2026–2027 “Making Your Consulting Case” Competition: Key Dates and How to Take Part
Making Your Consulting Case Competition 2026-2027: Turning Experience into Employability Investment
Employers frequently ask candidates to demonstrate analytical thinking, problem-solving ability, communication skills, and business judgment. Yet traditional resumes often provide only indirect evidence of these capabilities.
The Making Your Consulting Case (MYCC) Competition 2026-2027 was designed to address that challenge.
Organized in partnership with the Western Casewriters Association (WCA), the Journal of Case Research and Inquiry (JCRI), and ConsultPro Accelerator, the competition invites instructors, students, and practitioners to create consulting cases based on real organizational challenges. Rather than analyzing a pre-written business case, participants identify a real challenge, connect with an organization, gather information, develop recommendations, and document their consulting process.
In doing so, participants create something a resume alone cannot provide: evidence.
Why Making Your Consulting Case Matters
Many professionals struggle to demonstrate the value they can create before they are hired.
A consulting case changes that.
Participants move beyond describing their knowledge and instead show how they apply it to a real problem faced by a real organization. The result is a tangible demonstration of strategic thinking, research capability, communication skills, and professional judgment.
For employers, consulting cases provide richer evidence than traditional credentials alone. For participants, they create a portfolio asset that can support career transitions, industry entry, professional growth, or consulting aspirations.
Making Your Consulting Case as an Employability Investment
In my 2024 article, Making Your Consulting Case as a Tool for Employability Investments, I argued that consulting cases function as an important form of employability investment.
An employability investment creates value beyond a single course, project, or credential. It contributes to a person’s career capital and strengthens future opportunities.
Making Your Consulting Case provides participants with:
- A structured consulting process
- Industry connections
- Portfolio-ready work
- Professional visibility
- Recognition as a case consultant
- Potential publication opportunities
Outstanding consulting cases may be invited for publication through a special issue of the Journal of Case Research and Inquiry (JCRI).
What Participants Create in Making Your Consulting Case
Consulting cases can address challenges in any industry, organization, or functional area. Each submission consists of four parts:
Case Proposal
The proposal defines the consultant’s expertise, client organization, business challenge, and planned sources of information.
Company Case
This section introduces the organization, industry context, key challenges, and decision-making environment.
Consulting Report
Participants analyze the problem, apply relevant frameworks, and develop recommendations designed to create value for the client.
Case Brief
The brief summarizes the challenge, proposed solution, and expected outcomes, providing a concise portfolio artifact that participants can share professionally.
Making Your Consulting Case Competition Timeline
The 2026-2027 competition cycle includes the following key dates:
- October 1, 2026 – Case Proposal Submission*
- January 10, 2027 – Consulting Case Manuscript Due
- March 1, 2027 – Finalists Submit Case Brief for the Case Gallery
- March 10, 2027 – Winners Announced at the WCA Conference in Kauai, Hawaii
- April 30, 2027 – JCRI Special Issue Submission Deadline
*Proposal extension status to be confirmed.
How Making Your Consulting Case Supports Career Development
What makes the competition distinctive is its emphasis on real-world engagement.
Participants are not merely solving hypothetical scenarios. They build relationships with organizations, gather information from stakeholders, and develop recommendations that address actual challenges.
This process develops multiple forms of career capital, including:
- Consulting experience
- Industry knowledge
- Professional networks
- Communication skills
- Strategic thinking
- Project management capability
These assets remain valuable long after the competition is complete.
Making Your Consulting Case for Instructors and Organizations
Instructors increasingly use consulting cases as capstone projects, experiential learning opportunities, and applied consulting exercises. Organizations can also benefit. By serving as case clients, organizations gain new perspectives on strategic questions while helping participants develop professional capabilities.
Participation process for organizational case clients is currently being confirmed.
Join the Making Your Consulting Case Competition
Every year, participants transform curiosity into consulting experience, challenges into portfolio assets, and learning into employability investment.
Whether you are an educator, student, practitioner, career changer, or aspiring consultant, Making Your Consulting Case provides an opportunity to demonstrate not only what you know, but also the value you can create.
Questions are welcome during the upcoming live Q&A session.
For information about participation, workshops, or partnership opportunities, please contact j.ivy@northeastern.edu or visit the competition website. [linkedin.com], [be-edge.com]
