Ken Chase 
Learn how to handle these consulting interview questions so that you're ready for interview success
Many top firms rely on Consultants to help them develop innovative business strategies to overcome unique challenges, drive growth, and thrive in an ever-changing economy. To land a job in this field, however, it's important to know how to answer some of the most common consulting interview questions. Without the right preparation, you'll struggle to make the right kind of impression on prospective employers.
In this post, we'll explore a range of general consulting firm interview questions, technical consulting interview questions, behavioral questions, and consulting case interview questions.
General consulting interview questions
1. Tell me about yourself
“First and foremost, I'm a problem-solver who never shirks a challenge. That's fueled my passion for consulting and finding the most effective solutions for any client's needs. I'm also a people person, who loves to work with others and help them to expand their success. Finally, I'm someone who's dedicated to growing my knowledge base and learning new skills and techniques needed to keep pace in a rapidly changing world.”
2. Why did you choose consulting?
“I think my interest in consulting was sparked in early middle school, when I began tutoring my fellow students on weekends. Early in life, I discovered the rewards of helping others to achieve things they never thought possible. This career choice has allowed me to continue to provide that assistance by employing my knowledge, creativity, and analytical skills to benefit my clients as they seek growth and expanded success.”
3. What are your greatest strengths as a Consultant?
“My best strength is my ability to break down complex problems into their simplest parts, analyze them separately and together, and use that analysis to identify weaknesses that can be overcome to improve processes and systems. Along with my problem-solving and communication skills, that analytical strength has been the key to my consulting success.”
4. Tell me about your proudest achievement
“That would have to be the work we did for one of our Fortune 500 clients several years ago. We were asked to create better performance measuring systems for the company and spent several months exploring different options to track and evaluate metrics. My team ended up crafting a new framework model that dramatically expanded the company's ability to track, visualize, and gain insights from that data.”
5. How have your experiences prepared you for success in this role?
“When I first started consulting, my ego was larger than my capabilities. There were some early experiences that taught me the humility I needed to understand that each new experience offers lessons for growth and improvement. Over time, I've become more organized, better at prioritizing tasks and projects, and more focused on communicating as effectively as possible.”
6. What traits do you think are the most important for successful Consultants?
“The best Consultants need to be able to not only use sound analysis and strategic thinking to create efficient and viable solutions, but also communicate those ideas to clients in a way that they can understand and buy into. So, great analytical thinking, creativity, and persuasive presentation skills that can help to align solutions with each client's vision and expectations.”
7. What strategies do you use to motivate a team?
“My leadership approach is based on creating an environment that values every team member's contribution. That requires constant openness, active listening, and the ability to provide clear expectations and regular feedback. No success is too small to acknowledge or celebrate, regardless of whether it comes from individual or team efforts. Everything is designed to promote a more empowered workforce, to ensure that each team member achieves their potential.”
8. Where do you see yourself in five years?
“When I picture myself five years from today, I see a leadership role that would enable me to have an even greater impact on our clients. I'll have developed my mentoring skills, be fully involved in training new team members, and be even more skilled in project management, solutions development, and client oversight.”
Technical consulting interview questions
9. Describe your strategy for explaining complex technical issues to clients.
“I begin by describing the problem and solution in the least technical terms available. My first instinct is to always focus on using layperson's terms, coupled with direct analogies that help to explain the issue and our recommended fix. Sometimes, that effort also includes visual tools, more direct hands-on demonstrations, or training to help present the ideas.”
10. Can you give me some insight into what you think are this industry's most pressing challenges?
“Technological advancement may be the most pressing issue we're going to be facing for some time. New and emerging technologies have had a disruptive influence in many areas of the economy and companies are struggling to keep pace with the new demands for knowledge and expertise. Part of our challenge will be to keep pace with these changes, so that we have the skills needed to help those clients adapt.”
11. How do you measure project success?
“The only real metric that matters in determining any project's success is how well it aligns with the client's stated expectations and needs. Did it meet or exceed the project objectives? Was it brought in on time and within the allocated budget? Most importantly, did the client find the results satisfactory?”
12. When starting a new project, what do you do first?
“My process involves three initial steps. First, I work to define the project's objectives and scope, so that we have a finished goal in mind and clear parameters. Then I conduct a risk assessment to ensure that we've identified as many potential downsides or obstacles as possible. Finally, I try to assess our required resources and determine how they need to be allocated to successfully implement and complete the project.”
13. What do you do if a client rejects your technical proposal?
“That sometimes happens, for a variety of reasons. That's why it's always wise to craft at least one or two alternative proposals that you can present as different options. When I do that, I always explain the relative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. The goal, of course, is to either convince the client that the preferred solution is the best option or come to a reasonable compromise that still provides a viable answer to their problem.”
14. What traits do you possess that qualify you to be a good IT Consultant?
“I'm well-versed in IT technologies, with a background in network management and broad familiarity with systems design. In addition to those technical qualifications, I have an analytical approach to problem-solving, that enables me to focus on details without losing sight of the big picture, and effective communication and collaboration skills that help me to bring the best minds together to create innovative solutions.”
15. How do you manage multiple projects with tight deadlines?
“My management of multiple projects is always conducted with an eye toward prioritization of tasks and goals. One recent experience involved three such projects simultaneously. In that instance, we compartmentalized the various aspects of each project to ensure that resources could be allocated in the most advantageous way. That allowed us to keep everyone on task and ensured that every project continued to move forward on schedule.”
16. Tell me about a time when an IT consulting project was overly stressful, and how you managed the pressure.
“There was a project for ABC Corp. that was particularly stressful, largely because the company was in a state of disarray when we arrived. To manage that pressure, I made the decision to focus intently on one thing: identifying the issue I was there to resolve. It took some effort and intense self-management, but that enabled me to filter out all the chaos and give my undivided attention to solving the problem.”
Behavioral interview questions for consulting
17. Tell me about a time when you had to collaborate with others to successfully complete a consulting effort
“Early in my career, I was tasked with developing an expansion plan for a client that wanted to move into a new industry. To achieve that goal, I had to work with their finance and product development team daily for six months. That collaboration helped to ensure that I got up to speed in record time, so that we could focus on leveraging data to build out our models and recommendations.”
18. Describe an example of an instance in which you had to work outside of your comfort zone
“That happened almost immediately in my first job in this industry. My team assigned me to present our recommendations to a group of client representatives. The only problem was that I was still fearful of that type of public speaking. To overcome that, I asked several members of the team to serve as stand-ins for some practice presentations - just to get myself used to delivering the presentation. It was still uncomfortable, but that experience helped to erase that fear.”
19. Tell me about your biggest consulting failure
“A few years ago, I was called in by a client that was on the verge of bankruptcy. Our goal was to find a strategy that could stabilize the firm until it could get back on its feet. Unfortunately, the effort was too late to have any real meaningful impact, as the market had shifted in an unfavorable way and the company lacked the financing to make the necessary investments we recommended for a turnaround.”
20. What process do you use to try to adapt to a client firm's culture?
“Learning about the culture is critical if you want to effectively collaborate with and leverage the company's internal talent. I always start by getting to know the players, to ensure that I understand how they do things. That cultural assessment enables me to identify any changes I need to make to ensure that I fit in - all with the broader goal of adapting so that our collaboration is as effective as possible.”
21. Tell me about a time when you had to deal with negative feedback
“There was one client whose personal relationship with my manager created some tension. He was telling us different things, which led to some negative feedback coming my way. At my urging, we scheduled a joint meeting to air everything out and our communication improved dramatically from that point on.”
22. Describe an example of a time when you helped to resolve a complex problem
“On a consult for DEF Inc., we were tasked with identifying a decline in the company's customer base. While the company was focused on its product line, in-store design, and customer service as reasons, I eventually realized that its demographic outreach wasn't working. We traced the problem to its social media sites and email marketing. A redesign helped to re-engage the younger demographic the company relied on and the problem quickly resolved itself.”
23. Tell me about a time you've been called on to lead a team
“One of our biggest clients had just asked us to consult on a branch redesign. We flew in the next day and our team leader fell ill that night. I was tasked with taking over the project, but discovered that our leader's initial plan for the assessment wasn't going to work. I redesigned the assessment strategy on the fly, and helped our team to complete that stage of the consultation process.”
24. Tell me about a time when you had to challenge a superior's assumptions
“Years ago, my team was assigned to a merger and acquisition consultation. My superior thought that the merger was a bad idea, based on some outdated information. I spent four hours going through the numbers with him, to show him how that information was flawed. He changed his mind and we recommended that the deal go through.”
Case consulting interview questions
25. You've been asked to find a way to improve Company A's profitability. How would you do that?
“First, I would have to identify the proximate cause for the decline in profits, whether revenues have dropped, costs have risen, or both. Then I would have to explain why that decline has occurred. That could be a change in customer needs and habits, or the entry of new competitors, technologies, or government regulations into the market. I would use that analysis framework to locate the source of the problem and begin the process of devising a viable solution.”
26. Company B wants to know whether it should acquire Company A. How would you help them make that decision?
“Everything would begin with an analysis of the market, to see if it's attractive enough for the company to enter. That would include examining its size, growth rate, and profit margins. Then we would look at the potential acquisition target, examining its market share, current profitability, and competitive advantages that we could leverage. Further analysis would consider potential synergies that would enhance revenues and any cost-based synergies that might be beneficial.
Finally, we would come to the meat and bones of the issue: how financially beneficial would the acquisition be? Is the price realistic and manageable? And if it is, can we determine a reasonable expectation for a return on that acquisition investment? If everything else is positive, and it makes financial sense to acquire the target, then I would recommend moving forward to make a deal.”
27. Company C wants you to help them decide whether to enter a new market. What factors would you examine to help them make that decision?
“There are several key things to examine before recommending entry into a new market. The first factor would involve the market itself. How big is the market, what is its current and anticipated growth rate, and how profitable are the margins for companies currently operating in that environment? A similar analysis should be done for the current competitors. We'd have to identify them, examine their share of that market, and evaluate their competitive advantages.
Then we would consider the client company's abilities. Does it have the necessary capabilities to compete in the new market? Do any of its existing synergies present an opportunity to leverage those capabilities? If those considerations all look positive, then we'd turn to the big questions: can it be a profitable endeavor? What costs would be incurred? How much revenue can they expect? What is the timetable for breaking even after the market entry launches?”
Prepare now for better performance in your next interview!
As with anything in life, proper preparation is the key to success for your next consulting interview. By learning how to handle these and other consulting interview questions, you can more effectively ensure that you're ready for anything an interviewer throws your way. That's the best way to increase your odds of success and highlight yourself as the best candidate for the job.
Need help preparing yourself for these and other tough consulting interview questions? Contact our expert team of interview coaches today to ensure that you're as prepared as you need to be to ace your next interview.