1. Preparing for Your Consulting Interview:
The Art of the Fit Interview
featuring:
Darren Lafreniere
President & Founder of
Hosted by:
Caitlin Quan
Evisors Marketing & Operations Associate
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2. 1. Introduction
2. What is a Consulting Fit Interview?
3. Key Takeaways from recruiters at top Consulting
firms
4. What key skills are the firms looking for?
5. Common Fit questions and suggested
approaches
6. Q&A
Agenda
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3. Background
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4. Owner of Final Round Prep (2009 – Present)
Final Round Prep (FRP) helps
students and working professionals
obtain jobs in the Management
Consulting industry
@FinalRoundPrep
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5. What is a Consulting “Fit” Interview?
The Application
The Interview
Fit / Behavioural Interview Case Interview
•Assess personality
•Determine applicants:
–Personal qualifications
–Communication skills
–Problem-solving abilities
–Teamwork
–Client impact potential
–Academic and work
experience
–Interest in the firm
–Overall fit with the firm
“Tell me about a time when…”
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6. Your “Fit” evaluation actually extends beyond
the “Fit” portion of the interview
2 Minutes 8 Minutes 30 Minutes 5 Minutes
Fit
Interview
Case
Interview
Candidate
Questions
Welcoming
Ice Breaker
“FIT”
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7. Key takeaways from top Consulting recruiters
on the Fit portion of the interview
 “It surprizes me how often candidates can underestimate the fit interview”
 “The candidates who did not advance in the interview process this cycle
did not demonstrate a passion for the job, and for our firm”
 “The fit interview is not evaluated in a vacuum; it is just one part of the
overall evaluation process”
 “My evaluation begins as soon as I greet the candidate; it doesn’t start
after we sit down and begin the interview”
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8. The firms are looking for you to demonstrate a
specific set of Consulting based skills
Skill-set Description
Leadership / Initiative • Taking initiative; supporting and motivating team; defining
project direction; developing and achieving goals
Analytics • Analyzing data; identifying issues; structuring the problem;
conducting complex analyses; drawing conclusions and
formulating sound recommendations
Creativity /
“Entrepreneurial
Thinking”
• Developing unique solutions and insights using new and
existing data; “Thinking outside the box”
Communication • Interviewing clients; developing written communications
(powerpoint); speaking and presenting to clients
Team and
Engagement
Management
• Contributing to the team; managing internal and client
stakeholders (managing expectations); planning and controlling
the project; managing project risks
Client Relationship • Knowing the client; managing client communications; building
rapport and relationships with the client; broadening
relationships; gaining client acceptance
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9. There are 5 different fit question areas that you
should be preparing for
Behavioral Interview Area Description
Work Experience • Focused on gaining an understanding of your educational and work
related experience to date in order to determine your “consulting
readiness”
Education • Focused on understanding why you chose to do your degree(s)
• Looking to identify the alignment between your pre- degree experiences
and your post degree goals
Goals • Focused on your short and long-term goals after you complete your
degree (HINT: you want to be a consultant for at least 3-5 years!)
Consulting
(Industry and Firm)
• Test your understanding of the Consulting industry, and Consulting as a
career
• Determine your specific areas of interest – i.e. industry, function
• Gauge your knowledge of the firm, and test your potential “fit”
General Business • Test your knowledge of current business issues
• Determine your ability to “think on your feet”
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10. Some common behavioral interview questions;
you should be prepared to “nail” these
 Walk me through your resume
 Tell me about yourself
 Why do you want to do consulting?
 Why do you want to work for our firm?
 What is your greatest accomplishment? Failure?
 Tell me about a time when… leadership / teamwork
 Tell me about a time when… challenge (client, team, individual)
 Tell me about a time when… problem solving
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11. Some interesting fit questions asked by top
firms in the last few recruiting cycles
 Tell me about a time when you had to improvise on a project
 Tell me about a time when you had to get buy-in from your team on your idea(s) –
and about a time when you had to get buy-in from someone senior to you on your
idea(s)
 Tell me about a time when you missed a deadline
 Tell me about a time when you had difficulty getting information / data from a team
mate (client, etc.)
There were also some real doosies…
 Tell me about a time you lead a project (spent 30 minutes talking about 1 example)
– What was motivating the people on your team? What was motivating you?
– What were the names of your team mates?
 Phone rings – “go ahead, pick it up, it’s a voicemail from the client” (!!)
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12. Keep your responses to ~2 minutes in length,
and utilize a “C-A-R” or “C-A-R-L” structure
Tell me about a time
when you led a team….
On a successful
project
And you missed
a deadline
+
-
C-A-R
C-A-R-L
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13. To prepare for behavioral questions, build a
“Work Experience Matrix”
Context
Job / Role 1 Job / Role 2 MBA
Extra
Curricular
KeySkills
Leadership
Analytics
Creativity
…..
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14. For the “Candidate Question” part of the
interview, prepare a “Reverse Interview”
1. Come up with 2 or 3 categories for discussion
– Your journey from MBA to Consulting
– Projects you are working on currently
– Growth areas of the firm
2. Write 2 to 3 leading questions per category
The “Reverse Interview” then goes something like this…
“There are 3 areas I would like to touch on – 1, 2, and 3… so let me ask you,
<first leading question for category 1>…
• After the leading question, your objective is to “probe”
• Demonstrate client control by “moving” the conversation to the next
category
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15. Questions & Answers
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16. Questions & Answers
Question 1:
Do different consulting firms have different fit
standards?
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17. Questions & Answers
Question 2:
When preparing answers for fit interview
questions, how should you integrate different
firms’ cultures?
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18. Questions & Answers
Question 3:
How would you convince the interviewer you
are the right candidate for the position given
an unconventional background?
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19. Questions & Answers
Question 4:
Do you have any suggestions for candidates
who don’t have a great GPA?
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20. Questions & Answers
Question 5:
Is it okay if you check out a consultant’s
LinkedIn profile?
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21. Connect
Book your session with Darren at:
www.evisors.com/expert/292
He can help you with any consulting service including:
• Informational Interview
• Resume & Cover Letters
• Interview Practice
…and more!
Darren Lafreniere
President & Founder of
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