Consultant Associate interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your CV.
2. Tell me about your most impressive project or accomplishment.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why consulting?
5. Why the firm?
6. Why now? / Why are you making this transition?
7. What do you think makes the firm distinct from a top competitor?
8. What does day-to-day life look like for an Associate / Consultant at this firm?

Technical concepts to master

• Case interview — canonical frameworks

  MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive) · Issue tree · Profitability framework · Market sizing — top-down · Market sizing — bottom-up

Practical drills

• Size the annual revenue of the sector in geography. (E.g., 'global toothbrush market', 'US dog walking market', 'UK gym membership revenue'.)
• Your client is a the sector company. Profits have declined {X}% over the last two years while revenue has been flat. The CEO wants to know what's driving it and what to do. Walk me through how you'd approach this.
• Your client {does X in Y geography}. They're considering {entering market Z / launching product W / repricing their flagship}. How would you advise them?

Smart-question anchors

• Office-specific case mix: what sectors and case types the candidate would likely staff on in the first 12-18 months
• Partner development path: what differentiates Associates who get promoted to Engagement Manager vs those who exit
• Practice area entry vs generalist track: how the firm handles the transition from generalist Associate to sector specialist
• Recent landmark engagement: ask about the dynamics behind one named publicly-cited engagement (without asking for confidential info)
• Travel and lifestyle reality: how staffing patterns work for first-year Associates and what flexibility exists

Sourced from

Case Coach (casecoach.com) · PrepLounge (preplounge.com) · Crafting Cases (craftingcases.com) · Case in Point (Marc Cosentino)