Author: Taylor Warfield, Former Bain Manager and interviewer

Last Updated: October 23, 2026

 

What to bring to a consulting interview is a short list: two working pens, blank paper for case math, printed resume copies, a photo ID, and questions for your interviewer, but never a calculator. This guide covers what to pack for in person, virtual, and written case interviews, plus what McKinsey, BCG, and Bain officially tell candidates to bring.

 

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Key Takeaways

 

Bring two pens, blank paper, printed resume copies, a photo ID, and a few written questions, and leave the calculator at home because no major consulting firm allows one.

 

• Bain's careers site tells in person candidates directly to bring pen and paper for notes and case work

 

• Calculators are not allowed at McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, so your pen and paper are the only math tools you get

 

• Pack two pens rather than one, since a pen that dies mid calculation is a genuine risk

 

• Print three to five resume copies in case an extra interviewer joins your schedule

 

• McKinsey tells virtual candidates to keep a laptop charger, pen and paper, and water within reach

 

• McKinsey also asks candidates to disable AI note taking tools and virtual assistants before the interview

 

What Should You Bring to a Consulting Interview?

 

Bring two working pens, a pad of blank unlined paper, three to five printed resume copies, a photo ID, a slim folder or structured bag, a written list of questions for your interviewer, and a bottle of water. Leave the calculator at home. No major consulting firm allows one.

 

That list is deliberately short. A consulting interview is not a portfolio review, so nobody wants to see work samples, transcripts, or a reference sheet. What your interviewer wants is a candidate who can structure a problem on paper and talk through it clearly.

 

What to bring	Why it matters	How much or what type
Pens	Every calculation and framework you produce is handwritten	Two black ballpoint pens, both tested the night before
Blank paper	You structure, calculate, and sketch exhibits on it	One pad of unlined letter or A4 paper
Printed resume	Interviewers often arrive without a printout of their own	Three to five copies, kept flat in a folder
Photo ID	Most office towers require it at the security desk	Government issued ID or student ID
Folder or slim bag	Keeps paper flat and leaves a hand free for handshakes	Structured portfolio or briefcase, not a backpack
Written questions	Every consulting interview ends by turning the floor over to you	Three to four questions, written down in advance
Water	You talk almost continuously for 30 to 45 minutes per case	One capped bottle
Interview logistics	Phones die and building addresses are easy to misremember	Printed schedule, address, and recruiter phone number

 

Notice what is absent from that table. Your outfit does far more work than anything you carry, which is why the consulting interview dress code deserves more of your attention than your bag does.

 

What Do McKinsey, BCG, and Bain Tell Candidates to Bring?

 

All three MBB firms publish interview guidance on their own careers sites, and two of them name specific items. Bain is the most explicit and tells in person candidates to bring pen and paper. McKinsey lists what to keep within reach during a virtual interview.

 

This matters more than generic interview advice because it is the firm telling you its own expectations. Almost no candidate reads these pages closely.

 

Firm	What the firm publishes	What it means for your kit
Bain	Tells in person candidates to bring pen and paper for notes and case work, and to write clearly enough to walk through their framework	Your handwriting gets read, so bring paper you are willing to turn around and show
McKinsey	Tells virtual candidates to keep a laptop charger, pen and paper, and water within reach, and to disable AI note taking tools	Paper still matters on video, and your charger belongs on the packing list
BCG	Publishes six case interview do's, including showing your thinking, clarifying assumptions, and performing quick calculations	Paper is where thinking becomes visible, so bring more of it than you expect to use

 

Source: Bain case interview preparation, Interviewing at McKinsey, and BCG case interview preparation, all reviewed September 2026.

 

The common thread across all three is paper. Firms describe their cases as conversations built around your written structure, which is why the packing list for consulting first round interviews looks nothing like the packing list for a normal corporate job.

 

Why Can't You Bring a Calculator to a Case Interview?

 

Calculators are not permitted at McKinsey, BCG, Bain, or any other major consulting firm, in person or virtual. Firms test mental math because consultants regularly do quick arithmetic in front of clients without reaching for a device. BCG's own case interview page lists performing quick calculations as part of what happens during the case.

 

This is the single most consulting-specific answer to what to bring to a consulting interview, and it is the item generic interview checklists always get wrong. A phone calculator counts. So does a spreadsheet open in another tab during a virtual case.

 

In my years interviewing at Bain, the candidates who struggled with math were almost never bad at arithmetic. They were bad at arithmetic under observation, which is a different skill and one you can only build by practicing case math without a calculator before interview day.

 

If you want to build that speed quickly, my case interview course covers the math shortcuts and structuring methods that take most candidates from shaky to solid in about a week.

 

What Kind of Paper and Pen Should You Bring for Case Math?

 

Bring unlined blank paper and two black ballpoint pens. Blank paper lets you draw issue trees, tables, and rough exhibits without fighting the ruling on the page. Two pens exist for one reason: a pen that dies four minutes into a profitability case is a problem you cannot solve gracefully.

 

Use one sheet for your structure and a separate sheet for calculations. Mixing them produces a page you cannot show anyone, and Bain explicitly asks candidates to be ready to walk an interviewer through their framework.

 

Turn the page sideways before you start writing. A wide page fits a four bucket structure across the top with room underneath, and it slides toward the interviewer cleanly when you want to show your work. That habit alone separates polished candidates from the rest.

 

Practice your case interview note taking on the same paper you plan to bring. Candidates who drill on a laptop and then switch to paper on interview day lose their layout entirely.

 

Bring more sheets than you think you need. A single case can eat four or five pages once you start sketching case interview graphs and redrawing a structure the interviewer pushed you to expand.

 

What Should You Bring to a Virtual Consulting Interview?

 

For a virtual consulting interview, keep a laptop charger, pen and paper, and water within arm's reach, plus headphones and a printed resume beside your keyboard. McKinsey publishes this list on its own interviewing page. Add your recruiter's phone number somewhere you can reach it without touching your laptop.

 

The item almost nobody thinks about is software. McKinsey asks candidates to disable previously installed AI tools such as note takers and virtual assistants, because they can record or assist without you intending it. Turning those off before the call is now part of packing.

 

Bain adds its own virtual guidance: a quiet, well lit space, a neutral or blurred background, notifications off, and unrelated applications closed. Tell your interviewer when you are pausing to take notes so silence does not read as confusion.

 

Paper is not optional on video. You still need to structure and calculate by hand, and a virtual case interview often asks you to hold your page up to the camera or describe your structure aloud in detail.

 

What Should You Bring to a Written Case Interview or Final Round?

 

A written case adds two items to your kit: a highlighter and a second pad of paper. You receive a slide packet describing a client situation and get under an hour to review it before presenting your recommendation. Highlighting lets you triage exhibits fast instead of rereading the deck.

 

Ask your recruiter in advance whether the firm supplies the packet on paper or on screen, since that changes what you carry. Some offices hand you a printed deck and some give you a laptop with the file open.

 

Final rounds are longer days, often three interviews back to back at the office. Bring extra water, something small to eat between sessions, and enough paper for every case rather than one thin pad. A written case interview on top of two live cases will drain a small notepad quickly.

 

What Should You Not Bring to a Consulting Interview?

 

Leave the calculator, the framework cheat sheet, the laptop, and the backpack at home. Each one either breaks a rule or signals something you do not want to signal. The cheat sheet is the most damaging, because reading a memorized structure off a page is obvious from the other side of the table.

 

• Calculator or phone calculator: not allowed in any live case at a major firm

 

• Framework cheat sheet: interviewers can tell instantly when a structure is being read rather than built

 

• Laptop or tablet: a screen blocks the interviewer from seeing your work and makes notes impossible to share

 

• AI note taking software: McKinsey asks candidates to disable it, and other firms treat it as an integrity issue

 

• Backpack or gym bag: fine for the lobby, wrong for the interview room, so leave it with reception if you must bring one

 

• Work samples and transcripts: nobody asks for them and offering them reads as misunderstanding the format

 

Your phone belongs in your bag on silent, not on vibrate and not face down on the table. A buzzing table during a case is one of the more avoidable consulting interview mistakes I see candidates make.

 

How Should You Pack the Night Before?

 

Pack the night before, not the morning of. Interview mornings are for reviewing your stories and warming up your math, not for hunting down a working pen. Having personally coached hundreds of candidates, the ones who arrive calm are almost always the ones who packed twelve hours earlier.

 

1. Test both pens: scribble a full line with each one, then put them in the folder
   
   
2. Print your materials: resume copies, your written questions, and the interview schedule
   
   
3. Load the folder: paper on one side, printed materials on the other, nothing loose
   
   
4. Check the address: confirm the building, floor, and check in process from the recruiter's email
   
   
5. Set out your outfit: fully assembled, including shoes and anything that needs pressing

 

Tip #1: Print your resume even though the firm already has it

 

Interviewers are staffed on client work and often pull your file minutes before walking in. Handing over a clean copy takes two seconds and occasionally saves the first five minutes of the conversation.

 

Offer once and then move on. If your consulting resume is doing its job, the interviewer will pick it up without being pushed.

 

Tip #2: Write your questions down instead of trusting your memory

 

Every interview ends with time for your questions, and that moment arrives after 40 minutes of hard thinking. Blanking there is common and entirely preventable.

 

Keep three or four written on the inside of your folder. Choosing strong questions to ask at the end of a consulting interview matters more than most candidates realize, since partners remember curiosity.

 

Tip #3: Do a full dress rehearsal of your virtual setup

 

Open the video platform, test the camera and microphone, and check your background and lighting at the same time of day as your interview. Afternoon sun through a window will wash you out completely.

 

Sit down with your pen and paper during the test and write something. You will discover fast whether your desk has room for a laptop and a pad side by side.

 

Tip #4: Arrive early enough that security is not a problem

 

Bain tells candidates to arrive early to allow time for check in and unexpected delays, which is sound advice in any tower with a badge desk. Fifteen minutes of buffer is plenty.

 

Use that buffer to sit somewhere quiet and read your own notes once. Walking in warm beats walking in early and anxious.

 

Tip #5: Bring nothing you would be embarrassed to set on the table

 

Everything you carry into the room becomes visible at some point. A battered notepad, a novelty pen, or a bag that will not close all register, even if nobody mentions them.

 

The simplest way to settle what to bring to a consulting interview is to pack only what the case itself demands: two pens, plenty of blank paper, printed copies of your resume, and questions worth asking. Do that tonight rather than tomorrow morning, and interview day becomes about the one thing that actually decides the outcome, which is how well you think out loud.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Can You Bring a Calculator to a Consulting Interview?

 

No. McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and every other major consulting firm expect you to do case math by hand or in your head. You can write out your work on paper, but a calculator, phone calculator, or spreadsheet is not permitted in a live case interview. This applies to virtual interviews as much as in person ones.

 

Should You Bring a Printed Resume to a Consulting Interview?

 

Yes. Bring three to five printed copies even though the firm already has your resume on file. Interviewers sometimes walk in without a printout, and schedules change so an extra person may join. Offer a copy once at the start rather than pushing it on anyone.

 

Can You Bring Notes to a Consulting Interview?

 

You can bring a short list of questions for your interviewer and reference it at the end. Do not bring framework cheat sheets or scripted answers into the room. Reading from a prepared structure during a case is obvious to the interviewer and signals that you memorized rather than learned.

 

What Should You Bring to a Virtual Consulting Interview?

 

McKinsey tells candidates to keep a laptop charger, pen and paper, and water within reach for virtual interviews. Add headphones, a printed resume beside your keyboard, and your recruiter's phone number in case the connection drops. Disable AI note taking tools and virtual assistants before the call starts.

 

Do Consulting Firms Provide Paper and Pens at Interviews?

 

Many offices do, but you should never count on it. Bain's careers site tells in person candidates directly to bring pen and paper for notes and case work. Arriving with your own supplies means you are never negotiating for a pad in the lobby two minutes before your first case.

 

Should You Bring a Laptop or Tablet to a Consulting Interview?

 

No, unless a recruiter specifically asks you to. Case interviews are worked on paper because your interviewer needs to see your structure and your math. Typing notes puts a screen between you and the conversation, and it makes it impossible to turn your work around for the interviewer to read.

 

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