Management Consultants – Worst Mistake in Fit Interviews
The failure to provide takeaways and anecdotes in your responses is absolutely the worst thing you can do.
When you don’t provide personalized stories and anecdotes, you are simply not making the extra effort to stand out with distinctly different responses.
To begin with, let’s talk about anecdotes. If you are not a very good consulting interviewer, you will not give anecdotes. Look at this example:
Why do you want to be a management consultant?
I enjoy an intellectual challenge, and I like to work with smart ambitious people solving hard business problems.
Well, that’s dull. There is certainly nothing special in that response. What’s the story behind your desire to be a management consultant?
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So what’s wrong with that?
When you tell a story, you stand out. If you just give a generic response, your answer will be just like all the rest. Then you won’t get an offer, and neither will anyone else.
Once the consultants are done with interviews, they usually have a group discussion about the applicants. Applicants who leave a strong impression get discussed. Applicants that the interviewer can’t remember don’t. If the interviewer doesn’t remember you, he won’t have anything to say about you.
So how do you add a takeaway or an anecdote?
An anecdote would tell a story and draw a conclusion. It would tell the interviewer about something you have done and something you learned from it.
In the example answer, there was no anecdote. Nothing was experienced, and nothing was learned.
Here is an example of how to add a takeaway to that answer. By adding personal experience, that answer becomes much stronger, leaves a conclusion, and more important, leaves an impression.
What interests you about management consulting?
I really like the intellectual challenge of the work. I am especially keen on having the ability to work in close proximity with ambitious, intelligent people solving difficult business problems. When I was an asset management intern, I really respected my colleagues abilities. However, I did not feel challenged in my everyday work. If I can get into consulting, I feel it will provide me with challenge and give me the opportunity to work with some really impressive people. I want to rise to the forefront of the business world. I know that the best way to get there is to join the smartest team and face the hardest challenges.
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