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CONSULTING AND STRATEGY INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Table of Contents General Questions Page 1 Consulting Specific Questions Page 4 Company Specific Questions

Accenture plc Page 6 American Airlines, Inc. Page 6 Bearing Point, Federal Practice Page 7 Booz Allen Hamilton, Federal Practice Page 8 Capgemini Page 9 Corporate Executive Board Page 10 Choice Hotels Page 11 CSC Consulting Page 12 Deloitte, Federal Practice Page 14 Enlightened, Inc. Page 16 Federal Management Partners Page 17 IBM Corporation Page 18 Dept of HHS (Health & Human Services) Page 18 McKinsey & Company Page 19 NERA Economic Consulting Page 20 PricewaterhouseCoopers Page 20 The Kenrich Group Page 21

Questions to Ask Interviewers Page 22

General Questions Personal Questions: • Briefly walk me through your resume. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about your

experience. • What motivates you? • What is the latest book you have read outside of school? • What are your short and long-term goals? How you intend to achieve them? • Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? • What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? (Typically 2-3 each) • How would your peers/family describe you? • How would your supervisor, professor, and a teammate describe you? • What are the three most important events in your life? • Define leadership? Are you a leader? • What’s the difference between a leader and a manager? • Tell me about a time you had an ethical dilemma. What did you do?

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• Name 3 characteristics that distinguish you? • Describe one of your most significant accomplishments at school and at work. • How do you feel about traveling for work? • What skills are you lacking, and how do you plan on attaining them? • How smart are you? How do you know you are smart? • What argument should I make to my partners for your candidacy? Academic Questions: • What schools did you apply to? Why did you choose George Washington? • How do you feel you stack up against everyone in your class? (academically,

professionally, etc.) • Why did you choose your undergraduate institution? • Why did you choose your particular major/concentration? • Why did you go to business school? • What activities are you involved in at school? • What were your goals when entering GW? • What did you get on your SAT and/or GMAT? • What was your undergraduate GPA? • What is your business school GPA? Any other graduate programs? • Summarize the skills that you learned in your major/concentration in 3 simple headings. • Tell me about your coursework and how it has prepared you for the job? Company: • The three questions you will always get: “Why consulting?” “Why our firm?” “Why you?” • What other firms are you considering? What are the differences between us and them? • Who are our competitors? • In which areas is our firm strongest / weakest? • Do you have any questions for me? Work Experience Questions: *If you cannot answer a question with an example from work then choose a school related or personal example. • Tell me about a time when you faced adversity and how you overcame it? / What is an

example of a high-pressure experience you have had and how did you handle it? • Talk to me about leadership positions you've held, whether in a personal, academic, or

professional setting. • What were your responsibilities at your last job/internship? Why did you choose to work

there? • Tell me about your efforts to accomplish a goal or meet a standard in your last position.

What were the goals or standards? Give me an example of what you did to meet them. • What was one of the toughest problems (or assignments) you have ever encountered at

work? Describe the situation and what you did about it. • Describe a situation in which you recognized a potential problem as an opportunity.

What did you do? • Describe a time when you encountered unexpected obstacles or setbacks when you tried

to accomplish objectives and deliver what was expected. What was the outcome? • How has your past work experience made you suitable for this job? • Give me an example of a time when you successfully worked within a team. • Describe a complex or challenging team project of which you are particularly proud.

What was the accomplishment? What was your role and contribution?

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• Have you ever been part of a group or team that was floundering? What was going on? What did you do?

• Tell me about a time you worked with a group of people who were very different from each other, including yourself. What was that like? What were some of the situations that came up? How did you handle them?

• What role do you play in team situations? • Have you ever worked on a newly formed team? How did it go? What did you do? • Have you ever worked on a dysfunctional team? What was the issue? What was the

outcome? • Have you ever worked on a cross-functional/cross-departmental team? What was the

outcome? • Tell me about a time when you helped someone else achieve a goal. What did you do? • Tell me about an instance where you faced an ethical issue. What was the outcome? • Tell me about a time when you successfully resolved a conflict. • Tell me about a failure, and what you learned from it. • Tell me about a time that you were able to persuade a co-worker, client, or supervisor

that your idea was more effective than theirs. • What’s not on your resume that you want me to know about? * Also refer to the Sample Behavioral & Evaluative Interview Questions Worksheet

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Consulting Specific Questions General Questions: • A consultant has to have good listening skills. Tell me about a time you were not paying

attention and how you handled this situation. • Tell me about some presentations you have given in front of a hostile group of listeners? Business Development: • Why business development—what does this mean to you/what do you see yourself doing

day-to-day? • We would need you to do a market assessment to determine new high growth segments

for our business. What was involved in your project this summer at JP Morgan Chase? • You are responsible for making recommendations about the viability of introducing a

new supermarket chain in Japan—how would you proceed? [Note: could choose an industry/market from resume experience]

o Key for this question is for the interviewee to apply some sort of framework and then logically work through each point. For example, the interviewee could approach this question according to the following:

1. Customers – Do the Japanese need another supermarket? Determine market need.

2. Competition – What does the competitive situation look like in the Japanese supermarket industry?

3. Company – Does the company have the resources/expertise to be competitive?

4. Finally, explore the best market entry strategy (e.g., purchase of local chain, partnership, distribution agreement, etc.)

Public Sector Consulting Specific: • Why public sector consulting? What is the difference between public sector and private

sector consulting? • Do you have or have you ever had a security clearance? • What are the skills needed for government consulting? Give me specific examples of how

you have gained and used these skills. Telecom Questions: • What do you think about bandwidth trading? What are the economics involved? • What is e-commerce? • What is an application service provider? • How prepared are you go into telecom/internet-related positions? • If you are laying fiber telephone line infrastructure which will carry many services, how

do you allocate the costs of building and maintaining that infrastructure across different services?

Case Examples: *See also consulting company websites, the Consulting Club, and “Case in Point” by Marc Cosentino.

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• A family-owned pottery manufacturer in Assisi, Italy has decided to export its handcrafted wares to the US, but needs your help to determine how to do so. The manufacturer is considering 3 options: (1) Sell directly to stores; (2) Sell to distributors, who then sell to individual stores; (3) open its own chain of proprietary stores. What should the manufacture do?

• An amusement park has experienced flat revenues. What might be the cause and what can they do to grow revenue faster?

• What is the size of the investment banking revenue pool from IPO's in China this year? • What is the value (in terms of ability to generate profit) of customer data collected by e-

commerce sites? • How long will it take a company with adequate capacity, supplies, and labor to double its

production, given a shift outward in demand for its product? • What does Ben & Jerry's "Free Cone Day" cost the company? How many more cones will

Ben & Jerry's have to sell over the next year to earn back the costs of this promotion? • Given two different cost structures for labs conducting blood tests, why might their cost

per test be different? • How would you sell Digital Subscriber Line technology to the mass market, using retail

and e-tail outlets? • The US Postal Service projects a $2 billion loss next year. How can they return to

profitability? • You have been asked by a steel company that makes different steel products to reduce

their inventory costs, what do you do? [Info provided on request: # SKUs, # Warehouses, Methodology of ABC costing]

• An acrylic fiber manufacturer is thinking of acquiring a new business: an acryl nitrile plant. Do you recommend that they proceed? The acrylic fiber manufacturer is the bottom tenth of market share. Acrylic fiber is losing competition to overseas competitors. Should they get into the new business?

• You have been brought in by a paper company to examine their supply chain for purchasing wood-pulp and woodchips. What should they do to reduce their purchase costs? [Info provided on request: Volume purchased, Costs/ton, Total Costs, different suppliers, geographical area, etc. Key is to move away from upstream costs and focus on yield of product within the plant. Pulpwood, although more expensive provides a $4/ton cost advantage when you factor in yield.]

• GE has invented a light bulb that lasts forever. How would you price it? • How much premium, plus, and regular gas is sold in the U.S.? • Diapers are made by a 3 step process: sheets of paper material are cut from a

continuously running roll, chopped into fine dust through a hammer-mill, and then compressed into the desired pad size for the diaper. A company has invented a new material that eliminates the need for the hammer-mill and also creates a thinner diaper that customers like better. Discuss the operational and market implications.

• How might an internet partnership be a bad idea for an automotive company? • A paint manufacturer is thinking of expanding into paintbrushes. Is this a good idea? • A plane manufacturer has analyzed the profitability of various routes but would like to

learn more about profitability of specific customers and customer types. Discuss some ways of doing this.

• What is the potential market size for a night vision product for passenger automobiles?

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Company Specific Questions

Accenture plc Undergraduate Internship Interview Questions: • Why do you think you would be right for this position? • Recall an instance where you caused a failure in judgment or action. What did you do

afterwards to correct the issue? • Describe in detail a time where you had to make a pretty significant decision based on a

wide array of sources and inputs. How did you come to your ultimate decision and what was involved in doing so?

• Talk about a situation where you led a group project and there were scheduled conflicts and problems. What did you do to correct it?

• What makes you think you could be a consultant? Graduate Interview - George Group (purchased by Accenture) – GMBA – Full-Time 1st Interviewer: • Tell me about yourself. • Asked about some of the project experience I had listed on my resume. • Asked a case question. Provided a 5 page handout that included overview as well as

financial data for a company and some of its products. Because of the time constraints of the interview and the amount we talked about my resume, only had time for a 5 minute discussion on the handout. He asked one question: being tasked with growing profit margin, what would be one quick thing to look at out of the information provided. Wanted me to zero in on the production capacity figures provided and compare capacity utilization rates for three separate product lines. Packet assumed all production costs were fixed.

2nd Interviewer: • Brief resume overview. • Case question: You run a company that has two plants, one in the US and one in

Ireland. You need to close one of them down. How would you go about making the decision and what are some of the things you would want to consider?

Interviewee Says: Though they jump right in with the case interviews, they offered a happy hour/social event the night before that gave candidates an opportunity to meet with several consultants and ask more questions about the company. It was a good experience and definitely a must, considering they restricted interview times to 30 minutes and were asking case questions. George Group is all about operations though so make sure you understand the work they do, their role within Accenture (which just purchased them), and be ready for operational focused questions.

American Airlines, Inc. Graduate Interview – GMBA – Full Time: Sales Planning, Strategy Analyst The interview is an all day affair with other candidates present. Each interview has two one-on-one interviews, a group case, an individual Excel case, and lunch. For anyone

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interviewing with AA, I recommend reading the Annual Report, especially the “risks” section. I also recommend reading airline strategy cases. One-on-One Interviews: • Describe a time you have taken a leadership role. • How many planes does it take to fly 20,000 flights per day? • What are some opportunities and threats that AA will face as it opens routes to China. • Describe a time that you have been in a difficult situation with a co-worker or a

supervisor and how you handled it. Group Case – written assignment and discussion • One of our major competitors has decided to sell only through its own website. How

should AA react? What additional information would you want to answer this question? Individual Case – Excel case and discussion • Sales data (ticket price, COGS, number of flights per day, number of passengers per

flight, etc.) are presented for 2 potential routes. • Calculate the daily profits and margin for each flight. • Which route would you recommend adding to AA’s schedule and why? • Under what circumstances would you recommend the other route? Graduate Interview – GMBA – Full Time: Sales and Planning Interview Questions: • How did you prepare for this interview? • What is the biggest misconception that people get by looking at your resume? • Two large competing airlines share a hub. What should American's strategy be when re-

evaluating its routes to/from that hub? • What do you think is innovative in the airline industry? • Your largest competitor is selling at a 50% discount to corporate clients and you offer

20%. What would you do? • One flight offers premium, business class and coach seats. Another offers only business

class and coach. How would you determine the mix of these seats to offer? • Tell me about a time you had data challenges, and how you overcame them. • A mini group case: "You read in the WSJ that a major airline is no longer selling tickets

through travel agencies. Instead it is only using its own distribution channels. What will you recommend for your own company's sales strategy?"

BearingPoint, Federal Practice

Undergraduate Interview – Internship Interview Questions: • Explain what you did at your jobs on your resume. • What have you learned that you plan on taking with you from GW? • In what departments are you interested in working? Graduate Interview – MBA– Full-time Position: Sr. Consultant, Business Transformation Interview Questions: • How does your experience translate well into the field of consulting? • Why BearingPoint?

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• Extensive questions about difficult clients, difficult team members, etc. • Questions about my project management experience i.e. when did you run into a

problem with a project you were working on and how did you deal? • What’s your ideal career path (i.e. where do you want to be in 10, 20 years)? Interviewee Says: Interview was conducted by 3 people: a manager, senior manager, and director. Prepare teamwork behavioral responses. Graduate Interview – GMBA – Full-time Position: Senior Consultant with Enterprise Architecture Team First Round: On Campus Interview conducted by Senior Consultant and former GW MBA grad • Tell me about yourself. • Tell me about a time you led a project and what the outcome was. • Interview was very conversational and seemed like more of a personality screening

rather than an interview. Second Round: McLean Office Interview conducted by Team Lead, Technology Lead, and Group VP • Team Lead: asked a lot of questions related to previous project experience, including

“tell me a time you led a group of people in a project” and “tell me about a time when you had a team member not perform or completely fail to do their part. How did you handle it and what was the outcome.”

• Technology Lead: asked a lot of questions about specific software packages I had used in the past and how they were used in a project setting (i.e. “tell me about a time you had to do some analysis for a project. How did you go about completing that work and what tools and processes did you use.”)

• Vice President: more of a conversational piece but did ask some more career oriented questions and trying to locate me within his group. Included “where do you see yourself in 5 years” and “why BearingPoint”.

Interviewee Says: Very relaxed atmosphere and everyone at the 2nd round was very personable. Seems like they are looking for cultural fit as much as anything else. Didn’t ask any case questions and stuck to the basic behavioral interview questions to be expected. Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-time Position Interview Questions: • Where do you want to live? • Walk through the supply chain process. • Tell me about a time you failed and what did you do to prevent it from happening again. • Describe to me what you think a consultant does on a day to day basis

Booz Allen Hamilton, Federal Practice Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-time Position Interview Questions: • Tell me about your past experience. • Why consulting?

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• Give an example of a time when you interfaced well with an executive? • Give three words to describe your leadership style. • Tell me about a time when you had a difficult team. • Explain a time when you had to organize and cull data - from the big picture to the

detail oriented. Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-time Position: Organizational Design Change Management (ODCM) Consultant Interview Questions: • How do you deal with difficult team members? • What 3 things do you want from your next place of employment? What is important to

you in selecting a organization to work for? • Tell me of a time when you set a goal and how you achieved it. • Tell me about a time that you had to solve a problem and how you handled it? • Tell me about a time that you had to manage several responsibilities, how did you

prioritize and get it all done? • Booz Allen Hamilton has 10 cultural values, tell me about one that you have exemplified

in your prior experiences. • Tell about a time when you had set backs in a project and what you did to overcome

them. • Give me an example of a situation when you came up with a creative solution to a

problem. • Explain a time when you had to make a quick decision. • Explain one of your biggest challenges. • What are the three functional areas that are of most interest to you? Interviewee Says: For my interview, the second round process was VERY disorganized feeling. It was ok - but the format was "Speed Dating" ... there are three teams present - with each team that you interview with, there are 3 people - the interview is very general. Don't be discouraged if you are the last one brought to go to the "Speed Dating" table – it’s a bit disorderly - but it’s not by order of preference. Bring examples to demonstrate skill set. Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-time – Consultant Interview Questions: • Experiences you have had with a team - positive/negative • Your leadership style • What are the qualities of a good consultant?

Capgemini MSIST – Full-time – Technology Staff Consultant Interview Questions: • Did you ever lead a team? How was your experience? Was you team/project successful? • How do you personally define success? Describe a situation in which you were

successful. • In your own words, how would you describe a successful career? • Where do you see yourself in the next few years? • What accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction in your life?

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• What are your goals? How do you plan to accomplish them at Capgemini? What in turn will you offer to Capgemini?

• If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change? • Do you handle conflict well? Have you ever had a conflict with a co-worker, boss or

professor? How did you resolve it? • Tell about a challenge you faced at work? How did you handle it? What were the lessons

learnt? • Do you handle pressure well? Tell us a situation where you had to perform under

pressure. What did you do? Were you successful? • Any extracurricular activities to help society? • Any questions about the position or Capgemini in general? • Have you been through problems either in your study or work? How do you over come

them? • If you have questions during a project, will you ask your co-workers? • Give me a example that how you persuade a group. • What if your clients don’t like your ideas/suggestions - what will you do? • How does your working experience in other countries help you work in the USA? What is

difference of the working culture? Interviewee Says: 1st round (45 mins) - behavioral questions only. 2nd round was a single interview divided into three parts - technical, managerial and HR.

Corporate Executive Board Interview Questions: • How did you learn about CEB? • Why do you want to work for CEB? Why do you want to work in the Strategic Research

Department? • In what practice area are you interested in working? • What is the biggest issue facing members in that practice today? • What is the biggest mistake that people in that industry are making? • If you need to get information from someone, how do you go about it? • What if someone is not giving you the information that you want? What types of

questions would you ask to get it? • You are in a busy section of downtown Tokyo. You see a Coke machine with 2 sizes of

Coke cans – both sizes for the same price. Why would this be? Name seven reasons why a consumer would buy the smaller can of Coke?

• Tell me about a time you had a difficult analytical question and how you answered it. One interviewer requested an example from work and another requested an example from school.

• How do you motivate employees? • What was the typical size of your project teams? • How long did you work on a particular project? • On how many projects did you work at one time? • What was your role within the project? • Give an example of a time a project was going badly and how you managed it. • Describe a time you had to persuade your team to do something. How did you get them

to listen to you?

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Graduate Interview – MBA – Full Time - Advisory Specialist - Analyst: Data & Tools Interview Questions: • Research / Building Relationships:

Tell me about how you establish connections with people to conduct research. • Teamwork:

What has been your experience in working on project teams? Pick one of these examples and describe your role and how you participated on the team

• Analytical Reasoning / Critical Thinking: Can you describe for me the most complex project you have ever worked on? What happened, what did you do? How did you analyze and track information? Was it delivered on time? (Detailed project plan)

• Customer Service: What does excellent customer service mean to you and tell me about a time when you provided it.

• Communication: Tell me about situations in which you had to use your written and oral communication skills in order to get an important point across to a Sr. level manager.

• Initiative: Tell me about a time when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done. (ID opportunities)

• Adaptability: Describe a recent situation, perhaps a project or assignment, where the task and directions were not clear or straightforward, yet you were under significant pressure to get it completed.

• Questions for me?

Choice Hotels Graduate Interview - MBA - Full Time Position: Project Manager, Business Intelligence & Strategy Interview 1: Phone Screen by Recruiter (30-45 minutes) • Walk me through your resume. • Why are you interested in this position? • What are your post-MBA career goals? • What questions do you have? Interview 2: Phone Screen by Director, Business Intelligence & Strategy (30-45 minutes) • Walk me through your resume. • Why are you interested in this position? • What questions do you have? Interview 3: In-House Interview (5 hours with 5 one-on-one interviews) • Why did you choose GWU? • What did you work on for your summer internship? Why? • Walk me through your resume. • What interests you about this job: location, role, hospitality industry? • Tell me about a financial model that you built. • Tell me about a time that you have had to interact with upper management. • How would you gather information from someone who is more senior than you?

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• Describe a time that you had a customer that was unsatisfied and how you handled it. • How would you address a large group of people versus a small group of people? • Have you ever had to deliver boring information to an uninterested group of people?

How did you get your message across? • Describe a time that you worked for a minority supervisor and what you learned from

this person. • What is your approach to developing marketing strategy? • Describe work that you did using statistical software. How did it affect your project

team and your project strategy and result? • Talk about a time that you had to persuade a group. • Describe a time that you worked across functional teams. What was the project? What

was your role? What was the result and how did you get there? • What contributions do you bring to the workplace other than your technical and

management skills? • What questions do you have? Interview 4: – Phone Screen by SVP, Business Intelligence & Strategy (30-45 minutes) • Tell me about a difficult project that you worked on or one that you are particularly

proud of. (Note: this question may seem like a softball but he drilled me on every aspect of the project, including timeline, the size of the group, my role, others’ roles, final work product, presentation style)

• Tell me about a difficult professional experience and how you handled it. (Note: this question was also broken down into small pieces, such as what exactly was the issue, how did it affect you, how did your confront the issue, how did the conversation go, etc.)

• What are your expectations for this position? • What questions do you have?

CSC Consulting Undergraduate Interview – Full-Time Position Interview Questions: • What are your study habits? • What is an example of a leadership role you had? • What is an example of working in a group and what role did you undertake? • What is an example of a presentation that you gave? • What is an example of a difficult group situation? • What is your ideal job? • What was your favorite and least favorite class in college? Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-Time Position Interview Questions: • Tell me about yourself? • What is your biggest weakness? Interviewee Says: Didn’t seem like a hard interview because the interviewer didn’t ask too many direct questions. The thirty minute session was too short to get really in depth so the interviewer seemed to just be getting a general idea of who I was and what my experiences were; be comfortable talking about your experiences and translating them in to skills applicable to consulting.

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Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-Time Position Interview Questions: • Case Question: Estimate how many vehicles are in Manhattan at roughly 11 am on a

normal Wednesday work week • Case Question: You are doing work for the US Customs and Border Protection agency.

Specifically speaking, you are looking at the problem they have at their Detroit border crossing. The congestion has gotten so bad, that businesses have complained to their congressman that delivery and service trucks get caught up in the queue for hours and are consistently late getting parts and materials into the city. This is especially of concern to Detroit’s automotive companies. The congressman is putting the pressure on CBP. How would you approach trying to solve the congestion?

• Why the change from what you did prior to your MBA program to government consulting? In essence, why consulting?

• Why federal practice rather than commercial consulting? • What was the biggest accomplishment you had at your previous full time position? Interviewee Says: Be prepared for case questions. Nothing was said about case interviews before I went but then I got surprised with them. Ask about the culture and workgroup environment to make sure you get a feel. Most of the interviewers, though in the group you would join, aren’t familiar with the headquarter building or the people that work there and so my first impression was that they weren’t very organized or prepared. They just don’t work out of the main office at all (one of the interviewers had never been to that building).

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Deloitte, Federal Practice Undergraduate Interview - Internship Interview Questions: • Use three adjectives to explain your leadership style. • Give an example of a project where you brainstormed. What part did you play? • Why are you interested in applying for the program? • Give an example of a challenge you have faced and how that has affected you. • Tell me about a time you faced a major conflict and how you resolved it? • Why are you interested in this position? • How familiar with Deloitte are you? • How did you hear about this position? • Tell me about a time you had to be creative? • Tell me about your leadership-style and the role you take on when working with others? • What are the most important qualities when dealing with effective leadership? • Tell me about a situation where you showed leadership. • What are your strengths/weaknesses? • Talk about a time you worked with a group on a project. • Why are you interested in consulting? • What do you hope to get out of this Leadership Weekend? • What is a short term goal of yours? Long term (next couple of years)? • What do you do for fun? • What is your favorite class? • Do you like GW? • Talk about a time when you had to make yourself stand out in a crowd. Interviewee Says: Research the organization. Brief answers. Think of a question(s) that specifically apply to the program you are applying for. Graduate Interview - GMBA – Full-Time Position Interview Questions: • What will keep you here for 15 years? • Case question: What are some factors to consider when recommending a software

vendor for a systems integration project with a client. • Walk me through your resume. • What do you do for fun? • Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? • Give me an example when you had many tasks at once but you had to prioritize them.

How did you manage them and how did you make those decisions in order to prioritize them?

• How do you approach a problem when working with a team? Give an example when your team solved the problem and explain what strategies you followed.

• Satisfying the needs of our clients is very important to us. Give an example where you went above and beyond in order satisfy your supervisor's or a clients needs.

• Have you ever suggested a new idea to your boss or teacher? What happened? • Why did you choose this position? How much do you know about what we do and how

come that appeals you more than Tax or Audit? • What do you think will be the greatest challenge for you in the work place and how do

you think you will deal with it?

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Interviewee Says: • They value team-work a lot. They often made comments like "so if you work in a

team...." or "almost all of our work is done in teams and..." • They also questioned my decision making ability with some of their comments and

additional shorter questions such as "So how did you decided that?" or "If you had to make a decision at that point how would you do it?”

• Deloitte is a very entrepreneurial culture with an independent staff. Contrary to other firms, they explicitly state that they are an “up and out” firm. They are growing at an immensely fast pace and trying to keep up with the growth. No real talk of professional development other than learning on the job. Deloitte offers the opportunity for dynamic and fast paced work with new problems coming at you constantly. Don’t expect a very polished office space. Be prepared to be drilled with questions. Very headstrong interviewer that fired questions quickly.

Graduate Interview – MBA – Internship Interview Questions: • Behavioral Questions: Talk about how to deal with a troubled teammate; talk about how

you contributed to a team; why GWU? • Case Question: You are a consultant for a major municipal hospital. The hospital earns

1.2 BN in annual revenue. There is a chain hospital in the same municipality. Your client has 800 beds. The hospital is taking down one of its existing structures and rebuilding the facility. The present facility contains a kitchen, which prepares food for the hospital patients (not staff or visitors). The hospital wants to decide whether to build a kitchen into the new building or outsource the food services to an outside vendor. What do you do?

Undergraduate Interview – Full Time - Federal Practice Strategy and Operations Interview Questions: • How many people depart from Copenhagen, Denmark's airport everyday? • How many police stations are in New York City? • When was a time that you made a mistake and how did you go about fixing it? • When was a time you took a strong stance on an issue you cared about? Interviewee Says: Be yourself. Read the general interviewing and case interview packets on vault.com Undergraduate Interview – Full Time - Human Capital Analyst Interview Questions: • Tell me about a time where you showed leadership skills. • Tell me about a time where you worked with someone who was not cooperative and how

did you handle the situation? • Tell me about your past internships. • Why would you like to work for the Federal Government? • There was also a case study. Interviewee Says: Be confident, speak clearly, look the interviewer in the eye, be pleasant and smile, dress nicely, use examples from groups that you've worked in during school projects as well as examples from internships. Undergraduate Interview – Full Time - Project Analyst

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Interview Questions: • What are some qualities that you think are important for a project analyst? • Tell me a time where you have to persuade someone/group to do something. • Why did you apply here? • Tell me about a time when you had to deliver sensitive information and how did you

handle it? • If you were interviewing me for the position you're interviewing for, what qualities would

you be looking for? • Tell me about a time that you had to work with a difficult person, and how did you

handle it? Interviewee Says: Be calm, practice behavioral questions online, and know what the position consists of. Graduate Interview – MBA – Consultant – Full-time Interview Questions: • Case Interview Question:

o Large Federal Agency (example given was TSA) approximately 50K people. o HR office is broken down into divisions (payroll, benefits, time off,

development, etc.) o They are experiencing timeliness issues in response for certain end-user

submissions (mostly done now as email submission to particular division per request).

o They are also having tracking issues for the follow up of the process. o Deloitte is brought into help create process improvement. o What do you suggest as a consultant leading the case?

Interviewee response: I suggested intranet related submissions via an SOA software module that can utilize all the different divisions current softwares or protocols in one easy to use end-user module. I also referenced the use of training to have employees understand how to use the system better and know timeframes, etc. I identified proper automation and notification modules within the system, create notification systems to remove manual processes, and use FAQs to control inquiries. The interviewer rebutted that I should have talked about Workforce reduction, initial communication support, and about the hand-off of issues so he could get a better understanding of how I thought about the entire process.

Enlightened, Inc. Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-Time Position Interview Questions: • What is your definition of leadership? • What is your definition of consulting? • Tell me about a time you failed. • What motivates you? • What de-motivates you? • What makes you angry?

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• If you had to evaluate a business process, take me through the steps of how you would approach the situation.

• If you were asked to manage a call center, knowing that you had no other prior experience dealing with call centers, what tools or skill sets would you take with you as you dived into the task at hand?

• Consider a situation if when you thought you had the perfect solution to a problem, one that did everything that was needed and more, and your manager told you to move in another direction. How would you react?

Federal Management Partners

Graduate Interview – MBA - Internship: HR Strategic Consulting Interview Questions: (Conducted by principal, operations manager, managing consultant, and a current intern) • Walk me through your resume • They asked a lot of specifics about my resume – especially the results I listed. • I stressed my communication, strategic planning, data analysis, and interpersonal skills.

They asked specifics about how I’ve used these skills. • Why HR? • Comfort level with Microsoft office – specifically access and excel • Comfort with data analysis tools and programs – SAS, regressions, pivot tables… • Why GWU? Why Washington, DC? • Why FMP? • Which agencies are you specifically interested in working with? • Where do you see yourself in 5 years? • Tell me about the most crucial presentation you have ever given. ex: number of people

in audience, situation, reactions, outcomes • Tell me about the most in-depth written document you have prepared. ex: description,

audience, reaction, outcomes • Tell me about the most technical data analysis you have performed. ex: programs used,

audience, experience in presentation of the analysis, reaction, outcomes (charts, graphs, verbal)

• Tell me about a time you were unable to follow through with a project due to unforeseen circumstances. What happened, how did you handle it, how could you have handled it differently, reactions, outcomes?

Interviewee Says: • They want to know that you are a self-starter, with little need for supervision. • They want to know that you are dedicated to the mission of working with the

government to provide important services and that you are going to be well received (professional and likeable) by their clients.

• They appreciated me following up with them (1 wk later for application, they called within one week to offer the position)

• They called all of my references and took their opinions very seriously. • They want you to have excellent communication (verbal and written) and data analysis

skills (excel, SAS, stats knowledge). • They loved that I knew about their company (ex. from press releases on their website)

and that I asked specific questions about the company and how it functioned. • I had two interviews; each one was about an hour long - one with a principal and the

operations manager, and the other with someone who would be my direct supervisor

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and another coworker. The first one, with the principal, was more informal; it was a check to be sure they would like working with me and that I had the general skills they were looking for. The 2nd interview was the formal behavioral interview.

Dept of HHS (Health & Human Services) Internal Consulting Graduate Interview- MBA - Research Analyst Internship Interview Questions: • Tell about a time when you faced difficulty in the workplace. • Why do you want to work for HHS? • How do you deal with a difficult boss or coworker? • Tell us about your work experience Interviewee Says: The quantitative questions were given by a MIT statistician. You're not expected to know everything, but you have to be teachable. A Writing sample was required, too. Basically, candidates need to have both good technical and writing skills.

IBM Corporation Graduate Interview – MBA – Senior Managing Consultant – Full-time Interview Questions: • Tell me about a time you had to deal with adversity. • What was your greatest accomplishment and why? • Tell me about a time when you had to institute change within an organization?

Interviewee Says: If applying for public sector consulting, KNOW the industry. Be yourself. Have at least 5 examples on your resume that you can alter. One of the interviewers during my first round did a rapid fire of questions asking me behavioral examples. SAR. Graduate Interview – MBA – Consultant – Full-time Interview Questions: • Why do you want to work for IBM? • What experience do you have that would make you a good candidate? • Tell me about a time when you had to manage conflict. How did you do that? • What would you do if you came home and had to leave that same weekend for a work

trip? Interviewee Says: Make a list of all the things you've ever done (personally and professionally) to organize them in your head. Most consultant positions ask behavioral type questions (tell me about a time that you implemented a new system or what was one of your biggest professional challenges) to get a feel of how you think. Having more than one short, to the point example would be really helpful. Graduate Interview – MBA – Strategy and Change Public Sector Consultant Interview Questions: First Round consisted of three back-to-back 30 minute interviews.

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• Tell me about yourself. • Tell me a time when you had to convince someone of something. • Tell me a time when things didn’t go according to plan. • Tell me about a challenging situation, and how you overcame it. • Describe a time when you had to come up with a creative solution. • Have you ever had to work with a difficult team member? What did you do? • You may have to photocopy my reports. Are you okay with grunt work? • What do you know about Six Sigma? • What was your Vietnam consulting project like? Nicaragua project? (specific questions

to interviewee) • At IBM, you may work with difficult clients. Describe a time you had to work with a

difficult client and how you overcame it. • What do you know about the different S&C areas and where do you see yourself? • Describe a time when you had to independently and in a team. Second Round consisted of two 45 minute interviews. • These interviews were more or less conversations about IBM. Interviewee Says: Think of a lot of questions to ask in the final interview. I also created a “notable accomplishments” sheet with pictures and testimonials from old bosses/peers etc. I think this document helped to set me apart. Good luck! *This student was given a job offer.

McKinsey & Company Interview Questions: • Tell me about yourself (linking resume/GMAT/GPA score) • Why an MBA? Why GW? Why Management Consulting? Why McKinsey? • Ask resume specific questions • If you were told that you had one year to live, what would you do? • What’s the problem with (random country/company)? • What are you least proud of? • Tell me about a time that you had to drive your team to an outcome during very difficult

circumstances AND tell me about it as if it were written up in the NY Times. McKinley Marketing

Graduate Interview – MBA – Analyst Internship Interview Questions: • What is your work style? How do you approach new projects? • What roles have you taken in previous group work? • Why would you be a good fit for McKinley? • What is your favorite and least favorite part of the consulting process?

Mercer HR Consulting Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-Time Position Interview Questions: I had a series of 6 formal interviews and 1 informal lunch interview with representatives from Mercer. Each interview was intended to evaluate me on 1 particular characteristic.

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• Leadership – In this interview, I was asked to describe various leadership opportunities I have had, as well as some challenges I have faced. Examples of questions were: making ethical decisions, dealing with a problem employee, motivating employees, etc.

• Initiative – this interviewer judged whether I have gone out of my way to take on additional responsibilities and whether I have tried to make a difference in places where I was not necessarily required to. Examples were: getting involved in clubs at school, trying to make a difference to some process in my past work experience, etc.

• Project Management – this interview solicited some information similar to the leadership interview, but the interviewer also wanted to know how I multi-task, how I schedule my work, what problems I have come across with conflicting demands, etc. I was also asked to describe in detail any on project that I took on, i.e. how I approached it, how I managed my schedule and whether I was able to achieve my goals.

• Technical Skills (PowerPoint, Excel, Access – and openness to learning new technologies) – In this interview, I was asked to rate myself on a scale of 1 to 10 in my skill level for PowerPoint, Access and Excel.

• Resume – this interview was based entirely on my resume – details of my past work experience and how it will help me in the position I am applying for

• Case Interview – this interview was a specific Human Capital Consulting case interview. • Informal lunch interview – The lunch was supposed to be an opportunity for me to ask

any questions I may have (in addition to questions I was expected to ask each interviewer at the end of each interview). The company made sure that I went to lunch with someone who was not interviewing me that day. Although this was not a part of the “official recruiting process”, it is important to note that it always is!

NERA Economic Consulting

Undergraduate – Full-Time - Research Associate Interview Questions: • Why are you interested in NERA? • What skills do you have that make you a good addition to NERA? • Do you have experience working with data or statistical software? • What types of topics/focus areas interest you? Interviewee Says: Make sure to look up their offices and research focus areas prior to the interview, so you can know more about the company going in.

Price Waterhouse Coopers Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-Time Position: Program Management Associate Interview Questions: (Conducted by Managing Director, Director, Senior Associate, and HR Managers • Give me three bullet point items that are your most important accomplishments over the

past 3 to 4 years. (After naming each, I was asked more details about each item) • Tell me about a time when you worked in a team with a difficult team member. How did

you handle it? • Tell me about a time you had to sell something. It can be a project or simply an idea or

course of action. • What do you want to do with your next job, whether here or somewhere else?

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• Lots of discussion about previous experiences listed on my resume. Interviewee Says: • Be comfortable when talking about your previous experiences and explaining how they

relate to the position you’re applying for. • Be prepared with several questions so you can ask each interviewer something different.

The Kenrich Group Graduate Interview – MBA – Full-Time Position: Staff Consultant Interview Questions: (Conducted by President, Vice President, and Senior Consultant) • Excel Test (30 minutes): sort a list of data and format a report sheet that provides

present values of future cash flows. Data includes a category number, description, date, and amount fields. Report requested that you provide sums for each year by category and then calculate the present value for each category.

• Written Test (30 minutes): type what you know about The Kenrich Group and the work that they do and then provide a description of what you can do and why you are best suited for the staff consultant position.

• Case Question: You are given some background information regarding a dispute between an automotive group and a contractor hired to install GPS systems into the car model. Other facts are provided about a design change, a machinery breakdown, and an additional employee hiring and the cost impacts of each. Questions asked are “Does the automotive group owe money to the contractor? If yes, why? If no, why not? Be prepared to explain your thought process. What factors did you consider in your analysis? What other information would you want to know in order to help you to understand the various factors that would impact the case?”

• Why the change from your previous work experience over to consulting? • Why litigation consulting? • What classes did you like the most? The least? • Are you willing to travel some? Work ethic? Interviewee Says: • It’s a very small group right now (only 10-12 people in the DC office, 40 people total

overall). You will speak with everyone in the office so be prepared to be there for a while and speak with multiple folks. Lunch is included and gives you a chance to get to know two of the consultants in a more sociable setting.

• Emphasis put on being chargeable and the need to put in some OT to cover non-chargeable items.

• Make sure you are comfortable with litigation consulting as an idea. Not the same work as stuff for other area consultants (ex. Booz Allen, Bearing Point, IBM, etc.).

• If previous experience is in engineering field, play that up because they like the mix of engineering experience and MBA degree.

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Questions to Ask Interviewers Informational • Tell me about your background prior to going to business school. Where did you work for

the summer? Why did you choose this firm? Where else did you consider? • What are the skills that you learned at your previous job that are most applicable to

your current job? • What is your summer program like? (i.e., from having networked within the firm and/or

online research) Be careful here – you should already know the answer to this question. It may be better to ask specifically which group(s) they worked with over their experience in the summer program, if applicable). What type of training do/did you receive?

• What kind of feedback process exists over the summer? • Describe three attributes that would define a qualified candidate for a summer intern

position? For a full-time position? • How much interaction do you have with clients? How much might an intern have? • What percentage of the summer interns are hired full time? What is the most common

reason for not getting an offer? • What are the 2 – 3 qualities that make a successful accountant? • What skills do you most often utilize? • What is the typical career progression at your firm? • How often are performance reviews done for full-time employees? What is the

performance evaluation like for interns? • What is one of the least/most attractive aspects of working at this firm? • What advice can you impart on someone who is just starting out in this industry?

VP and Above • What is the most significant difference in your job now as opposed to your previous

level? (Be specific to that person) • What is the biggest differentiating factor that you sell in proposal to a client? How do

you differentiate your firm to new clients? • Who are your biggest competitors? • Where do you see the firm’s biggest opportunities for growth? • What is the biggest challenge to the firm in the next 1-2 years? • Do you see international growth for your firm? Where? • What is the biggest weakness of your firm? How do you anticipate the firm will address

this? *See CareerBeam for the most up to date and specific information, issues, and questions to ask.