The “why” consultation question evaluates four key aspects of a potential consultant's skillset. Many people choose a career in consulting because they are not sure what they want to do, and this is a valid reason to pursue the field. Consulting offers the opportunity to learn and explore while getting paid. When asked why you are interested in consulting, it is important to provide an answer that shows you have considered the different factors at play in the field.
You should also be prepared to answer questions about your leadership skills and why you want to work for a particular firm. Market size questions (also known as rough estimate questions) are designed to challenge your ability to make reasonable assumptions and estimates in situations where you have limited information. Questions may include things like: “How many wheelchairs are purchased annually in the U. S.?” Once you have all the facts related to the case, you should find an answer that shows that you have considered the different factors at play in determining the size of the market (for example, groups of people who are likely to be wheelchair users, age, demographics, etc.).Segmentation questions are often the result of questions about market size and focus on testing your understanding of more detailed market segments.
Returning to the wheelchair example in the previous case, a segmentation follow-up question could be: “What are the different segments of the wheelchair market in the U. S.?” For example, you may wonder if you should consider manual and electric wheelchairs separately, or if different types of healthcare facilities would constitute different segments. Once you have collected the data, create a structured response focusing on three different market segments (in this case, those segments could be hospitals, healthcare facilities, and personal users). When explaining your answer, be sure to touch on each of these segments and explain the thought process behind each one. You can also expect to receive questions about yourself and the industry. By asking “Why consult?” , the interviewer can get an idea of whether you are in long-term consulting or simply to get a stamp on your resume and then turn the brand into another job after two years. There are many ways to answer this question depending on your particular situation, but here are a few.
When answering “Why Consult” questions, provide three reasons why you want to pursue a career in a consulting firm. A general rule of thumb is to find the reasons that are important to you and logically fit into everything you have done before (for example, you want to grow even more in financial services and gain exposure to these customers). You can always use some personal reasoning, such as your experience working with consultants on the client side. I think the main thing that attracts me to consulting, and specifically to your company, is the quality of work you do. Having a top-notch consultant on your resume opens many doors for you and means you'll have greater earning potential than most for the rest of your career.
Just as interviewers can sniff out generic answers, they can also tell if you're sharing canned answers that aren't specific to your company. Most people who are interested in counseling for salary, prestige, or exit opportunities generally don't last longer than a year in the office before quitting smoking. He told me that consulting requires two core skill sets, which he calls “substance” - basically research and analysis work - and “people skills”. From critical thinking to personality test questions, this category of interview questions is designed to see if you can think quickly and observe “how” you think. Instead, she spoke to someone in detail and even dug up an actual consulting project document from the web. And while interviewing for a Management Consulting position may seem a little intimidating at first, by knowing what to expect and practice in each part of the interview, you can show that you are a good fit for the position and that you would be an asset to the company. Among these applicants, interviewers should separate candidates who are actually interested in being consultants from candidates who decided to apply at the last minute just to see what happens. That's a very valid reason: consultancy offers various stakes in different geographies, markets and industries.
For example, if you are transitioning from a PhD to consulting, focus on what consulting brings that academia does not offer. Consultants think like consultants in general - not just when solving problems for their clients - so it's important for them to stand out during interviews. If someone has already done that research and you use their results, it's called a secondary source; you can get them from the client, from within your consulting firm or from third parties such as market research firms or external industry experts. I want you to stand out in this simple (but important) question that comes up in every consulting interview.
