Question Bank: Consulting

Are you looking for your purple squirrel in the Consulting? Not to worry, we here are ConveyIQ by Entelo are here to help with some questions that can help you locate your purple squirrel!

Below, you will find questions divided into sub-categories for Consulting.

Analytical Reasoning

1. Describe how you negotiate with your supplier in the economic recession.
2. From a marketing perspective, how do we/should we position ourselves vs. our main competitors?
3. Give me an example of a situation in which you analyzed and solved the problem. How did you do it?
4. How did you handle a difficult client?
5. How is our practice different from other firms?
6. How many pay phones are there on the island of Manhattan?
7. How many square feet of pizza are eaten in the Unites States each month?
8. How will you handle multiple projects that have the same deadline?
9. If someone actually invented, manufactured, and sold transporters (i.e. those Beam-me-up-Scottie" machines from Star Trek), how would that change the world?
10. What direction do you see our industry taking and how are we/should we be aligning ourselves with that direction?
11. You're working for a pharmaceutical company that has a proprietary drug which is about to lose its patent protection. That means that there will soon be generic substitutes for your product available at a fraction of the cost. How will you adjust the price of your product in response?

Behavioral

1. Describe a scenario where you lead a team in the face of a major obstacle.
2. For experienced hires: What motivated you to change careers now?
3. Give me an example of how you demonstrated initiative. What were the results?
4. Have you dealt with a difficult boss? If so, explain how you managed the situation. If not, explain how you’d deal with a hypothetically difficult boss.
5. Think back to a bad college experience and tell us about it.
6. What company do you think is having a tough time right now, and what would you recommend they do to improve their current situation?
7. What do you think makes a good consultant?
8. What is a very complicated technical concept that you understand clearly? Now explain it to me as if I was a 5-year-old child.
9. Why do you want to work at McKinsey?

General Experience

1. Do you feel there are any gaps in your CV?
2. Give me an example of a time you worked in a team. Did you face any obstacles?
3. How could you have improved your CV?
4. How do your accomplishments show that you have the skills for consulting?
5. Summarize your experience so far.
6. Tell me about a time when you were unable to sell an idea.
7. Tell me about a unique experience you’ve had.
8. Tell me your greatest professional weakness
9. What are the three most important qualities of a successful consultant?
10. What do you think management consultants do every day?
11. What is the one achievement on your CV that you are most proud of?
12. What is your special interest in this department?
13. What sort of things did you gain from your own experience outside the specialty?

Leadership Skills

1. Describe a situation where you persuaded a supervisor or colleague to use your idea.
2. Give me an example of a time when you demonstrated leadership?
3. How do you know you're making the best career move for you?
4. How do you measure success?
5. Tell me about a group project or situation where you exercised a leadership role.
6. Tell me about a time when you had to influence various departments/people to help accomplish your goals without having direct authority over them.
7. Tell me about a time you had to convince someone to do something that they did not want to do.
8. Tell me about a time you were required to lead a group. What challenges did you face, how did you overcome them?
9. What are you hoping to gain from us?
10. What have you done that is different to other candidates here today?
11. What will be the biggest challenge in this post for you?

Most Popular Questions

1. Describe a failure and what you learned from it.
2. Describe an ethical dilemma you have faced and how did you deal with it?
3. Do you have a location preference? Do you have a department preference?
4. How many pay phones are there on the island of Manhattan?
5. Tell me about a difficult decision that you had to make? What would you do differently next time?
6. Tell me about a time when you had to influence various departments/people to help accomplish your goals without having direct authority over them.
7. What has been your biggest setback?
8. What were your major accomplishments at your last job?
9. Where do you think the consulting industry is heading?
10. Why consulting? Why this firm?

Problem Solving

1. Can you give me an example of a project that didn’t go as well as you had hoped and tell me what you have learned from the experience?
2. Can you think of a time an idea of yours was rejected? Tell me about it.
3. Describe a creative solution that you have developed to solve a problem.
4. Describe a situation in which you were able to overcome a "personality conflict" in order to get results.
5. Describe a situation in which you were NOT able to overcome a "personality conflict" and what does that say about you.
6. Describe a time when you had to use fact-finding skills.
7. Give an example of an obstacle you faced and how you overcame it.
8. Give me an example of something you've worked on in the past 12 months that had turned out well.
9. Give me an example of when you have failed and explain how you dealt with it.
10. Give me a specific example of a time you solved a problem creatively.
11. How would you describe your way of solving problems?
12. Tell me about a time you came up with a new idea. Were you able to get it approved? If so, how did you go about it?
13. Who or what caused you the most trouble in implementing your ideas?
14. Would you like to get involved in management at some time?
15. Your client asks you: "Should I enter the market to manufacture and sell snowboards?" How do you respond?

Work Experience

1. Describe the worst decision you ever made and how you corrected it.
2. Give me an example of when you made an impact.
3. How do you go about making important decisions?
4. Please tell me about a project you worked on and what your individual role was in the process.
5. Tell me about a time when you had to adapt quickly to a new situation. What helped you be successful?
6. Tell us about an important decision or judgment call you’ve had to make on the job.
7. Tell us about a time an idea or task of yours was criticized.
8. Tell us about a time you had to work according to a policy you disagreed with.
9. Tell us about the last time you made a good decision and describe what it was and what the results were.
10. What three issues do you think are important to the consulting industry?