fundamentals.
Client Work Support
Students complete three progressive consulting deliverables that build on each other. Each deliverable is presented to the pod for feedback.
| Deliverable | Due | Scope | Team | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1: Company & Competitive Analysis | Week 8 | Outside-in diagnostic + competitive benchmark | Individual | Deck (25 pts) + Pod Presentation (35 pts) |
| P2: Value-Add Hypothesis | Week 12 | Opportunity identification | Pairs | Deck (25 pts) + Pod Presentation (35 pts) |
| Capstone Proposal | Week 14 | Full strategic proposal | Teams of 3 | Deck (25 pts) + Pod Presentation (35 pts) |
Pod Presentations
You coordinate pod presentation sessions for each deliverable:
| Element | Format |
|---|---|
| Time per student | ~9.5 minutes |
| Present | 4 minutes |
| Q&A | 3 minutes |
| Written feedback | 2 minutes (all students + TA fill out form) |
| Transition | 30 seconds |
| Total session | ~70-76 minutes for 7-8 students |
Your responsibilities:
- Reserve a room for your pod’s presentation sessions
- Keep time strictly—use a visible timer
- Model good Q&A by asking the first question
- Complete the feedback form for each presenter
- Synthesize peer feedback into a final grade
Your Role in Projects
For individual projects (P1):
- Provide feedback on structure and analysis quality
- Help students identify gaps in their outside-in research
- Coach on slide design and executive communication
For team projects (P2, Capstone):
- Help teams structure their thinking and divide work effectively
- Facilitate healthy team dynamics and conflict resolution
- Coach on storyline development and presentation delivery
- Observe team coordination during presentations
Project Coaching Tips
| Deliverable | Focus Areas |
|---|---|
| P1 | Problem definition, fact base quality, competitive insight, “so what” |
| P2 | Hypothesis clarity, MECE approach, quantified impact |
| Capstone | Storyline flow, executive summary, recommendation specificity, team coordination |
MCA Coordination
The course is designed to complement the Management Consulting Association. Students attend required MCA events to reinforce skill development and community engagement.
Your responsibility:
- Update student scores in Learning Suite based on event attendance submissions
- For students with extenuating circumstances (athletic conflicts, etc.), coordinate makeup assignments as needed
Summer Planning
Near the end of the semester, students submit a two-part summer plan.
Part 1: Recruiting Portfolio
- Resume, networking tracker, case logs, behavioral stories, reflections
- All recruiting materials developed during the semester
Part 2: Summer Action Plan
- Specific actions with defined timelines and expected outcomes
- Concrete casing strategy (number of cases, partners, schedule)
- Clear goals for the recruiting season
Your responsibility:
- Review the summer plan during final feedback session
- Pressure-test the plan, identify gaps, suggest refinements
- Grade final submission on organization, detail, and responsiveness to feedback
- Encourage students to establish an accountability mechanism (mentor check-ins, peer accountability partner)
Best Practices Summary
Do
- Maintain high support paired with high expectations
- Deliver feedback that is timely, specific, and actionable
- Focus 80% on what students are doing well
- Help students set clear goals before each case or assignment
- Reference The Consultant’s OS framework consistently
- Build confidence alongside competence
Don’t
- Over-index on firm-specific nuances early in the semester
- Pile on negative feedback when a student already knows they struggled
- Let feedback sessions become grading discussions
- Skip the goal-setting conversation before cases
- Assume students know what they need to work on
Resources
- Practice Interview Guidance: Frameworks, checklists, rubrics, case library
- Case Library: 10 cases organized by difficulty
- Grading rubrics: Available in Learning Suite
- Framework templates: Course website Resources section
- Escalation: Contact Professor Murff for students who appear to be struggling significantly