The Consulting Interview

OFW World Business Dialogue

Stefan Menden (www.squeaker.net)

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Agenda

• Introduction
• The Consulting Interview
– Introduction
– Personal fit
– Case Interview
– Questions
• Summary and Q&A

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

About me

• Former OFW team (World Business Dialogue 1999)

• Founder of career network www.squeaker.net

• Author of leading German Consulting Interview Prep books

• 3 years Strategy Consulting with Oliver Wyman

• 2 years Venture Capital

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

The consulting environment

Revenue
per Boutique firms Strategy
Consulting
Consultant • goetzpartners • Bain & Company
• Horváth & Partners • BCG
• LEK • Booz & Company
• Monitor • McKinsey
• OC&C • Oliver Wyman
• Roland Berger

Small firms Full Service /

IT-Consulting

• Accenture
• Bearing Point
• IBM
• Deloitte

Consultants

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

The recruiting process

Select target firms Application Screening

• Recruiting fairs • Letter • CV screening

• Company websites • CV • Knock-out criteria
• Online Networks • References etc • Additional criteria
• Press • Overall evaluation
• Personal network
• (Phone interview)
Internship

1st round 2nd round

Offer letter
interviews interviews

• Cases • Cases • Base salary

• Personal Fit • Personal Fit • Bonus
• (Quantitative tests) • Partner interview • Perks
• (Präsentations) • Entry position
• (Group assignment) • Location

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

The recruiting process

100 75

20

4
1-3

ApplicationScreening 1st round 2nd round Offer

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Agenda

• Introduction
• The Consulting Interview
– Introduction
– Personal fit
– Case Interview
– Questions
• Summary and Q&A

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

 Why consulting firms use case interviews

The consulting The interviewer‘s The consulting

reality checklist interview

• Complex problems Does the candidate • Introduction / small

have: talk
• Demanding hours • Drive, motivation
• Flexibility • Personal fit /
• Changing priorities • Analytical ability experience
• Quantitative skills interview
• Teamwork / new • Communicative &
teams leadership skills • Case Interview
• Maturity
• High impact • Questions
Will the candidate
• ... enjoy consulting?

Do I want to work
with this person?
OFW World Business Dialogue 2009
The components of the consulting interview

1 Introduction / small talk 3-5 mins

2 Personal fit / experience 5-15 mins

3 Case Interview 30-45 mins

4 Questions 3-5 mins

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Part one: Introduction

 Get to know the interviewer  Clarify process

 Explain the process  Reduce nervousness
 Small talk  Get first feeling for candidate‘s
social skills

 Do’s Don’ts

 Listen attentively, keep eye-  Don‘t take over the lead
contact
 Don‘t pretend
 Ask questions, join in
conversation  Don‘t think that this is not already
part of the interview
 SMILE

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Part two: Personal fit / experience interview

 Discuss your CV and personal  Does the candidate fit into our
achievements team and culture?
 Understand your motivations and  Do I want to work with this
communication style person / spend long hours in
 Why do you want to become a the same room?
consultant?  Can the candidate represent
 Why with our firm? our firm in front of clients?

 Do’s Don’ts

 Present your previous  Don‘t just repeat what‘s on paper
experience in a cohesive way
 Don‘t be arrogant
 Add interesting details and
personal experiences  Don‘t be too nervous

 Be prepared to answer questions

about your CV

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Personal fit: Typical questions

„What are
„Talk about
your weak
yourself“
points?“
„What are
your strong
points?“
„Why did you
„Why do you
choose your
want to go
particular
„What was into
subjects in
your greatest consulting?“
university?“
challenge?“
How did you
overcome it?“ „Your grades
are not
„When did you
outstanding,
lead a team?“
don‘t you
think?“

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Personal fit exercise: Skill assessment

Take a piece of paper and draw a 5x3 table like this:

1) 1st column: What do you think are the 5 most

important skills a consultant needs

2) 2nd column: Score yourself against these

skills (Points 1-10)

3) 3rd column: How can you prove this from

your CV?

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Personal fit exercise 2: SWOT introspection

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunitie Threats
s

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Part three: The Case Interview

Typical types of questions

Mini Case

Business Case
The Case
Interview
Market-Sizing

Brainteaser

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Business Cases

Examples
• Market entry
• Often based on real cases
• Product innovation
• Often a part of a more complex
• Competitive Response problem
• Reaction to changing market • No one-size-fits-all solutions
conditions
• Often include a strategic and a
• M&A activities quantitative part
•…

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Example case

„Your customer is a European

low-cost-airline. The CEO asks
you to prepare a
recommendation for the board
meeting this afternoon if the
company should offer
transatlantic routes as well.“

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

How to solve the case

1 Hypothesize & ask questions

2 Structure the case

3 Solve the case

4 Present and evaluate

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Frameworks to structure business cases

 Profit equation
 Michael Porter‘s Five Forces
 4 P‘s: Price, Product, Place & Promotion
 SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
 2x2-Matrix
 Break-Even-Calculation
 4 C‘s: Customer, Competition, Cost, Capabilities
…

Use frameworks to structure problems – not as a one-

size-fits-all solution to problems

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Structuring problems: The pyramid principle
Gerade Dachziegel

Dachziegel Eckdachziegel

Dachziegelverbindungen

Kantholz
Dach Dachstuhl
Schrauben

Ziegeln
Rauchfang
Mörtel

Gerade Ziegel
Ziegeln
Eckziegel

Beton

Haus Grundmauern Mörtel Zuschlagstoffe

Wasser

Fenster
Anbauteile
Türen

Tische

Möbel Stühle

.......

Einbauteile Badezimmer

Innenräume Einbauteile Einbauteile Küche

Einbauteile Keller

Holzböden

Böden Spannteppichböden

Fließenböden
OFW World Business Dialogue 2009
The most important framework

The profit equation

Profit

Revenue - Cost

Price x Quantity variable + fix

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

2x2 Matrix

high

low

low high

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Porter‘s Five Forces

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Break Even analysis

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Consultants LOVE charts
2.000
30% Zielsegment! 900

24%
25%

20%
400

15%
15%

11% 200
10% 500

6%
5%
5%

0%
Hills Wal-Mart Kmart Target Ames
Kosten R&D Produktion Vertrieb Logistik

1) Balken: Vergleich von Variablen 2) Waterfall: Aufteilung von Kosten

3) Linien: Entwicklung über die Zeit 4) Funktionale Zusammenhänge

€ Grüne

Firma A
FDP SPD
Firma B
Firma C
Firma D

CDU

Bekanntheit
5) Bubble-Chart: Relative Positionen 6) Pie-Chart: Anteile

Lease

Nutz R&D Launch Serie

Kauf
KFZ
Lease
Privat Produkt Prozess

Kauf

7) Logikbaum: Zusammensetzung 8) Flussdiagramm: Prozesse

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

How to tackle the case interview

Do’s

 Take notes
 Ask for missing information
 Lead the conversation
 Listen for details
 Take your time
 Structure, structure, structure
 Involve the interviewer in your thinking
 Clearly state your assumptions
 Sum up your conclusions

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

How to tackle the case interview

Do’s

 Don‘t „copy-paste“ your solution / framework  think!
 Practice mental arithmetic and written calculations without
calculator
 Sanity-check your conclusions and assumptions
 Be well prepared and up-to-date on current economic events
 Let your hypothesis guide you
 Practice cases by inventing your own
 Relax, keep cool and have fun!

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

How to tackle the case interview

Don’ts

 Don‘t be too spontaneous
 Don‘t guess
 Don‘t go into unimportant details – be 80/20
 Don‘t be arrogant
 Don‘t come late
 Don‘t lose your calm and maturity – imagine you are
presenting to your client

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Market sizing

Examples
 Market size / potential of a
product or service for a country,  Test ability to structure a
region, city concrete problem
 „What is the market size
 Test quantitative abilities
for car stereos in
Germany?“  Test mental arithmetic skills and
 Calculation of the market share written calculation without
of a company calculator

 „What is the market share  Test ability to handle large

of Volkswagen in numbers accurately
Germany?“  Often part of a business case
 Quantitative exercises
 „How many tennis balls fit
into a Boeing 737?“

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Example

“For what price would you buy the Golden

Gate Bridge?”

“What is the turnover of the Starbucks on

Friesenplatz in Cologne?”

“How many songs are stored on ipods in

Germany?”

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Brainteaser

Examples
 „How many seconds from now • Ability to structure an abstract
until New Year’s Eve?“ problem

 „You are on a boat on a lake and • Ability to elaborate and present

raise the anchor – will the water a solution in a coherent way
level rise or fall?“
• Tenacity
 „Why are manhole covers
• Ability to tackle a seemingly
round?“
unsolvable problem
 Weighing balls
• Quantitative skills
 Measuring the angle between
hands on a clock • Creativity

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Questions

 „Do you have any further  Are you really interested in

questions?“ consulting and this firm in
particular?
 Do you have the right
communicative skills?

 Do’s Don’ts

 Prepare a few questions, that  Don‘t have no further questions
 are not too obvious  Don‘t ask „stupid“ questions
 are related to your
background
 are about experiences of the
interviewer

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Agenda

• Introduction
• The Consulting Interview
– Introduction
– Personal fit
– Case Interview
– Questions
• Summary and Q&A

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

The components of the consulting interview

1 Introduction / small talk

2 Personal fit / experience

3 Case Interview

4 Questions

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

More example cases

• Call-a-bike: A start-up company wants to offer a system of bike

rentals in major cities. Charging is by the minute. Can this be a
profitable business?

• MVNO: Your client runs a major chain of drugstores in Germany.

As many other retail chains have started selling low-priced pay-
as-you-go mobile SIM cards, your client wants a detailed
assessment if they should also enter this market.

• Netflix: Your client owns a chain of DVD rental stores. As

revenues and profit have been declining over the last years, they
wonder if they should enter the market for movie downloads over
the internet. How can you help them?

• Google: Your client is Google. The founders, Larry and Sergei,

wonder if they should buy facebook – and at what valuation. Their
private jets land at the Googleplex in 30 minutes and they want
an initial assessment from you for their meeting with Mark
Zuckerberg this afternoon.

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Recommended reading (in German)

www.squeaker.net/insider
www.consulting-insider.com

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009

Stay in touch!

www.facebook.com/squeaker
www.twitter.com/squeakernet

OFW World Business Dialogue 2009