My first post in this series covered consulting fit interviews and the biggest mistake you can make.
At the end of every consulting interview, the consultant will typically offer feedback on your performance and provide an opportunity to ask follow-up questions. Most applicants do not use this time effectively – asking follow-up questions allows you to learn more about the job, and strengthen your candidacy too.
Most interviewees feel pressured to ask something, and will throw out meaningless questions like “Do you know when we’ll hear back about second rounds” or “How many consultants work at your firm”.
Bad idea.
Never ask your consultant interviewer a question that can be answered by a recruiter
Here are 3 strong follow-up questions that you can ask:
Would you mind telling me about your background, and how you ended up as an Accenture consultant?
I’d be interested to hear what your most challenging case has been thus far in your BCG career.
What do you think are the biggest misperceptions that applicants have about consulting?
These questions are great because they demonstrate your interest in the job, they’re interesting for the interviewer to answer, and you’ll gain some wisdom from the responses.
Here’s a great question if feedback hasn’t been provided:
When you think about my interview performance, what would you suggest are the 2 or 3 things I can do to improve?
Even if feedback is provided, most consultant interviewers won’t offer concrete suggestions to improve. This is a great question particularly for first-round interviews, and demonstrates a focus on personal development that all consultants respect.
Finally, here’s the absolute best follow-up consulting interview question:
I’m really interested in public sector consulting. I’d be interested to hear what you know about that area at Bain. (You can fill in “public sector consulting” with any topic of personal interest – Brazil, nonprofit consulting, energy and renewables)
Why is this question so good?
Because it reinforces your life story – and the best applicants have distinct life stories. Because it demonstrates an interest beyond “any ‘ol job in management consulting” to a specific industry, geography, or function. Finally, because it can lead to follow-up conversations with your interviewer, and if your interviewer is not familiar with the topic, he/she may recommend additional contacts that you can reach out to!
Win-win-win.
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UPCOMING POST: Management consulting interviews: the biggest mistake you can make in the case study interview
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Kevin, what do you think about this question?
“If Firm X disappeared tomorrow, and you had to go work for another consulting firm, which would you choose?”
I think the answer could be quite interesting, and I suspect it’s a question that few applicants would ask, but if it would make the interviewer feel uncomfortable, maybe it’s not a good idea…
[Reply]
Sean – the answers would be interesting, but I’d reserve that question for offline conversations or people with whom you have a good rapport. Given their role as firm representatives, it’d be an uncomfortable question at best.
[Reply]
Kevin, I would be interested to know why you suggest asking “what would you suggest are the 2 or 3 things I can do to improve?” during an interview, or am I misinterpreting? Personally, if someone asked me that, I’d end the interview right then and send them home. If people want feedback, that’s great, but they have to wait until after a decision has been made. Otherwise I risk creating the impression that they will or will not get next round or an offer before that decision has been taken.
I find that the most impressive questions during the interview are those that clarify misconceptions the applicant has, like your question 3. Another example: “people on campus say your firm is (something good) but also that (something bad). To what extent is this impression accurate?”
[Reply]
Consultant99, it seems to me that interview feedback is pretty standard, particularly in first round interviews. My suggestion here is that if feedback is provided (eg, “the way you structured answers was solid, but I would focus more on underlying business drivers”), it’s OK to follow-up interviewer feedback by asking for actionable recommendations to improve (”eg, “knowing that I need to be stronger at elucidating business drivers, are there any specific resources you’d recommend I read?”). If feedback isn’t provided, I would find it surprising that asking for suggestions on making yourself a stronger interviewer would be negatively received.
[Reply]
Kevin: that sounds reasonable. During the interview I typically give feedback on the case, such as why I ask the case and an interesting aspect that the candidate may have wanted to explore but wasn’t likely to come up with. So a follow-up on the case content is great because it shows that the candidate can extend the conversation. But in probably 100 interviews of undergrads and MBAs, I’ve only once been asked by the candidate “how did I do,” which was by a candidate whose biggest weakness is that she had zero self-confidence. I strongly encourage people to follow-up with me after the interviews and I’ll take a lot of time to dissect the interview with them… and far too few people take me up on this.
[Reply]