Interview Questions For Technical Consultant

Tell Me About A Tech Project Youve Worked On In Your Spare Time

You may want to hire an IT professional who devotes personal time to side projects. Why? These are people who are driven and curious, which, in turn, keeps their skill set fresh. Ask how they stay motivated, what interests them about the project and their ultimate goal. If they can demo a website or app theyve built, all the better.

Give An Example Of A Time When You Led A Team

Behavioral or fit interview questions are commonly asked consulting interview questions. They ask you to draw upon a time or experience in the past in which you demonstrated a particular trait or quality. These questions dive deeper beyond what is listed on your resume.

The most common type of consulting behavioral interview question focuses on leadership. Examples of this type of question include:

• Give an example of a time when you led a team

• Tell me about a time when you managed someone

• Describe a situation in which you had to motivate someone

• Tell me about a time when you showed initiative

To answer these questions, pick an experience in which you made a meaningful and significant impact while working with or managing other people.

1. Provide context of the situation and what the objective or goal was

2. Describe the leadership role you took and what actions you took

3. Explain the impact and results of these actions

4. Summarize what this experience taught you about leadership or what this situation reveals about you as a leader

Example: Give an example of a time when you led a team.

While working on a customer service improvement project for Amazon, I led a four-person analytics team. The goal was to analyze recent customer survey data to identify ways to improve customer service.

Additional It Consultant Interview Questions

• What is the first aspect you notice when evaluating IT infrastructure?

• If a company wishes to streamline its information systems, how do you advise them to proceed?

• How do you ensure a clients needs are met? How do you communicate effectively with the client about their needs and your plans?

• How do you handle mistakes or setbacks in a project?

• Do you work well under deadlines?

• How do you approach explaining technical matters to clients, particularly ones who are not as tech-savvy as computer professionals?

• How do you handle confidentiality when working with other peoples data?

• How do you manage time when working on multiple projects?

• How do you manage a team of consultants?

• What project have you worked on that you are proudest of?

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How Would You Explain To Someone With Limited Tech Skills

IT plays a crucial role in almost every company, so communicating well with non-tech colleagues is a must. You can assess candidates communication skills with this question. Do they avoid obscure acronyms and jargon? How well can they break down a complicated process and compare it to something thats common knowledge? Also, this question can help you get a feel for the candidates own understanding of core concepts.

Hiring IT professionals? We can help:

Common Consulting Behavioral Interview Questions What To Say What Not To Say

When you dig underneath these 2 questions, youll see they probe a broader set of attitudes, skills, and behaviors.

Are you someone your interviewer wants to work with?

Are you fun, hard-working, passionate about the projects you take on, someone who doesnt give up easily?

Why this matters consultants work together for 8+ hours a day. The team wants to hire people theyd be fine with spending 8+ hours a day with.

Are you someone the interviewer would feel comfortable putting in front of their client?

Are good at problem solving, able to persuade and motivate people, but also coachable? Have you done your homework looking into what work in the consulting industry is like? Do you have the right mannerisms and professionalism to work with clients?

Top management consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain, and BCG make at least half a million dollars per project, so if youre put in front of a client and arent client-ready, it could cost a firm half a million dollars in revenues.

Your answers to personal interview questions should aim to address these questions lying beneath the surface.

1. Tell me about yourself.

DO describe one of your key strengths, particularly a strength that relates to the characteristics management consulting firms are looking for, then provide examples from your resume that demonstrate this strength and provide context.

DONT start rambling through your entire resume.

2. Walk me through your resume.

DONT be humble about achievements .

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What Would You Hope To Achieve In The First Six Months After Being Hired

The answer to this tech interview question depends on the role. A developer, for example, may hope to have developed a small project during that time, while a tech manager may want to have analyzed internal processes. A candidates response will give you insights into their overall understanding of the position. If their goals and ambitions dont match the job description, this may not be the right role for them.

Questions For The Interviewer

In addition to interacting and asking questions about the Case Study during an interview, you should attempt to ask the interviewer about his or her own experiences in Consulting. Management Consultants tend to like talking about their own experiences, and we believe that you will benefit if you prompt the interviewer to talk a lot about their experiences. It will teach you more about the firm and the industry, and convey the feeling that you are interested in the interviewerâs life and work. Some potential questions to ask the interviewer, or ideas for generating smart questions to ask, include the following:

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What Factors Would You Consider To Address Our Clients Problem

Read the full guide here: Issue Tree / Case Interview Frameworks / MECE Principle

This is what I call framework/issue tree question. To answer them effectively, you need to understand the consulting problem-solving fundamentals, and master a few important case interview frameworks, and thoroughly grasp the MECE principle.

For this question Ill use a hypothetical case of a fictional firm called Eagle Aviation. Eagle Aviation produces manned airplanes for military and civilian use. Although the firm remains a major player in the market, it has seen some serious decline in revenue in the last 5 years, leading to profit loss, so they called in your team to address the problem.

Heres one way to answer the given question:

To address the root cause of Eagle Aviations declining revenue, I would break the revenue down according to their market segments and use data to pinpoint where the problem is coming from. For Eagle Aviation, there are two main segments: military, and civilian. The military often buys two types of airplanes combat, such as fighters, and non-combat, such as cargo planes. On the civilian side, there are also two types: commercial, like the large airliners, and non-commercial.

< literally draws out an issue tree and points to it as you speak>

How Do You Handle Tight Deadlines

IT teams often face daunting time constraints. You need someone who can work efficiently and accurately when under pressure. Ask this interview question of a potential employee, and youll at least get a sense of how they deal with stress and whether they can keep up with the pace of projects at your company. You could also follow up by asking if theyve ever missed a deadline and, if so, how they dealt with the situation.

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End The Interview On A High Note

Make sure you leave with a good impression. End the interview on a high note by letting your interviewer know youve appreciated the opportunity to interview.This shows that you respect their time, the organization, and that youre still interested in the position. This short sentence will make a large impression as you leave.

When youre in your next interview, keep these things in mind. If you make your answers concise and you remain positive, focused, and confident, youll be just fine. Good luck!

What other tips do you have for people who are about to go into an interview with a client company? Let us know in the comment section below, or join the conversation on , , and .

Know Whos Interviewing You

Make sure that youve done your research. Sometimes, companies will ask you questions about their organization, just so they know how prepared you are. Make a good impression.Do your research on the company, their product, their mission statement, and even on the interviewers background.Know everything. While youre in the interview, dont ask questions that can be answered by the organizations website. Itll appear as if you didnt come prepared.

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What Are Your Weaknesses

I work too often and dont strike a work-life balance. Although I am not a heavy sleeper, my previous routines have helped me become more punctual and adhere to deadlines. My only current flaw is that I sometimes get distracted by minor details. Still, I am occasionally patient, as I should be, with subordinates or coworkers who do not comprehend my views, and I also have excellent communication skills to work things out.

Tell Me About A Time When You Solved A Difficult Problem

Another type of behavioral consulting interview question focuses on problem solving. Examples of this type of question include:

• Give me a time when you used data to solve a problem

• Describe a complicated or difficult problem you faced and how you approached it

• Tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision

• Give an example of a problem you solved in a unique way

To answer these questions, pick an experience in which you faced a difficult problem or situation but were still able to make a meaningful and significant impact.

1. Provide context of the situation and what the problem was

2. Describe what actions you took to solve the problem

3. Explain the impact and results of these actions on the problem

4. Summarize what this experience taught you about problem solving or what this situation reveals about you as a problem solver

Example: Tell me about a time when you solved a difficult problem.

Last year, I was working at Airbnb in their strategic planning & analysis group. I worked primarily with the customer experience team.

I was tasked to determine whether the incremental $10M that Airbnb spent on initiatives to improve customer satisfaction had a positive return on investment. This was important because Airbnb was focused on cutting unnecessary costs to achieve better profitability.

I used SQL and excel to analyze over 700K customer data points to create a model forecasting how much happy customers spend per year versus unhappy customers.

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Questions To Ask A Technology Consultant

Whether you have a sizable internal IT team or not, there are situations in which an outside IT consultant or firm is needed.

Of course, consulting is a subjective field. There are no hard metrics by which IT firms are measured to determine if they have the experience, expertise, and vertical-specific background needed to support your business. You have to ask the right questions and vet the response to those questions in the context of your needs.

There are easy questions that should be part of every interview:

But there are also more in-depth questions that help to root out the fundamentals. Does the consultant understand your business? Are they passionate about what they do? Can they become a truly strategic partner to help improve your operations?

Lets take a closer look at 7 such questions and how to ask them in a way that helps make the right decision for your company.

Tips For Preparing For A Consultant Interview

Do a mock interview. Case interview questions require some preparation. Ask friends or family members to give you as many practice case questions as possible. During the interview, listen and take notes, asking any clarifying questions. Asking questions will help you think through the problem, and will also show that you are listening carefully. It will also help you engage with the interviewer and establish a positive rapport.

Think aloud. While answering a case interview question, say your thought process aloud and use a pencil and paper to work through the problem. While you need to provide an answer, the question is much more about assessing your thought process. Therefore, share your thinking out loud.

Follow industry trends. Many of your case questions will be related to the industry in which you will be working. Therefore, before your interview, make sure you are caught up on news about the industry.

Never underestimate the importance of body language. Dont forget to practice the basics of good interviewing. Make sure you are prepared to give a firm handshake, make friendly eye contact with your interviewer, and smile when appropriate. Sometimes, interview questions can feel overwhelming, but dont forget that you still want to be personable.

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What Are Profile Options At What Levels Can These Be Set

Ans: A user profile is a set of changeable options that affect the way the applications run. Oracle Does applications object Library establish a value for each option in a user’s profile when the user logs on or changes responsibility.

• System Profile: The profile option can be set for the user community.
• User Profile: Provide Oracle Apps with standard information that describes a user, Application, Responsibility, and site. At each profile level, user profile options can be set.

Can You Tell Me About A Time When Things Didnt Go The Way You Wanted At Work Such As A Project That Failed Or Being Passed Over For A Promotion

Everyone deals with professional setbacks at some point in their career. You want to know how people handled and what they learned from those situations. The best employees are resilient, using setbacks as a springboard toward positive changes. So listen to not only the problem they mention but also what they did after the disappointment.

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Technology Case Interview Frameworks

While the approach to solving technology case interviews is typically the same as traditional case interviews, there are some frameworks you should be familiar with that are specific to technology issues.

Some of these frameworks are more technical than others.

Generally, if you have a strong IT or technology background and are interviewing for a more senior role, you should expect your technology case interviews to be more technical. However, if you are interviewing for an entry level technology consulting role, youll likely not need to know many of these frameworks.

PPT Framework

The PPT framework stands for people, process, and technology. These are the three components that are necessary for organizational transformation and management. To achieve organizational efficiency, a company needs to have all three of these components streamlined.

People: Do employees have the right skills, experience, and attitude for the job? Do they have clear roles and responsibilities? Does the project have buy-in from the right people?

Process: Are the right processes in place? Are these processes run smoothly and efficiently? Are there potential bottlenecks or roadblocks?

Technology: Are the right technologies being used? Are these technologies being used to their maximum potential?

Factors to Evaluate Technology Framework

Ability to meet requirements: Does the technology or vendor satisfy all of the requirements?

ITIL Framework

TOGAF Framework

What Made You Get Into Technical Support

This question can help you gain a better understanding of the applicants individual motivations. What to look for in an answer:

• The candidate has a passion for technical support
• The candidate comes off as honest and sincere
• The candidate understands the bigger purpose of technical support

Example:

I decided to go into technical support because Ive been fascinated by technology all my life, and I also love working with people. I want to use my technical know-how to directly solve issues customers are having. I want to be the person that makes life easier and more enjoyable for folks whove run into a problem.

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What Are Consulting Interviews

When most people say consulting interview, its usually one of these two kinds:

• One is the networking interview, where you establish contact and relationship with working or former consultants, trying to get a foot in the door. Networking is usually done through formal events or informal connections, and its the first step to get into consulting firms.
• The other is the consulting job interview consists of a fit interview and a case interview. Each of these parts also consists of predictable question types, which Ive already broken down and discussed extensively in their corresponding articles .

This article is mostly written for the latter, but even in the former case the consultant may still ask you similar questions . With the key definitions now clarified, lets dive in.

Can You Describe And Show Documentation For Your Primary Processes

This is a tricky question because many consultants are hesitant to answer it. While confidentiality for specific project details should be expected, an experienced consultant should have sample documentation available to show prospective clients and should be able to clearly articulate processes in an interview.

Ask about situation review, problem analysis and how they establish recommended solutions for their clients. This doesnt have to be specific to your business, but the answers should show both a wealth of experience and comfort with discussing it.

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