that strategy consultants do....as I look into this more and more all the material I read gives me the standardized answers of; numerous sectors of specialization, work can be very varied. Even "a typical day" lists tend to quote things such as client meetings, models, projects. Can someone actually tell what it is an analyst would be expected to know from day one? Is it valuation/financial modeling (DCF, EBITDA..?) or is it marketing/management strategy/application of IT? (Very generalized phrases in their own right). I seem to be getting straight answers from every other industry including banking/finance about the very specific technical knowledge that would be needed when applying as an analyst.I would appreciate it if some one who has been through the process tell me how it is that one can demonstrate the ins and outs of the work done to a prospective firm.

You won't need much in the way of specialist skills. More of an ability to cobble together something convincing-looking depending on the nature of your project. If you can use google and know your way around word, powerpoint and excel, you should be fine.p.s. Those 'day in the life' things are bull.

Having read this forum a lot over the last year I have become aware of this fact, however what I wanted to know was what other skill apart from "I know how to fire up macros on excel" specifically would you need. Are there not any technical/number crunching type questions in the interviews?