Business Consulting - Worst Fit Interview Mistake
The worst thing you can do is give bland, generic answers to the interview questions.
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:
What interests you about management consulting?
I like to work with smart people and face difficult business and intellectual challenges.
That is a generic response. There is nothing personal about it - no story, no anecdote.
Click here to learn more about consulting fit and personality interview mistakes.
So what's wrong with that?
If you tell a little story or an anecdote about why you want to be a management consultant, it will stick out in the interviewer's mind. If you just give a run of the mill, plain answer, it will just blend in with all the other run of the mill plain answers. You won't get a job offer, and neither will anyone else who answered that way.
When a the consultants finish interviewing, they usually have a discussion group about the applicants. If an applicant leaves a strong impression with interesting, personalized responses, the interviewers will have something to talk about with the hiring committee. The answers in the example don't give the interviewer much to talk about.
Here's how you can add an anecdote or a takeaway.
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 what that answer would look like with an anecdote. Remember, when you personalize your answers, they become stronger. They convey an experience and draw a conclusion. And they make your interviewer remember you.
Why do you want to be a management consultant?
I love to work with smart, ambitious people facing intellectual challenges and solving difficult business problems. When I did my internship in asset management, I really enjoyed my smart, hard-working colleagues, but I did not feel challenged, myself. I think consulting will challenge me and give me the opportunity to work with people who will inspire me to do my best. I want to move up in the business world. I have come to realize that the best way to do that is to become a top member of a smart team and seek out the toughest challenges.
Click here to learn more about winning in management consultant interviews!
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:
What interests you about management consulting?
I like to work with smart people and face difficult business and intellectual challenges.
That is a generic response. There is nothing personal about it - no story, no anecdote.
Click here to learn more about consulting fit and personality interview mistakes.
So what's wrong with that?
If you tell a little story or an anecdote about why you want to be a management consultant, it will stick out in the interviewer's mind. If you just give a run of the mill, plain answer, it will just blend in with all the other run of the mill plain answers. You won't get a job offer, and neither will anyone else who answered that way.
When a the consultants finish interviewing, they usually have a discussion group about the applicants. If an applicant leaves a strong impression with interesting, personalized responses, the interviewers will have something to talk about with the hiring committee. The answers in the example don't give the interviewer much to talk about.
Here's how you can add an anecdote or a takeaway.
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 what that answer would look like with an anecdote. Remember, when you personalize your answers, they become stronger. They convey an experience and draw a conclusion. And they make your interviewer remember you.
Why do you want to be a management consultant?
I love to work with smart, ambitious people facing intellectual challenges and solving difficult business problems. When I did my internship in asset management, I really enjoyed my smart, hard-working colleagues, but I did not feel challenged, myself. I think consulting will challenge me and give me the opportunity to work with people who will inspire me to do my best. I want to move up in the business world. I have come to realize that the best way to do that is to become a top member of a smart team and seek out the toughest challenges.
Click here to learn more about winning in management consultant interviews!
About the Author:
Management Consulted is the ultimate resource for prospective management consultants. Written by a former McKinsey consultant, it covers topics including consulting resumes and cover letters, salaries, and more. Read the guide to management consulting today!