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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.
UPCOMING POST: Management consulting interviews: the biggest mistake you can make in the case study interview
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Comments
03.12.09
Kevin,
I can see that you know the consulting field well so I'm surprised that you would dedicate a post to follow-up questions.
1. Does the follow-up question matter even remotely in the interview? Aren't we talking about an r squared of 0.00000001? All those follow-up questions are pretty standard and probably asked by at least half the candidates.
2. As far as your best question ever about "public sector consulting", why would this be a great question for a firm where you will be a generalist and staff any project with a client? This strikes me as a hit or miss question where if you pick a topic that your interviewer has an interest or contacts, you win. Public sector and non-profit consulting can hurt you as that's not always the firms focus. I had a non-profit background and no one was impressed with my interest in their non-profit consulting projects since that really wasn't the core activity.
3. In consulting, I do know that you always have 3 points. Even if you only have 2, you add a 3rd.
03.12.09
Dead Hedge - thanks for your comment, you actually caught me at a good time. #1, I tend to look at everything, so even if it's not the most important 80%, you can't afford to be sloppy in this economy. #2, if you read my article again, you'll notice I say that you can replace "public sector consulting" with any topic of interest to you.
Hope that helps. Good luck.
03.12.09
Lucky me. Let me rephrase #2 so my intent is more clear. It seems to be that there is risk to mentioning that you are interested in "public sector/energy/consumer goods/animal husbandry/beekeeping/etc" consulting because in all reality you will be staffed on whatever project that has a client. For firms that hire generalists, they would want generalists and if a firm hire specialists in a specific field, this is a moot point. Thus, if the office has tons of assigments in "public sector/energy/consumer goods/animal husbandry/beekeeping/etc" than you win. If they have yet to do a single project in that area or your interviewer has a low opinion of those sectors, you lose.
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