So you’ve read up on the consulting sector, what being a consultant really means, and you’re still interested – great! Now let’s see about getting you an actual job. To become a consultant you’ll have to survive a case interview. This is not your typical interview so you’ll have to know what to expect to be successful. There aren’t specific questions to memorise that will get you the job, but just knowing the format of the case interview is a definite advantage.
What is a case interview?
A case interview, used by all business consultancies (so there’s no getting out of it!), is where the interviewer presents you with a business question, or case, that you need to figure out in front of your potential employer. The case questions are not designed to make sure you know the answer is, say, 2,859, but rather to see how you arrive at your final answer. The answer isn’t even important! If you get it wrong it doesn’t matter. They are not waiting for a specific answer, but rather they want to see how your brain works and how you use logic to solve a problem. There are several kinds of case interviews that can be thrown at you, here are the main three:
- Guestimates: These are general, and sometimes frankly random questions, where you are not expected to know the answer, but you are expected to reach a plausible answer, or guestimate. You may be asked something like: how many pounds of Brussels sprouts are sold in the UK in the month of December? Or: what is the total square footage of fish and chips shops in London? Of course, no one actually expects you to know the answer to these kinds of questions! But you will have to, out loud, think through how you would go about solving it – i.e. every family on average eats four pounds of Brussels sprouts on Christmas Day, and another two on Boxing Day, there are roughly 17million families in the UK, etc.
- Business Cases: Having to analyse business cases is probably more in line with what you’d imagine a business consulting interview would be like. The interviewer will present you with a business situation and you’ll have to think it over and make your suggestions and give advice. Sometimes the business case will be presented to you orally, and you’ll have to work it through out loud like the guestimate, sometimes the interviewer will give you a handout with the information you’ll need to solve the case, or they could make a formal presentation to give you the info.
- Brainteasers: This is pretty self-explanatory and can include puzzles, logic questions, or riddles. Again, they mainly want to see how your brain works and how you go about figuring something out when you are given minimal information. This is definitely the portion of the interview where they want to see your “outside the box” logic and way of thinking shine through.
So what’s the Point?
At this stage you might be asking yourself: what is the point of asking me about the number of dog collars sold in England in the past year? How does this indicate how good a consultant I would be? Well, consultants are a sneaky bunch and through seemingly random questions, where’s what they’re looking for:
- How do you present yourself? When you do become a full-fledged consultant, you’ll have to make presentations all the time, to clients and colleagues alike. Interviewers want to see how you handle yourself, even when you are thinking on the spot – does your body language deteriorate at the first sign of a hard question? Do you “um” and “ah” constantly when trying to find the right words? In the interview you won’t be expected to give a flawless performance, but they will be evaluating your presentation skills.
- Can you roll with the punches? Consultants have notoriously irregular schedules and can spend months behind a desk only to be told they are needed in a faraway country in 24 hours. You need to be able to take these changes with ease and a smile on your face. Interviewers will test this by throwing out extra information during your case to see how well you cope with a spanner in the works.
- Have you got that pep in your step? You should know this from other interview experiences, but don’t show up tired with bloodshot eyes and bedhead nest on your scalp. The consultants need someone with energy and spirit as the job may require long hours, lots of travelling, and then early morning meetings with clients. They are looking for someone who can connect with clients and show enthusiasm no matter how little they’ve slept the night before.
- Can you analyse this? Obviously a big part of being a consultant is analysing data (if you don’t already love Excel spreadsheets, you should learn to). By giving you a business case or a guestimate question, the interviewer will be looking to see how you handle the data you’re given, how you organise it in your head, how you separate out the details that are important, and how you analyse them.
- Are you a maths nerd and proud of it? Hopefully you already know that maths skills are a must if you want to be a consultant. The questions you are asked in your interview will probably, at several points, test your maths skills and see how good you are with numbers.
- What’s your IQ? Well hopefully they won’t actually ask you that! But they are looking for smarts and how your brain works. They want to see how fast you can grasp something and that you can give the data thoughtful, deep analysis in a short amount of time. If something is tricky during the interview, don’t panic and don’t be afraid to ask for clarification or more information from your interviewer. People think that asking extra questions shows that you didn’t get it but in reality, a thoughtful question will show them that you are considering the scenario very carefully, eager for more information, and have the guts to ask.
- Did you catch that? The case interviews will also be a test of how observant you are and your attention to detail. Consultants can’t let any little piece of information get by them as it could be the key to solving the project. You need to remember to show that you consider every piece of data they throw at you, as well as come to the interview organised and ready to go. If you have to ask the interviewer to borrow a pen, you’ve already lost the job.
- How old can you act? As a consultant, especially when you’re just starting out, you’re going to be working with execs that are older than you – decades older than you. In your interview they will be looking for someone mature who conducts themselves appropriately.
- Can you lead us to victory? Consultants have to be leaders. Yes, you may be behind a desk buried in spreadsheets for a while, but you will also have to give recommendations and advice to the heads of companies and that can be an intimidating scenario. The interview questions are designed to see if you can take charge of a situation with confidence and a strong backbone.
In all honesty case interviews can be intimidating, nerve-wracking, and downright frightening. But if you remember to be yourself, take all of the wacky questions calmly, and show up prepared to dazzle them with your charm and intelligence, you’ll ace your case.
