So you've got an interview!? First of all…congratulations!! Getting an interview is not as easy as you think, and no doubt there were 10s of applicants (sometimes 100s) that the company have filtered through and picked you out, take the time to feel special :)!
But don't take too long, because now you have to prep for the interview. To help with your prep we have prepared a couple of documents that we think will be useful to you, this particular blog contains a list of all the typical interview questions we have seen in interviews over the years.
But first just a quick note on the typical interview process. Most experienced hires, especially in the big 4 go through a similar interview process. It typically starts with an informal chat to understand your interests and skills, this could either be with a Manager/Recruiter within the team you are hiring into, or an internal Recruitment team. Once you’ve passed this (and nearly all do unless interests don't align) you will progress to the case study interview. A case study interview is typically with a Manager / Senior Manager or Director in the team (usually 2 people) and will be split into 2 parts. The first part will be your standard competency based questions, we have a list of typical ones you'll be asked below. The second part is the case study, this is typically run for 30 minutes. The first 15 minutes will be your preparation time, they will give you a problem and some pre-reading materials and ask you to formulate a response and present back to them at the end of the prep time. You will typically get 5-10 minutes to present your solutions and ideas, and then 5 more minutes for questions. Have a read of our "Case study guidance" for more detail on how to structure your responses.
Once you get through the case study, the final hurdle will be a Partner interview. Don’t worry, these aren't actually as bad as they sound, and can be quite informal. We tend to think of the case study as the main hurdle to jump, then the Partner interview is the final tick of approval. In most cases its just a chance for the Partner to find out who you are and where you would fit into the team. They may ask a few competency based questions, but they usually want to here more about your interests, skills and ambitions for the future.
Typical competency based questions (non-exhaustive)
Junior positions (Consultant / Senior consultant)
Opening questions: Tell me about your work experience
Opening questions: What did you study at Uni and why? What motivated you to study this?
What are your key strengths? What accomplishment are you proud of?
What interested you in this role?
Why do you want to work for this company?
What issues do you think are facing this company?
Tell me about a time when you worked well within a team? What was your role?
Tell me about a time where you overcame differences of opinion within a team? How did you incorporate insights from others?
Tell me about a time where you had to drive an initiative or idea forward? What challenges did you face?
How do you manage your time when faced with multiple deadlines?
How well do you work under pressure?
Have you ever had to make judgement on a topic you were not very familiar with? How did you handle this?
When was the last time you went above and beyond?
How do you keep up to date with the latest news and market trends?
Do you have any questions for us?
Remember…always ask questions at the end to show you are interested and enthusiastic about the role. Here's some examples of questions to ask:
What is the culture like in your organization?
What do you like about working here?
What is the team structure like? Who will I be reporting into / reporting into me?
How can I succeed in this role?
What does a typical day look like?
What learning and development opportunities would be available to me?
What are the next steps in the recruitment process?
So there's a list of questions we expect to see, but it's not exhaustive so have a look around at other blogs/websites to make sure you cover them all off. And remember my top tip from before, think of 1 or 2 examples for each question to bring your answers to life, and use the STAR technique!
We'd love your input and thoughts so please give us a bell to discuss anything here in more detail.
Happy interviewing!
Brook
Co-founder
Lemon Talent
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