There are many different kinds of interview formats. We're going to talk about the one in the middle, which is the one that most of us are familiar with. You sit across the table, they look at your resume, they ask you, tell me a little bit about yourself, why are you interested in this particular role, things like that. Let's talk about what consulting firms are looking for both intellectually, emotionally in terms of emotional intelligence and then in practical terms. I would say the main thing is they're looking for problem-solvers. People who know how to break down problems, people who have a lot of intellectual horsepower. They're strong thinkers, but also that have grit. They don't get easily discouraged. They're willing to do the research, put things into Excel. Have very difficult and dynamic conversations with people to crack a problem. Then finally, have some business sense. We all know people who are way smarter than us but lack business sense. None of this comes together well without having that common sense. Yes, so emotionally, what temperament do you need to have? One is just being really curious. You enjoy learning, you want to do things a little bit differently. You're willing to think outside the box to get to certain answers. Having the mindset that I'm in client service, it's not just about my success, it's more important that my client is successful. In terms of integrity here at the bottom that's a standard in professional services, the client needs to trust you. If they don't trust you, it's a problem. In terms of practicality, making it happen, I'd say just focusing on results, on outcomes, being able to lead teams. Well, not just be the leader of the team but sometimes be the team member. Sometimes you lead from the front and sometimes you lead from the middle. Finally, consulting projects are a lot of work done in a short amount of time. You have to be organized, prioritized, delegate, what should I do versus what can other people do. Those are all different skill sets that consulting firms when they recruit and they look through your resume, they want to know that you have that bias towards action. If they put you on a consulting team you will help the team to be successful. Here, from left to right, you can see that there are different steps on your way to an interview. What I would say is your resume, what's on paper, is bait. It's like bait when you go fishing. Your resume should be attractive enough that they want to interview you. Your resume is not going to sell you to them. Your resume is, it's like a worm on a hook, it's just enough to get you an interview. What should be on that resume? Make it easy to understand. It should be concise, very consistent, no typos of course, and very action-oriented, very impactful. One framework we use at Emory when we have career management center services is the PAR format. PAR, problem, action, result. If you look at boring resumes they say stuff like, I was responsible for some kind of process. Well, it's boring because it's unclear what the problem is, what it is that you did, and there's not any clarity around the results. All we know is that you just did stuff, not great. Instead it's much better for your bullet points to have numbers, percentage. Show them and quantify how great you are. Instead say, we had a process that used to take three days and by making these changes it went from three days to only two hours. It was clear what the problem was, what you did, and the results you are able to get from it. What are they looking for? What I'd say in most cases, you want to highlight the parts of your work history and your professional history that match up to what they're looking for. If you've done the research and you've gone to their website and you've had informational interviews and talked to people, you know what they're looking for. A lot of times, problem-solving, working with clients, things like that. The second bullet point here, think through what are the 10 most common questions that you might get in an interview. Then I don't want you to be a robot but definitely anticipate what those questions could be. If your resume looks like this and there's a gap where there's one year where you hadn't started working here yet and you'd already left this company, they're going to ask you about that. Why is there a gap in your resume? Be ready to answer that. Don't be surprised in a resume interview if you don't have to. Clearly communicating effectively in terms of building rapport with a client. You want them to want to hire you. If they like you, that's a great thing. All the things you would typically do, even on a first date with somebody, look them in the eye, ask about their day. Really listen to make sure you're answering the right questions. Being a little confident in your response. They're asking you about you. No one's going to know that story better than you are. Fill up the space, be a little bit confident. Be yourself on your best day. The last thing I would say here, and let's not miss this point, is have some fun. More than likely, they are interviewing multiple people. More than likely, this is boring for them sometimes. Your ability to connect with them, your ability to show, I'm the person who would be a great consultant, I'm the person you can send to the client site and the client would like me. Big three questions. The more we think about it. The fit questions come in a couple of flavors and sizes. The most common ones are here on the left, is who are you? Tell me about yourself. Walk me through your resume. You're going to talk about, where you went to school, where you worked, the activities that you did and your ambitions, where you'd like that to go. The second one, consulting is a very specific role. It's a little bit different than just working in a company. They want to see, do you understand what consultants do? Or did you just randomly wander into this interview without having done the research? Here's an opportunity for you to demonstrate, I've done the work and I know your company really well. I know that this firm specializes in this, they have this culture. They operate this way. It's an opportunity for you to maybe show off just a little bit that you've done the research and you're eager to work here. Here on the right-hand side, a lot of things fit in that bucket. Tell me about a time where you disagreed with somebody. Tell me about a time when you worked with a very difficult teammate. Tell me a time when you had data that was bad, what did you do about it? You can see here, listen to the question, answer it directly. When possible, be specific. Specificity gives you credibility. Then finally here, take a breath, be a human. Don't be a robot. The idea here is that the more memorable you can be in a good way, the better. Sometimes they are interviewing 8,10,12 different people back to back. Your ability to stand out makes a difference. A couple of key takeaways, and this is really towards the folks that are recruiting for consulting firms. Don't take just my advice. Do informational interviews with your peers and your seniors, people who've graduated a couple of years before you. Go out to LinkedIn and introduce yourself. It doesn't have to be a long discussion, but maybe just 10,15 minutes by phone or from a Zoom conference and ask them, what does your day typically look like? What was your experience in the interview process? Find out from people who have done this work, who interviewed and got the job, how you should prepare. On paper a lot of these consulting firms may look similar, but they're not. No company wants to be treated like they're generic. Whether you're interviewing at Deloitte or PwC or LEK, or ECG or Premier, you need to know that company well. If they were to ask you, what do you know about our company and what makes us different than everybody else? You need to have a good answer. Not something generic, not something boring, something that shows that you have that insight. Your resume should be good. Your resume should be tight. Your resume should have been proof read by multiple people. You want them not to just say, what a great resume. You want them to give you very rough, tough, brutal feedback. You need to edit it to make sure that it's very smooth and works well. We talked about anticipating the top five or ten questions that they might ask you. Then finally, of course, be yourself. Nobody wants to be a business robot. We want to make sure that one, of course, you're professional. Number 2, you're prepared, but number 3, you're also yourself.
