Management Consulting Interview Questions PDF

Preview

Summary

Tips & a list of common interview questions for mgmt consulting firms....

Description

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

PROFESSOR MISCHE’S TOP 50 PLUS CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (Most Frequently Asked are Highlighted in Yellow) 1.0 INTRODUCTION The below 50 plus questions are specific in nature to the consulting profession. They are usually asked in follow-up interviews and in addition to the “standard” questions that interviewers typically ask. A sample of standard questions is provided as the Section 4.0. As a partner I typically divide my interview questions into 3 categories: (1) Personal/Behavior Perspective. Designed to provide insight into the character and possible behavior of the candidate and his or her possible “fit” as a management consultant. In other words, does this candidate appear to have the qualities of a management consultant and especially the qualities that will allow her or him to be successful in “our” firm? Does the candidate have passion? Does the candidate possess the personality of a consultant, and intellectual and behavioral qualities to function as a consultant? Can the candidate represent the firm publicly and in front of the client? Does the candidate present and profile an employable individual? (2) Consulting Professional Acumen & Fit. Designed to assess the candidate’s awareness and knowledge of the consulting profession. Specially, does the candidate have the requisite knowledge to function as a consultant. Does the candidate have knowledge of the profession and how it works and functions? Does the candidate have knowledge of the competition? Does the candidate possess the requisite ethics and morals to function as a consultant within our firm? Can the candidate make an immediate impact and contribution to the firm and clients? Does the candidate have the requisite aptitude, demeanor, and capability to learn how to be a consultant? Does the candidate possess the basic “DNA” to be consultant? Do I see this candidate as a “partner” in 5, 10 or 12 years? Can the candidate represent the firm publicly and in front of the client? (3) Candidate Questions. Designed to assess the quality of the questions that the candidate asks me directly about the firm and position. Designed to determine the candidate’s ability to form appropriate and practical ‘follow- up’ questions. Is the candidate engaging? How the does the candidate respond to spontaneous and unstructured questions? Does the candidate ask insightful, appropriate and relevant questions? As a partner, I operated on the assumption and confidence that by the time a candidate had come to me for an interview, that our firm’s process had performed effectively and that the candidate represented the “best of the best” that we had at the time of recruitment. In this sense, I expected and knew that the firm had filtered and vetted the candidates for the essentials such as, GPA, SAT scores, GMAT scores, prior experience, initial personality, and conversational abilities. I assumed that they (the candidate) were sociable, competent, and possessed the proper academic preparation to be considered for a professional position. If the candidate was the result of an executive search, then I had confidence that the candidate had been extensively vetted for background and pedigree. In interviewing, my questions for experienced hires were more refined and specific to their actual performance, clients and projects and general practice management experience. For less experienced and lower titled positions, my questions tended to be broader.

©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

1

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

In interviewing and in making hiring decisions, my responsibilities and objectives were five-fold: (1) (2) (3) (4)

To assess the quality of the candidate and his or her potential as a consultant. To assess the possibilities of the candidate to be successful in the firm and profession. To assess the potential of the candidate to make a contribution to our firm and clients. To assess the leadership potential of the candidate to learn consulting, become a subject matter expert, become a project manager, a practice leader, and ultimately a leader in the firm. (5) To assess the ability of the candidate to represent the firm and advance its economic, social, legal, and political interests. My personal philosophy, as a partner, was that hiring professionals and developing talent were two of the most important, actually two of the most mission critical activities of being an effective partner. Therefore, I tended to place a lot of emphasis on hiring and talent development and I endeavored to hire “only the best” and then devoted substantial personal time and energy to developing their talents. This list of questions is provided for guidance purposes only. The list is partial, but provides a foundation for effective dialogue between the candidate and the senior member of the firm. Not all questions would be posed in an actual interview. Furthermore, questions would be tailored and refined based on position. By example, you would expect questions for a direct entry partner to be more difficult, more drilling and more technical than those for a managing director, manager or new consultant. Note there is some redundancy and overlap in the questions. The redundancies are by design and are intended to provide balance and verifications of prior answers. Of course, in the actual interview, each interviewer and firm will have her or his own approach, bias, questions and style.

2.0

PERSONAL BEHAVIORS (Questions with an “ * ” are generally MBA level)

1. What classes have you taken that you believe prepare and position for a career in consulting? a. Why do believe that these classes have been important? b. Are there 2 or 3 things from these classes that stand out in your mind? 2. What activities, either while in school, during breaks or extra curricula do you believe helps position you for a career in MC? a. Why and can you provide an example of how these activities support your belief? 3. Thinking about your life’s experiences, what in your personal background do you believe helped prepare you for a career in MC? Can you provide some examples? 4. What attracts you to the MC profession? 5. Why do you believe that you will be successful as a MC?* 6. Consulting involves a high level of collaboration and teamwork. Can you tell me a little about how you have been involved in collaborative processes and joint problem solving situations? a. What major lessons or ideas did you learn as a result of collaboration? b. Can you provide any examples of when you lead a team? c. How did you measure team performance and effectiveness? d. How did you resolve team issues and behavioral challenges? ©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

2

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

7. We all have a “style”. Thinking about your style, are you more of a problem identifier, problem solver, leader, individual contributor? 8. Consulting involves intensive interrogation of issues and problems, which of course, require critical thinking. a. What is critical thinking and why is it important to management consulting? b. Can you give me a few examples of how you go about the process of “critical thinking”? c. Were you ever formally trained in critical thinking methods and processes? 9. Often consultants find themselves in a position of rationalizing opposing points of views and opinions. a. What in your background and academic training has prepared you for problem resolution and mediating parties who often have strong and diametrically opposed opinions? b. Have you ever taken a course in ethics? How about professional ethics? c. What are some of the ethical dilemmas that management consultants confront? 10. Consulting can sometimes involve lots of emotion, pushback and challenges from the client to the consultant and within the consulting team itself.* a. Can you provide an example of how you handled an emotionally charged situation that involved resolving conflicts among your peers or customers? b. What specifically in your background helped to prepare for managing successfully conflicts? 11. How would you characterize your leadership and decision making styles? 12. Much in consulting is project and case oriented. This is, clients engage consultants to help them figure out complex problems and issues where much is unknown. Can you tell me about how you go about analyzing cases? a. Have you had any formal training in “case analysis” methods? b. How do you generally approach a case? c. What types of critical thinking or thought processes do you employ in analyzing cases? d. What factors influence your selection of analytical methods and frameworks? 13. What types of activities and classes do you most enjoy? Why? 14. Were you ever in or on: a. Fraternity or sorority? b. A formal athletic team? c. A college or professional dance, musical group or theatrical troupe? d. A political campaign? e. An NGO? f. The US Armed Forces? g. Peace Crops/AmeriCorps? h. Teach for America? If so, please tell me about that experience.

©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

3

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

15. Consulting requires a high level of initiative and self-direction. Can you discuss some examples where you had to take the initiative and work in a self-directed manner?* 16. Much of consulting is communication intensive. Can you discuss some of the aspects of communication that you believe are important? Specifically, can you think of examples when you provided communications related to: a. Arguments and applications of logic b. Persuasion and commitment to a plan of action c. Education and knowledge transfer necessary for self-sufficiency d. Interpretation of complex data and research e. Resolution of conflict between people f. Reconciliation of data between divergent sources 17. Consulting is a highly dynamic and fluid profession. How do you handle uncertainty and spontaneity? a. Can you give me an example of a time when you had to function under uncertainty? 18. Understanding that much of consulting involves learning; how comfortable are you with learning new things in a relatively short period of time? a. Can you provide an example of how you had to learn something very quickly and apply it to your work or life? 19. At this point in your career, and recognizing that it’s very early, what area of business or consulting specialization interest you the most? Why these? 20. Why should our firm extend an offer to you at this time? 21. Can you provide an example when you came up with an idea or process that was “disruptive” in a positive way?

3.0 CONSULTING PROFESSION ACUMEN & FIT 1. Can you describe what management consulting is and what management consultants actually do? 2. What types of consultants are there? Are there differences between consultants? What are these differences?* a. What credentials qualify a person to be a consultant? 3. Can you tell a little about what you believe the “consulting process” to be? That is, what do you think the primary activities of consulting to be?* 4. Can you describe a little about the MC industry? a. What are the barriers to entry and what is the level of competitive intensity?* b. Can you provide some perspective on your understanding of industry rivalry? 5. Can you discuss your understanding of how consultants compete for clients?* 6. What do you think clients are looking for in a consultant? 7. What do you consider to be the attributes of a successful MC? 8. Why do clients seek the services of a management consultant? ©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

4

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

9. What factors do you think are important to clients in selecting a consultant and consulting firm?* 10. How might you, as a client, measure the performance and contribution of a management consultant? (Value) 11. How would rank the firms in the MC industry? That is, are certain firms better positioned to perform certain types of work, then others? 12. What do think the differentiating qualities of a consulting firm to be?* a. What differentiates the firms? b. How do firms differentiate themselves? 13. Our firm is a “partnership” which makes it unique. Can you tell me a little about firm governance and how a partnership might differ from say, a company? 14. How would you characterize the MC industry? That is, would you say that is stable, cyclical or counter-cyclical? a. What are some of the macro-economic drivers of consulting? 15. What, in your opinion drives economic growth and profitability in the consulting profession?* a. Can you describe the economics of a firm? That is, how does the cost and revenue structure behave? 16. Consulting is an unregulated industry. Can you share some of your thinking on the issue of professional ethics in the profession?* a. What about issues and challenges associated with conflicts of interest? b. Can you think of situation when a consultant might be confronted with the potential for a conflict of interest? c. To what extent and under what circumstances should the consultant’s liability be limited? d. What is the concept of “reliance” and how does it impact consulting? 17. Thinking about delivering consulting services, in general, what are the legal and fiduciary responsibilities of the management consultant to his or her client?* 18. How do you feel about travel and working out of town for extended periods of time? Why are these attractive to you? 19. Assuming you are running a major consulting project, what types of project management processes and indicators might you use to assess the progress of the work, the quality of work performed and the status of the client relationship?* 20. Assuming we hire you, what types of contributions can you make to our firm? 21. How do consulting firms make money? a. Specifically, what factors do you think drive profitability in a professional services firm? b. What factors do you think affect how rates are set by a consulting firm? c. How are rates set?

©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

5

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

22. Recognizing that consultants use a lot of different skills and tools, how might you go about determining what skills and tools would be most appropriate to use on a project? In other words, what factors would you consider in selecting skills and tools?*

23. Can you tell me a little about what you know about our firm? a. What attracts you to our firm? b. What other firms are you considering? 24. What factors are important in selling work to clients?* 25. As an experienced consulting manager, how would you go about addressing a deteriorating client relationship?* a. What intervention methods might you draw upon to diagnose the issues? b. What intervention practices might you use to mitigate or resolve the issues?

4.0

YOUR QUESTIONS TO ASK THE INTERVIEWER/FIRM (Don’t ask the questions that you can find the answers to on the firm’s website!)

1. Can you describe the organization structure and life cycle of a typical engagement? 2. Thinking about your own experience, what types of clients and projects have you worked on? 3. How does the firm go about the process of capturing the knowledge and best practices and ideas that come out of a consulting project and client interaction? How are these identified and codified? 4. Can you tell me a little bit of how the firm manages its intellectual capital and knowledge? 5. What do you think are the professional qualities and behaviors most coveted and cultivated by your firm? 6. How does your firm go about differentiating itself in the market and to what extent has this process proven effective? 7. How does the firm measure “success” with its clients? 8. In general, what is the partner to staff ratio in your firm? a. Has this changed significantly in your experience? 9. There’s been a quite a bit of consolidation in the profession. What factors do you attribute consolidation to and how active is your firm in the M&A of other firms? 10. Can you tell a little about the ‘on boarding’ process and what my first 100-days of employment might be like? 11. Can you take a few minutes and explain how the firm’s “mentoring” and professional development programs work? In your experience, how successful have these programs been, that is, what’s the general feedback?

©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

6

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

12. Can you describe what types of tasks and responsibilities that I will be given during my first three years with the firm? 13. Can you share with me what the typical role of a manager is the firm? How the role of the partner?

14. Relative to your firm, can you tell a little about the composition of the leadership? a. How are senior leaders identified and selected? 15. Off the top, what percentage of partners have MBAs, or other advanced degrees? 16. What has been driving the growth of your firm? a. To what extent is this growth sustainable and accretive? b. How does this growth compare to competitors? 17. With respect to professional development, what types of training are generally afforded to staff members? Over the course of a career, about how much time and resources does the firm invest in developing its professionals and ultimately, its partners? 18. I’m sure your clients are very demanding; can you tell me a little about the firm’s QA process in delivering services to your clients? In other words, how does the firm know that it’s meeting and exceeding client expectations and producing great work? 19. Generally, at what point in my career development will I become involved with marketing and selling work to clients? a. What is the expectations for selling work to clients to advance into the partnership? 20. Thinking about my long-term employment, can you describe for me what the typical path to the partnership might look like? a. What are some of the attributes that the firm looks for in a partner? b. How does work/life balance change once one becomes a partner?

©2018. Professor Michael A. Mische Marshall School of Business University of Southern California

7

PROF. MISCHE’S MANAGEMENT CONSULTING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

5.0 STANDARD QUESTIONS The below is a short list of some actual and some of the more pedestrian questions that are asked. In this sense, pedestrian has a connotation of “common” and relatively uneventful, nonetheless, they are important because they provide certain insights and are “gate keeper” type questions. 1. "Please describe your most important leadership experience and the impact that you had as a leader." 2. "Describe a problem that you would like to tackle at [this firm], why and how would you pursue it." 3. "If I were to speak to your colleagues from your most recent internship (or friends in school), what would they say about you? What are the strengths and weaknesses they would share?" 4. "Describe a situation where you failed. What did you learn about yourself and how did you change as a result?" 5. "Why our firm instead of your current firm? What do you know about us compared to your firm?" 6. "Tell me about a project that didn't go well and why and what you would do differently next time?" 7. "How do you quantify a lead?" 8. "Can you describe your brand?" 9. "How have you dealt with low team morale in the past? Provide an example of when you had to give a bad performance review." 10. "Describe a project which challenged you. Describe a client relationship which was challenging." 11. "How many airplanes leave from Boston's Logan Airport on Monday between 6 AM and 6 ...