Professional Documents
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Foreword
As companies worldwide get more and more concerned about hiring the right talent
for their key positions, candidate evaluation during interviews has become all the
more sophisticated. The case interview is unique in the sense that it presents the
candidate with a problem to be solved in the context of real-world business
situations and seeks solutions that tests both logical reasoning and creativity. It
allows the interviewer to evaluate the candidate’s skills in deconstructing a problem
and communicating their thought process, the ability to think on their feet, handle
ambiguity and assess their comfort with numbers. Although, traditionally used by
consulting firms in their recruiting processes, the case method is now increasingly
used for jobs across functions whether general management or investment banking.
The casebook by The Consulting & Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow documents
candidates’ interview experiences by different firms that have been hiring from the
IIM Lucknow campus over the years. The ideal way to use this book would be for
the candidate to first arrive at a case solution employing his own approach and then
enhance his learning through comparison with the approaches documented in the
casebook.
No part of this casebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical,
photocopying or otherwise without prior consent from The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow.
Foreword .............................................................................................................................................. 1
About Case Interviews ................................................................................................................... 8
Skills Tested ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Types of Cases Encountered ........................................................................................................... 8
To-do List for a Case Interview ...................................................................................................... 9
Frameworks......................................................................................................................................... 9
Summer Internship Experiences 2016 .................................................................................. 15
Accenture Management Consulting ........................................................................................ 16
Interview Experience 1 ......................................................................................................................... 17
Interview Experience 2 ......................................................................................................................... 17
Interview Experience 3 ......................................................................................................................... 18
AT KEARNEY.................................................................................................................................... 20
Interview Experience 1 ......................................................................................................................... 21
Interview Experience 2 ......................................................................................................................... 21
Interview Experience 3 ......................................................................................................................... 22
Deloitte ............................................................................................................................................. 33
Interview Experience 1 ......................................................................................................................... 34
Interview Experience 2 ......................................................................................................................... 34
Interview Experience 3 ......................................................................................................................... 35
Interview Experience 4 ......................................................................................................................... 35
A T Kearney ..................................................................................................................................... 66
Interview Experience 16 ....................................................................................................................... 67
Interview Experience 17 ....................................................................................................................... 69
Interview Experience 18 ....................................................................................................................... 72
Interview Experience 19 ....................................................................................................................... 73
EY ..................................................................................................................................................... 115
Interview Experience 40 ..................................................................................................................... 116
Case interviews are usually based on real problems which interviewers themselves
have encountered in the course of their client engagements. They usually last for
about 20 minutes and seek to test the candidate’s problem solving skills. In a typical
case interview, the interviewer states a problem and the interviewee goes about
tackling the problem by asking a series of questions. The interviewer answers these
questions based on how he wishes to direct the interview. The candidate must put
forth a logical framework for solving the problem after having understood the key
issues and must ideally make some recommendations/conclusions towards the end
of a case.
Skills Tested
Take notes
Do not make any assumptions
Ask questions
Take your time before responding
Lay out a structure for the interviewer
Summarize at regular intervals
Frameworks
PROFITABILITY:
3Cs:
It is one of the most widely used frameworks and one can differentiate their analysis
by not using it. Still, a quick and effective framework for industry analysis!
SWOT:
In a full case analysis, this framework leads to time wastage and should be avoided.
It can be used as a presentation framework.
STP:
Segmentation:
Targeting:
4Ps:
Interview Experience 2
Name Ankita Upamanyu
Background Undergrad : NIT Bhopal
Round 1 Asked questions based on CV, why consulting, why Accenture. Case was that a payment
service provider is facing the issue of decreasing profitability. What is the issue and how will
you solve it?
Firstly, I asked the basic questions about the company, when the issue of declining profits
started, were competitors facing the same or not. I found out that our company does not
deal with customers directly, but has some intermediaries to deal with the customers. And
also as it was established that only our company was facing the issue, the concept of
industry trend could be neglected. I then proceeded with the basic structure of dividing
profits into revenue and costs and further divided costs into various subheads like
infrastructure, logistics, etc. and asked if they have been changing, and found that the cost
increment was marginal and thus could be neglected. I then divided the revenue into
subheads like change in the price of each transactions, change in number of transactions per
user or change in the number of users. By analyzing and asking questions on all these
subheads, I could correctly conclude that there was a change in the price of each
transactions due to increase in the margins the company gave to the intermediaries.
After the case, it was again some questions based on recent trends of M&A in Indian
Pharma and Automotive Industry. (related to some points on my CV)
Round 2 Asked some questions regarding the CV. Then the case was in the form of a diagram,
where there was a conveyer belt drawn with 3 materials at the input side, their weights
were given and they were being dumped into the market at output. The question was to find
the speed of the conveyer belts for all three items separately and I was given
5minutes to think of all possible questions regarding the information I would need to
calculate the speed of the belt and prioritize them and ask 3 most important questions.The
top 3 questions I asked was the demand in market (to determine the revenue), input and the
differential costs (to determine the profitability) and status of our company and the existing
players, for each of the products. He wasn’t looking for the numeric values, but for the
factors one should consider while deciding the speed of the belt.
Round 2 1) Size the market of the number of Honda Activa’s sold in Lucknow in a given year.
2) You have to launch a new supermarket chain across India. How would you go about it,
which cities would you choose?
Round 3 1) Size the market of rock band enthusiasts who would become professionals in
your city?
2) What could be ways to check this number? (Cross-check points)
Interview Experience 4
Name Ramya Sravani
Background Undergrad : IIT Madras
Work Ex : Credit Suisse (13 months)
Round 1 Basic HR Questions
Guesstimate: Number of bisleri water bottles used per day in Vizag
Approach: Bisleri waterbottles can either be sold B2B or B2C. For B2C I approximated using
the population proportion who would buy waterbottles assuming one person would buy one
bottle for a day. For B2B I listed major hotels, offices and theatres and guesstimated the
number of bottles used in these buildings
Round 2 How would you improve the efficiency of a car manufacturer? Estimate the proportion of
various costs in the manufacturing process
What are the types of options? How are Options priced?
Round 3 Some basic finance questions related to my work experience about trade and settlement
cycles.
Round 2 My second round was completely based on my resume and consulting cases that I has done
during my Work-ex. Last round was HR. Both these rounds were with Partners.
Interview Experience 2
Name Meenakshi Khemani
Background Undergrad : SRCC
Round 1 A Chinese automobile manufaturer wants to enter India. If it should enter, what portfolio
shall it consider.
Solution : 1. PESTEL analysis for India
2. Porter’s 5 forces for automobile industry in India
Established that all forces are in favor and hence we should enter.
3. Operations of the company
Focus on volume and profit share of each product.
Mode of entry – JV/Export/ Manufacturing Units
Target Segment – Which products for which segments
Gave exact answer, which market segment to target, with what product.
Round 2 ‘Mukesh Ambani wants to bid for a team in Indian Soccer League. How much should he bid?’
Solution : After basic clarifying questions of the objective and budget constraints, wrote down
the revenue streams for a soccer team. Turned it into a guesstimate and estimates cashflows
from each source. Was stopped before I could complete the calculations and give an exact
number.
Add-on question, how would you convince TATAs to sponsor your team?
Again, estimation of benefits for TATA and calculations of cashflows for
them. Was stopped mid-way and taken for Partner round.
Interview Experience 3
Name Surbhi Singhania
Background Undergrad : IIT Kanpur
Round 1 Case 1: Estimate the revenues of a super market. What should be done to increase the
revenue of the store.
Case 2: What can be done to increase the popularity of Honey Singh in South India.
Round 2 Case 1: How can a chemical company digitize?
Interview Experience 4
Name Preetham
Background BTech (EEE), IIT Bhubaneshwar
Round 1 My client is the Govt. of India, Deals with the ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. How
will you improve the logistics efficiency of your country? (45 mins)
Solution: Initial questions were asked, such as what are the powers that ‘I’ have. Will it be
logistics for B2B or B2C. Was told to look into B2B and specifically asked to first focus on
road. Decided to evaluate 2 parameters – cost and time.
Prepared value chain for the B2B, Roadways
Company 1 -> Truck transports material -> Go to checkpoints/ Toll gate -> Will have security
checking -> Reach Company 2
Did not consider loading and unloading, but did factor in tax collections at the border
What all will be improved in the road? First considered two options, building a new road or
continuing with existing road.
New road – frequency of travel is high. Checked if it can be used for domestic travel as well
and not only for commercial travel. NPV of the road should also be considered.
Solution: Admitted that I do not have too much knowledge about the petroleum sector.
Directly supplying gas to their home. Gas can be supplied via pipelines.
Asked questions such as which city are we talking about. Who are we exactly? Are we
related to the government of India. Wanted to design an optimal pipe
Solution: The bank was targeting the wrong set of customers with its ground marketing
force. The sales people were literally going to every household selling the loans. Instead they
should have approached the real estate agents and builders to have a targeted marketing
Regarding the centralization, the probability of loans being approved reduced as reducing
the processing time was a KRA of the employees and hence they rejected all the dicey loans
Round 2 Started off by asking me about my work ex and internship. Moved on to a technology based
case where a client of theirs wanted to reduce their costs of providing an AMC. Essentially,
they had two service levels. Clients could get in touch with a call centre agent who handled
basic troubleshooting. If needed, the second level was activated, where an engineer would
go to the client’s site. You need to cut down on the cost of this AMC operation.
Interview Experience 2
Name Priyanka Unnithan
Background Undergrad : Bits Pilani Goa Campus
Round 1 Started with an HR question: mention one thing each from Acads, Work ex
and extra currics that you are proud of.
Situation- You’re the PM of India. There has been a massive earthquake in
Nepal (assume the recent 2015 one). Case was about trying to estimate how
much aid should the government of India give.
Approach: Started with the qualifying questions about the nature of their
products, how they are unique, existing players, info about location..
Went with STP flow: laid out the value proposition, the suitable target
groups, how to reach them, the communication channels for publicity and so on. Interviewer
interjected when he thought he knew what line of thought I was going for.
Invited questions for him, had a candid conversation on his work, the
marketing projects BCG undertakes, recent breakthroughs with the use of
analytics.
Round 3 Started again with an HR question, this time on work-ex since he works in
the technology. Asked about the role, the job description, key achievements
at Nvidia.
Case: Global product-centric tech firm with two different types of engineers-
remote and onsite of different pay scales. Company provides AMC to clients for its products
and a detailed flow for dealing with complaints was given. Firm finds itself grappling with
increasing labor costs. Find the problem and recommend a solution. Problem statement was
deliberately detail heavy. There was a lot of tech jargon and being from a similar background
helped.
Approach: Clarified what an AMC was, what exactly the company did and
how it served its clients. Initially tried to focus on the engineering division
and understood role of remote vs onsite engineers. Put forth questions
regarding the geographical accuracy of engineer distribution, if work traffic
had displayed any trends recently. Was prompted by the interviewer to look
into the value chain of the complaint handling process.
Quickly charted out a flow and associated high labour costs with the work spilling over to the
expensive remote engineers and the need to find ways to curtail the work to the onsite
engineer level. Couldn’t continue due to lack of time.
HR 1) Mention one thing each from Acads, Work ex and extra currics that
Questions you are proud of.
2) Tell me about yourself
Interview Experience 3
Name Divyanshi Bhansali
Background Undergrad : Hindu College
Round 1 I’d mentioned that I am from a boarding school in my ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ and so I was
asked to determine how should parents decide whether or not kids should be sent to a
boarding school.
Case: The client was a new VC firm who wanted to invest in a new cab business in Lucknow
and had approached BCG to decide the metrics that they should base their decision on. The
interviewer was more interested in my thought process and structure and did not give me
any data. I had to decide everything about the cab service right from the model of operation
to revenue model of the cab service.
Since we still had time remaining he asked me if I had any questions and I asked about the
Education project in Haryana that BCG had been involved with and stated my reasons for
interest in the same.
Round 2 In the beginning, I was asked about myself and then about why consulting would be the right
career choice for me.
A sheet with data was kept on the table which the interviewer narrated to me. The case was
about an AMC service provider. Before getting to the case I was warned that I should not try
to solve the case but just think out loud. He said I would not be able to solve the case or
even get close to the end even if I tried. I did feel pressurized by the statement and the case
was too technical for me, but I tried maintaining my calm and doing the best that I could.
Interview Experience 4
Name Shivali Vij
Background Undergrad : DTU
Round 1 Started with basic introduction and activities taken up in college.
Read that I had won a competition in supply chain management, so gave a case related to
that
CASE : I am a pharma company and have just finished my growth phase. I observe that after
expansion into china market, my delivery time has reached 7-8 days and I want to reduce it.
Tell me how.
S: So I assume that we have some admin department to collate the orders and pass it on for
manufacturing, we then procure materials from our supplier, have quality check on it, Then
storage would be a step, then we process it to make medicine, then we do another round of
quality checks, next we package them and ship them.
I : Alright, go on
S : Is there any other step our company takes ?
I : You tell me that
S: I can break down manufacture process futher to check for delays
I : Do that in order. Lets start
CASE 1 : I am working for a client similar to big basket. They deliver items at a slot chosen by
customer. They have a metric called OTIF i.e if the delivery was On Time and if all the items
were delivered (In Full ) . There OTIF is currently at 50% and they aim to take it to 90%.
Suggest ways of doing so
CASE 2 : I am a very rich man and I see that ola and uber have a lot of customers, that it is a
thriving market. But I also know that they both are making losses. I want to start a similar
business but I also want profits within 5 years. Design this business for me
Round 3 CASE : A hardware manufacturer is looking to cut costs. We manufacture machines in-house
and have maintenance services as well. They have 2 types of servicing features of broken
hardware
1. An off shore low-level engineer who takes complaint calls and solves problems via virtual
desk or over call
2. An on site engineer who visits and repairs machine
Interview Experience 5
Name Himanshu Bhatia
Background Undergrad : IIT Guwahati
Round 1 Client is a logistics company which guarentees 95% ontime performance. Identify the
industries that they should target
Solution: Started with preliminary questions like the areas of operation and pricing policy.
Divided the industry in consumer and industrial segements. Further divided in FMCG,
durables, e commerce etc for consumer and power, automobile, construction etc for
industrial. Compared the industries on basis of importance of on time delivery, return loads,
ability to pay etc to arrive at the rankings.
Round 2 A leading bank has consolidated its loan processing (credit check etc) to a central location
and has cut back its on the ground marketing force. Despite an increased push to sell these
loans, the fact is the bank has seen a decline in the number of loans being approved. Why?
Solution: The bank was targeting the wrong set of customers with its ground marketing
force. The sales people were literally going to every household selling the loans. Instead they
should have approached the real estate agents and builders to have a targeted marketing
Regarding the centralization, the probability of loans being approved reduced as reducing
the processing time was a KRA of the employees and hence they rejected all the dicey loans
You’re the PM of India and Nepal recently had an earthquake and you have to calculate the
relief amount you’ll be paying.
When did the calamity take place? Do we have a quantitative idea about the damage? And a
few more. Then re-instated my objective of calculating the relief fund amount.
I gave an over overview of the structure I’ll be using to calculate the amount which included
dividing the damage into broad areas of household infrastructure, commercial infrastructure,
government offices, educational institutes and hospitals then calculating the amount of
damage and then after considering our budget for relief fund, the allocation we’ll be doing.
In the next step I divided the sectors in a detailed manner. I calculated the number of
households based on the number of population and average number of people in a family.
Then divided the sectors further like household into houses completely damaged, need repair
and are unaffected.
The interviewer then asked me to focus on the household sector first, he gave me the size of
homeless population after I inquired about it. After calculating the amount, the interviewer
then asked me to move on to other areas and gave me a time limit (I think to put me under
pressure). I based my calculation for the rest as a percentage of amount of damage in
households and gave a rationale behind the percentage division.
After calculating the total amount of monetary damage and our countries relief budget,
calculated the percentage of damage we’ll be funding keeping in mind the relief received by
Nepal from international organizations like World Bank and other countries.
Round 2 An international hardware tools company in India. I have the second largest share in the
automatic segment but an embarrassing profits in the manual segment. Find the problem and
suggest ways to increase the sales.
I used the 5ps approach and delved further into each. In products I majorly covered quality of
product, price, usage etc. Price was higher as compared to competitors I followed a value chain
process to find points where cost can be reduced. Then moved to promotion and distribution
where I created a chain the company followed. Then moved on to the 5th P, people and asked
various questions like perception, understanding of the utility of product etc. I identified the
problem in this area that people were unaware about the association of the two segments,
the value of the international brand and the quality it offered.
I then moved on to recommendation part. Divided the recommendation into 2, one catering
to the existing problem and the other segment which would help increase in sales beyond the
problem.
Round 2 Problem: Estimate number of MRI machines in India. Starting point population.
Solution: Divided in cities. Hospitals - > Pvt Govt and Private Clinics.
Round 3 1. What was the case in second round and recommendations on it?
2. Telecom related discussion in India
HR 1. Tell me about yourself
Questions 2. Why Deloitte : Related to consult workex. Ops background. Interest in Ops.
3. Extra-Curricular
4. Work ex related – Guesstimate round
Dos Pay more attention to approach than data for guesstimate. Data based case round. Comfortable
with calculations with big numbers.
Interview Experience 2
Name Amogh Bihani
Undergrad : IIT Delhi
Background
Work Ex : Samsung R&D
Problem: How will you increase the profits of an Insurance company based in US
Solution: Discussed about the product offerings and used Ansoff Matrix to identify new revenue
streams. Next the aspect of pricing was taken up. Various methods like value based, cost based
and reference based were used.
Round 1 Additional Problem: Interviewer explained about the Cobra Insurance industry in USA which
refers to low premium insurance for people switching jobs. Explore if the company shall enter
this market
Solution : Market entry framework and guesstimate to estimate the market size and factors for
entering
Partner Round: Asked to pitch the recommendations to the CEO of insurance company
Round 2 Solution: Prepared the summary of the case in 3 minutes time and presented to the Partner.
Each recommendation had to be backed up with sufficient data and logic.
Round 3 HR Based round
1. Describe a situation where you overcame obstacles
HR
2. Why consulting
Questions
3. Questions on projects done in college and work ex
Interview Experience 4
Name Nishant Paliwal
Background Udergrad :
Workex: 4 years
Problem: Market expansion strategy for ERP system providing company. The case was based on
work ex and hence required technical knowledge of the subject
Round 1
Solution: Used the basic market expansion framework to comprehensively analyze various
options and the specific technical requirements in each case.
Problem: Market expansion strategy for payment systems like Paytm and their role in
promoting financial inclusion
Round 2 Solution: The case was provided with data on the industry growth and other trends. Analyzed
the market potential by a guesstimate of market size and present penetration. Further analyzed
the case using ansoff matrix for recommendations
HR Tell me about yourself
Questions Work ex related questions
Narration of the case a. Conversion was less than 1% - comparable to industry norms
interview: but the client wants us to improve it.
b. Established player
c. Schemes are targeting existing customers
d. STP has no issue
e. 3 ways of rolling out schemes – SMS, IVRS calls, manual calls.
f. Focus on SMS, identify possible areas and generate ideas –
some of the areas were – content, frequency, personalization of
text messages (mention the name of customer using a script),
ease of ordering (reply using SMS, missed call, website etc.),
channel conflict, overall service experience and satisfaction,
pricing and so on. These factors were categorized to appear
structured.
3rd round – 1 HR
Be nice to the HR who is scheduling you (even if you are being
made to wait), he/she might take your final round
2-3 minutes interview
A. How were your earlier rounds?
B. Did you make any mistake?
C. 3 things that will stop you from becoming a good consultant
– I struggled in this question. I had an answer ready for
weakness but it was (obviously) miles from consulting. Tried to
globe
D. It seems that you are overconfident – tried to globe yet again.
Finally, came up with 1 genuine weakness related to consulting.
Round 2
Q1 Tell me about yourself
Q2 Tell us the most exciting thing you have done in Goa
Q3 What are your views on the current state of the steel industry
Round 2: (1 hour)
Initially there were many HR questions on why consulting, why
Accenture, why not General Management, my strengths, goals in
Narration of the case
life and in depth about my work experience and a few questions
interview (Please be as
from my CV. After that a case based on manufacturing industry
descriptive as possible)
was given where I was expected to find out the output function
parameters of the machine. The case discussion was nice, but
halfway through the case, he told to switch on to another case.
This was based on my work experience where I was asked to
select any product and do the costing of the same. The
interviewer was interested in seeing what all parameters I take
into consideration and how diverse can I think. After listing
down a lot of parameters, he told me that as a manager of a firm
you are required to cut down the cost considerably to bag a big
order. I was asked to do the cost cutting taking every possible
parameter. Again, diversity in thinking and covering all areas was
what he was looking for.
Round 2:
The interviewer asked me explain few of the numbers that I had
mentioned in my resume and some questions related to my work
experience in a lot of detail. He then asked me to guesstimate the
Narration of the case
number of downloads of a personal organizer app. He then
interview (Please be as
asked me if I had any questions for him. I asked him a question
descriptive as possible)
related to the projects he had worked on. He was really pleased
with the question and spent the next 10 minutes explaining it to
me.
Round 3:
Final round was with two partners. It started of by asking me to
mention 2 selling points about myself. I had worked on projects
related to incentive compensation at ZS and Accenture had just
done away with their bell curve rating. So the next 20-30 minutes
I was asked the reason for this change, its repercussion etc. With
help of some numbers and estimates I to was able to explain it to
their satisfaction.
Round 2:
This was a 30 min interview with Principal (Vivek Chopra). It
began with HR questions: Tell me about yourself, which POR
did you enjoy the most (Volunteer teacher/social work) and what
would your NGO kids say are your strong points and areas you
can improve upon? I was asked my favourite subject
Interview questions (With
(International business), which was followed by “Give me 5
indicative answers if you
reasons why companies choose to go international” and a case
choose to share them)
on that. Then he asked me a random question “What logics are
used in lifts?” Since I had absolutely no clue he quickly left it.
Round 3:
This was a 20 min interview with Partner (Vivek Singh),
beginning with “Tell me something not on your CV” and “What
would your manager say are your strong points and weak areas?”
As I had mentioned a course on Scuba Diving in my CV I was
asked a case on it. After that was a random fun round - Tell me
in One word the first thing that comes to your mind when I say
the following words:
1. Success (Perseverance)
2. Failure (Experience)
3. One thing that irritates you (Fakeness)
4. One thing you hate about engineers (Not mentioning it here!)
Round 3:
Narration of the case
I had to tell in exactly 2 minutes whether it was feasible for him
interview (Please be as
to start a Scuba Diving Institute in India, finance not being a
descriptive as possible)
barrier. So I did a quick market analysis covering the overall
macroeconomic scenario, current and forecasted state of the
industry, and gave a checklist of all the requirements needed to
start the institute.
After establishing feasibility, I proceeded to discuss the probable
locations (primarily Andaman and Nicobar Islands and
Lakshadweep islands. Rejected Lakshadweep islands because
they require entry permits), services offered by the institute and
USP, possible tie ups with travel agencies, cruise ships etc.
A key factor to mention in feasibility was seasonality of the sport.
It rains more than half the year in Andamans, and scuba diving is
not possible when it rains as it becomes difficult to see the
corals.
- Since I’ve lived in both Andamans and Lakshadweep islands
and done scuba diving there, I had a lot of local knowledge,
which I used to my advantage in the case.
3) Why consulting
Round 2:
This was a Case based interview which was taken by the
Partner. This again went on for around 30 minutes.
Round 3:
This was a 15 minute HR round.
1) Why management
Round 2:
Narration of the case
Started with clarifying a few things whether we could divide the
interview (Please be as
amount between the 2 options and if we need to consider what
descriptive as possible)
others are spending in the market.
Asked the interviewer what would the orphanage do with the Rs.
100.
(Ans: fund 4 meals).
I explained to him the multiplier effect that would take place if
money was spent on Option A. (It would benefit the entire
community involved in the channel of distribution and
contribute towards the growth of the domestically made goods).
Since Option A would have a greater impact, I suggested this
option
Round 2: Case
Interviewer asked me to choose a sector. I picked Financial
Services and e-commerce.
Straight away went into a case. Asked me the valuation of
Snapdeal and will I recommend buying it at say ($5 Billion).
Solution:
Listed out cost and revenue sources elaborately. Interviewer
guided me to segregate buckets like promotions, logistics, etc. He
needed the factors I'll consider in order to arrive at a decision. I
added that I'll even conduct a dupont analysis, which lead to
another discussion on the different parameters of dupont and
what each component represents and how (Profitability, ROE,
Narration of the case etc.).
interview (Please be as After drawing an elaborate case diagram, he asked me to
descriptive as possible) summarise the case. He seemed pretty convinced.
Round 3: Case+CV
Started off by asking whether I attended the ppt. What did I like
about it. After a few minutes of general HR, they went through
my CV and saw that I play guitar. Gave me a case based on it.
Round 2: Case
Case: There is a pharmaceutical company who are having
frequent stockouts at the retailers store. You need to analyse the
problems and come out with a solution.
I asked about the manufacturing (whether in house/ outsourced)
Interviewer: Factories present all over the country but only two
belong to the company. Rest are on lease basis.
Round 3: Case+ HR
HR: Tell me two things which will convince me to give you an
offer right now?
Round 4: HR
One question about the biggest achievement in IOCL?
I was calm during all the rounds. I did not panic in the third
round which was what they were checking as they did not answer
What do you think went
one question I asked in the case. I had gone through my CV a
right in this interview?
no. of times. I had prepared stories about each line. They
analysed my CV completely.
What do you think went I could have done the second case a bit better. I could have
wrong in this interview? made my resume a bit better.
The future batches should prepare their CV well. They need to
Any tips for future
put numbers, which they can defend in an interview. HR is very
batches on the basis of
important. They don't proceed to case without doing HR round
your experience
first. Disha HR questions to be done without fail.
What major would you go for? (I said that I have not yet come
across all the fields, strategy is still left. I would like to have an
idea of all the branches before choosing one)
Okay, out of Finance and Marketing which one would you
choose? And why? (I said marketing)
Would you like to ask any question?
What do you think went Give better approach to first case and be crisp in it.
wrong in this interview? Could have given better responses to questions asked maybe
Any tips for future
batches on the basis of Be chill, let it flow and enjoy the process.
your experience
Case analysis:
Case about e commerce. Market entry case related to ethnic
wear. Narrated the case. Gave some figures
Asks factors to be considered.
Before case was over the first round interviewer took her out.
They discussed for 3 whole minutes.
She asked me to stop writing and leave.
As I was leaving, they said "you are selected"
I objectively went about analysing the case without going into the
calculations.
What do you think went
wrong in this interview?
I also hadn't done case preparation. I was focussing more on
General Management and marketing. Alvarez and Marsal was the
only consulting Day 0 call I had. Case practice would have
helped
The role offered is business advisory.
They prefer differentiating themselves from consulting.
Any tips for future A good amount of importance is given to being an organizational
batches on the basis of fit. So be cheerful and show motivation and willingness to learn.
your experience
Not much time is spent on CV/ HR. That part is a hygiene
factor. Majorly does the work of rapport building.
Demonstrate good logic for case analysis.
Narration of the case Round 2 was complete HR round. I had prepared a lot for it and
interview (Please be as so was able to answer all his questions with relevant proof in my
descriptive as possible) CV. He too was very satisfied.
Round 3, the final round was with the partner. Since the first
two rounds went pretty smoothly, I had become slightly
complacent and started very poorly. I was all over the place and
was not able to draw a good structure. However, I recovered in
time and was able to gain some of the lost ground.
Since my round 3 went very bad, they had some additional
informal meetings with me to check my analytical skills. They
The case ended on a good note and you know it when the
interviewer is still delighted to speak to you even after the time is
over.
Regarding HR questions: Being honest about it made a lot of
difference. Given my background I had to be really convincing
about consulting. This would come only after a good amount of
time is spent on the answer. Speaking confidently with honesty
and being frank about it did the job.
What do you think went Case questions: My ability to have a range in my thinking and to
right in this interview? suggest various parameters to be looked at came very handy.
Coming up with a few corner points convinced the interviewer.
Though this is more random in nature, it worked for me on that
day.
What do you think went The interview could have been better and more convincing if
wrong in this interview? through my HR answers I would have been able to drive the
interview to topics, which I wanted to discuss. Like work
experience and discussion on various sectors that I would have
covered. Had it been so, my reliance on case to crack the
interview would have reduced.
Round 2:
It started with a basic tell me about yourself. Then the interview
directly came to the case. In the start he mentioned that this is a
quantitative case and he is looking for specific numbers in the
end.
I started with the differences in the yearly- fixed and variable cost
between alternatives and then the set up cost, etc.
The yearly cost difference was favorable towards China, but the
set up cost for China was high. Ultimately the decision lied on
how much time would we take to recover our set up cost from
the differential benefits in yearly costs.
Narration of the case
interview (Please be as In my case, we could recover the set up costs in 1.5 years and the
descriptive as possible) project was for a period of 5 years and hence capacity was to be
set up in China.
After this, I was asked to list down the qualitative factors I would
consider for my decision making- I took the value chain
approach for the same.
The case started with finding out the rural consumer pain points.
For this I segregated the rural population by age and found their
occupational/ career requirements.
For eg: Trainings for farmers, education for children, etc.
The next step was to list down the factors affecting decisions for
each one of them- like level of requirement for consumers,
internet connectivity required, population who will use the
products, long and short term benefits, etc. I allocated scores on
the scale of 1 to 5- 5 being the most positive and used matrix
system for presentation.
Interview questions (With Round 2 - Cost benefit analysis of reducing the entry age for
indicative answers if you primary education from 6 years to 4 years
choose to share them) Indicative solution - Started with trying to understand the reason
for reducing the entry age. This provided me with a very good
idea of the direction in which the case needs to be solved
(increasing the number of kids who get exposed to formal
education). Went on to do a revenue versus cost analysis both
for short as well as long term.
Potential revenue - Increase in GDP due to higher literacy rate,
higher taxes, entry of private sector investment, increased
employment, etc
Potential costs - Teachers & administrative staff, investment,
marketing expenses, closure of nursery schools, etc.
Round 1 - The round started with an informal discussion about
the campus and what the best memories of the interviewer were
in campus. Went on to talk a little bit about my work experience
in PwC and about life in Mumbai in general. After about 10
minutes of informal discussion, he gave me the guesstimate
which was again was more of a discussion & not a proper case
Narration of the case solving session.
interview (Please be as
descriptive as possible) Round 2 - The first 10 minutes were about the interviewers
experience so far in the company and the interviewer wanting to
understand more about my teaching experience (I have been
associated with a professional teaching institute & have also
taught underprivileged children for 8 years). This was followed
by an HR question of Why MBA given my interests and
involvement in the teaching profession.
Interview questions (With Round 3: Case – Cardiac hospital in Delhi, revenues are
indicative answers if you declining. Need to identify the core issues and provide a
choose to share them) solutions/recommendations.
HR questions like – Why BCG?
Round 3: They just made the offer and asked me “if you decide
to not join Deloitte, what would be the reason”.
The case was on an insurance company based out of US whose
profitability had declined. I was first told about the company
background and the amount of change in profits. I was then
asked the probable reasons why the profitability might have
declined. Post that I was given four factors which the CEO had
shortlisted as reasons behind the decline. I was asked to relate
these factors to the profitability in the US insurance industry
scenario and explain why each of these might be the right causes.
They wanted qualitative answers for this. When they were
satisfied with my answers, they gave me a sheet having four
tables.
Narration of the case
The first one had information on components of quantity and
interview (Please be as
revenue for the 3 insurance products over the period of decline
descriptive as possible)
of profits. I pinpointed that revenue wasn’t an issue here, since
for two products having a majority of sales, the premiums had
increased with the quantity sold and for the third one, revenue
was almost unchanged. So, cost was the problem.
Any tips for future Be calm and talk to the interviewer rather than just answering
batches on the basis of his/her answers. Always have a smile on your face. They would
your experience like to know if you want Consulting as first preference or not.
Interview 2
Case 3 – I was told that I have found a CEO of a company
who is expanding their operations globally. In such a
scenario, our firm, which is well known for restructuring
organizations, sees a value proposition. I was asked to make
an elevator pitch to the CEO to convince him to give the
business to us.
Interview 2
Case 3 – I was told that I have found a CEO of a company
who is expanding their operations globally. In such a
scenario, our firm, which is well known for restructuring
organizations, sees a value proposition. I was asked to make
an elevator pitch to the CEO to convince him to give the
business to us.
Interview Experience 45
Name: Anuj Singh
Company: McKinsey & Co
No. of Rounds: 2
IIT Roorkee B.Tech (Metallurgical and Materials), 35 Months (8
Brief Profile:
Months in Oracle, 27 Months in ZS Associates)
Round 1: Tell me about yourself, resume base, a guesstimate and
a case to find out why the profitability of a cellular network
Interview questions (With
company is declining.
indicative answers if you
choose to share them)
Round 2: Tell me about yourself, case on how to increase
revenue of Google in India by 10x and a guesstimate.
Round 1: Interviewer asked to introduce myself followed by few
questions about my work at Oracle (he knew about the product I
worked on very well). Then he gave a case to determine reason
for decline in profit of a cellular network company. Interviewer
was in a sort of hurry and kept on pushing me to do it fast. He
kept giving me clues, which helped me move forward and solve
the case. This was followed by a guesstimate, which he asked me
Narration of the case
to solve in 2 minutes. I was able to do it but missed a factor
interview (Please be as
towards the last step. Finally he asked me whether I have some
descriptive as possible)
questions for him.
What do you think went Could've worked a bit better on my guesstimate numbers.
wrong in this interview? Formed a better structure to my case.
Interview Experience 48
Name: Sanchit Jain
Company: McKinsey & Company
Round 2 Rounds
Brief Profile : B-Tech, Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi (2009-13)
20 months work experience at Samsung Research Bangalore
Interview Experience 49
Name: Surabhi Kothiyal
Company: McKinsey & Co.
No. of Rounds: 2
Interview questions (With Round 1: After HR questions, the interviewer asked me what
indicative answers if you kind of cases I had practiced with my buddy. Then asked me to
choose to share them) pick my favourite one and give a structure on how to solve it.
Interview Experience 50
Name: Swarnima Gupta
Company: McKinsey & Co.
No. of Rounds: 3
First Round:
*Tell me about yourself
*One situation when you convinced a group of people : what
approach did you use ? An alternate approach that can work
*Brief discussion on a social entrepreneurship venture that I had
worked on in the past
*Case: how will you reduce the travel cost of the Government of
India:
Third Round:
*Case : Client is the Govt. of U.P. : work on restructuring the
power distribution system, currently running in losses, has huge
debt -how to make it profitable?
i) Given figures for different costs: Make a P&L
ii) Identify sources of losses
iii) Suggest measures to mitigate the losses and tackle the debt
*Maintained composure
What do you think went
*Asked clarifying questions wherever needed
right in this interview?
* structured thinking in case solving
Interview Experience 51
Name: Utsav Kumar
Company: McKinsey & Co.
Round 1
The initial discussion was around my work at BCC and the kind
of cases I had worked upon. The interviewer asked me for the
kinds of skills that I had to work with and then asked me to
compare if I expected the work at McKinsey to be any different.
This resulted into a discussion about the client interfacing aspect
which I pointed out would be the stand out difference.
I had also mentioned that I liked McKinsey's focus area of
'Going digital'. So the discussion turned into a case midway as he
asked me for my views on the business model being followed
currently based on heavy discounts offered to capture audiences.
Then he asked me whether the app only model being followed
Narration of the case by some companies is viable or not. This finally turned into a
interview (Please be as small case where an ecommerce company's financial numbers
descriptive as possible) across segments was given and I was asked to calculate which
segments were profitable. Finally I was asked for suggestions to
lower the inventory cost and logistics cost of an ecommerce
company.
I could have been more practical and crisp while talking. I could
What do you think went
have answered the questions without going into too much
wrong in this interview?
details.
Brief Profile: B.Tech, NIT Calicut, Work Ex-22 months in family business
Interview questions (With 1) If you were to construct an airport, what factors would you
indicative answers if you consider before choosing a particular location?
choose to share them) 2) CV related and General HR
What do you think went I gave my answers based on some frameworks and proper
right in this interview? structures.
What do you think went May be a little more knowledge on the infrastructure front would
wrong in this interview? have been handy.
Any tips for future
batches on the basis of Be calm and composed
your experience
Interview questions (With 1st interview was straightforward HR questions, why join this
indicative answers if you company, what do you understand by consulting.
choose to share them) 10 minute interview, 5-6 questions. Others were grilled more.
Was not asked detailed case, they just asked me what factors to
Narration of the case consider when in building a power plant. Went through all the
interview (Please be as possible angles, the interviewer seemed fine with it.
descriptive as possible) Hardly a 10 minute interview, no grilling.
Interviewer asked a little more about family, nothing much.
What do you think went I could've been a little more thorough with the HR answers, it
wrong in this interview? would've made a stronger case for me.
Any tips for future Just relax before the interview, be thorough with HR answers,
batches on the basis of have a little knowledge of the industry of your graduation stream.
your experience Nothing more.
Interview questions (With Round 1: General HR, followed by Case involving numbers.
indicative answers if you
choose to share them) Round 2: Pure HR
What do you think went In Round-1, I was in a hurry to do the numbers, which led to some
wrong in this interview? error. I realised it early and immediately corrected it.
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, stream, B.Com(Honours), SRCC, Fresher
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Round 1 was the HR Interview with questions covering
indicative answers if you the following-
choose to share them) Tell me about yourself
Why Consulting?
What have you done in IIM Lucknow all this while?
Favourite subjects- Questions covering accounts, ratios,
interpretation of financial statements
Round 2: The round with Asia Pac head started with him asking
me which horizontal or Vertical I see myself in. On mentioning
Finance, the whole interview revolved around Financial
Management and Investment concepts besides basic FRA.
Questions on Capital Asset Pricing model
Other models to measure risk ( Harry Markovitz model)
Which one is better?
NPV vs IRR
My stand on US- Syria war, Hong Kong protests
Why consulting
How has the journey been so far in IIM Lucknow?
What do you think went I was unsure about some of my points after being mocked by the
wrong in this interview? interviewer. My lack of knowledge of perfumes was a bit of a
problem.
Any tips for future batches Be cool and logical in your thinking. The interviewer looks for gaps
on the basis of your in your thought process. So, list out any assumptions that you take
experience inadvertently in your mind.
Q3- What do you think about the current inflation and exchange
rate of our economy?
(lot of discussion happened, QE tapering also came up)
Q5- What are some of the things that can be improved to promote
business?
(mentioned about a client co. (Fortune 500 firm) that was trying to
open a subsidiary in India and the challenges it faced, and some
suggestions on what can be done to promote entrepreneurship in
India)
Q7- Tell me something about the firm you worked at and your
role?
Round 2:
Q1- 1 case- refer next section for its description
Q2-One thing I liked about the Accenture PPT and case
workshop, one thing that I did not like (mentioned that function
info was missing)
Q3- Which team would you like to join- CN or India Business- I
did not know what these teams are, so asked them to explain.
Q4- Is it okay if we send you to a small village like xyz on a client
project?
Q5- What will you do if we do not select you? what other shortlists
you have? (mentioned that this cannot be disclosed as per
Placecom rules)
Note- Practice drawing a MECE. Refer to the 3-case file they gave
during PPT. He was not looking for industry knowledge.
Information given:
The garbage you collect is sold to the following 5 vendors:
a. Compost Manufacturer
b. Plastic Recycler
c. Paper Recycler
d. Metal Recycler
e. Miscellaneous
Q1- How would you price the garbage to make a profit? (what
would be your strategy)
Q3- Apart from obtaining money from the above 5 vendors, what
are other revenue streams?
Q4- What are some of the other factors you would consider when
you price the society? (Ans: Society maintenance charges)
Solution:
Questions asked:
Revenue Streams:
Q1- I obtain: 120*14+ 60*1=1740 kgs of waste everyday from the
society. Is all of it segregated and sold or some quantity is wasted/
non usable.
Interviewer: No waste, all of it is useful. So 1740/5 goes to each of
the vendor.
Interviewer: let’s look at cost streams, for now, we can stick to the
revenue obtained from our five vendors.
Cost streams :
a. Transport costs:
Int: elaborate more: what transport costs:
Me: I assume a truck goes to collect the waste, it will go from the
garage to the society, collect the material from there and go to five
vendors to deliver.
Do we have the kms travelled per day? And price charged per km?
Interiewer: some discussion on how to determine the cost. He said,
price/kg is not the right metric, gave me price/km/kg of waste
taken. The cost of transport depends on how much it is loaded and
the distance travelled. Also, we decided to assume that it carries all
the waste of 1740 kgs in different containers throughout the route.
(he was looking for the right metric, price/kg/km. I only asked
kg/km. Also, he also wanted me to ask him how much weight is
carried at one time, as it goes to 5 different vendors delivering
1740/5 kgs. He wanted me to ask these two questions, even
though we later decided to ignore this in calculation)
2- What are the labour costs involved in segregating the waste for
5 vendors? This is a manual process so would require us labour.
Interviewer: we’ll ask the society people to do so. They’ll
segregate the waste and give us. However think of the costs
associated with this.
Me: We’ll keep 5 separate bins for this. So costs of bins is
required.
5- Are there any financial costs? Have I made any investment for
running this business on which I to pay interest?
Ignore this
Revenue: X
Costs: Y (from all the factors) + (Z= cost paid for garbage)
Profit: 0.2 total costs
Total Waste 1740 kg
Using all this data, calculate an appropriate price.
Z is the total price I will pay for 1740 kgs of waste. I started
drawing the graph for 1 kg and 14 kg waste to determine price for
these two bundles (2 degree price discrimination). He looked at the
graphs, but told me to ignore and calculate price by directly
dividing it by 1740.
What do you think went R2 interviewer seemed a bit intimidating in the PPT and I was
wrong in this interview? praying he doesn’t take my interview. However, when I entered the
room, I saw him and got very nervous. Because of this, I stumbled
a little in the beginning, but as the interview progressed, I was fine.
Any tips for future batches 1- Practice cases on paper, draw MECE and structure each
on the basis of your subpart neatly.
experience 2- Know your CV well, specially work and academic projects.
Prepare HR answers.
3- Take notes during PPT and read about the company: they ask
for it during interview.
4- Try to engage the interviewer, especially during the case. Smile
and be confident.
5- Ask one question to each interviewer at the end of the
interview. This shows your interest in the firm.
Brief Profile : B.Tech Pulp & Paper Technology, IIT Roorkee, Fresher
(Graduation College, stream,
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Introduction, Reason for a career in Consulting (I
indicative answers if you mentioned my dad’s business which he picked up)
choose to share them) Case was on profitability of a tea packaging company(Dad’s
business)
Narration of the case 1. How to increase the number of bank accounts of a public
interview (Please be as sector bank? (gave a lot of details: targeted segment, existing
descriptive as possible) customers, mean & median age and income of customers)
2. How to commoditize the perfume being sold at the Jaipur
city palace & used by the royal family? He wanted me to
think of a marketing plan for 5-10 mins. He wanted a one-
on-one debate rather than a structured solution on paper.
What do you think went I was very relaxed and interactive during the interview. The
right in this interview? interviewer said that he was looking for consistency in the
marketing case. I gave a proposition for the product and stuck to it
till the end. I think that really helped.
What do you think went
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches HR answers: most important, Have a clear answer for ‘Why
on the basis of your consulting’
experience Involve the interviewer during the case as much as possible.
Round (First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Batch of 2013
(Graduation College, stream, Worked for 1 year in Carrier Airconditioning
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Questions revolved mostly around my CV. I had done a
indicative answers if you 6 month internship in Logistics department of Skoda. So he asked
choose to share them) me a case study on how to improve profitability by reducing the
logistics cost. Basically he wanted to check how many areas of
logistics I touched upon and how could cost be reduced in each.
He also asked which area I wanted to specialize in? What would I
look at first while looking at income statement of a company so as
to determine the health of a company?
Round 3: This round was with the partner. Again questions from
my CV. The partner had a degree in chemical engineering. So he
asked me questions on heat transfer. ( I had done heat transfer
during my graduation). Asked me my favourite course at IIM
Lucknow. A few questions from microeconomics followed. Had a
15 minute discussion with him on Prisoner’s dilemma in the airline
as well as soft drink industry. He ended the interview with the
question: Why Accenture?
Narration of the case
interview (Please be as
descriptive as possible)
What do you think went Be calm and composed. Consulting interviews are basically about
right in this interview? having a wholesome conversation with the interviewer. The more
comfortable you are higher are your chances of selection
What do you think went
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches Do not mug up frameworks for case prep. Be logical in your
on the basis of your approach.
experience
Round 2:
Tell me about yourself?
Why Consulting?
Why Accenture?
Work ex related questions
Calculate ROI for your project at Hero Motocorp.
Which subject did you like the most in first term? Explain
economies of scale? Why does the cost increase after certain
volume? How can that be avoided?
Repeated questioning on why management? and why
consulting?
How comfortable would you be in applying your work ex
related learnings in a bank?
Any tips for future batches Research on the various divisions of Accenture and the kind of
on the basis of your projects taken up by those divisions
experience Know your CV well
Preparation of HR answers is crucial
Round (First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : Jadavpur University, Power Engineering, Incident Analyst for a
(Graduation College, stream, major international bank at Tata Consultancy Services, 22 months
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Mostly questions on my work experience. My learning
indicative answers if you out of it. Knowledge about the company. Why did I choose to
choose to share them) work there?
Narration of the case No case interview.
interview (Please be as
descriptive as possible)
What do you think went I could talk at length about my work and back those up with some
right in this interview? of the awards that I won during work. Being strong at Mathematics
also helped.
What do you think went Did not knew much about the organization. They wanted
wrong in this interview? candidates to do more research on the organization.
Any tips for future batches Prepare your work-ex really well
on the basis of your They look for people who wants to apply logic
experience Stress on your analytical skills
What do you think went I gathered a lot of information about Altisource and Ocwen and
right in this interview? the services it provides. Ocwen basically does loan servicing.
Altisource provides technology solutions to companies, it has its
own online real estate marketplace, Hubzu etc. Loan servicing is
uncommon in India and it is important to understand it if one
wants to crack this company. Sufficient information is available on
the company websites.
What do you think went
wrong in this interview?
What do you think went The fact that I presented my work ex details in a manner which
right in this interview? was easily understandable and showed a match with their
requirements.
What do you think went That I did not delve very deep into understanding the operations of
wrong in this interview? the company.
Any tips for future batches Make your you read/ask around as much about the company as
on the basis of your possible. That is all that is required.
experience
What do you think went The interview was primarily linked with my work experience in
right in this interview? Computer Sciences Corporation. My knowledge of the I.T service
sector came in handy during the interview. Also, it is important to
be well aware of the various kinds of challenges and opportunities
in the sector you were working in.
What do you think went I was not well versed with the kind of work Altisource does and its
wrong in this interview? relationship with Ocwen financial services. Please ensure you do
adequate research about the company.
Any tips for future batches If you have work experience related to I.T, Analytics or
on the basis of your Operations, make sure you are well prepared for work
experience experience related questions.
If you are a fresher, be prepared for some puzzle questions.
Please do your basic research about the company
Round 2:
Tell me something that is not mentioned in the CV.
How do your friends perceive you? (No beating about the bush)
Do you read management books?
One finance problem.
One current affairs question.
Any question would you like to ask me.
Narration of the case The case was printed and quite long(about a page). It was about
interview (Please be as auto components part and everything was given about it.
descriptive as possible) Suggestions were to be given whether a new company should enter
it or not. I was given time to read it and just had to structure it. He
interrupted me whenever he felt I was going haywire.
What do you think went I had well prepared the initial questions – about myself, why
right in this interview? consult and why Alvarez questions which helped me in gaining
confidence. It was my only interview of the day so I was quite
relaxed. The interviewers also seemed friendly.
What do you think went I hadn’t prepared ‘Something that is not mentioned in the CV’
wrong in this interview? question. I had to come up with on the spot answer which could
have been better.
Any tips for future batches Do well prepare your HR questions and work experience part. It
on the basis of your really helps on the final day.
experience
What do you think went I was calm throughout the process, had practiced more difficult
right in this interview? case studies for other consulting interviews, so the one asked in
this interview seemed simple.
What do you think went The interviewers were not very expressive and didn’t drop any
wrong in this interview? hints as to how the interview was going. This made me loose a little
confidence towards the end.
Any tips for future batches Understand the work profile well before interviewing. Have basic
on the basis of your financial concepts in place (basic FRA knowledge form the 1st term
experience would suffice), read a little about M&As.
Second round
With the firm partner
A fin question was asked in addition to 2-3 Hr questions regarding
why interested in finance, why consulting etc.
Brief Profile : BITS Pilani, 3 yrs Marketing and Sales Analytics
(Graduation College, stream,
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1:. The case given to me dealt with 2 skin care companies,
indicative answers if you market leaders in their segment. 2 new market companies had
choose to share them) entered the market eroding off the market share of the established
firms.
Round 2:
A finance question regading P&L statement of 2 companies were
asked.
Brief Profile : BITS-Pilani, B.E. (Hons) Electrical and Electronics, Work Ex-23
(Graduation College, stream, Months, Intel and Broadcom (Wireless Communication)
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Brief introduction followed by a guesstimate.
indicative answers if you
choose to share them) Round 2: General questions about my work area and interests.
Followed it with a case.
Round 2: This round started with spending the first half hour
discussing my work, projects and interests. It was largely
conversational. This was followed by a case.
Round 4 Rounds
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, stream, IIT Roorkee, B.Tech Biotechnology, Fresher
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Tell me about yourself; Case on Energy sector
indicative answers if you
choose to share them) Round 2: Why consulting; Challenges faced by a consultant in life,
followed by a case on automobile industry
What do you think went In case 1 it took me a bit longer to reach the solution but in other
wrong in this interview? two cases nothing went wrong as such.
Any tips for future batches It is important to stay calm during the case interviews. The
on the basis of your interviewer will be ready to help you out so it is important to clarify
experience your doubts, but don’t ask the same question again and again. Take
some time to understand the case question and confirm with the
interviewer before proceeding further.
Any tips for future batches Whatever little I could gather from my experience was that
on the basis of your Consults thrive on good personality, confidence being a BIG
experience factor. Just be extremely composed, confident and converse well.
You probably may not do exceptionally well in the case but as long
as you come across as a smart fellow, you should be sorted. Having
said that, you won’t be able to sound smart if cases don’t go as
intended, so prep those well. ;)
Brief Profile : B.Tech. Civil Engg, IIT Bombay, Work ex – 23 months at eGain
(Graduation College, stream, Communications (Product Engineer)
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: HR: started with tell me about yourself, asked about my
indicative answers if you PORs at IIT, discussion about my work ex.
choose to share them) Other questions: When in a group – are you the silent one or the
one who speaks the most, Asked to narrate a good story based on
my POR. Why consult? Why Auctus?
Approach:
Qualitative case:
Problem Statement: A company is planning to construct a school
in Indore. Suggest construction options for profit.
Approach:
I started with questions:
Does the company has prior experience in this sector?
How many schools are there in surrounding area and type?
Which part of the city are we aiming at (outskirts)?
Since it was on outskirts I suggested that it could go for full + day
boarding and continued further on that: type of school (medium,
standards, registration fee).
He stated that the land was quite big and cheaper (as it is located
on outskirts).
I suggested that company could invest in other options like sports
(swimming pool, TT etc.) for which it could charge. Could lend a
portion for cafeteria etc.
Round 3:
Case based on organizational structure
Problem Statement: A company X is performing well but the CEO
and CFO are not at good terms. How should X proceed?
Approach: I asked for causes of conflict (Personal + Professional).
Discussed more on the issue and suggested for restructuring.
Any tips for future batches Ask clarification questions. Think loud. Have a good discussion.
on the basis of your Stay calm, confident and happy. Enjoy the process.
experience
Round 2:
Case
Round 3:
Guesstimate
Round 4:
HR
Narration of the case CASE: There is a beer company. Its current sales is X. It
interview (Please be as manufactures the beer bottles in-house at present. Since the World
descriptive as possible) Cup is approaching, it is expected that the sales will become 2X.
The beer company has to take a call whether it should increase its
production. If it increases production, it will have to manufacture
more bottles. At present the bottles manufacturing plant is running
at 80% capacity. Firstly decide if the company should increase its
beer production or not. I had to ask for all the costs involved and
selling price from the interviewer. If we go with the option of
increasing the production, then shall we manufacture the bottles in-
house or outsource them. The costs for each of the activity was
given. Explore all possible scenarios and decide.
What do you think went CASE: I could come up with all the possible scenarios quickly. I
right in this interview? calculated the expected profits for each of the scenarios and came
up with the best one. This case could have been solved using
opportunity cost of each scenario as well.
All 3 rounds went well wrt establishing a good repo with the
interviewer. The communication was two-sided and involved.
What do you think went Most things went well. Only thing that could have been better was
wrong in this interview? that in 2nd round I took some time suggesting a good solution. But
then when interviewer hinted at a few things, I was quick to catch
up. So, that too worked in my favour.
R2:
The interviewer didn’t have my CV. He preferred a brief
introduction. Probed about other shortlists and interviews I had.
Case Analysis
Then opened an elaborate PPT and walked me through the slides.
It was a Dairy Farming Corp. based out of western Europe and we
looked at acquisition targets across 4 markets. After 10 minutes of
running me through a number of tables and graphs, I was given a
minute to think and recommend the best option for the client.
What do you think went R1: I answered to the point and was quick with my analysis.
right in this interview? Seemed like they had no time to waste.
R2: Didn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Concluded with a
recommendation and case synthesis.
What do you think went R2: Data overflow. There was too much data to comprehend.
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches 1. Respond to the tone of the interviewer.
on the basis of your 2. Being composed is definitely one of the top 2 things that
experience matter.
Narration of the case Round 1: HR questions started with the usual “tell me about
interview (Please be as yourself” which later graduated into “tell me a situation where you
descriptive as possible) created an impact and brought about a change”
Case:
The case was not a very difficult one in terms of laying out the
right levers but had a lot of number crunching to do.
Approach -
Two things in the problem statement set the path for me.
a. “Phase -1 trials”, so phase -2, so phase-3 etc had to be looked
into – basically the whole development stage from a drug in a lab
to a drug in the marketplace.
b. “for what amount” – clearly this case demanded working with
numbers, because it was not just a yes/no question, but also asked
an approximate deal price.
Case approach:
First I tried to understand the Nigerian motorcycle market. Also, I
tried to understand if there was any possibility of the Indian maker
to sell cheap – that possibility was ruled out. So, if cost leadership
does not work, product differentiation will. How could we then
differentiate our product?
Round 3: Partner
Background Questions:
Company Description, Manufacturing Operations, and Revenue
Split – by product and geography.
The company had 4 tractor models (different hp powers).
There was a particular region where the sales were declining. The
sales in the region primarily consisted of 2 tractor models – 35 and
45 hp.
What do you think went It was very interactive. Plus the breadth of issues that I could cover
right in this interview? was the key that impressed him.
What do you think went Missed the maintenance costs in the first phase. Came up with it
wrong in this interview? during the second round of investigation.
Any tips for future batches Just be comprehensive. It does no matter if reach the solution or
on the basis of your not. Just be exhaustive and have a structured approach.
experience
Third Round – A little bit of HR & Chit chat on why BCG v/s
McK etc
Brief Profile : Narsee Monjee – B.Com, CA, CFA
(Graduation College, stream, 2 Years work ex – Credit Suisse (4 months), Edelweiss (9 months),
Work ex details, etc.) eParent (1 year)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Why consulting, why BCG?
indicative answers if you Case on market entry for a Mobile Repairing Centre
choose to share them)
Round 2: Case – Profitability – Tractor industry.
Narration of the case Round 1 – Tell me something about yourself. Why consulting and
interview (Please be as why BCG?
descriptive as possible) Case on market entry of a Mobile Repairing centre (the authorized
repair centre for a company) – If I am an authorized service centre
for a mobile company and I want to set up my own mobile service
centre to service handsets of products whose warranties have
expired, how should I enter the market.
Narration of the case Round 1: The case was based on a tractor manufacturer and the
interview (Please be as falling market share of the company. The primary idea was to lay
descriptive as possible) out all possible reasons for such a fall both from the view of supply
and customer demand. The qualifying questions ruled out the
possibility of supply side problems and hence demand side was key.
Repair and maintainence costs were the reason for falling customer
demand. The case was fairly quantitative in nature.
Round 2: The aim was to improve the profit per ton of cement
sold. This was again a quantitative case where the different
transportation routes were to be mapped and the most profitable
markets were identified. Markets where profits were lower were
abandoned.
Round 3: This was a case discussion as opposed to a case solving
exercise. Here the interviewer discussed the various possibilities for
starting a new shop in terms of pricing, costs, financing,
recruitment, location, etc.
What do you think went The first round required a systematic approach and therefore
right in this interview? adequate preparation helped to solve this case in a structured
manner. The third round required innovation and spontaneous
ideation which is possible if similar cases have been attempted
before. Overall presenting ideas with logic and structure helped me.
What do you think went The second round did not go well for me. Here it was easy to get
wrong in this interview? lost in the many levels of the case and therefore it would be useful
to attempt some quantitative cases as well. Along with this, it was
important to stay calm when solving the case was hard which I
was not able to do well enough.
Any tips for future batches Prepare hard and work on exploring all possible options within a
on the basis of your case.
experience
He said, give me the most likely problem and solution linked to it.
The problem was with the set-top-boxes and I explained why I felt
it is the problem. Solution was to change the vendor.
What do you think went I solved case quickly and gave recommendations in a structured
right in this interview? way.
What do you think went In my final interview, I was asked names of people who had
wrong in this interview? interviewed me in previous rounds. I did not remember the names.
Any tips for future batches Focus on your academic subjects. Good case solving is just a big +.
on the basis of your
experience
Any tips for future batches For all the interviews, just know the answer to “who am I”, (you
on the basis of your did somethings, you didn’t do others, you should know why you
experience made those decisions; what are you good at and be aware of things
you are not good at)
It is not only about the time period from the day of your shortlist
till your interview, it is about your journey till date.
Round (First/Second/third) I had two rounds of interviews only (the others had three)
Round 2: Detail case study. They were more looking into idea
generation
After this as I figured out that process was not efficient, I was
given 2 possible systems (shown below with their sales and cost)
and was asked to choose one. Though system 1 seemed to be good
with high sales and less cost but after few years profit was declining
whereas in system 2 though we were at loss but profit was
increasing at a much higher rate. Further I was asked to calculated
NPV values ( on which I said I have no idea as I was asked to
choose some r value)
What do you think went My first round had 2 cases related to job ex. As I prepared for job
right in this interview? ex cases, I was able to do good.
Any tips for future batches Knowing your CV through and through.
on the basis of your And Case practise
experience
What do you think went Answered the question “things that you hated about Deloitte”
wrong in this interview? straightforward without giving proper thought
Any tips for future batches Thorough preparation of HR answers, CV and past work
on the basis of your experience details
experience
Round 4: Intense HR
Narration of the case Round 1: Went by the distribution of kerosene across various
interview (Please be as nodes & analysed issues. Discussed measure to control it at retailer
descriptive as possible) points (Consumer data digitization, mapping to Aadhar card in the
future, etc) as well as at wholesaler points (this is where the bulk of
kerosene was lost).
Overall, had a good discussion.
Solution: Outsource all the activities and cut down on labor costs
What do you think went My confidence in answering all the HR questions. More than the
right in this interview? case, they were judging the communication skills. Also I listened to
their view. In the case it was 50-50 talking.
What do you think went Nothing
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches 1) Prepare Why Consulting? Long term plans and Why McKinsey
on the basis of your questions well
experience 2) Involve the partner as much and take pauses while solving the
case. No need to rush
3) Stick to the structure that you have been following with your
case group
Round 3: HR
Narration of the case R1: Apart from the pleasantries and usual HR questions, the first
interview (Please be as case was based on automobiles and how the share of the
descriptive as possible) automobiles industry can be improved globally and contribute
more to the GDP. I missed out few options but the interviewer
was satisfied I discussed those options I had put forward at length.
R2: The case was related to the benefit given to LPG customers
(DBT) and how can it be implemented for kerosene since it is
widely used to adulterate diesel. The partner expected a solution
with regard to eliminating the benefit which was not utilized by
deserving people.
Round 4: HR Round
Narration of the case Round 1: You own an e-commerce website which sells jewellery,
interview (Please be as fashion products and apparel majorly for women. You have spent a
descriptive as possible) good amount on marketing the site but still are in losses. Now you
have to make a strategy to earn profits.
Basically an idea generation case; suggested innovative ideas to
increase revenues
Round 2: A person owns a single screen cinema hall in Mumbai
which is in losses. Find out problems and suggest ways to
turnaround the same.
Round 3: Guesstimate on how many students pass out as
commerce graduates from Chennai every year.
Round 4: HR round; asked to explain things from cv.
What do you think went All the interviewers were completely engaged in the process; got a
right in this interview? compliment for my confidence. Take time off before starting with
an answer to the case. For HR answers, be confident of whatever
you say, try to quote examples with every answer.
What do you think went Understood the question wrong in one of the round but realized a
wrong in this interview? minute later. Admit your mistake and proceed.
Any tips for future batches Be very confident in the interview. Put a lot of focus on HR
on the basis of your answers as they are equally important.
experience
Round 2:
It was about Theatre! Again, I verified my assumptions. And I kept
him engaged.
What do you think went
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches Be yourself.
on the basis of your Keep a smile on your face. It helps to keep your calm.
experience Think on your feet.
I think, having a question to him in the end, when he asks, does
help.
Read the cues and expressions of the interviewer.
Take time to structure your thoughts. It becomes easier for you to
think ahead in the right direction.
Round 3: Partner
Round (First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : Chemical Engineer from IITB, 22 months of work experience at
(Graduation College, stream, Capital One
Work ex details, etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1:
indicative answers if you Mostly questions on my work experience at Capital One
choose to share them) and what I learnt out of it
One basic question on marketing strategy of a company
Why Accenture? Why consulting?
Round 2:
Pure HR interview with all kinds of standard HR questions
like leadership examples, strengths, why consulting, hobbies,
social work etc.
Round 3:
Partner Round- Checking the fit. Similar questions as
earlier. No case studies or guesstimate.
Narration of the case All the rounds had a common objective: checking whether
interview (Please be as consulting is fit for me. They were especially keen on the learnings
descriptive as possible) out of my work ex. Any standout achievement will really help here.
Otherwise the questions were quite straightforward. No technical
stuff for me (cases, guesstimates). “Why Accenture” is one
question which was asked in all the three rounds.
What do you think went I was quite relaxed and had prepared well for my HR answers. I
right in this interview? had prepared couple of questions on Accenture based on their ppt
and website which helped in making conversation a better one.
What do you think went I had a break between my second and third round due to other
wrong in this interview? interviews. It caused a slight break in the flow although not a major
one.
Any tips for future batches Go through the website and their campus ppt well
on the basis of your Be prepared with “Why Accenture” answer
experience Prepare for all the standard HR answers well in advance. It
really helps on the final day.
Round 4 Rounds
Brief Profile : Computer Science Engineering, Osmania University, Hyd.
12 months at Google as Corporate Operations Engineer
Interview questions (With Round 1:
indicative answers if you Why would a person with a very technical background want to go
choose to share them) into consulting?
What is the current mobile phone I use? (At the time, I used a
Micromax A74)
Why has Micromax succeeded? What has it done correctly?
What do you understand from Micromax’s recent advertising
campaigns? Why has it cast Hugh Jackman?
Why is Nokia doing badly? What are the strategic mistakes it has
made?
Round 2:
Largely conversational, my experiences and expectations from
consulting and whether Accenture would fit me. No clichéd HR
questions.
Round 3:
Guesstimate the size of the Indian Diaper market.
Repeating the point about me being too technical for the role.
Round 4:
What is Accenture’s current stock price?
Is Accenture a public or a private company?
Where is Accenture headquartered out of?
What is causing deflation in Japan?
The interviewer did not allow me to use a pen and paper and rather
asked to orally discuss the case. I questioned the ins and outs of the
business, the industry and other basic qualifiers. The issue was with
the supply chain. Gave him recommendations on how to enhance
the profits. After this he gave a couple of hypothetical situations
pertaining to sales and distribution issues and how I would go
ahead. The interview lasted for about 45 mins.
Round 2:
Tell me something about yourself, typical HR situations (significant
achievement, situation where you achieved something significant
after overcoming obstacles, etc.), which practice area would you
like to work in at AMC, what do you know of that practice area,
what do you remember of the ppt, what did you like, what is it that
you didn’t like.
The interview lasted for about half an hour
Round 3:
This was the Partner round. Some general questions from my
work-experience, which practice area would you prefer, why, recent
developments in that practice area, a couple of projects from my
stint at ZS
What do you think went Couldn’t justify satisfactorily why I wanted a particular practice area
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches Prepare well for HR questions, it helps
on the basis of your
experience
Case
1st asked me about how Tata Sumo is doing in India, to which I
replied not well at all. Then the problem statement was to help
Tata come up with a decision regarding the future of Sumo.
Walked him through the value chain and stressed on the cost and
value drivers and came up with 3 solutions, to which he seemed
impressed and stopped the discussion there
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 2: HR
Tell me about yourself?
Why Accenture? Why consulting?
HR person was interested in my work ex and PORs, asked a plenty
of questions on that.
Round 3: CV Based + HR
Tell me about yourself?
Asked how my day was, as my energy levels were bit low at that
point of time.
I had an entrepreneurial venture at IIT and interviewer was asking
questions related to entrepreneurship trends in India and issues
faced in my venture, key learnings etc.
Interviewer was working in a similar domain of supply chain (Sales
and distribution) and we had a discussion on challenges involved in
projects.
What were my expectations from Accenture and why I prefer it
over working for Olam?
Round 2: (HR)
1) Tell me something about yourself
2) How was your experience of working with XYZ Company?
3) Why consulting? Why not join the old firm back?
4) Why Accenture?
5) How do you fit in?
6) What if we are not able to recruit you today?
Round 3 :
Started with the usual tell me something about yourself. Then he
started questioning me on why I want to choose consulting as a
field and why I don’t want to work with my old firm again.
Then he gave me a guesstimate:
Estimate the no of passenger shared auto rickshaws in Lucknow
The guesstimate could have been done using multiple approaches so
he asked me the different approaches I can use to arrive at the final
answer. He also cross questioned me on the assumptions I had made
while solving the guesstimate.
Round 4:
Round 2 -
1. Explain what I did at Goldman Sachs (Job role and
responsibilities)
2. One instance where you think team work was most important
(linked to work experience)
Narration of the case Round 1: The case was concerning a mobile device manufacturer
interview (Please be as facing a decline in profits. It had opened new stores through a
descriptive as possible) franchisee recently and started selling products at a lower price.
This had affected the equation with the set of old retailers. In
addition the margins provided to the retailers by the client weren’t
competitive which were causing it to lose sales.
What do you think went With a new format and a very unconventional case in the 2nd
wrong in this interview? round it took a little time to adjust and for a while I wasn’t giving
the kind of ideas the interviewer was looking for.
Any tips for future batches Extremely important to stay calm and confident throughout the
on the basis of your interview and have a good discussion with the interviewer.
experience
Brief Profile : Worked at Deutsche Bank Centre as a part of the TMT team in
(Graduation College, stream, London (11 months)
Work ex details, etc.) B.Com (H) from SRCC
CA Inter
Interview questions (With Round 1:
indicative answers if you 15 minutes - Quick chat about the CV, some relevant interest areas
choose to share them) around my work-ex and some PoR’s.
25 minutes - Case around Computers/Laptops manufacturer’s
service revenue increase.
Round 2: n/a
Round 3: n/a
Narration of the case Case overview:
interview (Please be as There is a computers/laptop manufacturer, global leader, with two
descriptive as possible) revenue streams – Primary selling of products
Service revenues from maintenance, repair and replacement parts
Global average split is 75%-25% respectively but India split is
95%-5%
Problem Statement:
To increase revenue stream from services in India
Case Approach:
1) Background questions:
Inquired about the supply chain. What services are offered, how
they are offered, who offers them.
2) Approach:
The Problem statement thus became: Why are people not buying
replacement parts from us even if they are cheaper?
I dived into each bucket to find that the problem lay in spare parts
after spending considerable time on good staff and access. (I
established that distribution/reach was good so people did not find
it inconvenient to visit our stores as well as we had skilled help that
could effectively and quickly solve consumer problems)
Re-visited the supply chain to figure out where the problem was
with spare parts. Discovered that the hub sent them to the stores
but still the stores did not have inventory. Spent time analysing the
inventory situation using the interviewers help.
Discovered that each store had an individual P/L and were giving
the inventory to other people (who were in turn selling it at a 20%
markup) and taking a cut!
Round 3:
The third round was act based with a senior manager acting as a
client. I briefly gave the synthesis of the case with my
recommendations. This was followed by a few counter questions
asked by senior manager (acting as a client) which I answered briefly.
Once they were satisfied with my answers, we went back to normal
mode where few questions regarding the expectations from the
internship, expected learnings, etc. were discussed.
What do you think went - Preparation of HR answers and knowledge about Deloitte and
right in this interview? the role on offer
- Ability to perform basic calculations at a good pace
- Exploring various avenues of solving the case and giving logical
pros and cons of each
Round 2:
Case on a firm which has 3 plants and is making huge losses.
Data sheet is given with details of cost and productivity of all 3
plants.
We decided to look into the costs being incurred, split the cost into
3 buckets – Wages, Material and overhead costs.
Material had no scope of cost reduction, Wages – we identified in
plant 3 the no.of salaried were more than hourly hence more cost.
Similarly in overheads – Plant 3 has too much inventory holding
cost.
So we decided to reduce these costs, but even reducing these didn’t
turn a profit so we decided to shut plant 3 and move the
production to plant 1 and plant 2
Later I gave suggestions on how to raise cash for increasing the
production in the other 2 plants – Money by selling plant 3, Loan
or money from market
Later did profit analysis to prove the investment is giving good
profit
Round 3:
Had to present the case I did in Round 2 to the partner – he was
acting as the client whose case we took up and solved.
Drew the tree structure and explained him how we went about
each and every bucket before identifying root causes.
Possible solutions for root causes and suggestions to improve.
Any tips for future batches Stay confident. They seem to like people who are confident about
on the basis of your what they speak. If you don’t know an answer, tell it to them
experience politely.
After each round you will be asked if you have any questions for
the interviewer, if you have some good questions then do ask, but
do not ask for just for the sake of asking.
Narration of the case Round 1: Guesstimate: Value of a bulb with infinite life (involved
interview (Please be as basic DCF calculation, evaluation of expenditure you might do in
descriptive as possible) case of a normal bulb).
Case: Problems that a truck association might be facing in getting
truck drivers (possible problems and solutions for those). Be
innovative as possible. Although I didn’t reach the exact problem
in the end (only got to know this after the interview from a friend),
but explored quite a few areas to get through to the second round.
The interviewer was very silent and unresponsive, you just had to
carry on with the case on your own. A solution to the truck
problem was that the people got AIDS as they went at different
places, and then they had problems getting married. Second was
that there were health problems, due to them eating food at
different places and uncomfortable seats, no proper place to sleep.
What do you think went Being calm and confident, thinking on the feet really helps. I had
right in this interview? already gone through a fair set of interviews before, so wasn’t
Round 2:
1.) Case study on Indian Telecom sector
Round 3:
1.) McK vs BCG question
2.) 5 ways India can win 5 Gold medals in upcoming olympics
Narration of the case Case 1: Selling the Company
interview Started by giving financial benefits of selling the company.
Gave implications on entrepreneurship front, brought views
surrounding family society
What do you think went I was calm across interviews and somehow managed to leave the
right in this interview? stress at the door before all rounds. I received positive feedback
regarding this later on.
Round 1: My HR answers were interesting, passionate, structured
but natural. I never gave up during the case and persisted despite
several setbacks. I didn’t mind starting from scratch repeatedly. My
idea-gen was adequate.
Round 2: I gave an honest and humble feedback about round 1
when asked. Initial structure during case was ok (I missed fuel, but
he pointed it out). Most importantly, I could crack the math in the
case in my first attempt (it was quite simple really, but turns out,
many silly mistakes were made during the day). I managed to
structure my recommendations as well and generate several
relevant ideas.
Round 3: Frank genuine answers about my academics and work
experience. He asked about people at my previous company,
expectations from Mckinsey etc.
What do you think went Round 1: I didn’t think my case went all that great, as the
wrong in this interview? interviewer looked disinterested throughout and kept redirecting
me. Halfway through the case, I realised that cracking the case was
out of the question. I came out of the interview apprehensive but
luckily was ushered into round 2 before I could dwell on it.
Round 2: I entered the interview unsure, given my performance in
the first interview. I kept trying to give subjective solutions and
state assumptions when all the interviewer wanted was simple
math. I kept thinking the case can’t just be simple maths, but
initially it was!
Round 3: I was mentally prepared for a case but there was none.
Any tips for future batches Prepare on your CV. You need to have recall value in the eyes of
on the basis of your the interviewer. Structure HR answers. But they will sound natural
experience only after practice. It helps if you have 2-3 USPs in your mind. For
example, I had quizzing, meditation and a childhood abroad.
Never give up in a case. Keep your cool as people get unsure of
simple math during cases and literally end up doing written
calculation where mental should have sufficed.
Don’t read too much into the interviewer’s body language (unless
he’s giving you hints during a case). Take pauses during cases but
don’t let the silence get heavy.
She asked me if I had any questions for her. I asked her a question
which extended the discussion for 5-7 more minutes.
The case was about generating options and the Partner kept
insisting on more suggestions. I looked at the revenue and the cost
side separately, divided them into short term and long term plans,
and tried to logically structure my suggestions. For the revenue
side, I had gone by the customer purchase process approach to
ensure nothing is missed.
Round 3: HR Questions
Narration of the case “I’m a chemical manufacturer. Help me optimize my outbound
interview logistics”
What do you think went - Work experience matched with their requirement
right in this interview? - Industry knowledge
- Information about the company
What do you think went In the case interview, I mistook “optimize” as “cost reduction”
wrong in this interview? only. Should have taken other factors into consideration
Any tips for future - Be energetic and enthusiastic
batches on the basis of - I firmly believe that the first 2 minutes in an interview decide
your experience the outcome to a great extent
- In the case interview, even if you go wrong at some place, do
not fluster and keep trying
What do you think went The interview started on a good note and they liked the way I
right in this interview? spoke and conducted myself.
What do you think went They expected me to suggest the GDP approach myself.
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future Consulting interviews require you to be able to give a holistic
batches on the basis of picture of the case presented. Keep the interviewer involved at
your experience every step.
Round 2: HR
What do you like about Accenture
What do you remember from Accenture’s PPT
Did you attend the session by our senior partner, Give
one positive and one negative feedback
I handled the negative part very tactfully: starting with slight
negativity but ending on a very positive note.
Would like to join IB or GTIN.
Understand the difference properly.
Round 3: CV
Walk me through your academic background.
Why did you leave something as promising as
Biotechnology for something as mundane as Management
consulting.
Tell me one challenging task that you did
I gave the example of a project at Deloitte.
Narration of the case Well a guesstimate was given to me but I never realised it was
interview one. I told about how demand is actually estimated in Apple and
how they produce less than the estimation to keep the hype.
What do you think went I knew from beforehand what they were looking for. I could
right in this interview? project all those qualities in some or the other answer. My HR
answers were well prepared and reviewed before I entered the
interview.
I kept a smiling face though one of the interviewers’ kept a
shrewd expression on his face.
I steered the interview in my way by giving answers of all HR
questions based on experiences and stories and talking about
things I knew very well so that I could handle the drilling
questions.
Any tips for future Any company, any interview, HR answers are extremely
batches on the basis of important. More so to tailor the answers to the company. It is
your experience also important to understand the values and culture of the
company and portray a fit in the interview. Accenture’s PPT is
very important to them. If you are serious about that company
make sure you attend the ppt.
Round 2: HR round
Was asked about which of the skills I have and which I still
need to develop
Round 3:
I was asked to wait for a while, the offer was made and I
accepted it.
Narration of the case Explained above
interview
What do you think went Nothing that I can specifically point out.
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future • For AMC, it pays well to know well about what
batches on the basis of work the company does and some recent
your experience happenings that the company was involved in.
• Frame good questions for asking at the end of the
interview as my third round was primarily based on
that
• Generate a plethora of options when analysing a
case. It shows that you can think in multiple
directions. In summers, most companies look only
for people with ideas rather than skills. Hence, this
is the most important phase of a case interview as
far as summers are concerned.
• Thorough CV and HR preparation are of prime
importance
What do you think went I think the interview went quite well for me except when asked
wrong in this interview? about which sector of my work experience I liked working for
the most. I tried to show positives in each of the 4 sectors I had
worked on and he seemed unconvinced .
Round 2:
What skills do you think a consultant needs? Which one of those
skills do you lack in?
Round 3:
Questions regarding work experience – I worked on SAP
implementation, so the interviewer asked me to give three
reasons why companies go for ERP implementation – a hidden
form of cost-benefit analysis case
The interviewer was looking for the approach only and not
extensive detailing.
The interviewer was very much satisfied with this and indicated
that there might be a role suited for me for summers.
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 2: It was with HR. She too started with tell me something
about yourself. Then she asked why we should take you. Then she
asked why “how do you think you are better than others who are
being interviewed now”. Answered all these questions. Then she
asked me if I have attended AMC Pre Placement Talk or not. I told
her that I have attended it. Then she cross questioned me by asking
about the stipend details. Told her. Then she asked “why
Consulting”. Then “why Accenture”. Then “what are the core
values of Accenture”. Globed the last answer, as I felt core values
of most of the consulting firm are similar. Later I found that 4 out
of 6 core values, which I answered, were correct.
Round 3: This was the round with the partner. He seemed like a
cool person, which gave me an opportunity to ask him the most
important question – ‘Tell me something about yourself’. I found
that he was working in GTIN. So that gave me opportunity to
further ask him some questions like what he thinks is good about
GTIN. Do people in GTIN get to work with Indian clients or not.
On site opportunity & so on. After that, the partner asked about
my favourite course in the Term 1. I told him QAM. Then he
Round 3 rounds
Brief Profile Shri Ram College of Commerce ( Eco Hons), 13 months work-
ex with Tata Capital Ltd. (Senior Credit Officer)
Interview questions Round 1:Tell me about yourself ; post the case I was asked to
give my view on the recent reduction in CRR rates
Round 3 Rounds
Brief Profile Chartered Accountant, Graduate from SRCC; Prior work
experience -22 months as Associate in BMR (tax consultant) and
Ernst & Young (Transaction Advisory Services)
Interview questions Round 1:
I started off with the projected revenue estimates for all types of
IT services. However, the interviewer changed the problem
statement (due to paucity of time I suppose).
Round 2:
I think the interviewer was impressed from the fact that the
problem was solved from the demand side. Also, I quickly
suggested 2 solutions to the problem:
Short term – Reduce prices and take a hit on profit to
regain market share
Medium term – Follow hub and spoke model to reduce
delay in delivery time
Long term – Acquire a source (may be mine or long term
supplier) for lime stone
Round 3:
The third round was a very brief round. The problem statement
was – Whether Uninor bid for the next spectrum auction?
A truck company has just entered India. They want you to design
a financing strategy for them. Basically they want to ensure that
people who want to buy their trucks will have access to
financing.
HR round:
Interviewer started with his introduction first.
Why consultancy?
Round 2:
Round 3:
Round 2: No case
Any tips for future Practicing a lot of cases not only with others, but also going
batches on the basis of through solutions on your own helps a lot. It is important to
your experience keep analyzing your mistakes rather than doing a lot of cases. HR
answers are probably even more important than the case
themselves, so it is important to prepare them well in advance.
Interview questions Since it was Deepak’s first interview of the day, he didn’t want to
do a case. It was a 20-30 minutes HR interview. The broad
questions were:
- About work experience ( I focussed on achievements and
initiatives)
- About dance (my spike as per my CV: I focussed on
leadership skills, handling failures and motivation skills
adopted)
- Biggest failure in life
- Conflict management techniques used in teams
- Academic performance at IIML (he was referring to my CGP
of term 1)
- Life at IIML ( I focussed on my learnings, positive and
negative aspects)
Narration of the case No case
interview
What do you think went Since it was my first interview of the day, I was quite enthusiastic
right in this interview? and had a big smile on my face (appearance is very important). I
was relieved when Deepak told me that he didn’t want to do a
case. I tried to answer in a story-telling format (its important that
the interviewer understands the flow of the answer).
Before entering the room, a senior had told me that Deepak was
in Australia for 2 years so I brought it up in the conversation.
Also, Deepak was among the first batch of students who were
recruited by McKinsey. I asked him about his experience and he
seemed quite emotional about it.
What do you think went For a few questions like biggest failure in life, I first gave an
wrong in this interview? answer which he thought was an achievement and not a failure.
Later, I substantiated the answer with another instance which
seemed to satisfy him.
Any tips for future - Its very important to keep energy level high
batches on the basis of - Engage the interviewer in a conversation and don’t stop
your experience yourself from saying something by virtue of being the
interviewee. Give yourself importance and talk proudly about
your past experiences
- Pick up hints thrown by the interviewer
- A firm handshake always works and exudes confidence
- Don’t freak out and have fun
2nd Round
This round is based on your work-ex. Know your company
well and have a good hold on your sector.
1. Tell me about your experience in NTPC Ltd.
2. Why NTPC Ltd. after engineering and why MBA now?
3. Present Power Scenario in India. Difficulties faced by
thermal power plants at present.
4. Future of Nuclear Power Plants. Pros and Cons.
5. Hydro-electric plants and their pros and cons.
Narration of the case Problem statement:
interview You are a private company who has got the contract to install
street lights in Lucknow. Guesstimate the number of street
lights that will be required and the expected profit you think
you can earn.
Structure:
1. I assumed Lucknow’s area to be 20km by 20km.
2. I, then, divided the city into a matrix assuming it to be
criss-crossed by #60 20 km roads running horizontally and
vertically each.
3. Then estimated an approximate of 30% area to be under
forest cover.
4. Divided the roads in the remaining 70% area into roads
present in residential and non-residential (commercial +
highways) areas. Took an estimate on number of street
lights present per km in both these areas.
5. Finally came to a number on the number of street lights
taking into account that some places will have 2 lamps on
a single post while others will have just 1.
6. After that estimated the product + set-up cost for each
street light.
Name of interviewer 4 rounds were held. I don’t remember the specific names of
and designation all the people. The first round was taken by Gautam and
third round was taken by one of the alum.
Round 1st and 2nd round were case interviews. Third was a work
(First/Second/third) experience specific interview and last was the HR round.
There was a clear market leader but the sales were decreasing
in latest months while there was a fierce competition for the
second and the third slot. A detailed discussion took place
about who can take the second place and why. Then he
asked some FRA question related to the graphs. The
discussion boiled down to FIFO/LIFO method and he gave
some data for a particular company and I was asked to show
the impact of LIFO or FIFO on Profit, COGS, Taxes, and
retained earnings.
Round 2:
The interview started with “How did the first round went”?
I said “It was decent but I should have done better”. He
asked “would have or should have”? I said “Should have”.
“What went wrong” was his instant question. I gave my
analysis and he looked satisfied by my analysis (He displayed
like that). I was told that this round will have 2 parts: (i)
Case (discussed below) and (ii) some general questions
Round 3
Round 4
Case analysis:
Initially we discussed if it was a normal trend in other parts
of India or not. If there was any price increased by Nano or
any changes with the design which might not have gone well
with the consumers. We also spoke about impact of negative
The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow Page 321
publicity like engine failure and instances of fire breaking out
in Nano. Marketing strategies of handling negative publicity
was also discussed.
What do you think My case performance in the second round went pretty well.
went right in this The interviewer complimented me about the analysis
interview? (though it may not look that impressive above). The
structure and thorough conversation helped me sail through
and I was told that I kept the interviewer interested and
hooked throughout the case solving phase.
What do you think My first round didn’t go that well particularly the Airline
went wrong in this question. I should have interacted more to understand
interview? various perspectives rather than being biased with current
Any tips for future 1) Stay Cool because it will help you to interact freely
batches on the basis of and focus on various perspectives which is very
your experience important in the case
2) Display a lot of enthusiasm and don’t shy away from
talking. Remember Consultant need to do a lot of
talking. Just ensure you talk sense on that day.
3) Practise some cases before interviews.
4) Never think that you are out of race. Don’t judge
yourself in the interview. Interviewer might give you
chance to bounce back.
5) Higher Work Ex people particularly IT background
can’ t get day zero shortlist is a myth
Name: Mahesh
Name of interviewer NA
and designation
Round First (of 3 rounds)
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : Bpharm
(Graduation College,
stream, Work ex Work experience of 2 years
details, etc. )
Personal interview 1. Tell me something about yourself?
questions (With
indicative answers if 2. Asked me about my role at previous workplace?
you choose to share
them) 3. Why consulting?
Case analysis:
I divided the decisions into HR , operations , finance and
marketing related decisions. Since the venture was a new one
I focussed on the organizational chart development and the
role of director in selecting the right people for higher and
middle management roles. I also talked about getting policies
with regard to skill set of workers, policy on unions being in
place. Talked about setting up a township and hiring a
contractor for it as the location is likely to be in a remote
area. Also focussed on retaining and hiring of talent.
Structure:
Divided the case as per verticals in an organization
Other questions
Guesstimate the number of travellers to Antartica
Guesstimate the number of cab drivers in Dehli
What do you think Got the structure. I was able to use the ques from the
went right in this interviewer and could this helped in approaching the case
interview? better.
What do you think Should have organized the points in each vertical in order of
went wrong in this their importance.
interview?
Interview Experience 4
Company The Boston Consulting Group
Round First
Institute rank 2nd at IIM-L in the first term with a GPA of 9.4
Personal interview 1. Are you clear about your decision between IB and
questions Consulting?
2. Why consulting
3. Why BCG?
Case analysis:
I first tried to understand the product properly.
Ans: No
Summary:
What do you think I was passionate about the education industry like I had
went right in this mentioned. I also was not put down by his comments of “have
interview? you understood my question”. He didn’t give me much time
What do you think At first I didn’t understand why he was focusing on the
went wrong in this demand of English language. I should have taken into
interview? consideration of adults as well. I was looking at only school
children. I was very nervous since it was my first interview of
the day and was also the very first for BCG in the morning.
The interview was shorter than I anticipated.
Any tips for future Please make sure of what you say in the initial HR questions.
batches on the basis I had mentioned that I liked teaching. That was the reason why
of your experience picked out this case for me. So please make sure you can show
the passion for a particular interest that you have mentioned.
Be calm during the case. He will help you out for sure. It is
important to be persistent and keep going at the problem.
Round Second
Case analysis:
Summary:
Problem Statement:
Analysis:
2nd Case:
Case analysis:
Ans. 5 years
Ans: 20%
What do you think The extra information I had on Infosys was something he
went right in this was very impressed with. He liked the fact that I was
interview? persistent in the PE case. I was thinking of different options.
He led me to a solution.
Case analysis:
Structure:
Summary:
Case analysis:
This was a case that really tested your ability to think far and
wide because the math was simple but the underlying logic
could have been missed very easily
Structure:
Summary:
The case had two parts- one was the initial decision and the
decision after changing a key variable.
What do you think Thought simple and picked up the cues very well.
went right in this
interview?
What do you think Failed to see the obvious solution the first time and needed a
went wrong in this little pushing in the right direction.
interview?
Round Third
Case analysis:
The case was a test of structure to see if you could create one
with all the levers enlisted.
Structure:
Summary:
Case analysis:
Structure:
Summary:
Case analysis:
Structure:
Summary:
Structure:
First asked about the industry. The industry was growing but
the company was losing share. This meant that the problem
was with the company.
Structured to find about the revenue and cost structures of
the industry and the firm in particular. Tried to gather as
much background information on this as possible.
Talked about training the employees, any new adverse
regulations, competitor offerings, etc. In short covered a lot
of different angles.
Finally he asked me to give 10 recommendations to solve the
problem. This was difficult as we had barely discussed the
case for 10 minutes. Took 5 minutes to write down my
suggestions.
Structured my answer in three areas: Customers, employees
and business improvement. Gave 3-4 suggestions in each
bucket.
What do you think I was able to give 10 recommendations which required a lot
went right in this of idea generation
interview?
Any tips for future Idea generation requires a lot of practice. Make sure you do
batches on the basis abstract cases which involve idea generation. Also have
of your experience questions for the interviewer ready for at least 3 rounds of
the process.
Round First
Stream: Economics
Work-ex: 0 months
Personal interview Just a little chat about where you’re from, what you like doing
questions and stuff. Of course, it began with the quintessential -“Why
don't you tell me something about yourself?”
What do you think went Well I didn’t really end up “cracking the case” as well i could
right in this interview? have. That was really a big negative I thought. But i hindsight,
the fact that i got an offer only affirm that there is no such thing
as “cracking the case”- they only judge your approach to
problem solving, and as you very well know there is no one
correct solution
What do you think went I really made a connect with the interviewer I felt. Let him do
wrong in this interview? more of the talking bit as i sat listening. It really helps, because
in the end, the interviewer will inevitably end up dropping those
crucial hints that shall help you reach a conclusion.
Any tips for future You really need to be calm and only then will the analytical skills
batches on the basis of and creativity really show. But do not worry - the interviewer
your experience shall go out of his/her way to make you feel so.
Round Second
Personal interview 1. Although the partner did not ask me any questions
questions specifically, I started talking to him about his day, job and
used this as an opportunity to highlight the points in my
work experience which I wanted to share (remember they
will not always ask you everything and do ensure that you
connect it wherever possible)
Structure:
Then the interviewer said that after one week, the sales of the
client had declined drastically and the competitor had not
reduced its prices. This created a problem of inventory.
What do you think went I was able to get the fact that the problem related to Game
right in this interview? Theory.
What do you think went The case had only one solution but I could not exactly pinpoint
wrong in this interview? that
Any tips for future Even though the ideas might sound outlandish, get them across,
batches on the basis of they will give you the benefit of thinking out of the box. Try to
your experience involve the interviewer in the case as much as possible, if he is
interested he will point you out more and more in the right
direction.
Round Third
Personal interview Started directly with the case. At the end of the case asked me
questions about LBO (Leveraged buyout) and asked me to give an
example in the Indian markets
Structure:
I said that we will compare the profits of the two methods and
make our decisions based on that. I asked about the revenue
and costs of the two and calculated the profit.
I proved that joining the radio cab was better. But the
interviewer told me that was the wrong answer. He asked me to
go back.
I took the current taxi and approached the different line items
one by one. I suggested that if the driver installed an AC he will
be able to charge more. But the interviewer asked me to suggest
something else.
What do you think went I was able to get to the required answer.
right in this interview?
What do you think went He expected me to get to the answer much quicker.
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future Try to be receptive to the hints given by the interviewer in the
batches on the basis of process. They are extremely important to get to the solution
your experience quickly.
Round 2:
Round 3:
Case analysis:
First case :
Case 1:
Problem statement:
Samsung has come up to you with a business proposition i.e.
they want to start an insurance company for electronic
goods. How will you help them?
Case Analysis:
The only thing they were looking was how you structure your
analysis and your line of thinking.
I started with asking questions about the new business model
to extract some information like target customers,, how is the
value proposition different from a warranty, how much can
Samsung expect to charge its customers for insurance.
My first step was to analyze the business model and establish
the financial feasibility. This was followed by target
customers – who are the target customers and are they
sufficient to justify investment and why will they be
interested in our product. Third step was to deal with
operational issues of providing this product.
Case 2:
Problem statement:
Case Analysis:
Case 3:
Problem statement:
You want to open a petrol pump. Proceed.
Case Analysis:
Case 4:
Problem statement:
Case Analysis:
Case analysis:
What do you think Good case overall. I got the structure right which helped me
went right in this arrive at the solution fast.
interview?
What do you think Nothing really. However, I really had to think on my toes
went wrong in this because the interviewer was constantly interrupting me and
interview? trying to disturb my thought process.
Round Third
Narration of the case Problem statement: How do you increase the revenues
interview of Bharti Airtel
Case analysis:
Preliminary questions - We all know Bharti Airtel and the
services it offered quite well – So there was no need to ask
preliminary questions. Also, since I wasn’t aware that I was
doing a case I did not have the opportunity to ask
preliminary questions.
The entire case was more like an informal chat. There were a
few follow up questions on some of the options I had
What do you think I thought the pre-case portion of my interview went of really
went right in this well. I was on top of all the points I had mentioned in the
interview? CV, so any discussion on my past experiences especially
work ex went well. The thing I felt worked for me the most
was my ability to describe the entire rating process without
using complex financial jargons and my ability to explain
things from a layman’s perspective
What do you think I did not do the case analysis particularly well. I did not use
went wrong in this the pen and paper. This meant that I was generating options
interview? thinking on my feet rather than providing carefully
considered alternatives. This to a very large extent inhibited
my creativity and did not give me enough opportunity to
demonstrate my structuring skills.
Any tips for future Know your Resume well. At no point in the interview
batches on the basis of should you ramble on. All answers must be natural (ie, must
your experience not appear rehearsed), brief, structured and to the point.
Round Second
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : Chartered Accountant, Bcom (Hons) from SRCC, Delhi
(Graduation College, University. Prior work ex as a Tax Consultant with Ernst &
stream, Work ex details, Young, a Visiting Faculty at St Josephs Colleger, Bangalore
etc.) and then as a Ratings Analyst with CRISIL Ratings
Case analysis:
Preliminary questions – Since it was Tata Nano, lot of the
background questions were not required. I clarified whether
the problem was a lack of bookings that they received. He
agreed.
Structure: The Structure that I used was not the best but it
did get me to the problem. I started off by saying the lack of
bookings could be on account of 3 reasons – One, a lack of
awareness of the product among the target customers
(Marketing problem), Two, Being aware of the product but
not being able to place a booking (Distribution problem) or
a Three, being aware of the product yet not interested in the
product (I called this the product problem). He asked me to
ignore the first 2 (he did not seem highly impressed) and
explore the 3rd the product problem.
Interview Experience 15
Company McKinsey
Case analysis:
Got the working model of the firm. The bidding model.
Eventually came to revelation that they are not winning bids
in last 2 years.
Structure:
Analyzed bidding structure ( COST + MARGIN).