IIML Casebook 2014-15

The
Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Page 1

No part of this casebook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical,
photocopying or otherwise without prior consent from The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow.
Foreword
As companies worldwide get more and more concerned about hiring the right
talent for their key positions, candidate evaluation during interviews has become all
the more sophisticated. The case interview is unique in the sense that it presents
the candidate with a problem to be solved in the context of real-world business
situations and seeks solutions that tests both logical reasoning and creativity. It
allows the interviewer to evaluate the candidates skills in deconstructing a problem
and communicating their thought process, the ability to think on their feet, handle
ambiguity and assess their comfort with numbers. Although, traditionally used by
consulting firms in their recruiting processes, the case method is now increasingly
used for jobs across functions whether general management or investment
banking.
The casebook by The Consulting & Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow documents
candidates interview experiences by different firms that have been hiring from the
IIM Lucknow campus over the years. The ideal way to use this book would be for
the candidate to first arrive at a case solution employing his own approach and
then enhance his learning through comparison with the approaches documented in
the casebook.
The Consulting & Strategy Club

Anmol | Ankit | Devanshu | Rahul | Prince | Suraj
Amit | Arushi | Devika | Jyothirmayi | Riya | Saksham
The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

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Table of Contents

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................... 1
About Case Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 7
Skills Tested ........................................................................................................................................ 7
Types of Cases Encountered ........................................................................................................... 7
To-do List for a Case Interview ...................................................................................................... 8
Frameworks ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Some Important Frameworks ..................................................................................................... 9
Summer Internship Experiences 2014 ................................................................................ 14
Accenture Management Consulting..15
Interview Experience 1 ........................................................................................................................ 16
Altisource and Ocwen.30

Interview Experience 9 ...................................................................................................................... 171
Interview Experience 10 .................................................................................................................... 182
Alvarez and Marsal ..36
A T Kearney. ..40
Auctus...47

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Boston Consulting Group....52

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations...65

KPMG....74
McKinsey & Co. .....77

Summer Internship Experiences 2013 ................................................................................. 91
Accenture Management Consulting ............................................................................................. 92
A T Kearney ................................................................................................................................... 105
Boston Consulting Group ............................................................................................................ 108

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Deloitte US Strategy & Operations ...................................................................................... 113

KPMG .............................................................................................................................................. 119
McKinsey & Co .............................................................................................................................. 121
Summer Internship Experiences 2012 .............................................................................. 133

Accenture Management Consulting134
A T Kearney....149
Boston Consulting Group.....152

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations....159

McKinsey & Co. ......162


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Summer Internship Experiences 2011 .............................................................................. 169

Accenture Management Consulting170
Boston Consulting Group.....179

KPMG.....196
McKinsey & Co.......196


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About Case Interviews

Case interviews are usually based on real problems which interviewers themselves
have encountered in the course of their client engagements. They usually last for
about 20 minutes and seek to test the candidates problem solving skills. In a
typical case interview, the interviewer states a problem and the interviewee goes
about tackling the problem by asking a series of questions. The interviewer answers
these questions based on how he wishes to direct the interview. The candidate
must put forth a logical framework for solving the problem after having
understood
the
key
issues
and
must
ideally
make
some
recommendations/conclusions towards the end of a case.
Skills Tested
Problem solving skills

Quantitative skills
Communication skills
Poise and professionalism
Firm fit
Types of Cases Encountered

Estimation casesDetermine something by making reasonable assumptions
about critical variables.
For example: How many golf balls fit into a 747, or how many pens are
sold every month on the IIM Lucknow campus?
Market Sizing & Entry/Expansion
Profit/Losses Analyze changes in profitability, revenues and costs
Industry Analysis
Product Launch Help a client gauge if and how to launch a product
Mergers & Acquisitions
Competition Handling

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To-do List for a Case Interview
Take notes
Do not make any assumptions
Ask questions
Take your time before responding
Lay out a structure for the interviewer
Summarize at regular intervals
Frameworks
Knowledge of basic types of frameworks is helpful in case interviews

Helps in structuring the case analysis especially complex cases
Attention should be paid to minute details of the case
Identify the most critical issue and try to find solution for it
All the frameworks are very well-known and just using them wont help you
in cracking the interview
Dont fit a framework forcefully. Use it as a checklist to be exhaustive in
case you are stuck
Try mixing and matching frameworks with different types of cases
Try to form your own effective framework

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Some Important
Frameworks

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SUPPLY AND DEMAND:

The market-clearing price and quantity is determined by the intersection of
demand curve and the supply curve.
PROFITABILITY:
Try to find out the reason for change in profitability.
Profit = P * Q - ((VC * Q) + FC)
Profits are defined as total revenue minus total cost. Changes in revenue are due to
a change in quantity, price or both. Total cost is the sum of variable plus fixed
costs. Variable costs vary directly with quantity while fixed costs are set for a given
period.
3Cs:
It is one of the most widely used frameworks and one can differentiate their
analysis by not using it. Still, a quick and effective framework for industry analysis!

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PORTERS 5 FORCES MODEL:

It is usually the first step in industry analysis and should be followed by further
analysis. This makes it very time consuming in nature. Analysts use it for qualitative
evaluation of a firms strategic position.
VALUE AND SUPPLY CHAIN:

It can be used to examine an industrys depth.

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PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGIES:

It is a very effective tool in analysis of the cases.
SWOT:
In a full case analysis, this framework leads to time wastage and should be avoided.
It can be used as a presentation framework.

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MARKETING FRAMEWORKS:
These frameworks are very helpful in analysing marketing cases in consulting
interviews.
STP:
Segmentation:
Consider variables for segmenting markets
Analyse the profile of emerging segments
Validate emerging segments
Targeting:
Formulate a targeting strategy
Decision on which segments should be targeted
Positioning:
Understand the perception of the customers
Position products in the minds of the consumers
4Ps:
Product Functionality, brand, packaging and services

Price- Absolute and relative price
Place- Channel, inventory, logistics and distribution
Promotion- advertising, publicity, sales force, sales promotion

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Summer Internship
Experiences 2014


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Accenture
Management
Consulting


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Interview Experience 1
Name:
Arushi Agarwal
Company:
Accenture Strategy
Name of interviewer and
R3- Jayesh Pandey, Partner
designation
R1, R2- Dont remember
Round (First/Second/third) All
Brief Profile :
IIT Delhi, B. Tech (Textile Technology)
(Graduation College, stream, 1 year experience at KPMG in Shared Services and Outsourcing
Work ex details, etc.)
Advisory (Strategy Consulting)
Interview questions (With
indicative answers if you
choose to share them)
Narration of the case
interview (Please be as
descriptive as possible)
Round 1: General HR, followed by Case involving numbers.

Round 2: Pure HR
Round 3: General HR, followed by an abstract case
Round 1: Interview started with Tell me about yourself. It went
straightway to a case from the FMCG sector. Problem was about
the falling market share of an FMCG company. Interviewer was
looking for a structure to the problem and the various factors that I
can come up specific to the FMCG sector. He gave me some
numbers, which had to be traced backwards to get the companys
profits. A little tricky but doable. The companys profit margin had
to be compared to the industry average and some knowledge of
various ratios of this industry, helped me give valuable insights.
Round 2: This was taken by the company HR. The various
questions asked were- How was my last interview? What could I
have done better? Why Consulting? Why not go into my field of
engineering? Why did I leave KPMG? What can I do to motivate a
team? Who has a greater influence in my life- school or parents.
Why? Why Accenture? Any questions you would like to ask?
Round 3: It was taken by someone in senior position. It started
with tell me about yourself? Revolved around the work I did at
KPMG and why I left it? My biggest learning out of my job? Then
he moved on the case. The case was about a magician who was
controlling the supply of food that was eventually going in the well.
I had to determine the speed of conveyer belt, that would help in
transfering the food. He asked me to list the questions I would like
to ask him. He had made a confusing diagram. I didnt not get into
the mathematics, and asked basic questions about the motive of the
magician. Why is the food going inside the well etc. I also listed
down the questions related to mathematics on a piece of paper.

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What do you think went

right in this interview?
My approach to the case in the last round. Rather than solving the
problem, I stressed more on what was the problem and what
exactly was happening.
I had also prepared my HR answers well in advance, which helped
me on the final day.
I was confident throughout all the rounds

wrong in this interview?
In Round-1, I was in a hurry to do the numbers, which led to some

error. I realised it early and immediately corrected it.
Any tips for future batches

on the basis of your
experience
Prepare HR answers well in advance.

Prepare Do you have any question for me?
Name:
Himani Anand
Company:
Accenture Strategy
designation
Round 1- HR
Round 2 Head, AsiaPac
Round 3- Partner
Round (First/Second/third)
Three rounds
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, stream, B.Com(Honours), SRCC, Fresher
Round 1: Round 1 was the HR Interview with questions covering
the followingchoose to share them)
Tell me about yourself
Why Consulting?
What have you done in IIM Lucknow all this while?
Favourite subjects- Questions covering accounts, ratios,
interpretation of financial statements
Round 2: The round with Asia Pac head started with him asking
me which horizontal or Vertical I see myself in. On mentioning
Finance, the whole interview revolved around Financial
Management and Investment concepts besides basic FRA.
Questions on Capital Asset Pricing model
Other models to measure risk ( Harry Markovitz model)
Which one is better?

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NPV vs IRR
My stand on US- Syria war, Hong Kong protests
Why consulting
How has the journey been so far in IIM Lucknow?
Round 3: The partner wanted to testify the claims made by the
second round interviewer about my inclination towards Finance.
He gave me situations and asked me what impact each event or
transaction will have on Profit and loss statement, Balance sheet
and Cash flow statement.
Questions about companies preferring lower profit or higher profit
( Shareholder confidence vs tax evasion)
Questions on Income tax provisions, indirect tax provisions
Clarity of thought in talking about my area of interest

Structure, coherence in HR Answers

experience
Know your CV really well

Maintain your calm, it shows.
Enjoy the process

Name:
Karthick Nivas
Company:
Accenture Strategy
NA
designation
Round (First/Second/third) First - HR
Second - Case
Brief Profile :
IIT Kanpur
(Graduation College, stream, Civil Engineering (B.Tech.)
Work Ex 22 months (Flipkart, Aspect Ratio)

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experience
Round 1: HR interview only

Tell me about yourself.
Why consulting
Questions on my CV - Long discussion on
projects that I did at Flipkart
No cases
Some discussion on the Digital focus area of Accenture.
I asked the interviewer about his experience at operations projects
at the company. (Operations was his area of specialization)
Round 2: Case only
A marketing strategy case. Client is a perfume seller in Jaipur. The
perfumes he sells are not to be found anywhere else in the world.
The product has not been tried by people elsewhere apart from the
city. Tourists to the city have been intrigued by its flowery smell
and usually buy some to take back home. How to go about
increasing the business?
The case was very interactive. The interviewer expected me to
frame a structure and ask the right questions. There was a lengthy
discussion at the end about pricing and the right marketing
campaign to be chosen.
I was able to hold onto my point albeit minor modifications in light
of continuous questions and interruptions by the interviewer. Some
of my answers were made fun of by the interviewer but he was
generally very cheery. I believe he was trying to test my composure
and I think I did well by sharing with him the logic of my answers.
I was unsure about some of my points after being mocked by the
interviewer. My lack of knowledge of perfumes was a bit of a
problem.
Be cool and logical in your thinking. The interviewer looks for gaps
in your thought process. So, list out any assumptions that you take
inadvertently in your mind.
Name:
Neha Agarwal
Company:
Accenture Strategy
R2- Mr. Jayesh Pandey, Partner at AMC
came for the PPT, and a lady interviewer (probably HR), but did
not talk. Before I left the room, she told me about the various
teams at Accenture and asked me for location preference.
R1-Mr. Akash Kedia, Principle

2 Rounds (long interviews, 35-40 mins each)

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Brief Profile :
BITS-Pilani-2012. MSc. Economics & B.E. Mechanical
(Graduation College, stream, 1 Year internship at Morgan Stanley Capital Intl prior graduationWork ex details, etc.)
(2011-12)
2 years as Research Analyst at Corporate Executive Board
(consulting/research)
Round 1: long and conversational, asked one case. Overall

interview was CV heavy.
Q1- Tell me something about yourself
(During my introduction, I mentioned that I did M.Sc. Eco in UG,
so he started asking questions on the Indian Economy)
Q2- What do you think about the current macro-economic
condition of our country from business perspective
(Spoke about retrospective tax and transfer pricing, discussed the
Vodafone case, how tax policies impact business sentiments)
Q3- What do you think about the current inflation and exchange
rate of our economy?
(lot of discussion happened, QE tapering also came up)
Q4- After QE tapering and witnessing its effect on Indian
exchange rate, what are some of the most impactful steps taken by
Govt to control the fluctuation in exchange rate?
(mentioned cap on gold imports, meeting the demand for foreign
exchange by using countrys reserves- not sure to what extend it is
correct, but he seemed convinced)
Q5- What are some of the things that can be improved to promote
business?
(mentioned about a client co. (Fortune 500 firm) that was trying to
open a subsidiary in India and the challenges it faced, and some
suggestions on what can be done to promote entrepreneurship in
India)
Q6- Asked me to explain a project I did at workplace on reputation
risk
(discussion was mostly focussed on how I conducted primary
research and came up with the final recommendations)
Q7- Tell me something about the firm you worked at and your
role?
Q8- Asked me about 2 other short term projects from work
mentioned in CV

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Q9- Asked a case- Very standard Sales Declining Case- My client

is from auto industry, his sales are declining, analyse why? (asked
me to list down all the possible reasons)
Q10- Tell me about your experience at IIM Lucknow and what
would you like to change? (add courses on entrepreneurship, law
and ethics, and sustainable business practices)
Q11- Have you explored Lucknow, outside your college campus?
If so, one thing youd like to change or dislike?
Ans: Nothing came to my head, so said: Introduce direct flight
from Lucknow to my hometown, Udaipur. The connecting flight
takes more than 15 hrs! He laughed.
Q12- Tell me one thing that is not there on your CV.
Q13- Why Accenture?
Round 2:
Q1- 1 case- refer next section for its description
Q2-One thing I liked about the Accenture PPT and case
workshop, one thing that I did not like (mentioned that function
info was missing)
Q3- Which team would you like to join- CN or India Business- I
did not know what these teams are, so asked them to explain.
Q4- Is it okay if we send you to a small village like xyz on a client
project?
Q5- What will you do if we do not select you? what other shortlists
you have? (mentioned that this cannot be disclosed as per
Placecom rules)
Case in Round 11- One of our clients sales (Auto Industry) are declining, why?
: Sales= Price * Volume
Looked at all the causes affecting Price and Volume. He did not
answer qualifying questions. Told me to list all the possible external
and internal factors. I wrote everything. Then he discussed it point
by point.
Note- Practice drawing a MECE. Refer to the 3-case file they gave
during PPT. He was not looking for industry knowledge.
Case in Round 2- (went on for 35 minutes, lots of questions and
criteria, interviewer gave me a lot of time to think and structure)

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There is a housing society The wasteful society, you collect all

the household garbage and sell it to 5 different businesses.
Determine what price you will pay to the society members in
Rs/kg, given you want to make a profit of 20% for a year.
Information given:
The garbage you collect is sold to the following 5 vendors:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Compost Manufacturer
Plastic Recycler
Paper Recycler
Metal Recycler
Miscellaneous
The following questions were written on the case sheet:

Q1- How would you price the garbage to make a profit? (what
would be your strategy)
Q2- What information would you need to proceed in the case,
prioritize your questions (i.e. the most important information
should be asked first: you will be evaluated on that)
Q3- Apart from obtaining money from the above 5 vendors, what
are other revenue streams?
Q4- What are some of the other factors you would consider when
you price the society? (Ans: Society maintenance charges)
(did not discuss Q3 and Q4 in detail)
Solution:
Ans1- Assess how much waste I would get on a daily basis,
calculate the cost and revenue streams, factor in profit margin and
calculate the price.
Questions asked:
1- What is the amount of garbage produced by the society/
household and how many households are there?
Interviewer: 4.5 kg/ household, 180 households
2- Are all households producing the same amount of garbage?
Interviewer: 120 households produce 14 kg/day, and the
remaining 60 produce 1 kg/day. Recalculate the average
value if it doesnt come out to be 4.5kg. Gave me a
calculator to do so.

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3- Why do these households produce such a large quantity of

garbage? Also, does this lead of 2nd degree price discrimination?
(i.e. charge households on basis of the amount of garbage
supplied)
Interviewer: Large family size. Yes, we charge these households
differently, we will look into this later.
4- Can I assume if the quantity of garbage produced remains same
each day?
Ans: Yes
5- Apart from households, who else supplies us garbage, e.g. local
kirana stores?
Interviewer: Ignore, we only consider households
6- Who is collecting and disposing waste currently? Do we have
the figures on what price the competitors/current vendors are
charging?
Interviewer: Ignore.
7- What is the segregation of waste? i.e. what proportion of waste
goes to each of the 5 vendors? This will help me determine
revenue.
Inter. Assume 20% to each, he also gave me price/kg obtained
from each of the vendors.
Revenue Streams:
Q1- I obtain: 120*14+ 60*1=1740 kgs of waste everyday from the
society. Is all of it segregated and sold or some quantity is wasted/
non usable.
Interviewer: No waste, all of it is useful. So 1740/5 goes to each of
the vendor.
Revenue: Sum of (Price from each vendor*1740/5)
Other revenue stream:
Q: Since I will be collecting waste for an year, can I charge the
society for an annual contract fees/ society maintenance?
Interviewer: No, ignore that. Think of more ways by which you can
earn money.
Q: Do I get any subsidy or payments from government/ society
maintenance unit for cleaning the place, as it leads to social
benefits?
No

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Interviewer: lets look at cost streams, for now, we can stick to the
revenue obtained from our five vendors.
Cost streams :
a. Transport costs:
Int: elaborate more: what transport costs:
Me: I assume a truck goes to collect the waste, it will go from the
garage to the society, collect the material from there and go to five
vendors to deliver.
Do we have the kms travelled per day? And price charged per km?
Interiewer: some discussion on how to determine the cost. He said,
price/kg is not the right metric, gave me price/km/kg of waste
taken. The cost of transport depends on how much it is loaded and
the distance travelled. Also, we decided to assume that it carries all
the waste of 1740 kgs in different containers throughout the route.
So cost is: 60*1740*x
(he was looking for the right metric, price/kg/km. I only asked
kg/km. Also, he also wanted me to ask him how much weight is
carried at one time, as it goes to 5 different vendors delivering
1740/5 kgs. He wanted me to ask these two questions, even
though we later decided to ignore this in calculation)
2- What are the labour costs involved in segregating the waste for
5 vendors? This is a manual process so would require us labour.
Interviewer: well ask the society people to do so. Theyll
segregate the waste and give us. However think of the costs
associated with this.
Me: Well keep 5 separate bins for this. So costs of bins is
required.
q- Do these bins wear out, how many times do I change the 5
bins in one year
(interviewer gave me the costs of the bins)
3- Labour: drivers salary (ignore, thats included in transport),
labour to pick garbage and unload it at vendors place. Cost
associated: total annual salary
My salary, as I manage this business: to be ignored
4- Do we calculate price based on profit before tax, or should I
factor tax paid?
Inter: ignore tax, calculate EBIT
5- Are there any financial costs? Have I made any investment for
running this business on which I to pay interest?
Ignore this

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6- Any other set up cost? Ans: No

7- Finally, the price paid to households as we purchase the garbage
from them.
Interviewer: Proceed to calculations
Revenue: X
Costs: Y (from all the factors) + (Z= cost paid for garbage)
Profit: 0.2 total costs
Total Waste 1740 kg
Using all this data, calculate an appropriate price.
X- (Y+Z)= profit= 0.2 (Y+Z), we know X and Y so calculate Z.
Z is the total price I will pay for 1740 kgs of waste. I started
drawing the graph for 1 kg and 14 kg waste to determine price for
these two bundles (2 degree price discrimination). He looked at the
graphs, but told me to ignore and calculate price by directly
dividing it by 1740.
He told me to summarize everything to the lady interviewer sitting
in the room.


Important: I filled 5 sheets in collecting all the information

He looked at the sheets to see how I organized all the sections of
the case, like cost stream, revenue stream, list of questions to be
asked etc.
1- Was prepared to answer questions based on CV.
2- Was able to structure the case verbally and on paper. Both the
interviewers checked that
3- Interview was conversational
R2 interviewer seemed a bit intimidating in the PPT and I was
praying he doesnt take my interview. However, when I entered the
room, I saw him and got very nervous. Because of this, I stumbled
a little in the beginning, but as the interview progressed, I was fine.

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experience
1- Practice cases on paper, draw MECE and structure each

subpart neatly.
2- Know your CV well, specially work and academic projects.
Prepare HR answers.
3- Take notes during PPT and read about the company: they ask
for it during interview.
4- Try to engage the interviewer, especially during the case. Smile
and be confident.
5- Ask one question to each interviewer at the end of the
interview. This shows your interest in the firm.
Name:
Pooja Agrawal
Company:
Accenture Strategy
Partner: Jayesh Pandey
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Associate followed by HR and final round was by a partner
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, stream,
B.Tech Pulp & Paper Technology, IIT Roorkee, Fresher

Round 1: Introduction, Reason for a career in Consulting (I
mentioned my dads business which he picked up)
Case was on profitability of a tea packaging company(Dads
business)
Round 2: 1. Introduction (something not on CV)
2. Discussion about family, my hostel life & other generic stuff
3. Interviewer read the comments of R1 and asked about how
confident I am with quant. (I messed up some calculations
in first round)
Round 3: I was the last one to be interviewed. Interview began
with the case directly.

1. How to increase the number of bank accounts of a public

sector bank? (gave a lot of details: targeted segment, existing
customers, mean & median age and income of customers)
2. How to commoditize the perfume being sold at the Jaipur
city palace & used by the royal family? He wanted me to
think of a marketing plan for 5-10 mins. He wanted a oneon-one debate rather than a structured solution on paper.

Page 26

I was very relaxed and interactive during the interview. The

interviewer said that he was looking for consistency in the
marketing case. I gave a proposition for the product and stuck to it
till the end. I think that really helped.

experience
HR answers: most important, Have a clear answer for Why

consulting
Involve the interviewer during the case as much as possible.
Name:
Tanveet Saluja
Company:
Accenture Strategy
designation
Brief Profile :
BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Batch of 2013

Worked for 1 year in Carrier Airconditioning
Round 1: Questions revolved mostly around my CV. I had done a
6 month internship in Logistics department of Skoda. So he asked
me a case study on how to improve profitability by reducing the
logistics cost. Basically he wanted to check how many areas of
logistics I touched upon and how could cost be reduced in each.
He also asked which area I wanted to specialize in? What would I
look at first while looking at income statement of a company so as
to determine the health of a company?
Round 2: HR Round. Tell me about yourself. Why consulting?
Why is academic section of your CV so strong? Most remarkable
achievement during your workex.? What are your hobbies? What
would you do first after finishing your MBA?
Round 3: This round was with the partner. Again questions from
my CV. The partner had a degree in chemical engineering. So he
asked me questions on heat transfer. ( I had done heat transfer
during my graduation). Asked me my favourite course at IIM
Lucknow. A few questions from microeconomics followed. Had a
15 minute discussion with him on Prisoners dilemma in the airline
as well as soft drink industry. He ended the interview with the
question: Why Accenture?

Page 27

Be calm and composed. Consulting interviews are basically about

having a wholesome conversation with the interviewer. The more
comfortable you are higher are your chances of selection

experience
Do not mug up frameworks for case prep. Be logical in your

approach.
Name:
Vishwas Nandan R
Company:
AMC
Round 1 : One Senior Manager
designation
Round 2 : One Partner, One HR
2 Rounds
Brief Profile :
NITK Surathkal, Mechanical Engineering, 23 months of work
(Graduation College, stream, experience at Hero Motocorp Ltd.
Round 1:
Most of the questions were related to my work experience
at Hero Motocorp (Supply Chain related)
Explain ABC analysis? (Classification of parts based on
sales)
Questions related to Flipkarts Big billion Day
- What is the motive behind Flipkarts big billion day?
- Given the negative publicity that flipkart witnessed,
would you as an entrepreneur have such a sale for your
company?
- Estimate the customers that flipkart would have gained
due to the Big billion day
Round 2:
Tell me about yourself?
Why Consulting?
Why Accenture?
Work ex related questions

Page 28


Calculate ROI for your project at Hero Motocorp.

Which subject did you like the most in first term? Explain
economies of scale? Why does the cost increase after certain
volume? How can that be avoided?
Repeated questioning on why management? and why
consulting?
How comfortable would you be in applying your work ex
related learnings in a bank?
Questions were mostly related to Flipkarts Big Billion Day 1)
Guesstimate the number of customers flipkart would have gained
due to the Big Billion Day sale.
- Calculated it for a smaller area taking IIML as sample
and suggested about extrapolating these numbers to a
city like Lucknow or maybe even India
- Mentioned about the skew in the results if extrapolation
was done with IIML as sample.
- Explained about the error corrections that must be
considered while extrapolating like Computer literacy,
awareness about the sale, internet availability etc.
Structured approach to all the answers
Was confident throughout the process and involved the
interviewers hence both the rounds were like a discussion

experience

Research on the various divisions of Accenture and the kind of

projects taken up by those divisions
Know your CV well
Preparation of HR answers is crucial


Page 29

Altisource and Ocwen


Page 30
Name:
Dipak Saha
Company:
Altisource
designation
Senior Manager, HR
Brief Profile :
Jadavpur University, Power Engineering, Incident Analyst for a

major international bank at Tata Consultancy Services, 22 months
Round 1: Mostly questions on my work experience. My learning
out of it. Knowledge about the company. Why did I choose to
work there?
No case interview.

I could talk at length about my work and back those up with some
of the awards that I won during work. Being strong at Mathematics
also helped.

Did not knew much about the organization. They wanted

candidates to do more research on the organization.

experience
Practice puzzles
Go through the company website and ppt
Prepare your HR answers well

Name:
Naman Gupta
Company:
Altisource
Oliver, HR Head
designation
Round (First/Second/third) First
Brief Profile :
Thapar University, Electronics & Communication, Genpact
(Graduation College, stream, Headstrong (Big Data Analyst)

Page 31

Round 1: Purely Work-ex based, What was your work? , What was
your role? , What was the team setup? , What was the impact of
your work on Clients Business
Round 2: What type of work appeals to you, where do you see
your career in future, Again purely work-ex in very detailed manner


experience
Honesty about my work

Willingness to learn
Explanation of my work in layman terms
Confidence
Spontaneity
Lack of preparedness about companys work
Prepare your work-ex really well
They look for people who wants to apply logic
Stress on your analytical skills

Name:
Rishika Malik
Company:
designation
Mr Oliver, Head of HR Department, Altisource
Brief Profile :
One
SRCC, BA (Hons), Economics. No work ex
Round 1:
Please run me through your CV.
What do you know about our company? (Along discussion on it.
what are the various services which Altisource offers, what is loan
servicing etc. There are 5 different Altisource companies. Read
about them. A lot of information is available on the Altisource and
Ocwen websites)
Please ask me any anything you want to know.


Page 32

I gathered a lot of information about Altisource and Ocwen and

the services it provides. Ocwen basically does loan servicing.
Altisource provides technology solutions to companies, it has its
own online real estate marketplace, Hubzu etc. Loan servicing is
uncommon in India and it is important to understand it if one
wants to crack this company. Sufficient information is available on
the company websites.

experience

Name:
Somya Sheshank
Company:
Oliver Dsouza, Director Human Resources at Altisource
designation
1 round
Brief Profile :
IIT Roorke Btech Metallurgical and Materials Engg, 2yrs work ex

at iRunway India Pvt Ltd
Round 1: Q) Tell me everything you know about Altisource
(discussion weny for about 15 mins).
I had contacted seniors at Altisource, so I had a decent knowledge
of the functioning of the company. However, the interviewer was
not impressed and expected extremely fine details about the
company. (Note that the operations of the company cannot be
easily understood from their websites and other public
information. It is better to get in touch with employees)
Q) Tell me about your job.
They were interested in knowing your role in as much details as
possible. They were looking for some kind of a match between the
role they had in mind and your background.

Page 33

They do not ask any case.

The fact that I presented my work ex details in a manner which

was easily understandable and showed a match with their
requirements.
That I did not delve very deep into understanding the operations of
the company.

experience
Make your you read/ask around as much about the company as

possible. That is all that is required.

Name:
Vaibhav Sharma
Company:
Altisource-Ocwen
Mr. Praditpto Sarkar + Mr. Oliver DSouza
designation
(Senior Manager) + Director (H.R)
Brief Profile :
Only 1 Round
B.Tech (Computer Science) , 2 years work experience with
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in the Healthcare vertical

Not Applicable
Round 1:
Walk us through your resume esp. your work experience
Tell us more about your team structure and project details
What do you know about Agile methodology?
Tell us about the challenges you faced because of the
geographically dispersed teams
What are your predictions for the I.T sector in the
healthcare vertical?
What are the challenges to achieve such growth? (follow up
question to the previous question)
Were you satisfied with your job with CSC? What else are
you aiming for after you pass out from IIM-L?
Do you have any questions for us?

Page 34

The interview was primarily linked with my work experience in

Computer Sciences Corporation. My knowledge of the I.T service
sector came in handy during the interview. Also, it is important to
be well aware of the various kinds of challenges and opportunities
in the sector you were working in.

I was not well versed with the kind of work Altisource does and its
relationship with Ocwen financial services. Please ensure you do
adequate research about the company.

experience
If you have work experience related to I.T, Analytics or

Operations, make sure you are well prepared for work
experience related questions.
If you are a fresher, be prepared for some puzzle questions.
Please do your basic research about the company


Page 35

Alvarez and Marsal


Page 36
Name:
Arpit Kumar Singhal
Company:
Alvarez and Marsal
2 Interviewers(Both having experience for quite long in consult
designation
firms)
Brief Profile :



experience

2 Rounds
Delhi College Of Engineering , Electrical Engineering, Tata Steel
Ltd - 3 years, Project Manager
Round 1:
Tell me about yourself.
Why Alvarez?
Why consult?
Work experience at Tata Steel. (He was interested in knowing how
I solved problems at site)
Case.
Any question would you like to ask me.
Round 2:
Tell me something that is not mentioned in the CV.
How do your friends perceive you? (No beating about the bush)
Do you read management books?
One finance problem.
One current affairs question.
Any question would you like to ask me.
The case was printed and quite long(about a page). It was about
auto components part and everything was given about it.
Suggestions were to be given whether a new company should enter
it or not. I was given time to read it and just had to structure it. He
interrupted me whenever he felt I was going haywire.
I had well prepared the initial questions about myself, why
consult and why Alvarez questions which helped me in gaining
confidence. It was my only interview of the day so I was quite
relaxed. The interviewers also seemed friendly.
I hadnt prepared Something that is not mentioned in the CV
question. I had to come up with on the spot answer which could
have been better.
Do well prepare your HR questions and work experience part. It
really helps on the final day.


Page 37
Name:
Kritika Gupta
Company:
Alvarez & Marsal
designation
Brief Profile :

First
B. Com (Hons.) from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Work
experience: 21 months KPMG (Transaction services)
Round 1: Analyse the hair care industry for a company that wants
to enter the Indian market; Given the profits of two companies,
where would you invest (Ans: ask the interviewer for respective
investments for the two companies and then calculate ROCE); few
work experience based questions
Round 2: HR questions (leadership experiences, why does the
profile interest you etc.)
Analyse the hair care industry for a company that wants to enter
the Indian market.

I was calm throughout the process, had practiced more difficult

case studies for other consulting interviews, so the one asked in
this interview seemed simple.

The interviewers were not very expressive and didnt drop any
hints as to how the interview was going. This made me loose a little
confidence towards the end.

experience
Understand the work profile well before interviewing. Have basic

financial concepts in place (basic FRA knowledge form the 1st term
would suffice), read a little about M&As.

Name:
Nishant Kumar
Company:
Alvarez & Marshal
designation
Round (First/Second/third) First round was case study based
A case was handed and each candidate was given 20-25 mins to
solve the case before their 1st round
Second round
With the firm partner

Page 38
A fin question was asked in addition to 2-3 Hr questions regarding

why interested in finance, why consulting etc.
BITS Pilani, 3 yrs Marketing and Sales Analytics
Brief Profile :
Round 1:. The case given to me dealt with 2 skin care companies,
market leaders in their segment. 2 new market companies had
entered the market eroding off the market share of the established
firms.
Data reading working capital, paid in capital and operating
expenses were given. The case was followed with 3 questions.
1) Discuss the current market situation?
2) What should be the strategy of Skin Care India Pvt. Ltd (
the market player in the mass market segment)
3) If you are a PE which firm would you invest in?
In the first round of the interview these questions were discussed
in detail and various other scenarios were also taken into
consideration
Round 2:
A finance question regading P&L statement of 2 companies were
asked.

Also basic Hr questions such as interest in finance, why consulting

etc were also asked.
Stated above
Logical conclusion of the case in round 1.

I think I was able to justify my interest in finance which added to
my cause.

experience


Page 39

A T Kearney


Page 40
Name:
Anupam Bhattacharjee
Company:
A T Kearney
Round 1: Manish, Partner
designation
Round 2: Nithin, Principal
Round 3: Cant Recall
Brief Profile :

BITS-Pilani, B.E. (Hons) Electrical and Electronics, Work Ex-23

Months, Intel and Broadcom (Wireless Communication)
Round 1: Brief introduction followed by a guesstimate.
Round 2: General questions about my work area and interests.
Followed it with a case.
Round 3: Introduction followed by discussions on my work area.
No cases in this round.
Round 1: The problem statement for the guesstimate case was:
One of the leading automobile players in India has decided to
launch an electric vehicle (priced at around Rs.7 lakhs) and wants
to estimate the market size for the same.
Initially started with the traditional top-down approach segregating
the potential customer base into rural and urban households and
then looked to find what fraction of households would be
interested in and can afford the EV. Next we discussed the
potential factors and trade-offs that would be involved in the
decision making process of any customer when he has to choose
between an EV and a fuel based car. Post that we did some
calculations to estimate the size of each segment.
Round 2: This round started with spending the first half hour
discussing my work, projects and interests. It was largely
conversational. This was followed by a case.
Problem Statement: One of the leading players in the automobile
sector in India currently has its production facilities offshore. It
wants to explore the option of setting up local production facilities
and see if it is economically viable to do so.
The case was mostly quantitative and involved lot of numbers
(fixed and variable expenses, projected sales figures for 5 years) and
required calculating the BEP and YoY profits.
Round 3: HR based round which included CV Review, why
consulting, questions on my areas of interest and long term career
goals.

Page 41


1) Was calm and relaxed throughout the interview.

2) Wasnt hesitant to ask for clarification whenever I got struck
while solving the case.
3) Was able to engage with the interviewers while discussing
my interests, work and projects
Missed one or two hints while solving the case where the
interviewer had to prod me along in the right direction.

experience
Name:
Gautam Bansal
Company:
AT Kearney
Round 1: Partner (Manish)
designation
Round 2: Principal (Nitin)
Round 3 : Principal
Round 4: Senior Partner
Brief Profile :
B.com (H), SRCC
(Graduation College, stream, Audit Analyst with Deloitte and Touche (USI) for 17 months in
the Asset Management and Real Estate sectors
CFA level 3
Round 1: Tell me something about yourself.
Guestimate: Estimate the demand for 2 wheelers in the market.
Round 2: Why consulting? Mathematics puzzle: No. of ways you
can move across chessboard from one end to the diagonally
opposite end.
Case: You are approached by a consumer goods manufacturer
based out of South India. He wants to understand if it is viable for
him to open a plant in North India. How would you help him?
Round 3: 5 minute introductions.
Case: Oil and Gas industry. I am a natural gas producer from 10
years ago. Discuss the applications of Natural Gas in the market.
How attractive is the market for natural gas?
Round 4: HR round. Tell me something about yourself.
Why Consulting? Questions based out of CV. Why AT Kearney?
Do you have any questions?

Page 42

experience
Round 3: After discussing the applications of natural gas, the

interviewer asked me to discuss the market potential of natural gas
in the transportation market. Thereafter, worked out cost benefit
analysis in comparison to petrol and diesel.
R 1: I was calm and the interviewer gave me time to settle. The
case was easy.
R 2: I handled the numbers well. There was a tricky tonne to Kg
conversion in the middle. Didnt miss it.
1. Two of the interviewers were unresponsive. Another one
was too responsive, almost like a stress interview.
2. Oil and Gas was an unfamiliar industry. Getting to the
applications of Natural Gas took some effort.
1. Being composed is definitely one of the top 2 things that
matter.
2. Define the problem clearly and get the broader structure
right.
3. Prepare Do you have any questions for me? well.

Name:
Mit Kotecha
Company:
A.T. Kearney
1st round: Akshat Seth(Principal), 2nd round: Manish(Partner), 3rd
designation
round: Nithin Chandra(Principal), 4th round: Mohit Rana(Partner)
Round
4 Rounds
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, stream, IIT Roorkee, B.Tech Biotechnology, Fresher
Round 1: Tell me about yourself; Case on Energy sector
Round 2: Why consulting; Challenges faced by a consultant in life,
followed by a case on automobile industry
Round 3: Case Interview and No HR questions.
Round 4: CV based questions and Tell me about yourself

Page 43

Case 1:
Problem Statement: A thermal power is plant facing losses
Case 2:
Problem Statement: Help a biscuit manufacturing plant to relocate
to some new place and estimate the break even.
Case 3(Abstract):
Problem Statement: How can you improve the efficiency of an
automobile manufacturing plant

My HR answers were well prepared.

My areas of interest matched with 2 of the interviewers, which
helped me to generate talking points and steer the interview in my
way.

In case 1 it took me a bit longer to reach the solution but in other

two cases nothing went wrong as such.

experience
It is important to stay calm during the case interviews. The

interviewer will be ready to help you out so it is important to clarify
your doubts, but dont ask the same question again and again. Take
some time to understand the case question and confirm with the
interviewer before proceeding further.

Name:
Prateek Sekhani
Company:
A.T. Kearney
Akshat, Principal
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Round 2
Brief Profile :
St. Xaviers College, Kolkata

B.Sc. Economics Honours
Work Ex: Futures First; Proprietary Trader; 6 months
Round 1: Puzzles like how many moves are needed to get from
one corner of a chessboard to the other.
Plus HR questions like, why will you choose A.T. Kearney etc
Round 2: Case: Various uses of CNG/LPG, and is it feasible for a
vehicle to convert to LPG.
Round 3: Size of the second hand car market in India

Page 44


Initially Akshat, principal asked me about a few basic points on my

CV. Then he said if I had any questions. I asked about what work
A.T. Kearney did in the energy sector since that was of interest to
me. Then he gave me a case on the same.
He asked me to enlist various uses of CNG/LPG in/around Delhi.
I bifurcated it into 2 parts: Domestic and Commercial.
Domestic included uses In the house and Outside the house. Inside
the house was essentially stoves plus any appliance if any. Outside
include vehicles, generator, etc.
Commercial comprised of factories (I suggested boilers when asked
to specify where), street lighting, office lighting,
trucks+commercial vehicles etc.
Post that he asked me to assess the viability of converting a car to
LPG. I enlisted monetary + non-monetary factors.
Monetary factors included per km cost of using LPG vs per km
cost of Petrol/Diesel. Then based on average distance, the break
even disctance was calculated.
For noon-monetary, factors like trunk space requirements,
reputational factor, accessibility of LPG stations etc were
considered.
Post that we spoke briefly about the Solar sector in general, with
focus on scope of Solar energy in India. This came up since I had
mentioned that it was an area of interest.
The fact that I knew in depth about the energy with solar sector
specifically helped a lot.
Apart from that, idea generation was something that went in my
favour.

I could have been more crisp and mutually exclusive while enlisting
my points.

experience
Whatever little I could gather from my experience was that

Consults thrive on good personality, confidence being a BIG
factor. Just be extremely composed, confident and converse well.
You probably may not do exceptionally well in the case but as long
as you come across as a smart fellow, you should be sorted. Having
said that, you wont be able to sound smart if cases dont go as
intended, so prep those well. ;)

Page 45
Name:
Shifali Makkar
Company:
AT Kearney
designation
Round (First/Second/third) 4 rounds
Brief Profile :
Bcom(Hons)
(Graduation College, stream, Sri Venkateswara College
Delhi University


experience
Round 1:
Ques:
HR Based
Round 2:
Case Based
Round 3:
HR Based
Round 4:
HR + Offer
Round 1:
Completely HR based round. Touched upon family background,
educational background interests, CV based.
Round 2: Interviewer was a partner
Guesstimate
Round 3:
HR: Personality testing
Round 4: With partner
HR
In all the rounds, I should conviction in what I believed and said.
Was confident in my HR answers.
Solved guestimate ques.
Was honest and struck conversations in all interviews.
Always involve the interviewer and remain confident of what you
say. Even if the interviewer refutes your stance, not to get nervous.
Keep a calm and pleasant face on. MECE very imp in structures.
Reflects on your holistic thinking ability.

Page 46

Auctus Advisors

Page 47
Name:
Deepali Jaiswal
Company:
Auctus Advisors
Akshat Jalan, Business Analyst (Round 1)
designation
Abhishek Mukherjee, Senior Manager (Round 2)
Saurabh Singhal, Associate Director (Round 3)
3 rounds in all
Brief Profile :
B.Tech. Civil Engg, IIT Bombay, Work ex 23 months at eGain

Communications (Product Engineer)
Round 1: HR: started with tell me about yourself, asked about my
PORs at IIT, discussion about my work ex.
Other questions: When in a group are you the silent one or the
one who speaks the most, Asked to narrate a good story based on
my POR. Why consult? Why Auctus?
Round 2: Case + HR round
Case: 2 cases 1st quantitative, 2nd qualitative.
HR: Why consult? Why Auctus? How is Auctus different from
other consulting firms?

Round 3: Case + HR round

Case based on organisational structure.
Discussion upon various topics hometown, family. Other
questions Do you like travelling? Which all places have you been
to? Why Auctus?
Round 2:
Quantitative Case:
Problem Statement: Company A manufactures beer bottles and has
only 1 customer B. A sells 50 lakhs bottles per annum. B might
raise the demand to 1 crore after a month in case IPL takes place
this year. A has to decide today if it has to go for production of 1
crore bottles.
Options for increased production are: (i) Produce as much as A can
and get remaining from 3rd party. (ii) Buy a new machine which
could produce 1 crore bottles. There is a probability that the new
machine might be defective.
Approach:
I started the case by stating (drawing tree) that there are 2
possibilities i) go for increased production ii) not go for increased
production.
In case (i) there are 2 possibilities a) purchase the new machine b)

Page 48
get from 3rd party.

In case (i)(a) again there are 2 possibilities (1) machine is defective
(2) it is not
Followed by stating: to deduce the most appropriate option we
need to calculate expected value of profit for each case for which I
asked following questions:
Current capacity of production (75 lakhs), probability of
occurrence of event (IPL), current cost, cost of buying new
machine, probability of it being defective and consequences, cost
of getting from 3rd party, profit per bottle. (Asked other questions
as and when required).
Then computed expected value of profit for each of the 3 possible
options and suggested to go for one with maximum expected value
of profit.
Discussed the case for about 45 mins.
The case was followed by HR questions for 20 mins.
Qualitative case:
Problem Statement: A company is planning to construct a school
in Indore. Suggest construction options for profit.
Approach:
I started with questions:
Does the company has prior experience in this sector?
How many schools are there in surrounding area and type?
Which part of the city are we aiming at (outskirts)?
Since it was on outskirts I suggested that it could go for full + day
boarding and continued further on that: type of school (medium,
standards, registration fee).
He stated that the land was quite big and cheaper (as it is located
on outskirts).
I suggested that company could invest in other options like sports
(swimming pool, TT etc.) for which it could charge. Could lend a
portion for cafeteria etc.
Didnt discuss much on this case due to lack of time.
Round 3:
Case based on organizational structure
Problem Statement: A company X is performing well but the CEO
and CFO are not at good terms. How should X proceed?
Approach: I asked for causes of conflict (Personal + Professional).
Discussed more on the issue and suggested for restructuring.

Page 49

I was confident and the discussion was very interactive.

Picked up hints from interviewer.
Cracked the quantitative case in first attempt (structure +
calculation).
Well prepared for why consult, why Auctus and about the
company.

experience
Ask clarification questions. Think loud. Have a good discussion.

Stay calm, confident and happy. Enjoy the process.
Name:
Divya Chopra
Company:
Auctus Advisors
Consultant, Consultant, Senior Manager, Director
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Round 1 : Consultant (HR)
Round 2 : Consultant (case)
Round 3: Senior Manager (Guesstimate)
Round 4: Director (HR)
Brief Profile :
Graduation: NIT Nagpur, B.Tech, Electrical and Electronics

Engineering
Work Ex: Deloitte Consulting, 23 Months
Round 1:
About me
Why consulting and why are you a right fit
CV related questions
Consulting is very challenging. Do you think it is in line
with what you want to do in life
Are you fine with travelling for work
What qualities does a consultant need
What is the difference between solving a case in an
interview and solving a case practically for a client
Round 2:
Case

Page 50
Round 3:
Guesstimate



experience
Round 4:
HR
CASE: There is a beer company. Its current sales is X. It
manufactures the beer bottles in-house at present. Since the World
Cup is approaching, it is expected that the sales will become 2X.
The beer company has to take a call whether it should increase its
production. If it increases production, it will have to manufacture
more bottles. At present the bottles manufacturing plant is running
at 80% capacity. Firstly decide if the company should increase its
beer production or not. I had to ask for all the costs involved and
selling price from the interviewer. If we go with the option of
increasing the production, then shall we manufacture the bottles inhouse or outsource them. The costs for each of the activity was
given. Explore all possible scenarios and decide.
GUESSTIMATE: I have a piece of land. Should I sell off the land
or build a school on it.
For this guesstimate, you need to ask a lot of questions and
calculate the cost of establishing a school on the land and calculate
the cash flows in a 10 year horizon. Compare it with future worth
of selling price of the land.
CASE: I could come up with all the possible scenarios quickly. I
calculated the expected profits for each of the scenarios and came
up with the best one. This case could have been solved using
opportunity cost of each scenario as well.
GUESSTIMATE: I asked the right questions.
The case was calculation intensive. I made a few calculation
mistakes, but the interviewer was not worried about calculation
goof ups.
Be confident. They are looking for enthusiastic people, good
communication skills and presence of mind.

Page 51

Boston Consulting
Group


Page 52
Name:
Anand Barot
Company:
BCG
3 Rounds of interviews.
designation
Last round with Partner named Ravi
Brief Profile :
IIT Bombay (Btech +Mtech)
(Graduation College, stream, Workex-33 months,
20 months: American Express, Last 13 months: Business
development in a food-processing and retail firm
Round 1: Case of Market entry
Scenario: The firm was a two-wheeler manufacturer in India and
wanted to introduce its product in Nigeria. I was asked to explore
the options it might have and how it should do it.
Approach: I first found out the demand and competition in
Nigeria. Also looked at the companys capacity to meet the price
requirements of the customer. Important point was that the twowheelers were used as taxi in Nigeria. This point came out when I
got an answer to the amount of usage of the product as 50,000 kms
annually which was very high.
Price we could offer was higher than competition so I suggested
changing the design to have two customers per ride than just one,
there by increasing revenue per ride and thus customers
willingness to pay higher.
Then interviewer asked questions about how to market it. I
suggested a few advertising ideas like showing increase in standard
of living of taxi driver due to usage of product.
Then question was how to get over the inertia that people felt in
buying as no one had used our product. For this my options ranged
from approaching taxi driver unions to limited number of product
units in market for a free 6 month period for the user to
experience the product. I also suggested a more spread out
distribution within the country to increase visibility of product.
Round 2:
5 min HR questions like tell me about yourself, etc.
Case of value chain management
Scenario: The company was a supplier of excavation and other
construction equipment. Recently, it had experienced a sharp rise
in its warranty costs. I had to probe the issue.
Approach: I studied the value chain and understood how product
complains were generated and solution provided by company. In
this I found that the dealers engineer was responsible for checking
validity of complains and it was the dealer who got a commission
for every complaint that he managed or solved.
This was major point that hinted at possible collusion between
customer and dealer. On further probing it was found that there

Page 53
was a fraud happening at the dealers end. The dealer was

generating false complains to earn more commission.
To solve the issue I suggested having a company engineer look into
the complaint validity. I also suggested having a remote way of
monitoring the product health. Both these solutions were a bit time
taking and costly. So a better solution from me was to monitor
each product and number of complains it generated in a given
period of time. If the same product generates more than normal
number of complains in a period, it can hint at possible collusion
and the firm can look into that complain before authorizing the
warranty.
Round 3: Case of distribution network and ROI
Scenario: The firm was a cement manufacturer and wanted to
expand into other regions. I had to explore ways and what areas to
target.
Approach: I looked at regions where the selling price of product
was high and suggested we target these regions. Looked at various
costs to the dealer or seller of the cement such as inventory storage
costs, etc and how we can give him incentive to store and sell our
product. Basically it was about increasing the ROI of the dealer wrt
costs he incurs to keep our product and benefits he receives by
selling it.

Done above.
The first round allowed me to look at a diverse set of options
across functions such as marketing, pricing, design, etc. The good
point was identifying early in the interview that the two-wheeler
was used as a taxi. Another good thing was that with each question
that the interviewer put forward to reject my suggestion, I was able
to give another alternative option.
Second round was more about finding the issue rather than
ideation. I was able to unearth the issue well and solution suggested
was very practical according to the interviewer.
Third round was more about gelling with the Partner and being
calm. At times when he probed me, I was able to maintain
composure.
All 3 rounds went well wrt establishing a good repo with the
interviewer. The communication was two-sided and involved.
Most things went well. Only thing that could have been better was
that in 2nd round I took some time suggesting a good solution. But
then when interviewer hinted at a few things, I was quick to catch
up. So, that too worked in my favour.

Page 54

experience
It is always good to be prepared with your HR answers. That is not

to suggest that you cram them up. They need to be genuine and
your preparation should involve having a few pointers for each
answer.
Most important thing is staying calm and composed and to enjoy
the process. You should come across as someone who is
enthusiastic about solving problems. Isolate each interview and
dont let it affect next interviews.
It is good to have frameworks at the back of your mind for each
type of case. But in the interview, try to ask good qualifying
question before putting a framework on paper.
Think aloud and let the interviewer be involved with you in the
process of reaching a solution.

Name:
Arpit Vnayak
Company:
Boston Consulting Group
3 partners
designation
Brief Profile :
Same as above
Round 1: 1) Tell me about yourself? 2) What are the important
factors you will look at if you are a cement dealer?
Round 2: 1) Case on building materials

Round 3: 1) Guesstimate no of tomatoes sold in a residential area

by a new organised retailer
Round 1: Had to talk about working capital requirement through
dealer terms, inventory requirement, etc.
Round 2: Two parts 1) draw the decision tree about how would
you look at a niche building materials business and 2) come up with
a formula with clear variables to estimate the overall market size
Round 3: Straightforward guesstimate with important cuts being,
% of people that consume tomatoes, type of people that will buy
from such a store vs regular vegetable vendor, etc

Page 55

Reaching the important points early with little talk on the various
other points that could have been addressed, talked about. They
were not looking for exhaustively looking and covering all points,
instead wanted you to reach solution immediately and then
completely cover them.

experience
Not much
While solving cases we emphasize a lot on MECE thinking, trying
to cover everything before reaching a solution. While that is
important to make sure we dont miss out on any point, on the day
of interview its different with just 15-20 mins per interview. Try
practising in such time frame closer to the interview date and close
the case within least time possible.
Name:
Gautam Bansal
Company:
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
designation
Brief Profile :
B.com (H), SRCC
(Graduation College, stream, Audit Analyst with Deloitte and Touche (USI) for 17 months in
the Asset Management and Real Estate sectors
CFA level 3
Round 1: Case: Your client is a fruits and vegetables retailer who is
facing inventory management issues.
Round 2: Brief introduction. Why consulting? You must be having
a busy day. How many interviews are you through with?
Case: A 20-25 slide PPT. The client is a Dairy farming corp. based
out of Western Europe. Its current market is almost saturated. The
client wants to expand its existing operations. It has several
markets within dairy under consideration. Evaluate the prospects.

Page 56


experience
R1: Began straight with the case.

Case Analysis
Identified that the problem could either be surplus or wastage.
Understood the inventory procurement and management system.
Took a sample fruit for a given week and proceeded with inventory
optimization. Developed alternative inventory plans and selected
the best one. Then asked to synthesize.
R2:
The interviewer didnt have my CV. He preferred a brief
introduction. Probed about other shortlists and interviews I had.
Case Analysis
Then opened an elaborate PPT and walked me through the slides.
It was a Dairy Farming Corp. based out of western Europe and we
looked at acquisition targets across 4 markets. After 10 minutes of
running me through a number of tables and graphs, I was given a
minute to think and recommend the best option for the client.
R1: I answered to the point and was quick with my analysis.
Seemed like they had no time to waste.
R2: Didnt lose sight of the bigger picture. Concluded with a
recommendation and case synthesis.
R2: Data overflow. There was too much data to comprehend.
1. Respond to the tone of the interviewer.
2. Being composed is definitely one of the top 2 things that
matter.
Name:
Mohit Agarwal
Company:
BCG
N/A
designation
Round (First/Second/third) 3 rounds in total. The interview rounds were more case centric and
less focused on HR. The HR questions, if any were interspersed
with the cases. Only the first round had a demarcated HR round
and then a case
Brief Profile :
Electrical Engineering, IIT Dlehi
(Graduation College, stream, Deutsche Bank (3 years)

Page 57

Round 1: 10 minute chat on the HR and then a 20 minute case.

Round 2: 30 minute case
Round 3: 20 minute case

Round 1: HR questions started with the usual tell me about

yourself which later graduated into tell me a situation where you
created an impact and brought about a change
Case:
The case was not a very difficult one in terms of laying out the
right levers but had a lot of number crunching to do.
Problem Statement: A pharma company is in phase-1 trials of a
first of its kind drug in the world that can cure baldness
permanently. Should it go ahead and sell this formula and rights to
a potential buyer and if yes, for what amount.
Approach Two things in the problem statement set the path for me.
a. Phase -1 trials, so phase -2, so phase-3 etc had to be looked
into basically the whole development stage from a drug in a lab
to a drug in the marketplace.
b. for what amount clearly this case demanded working with
numbers, because it was not just a yes/no question, but also asked
an approximate deal price.
Solving the case.
a) I laid out the value chain in development of a drug.
b) The interviewer on prodding gave me costs involved in the
phased clinical trials and their probabilities of success.
c) CATCH: Phase 3 trials success of failures probability does
not affect the overall outcome in expenditure, as even if it is
a failure, you have spent the money
d) So I have an approximate numbers on cost in different
scenarios.
e) Now, I tried to estimate the potential revenue that can be
earned from this drug. The interviewer gave the selling price
of the drug has been fixed at USD1000.
So now its more of a question of market sizing.
f) Since the company is a global pharma giant, it would be
selling all over the world.
g) The problem was now reduced to finding the number of
potential male bald customers worldwide ready to shell out
USD1000 for a cure.
h) The math worked out that there was no way to make money

Page 58
from this drug (It took a little bit of guts to state this
conclusion to the interviewer), and the company abandon
this project. Or better still, if somebody is ready to buy the
right, just sell it for any amount above the costs you have
incurred so far.
Round 2: Straight to the case, no beating around the bush, no
small talk. I actually liked this interview style.
Problem statement: The client is a motorcycle manufacturer from
India, wanting to sell motorcycles in Nigeria. For simplicity we will
talk in INR terms. The motorcycle market of Nigeria is dominated
by 3-4 Chinese manufacturers who sell motorcycles at INR25k. My
bikes cost INR50k. How do I sell them there?
Case approach:
First I tried to understand the Nigerian motorcycle market. Also, I
tried to understand if there was any possibility of the Indian maker
to sell cheap that possibility was ruled out. So, if cost leadership
does not work, product differentiation will. How could we then
differentiate our product?
a) CATCH: As it turned out in the course of our discussion,
the motorcycles were used as taxis
b) The drivers owned the motorcycles and plied pillions
around the city for a fee.
c) I worked out the math for these chinese motorcycles buying cost, maintenance, life, mileage, etc.
d) If the Indian client could beat that number, we could have a
winner - the buying cost was high, but we were better on
mileage, on life (3 years vs 2 years for the chinese product)
and on maintenance. Still the number was not favourable.
e) Next came the idea, that if we could not reduce the cost for
the drivers, can we improve the revenue. An idea that I
blurted out, but which turned out to be the one the
interviewer was looking for was to have a longer seat so
that a total of three people could ride the motorcycle
comfortably.
f) Now the numbers started making sense. Also note that the
previous numbers would have changed, because the mileage
with 3 people on board will be less than 2 ppl onboard.
Also, the amount individual customers are ready to shell out
for a shared taxi will be lesser than for a private taxi. All
these changes accounted for, the numbers still looked
positive.
g) So a go ahead was declared.
h) Now came the second part, given that we decide to enter

Page 59
Nigeria how do we position ourselves as a brand and

convince the locals to tru out our new expensive product
the benefits of which can only be ascertained after a period
of one or two years
i) The answer came in renting out these bikes to the drivers
on a trial basis, and let them appreciate our better bikes and
let word of mouth do the rest.


experience
Round 3: The case was a no quantitative one. It was about a

private bank which has recently got 50 branch opening licences
from RBI. How to decide where to set up these branches?
a). I went in with zero pressure into the interviews
b). I was very calm and interactive throughout. In round one, the
electricity in the interview room went off in the middle of the
interview. And it was very dark. I got up and drew out the
curtains,etc.
c). I did not flabbergasted when the person in front threw numbers
at me.
Nothing in particular that I can think of. Sometimes I missed a
lever of two, but the interviewer led me in the correct direction
eventually.
a). Be calm, but be enthusiastic in the interview. Enthusiasm
shows.
b). Make the interview a two way process. Let the interviewer help
you solve the problem. He will drop hints. LISTEN to them.
Name:
Mohit Kataria
Company:
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Round 1: Partner
designation
Round 2: Partner
Round 3: Partner
Round (First/Second/third) Three Rounds
Brief Profile :
B.Tech from PEC. Worked for 21 months in Strategic Services
(Graduation College, stream, Group (SSG) of The Smart Cube, a business research firm.

Page 60

Round 1:
10 minutes on Introduction and general HR. 20 minutes on the
Case.
Round 2: 20 minutes on the HR. 5 minutes on the Case.
Round 3: 25 minutes on the Case.

Description of 3rd Case

A tractor manufacturing companys share is declining.
Background Questions:
Company Description, Manufacturing Operations, and Revenue
Split by product and geography.
The company had 4 tractor models (different hp powers).
Discussed about the various possibilities of the revenues decline
any particular geography, product or channel.
There was a particular region where the sales were declining. The
sales in the region primarily consisted of 2 tractor models 35 and
45 hp.
Tried to approach the problem by dividing the issue areas between
Internal and External.
Internal Company related issues related to 4Ps.
External Competition, Consumer Behaving Pattern or External
Environment overall (PESTLE).
The prices of the product w.r.t to competitors was at par.
However, the maintenance costs was higher as compared to
competitors and hence the sales were going down.

experience
Solution:
Proposed a solution of providing extended warranty. Also the
excess costs incurred by the company could be recovered by
increasing costs of the other 2 tractors (as its market price was
slightly lower than its competitors) as the company did not want to
compromise on the profits.
It was very interactive. Plus the breadth of issues that I could cover
was the key that impressed him.
Missed the maintenance costs in the first phase. Came up with it
during the second round of investigation.
Just be comprehensive. It does no matter if reach the solution or
not. Just be exhaustive and have a structured approach.

Page 61
Name:
Parvez Jesani
Company:
BCG
Dont remember the name, Partner
designation
Round (First/Second/third) First Round HR + Case
Second Round Only Case
Third Round A little bit of HR & Chit chat on why BCG v/s
McK etc
Brief Profile :
Narsee Monjee B.Com, CA, CFA
(Graduation College, stream, 2 Years work ex Credit Suisse (4 months), Edelweiss (9 months),
eParent (1 year)
Round 1: Why consulting, why BCG?
Case on market entry for a Mobile Repairing Centre
Round 2: Case Profitability Tractor industry.
Round 1 Tell me something about yourself. Why consulting and
why BCG?
Case on market entry of a Mobile Repairing centre (the authorized
repair centre for a company) If I am an authorized service centre
for a mobile company and I want to set up my own mobile service
centre to service handsets of products whose warranties have
expired, how should I enter the market.


Round 2 Case on Profitability Tractor manufacturing

company. My profits are declining.
On further questioning, I found out that the company dealt in 3
types of tractors. Followed the standard approach and figured out
that there was a problem in the after-sales service of one type of
tractor. He gave me some numbers to work out and suggest
changing the prices of the tractors based on the competitors prices,
gross margins.
Round 1 I screwed up the 1st round. He wasnt convinced with
my why consult answer and coz of that I screwed up my case too.
Also, it was the 1st interview for the day and screwed up coz of
nervousness.
Didnt ask qualifying questions. Structure was all over the place.
Round 2 Perfect Interview.
Qualifying questions were perfect. Applied the correct approach.
Detected the problem in the after sales service. Perfect
recommendations.
1st Round Since I was very nervous, I screwed up the first round.

Page 62

experience
Name:
Radhika Saini
Company:
BCG
Partner
designation
Brief Profile :
Eco (Hons) Hanraj College
(Graduation College, stream, MSc Economics London School of Economics
Worked for one year on Indo-Pak economic relations policy
research
Round 1: Tell me something about yourself
Round 2: No questions only case
Round 3: No questions only case

Round 1: The case was based on a tractor manufacturer and the

falling market share of the company. The primary idea was to lay
out all possible reasons for such a fall both from the view of supply
and customer demand. The qualifying questions ruled out the
possibility of supply side problems and hence demand side was key.
Repair and maintainence costs were the reason for falling customer
demand. The case was fairly quantitative in nature.
Round 2: The aim was to improve the profit per ton of cement
sold. This was again a quantitative case where the different
transportation routes were to be mapped and the most profitable
markets were identified. Markets where profits were lower were
abandoned.
Round 3: This was a case discussion as opposed to a case solving
exercise. Here the interviewer discussed the various possibilities for
starting a new shop in terms of pricing, costs, financing,
recruitment, location, etc.
The first round required a systematic approach and therefore
adequate preparation helped to solve this case in a structured
manner. The third round required innovation and spontaneous
ideation which is possible if similar cases have been attempted
before. Overall presenting ideas with logic and structure helped me.

Page 63


experience
The second round did not go well for me. Here it was easy to get
lost in the many levels of the case and therefore it would be useful
to attempt some quantitative cases as well. Along with this, it was
important to stay calm when solving the case was hard which I
was not able to do well enough.
Prepare hard and work on exploring all possible options within a
case.

Page 64

Deloitte US Strategy &
Operations


Page 65
Name:
Abhinav Maingi
Company:
Deloitte
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Round 1: HR
Round 2: Case based
Round 3: HR
Brief Profile :
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee ECE
(Graduation College, stream, Goldman Sachs - 12 months
XLPAT (start-up) 12 months
Round 1: Discussed points from my CV. Stress was on graduation
and work-ex. Briefly discussed my reason for joining a start-up
after Goldman Sachs. Why MBA? Why consulting?
Round 2: Started with introduction. Interviewer gave me a case
and then based on my structure gave me a datasheet. Based on
these two, I had to take a decision. (Case was on cable business).
He asked me about items in P and L a/c and balance sheet. Some
more questions revolving around FRA concepts were asked.

Round 3: Why Consulting? Why should we take you? Why should

we not stop recruiting from IIM L? This was a stress interview.
Your client is a cable operator whose profits are declining. You
need to identify the reason behind this and provide a solution.
I asked initial qualifying questions like geography, other businesses,
technology, etc.
Then I asked about forward and backward linkages and explained
him my understanding of the value chain. He approved the value
chain.
He then gave me a datasheet. From the datasheet it could be easily
seen that the problem was in the forward linkages. Then I quickly
discussed the entire value chain with numbers.

He said, give me the most likely problem and solution linked to it.
The problem was with the set-top-boxes and I explained why I felt
it is the problem. Solution was to change the vendor.
I solved case quickly and gave recommendations in a structured
way.
In my final interview, I was asked names of people who had
interviewed me in previous rounds. I did not remember the names.

Page 66

experience
Focus on your academic subjects. Good case solving is just a big +.
Name:
Komal Agrawal
Company:
Deloitte
designation
Round (First/Second/third) 1st Round : HR
2nd Round : Case based
3rd round : Case based + presentation round
Brief Profile :
B.Sc. Biology, MBA IB, Associate Consultant at Infosys Ltd(Graduation College, stream, 23months
Round 1: It appeared that they intended to make a stress interview.
As I entered, he stood up, shook hands, but refrained from smiling.
Work ex details on CV were discussed, was asked to explain the
difference between agile and waterfall methodology of
development (methods used in IT industry) and explanation was
followed by 5 to 6 other questions on the same topic.
Q. Why did I join IIM Lucknow and not IIM Bangalore? A.
justified my stance
Q. Is IIM Lucknow adding value as per your expectations? A. I
mentioned learning in stress, time management and sharing of
ideas(globe)
Q. In your cv, I dont find any POR on campus? (committee etc.)
A. told about Bhavishya
Q. What all shortlists do you have?
A. After 3 seconds pause, It would be good if you could ask
pcom
Q. Interviewer stood up: O Really! Every other person who came
to this room told me about other shortlists. Now tell me, what
other shortlists?
A. Ask pcom( its important to be calm and not panic)
Q. B.Sc. Biology! Hm..how good are you in Maths
A. Humbly gambled, Sir, I am good thats why I am here
I felt like the opportunity died this very moment
Q. Do you have any questions?
A. No Sir.( he was disappointed and mentioned that everybody else
had a question)
I globed about some friends who are in deloitte and then compared

Page 67
Mckinsey and deloitte work culture, to prove that I have some idea
of the role being offered. (please prepare a question to be asked)
I was escorted out the door.
Round 2: Case based, qualitative along with data sheet.

Round 3: Principal round. It was mix of case study briefing and cv.
Lot of questions on personal life, work life balance, consistency in
Deloitte. Eg.
Q. If we give you PPO, will you be willing to travel.
Q. Why consulting.
Q. Solution proposed in the case.
Q. You have never done one thing at a time. (Entrepreneur when
student, left college when student, job to IIML etc.) How will you
be consistent and satisfied in Deloitte?
Q. Why didnt you peruse you start up ahead in spite of being
successful.
A. Told him about problems faced in scaling and some issues in a
small sized organisation that tickled his funny bone. Later I linked
this with best practices in Deloitte.
Q. Any questions.
A. took lessons from previous interview, made up a question and
globed (type of project etc.)
Case: A cable box manufacturer wants to outsource
manufacturing.
(a) Is this a good option
(b) If they dont pursue this, what else can be done.
(c) What are decision making criteria
(d) If you go for outsourcing, how will you process with the
analysis
Data sheet was provided when I brought up cost into
discussion. Fixed and variable components were given along
with annual production for three years. I was asked to calculate
cost per unit and base my decision on the data of three years(
including cost of machinery- fixed component and other assets)

Different scenarios mentioned in the case and dont know what

they liked in first interview, but probably my answers were to the
point and I didnt panic

I should have prepared a question to be asked, could have

rehearsed the answer for how good in Maths and which other
shortlists.

Page 68

experience
For all the interviews, just know the answer to who am I, (you
did somethings, you didnt do others, you should know why you
made those decisions; what are you good at and be aware of things
you are not good at)
It is not only about the time period from the day of your shortlist
till your interview, it is about your journey till date.

Name:
Rupika Malhotra
Company:
Deloitte Consulting S&O
designation
I had two rounds of interviews only (the others had three)
Brief Profile :
Miranda House, Economics hons

Work ex: 3 years, at Forrester Research

Round 1: it was a one hour round. Basically they took my 1st and
2nd round together. 20 minutes of HR and the rest was case based
Round 2: last round which was the partner round. They discussed
the case with me again. They asked me to present it as if they were
the client. Other aspects of the case that I missed were also
explored.
The case was about a cable box making company that had to
decide if they should go for outsourcing or continue manufacturing
in house. Profit and sales figures for the last 2 years and expected
figures for the next 2 years were given.
All aspects of the case were to be explored. You are expected to
think out loud and talk about everything that might be of
importance in making a decision for the company. And it helps to
be structured in your thoughts. For example, when you talk about
outsourcing, talk about how its going to impact your costs, what
kind of costs (fixed/ variable) and how, what will you do with the
facility that was earlier being used for inhouse manufacturing, etc.
Do the same for the other options. Any approach to solve the case
is fine as long as you cover all aspects in a structured manner. I was
guided well by the interviewer- If he saw me getting stuck
somewhere in the case, he would start a discussion to get my mind

Page 69


experience
working again. Overall, it was like a discussion and not an

interview.
I think the fact that I was thinking out loud was a positive. Like I
said, this way I was able to engage well in a discussion with the
interviewer. I was also asked questions about my work ex in the
same interview (HR and case round were taken together in my
case). I had made sure that I knew all aspects of my previous
company (since Deloitte was one of our clients there). I knew there
was a chance that the interviewer would already know a lot about
my previous company and work and so I could not mess up there.
And I think this helped which is why he took my case round in the
same interview. HR round is the first step- one cant afford to mess
it up.
There were times when I gave up (when I was solving the case).
That is one thing I should not have done.
Prepare HR well.
Practice some cases to build a structured approach to solving them
Be confident when you talk about your CV. Shows that you know
where you come from and what you want.
Name:
Shalu Mitruka
Company:
Deloitte US S&O
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Round 1: Senior Manager
Round 2: Senior Manager
Round 3: Partner
Brief Profile :
Architecture and Economics from IIT Kharagpur, with 20 months
(Graduation College, stream, of job ex in Pharma domain
Round 1: 2 small cases (related to pharma domain). Few questions
on my hobbies. I was asked to summarise my work ex which was
followed by 2 case.
Round 2: Detail case study. They were more looking into idea
generation
Round 3: Why deloitte? Why consulting? And was asked to
present my case of 2nd round in 2 minutes. Where do you see
yourself after 10 years.

Page 70

FIRST ROUND
Case 1: You want to setup a sales force team in India and you are a
US based Pharma company. what will be your budget.
So firstly I asked about the drug which I want to launch in India,
generic or patent. Who are my competitors? Then how much I
want to invest, do I want to start small or want to be a market
leader. Do I want to start from scratch, want to sell license, or want
to merge or acquire some Indian based company. Regarding sales
force, do I want to build a new one, or tie up with existing
companies? Further I also asked about pricing regulations in India,
do I have to follow a price cap, if yes then whats the expected
profit. For all these I was asked to take assumptions and move on.
Secondly I divided costs into external and internal factors.
External factors included (costs related to filing of Patent in Indian
market, etc) . Internal costs related to HR costs, Sales rep salary,
training, samples and free drugs to doctors, land ,factory setups (
told in more detail)
Case 2: further on the above case I was asked to estimate the
number of sales rep required to launch the drug.
Solution: For this I asked rough estimation of market size in India,
and expected market share for the drug. As per the clients US
benchmark, they invest 30% of the revenue on sales so i got the
amount they want to invest in sales rep ( lets assume X). If one
sales rep costs Y, therefore we can estimate the number of sales rep
required (X/Y).
SECOND ROUND:
Case: I am a US based company and I sell 3 products A, B, C (I
dont rem exact name) and I am having losses. I assume the reason
for facing losses can be either economic downturn, new
competitors, or internal problems in the company. Tell me what is
the exact reason
So I started with few general questions to check whether its
economic downturn or new competitors or internal problems.
Then I was provided with data sheet ( Please note: the data
mentioned below are just rough numbers to give idea about my
case)
1) As the sales were neither increasing nor decreasing as per
figures and not the market size has increase much. So it was
not an economic downturn. As the clients market share has
actually increased rather decreasing so it was not
competitors problem. So I was only left with increase in
costs due to which my profits have not increased. Further I
also checked if I am pricing less as compared to my

Page 71
competitors. So I was asked to calculate the price of

companys products. So as the prices were not changed in 3
years so I have three equations and 3 variables (2400000 =
1000A+ 1500B+ 1200C, 23000000= 1100A+ 1550B+1100
C and 2500000= 1200A+1600B+1250C). After I wrote
equations I was asked to stop and further sheets were
provided
In second sheet process diagram was made and small footnotes

were given (PLEASE READ FOOTNOTES)
So I figured out that process 2(setup2) was 50% time not working
which was causing delays in process 3 and process 4, thus
increasing costs. Also Setup1 and setup 2 was installed in 2
different time frames and more over they do same work, so there
was no requirement of second setup, setup1 can do it ( there was
good discussion on this, I dont remember exactly)
After this as I figured out that process was not efficient, I was
given 2 possible systems (shown below with their sales and cost)

Page 72
and was asked to choose one. Though system 1 seemed to be good

with high sales and less cost but after few years profit was declining
whereas in system 2 though we were at loss but profit was
increasing at a much higher rate. Further I was asked to calculated
NPV values ( on which I said I have no idea as I was asked to
choose some r value)

My first round had 2 cases related to job ex. As I prepared for job
ex cases, I was able to do good.
I was confident and was smiling. Whenever I faced problem while
solving the case I asked for help and they were helping me in
solving the case. It was a very friendly environment for me.

They asked about NPV and some finance concepts about which I
had no idea, except NPV formula

experience
1) Should know about your job ex nicely, each and every detail
2) Be confident and smile J

Page 73

KPMG


Page 74
Name:
Prateek Kumar
Company:
KPMG
Senr. Consultant
designation
Round (First/Second/third) 2
Brief Profile :
IIT Kharagpur, Civil Engg. , 22 months in Techno-commercial

aspects of Construction in JSPL

experience
Knowing your CV through and through.

And Case practise
Round 1: GD Discuss feasibility of Make in India

Round 2: PI & Case
Case : If govt. wants to collaborate with private players to open
education institutions what are possible quality/Financial check
measures
My Experience in Govt. projects
Gave the solution based on experience & insight too soon without
more mental exercise
Name:
Swapnil Vadnere
Company:
KPMG (S&O)
Senior. Consultant
designation
Brief Profile :
NIT Bhopal, Information Technology, 24 months at Deloitte
Round 1: PI
Case:
My Experience of working at Deloitte

Page 75

experience
Answered the question things that you hated about Deloitte

straightforward without giving proper thought
Thorough preparation of HR answers, CV and past work
experience details
Name:
Tuhin Kanti Mondal
Company:
KPMG
S&O summer internship
designation
Brief Profile :
IIT Kharagpur, Instrumentaiton; almost 5 year work ex in
(Graduation College, stream, GAIL(India) Ltd. in operation, maintenance and project
development. Additional relevant exp : quality control, ISO audit
management, SAP procurement job etc.
Round 1: a) why are you so famous in your batch? Why everybody
talks about you? b) What did you do in your job? c) a few basic
questions in operation. d) 2-3 questions related to extra academic
activities.

experience

No case was asked.

Their strategy for the interviewees were to test them with a blow of
unexpected question at starting. The success rate depends on how
can you tackle the blow and answer promptly. With a heavy
operation background I faced a few questions related to operation
and a few questions related to relevant work experience.
Be open minded. And for KPMG you should expect some starting
blow. Whatever it is try to provide the information such a way they
cant verify. Be confident, and try to put a smile. Also be through
about your CV points, in details.


Page 76

McKinsey & Co.


Page 77
Name:
Akhilesh Chauhan
Company:
McKinsey & Co.
Suvojoy (Partner)
designation
Suveer Sinha (Associate Partner)
Mandar Vaidya (Partner)
Vikas (Director)
Round (First/Second/third) All
Brief Profile :
IIT Delhi Dual Degree (Chemical Engg.), 2 years consulting

experience in Supply Chain, Operations & Risk Management
Round 1: General HR followed by discussion on one of my
projects in the public sector. Interviewer popped a case out of that.
How to control PDS kerosene leakages in petrol pumps?
Round 2: A case on a hotel operating in losses. Made me calculate
the profit margins for Room & Non-Room segments of the
hotel followed by qualitative discussion on how to improve
profitability.
Round 3: General HR (mostly around football). Guess estimate on
estimation of 1 year revenue for NEUFC (ISL team)

Round 4: Intense HR
Round 1: Went by the distribution of kerosene across various
nodes & analysed issues. Discussed measure to control it at retailer
points (Consumer data digitization, mapping to Aadhar card in the
future, etc) as well as at wholesaler points (this is where the bulk of
kerosene was lost).
Overall, had a good discussion.
Round 2: Somehow became nervous while doing the initial
calculations. Realized it & took a step back to form an income
statement of the hotel & broke it into Room & Non-Room
segments. Found out that Non-room segment is under heavy
losses. Discussed ideas to improve it.
I think this interview did not go well. Did not get a good response
from Suveer.
Round 3: Broke NEUFC revenue into components (Stadium sales
(Tickets+food), Merchandise, Sponsorships, Broadcast revenue,
Player transfers, etc). Guesstimate for only the stadium sales for the
whole tournament.
I think this was the cracker I was waiting for. Interviewer seemed
very much impressed.

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Round 4: Very dis-interested person in front. Did not try to make

an eye contact with me. Working with something while I was
giving my Tell me about yourself. After I finished he took a 30
second pause looking down. I had absolutely no idea what was
going on. Then he suddenly asks me what is so special about me?
Probably my response was satisfying for him and he asked me
whether I had any questions for him or not. Then we discussed
about his experience at Mck.
I believe strong HR answers helped me a lot. Had done decent case
practices which was required.
Also, confidence level was just right in the process.

Got stuck in round 2 case. I think I panicked for a while but then I
quickly took a step back & approached the problem again in a
structured manner.
Also, could have given more ideas in round 1 & 2 interview cases.

experience
Never ever panic in the interview. Always keep a smile on your

face & answer confidently.
While doing your case practices, do take time out to introspect for
at least half an hour before sleep every day. This will help you build
strong HR answers.
Name:
Amrita Singh
Company:
Mckinsey
Partner
designation
Round (First/Second/third) All three rounds I was interviewed by partners.
Brief Profile :
B.Com (Hons) from Jesus and Mary college, Delhi
(Graduation College, stream, University.Worked at the Paralympic Committee of India for 33
months as the Assistant Director (Adminstration & Coordination)
Round 1: Generic HR questions.One simple guestimate to
estimate the size and revenue of Apple I phone 6 in India.
Round 2:A case based on tackling the problem of Anemia in India
(assuming the role of the Prime Minister of India)
Round 3: A case based on market entry of a firm into India (basic
structure required).HR questions on why consulting?Long term
goals?

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Case 1: If you were the Prime Minister of India how would you
tackle the persistent problem of anemia.(key pointers- conduct a
pilot, rope in the rural local leaders as they are very strong opinion
leaders)
Case 2 : A well reputed pharma firm wants to enter the indian
market.Chart out the structure for the same.Decision on whether
to manufacture locally or import from the host nation.Slight
costing structure figures were given with basic calculations
required.
Confidence and not coming under pressure.Maintaining a calm
attitude really helped.My HR questions went very well as they were
thought over. (comparing different case experiences with friends
led to the conclusion that HR plays a very vital role and is a key
distingushing factor)

Interview went well.HR questions were the tricky part.Was

repeatedly questioned on why my ambition for music wasnt
translated into a career choice.Further how suited I was for
consulting given my non analytical background.In the first round I
made an error in the calculation of the guestimate,however they
were only testing the approach/struture.

experience
Just be confident.Being yourself is the key.Do not try to lie to

impress the panel.Honesty is highly appreciated.Be clear on why
consulting.Practice as many cases (in a formal structure and
environment).Note the feedback and continously work on the
same.
Name:
Arpit Vinayak
Company:
McKinsey & Co
Mr. Rajat Dhawan + 2 other partners
designation
Brief Profile :
Engineering (IIT Madras, B.Tech Biotechnology), 4 years work-ex:
(Graduation College, stream, Jaypee Capital Services (Derivatives Trader, 6 months), JP Morgan
(Equity Research Analyst, 2.5 yrs), Samara Capital (PE Analyst, 1
yr)

Page 80

Round 1: 1) Tell me about yourself, 2) Biggest failure in life (from

the McKinsey test), 3) What would your suggestions be to the PM
Narendra Modi on making the recently launched MadeInIndia
Campaign successful, 4) Guesstimate the no. of iPhone 6 that
would be sold in India post the upcoming launch
Round 2: 1) What were your biggest learnings from the work
experiences in all companies/ profiles you worked for/ in 2) Need
to reduce the waiting time in the OPD of a hospital. How would
you do it
Round 3: 1) Why MBA after such work experience? 2) Short
quantitative problem on variable/ fixed expenses of a hotel 3) How
would you reduce the setup cost of a hotel company?

Round 1: 1) Suggested things around SEZs, substituting imports

(focus on specific sectors), etc 2) Reached a very large no of 30MM
over the quarter. Hence was not good overall.
Round 2: Very specific case, data specific. Recently executed by
the partner. Discussed the current work schedule of the doctors
and suggested ways around reducing waiting time: incentives for
taking appointments, etc.
Round 3: Qualitative case

Except for round 1, case interviews were good. Was able to reach
exact, tangible solutions.

Round 1 wasnt good. HR answers could have been better.

Guesstimate wasnt good.

experience
1) HR answers are important. Take time to prepare well.

2) Some interviewers tend to get very friendly, to make you
comfortable and talk about things you shouldnt, dont lower your
guard/ be too friendly.
Name:
Fern Sharma
Company:
McKinsey
Mr Vikas ,Senior Partner
designation
Round (First/Second/third) First
Brief Profile :
Works on Pharma cases

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Round 1: Why consulting? How has IIML been so far

Spoke about committee and ABG experience. Linked why
consulting with experience in analytics
Round 2: Only HR questions. What advice will you give my 8 year
daughter? Long term plans? What do you think the role of partner
is in the firm?
Advice: Let her follow her dreams. There is no ultimate success.
You choose your own path. She is lucky enough to be born in a
family where all the resources will be provided to her to follow her
passion. All she needs is great guidance and freedom of thought.

Long term Plan: See myself as a partner in McKinsey in 8 years

Movie theatre case. Single screen cinema suffering losses in
Mumbai
Listed all the revenue and cost streams. It was a cost side problem
as everything was done internally with 100 employees for food
vending, maintenance etc

experience
Solution: Outsource all the activities and cut down on labor costs
My confidence in answering all the HR questions. More than the
case, they were judging the communication skills. Also I listened to
their view. In the case it was 50-50 talking.
Nothing
1) Prepare Why Consulting? Long term plans and Why McKinsey
questions well
2) Involve the partner as much and take pauses while solving the
case. No need to rush
3) Stick to the structure that you have been following with your
case group
Name:
Krishnan Sankaranarayanan
Company:
McKinsey & Co.
R1: Abhishek (EM) R2: Partner (Dont remember the name) R3:
designation
Partner (Dont remember the name)
Brief Profile :
B.Com, Loyola College (2011)
(Graduation College, stream, Goldman Sachs, Fixed Income

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Round 1: About me and a case

Round 2: Case
Round 3: HR
R1: Apart from the pleasantries and usual HR questions, the first
case was based on automobiles and how the share of the
automobiles industry can be improved globally and contribute
more to the GDP. I missed out few options but the interviewer
was satisfied I discussed those options I had put forward at length.
R2: The case was related to the benefit given to LPG customers
(DBT) and how can it be implemented for kerosene since it is
widely used to adulterate diesel. The partner expected a solution
with regard to eliminating the benefit which was not utilized by
deserving people.


experience
R3: Completely HR. The partner asked me a lot of questions on

why consulting, my goals in life, how will working in McKinsey
help me achieve them, etc.
Throughout the rounds, I was quite calm. I did not rush
unnecessarily at any point of time and I also gave feasible solutions
rather than giving solutions that could not be implemented. This
worked in my favour. Also, in the 3rd round, I did not memorize
my HR answers and deliver it due to which I was able to engage in
a conversation due to which the partner was interested and the
interview went on for 45 min.
During the 2nd round, the case problem was quite long due to
which I did not write legibly and the interviewers generally tend to
see what you write to judge your thought process. The partner was
initially apprehensive about my illegible handwriting.
During case rounds, make sure you write legibly and think of all the
scenarios possible while trying to do MECE. It does not matter if
you take 1 or 2 more minutes but keep the interviewer engaged
during moments of silence. Be honest in your HR answers and do
not tell your HR answers verbatim.
Name:
Nishtha Khandelwal
Company:
McKinsey & Co.
Ruchi (Associate Partner)
designation
Vikas Badoliya
Malcom Gomes (Engagement Manager)
Rajat Dhawan (Director)

Page 83
All
Brief Profile :
B. Com Honours, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Fresher
Round 1: Tell me about yourself followed by 1 case discussion
Round 2: a case discussion followed by few HR questions
Round 3: HR round and one guesstimate

experience
Round 4: HR Round
Round 1: You own an e-commerce website which sells jewellery,
fashion products and apparel majorly for women. You have spent a
good amount on marketing the site but still are in losses. Now you
have to make a strategy to earn profits.
Basically an idea generation case; suggested innovative ideas to
increase revenues
Round 2: A person owns a single screen cinema hall in Mumbai
which is in losses. Find out problems and suggest ways to
turnaround the same.
Round 3: Guesstimate on how many students pass out as
commerce graduates from Chennai every year.
Round 4: HR round; asked to explain things from cv.
All the interviewers were completely engaged in the process; got a
compliment for my confidence. Take time off before starting with
an answer to the case. For HR answers, be confident of whatever
you say, try to quote examples with every answer.
Understood the question wrong in one of the round but realized a
minute later. Admit your mistake and proceed.
Be very confident in the interview. Put a lot of focus on HR
answers as they are equally important.
Name:
Parvez Jesani
Company:
McKinsey & Co
Mandar, Partner
designation
Round (First/Second/third) First Round HR + Guesstimate
Second Round HR + Guesstimate
Brief Profile :
Narsee Monjee B.Com, CA, CFA
(Graduation College, stream, 2 Years work ex Credit Suisse (4 months), Edelweiss (9 months),

Page 84




experience
eParent (1 year)
Round 1: Tell me something about yourself, asked a lot about my
start-up as to how and why I started it, etc. explained him the
problems we faced in scaling it up. Got a case related to that If I
get a funding of Rs. 10 Cr, what will I do?
Round 2: Tell me something about yourself, why consulting, why
McK?
Guesstimate Expected sales of iPhone 6 in India
Round 1 - Explained him the strategies that we had thought about
Products that we were planning to introduce, the ways we
thought of expanding geographically, etc.
And then he made me do a Guesstimate on the expected no of
customers in 3 years.
Followed a top-down approach Rural/ urban age income
level need-gap.
Round 2 - Followed a top-down approach Rural/urban age
income level need-gap.
Round 1 It was absolutely perfect. Since it was a case related to
my start-up, I had a few ideas in mind on the expansion front. I
took the cue on the guesstimate and jumped onto it.
Round 2 The partner was not at all responsive. He showed as if
he didnt care when I was doing the guesstimate. I kept on running
him through my assumptions and tried my best to engage him.
Try to do some cases related to your work-experience.
Name:
Shifali Makkar
Company:
Mckinsey
designation
Brief Profile :
Bcom(Hons)
(Graduation College, stream, Sri Venkateswara College

Page 85




Delhi University
Round 1:
Ques:
Initial 5 mins HR ques (background, passion, interests etc)
Followed by a small case based on my interest area mentioned in
CV
Round 2:
Case Based
Round 3:
Case Based
Round 4:
Case Based
Round 1:
Case: To chalk out plan for opening a theatre school
I started with a MECE structure about all steps (plan of action).
Then asked him prior to proceeding further which one to focus on
first. The interviewer wanted me to draw out a plan for generating
revenue so then delved further into it listing down all the possible
options. He wanted to test my comfort with numbers too, so asked
the revenue potential of a year and its profitability.
Round 2: Interviewer was a partner
Case:
As an advisor to PM, give suggestions on the MAKE in India
Campaign.
Drew out structure, tried to ensure it to be a MECE one but was a
highly open ended topic.
Was a one sided interview, very little response from the
interviewers side.
Round 3:
Interviewer was a lady, senior consultant.
A case on testing the profit viability of a baby care firm going
online.
Round 4: With Partner
A cash flow case on whether government should invest in eco cars
and introduce it across the country
In the first 3 rounds, I ensured that I remained calm and confident.
Didnt lose composure or become nervous. Ensured a
conversation flow with interviewer and took hints at appropriate
times.
In case solving, balanced between structure and spontaneity.
Structures were MECE.
Round 4: Structure was in place but faltered in solving it right.

Page 86

experience
Always involve the interviewer and remain confident of what you

say. Even if the interviewer refutes your stance, not to get nervous.
Keep a calm and pleasant face on. MECE very imp in structures.
Reflects on your holistic thinking ability.
Name:
Surbhi Kalia
Company:
McKinsey & Co.
Partner, Partner
designation
Brief Profile :
Chandigarh College of Engineering & Technology, Punjab
(Graduation College, stream, University
Fresher
Professional Theatre Artist
Round 1: First round was completely HR. It started with Tell me
about yourself, and questions like Why Theatre, Why
consulting, Why Mckinsey and your learnings in B-school and
in Internship, How have your experiences shaped you and
Why MBA after Engineering, Why consulting after
Engineering. Basically, questions were driven from my preceding
answers . To end with Any questions for him.
Round 2: Again, it began with tell me about yourself, Why not
Theatre as a profession and Why consulting. And then he asked
me to connect Theatre with Consulting. Ended with Any
questions for him.
Round 1: First round was completely HR. It went for about 30-40
minutes.
Round 2: After the HR questions, he took me towards the case by
asking what all can I do for Theatre. I listed down few options, out
of which, one was to organise theatre events and have a Theatre
company. He took that as a case topic, and gave a case.
You own Surbhi Theatre company. How will you promote
Theatre
(expect unorthodox cases in Mck interview)
I asked for some time, and listed down my thoughts as bullet
points. I gave him options like listing down theatre groups,
organise yearly Theatre events et al. Then after like fifteen minutes
of discussion over this, he asked me to calculate revenue from
these theatre festivals. I divided it into two, one from cities with
lavish Theatre culture like Delhi, others with lesser level of
Theatrical activities and fervour. Based on the Theatre fests I had

Page 87

been a part of, I calculated the revenue. He seemed pretty satisfied

with the analysis. Importantly, I kept asking him if I can use the
assumptions I am stating. It is imperative to verify your
assumptions.
Round 1:
I was honest in my answers. Be yourself in the interview. He kept
asking me questions, and I answered with the experiences of my
life. This turned the interview in a a casual conversation. Towards
the end of the interview, he also shared his own experiences of the
organisation with me.
Round 2:
It was about Theatre! Again, I verified my assumptions. And I kept
him engaged.

experience
Be yourself.
Keep a smile on your face. It helps to keep your calm.
Think on your feet.
I think, having a question to him in the end, when he asks, does
help.
Read the cues and expressions of the interviewer.
Take time to structure your thoughts. It becomes easier for you to
think ahead in the right direction.
Name:
Swati Thakur
Company:
McKinsey and Co.
Round 1: Partner (Case)
designation
Round 2: Partner (Case)
Round 3: Director (Short-HR Only)
Brief Profile :
Economics (H), St. Stepehens College, Delhi,

24 months across Analytics & Consulting
Round 1: HR-Tell me about yourself, background, experience so
far (personal)
Discussion on PORs, slightly longer discussion on my workprojects undertaken, insights
Guesstimate: No. of tennis balls in India at any point of time (2
approaches)
Case: Falling revenue of a Theatre in Mumbai; wasnt typical was a
detailed discussion on all possible aspects that could affect
revenue/profitability

Page 88
Round 2:Brief intro, some basic HR; Follow-up

question/comments on my answers in the HR form filled a week
prior to placements
Case: Valuation of different revenue streams for an Indian Super
League Team (mainly a lot of number work)

Round 3:Short HR with Director (10 minutes)

Questions on past work-ex, activities in college, views on some
current economic issue
Round 1: Guesstimate: No. of tennis balls in India at any point of
time
Though the initial plan was to discuss the appraoch and the
numbers both, we ended up discussing the apprach at great length.
He then asked me to give him another apprach for the same, which
I did.
We discussed the pros and cons of both approaches.
Case: Falling revenue of a Theatre in Mumbai
Asked qualifying questions about the industry, about the revenue
streams, the theatre and genre. Laid down the basic structure of the
case; then we went into a detailed discussion of the value chain.
Beyond the basic structure, I think I was being tested on depth of
analysis, idea generation and thinking on my feet.
We discussed the whole process of how and why a customer
would come to any particular theatre, then looked at the possible
issues at each step.
We then proceeded to discuss different scenarios-what would
happen if any particular aspect of the theatre as altered, what can
be the possible areas of improvement for the theatre in particular
and any theatre in general.
Round 2: Valuation of different revenue streams for an Indian
Super League Team
The intent of the case was to check my comfort level with numbers
because thats what the partner made me do. I had no idea about
ISL and I said that clearly to which the partner readily gave me a
brief overview of how it works. Then, I laid down a structure after
asking a few basic questions about their revenue streams. From
then on, it was me calculating revenue from different sources to
the last decimal. Even when I did make a small error, I gracefully
accepted it and it was fine.

Page 89


experience
Round 1: HR- I was honest with my answers and the interviwer

mentioned this as something he liked.
Guesstimate- I was able to switch to a different approach as soon
as he asked me to. Was able to point out possible flaws in both
approaches.
Case: The detailing and idea generation were things he really liked.
It is important that your HR answers are not made-up because
the interviwers appreciate honesty
Its good to have a question in mind to ask when youre given a
chance at the end of the interview
If you dont know something in a guesstimate/case or if you
think you made an error somewhere, it is perfectly okay to
ask/accept and take a step back

Page 90

Summer Internship
Experiences 2013


Page 91

Accenture
Management
Consulting


Page 92
Name:
Ankit Singhania
Company:
AMC
One senior person , One HR, One Partner
designation
Round (First/Second/third) 3 Rounds
Brief Profile :
BITS-Pilani, Chemical Engineering, Oracle Financial Services
(Graduation College, stream, Software -22 months, CFA Level1, family work experience in
pharmaceutical
Round 1:
Why AMC?
Why Consulting?
Why not finance?
Why MBA from Engineering?
Any question you would like to us?
Round 2: Mostly HR
Why AMC?
Why Consulting?
Round 3:
Why AMC?
Why Consulting?
Round 1:
1. Ranbaxy production is falling. Give me the structure and
exhaustive list.
2. Ranbaxy profits are falling. Give me the structure of all the
parameters under consideration.
Round 3 :
1. Calculate the cost of the disease ( opportunity cost+
medical expenses+ social +emotional cost )
2. List down all the parameters to be considered while
constructing a Toll booth on highway to generate maximum
revenue.
Knowledge about company and cracking the case.
Why consulting could have been more better
Read about the company on their website and include that
information in your answers.
experience
Practise basic case solving frameworks


Page 93
Name:
Arpit Agal
Company:
Accenture Management Consulting
Round 1: Senior Manager
designation
Round 2: HR
Round 3: Partner
Brief Profile :
Chemical Engineer from IITB, 22 months of work experience at
(Graduation College, stream, Capital One
Round 1:
Mostly questions on my work experience at Capital One
and what I learnt out of it
One basic question on marketing strategy of a company
Why Accenture? Why consulting?
Round 2:
Pure HR interview with all kinds of standard HR questions
like leadership examples, strengths, why consulting, hobbies,
social work etc.


experience
Round 3:
Partner Round- Checking the fit. Similar questions as
earlier. No case studies or guesstimate.
All the rounds had a common objective: checking whether
consulting is fit for me. They were especially keen on the learnings
out of my work ex. Any standout achievement will really help here.
Otherwise the questions were quite straightforward. No technical
stuff for me (cases, guesstimates). Why Accenture is one
question which was asked in all the three rounds.
I was quite relaxed and had prepared well for my HR answers. I
had prepared couple of questions on Accenture based on their ppt
and website which helped in making conversation a better one.
I had a break between my second and third round due to other
interviews. It caused a slight break in the flow although not a major
one.
Go through the website and their campus ppt well
Be prepared with Why Accenture answer
Prepare for all the standard HR answers well in advance. It
really helps on the final day.

Page 94
Name:
Mohammed Mudassar
Company:
Rounds 1,3: Do not know
designation
Round 2: HR
Round 4 (Telephonic) : Vishwesh Prabhakar, Partner
Round
Brief Profile :
4 Rounds
Computer Science Engineering, Osmania University, Hyd.
12 months at Google as Corporate Operations Engineer

Round 1:
Why would a person with a very technical background want to go
into consulting?
What is the current mobile phone I use? (At the time, I used a
Micromax A74)
Why has Micromax succeeded? What has it done correctly?
What do you understand from Micromaxs recent advertising
campaigns? Why has it cast Hugh Jackman?
Why is Nokia doing badly? What are the strategic mistakes it has
made?
Which other industries interest me? (Apart from technology, my
answer was Aviation)
Why is the aviation industry not profitable?
Caselet: How would I approach the situation if Boeing asked me to
help their suppliers (HAL) improve their output?
What recent major deals in aviation did I know about?
How would I be able to handle the pressures and challenges of a
consulting career?
Round 2:
Largely conversational, my experiences and expectations from
consulting and whether Accenture would fit me. No clichd HR
questions.
Round 3:
Guesstimate the size of the Indian Diaper market.
Repeating the point about me being too technical for the role.
Round 4:
What is Accentures current stock price?
Is Accenture a public or a private company?
Where is Accenture headquartered out of?
What is causing deflation in Japan?
More questions about the state of the Japanese economy and

Page 95
macroeconomics in general.
What should the governor of RBI focus on?
interview



experience
Boeing parts:
I was only asked to list the broad areas Id look at. Listed
transportation, supply chain, labour relations, and legal
arrangements.
Added one or two possible problems under each issue and
suggested solutions.
Guesstimate(Diapers):
Structured using the number of kids in India using
population statistics, the family income, and cost of diaper
by guessing the percentage of families who would use
diapers.
My initial estimate was $12 billion, way too high, and
without him pointing it out, I tried to adjust my various
estimates.
He was fairly happy with the structure and did not try to
correct the numbers too much.
Google on my resume helped. My interviewers looked at
that, smiled at me, and probably did not look beyond that
on the CV.
In Round 1, the interviewer stated an incorrect fact about
the aviation industry and I corrected him. This made me
look knowledgeable and he didnt ask too many factual
questions after that.
Also, on the questions involving me being too technical, I
took a consistent stance that I like technology and I believe
it can be applied through consulting. I felt they were trying
to get me to change my stance, but I stuck to it while
respecting their point of view. I think this helped.
The spontaneity I was able to show was helpful in turning
the interviews in directions I preferred.
In the second round, I wasnt really sure what I had to say
as I was more prepared for questions than a conversation, I
felt I rambled a bit.
In the fourth round, I could plainly not answer many
questions on macroeconomics.
The questions I asked were perhaps a bit nave.
In-depth knowledge of one or two sectors is very valuable.
Consistency of answers across interviews and your CV
makes you look sane.

Page 96
Name:
Rhythem Pahwa
Company:
Round 1 Senior Manager from Supply Chain Vertical
designation
Round 2 Some HR executive
Round 3 Vikrant; Partner, heads the sustainability practice are
Brief Profile :
Three rounds
B.Tech from PEC (2010 batch); Prior work experience of about 5
months with Mu Sigma, Bangalore and 26 months with ZS
Associates, Gurgaon
Round 1: Some basic questions like tell me about yourself, why
consulting
Discussed one project from Mu Sigma and one from ZS in detail,
nature of responsibilities
Case on an FMCG giant who was facing a sharp decline in profits.
The interviewer did not allow me to use a pen and paper and rather
asked to orally discuss the case. I questioned the ins and outs of the
business, the industry and other basic qualifiers. The issue was with
the supply chain. Gave him recommendations on how to enhance
the profits. After this he gave a couple of hypothetical situations
pertaining to sales and distribution issues and how I would go
ahead. The interview lasted for about 45 mins.
Round 2:
Tell me something about yourself, typical HR situations (significant
achievement, situation where you achieved something significant
after overcoming obstacles, etc.), which practice area would you
like to work in at AMC, what do you know of that practice area,
what do you remember of the ppt, what did you like, what is it that
you didnt like.
The interview lasted for about half an hour
Round 3:
This was the Partner round. Some general questions from my
work-experience, which practice area would you prefer, why, recent
developments in that practice area, a couple of projects from my
stint at ZS
He asked me an HR case. A Financial services firm recruits and
trains Financial Advisors but for some unknown reason the
attrition rate is huge. Investigate why. He just gave me 5 mins to

Page 97

experience
discuss and solve the case with him so had to be really fast with the
analysis. After this round he made the offer and I accepted it.
Explained above
Spoke enthusiastically, did well in the cases
Couldnt justify satisfactorily why I wanted a particular practice area
Prepare well for HR questions, it helps
Name:
Sabyasachi Dhar
Company:
Principal
designation
Round
3 Rounds
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile :
Economics (Hons.) St. Xaviers College. Worked for 35 months as
(Graduation College,
part of the Essar Group Corporate Risk and Insurance
stream, Work ex details,
Management Team
etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1:
Tell me about yourself (was the only HR question in this round)
How did you balance your work/studies with your extra-curricular
activities?
Explain your work experience
Questions on work experience like the type of risks associated with
vessels or the state of the Insurance industry in India
If your previous employer came to accenture for consulting advise,
what advice would you give them?
Case
1st asked me about how Tata Sumo is doing in India, to which I
replied not well at all. Then the problem statement was to help
Tata come up with a decision regarding the future of Sumo.

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Walked him through the value chain and stressed on the cost and
value drivers and came up with 3 solutions, to which he seemed
impressed and stopped the discussion there
Post the case, he asked about the current Economic condition of
India and what implications the forthcoming elections and the
budget hold.
Had a discussion on that for 10 minute and then he asked me if I
had any questions. Asked him why Accenture is the only
Consulting firm that is publicly listed while the others are privately
held? He seemed impressed again and explained the whole idea
behind going public. After 10 minutes of discussion, the interview
was concluded.
Round 2:
HR round. Asked various questions like tell me something about
yourself, why Accenture, why consulting, tell us something that
drives you, why did you give up on sports, what convinced you to
do an MBA.
Also ran through my CV and asked HR related questions regarding
the Positions of responsibilities that I held and the extra-curricular
activities I took part in.
Round 3:
Was the final round. Again asked me to introduce myself and in
general spoke about what I did in life and what drives me. Also
wanted to know what I was passionate about in life. I had a feeling
that the objective was to test whether I was passionate about the
things I care about.

The conversation ended with him asking me whether I would like

to choose Accenture Global or Accenture India, to which I replied
Accenture Global and linked it to everything else I had spoken to
him about.
The problem statement was to help Tata come up with a decision
regarding the future of Sumo.
I took a minute off to get the 1st two layers of the structure in
place. Then started with the Cost and Value drivers and
complemented it with the value chain to figure out where they
were going wrong. After looking at every aspect, we came to the
conclusion that the Tata Sumo is falling behind due to improper

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positioning of the vehicle vis--vis it competitors and the lack of

sheer innovation that the subsequent models have shown.
Clarity of thought
Structure to answers, especially HR answers
Interacting with the Interviewer, asking questions wherever
necessary
Not fumbling and losing the main chain of thought

Any tips for future batches Preparation of HR answers, most essential
In a case, look at every aspect possible
experience
If you dont know how to proceed, take time out to think and
involve the interviewer as much as possible
Dont jump to conclusions

Name:
Stuti Garg
Company:
AMC
designation
-Round
First, Second(telephonic)
Brief Profile :
MNNIT Allahabad, Electrical Engineering
Worked at NTPC Ltd. for about two years
etc.)
1) Walk me through your CV.
Ans: I started with academics. Elaborated on the special
achievements in it. Talked about my stint with NTPC and
the projects I did there. He himself asked about various
extracurriculars
and PORs I mentioned and asked me to
elaborate on them.
2) Which project was your personal favourite at NTPC and
why?
Ans: I spoke about a rural electrification project and told
them how I got complete autonomy while executing it.
Spoke about other facets like interacting with gram
panchayats etc.
3) Do you think Kyoto Protocol is biased? (I conducted a
panel discussion in college about carbon emissions control)
Ans: Talked about its various clauses, how they are

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administered and how much say developed nations have in

it. Finally giving some examples concluded that isnt biased.
4) Which are your favourite three books? (I was a member
of literary club in college)
5) What did you read most as a kid?
Ans: I said Tintin. He too turned out to be a huge tintin fan
and we went on talking about it for another 10 minutes.
6) If I ask your best friend to describe you in one word,
what do you think shell say?
7) How is coal paucity hindering our progress? (worked in
thermal plant)
Ans: I said that we had abundant coal. The problem is in our
policies and practices. Elaborated on that.
8) Do you want to ask me anything.
Round 2: Was a telephonic round. Three very generic
questions were asked.
1) Which was your favourite subject in term 1?
2) What do you do in free time at IIML?
3) How has the journey been so far at IIML?
1) A burger joints profitability is falling despite same sales
revenue? Analyse the reasons.
2) ESPN has to bid for an upcoming cricket match series.
Give them a reasonable quote.
Ans: I asked about the kind of series: test, oneday
or IPL.
I asked about the matchs location. He replied India to
which I asked if India was playing. Enquired about the
sponsors, ad revenues etc.
Coherence and structure in answers
I was very candidly chatting with them which probably
worked in my favour

Any tips for future batches Know your CV really well.
Sort things out in your mind before answering.
experience
Ask them only relevant questions. Never beat around the
bush.
Stay calm and composed.

Name:
Suraj Serikar
Company:
Dont remember
designation

Page 101
Round 4 (Telephonic) : Vishwesh Prabhakar, Partner

Brief Profile :
4 Rounds
Graduated from IIT Madras, 2 years work ex at Olam as a
consultant
Round 1: Case + HR
Interview kicked off by tell me about yourself. Then asked about
my PORs at IIT. Gave a case on Olam expansion strategy in
between discussion about my work ex. Then some questions about
Accenture and HR.
Asked if I had any questions for him.
Round 2: HR
Why Accenture? Why consulting?
HR person was interested in my work ex and PORs, asked a plenty
of questions on that.
Round 3: CV Based + HR
Asked how my day was, as my energy levels were bit low at that
point of time.
I had an entrepreneurial venture at IIT and interviewer was asking
questions related to entrepreneurship trends in India and issues
faced in my venture, key learnings etc.
Interviewer was working in a similar domain of supply chain (Sales
and distribution) and we had a discussion on challenges involved in
projects.
What were my expectations from Accenture and why I prefer it
over working for Olam?

Round 4 : Telephonic interview- CV Based

Was very short interview and partner was quickly running through
my CV and asked about my entrepreneurial venture and why it
failed?
Suggest a strategy for Olam to expand in next 2-3 years in coffee
commodity business unit?
Interviewer was looking for structure and logic in the approach. I
walked him through the value chain in coffee business and then
focussed on areas in procurement and distribution currently
controlled by other parties. Then proposed for forward integration
for the product and explained the rationale using some examples of
other businesses of Olam. Interviewer appeared to be quite
convinced at this stage and he moved on to some specific set of
questions in commodities.

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experience
I was quick to realise the case presented to me in between

conversation and I had asked him time for structuring it.
There were no signs of nervousness as I had sat for ample number
of interviews before and was very comfortable and confident
throughout the process. Was quick to catch cues from interviewer
and focused discussion on topics that engaged him. Was cheerful
throughout the process.
I was completely exhausted as interviews were scheduled towards
end of the day and my energy levels were not high.
Be confident, energetic and enjoy the process.
Name:
Swati Singh
Company:
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Four rounds in all
Brief Profile :
Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Delhi
(Graduation College, stream, (Mechanical Engineering)
2.5 years work ex. with an Indian automobile company (R&D)
Round 1:
1) Tell me something about yourself?
2) Work profile? (Some more questions related to it)
Most questions after that were supply chain management (SCM)
related because I had worked in an automobile company (caught
me off-guard since my area of work was research and not
production). Some of the questions were 3) Difference between SCM inside the firm and outside the
firm
4) How does an automobile firm manage its inventory?
5) What is the difference between centralized and decentralized supply chain? Advantages and Disadvantages of
each
6) What are the various ways in which youll reduce inventory
pile up?
Round 2: (HR)
1) Tell me something about yourself
2) How was your experience of working with XYZ Company?
3) Why consulting? Why not join the old firm back?
4) Why Accenture?
5) How do you fit in?

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6) What if we are not able to recruit you today?

Round 3 :
Started with the usual tell me something about yourself. Then he
started questioning me on why I want to choose consulting as a
field and why I dont want to work with my old firm again.
Then he gave me a guesstimate:
Estimate the no of passenger shared auto rickshaws in Lucknow
The guesstimate could have been done using multiple approaches
so he asked me the different approaches I can use to arrive at the
final answer. He also cross questioned me on the assumptions I
had made while solving the guesstimate.
Round 4:




experience
The interviewer was also a mechanical engineer so he asked me a

lot of questions on SI/CI engines, Torque Speed curve, Knocking
etc.
Round 4:
Market entry strategy for a Chinese automobile firm
My approach was to first evaluate whether it is the right
environment and time to enter and then move on to how to enterby utilizing existing capabilities or developing new ones.
Round 1:
I was able to give some work related examples to support my
understanding of concepts which I think he really liked
Round 2: I was calm and confident throughout
Round 3: I logically explained my assumptions without getting
perturbed by the interviewers cross questioning (even though a
few data points actually turned out wrong)
Round 4: The case went well as I could cover almost all the areas
Round 1:
I was not very well prepared to handle SCM related questions.
Round 2:
Nothing as such
Round 3:
I shouldve taken more time in solving the guesstimate and not
rushed into getting an answer
If you have core manufacturing work-ex, irrespective of the
department you were in, be thoroughly prepared with operations
related questions.
Also, be prepared for a few question from your undergraduate
stream

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A T Kearney


Page 105
Name:
Naveen Bansal
Company:
A T Kearney
designation
Brief Profile :
PEC, Goldman Sachs

Round 11. Tell me something about yourself (was asked the same question
multiple times in the process)
2. Your most significant achievement in life
3. Support your hobbies with examples: I mentioned reading
novels and was asked about the last novel i read and what did i like
the most in the novel
Round 2 1. Explain what I did at Goldman Sachs (Job role and
responsibilities)
2. One instance where you think team work was most important
(linked to work experience)
Guesstimate 1: Estimate the demand of ACs in India
Case 1: A two wheeler manufacturer, a market leader in the
category, has a lot of cash available for investment. The firm is a
proprietorship and has an owner. The owner now wants to move
to the small car segment. Advise him if he should venture into
small car market or not.
Case 2: Estimate the demand of Cement in India.
- Was asked to devise both top-down and bottom-up approach for
estimating the number.
Top-Down approach included looking at Macro indicators (GDP
Per capita and Cement consumption per capita). The Interviewer
had all the numbers but he was waiting for me to ask.


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experience
Prepare some questions to ask to the interviewer.

1. Stay happy! a smile on your face really works!
2. Don't hesitate in asking for time to think. It is perfectly fine!
3. Make HR questions as personal as possible! ( a BIG +)
4. Maintain your stand following the Pcom rules if asked about
offer. Ask for some time to think and contact PCom immediately.

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Boston Consulting
Group


Page 108
Name:
Aditya Dogra
Company:
The Boston Consulting Group
Rishabh, Project Lead (First Round)
designation
Sachin Kotak, Principal (Second Round)
Priyanka, Principal (Third Round)
Amit Sachdev, Principal (Fourth Round)
Brief Profile :
B.Tech. Civil Engg, IIT Bombay, Work ex 11 months at
(Graduation College, stream, Inductis (Analytics)
Round 1: Brief introduction followed by a case
Round 2: No HR questions, went to the case straight away
Round 3: Brief introduction followed by a couple of experience
based questions, this was followed by a case
Round 4: Introduction followed by a guestimate
Round 1: The case was concerning a mobile device manufacturer

facing a decline in profits. It had opened new stores through a
franchisee recently and started selling products at a lower price.
This had affected the equation with the set of old retailers. In
addition the margins provided to the retailers by the client werent
competitive which were causing it to lose sales.
Round 2: The interviewer had shaken things up a little by doing
away with the conventional over the table discussion and the case
was solved on a blackboard. Problem statement was developing a
presentation to be made at a round table conference of
procurement managers. I started off by laying out the broad
structure of the presentation. Later the discussion moved onto
coming up with different environmental factors that need to be
included which would concern the day to day work of a
procurement manager. I bucketed these factors into Political,
Economic, Social, Technical and generated ideas for each backing
them up with recent events eg. Under economic factors one of the
concerns was currency fluctuation which would affect price of
procurement and how hedging could mitigate the risk.
Round 3: The case was about a pharmaceutical company
launching a new vaccine and looking to decide upon a pricing
strategy. I listed the 3 factors I would consider to fix the price
point - manufacturing and selling costs, pricing of competitive
products, value of product to customer. The interviewer directed
me to consider the first factor since there were no competing
products and the third factor was very qualitative. The problem
was then reduced to estimating the size of market, forecasting
sales and asking questions to get complete information about the

Page 109
costs involved (R&D, Patents were major costs).

Round 4: The case involved estimating the demand for the
upcoming Mumbai metro. I proceeded by breaking the problem
into three parts shifting of passengers from Mumbai local,
shifting of passengers from other modes of public transport,
people shifting from private to public transport. I made reasonable
assumptions about the % of passengers that would shift from each
segment on the basis of the information I had about the metro
routes. Post that there was some calculation involved in estimating
the size of each segment as frequency multiplied by capacity
(separately for peak and non-peak hours).
The interview ended with a good discussion about my work at
Inductis on a financial services project as Amit himself had been
working in that domain.
What do you think went right Picked up the hints given by the interviewer in my first round,
in this interview?
after laying down the approach I was going in a different direction.
At that point I picked up a hint from the interviewers expressions
and took a step back to then move in the right direction.
2 of my interviews had lots of calculation involved which I was
able to handle extremely well.
With a new format and a very unconventional case in the 2nd

round it took a little time to adjust and for a while I wasnt giving
the kind of ideas the interviewer was looking for.

experience
Extremely important to stay calm and confident throughout the

interview and have a good discussion with the interviewer.
Name:
Chinmaya Golecha
Company:
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Amit Sachdeva, Principal
designation
Round (First/Second/third) One round
Brief Profile :
Worked at Deutsche Bank Centre as a part of the TMT team in
(Graduation College, stream, London (11 months)

Page 110

B.Com (H) from SRCC

CA Inter
Round 1:
15 minutes - Quick chat about the CV, some relevant interest areas
around my work-ex and some PoRs.
25 minutes - Case around Computers/Laptops manufacturers
service revenue increase.
Round 2: n/a

Round 3: n/a
Case overview:
There is a computers/laptop manufacturer, global leader, with two
revenue streams Primary selling of products
Service revenues from maintenance, repair and replacement parts
Global average split is 75%-25% respectively but India split is
95%-5%
Problem Statement:
To increase revenue stream from services in India
Case Approach:
1) Background questions:
Inquired about the supply chain. What services are offered, how
they are offered, who offers them.
Discovered that problem area was sale of replacement parts and
the services entailed therein
Discovered that the company follows a hub-and-spoke model, ie:
one central distributor in the country who gives spare parts to all
retail stores (100% franchisee system)
2) Approach:
Decided to approach the problem using the most basic Revenue
breakdown = Volume x Price
If we can find why revenue is down either because of Volume or
Price than we can find the issue.
I felt, prima facie, that the problem lay in Price (as my
understanding is for a replacement part, I would get something
cheap rather than go the actual store after warranty and overpay).
However, I was told that the price offered outside the stores was
20% higher than the in-store price.
The Problem statement thus became: Why are people not buying

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replacement parts from us even if they are cheaper?

To drill into this, I decided to get into the shoes of a consumer.
The various problems (logical flow, thus MECE) could be:
Do I have access to a store?
Do they have parts?
Do they have good staff (technicians that can help etc)?
Turnaround time?
Other service elements?
I dived into each bucket to find that the problem lay in spare parts
after spending considerable time on good staff and access. (I
established that distribution/reach was good so people did not find
it inconvenient to visit our stores as well as we had skilled help that
could effectively and quickly solve consumer problems)
Re-visited the supply chain to figure out where the problem was
with spare parts. Discovered that the hub sent them to the stores
but still the stores did not have inventory. Spent time analysing the
inventory situation using the interviewers help.
Discovered that each store had an individual P/L and were giving
the inventory to other people (who were in turn selling it at a 20%
markup) and taking a cut!

experience
Recommendations: Establish Inventory issue norms, and ensure

random checking of inventory at stores.
Very Interactive Interviewer was very involved in the case
Picked up all the hints dropped the interviewer lit up when we
spoke about black market selling of the replacement parts
Nothing majorly, Missed a couple of things where the interviewer
had to prod me along in the right direction
Enjoy the interview! It is actually great fun, and if the interviewer
realises youre enjoying it, it acts as a huge positive!

Page 112

Deloitte US Strategy &
Operations


Page 113
Name:
Abhinandan Pandey
Company:
Deloitte
designation
Round (First/Second/third) 1st Round : HR
2nd Round : Case based
3rd round : Case based + presentation round
Brief Profile :
Bengal Engineering & Science University, Shibpur
(Graduation College, stream, Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering
Ericsson India Global Services Pvt. Ltd. 35 months
Round 1: Questions on hypothesis testing (I had mentioned QAM
as my subject of interest)
Why consulting, Why Deloitte, Asked me to sing as I looked
nervous in the beginning of the interview, How your analytical
skills will help in consulting.
Round 2: It was a case based round. A case was provided which
dealt with the sources of revenues and profit and the various
advertisement mediums to be reckoned for the summer Olympics
in 2015. It was a calculation intensive case, so it involved simple
calculations for which the interviewer gave some time. Went for
around 40 minutes



Round 3: The case which was discussed in Round 2 had to be

presented to a senior partner. What followed was an in-depth
discussion on the same case and another case. This round lasted
for around 30 minutes.
Summer Olympics will take place in 2015. Our customers are
conducting the event.
What are the major sources of revenues for them?
Major sources of profit?
What are the costs involved?
How will you price the tickets to earn so and so amount of profit?
How will you make a team. How will you prioritize the tasks?
I was confident and bold enough to think on my feet.
The interviewers seemed more interested in how one approaches a
problem. They were complicating the problem as I got deeper into
it. The key is to consider all possible aspects and quickly chose the
best possible alternative as a part of the questions which were
asked.
Might sound like a clich, Thinking out Loud helps a lot!
I fumbled in 2 instances. There are times when the answers just
dont strike! But keep your calm, keep thinking as there is always a
next question and there is always a better way to answer the next
question!

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experience
Name:
Anmol Mahajan
Company:
Deloitte US S&O
Senior Manager
designation
Brief Profile :
B.Tech in Electronics and Electrical Comm. Engg. from IIT
(Graduation College, stream, Kharagpur (2010).
Worked for three years as R&D Design Engineer at Analog
Devices, Bangalore
Round 1:
In this round, I was asked some basic HR questions like,
Tell me about yourself? Why did you choose consulting as a career?
Why Deloitte? Long term goals? Questions regarding my prior
work experience and my role and scope in R&D.
Then the interviewer introduced himself and we briefly talked
about his role at Deloitte for some time where he answered some
of my questions on his career.
He asked me if I had any questions regarding Deloitte as a firm. I
responded with a question to which he gave a detailed response.
No guesstimates or case questions were asked in this round and it
primarily focused on HR questions and clarity about my long term
goals.
This was an elimination round and some of the candidates were
eliminated after this round.

Round 2: Case based round with two Senior Managers

Round 3: Synthesis presentation round with two senior managers.
Round 2:
Round 2 was with two Senior Managers from Deloitte. There were
a few HR questions primarily based on why consulting as a career.
Then the interviewer told me that this is a case round and if
analysis is done right I would be expected to come up with apt
recommendations for the client.
The client is an automobile firm with an annual turnover of around
$10b. Our client has a parts supplier which has an annual business
of around $400m (90% of their total business was done with our

Page 115
client). On one day, our client companys CEO gets a call from
their supplier that due to financial troubles, they are going to shut
down operations from next month onwards. The case was about
recommending solutions to our client in this scenario.
I started by asking questions regarding the business model of the
automobile client, their other suppliers, current inventory of parts
with our clients and when will they exhaust it, environmental
factors like geographies they operate in, availability of substitute
suppliers in these geographies.
From the responses to such questions it became clear that a
solution was to found with their current supplier itself. So I started
asking them questions regarding the details of financial problems
the supplier was facing. Upon few of such questions I was given a
data sheet with 5 to 6 tables detailing the various factors like direct
costs, overheads, expenses, number of units sold, unit price,
environmental factors like industry comparison of costs, labour
unions etc. at each of their three plants.
After this, the discussion was more quantitative in nature with me
calculating present profits/loss for each of the plants, suggestions
for cost reduction based on industry comparisons etc. These
questions primarily focused on the ability to understand the data
given in various tables and link them with each other and come up
with tangible parameters through some number crunching.
Once this analysis was done, he administered another angle by
giving an option to our client to invest $10mn in the suppliers firm
in return of advancement of technology which would lead to
reduction in prime cost. He asked me if our client should make this
investment.
I asked further questions on time factor as to if we invest now how
far from now would we see reduction in costs. He said we would
analyse two situations one where the returns are immediate and the
other where the reduction in costs is earned three years down the
line.
For the current scenario, since I had already calculated the
profitability/loss of each of suppliers plant, it was easier to
calculate the benefits of the investments. For long term analysis, I
answered that we would have to look into NPV of our investment
with discount factor depending on many risk factors. We briefly
discussed about what could be the risk factors given the data in the
data sheet. On this he was happy and said that I would have to
present the synthesis of the case in the third round.
Round 3:
The third round was act based with a senior manager acting as a
client. I briefly gave the synthesis of the case with my
recommendations. This was followed by a few counter questions

Page 116

asked by senior manager (acting as a client) which I answered

briefly. Once they were satisfied with my answers, we went back to
normal mode where few questions regarding the expectations from
the internship, expected learnings, etc. were discussed.
- Preparation of HR answers and knowledge about Deloitte and
the role on offer
- Ability to perform basic calculations at a good pace
- Exploring various avenues of solving the case and giving logical
pros and cons of each

experience

Name:
N Susheel Kumar Reddy
Company:
Deloitte US S&O
Rd1,2 - Senior Manager
designation
Rd 3- Partner
Brief Profile :
Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras
(Graduation College, stream, Work in Caterpillar 35 months, operations
Round 1:
Tried to unsettle by saying you are in the wrong room, and I
worked for your company so expect really tough questions
Why consulting and why deloitte?
Few questions from work, and then extracurriculars.
Guesstimate on stadium gate receipts for Indian Hockey league?
No.of matches played, no.of seats in each stadium, occupancy rate,
etc. were calculated
What are your long term goals?
Round 2:
Case on a firm which has 3 plants and is making huge losses.
Data sheet is given with details of cost and productivity of all 3
plants.
We decided to look into the costs being incurred, split the cost into
3 buckets Wages, Material and overhead costs.

Page 117

Material had no scope of cost reduction, Wages we identified in

plant 3 the no.of salaried were more than hourly hence more cost.
Similarly in overheads Plant 3 has too much inventory holding
cost.
So we decided to reduce these costs, but even reducing these didnt
turn a profit so we decided to shut plant 3 and move the
production to plant 1 and plant 2
Later I gave suggestions on how to raise cash for increasing the
production in the other 2 plants Money by selling plant 3, Loan
or money from market
Later did profit analysis to prove the investment is giving good
profit
Round 3:
Had to present the case I did in Round 2 to the partner he was
acting as the client whose case we took up and solved.
Drew the tree structure and explained him how we went about
each and every bucket before identifying root causes.
Possible solutions for root causes and suggestions to improve.
The partner kept asking many questions, not agreeing to most. He
was only satisfied when the arguments made were based on
numbers.
Later he asked basic HR questions like, what field of consulting
would I choose? Why deloitte? Etc.
Mentioned Above

experience


Page 118

KPMG


Page 119
Name:
Prince Arora
Company:
KPMG Advisory Services
2 interviewers over a video call. Do not recall their name and
designation
designation
Round (First/Second/third) Only One Round
Brief Profile :
Fresher, Dual Degree IIT Madras [8 pointer]
(Graduation College, stream, Member of The Consulting & Strategy Club
Round 1:
Tell us about yourself. Questions on Business Current Affairs,
leaders. Why KPMG? Who all are its competitors? What are its
business lines? A few questions on FRA acronyms and their
importance (like EBITDA)
Estimate the market size of Biscuit Industry in India.
It was a guesstimate. They gave me some time to work out the
solution but I made some quick assumptions and took them
through my thinking process. I solved the case from supply side.
Then once I was done, I asked if I should solve it from the demand
side as well. The interviewers asked me to elaborate upon the way
Ill go about it.
Came up with a ball park figure.
The guesstimate and the level of enthusiasm shown towards
solving it. I think they were looking for the right approach and not
the correctness of the final figure.
I messes up a little on the company specific questions. Do go
through the Company RG before you enter the interview.
experience
Stay confident. They seem to like people who are confident about
what they speak. If you dont know an answer, tell it to them
politely.

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McKinsey & Co


Page 121
Name:
Abhishek Gupta
Company:
Mckinsey & Co.
Involved an Associate Partner (Pradeep), Partner (Navtez)
designation
Round
All
Brief Profile :
NSIT (2011 Passout)
18 months in J.P. Morgan and 5 months in Reliance Capital
etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Short tell me about yourself. Then one guesstimate and
then a case discussion
Round 2: Tell me about yourself. HR question on leadership
qualities and instance related to that. Case discussion.
Round 3: Purely HR with partner, asked questions on why not
finance, why consulting, why Mckinsey?

After each round you will be asked if you have any questions for
the interviewer, if you have some good questions then do ask, but
do not ask for just for the sake of asking.
Round 1: Guesstimate: Value of a bulb with infinite life (involved
basic DCF calculation, evaluation of expenditure you might do in
case of a normal bulb).
Case: Problems that a truck association might be facing in getting
truck drivers (possible problems and solutions for those). Be
innovative as possible. Although I didnt reach the exact problem
in the end (only got to know this after the interview from a friend),
but explored quite a few areas to get through to the second round.
The interviewer was very silent and unresponsive, you just had to
carry on with the case on your own. A solution to the truck
problem was that the people got AIDS as they went at different
places, and then they had problems getting married. Second was
that there were health problems, due to them eating food at
different places and uncomfortable seats, no proper place to sleep.
Round 2: Case: Why a shipping company is going in loss. Evaluate
the possible problems and suggest solutions. Suggesting solutions
to every case in the end will be required and this is where ones idea
generation will be tested. Also involved testing of quant skills,
specifically math calculation required (basic but one can panic
under pressure).

Being calm and confident, thinking on the feet really helps. I had
already gone through a fair set of interviews before, so wasnt

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nervous at all. While you would have done an umpteen number of

cases before hand, but every case will be new and will require you
to go to different breadth and depths. While case solving remains a
very important part, they also test you on your HR skills. The
second round was the deciding factor, after which directly there
was a partner round. In the end managed to convert the call.
Finally, it was very important to smile over the course of interview
which lasted 30-45 mins
To be frank, I think everything went right for me in this process.
Although I did miss out the exact cause of the problem in the first
round but wasnt so much a big deal. The way you structure your
thoughts is more important.
Any tips for future batches To me case solving had much more importance in the course of
the interview, but HR answers shouldnt be ignored for sure.
experience
Make sure you are properly dressed. You get evaluated on every
aspect.
Name:
Anonymous
Company:
Mckinsey and Company
Rounds 1,2: Case Study
designation
Round 3: HR
Round
3 Rounds
1.) Tell me something about yourself?
2.) Convince me to sell my company even when it is doing very
well in the market.
Round 2:
1.) Case study on Indian Telecom sector

interview
Round 3:
1.) McK vs BCG question
2.) 5 ways India can win 5 Gold medals in upcoming olympics
Case 1: Selling the Company
Started by giving financial benefits of selling the company.
Gave implications on entrepreneurship front, brought views
surrounding family society
Case 2: Indian Telecom Sector
Case was about increasing revenues from Mobile apps.
Started with geographical expansion of the company service
by looking at various strategies (M&A, Alliances, Joint

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experience
venture etc).
Went ahead and looked at companies promotional
strategies, delved into customer segmentation for better
targeting.
At last suggested some modifications in apps to make it
more users friendly and appropriate for smart phone users.
Case went well, Interviewers were happy in both the cases
about the approach I took.
Were happy about my past work ex
I could have better put recommendations in cases
Could have brought more practical examples during my HR
answers
Engagement with partner could have been better.
Keep Structured approach throughout interviews
Consistency within answers is important
Be confident and calm on D-Day.
Name:
Aviral Srivastava
Company:
McKinsey
Vikas Bhadoria, Partner
designation
Shivanshu, Principal
Mukund Sridhar, Associate Partner (Not sure)
Brief Profile :
B.Tech Mechanical Engineering from IIT(BHU), Varanasi. One
(Graduation College, stream, year work-ex as Analyst in Inductis, Gurgaon (Analytics
consulting).
Round 1: Tell me something about yourself not in your resume. (I
talked about how being a good student in school opened up
avenues in leadership and extra-curriculars and shaped the person I
am).
Turning points in my life that shaped me. Regrets in life. A short
description about my work at Inductis. And then case.
Round 2: A very brief tell me about yourself. How did your
previous interview go according to you? Couple of things about my
interests in meditation. And then case.
Round 3: I was ushered in within 5-10 minutes of my previous
interview. Mckinsey had made us fill a subjective sheet during out
Aptitude test. Mukund had access to the sheet. He asked about a
regret I had written: My CGPA in college.

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He asked if I had any questions about Mckinsey and my company

priorities. A little chitchat and thats all. This round hardly lasted 5
minutes.
Round 1: Vikas brought in the case decisively (not as a gradual flow
in conversation): My friend owns a standalone cinema theatre in
Mumbai. Profits and revenue taking a hit. What should I do?
I started the case with the usual qualifiers (since when, what has
changed, industry, competition, type of movies, location etc). I
made a structure but he sounded disinterested. Kept throwing me
off my game with vague disinterested hints. None of my directions
seemed to appeal to him. I persisted. Took some timeouts to
rethink approaches. Came up with 3-4 approaches before we went
into one. Then he asked me to ideate.
Round 2: I am a shipping company. And my profits slipping. Give
an exhaustive list of things you will evaluate.
I did reasonably well. I missed the factor of fuel and he pointed it
out.
New scenario: cost in fuel changed drastically 3 years ago. What
will be your current profit/ loss if the fuel cost hadnt changed?
Sounds simple and it was. I kept looking for a trap and started
number crunching only after a minute. The moment I got the
number, he seemed satisfied. He asked me to give
recommendations. And I took a 20 sec pause to structure
recommendations instead of hurtling them all out. The interview
ended here, on a much more positive note compared to the first
one.
I was calm across interviews and somehow managed to leave the
stress at the door before all rounds. I received positive feedback
regarding this later on.
Round 1: My HR answers were interesting, passionate, structured
but natural. I never gave up during the case and persisted despite
several setbacks. I didnt mind starting from scratch repeatedly. My
idea-gen was adequate.
Round 2: I gave an honest and humble feedback about round 1
when asked. Initial structure during case was ok (I missed fuel, but
he pointed it out). Most importantly, I could crack the math in the
case in my first attempt (it was quite simple really, but turns out,
many silly mistakes were made during the day). I managed to
structure my recommendations as well and generate several
relevant ideas.
Round 3: Frank genuine answers about my academics and work
experience. He asked about people at my previous company,
expectations from Mckinsey etc.

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experience
Round 1: I didnt think my case went all that great, as the

interviewer looked disinterested throughout and kept redirecting
me. Halfway through the case, I realised that cracking the case was
out of the question. I came out of the interview apprehensive but
luckily was ushered into round 2 before I could dwell on it.
Round 2: I entered the interview unsure, given my performance in
the first interview. I kept trying to give subjective solutions and
state assumptions when all the interviewer wanted was simple
math. I kept thinking the case cant just be simple maths, but
initially it was!
Round 3: I was mentally prepared for a case but there was none.
Prepare on your CV. You need to have recall value in the eyes of
the interviewer. Structure HR answers. But they will sound natural
only after practice. It helps if you have 2-3 USPs in your mind. For
example, I had quizzing, meditation and a childhood abroad.
Never give up in a case. Keep your cool as people get unsure of
simple math during cases and literally end up doing written
calculation where mental should have sufficed.
Dont read too much into the interviewers body language (unless
hes giving you hints during a case). Take pauses during cases but
dont let the silence get heavy.
Each interviewer may ask you at the end if you want to ask him
something about the company. Dont do DCP. Ask him genuine
questions that you think that a person of his stature and experience
can answer better than a younger employee at the firm.
Do not judge your own performance in the interview. You will
never know what the interviewer is thinking. You might have been
given a tough case just to see your response.
Name:
Ishani Roychowdhury
Company:
McKinsey & Co.
Round 1: Gunjan (Partner)
designation
Round 2: Vikas (Partner)
Round 3: Navtez (Partner)
Round
Three rounds in total (third round was purely HR)
Brief Profile :
Economics Honours from St. Stephens College, 21 months of
work experience at Bain Capability Center (BCC)
etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Tell me about yourself, followed by related questions on
my answer, why consulting. Next 15 minutes was a case. Ended
with a brief discussion about the Partners consulting career so far.

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Round 2: Follow-up question on an answer that I had written in

the HR form filled a week earlier. This was followed by questions
on my work experience and how the BCC model works. This was
followed by two quick cases.
Round 3: Pure HR round

Round 1: This was the first case of the day for the Partner and we
spent 12-15 minutes on HR at the beginning. She asked me about
myself which I had prepared well. That led to questions around my
career decisions, a bit about my work experience and society work
at undergrad college. This was followed by the case. She gave me
two choices and asked me to pick one. I chose the IT case.
Case statement: I run a software company which sells accounting
software in India. Before launching accounting software, I had
hired a market research firm who estimated the market at Rs.XY
(some figure). However, in spite of having a share of 45%, we have
not been able to penetrate the market any further.
The idea was to start with exhaustive qualifying questions that
covered competition, region of operation, industry dynamics. I
figured that the problem did not lie in the company per se, but in
their target customers. They focused mostly on the SMEs who
used traditional accounting books rather than accounting software.
I was also abruptly stopped in between, after which I quickly
synthesized and gave in my recommendations. My
recommendations were around creating awareness to migrate more
people to online accounting applications
She asked me if I had any questions for her. I asked her a question
which extended the discussion for 5-7 more minutes.
Round 2: 2-3 questions on the HR form submitted earlier. This was
followed by a detailed discussion about my work experience, some
case examples from my previous work, the BCC model and how it
works and why consulting.
Case statement: My friend owns a single theatre in a metro city, has
been losing profits steadily. Suggest ways to improve his
profitability.
The case was about generating options and the Partner kept
insisting on more suggestions. I looked at the revenue and the cost
side separately, divided them into short term and long term plans,
and tried to logically structure my suggestions. For the revenue
side, I had gone by the customer purchase process approach to

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ensure nothing is missed.

This was followed by a second case which was a guesstimate:
Another friend of mine wants to sell tennis balls in India. Estimate
the demand. The approach was usual, starting with sources of
demand and estimating it using population.
Finally, he asked me if I had any question for him. I had a question
and the discussion went on for 5 more minutes.
Round 3: This was the most interesting interview experience of all.
I was told it was like a hygiene test before I went in, and I was
relaxed yet energetic.
The partner looked at my HR form and asked me similar questions,
as in my previous interview. The discussion touched upon various
topics- mostly around my work experience, family, school life and
career decisions (it was like a friendly chat after sometime and I
had much to talk about). He also asked me why I would want to
join McKinsey. At the end, he said it was a good discussion, that he
thought I am fit for consulting and felt no need to give me a case.
In all the rounds, I was energetic, smiling and engaging. The HR
questions were extremely crucial which I thought went well.
About the cases, I had thought my first round case wasnt great- it
was my first case of the day and I couldnt tell whether she was
happy with my recommendations. However, later I heard from
others that she was actually happy about it.
The second round cases went well- I managed to generate as many
options as he wanted, and did not give up. In fact, I went into lot
of details on the guesstimate and he stopped me in between to ask
for the final answer.
Nothing major, I guess. The idea is not to solve the case, but to
display your structure and your method of thinking and to engage
the interviewer throughout.
Any tips for future batches Be calm and enthusiastic throughout. Carry yourself with
confidence and smile- that reduces the nervousness too. Prepare
experience
your about me well because that feeds into the discussion that
follows. Also, the questions on why consulting and why
McKinsey are common. Further, its very important to structure
your HR answers too.


Page 128
Name:
Company:
designation
Brief Profile :
Mashantha Viswanathan
McKinsey
Mr. Anil Sikka Senior Specialist
Ms. Gunjan Soni Partner/Senior Partner
Ms. Aayushi Engagement Manager
Ms. Aayushi - first
Mr. Anil Sikka second
Ms. Gunjan Soni - third
B.Com (Professional); St. Francis College for Women,
Hyderabad, Analyst at Ernst and Young Hyderabad for 11
months in the Advisory service line
Round 1: HR Tell me about yourself, one wild/fun thing I had
done. Guesstimate If I needed to increase the prevalence (usage)
of contraceptives in India by 20%, what sort of a number would I
be looking at?
Round 2: HR - Tell me about yourself, Working individually vis-vis working with teams, how have I dealt with people taking credit
for work that I do. Guesstimate As head of a publishing house,
I was asked to estimate the readership for a book that I wanted to
publish
Round 3: HR - Tell me about yourself.
A retail chain wanting to enter India; how would I go about it?
Variables and KPIs that I would look at. Followed a value-chain
centric approach; was asked specific questions at each stage such
as the kind of metrics I would look at.
1)
Was confident and comfortable; felt more like a
conversation rather than an interview (especially the second and
third rounds)
2)
After a point, we were discussing the solution for the case
together (happened in the first round)
1)
Was initially nervous and I guess it showed in my first
round
2)
Could have been more targeted with my questions
1)
Dont get flustered; keeping your cool is very important
2)
Try to approach it like youre going to meet a new person
rather than youre going to face the most important interview in
your life; it helps in being yourself => More confidence => Best
performance


experience

Page 129
Name:
Pratik Goyal
Company:
McKinsey & Co.
Suhail (Associate Partner)
designation
Naftez (Partner)
Vikash (Partner)
Round
Total 3 Rounds
Interviewers names in order
Brief Profile :
St. Xaviers College, Kolkata
Chartered Accountancy Inter
Fresher
etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: 3 structural approaches to solve the problem India
should win 5 gold medals in 2020 olympics
Round 2: About yourself not in the CV?
Why consulting?
An estimate of the total number of glucometers sold in India in a
year.
Round 3: A cinema hall whose profits are falling - Problem finding
and Recommendations. An approach to estimate the revenue of
the cinema hall and the cost was also asked.
My leadership roles and why no POR in IIML?
My entrepreneurial venture and the business logic behind it?
Why not Finance as a career choice?
The HR part went very well

The idea generation was very important and the initial two levels in
the structuring which should have incorporated a MECE.
The ability to communicate what I was thinking was very
important in the cases.
The nervousness was very high and so required a little time in idea
generation in the first round but kept talking to the interviewer so
that dint leave much gap and made up for the nervousness.
Any tips for future batches Generally the interviews are targeted to test the idea generation
ability, comfort level with numbers and the problem solving ability
experience
which form the main work of consultants.
In the softer aspects the HR answers are very very important.
Knowing the CV is very important and should be a reason for why
u did what u have, and it will generally be a part of all interview
rounds.

Page 130
Name:
Shreya Sachdev
Company:
McKinsey and Co.
R1- Shivanshu (Partner)
designation
R2- Vikas (Partner)
R3- Gunjan (Partner)
R4- Navtez (Partner)
Round (First/Second/third) Round 2
Brief Profile :
B.A. (Hons) English- Lady Shri Ram College for Women-Fresher
All three interviews revolved around my educational background
(Im the rare breed of Literature students that occasionally crop up
here) and how that fit in with IIM Lucknow and Consulting. I was
also asked about my internship with a Fashion House and my
motivation behind taking it up. Finally I got asked about my
expectations from a Consulting job.
The interviews ended with me asking each of the partners
questions.
Shivanshu was working on a data- heavy project so I asked him
about how he dealt with the more mundane aspects of Consulting.
I had a prior interaction with Vikas at the McKinsey dinner and I
continued with the same discussion regarding Entrepreneurship
opportunities at McKinsey.
Gunjan and me spoke about opportunities for women at McKinsey
and the initiative she had started regarding the same.
Navtez was working on a case in the same sector that my father
works in, so we discussed the current challenges faced by that
sector.
My friend runs a standalone theatre in the heart of Mumbai, but
has recently been witnessing declining profits.
I initially structured it into a regular profit and loss case, but after
the first 4-5 minutes (possibly because he gathered that I had no
problem structuring the case) he jumped directly to
recommendations. The rest of my case focused solely on me
shooting options as to how he could possibly increase his profits.
The suggestions included the obvious ones such as price of tickets,
show timings, staff requirements etc, and then we went on to other
areas such as the Food and Beverages counter, Parking and so on.
At that point, after we had exhausted all avenues he asked me to
come up with out-of-the-box solutions, and we spent the rest of
the interview solely on idea generation.
I was smiling and confident throughout the interview even though
I was convinced that I had quite possibly tanked the case interview
before this.
I could bring myself to look outside my structure and give him

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experience
solutions over and above the ones

I didnt ask for numbers, possibly because numbers were where I
had messed up in the last case. If I had gotten over the phobia in
time the case solutions I presented would have had more of an
impact.
Reading the cues and expressions of the interviewer always help.
Apart from that dont make the mistake of getting trapped by your
structures because McKinsey partners usually tend towards
unorthodox case interviews.

Page 132

Summer Internship
Experiences 2012

Page 133

Accenture
Management
Consulting

Page 134
Name
Company
designation
Brief Profile
Interview questions
Deep Banerjee
Vishwesh Prabhakar, Partner
Chemical Engineering from Bangalore, 1 yr Work Ex at Tesco
Retail, 3.5 yrs at Indian Oil Corporation as Assistant Manager
handling Supply Chain and Operations
Round 1: Work related, Industry related, Latest Trends in Supply
Chain, CV related, Case analysis, Related to current energy
problems in India
Round 2: My apprehensions about Accenture

interview
Any tips for future
batches on the basis of
your experience
Round 3: HR Questions
Im a chemical manufacturer. Help me optimize my outbound
logistics
- Work experience matched with their requirement
- Industry knowledge
- Information about the company
In the case interview, I mistook optimize as cost reduction
only. Should have taken other factors into consideration
- Be energetic and enthusiastic
- I firmly believe that the first 2 minutes in an interview decide
the outcome to a great extent
- In the case interview, even if you go wrong at some place, do
not fluster and keep trying
Name
Company
designation
Ipsa Kalra
Round 1- Anurag Johri, Strategy Head
Round 2- HR
Round 3-Saurabh Bhatnagar-Partner
Round
Case in first round only
Brief Profile
Graduation in Electronics and Communication Engineering

from Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata. Fresher.

Page 135
Interview questions
Round 1: Started with some questions on leadership as I stated it

as strength. Followed by 2 cases on projected soap and 4 wheeler
market in 2020.
Round 2: Basic HR questions on weaknesses and anyone apart
from me who should make it to AMC.

interview

Any tips for future
your experience
Round 3: Questions on academics (PGDM), ranging from

MANAC to economics and MS Excel.
Keynesian Vs Classical
Types of Costing
Lookup in excel
Branding
General questions on the current education system in India
I was asked to choose an industry of my choice. I chose FMCG
sector. I was first asked to give the market size of the soap
market in the year 2020. The interviewer was not looking at
numbers but at multiple approaches. I gave the income
segmentation approach, rural-urban divide approach. He
suggested the extrapolation of GDP approach. I also made a
point that in the urban market soaps are soon being replaced by
shower gels etc.
The interview started on a good note and they liked the way I
spoke and conducted myself.
They expected me to suggest the GDP approach myself.
Consulting interviews require you to be able to give a holistic
picture of the case presented. Keep the interviewer involved at
every step.
Name:
Company:
designation
Brief Profile
Interview questions
Meghana Katiki
Vivek Mishra, Ridhima (HR) and one more Senior partner
IIT Kharagpur, Biotechnology, Deloitte Consulting -23 Months
Round 1: Case and CV
Explain me one of the projects you took up at Deloitte
Why consulting
Which subjects did you like in term 1
Based on my answer he said link Marketing and Economics.
Explain one initiative you took

Page 136
Round 2: HR
What do you like about Accenture
What do you remember from Accentures PPT
Did you attend the session by our senior partner, Give
one positive and one negative feedback
I handled the negative part very tactfully: starting with slight
negativity but ending on a very positive note.
Would like to join IB or GTIN.
Understand the difference properly.

interview

Any tips for future
your experience
Round 3: CV
Walk me through your academic background.
Why did you leave something as promising as
Biotechnology for something as mundane as Management
consulting.
Tell me one challenging task that you did
I gave the example of a project at Deloitte.
Well a guesstimate was given to me but I never realised it was
one. I told about how demand is actually estimated in Apple and
how they produce less than the estimation to keep the hype.
I knew from beforehand what they were looking for. I could
project all those qualities in some or the other answer. My HR
answers were well prepared and reviewed before I entered the
interview.
I kept a smiling face though one of the interviewers kept a
shrewd expression on his face.
I steered the interview in my way by giving answers of all HR
questions based on experiences and stories and talking about
things I knew very well so that I could handle the drilling
questions.
I took Economics name as one of my favourite subjects and
couldnt answer some questions properly.
Any company, any interview, HR answers are extremely
important. More so to tailor the answers to the company. It is
also important to understand the values and culture of the
company and portray a fit in the interview. Accentures PPT is
very important to them. If you are serious about that company
make sure you attend the ppt.

Page 137
Name
Company
designation
Preethi Viswanathan
Senior Manager
Round
Had three rounds of interviews
Brief Profile
Electrical Engineering from Anna University; Prior work

experience - 11 months as Graduate Engineer Trainee in
Larsen & Toubro Ltd, ECC division
Round 1:
Interview questions
Some basic questions like tell me about yourself, other

interviews for the day
Why did you choose consulting?
Questions on POR's mentioned in the CV and which I
consider the most important among them
Why Accenture and how do I feel it is different from the
other consulting firms?
I was also asked about my role models
Questions regarding power sector what are the
problems in the sector at present
Case on a pure-play thermal power generator with installed
capacity of 2,000 MW in India. The company is making
losses in the recent years
I went ahead with a lot of questioning regarding the
company, type of clients current financial position, current
risk exposure in terms of fuel, market etc and the related
businesses that the company is already into.
I came up with a framework to analyses the profitability
using the basic structure of costs and revenues. I first
analysed on the cost side considering various parameters like
fuel, distribution, overheads etc.

Page 138
I was then told to focus only on the revenue side. After

further probing about the pricing and the sales volume (in
MW) , the interviewer indicated that the power was sold
only to the government. It was found that the company
generated power which exceeded the government's
requirement as per the contract with the company. I
recommended that the excess power generated could be
sold to private players to minimize losses
Round 2: HR round
Questions on primary skills required for a person in
consulting
Was asked about which of the skills I have and which I still
need to develop
Question was again asked about why consulting and why
Accenture?
Round 3:
The Partner asked me about my educational background, my
interest in music, my favourite course in Term I. After I told
it was marketing, I was questioned on some basics and was
asked to explain my marketing project. I was also questioned
on some challenges I faced here at IIM L.
Questions on work experience were asked maily relating to
the role I had at L&T.
After that he urged me to ask questions as he felt I have
been asked enough. I questioned him about some news
which was mentioned in the RG doc about AMC opening
an Innovation centre.
I further questioned him about the roles offered and the
functions of IB and GTIN and sector preference for
projects.
He explained the answers in a detailed fashion.

interview
I was asked to wait for a while, the offer was made and I
accepted it.
Explained above

Page 139

I prepared well for HR answers and was able to answer the

questions on consulting well.
Thorough knowledge about everything that I wrote on the
CV
A firm answer about why I wanted to join AMC as it was
asked in all rounds of my interview

Any tips for future
your experience
Nothing that I can specifically point out.
For AMC, it pays well to know well about what work

the company does and some recent happenings that
the company was involved in.
Frame good questions for asking at the end of the
interview as my third round was primarily based on
that
Generate a plethora of options when analysing a case.
It shows that you can think in multiple directions. In
summers, most companies look only for people with
ideas rather than skills. Hence, this is the most
important phase of a case interview as far as
summers are concerned.
Thorough CV and HR preparation are of prime
importance
Name:
Company:
designation
Round
Brief Profile
Interview questions
Salonee Gupta
HR Head, Saurav
I had 3 rounds of interviews
Civil Engineer from Delhi College of Engineering, with 23
months experience in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd.
Round 1: Some ice breakers like about yourself, walk me
through your CV and why consulting, details about other
interests and especially work experience related questions,
followed by an elaborate guesstimate, and if you want to ask us
anything in the end
through your CV and why consulting, details about other
interests, followed by if you are comfortable working anywhere
and want to ask us anything in the end

Page 140

interview

Any tips for future
your experience

through your CV and why consulting, details about work
experience, followed by some course related questions from
FRA and QAM, and if you want to ask us anything in the end
Guesstimate in the 1st interview: Estimation of Baby Diaper
market in India
Followed by questions like, what was a major assumption in your
estimate, what could have been a better approach for estimation,
etc.
My ability to think of different ways to approach this problem,
and being able to point out a flaw in my estimate and a solution
to that
Could have been a little more structured
1. Take 2 mins to structure your thoughts before starting the
estimation. These 2 mins are very critical.
2. Try to think of out of box solutions and recommendations
once the problem has been identified.
3. Maintain your calm during the interviews as they check your
confidence level.
Name:
Company:
designation
Round
Shivani Rastogi
2 senior partners and 1 HR
Brief Profile
Jadavpur University, IT
Consultant in PricewaterhouseCoopers for 2 years
Interview questions
Round 1: Tell me something about yourself. Had a long

discussion on ABG scholarship. Asked a case and a guesstimate.
Do you have any questions for me?(this was a long discussion as
well)
Round 2: Why AMC? Why not go back to PWC? Would you
like to work for ops or strategy? Why? Which sector
did you like working for in your last job? Some work-ex specific
questions. Do you have any questions for me?
Round 3: It was not an interview really. Just asked me if I had
any questions for her.
They asked me a case they had recently worked on.
A Japanese pressure boiler manufacturer wants to enter the
Indian market. They make high pressure resistant boilers.

interview
3 rounds

Page 141


Any tips for future
your experience
Advice them on how they should enter the market.

Approach-They expected me to list the various options like set
up a plants in India, export from Japan, enter a JV with a local
player etc. Then he asked me to compare the various options
based on some criteria I thought best. I chose ROI. So then he
asked me to compare for the options in a tabular format, without
any numbers, just using High and Low.
Guesstimate-No of eBook readers in India
Approach-I started with the income level division. Then I went
on to percentage of target age (12-40ish). Then with the
penetration of laptop and desktop among them (considering they
would have at least one of them before purchasing and eBook
reader) and he asked me to stop at this.
I think my structured approach to the problems was what
worked for me. Also I showed my interest in taking up
operations and supply chain courses. This was also appreciated
by one of the partners.
I think the interview went quite well for me except when asked
about which sector of my work experience I liked working for
the most. I tried to show positives in each of the 4 sectors I had
worked on and he seemed unconvinced .
Lay out the structure well. They seemed to be more interested in
covering the breadth of options rather than drilling down on
them. Also they didnt seem to bother much about numbers and
percentages in the case and guesstimate.
Name:
Company:
Round
Brief Profile
Interview questions
Sruthi Nooka
3 Rounds
Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Osmania
University, Hyderabad; Prior work experience - 35 months as
Business Technology Analyst in Deloitte Consulting
Round 1:
Questions regarding my prior work experience, nature of
responsibilities, reasons for shifting from technology consulting
to business consulting
Questions regarding my areas of interest(operations in my case)
I was asked to compare the supply chains of apple and dell,
HUL and P&G
Case on Market expansion for HUL product(Dove) into one of

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the north eastern states

Round 2:
What skills do you think a consultant needs? Which one of those
skills do you lack in?
Learning from prior work experience, significant achievements
I was asked if I attended the pre-placement talk and what I liked
the most about it
Round 3:
Questions regarding work experience I worked on SAP
implementation, so the interviewer asked me to give three
reasons why companies go for ERP implementation a hidden
form of cost-benefit analysis case

interview
Questions on subjects of Term I and Term II: Regarding

Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Prisoners Dilemma, a
small case on how a business operating in oligopoly can stay
profitable, applications of QAM in all areas such as marketing,
finance, operations, economics etc.
Problem Statement: What factors should HUL consider if its
wants to launch one of its products in one of the north Indian
states?
The interviewer was looking for the approach only and not
extensive detailing.
Firstly, I clarified on why the expansion is made for
profitability or expanding the customer base
I analysed the scenario in three parts Customers, Companys
capabilities and Competition
By analysing the available customer segments and targeting the
required segment the demand can be estimated and thus the
profitability based on factors such as size, affordability and
growth rate of the chosen segment
In terms of companys capabilities its financial and operational
capabilities should be considered. Factors such as investment
cost, companys financial position, investment cost as a
proportion of the companys overall cost base should be
analysed under financial capabilities. Operational capabilities
include resources, availability of channel partners in the new
market etc.

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Any tips for future
your experience
Competition analysis determines entry barriers and possible

threat from competitors
I have answered questions regarding my prior work experience
well and I could explain the reasons for transition from
technology consulting to business consulting convincingly. My
case analysis went pretty well. In the third round, I have
answered all the questions asked about academic subjects with
practical applications.
I had to give some impromptu answers for certain questions
regarding my previous question. Even though I justified my
answers well finally, I could have organised my answers better.
Know about the company thoroughly. In case you have not
attended the ppt, find out the same from your friends who
have attended it and try to get as much information as
possible from seniors.
Lot of students have been questioned about academic
subjects. So its good to brush up on basics before attending
the interview.
In case of students with prior experience, prepare well in
advance about your nature of work, roles and responsibilities,
nature of projects handled. Be ready with some examples
through which you can explain your problem solving skills
and leadership skills.
Name:
Company:
designation
Ashok Patsamatla
Senior Manager
Round
2 Rounds
Brief Profile
Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras; Prior work

experience - 24 months as Analyst in KPMG Management
Consulting
Round 1:
Interview questions
Some basic questions like tell me about yourself, other interviews

appearing for on that day.
What is your view on team work in consulting? Do you think it is
always important?

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Questions regarding my prior work experience, nature of

responsibilities and reasons for continuing in consulting industry
Questions regarding power sector what are the problems in the
sector at present, recent interventions by the government (SEB
bailout package) and my views on the same,
Case on diversification strategy for a pure-play thermal power
generator with installed capacity of 2,000 MW in India.
I went ahead with a lot of questioning regarding the objective for
diversification, current financial position, current risk exposure in
terms of fuel, market etc and the related businesses that the
company is already into.
Interviewer indicated that the company wishes to leverage on its
current strengths and to hedge current risks through
diversification. Financial position of the company is not a
constraint.
I came up with a framework to cover the entire value chain of
the power sector and a basic fish-bone analysis of options at
each stage of the value chain. I believe that this stage (option
generation) is very crucial and needs to exhaustive. I came up
with close to 20 options for diversification during this stage
which impressed the interviewer.
I was then told to focus only on the immediate upstream and
immediate downstream options with just a macro overview of
each option. I did a basic investment horizon to benefits analysis
for each of the options and finally suggested the following
recommendations:
1. Acquisition of a coal mine in Australia/Indonesia since
exposure to imported coal was found to be high. Also it
can hedge exchange risk (relevant in the current
macroeconomic condition)
2. JV with a port developer to save on transportation
charges and to benefit from increasing imported coal
demand in India
3. Power trading to better leverage the excess thermal
generation capacity due to seasonal demand fluctuations
4. EPC player offer EPC solutions to huge upcoming
capacity in India
The interviewer was very much satisfied with this and indicated
that there might be a role suited for me for summers.

Page 145
Round 2:
HR round was skipped and was directly taken to Partner round.
Round 3:
The Partner (Vishwesh) asked me about my educational
background, CGPA drop during graduation period, current
academic performance at IIM Lucknow in Term I. I justified
these aspects to which there was no other additional questioning.
Then he asked me about the kind of culture that was prevalent at
KPMG and what I did not like about it. He explained in fair
detail about the kind of culture at AMC and what made him stick
to the firm for the past 15 years.
He asked me if I wanted to work on any sector in particular and
I expressed interest in working on some academic oriented
projects that AMC takes up from time to time on pro-bono or in
conjunction with World Bank etc. The partner then told me that
he headed a new practice at AMC the sustainability practice
that deals in such projects.
interview

Any tips for future
your experience
At this stage, the Partner made an offer and I accepted it.

Explained above
My sector knowledge in power helped in fair detail at the option
generation stage and I was lucky to have gotten a case in that
sector itself.
I prepared well for HR answers and was able to answer the
question about team work in consulting well.
Thorough knowledge about everything that I wrote on the CV
Nothing that I can specifically point out.
For AMC, it pays well to know well about what work the
company does and some recent happenings that the company
was involved in.
Frame good questions for asking at the end of the interview
Generate a plethora of options when analysing a case. It
shows that you can think in multiple directions. In summers,
most companies look only for people with ideas rather than
skills. Hence, this is the most important phase of a case
interview as far as summers are concerned.
Thorough CV and HR preparation are hygiene factors.
Always smile!

Page 146
Name:
Company:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
Interview questions
(With indicative
answers if you choose
to share them)
Siddharth Raghuvanshi
1. cant recall
2. HR Head
3. Saurav Partner
4. Alumnus
4 Rounds
I have done my dual degree (B.Tech+ M.Tech.) in Computer
Science & Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. After that I have
worked in FICO as a software engineer for 1 year.
Round 1: It was more of a chit chat round. First, the interviewer
asked me Tell me something about yourself. In my answer, I
mentioned about founding and heading 70 member team of
Student Welfare Group at IIT Kharagpur & co-founding a start-up
named estumart.com at IIT Kharagpur. The interviewer became
more interested in my work at Student Welfare Group & he asked
me in detail about my work. Then he asked few questions on my
start-up like whether it is still working or not, what was the
motivation for the start-up & having such a good engineering
profile, why didnt I opt for an MS degree. In the last, he asked me
whether I have any questions. I asked about the difference between
GTIN & IB profile. First he I told him, what I knew about both
the profiles, then there was some discussion regarding why I want
to choose IB over GTIN.
Round 2: It was with HR. She too started with tell me something
about yourself. Then she asked why we should take you. Then she
asked why how do you think you are better than others who are
being interviewed now. Answered all these questions. Then she
asked me if I have attended AMC Pre Placement Talk or not. I told
her that I have attended it. Then she cross questioned me by asking
about the stipend details. Told her. Then she asked why
Consulting. Then why Accenture. Then what are the core
values of Accenture. Globed the last answer, as I felt core values
of most of the consulting firm are similar. Later I found that 4 out
of 6 core values, which I answered, were correct. J
Round 3: This was the round with the partner. He seemed like a
cool person, which gave me an opportunity to ask him the most
important question Tell me something about yourself. I found
that he was working in GTIN. So that gave me opportunity to
further ask him some questions like what he thinks is good about
GTIN. Do people in GTIN get to work with Indian clients or not.
On site opportunity & so on. After that, the partner asked about
my favourite course in the Term 1. I told him QAM. Then he

Page 147
asked me the reason. After that he asked some questions on

Anova, I had to tell him that it still has not been taught. Then he
asked my next favourite course. I told him marketing management.
Then he asked the reason. Told him. Then he asked me some
questions on definition of brands. Gave him the answer with some
examples. Then he asked me some questions on Micro economics
like on demand & supply, how micro economics is different from
macroeconomics, definition of GDP, GNP, prisoners dilemma &
its implication in the industry.

interview
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Round 4: It was with alumnus. He was the founder of The

Consulting & Strategy Club. So he asked me in detail about our
work & how do we pitch to a client, etc. It was more of a
discussion rather than an interview round.
No cases or guesstimates were asked to me.
I had interest in the consulting. So I have gathered a lot of
information about Accenture, their different profiles. The
discussions with the interviewers showed them that I had genuine
interest in consult work.
My 2nd interview was not that good according to me. I had to globe
sometime like in question on core values of Accenture.
The most important thing is that you should be confident enough.
Consult interviews are more of a discussion rather than interviews.
So take it in that way only. If you have any genuine doubt, you can
also ask questions to them. It will be appreciated.

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A T Kearney

Page 149
Name:
Company:
designation
Nidhi Mehta
A.T Kearney
1st Round : Sidharth Jain , 2nd round : Praveen (Principal), 3rd
round Manish(Partner)
Round
Brief Profile
3 rounds
Shri Ram College of Commerce ( Eco Hons), 13 months workex with Tata Capital Ltd. (Senior Credit Officer)
Round 1:Tell me about yourself ; post the case I was asked to
give my view on the recent reduction in CRR rates
Interview questions
Round 2: Why Consulting ?

interview
Round 3: No HR questions were asked. However,The partner

asked me if I had any question for him.
Case 1: FICCI is planning to launch a new electric car, It has
been proposed that this will lead to a reduction in pollution.
Should the new car be launched?
Approach : This was a case involving a guesstimate. I first
looked at all the stakeholders that could be affected by this
proposal including the current car manufacturers. The
interviewer however guided me that it is assumed that all car
makers will start manufacturing this car. The question then came
down to the emissions produced by a regular car and an electric
car. I further sub-divided the cars into small, medium sized
(hatch backs and sedans) and SUVs. I also talked about the
emission levels being different for diesel and petrol cars.
Emission levels depended on the mileage and data was given for
the cars and CO2 emission levels.
Case 2: I am a steel manufacturer. My profits are decreasing.
Help me out.
Approach: This was a simple profitability case. I started out by
asking him about his business: the no of factories, locations and
if profit had been reducing in all of them. I then looked at the
revenue and cost heads. I asked him if he wanted me to look at a
particular head and he said I could start with revenues. Within
revenues I looked at the price and volume. Prices were constant
so I began analysing the factors affecting the volumes. I looked
at both supply and demand sided factors. Through this analysis I
came to know that the competitors had an integrated
procurement whereas the clients cost of raw materials was
higher. Also some of the machinery was obsolete. Branding of
the steel and delivery time were also issues of concern.I gave

Page 150
some recommendations such as improving the quality of the

steel ,having a branding strategy, giving cash discounts and
attractive margins to dealers , looking for alternate suppliers.
Working on a backward integration was suggested as a long term
strategy.
Case 3: Estimate the number of car servicing that take place in
India


Any tips for future
your experience
Approach : The partner didnt want me to get into calculations.

He specifically told me to give me the just the approach. I started
with estimating the number of car owners .We could divide
Indian household into different income categories and estimate
car owners. Some percentage of this would be old cars and
others would be new. The new ones would probably be under
free servicing schemes. The old ones could chose to go to the
service centre or chose a local mechanic. The owners of
expensive car owners would chose the servicing. Based on this
we could estimate average number of breakdowns in a year for
different car ownersand the corresponding requirement of
servicing. Next we need to estimate the number of accidents as
servicing will have to be done in this case as well.
Case 1 : The catch in the case was that the emission levels were
higher for the electric car. I could identify that this was because
electricity was being generated by thermal energy. I also took
into account transmission losses that would happen in electricity
generation. I guess what went right was that I took into account
all aspects of the case instead of following a narrow approach.
Case 2: The interviewer didnt have a specific problem in mind.
He was just looking at the approach and how many areas of
concern I could identify. I was comfortable with profitability
cases and I guess I structured the case well.
Case 3: The case lasted for just 5 mins and it was important to
communicate a proper structure.
Case 1 : It was not a typical case so in hindsight I could have
structured it in a better way.
Case 2 and 3 : Nothing went wrong as such
It is important to stay calm during the case interviews The
interviewer will be ready to help you out so it is important to
clarify your doubts. Take some time to understand the case
question and confirm with the interviewer before proceeding
further.

Page 151

Boston Consulting
Group

Page 152
Name:
Company:
designation
Mohit Agarwal
Navneet Vashisht, Partner
Round
Brief Profile
3 Rounds
Chartered Accountant, Graduate from SRCC; Prior work
experience -22 months as Associate in BMR (tax consultant) and
Ernst & Young (Transaction Advisory Services)
Round 1:
Interview questions
Some basic questions like Why consulting and why BCG.

Case on acquisition strategy of a large Indian conglomerate
looking for diversifying into IT services.
I took a complete background check with regard to the
motivation behind diversifying into IT sector. Also, what kind of
IT businesses it wanted to diversify.
The interviewer suggested that they want to achieve revenue of
USD 5Bn from current USD 4Bn. Also, they want a margin of
12-15% from this new business. Also, the major consumer of IT
services are Europe and US.
So, I divided the problem into two parts 1. Whether IT
business would serve them the purpose for achieving desired
revenue. 2. If yes, then what would be the strategy for entering
into IT services?
I started off with the projected revenue estimates for all types of
IT services. However, the interviewer changed the problem
statement (due to paucity of time I suppose).
He asked what would be the basis for selecting companies from
an acquisition standpoint from an initial pool of companies
across the globe.
I came up with two matrix table wherein I stated what the Indian
conglomerate wants from the acquisition (ie Need) and what it
can offer to the target company (ie want of target) and tried to
match it.
The interviewer informed that the Indian conglomerate was cash
rich company, stands on its values and has strong client
relationship with manufacturing sectors / vendors.

Page 153
So I started linking all of them

funding requirement for cash strapped companies
Reputation It can offer brand value to companies not well
known
Client relation to leverage Companies not present in
manufacturing IT services.
Also, during discussion, I linked the problem practically to how
Mahindra went on to acquire Satyam and what factors it looked
before bidding. I think the interviewer was impressed with the
linking to case to practical situation.
However, I think the interview did not go so well. However, I
knew I would be given another chance to perform.
The interview ended on brief chat with Hindi literature on poetry
and short stories.
Round 2:
The interview was taken by Principal in BCG. Problem
Statement An Indian Cement market share is declining.
MA: Define market share?
Interviewer: Market share is defined by quantity and sales value.
MA: There could be 3 possible scenarios: Market stagnant, we
are losing out to competitors; Market growing but we are not
growing as fast as market; market shrinking but we are losing
more than our competitors.
Interviewer: Second scenario
MA: Major customers
Interviewer: Real estate companies
After a brief background question, I started off with the problem
analysis.
I broke the problem into Demand and Supply side.
Under demand side, I mapped the consumer behaviour analysis
of buyer and brought out several points. However, the
interviewer was interested in delving into supply side. Anyways,
he told me to analyze demand side.
Based on our discussion, we realized that pricing and timely
delivery was an issue. Pricing is based on cost plus pricing. Cost

Page 154
includes transportation cost which was significantly higher than

industry standards. High transportation cost stems from the fact
that the factory was located far away from the market. Also,
acquisition of lime stone has been a challenge for the company.
I think the interviewer was impressed from the fact that the
problem was solved from the demand side. Also, I quickly
suggested 2 solutions to the problem:
Short term Reduce prices and take a hit on profit to
regain market share
Medium term Follow hub and spoke model to reduce
delay in delivery time
Long term Acquire a source (may be mine or long term
supplier) for lime stone
The interview ended with HR questions as to why MBA after
CA, why consulting, why BCG and why not industry after CA.
Round 3:
The third round was a very brief round. The problem statement
was Whether Uninor bid for the next spectrum auction?
I took background questions regarding in which circle it operates
and its vision in India.
I suggested that I would do a Net Present Value analysis and
would bench mark against return expected by Norway Head
Office. We went into revenue stream like voice and data. Cost
included operating, spectrum, license fee etc.
He seemed to be satisfied with the response. Also, he asked me
why AT&T is not bidding for the spectrum. I explained that
Uninor has invested time, effort in understanding Indian market
which AT&T has not. I drew learning curve of both Uninor and
AT&T. He seemed impressed.
interview
At this stage, the Partner made an offer and I accepted it.

Explained above
I think structured approach to the problem and able to articulate
it well went right in the interview. Also, I linked the problem to
practical situation which helped me in cracking the case.

Page 155

Any tips for future

your experience
I was nervous in my first interview; hence initially I went in

haywire manner. However, I was told that one needs to perform
in 2 out of 3 interviews to get through. I did well in my second
interview and hence moved to third round. So in case, you do
not do well in one of the interview, it should not matter. Its
important to think clearly and structurally.
1. Be calm and composed. Even if one interview does not go
well, one would have another chance to perform
2. Take good background questions to understand the problem.
Dissect the problem and then approach
3. Structured thinking is very important. Also, explain briefly
the broad bucket in the structure.
4. All suggestions should have some basis based on the inputs
taken during t he interview.
5. Thorough CV and HR preparation are hygiene factors.
6. Always smile!
Name:
Company:
designation
Brief Profile
Interview questions
Shraddha Gupta
Rahul Jain, Partner ( First Round)
Seema (Second Round)
Economics Honours, St. Stephens College
No Work Ex
Round 1: What drives you to do well at academics?
A truck company has just entered India. They want you to design
a financing strategy for them. Basically they want to ensure that
people who want to buy their trucks will have access to
financing.

interview
Round 2: The government wants to redesign the way it supplies

vaccines to rural areas. What parts of the supply chain will you
outsource?
The partner started off by asking me about academics (I had a
really high CGPA that time) and I asked him a bit about how he
was also one of the top rankers in his time at Lucknow (hed
mentioned this at the BCG dinner earlier). He then gave me the
case question. I started by focussing on the different factors that
were important for a person to get loans from banks (like
creditworthiness, availability etc.) He said the structure was fine
but he wanted me to focus more on the link between financing
and the truck purchase. So I figured out that I needed to
understand their target customers better. We discussed that for a

Page 156

Any tips for future
your experience
while. It turned out that there were two kinds of customers

(forming 50% of the total each) One was large fleet owners who
bought lots of trucks together and had no trouble with financing.
The others were smaller players. They took a loan from a local
moneylender and used the purchased truck as collateral. So I
suggested we focus on the smaller guys (because they did not
have access to traditional financing) and try to get the
moneylenders to promote our trucks. He then drew a couple of
graphs and asked me to figure out what kind of monetary
compensation we could offer the moneylender.
The case was really different from the ones I had done earlier so
I really enjoyed it. It didnt really feel like a case interview at all,
felt more like a discussion. I was able to pick up the clues well.
Cant think of anything.
Try to have fun. Dont fret too much about how many cases you
have practiced.
Name:
Company:
designation
Wamika Mimani
Navneet (Partner)
Round
First
Brief Profile
St. Xaviers College, Kolkata; B.Com Honours, CA Inter,

Fresher
He asked me for a quick introduction. We spoke briefly about
IIM Lucknow and then he straight off headed to tell me about
the interview pattern. He told me that wed do a case and then
move on to discuss any questions I had about the company.
The case was about an Indian conglomerate entering the IT
space. I was asked to prepare a detailed market entry strategy at
the start. When I outlined that he could opt for a JV, an
acquisition or an own set-up, he asked me to probe further into
the JV idea. From there on, the case was about identifying
specific metrics to ascertain the best JV route. It was a very
spontaneous case discussion, and we covered a variety of
opportunities, problems and solutions in and around the original
problem statement.
Interview questions

interview

Page 157


Any tips for future
your experience
Round
designation
Interview questions

interview

Any tips for future
your experience
I kept my cool. At one point, I realised that he was not getting

the specific reply he wanted. Instead of panicking, I asked for a
minute, took a step back and reworked the problem successfully.
What worked most was the level of engagement with the
interviewer. Post the case, we had an excellent dialogue about the
sector in which he was working on a case.
I rushed to give a particular answer in the case, which was
absolutely unnecessary. It was crucial that I didnt get nervous
after that.
Keep high energy through the interview. Feel confident and
remember that, at the end of the day, an interview should most
importantly be a good conversation.
Second
Vikram (Principal)
He asked me to talk about the past 8-10 years of my life briefly.
He told me that hell administer a case, and that he didnt expect
me to solve the case. He clearly told me that he was testing me
on my approach and the questions I asked.
The case was about a cement company losing market share. It
has set up new plants too. There was some amount of data to
play with and a lot of technical jargon (which I suspect was to
just throw me off track!)
I structured the problem in a very detailed manner. I asked
relevant questions and took my time. I also got lucky that
intuitively I managed to find the root cause of the problem,
though it wasnt expected out of the case. The rapport with the
interviewer was good during and after the case.
Nothing really, I was quite happy with how the interview went.
Look happy, it rubs off on to the interviewer as well! Its
important to practice ample cases so that youre confident with
your problem solving.

Page 158

Deloitte

Page 159
Name:
Company:
designation
Round
Brief Profile
Interview questions
Divya Chandra
Deloitte S & O
Senior Manager
3 Rounds
Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani; Prior work
experience - 10 months in BHEL, New Delhi
Round 1:
HR round:
Interviewer started with his introduction first.
Then some basic questions like tell me about you, hobbies.
Which all places have you travelled till date? Is travelling an
issue?
Questions regarding my hobbies and interests.
Why consultancy?
Round 2:
Case Study Round:
A case study on Health industry was given. It was related to
Hospitals and Clinics in USA. A lot of number crunching was
required. Also emphasize on all key points looking at numbers
with lots of option generation.
Round 3:

interview

The Partner asked me about my educational background. Why

not finance?
Current academic performance at IIM Lucknow in Term I.
Why consulting? Scrutinized CV well.
After this round, the Partner made an offer and I accepted it.
Case emphasized on a lot of number crunching.
A chain of clinics and hospitals were owned by a company based
in the USA and were generating losses. A whole set of data sheet
was given to analyse. It needed identification of the various
problems leading to losses in hospital revenue. Then options to
cut down on costs were to be given based on the expenses given
in the sheet.
Quick calculations and analysis of data sheet was a plus point.
I was able to answer the question why consulting well.
Thorough knowledge about everything that I wrote on the CV.

Page 160
A smile throughout the interview helped.

Any tips for future
your experience
None.
1. Prepare why consulting question well
2. Be quick in calculations and generate as many options as you
can when analysing a case. Think of out of box solutions to
the problems in the case.
3. Thorough CV based preparation is required.

Page 161

McKinsey & Co.

Page 162
Name:
Company:
designation
ANURADHA TYAGI
McKinsey & Co
Round 1: Pradeep (Principal)
Round 2: Navtez (Partner)
Round 3: Mandar (Partner)
Brief Profile
Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University, Economics

(Hons), Analyst in the Advisory Practice at Ernst & Young
Round 1: Apply Econometrics and other Economics concepts
to define the distribution of ticket price between Lufthansa &
United Airways if a passenger pays INR 50,000 to fly the route
Delhi-Frankfurt-New York. (Lufthansa takes the passenger till
Frankfurt and United Airways from Frankfurt till NY)
Interview questions
Ans : Bargaining power, occupancy ratios, original ticket costs

for standalone routes-Range for Lufthansa is INR (15,00030,000) & Range for United Airways is INR
(35,000-45,000)
Round 2: Presentation to the industry about projections of
supply & demand of Oil & Natural Gas in India by 2025.
Explain all parameters involved in the projections
Ans: No clear-cut answer in this case. Was tested on general
understanding and ability to tap as many levers as possible
Round 3: You seem to be inclined towards Theatre. Let us try
and understand the functioning of Kingdom of Dreams,
Gurgaon-its profitability and possible recommendations if any

interview
Ans: Again, case involved numbers and exploring several factors.

I dont remember the exact answer but the revenues came to
approximately 5 crores annually, not too sure.
All three cases stemmed from casual conversations with the
respective people. The first one started with talk about my
favourite subjects within Economics, the second was after I was
asked about my background (my father works with RIL) & the
third was when my interest in theatre was questioned. Hence, the
point I am trying to make is that please be clear about what you
speak because your case can be an off-shoot of the conversation.
CASE 1: My questions resulted in me getting details about the
occupancy ratios of the two airlines, competitor airlines, routes
travelled by both the airlines, preference of passengers etc. The
right questions and numbers helped me clarify relevant points &
discuss some economics concepts which the interviewer wanted

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to see.
CASE 2: I was not given any data or prior information and
hence had to make assumptions and clarify my logic at each
stage. Started with 3 scenarios-worst, expected & good. Went on
to explain why demand in this industry would always grow &
hence supply should be the focus. Delved into Indias
dependence on imports, bureaucracy issues, treaties with other
nations-India-Afghanistan pipeline, political scenario of OPEC
countries & other oil rich nations like Iran, geologists & their
ability to tap the right oil fields, Risk Analysis-Probability &
Severity of finding oil in India (this point fetched me great
review) & of course, not to forget the regulatory environment in
India & Public-private players in the Industry.
Some substantial arguments were discussed and I came up with
some other parameters & a conclusion.

Any tips for future

your experience
CASE 3: In order to understand the case, I questioned about the

revenue levers and what I think was the business model-different
shows-main v/s others, footfall, income through business
besides shows, peak season etc.
Discussed cost levers & made a couple of recommendations
based on the parameters.
Structured cases, exhaustive option generation, relaxed &
confident personality and ability to build a connect with each
administrator in all rounds
Nothing really. I maintained my cool and came across as relaxed
and composed for all three rounds. My feedback from the firm
while they made the offer was that I managed to keep myself
very calm and my cases structured even though at times it
seemed difficult.
-Do not give up at any point in time during any case. Sometimes
the case may not be your comfort area but you need to drive
yourself till the end & that matters
-When numbers are thrown at you, keep your cool and work it
out without being under any pressure. Its better to get the right
answer than mess up simple math
-Practice cases and be clear about HR answers. Nothing should
precede the other, give equal importance to both
Name:
Company:
Harshita Kesarwani
McKinsey & Co

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designation
Brief Profile
Interview questions
R1 - Sambit (EM)/ R2 - Pradeep (Partner)/ R3 - Palash (Partner)

Economics (H), SRCC, 2010
Nomura 2 years, Fixed Income, Global Markets
Round 1: About me and some related questions followed by
case.
Round 2: About me and HR answers around extra-curriculars,
teamwork, initiatives and leadership

interview
Round 3: Case on a healthcare product launch with a guess

estimate. The twist was that I had to do everything without using
pen and paper. This was an interesting new challenge.
Round 1: Case was based on a telecom firms tower construction
costs which were higher than peers. This was a stress interview
and the guy kept insisting on structure. I think the important part
was to keep calm and not to lose patience.
Round 2: No case

Round 3: Case was on a joint replacement product. As

mentioned, it was without pen and paper so focus was all the
more important.
Round 1: I think what really worked was patience and smiling
through the 40-45 minutes. The feedback I received was that I
never stopped myself from thinking through every option which
helped in covering every possible bucket.
Round 2: I dont think all HR answers can be prepared and the
ones I answered here were some that I had never heard before.
What really helped was that I had listed a few situations before
Summers week that described key qualities that I would like to
talk about in a specific answer.
Any tips for future

your experience
Round 3: Not being familiar with healthcare at all, I think what

worked was taking time to understand the product and the
market. Also, the case became more like a conversation which
helped me solve the case well.
The guesstimate was tricky to do only in the head but in the end
he was looking only for the approach and not the actual market
size figure.
HR answers are supremely important run answers through
people and work on the feedback.
Be prepared for any kind of interviewer. Each has their own
unique style keeping calm is the best way to crack the
interview.

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Name:
Company:
designation
Karabi Mitra
McKinsey and Company
Cant recall
Brief Profile
I graduated in Economics honours from St. Xaviers College,

Kolkata, and worked for one year in Google Hyderabad, as an
Account Strategist.
Round 1: Case based interview ( have narrated below)
Interview questions
Round 2: HR based: was asked the following:

1.) Tell me about yourself, in the course of this question,
asked me about my family as well.
2.) Why consulting
3.) 2 instances of leadership
4.) Asked about music as it was in my CV that I had taught
the piano.
5.) Also, asked about my work experience.
interview

Round 3: Case based interview ( have narrated below)

The first case was about a pharmaceutical company which had
come out with a new eyedrop which cures myopia, and I had to
price the product. Here we had to look at alternatives, such as
cost of wearing glasses all your life, and the amount you would
be spending, and discounting the amount you spend each year. I
mentioned the cost of glasses, doctor visits, contacts, also laser
surgery etc, to finally compute the price.
The second case which I got in the 3rd round, was also about a
medical company which was facing a problem of falling profits.
Here there were several problems, low productivity, and falling
sales as well. Here the sales force was required to convince the
doctors about its products, as they would then prescribe the
medicines. Important thing here was whether they were targeting
the right doctors who had a lot of patients, whether doctors were
already loyal to some other company etc.
What worked in all the interviews is that I was quite calm, and
the interview was more of a discussion, rather than a question
answer interaction. I think its best to be frank and just treat the
interviewer as someone who is actually interested in hearing
about your experiences.
As for the case interviews, it is very important to ask questions if
you have any queries, and to always let him know why you are
making whichever choices and assumptions in the course of the
case.

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wrong in this interview
I dont think anything went wrong.
Any tips for future

your experience
Practicing a lot of cases not only with others, but also going
through solutions on your own helps a lot. It is important to
keep analyzing your mistakes rather than doing a lot of cases. HR
answers are probably even more important than the case
themselves, so it is important to prepare them well in advance.
Name:
Company:
designation
Swati Sengar
McKinsey & Co.
Deepak, Partner
Brief Profile
B.Com (Hons) from Shri Ram College of Commerce

23 months work experience with KPMG
Interview questions
Since it was Deepaks first interview of the day, he didnt want to

do a case. It was a 20-30 minutes HR interview. The broad
questions were:
- About work experience ( I focussed on achievements and
initiatives)
- About dance (my spike as per my CV: I focussed on
leadership skills, handling failures and motivation skills
adopted)
- Biggest failure in life
- Conflict management techniques used in teams
- Academic performance at IIML (he was referring to my CGP
of term 1)
- Life at IIML ( I focussed on my learnings, positive and
negative aspects)
No case

interview
Since it was my first interview of the day, I was quite enthusiastic

and had a big smile on my face (appearance is very important). I
was relieved when Deepak told me that he didnt want to do a
case. I tried to answer in a story-telling format (its important that
the interviewer understands the flow of the answer).
I believe my energy level was good and I was quite confident
while conversing with Deepak (important to note that its a
conversation and not a question-answer session).

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Before entering the room, a senior had told me that Deepak was
in Australia for 2 years so I brought it up in the conversation.

Any tips for future

your experience
Also, Deepak was among the first batch of students who were
recruited by McKinsey. I asked him about his experience and he
seemed quite emotional about it.
For a few questions like biggest failure in life, I first gave an
answer which he thought was an achievement and not a failure.
Later, I substantiated the answer with another instance which
seemed to satisfy him.
I was using my hands a little too much and I think Deepak was
getting distracted by the movement.
- Its very important to keep energy level high
- Engage the interviewer in a conversation and dont stop
yourself from saying something by virtue of being the
interviewee. Give yourself importance and talk proudly about
your past experiences
- Pick up hints thrown by the interviewer
- A firm handshake always works and exudes confidence
- Dont freak out and have fun

Page 168

Summer Internship
Experiences 2011

Page 169

Accenture Business
Consulting

Page 170
Company
Name:
Round
Brief Profile :
Accenture Business Consulting

Shalabh Malhotra
2 Rounds
IIT Guwahati, Mechanical Engg., 10 months in NTPC Ltd.
Personal interview
questions
1st Round
1. Tell me about yourself. Examples from life to justify for
whatever points you had mentioned.
2. Guesstimation Case
3. Do you like travelling? Which all places have you been to?
(A consulting job requires a lot of travelling. Make sure you
justify that you love travelling)
4. What do you know about Accenture and ABC? Which
vertical in ABC interests you the most?

interview
2nd Round
This round is based on your work-ex. Know your company
well and have a good hold on your sector.
1. Tell me about your experience in NTPC Ltd.
2. Why NTPC Ltd. after engineering and why MBA now?
3. Present Power Scenario in India. Difficulties faced by
thermal power plants at present.
4. Future of Nuclear Power Plants. Pros and Cons.
5. Hydro-electric plants and their pros and cons.
Problem statement:
You are a private company who has got the contract to install
street lights in Lucknow. Guesstimate the number of street
lights that will be required and the expected profit you think
you can earn.
Structure:
1. I assumed Lucknows area to be 20km by 20km.
2. I, then, divided the city into a matrix assuming it to be
criss-crossed by #60 20 km roads running horizontally and
vertically each.
3. Then estimated an approximate of 30% area to be under
forest cover.
4. Divided the roads in the remaining 70% area into roads
present in residential and non-residential (commercial +
highways) areas. Took an estimate on number of street
lights present per km in both these areas.
5. Finally came to a number on the number of street lights
taking into account that some places will have 2 lamps on a
single post while others will have just 1.
6. After that estimated the product + set-up cost for each
street light.

Page 171
What do you think

went wrong in this
interview?
7. Estimated the running charges (maintenance and

electricity). Electricity charges would depend on the
number of operation hours and watt-rating of the lamp.
Maintenance charges and profit margin was estimated.
8. In the end a total estimate of profits was calculated.
Though I was called for the 2nd interview, I think I didnt do
well in the Guesstimation case (1st round) itself. The 2nd
interview was good but I guess they were calling people for the
3rd interview based on both the interviews combined. Prepare
for cases and Guesstimation well.
Company
Name:
Binay Jaiswal
Name of interviewer
and designation
4 rounds were held. I dont remember the specific names of all

the people. The first round was taken by Gautam and third
round was taken by one of the alum.
Round
1st and 2nd round were case interviews. Third was a work
experience specific interview and last was the HR round.
Brief Profile :
( Graduation College,
stream, Work ex
details, etc. )
B.Tech in IT from NIT Durgapur
Personal interview
questions (With
indicative answers if
you choose to share
them)
Round 1:
45 months of work experience:

37 months in IBM and 8 months in TCS as SAP ABAP
Technical Consultant.
The first questioned asked was the number of shortlist on day

0 and the interviewer jumped straight into a slide in his laptop.
Basically the slide had plenty of line diagrams. I had no clue
what it was about. As we started interacting, I figured out the
line diagrams showed number of units sold in a span of 8-9
months.
I was asked to analyse the line diagrams. On further interaction
and based on my answers, I came to know the diagrams had
the data about the number of units sold by various companies
and total number of units sold in each month. The figures
didnt show any consistent pattern and I was asked to figure
out why was it so. Basically only thing I could figure out was

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the sales showed cyclical nature and the number showed a

positive trend just before Oct-Nov and a dropping trend in
Jan-Mar.
There was a clear market leader but the sales were decreasing
in latest months while there was a fierce competition for the
second and the third slot. A detailed discussion took place
about who can take the second place and why. Then he asked
some FRA question related to the graphs. The discussion
boiled down to FIFO/LIFO method and he gave some data
for a particular company and I was asked to show the impact
of LIFO or FIFO on Profit, COGS, Taxes, and retained
earnings.
After that he asked a short case on airline industry and it didnt
revolved around rising oil prices (Aberration of current Market
condition). According to the case, one courier company
increased the freight charges though there was a decrease in oil
prices. My answers revolved around higher interest rates and
depreciation which decreased the operating profit of the
courier company. But he was looking for something else and
the case was supposed to be analysed from demand-supply
side (Microeconomics!!!!). With his input we concluded that
the business model of freight industry was changing.
Companies who used to transport by rail/road now started
using Air Freight which increased the demand suddenly and
hence the price. Further because of capacity constraint, the Air
Freight company bought few new aircrafts and hence wanted
to break even early to make the most of current market.
Note: The interview went Ok types. Interviewer expectation
was much more and I think I could not handle the Airline case
upto his expectation. He wished me good luck for the next
round.
Round 2:
I came to know that they have scheduled my first round again
as they were expecting more.
The interview started with How did the first round went? I
said It was decent but I should have done better. He asked
would have or should have? I said Should have. What
went wrong was his instant question. I gave my analysis and
he looked satisfied by my analysis (He displayed like thatJ). I
was told that this round will have 2 parts: (i) Case (discussed
below) and (ii) some general questions

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As he was very satisfied with the case analysis, the second part
of interview was not much of pain. It was more of a general
discussion. As I had work ex in IT industry, I was asked how
will I handle management consulting as its very different from
IT consulting and required very competent skills. I was also
asked about the highest level of client interaction and how I
managed them. He specifically asked for one of the CV point
which was about interacting with the program director of the
US based client and how I managed to convinced him to
increase the scope of the development, issues faced and what it
took to convince him to approve the increase in man hours
effort from 400 to 950.
Few questions about my strengths and how I will handle the
clients specifically when I am interacting with CXO level
people followed. I was also asked why consulting and whether
I would be comfortable travelling after marriage. Overall I had
a very good interview.
Round 3
This round was taken by one of our alums. I was asked if I am
nervous or excited. I said both and was asked to explain why
so. (Good Ice Breaking 5 minutes). I was again asked the
number of process I am running for (Other Shortlists!!!). A
casual discussion followed like it must be tough running for
different process in different parts of the campus.
He was constantly picking up points from my CV and it was
more or less work experience related interview. Questions like
my greatest failure in life so far and my learning from it, why
Accenture business consulting, strengths of Accenture etc. I
was asked to compare between Accenture and (i) IBM (ii)
Deloitte (iii) McKinsey and few other consulting companies.
Why consulting figured again and my fit as a consultant was
asked.
I was also asked about my CGPA and relative position
amongst PGP1 students. Questions like do you face difficulty
studying after 45 months of work ex and how I adjusted, how
I manage pressure here etc. followed. I asked three questions
to him and a detailed discussion took place.
Round 4
It was HR round which lasted for around 10 minutes.
Questions like Why ABC, Consulting, my strengths, best and

Page 174
worst feedback received in my previous work ex were asked. I

was asked about my expectation from ABC. Brief discussion
about my POR and CGPA followed.
Problem statement:
interview (Please be as The case was about decreasing sales of Nano in Kolkata and
descriptive as possible) adjoining areas.
Case analysis:
Initially we discussed if it was a normal trend in other parts of
India or not. If there was any price increased by Nano or any
changes with the design which might not have gone well with
the consumers. We also spoke about impact of negative
publicity like engine failure and instances of fire breaking out
in Nano. Marketing strategies of handling negative publicity
was also discussed.
But the maximum discussion happened around 2 points:
1) As Nano was mainly for people with 2 wheelers, I
wanted to understand where the real issue was.
Whether consumers are moving to 2.5-3 lakhs priced
car like Alto and Zen (few others also) or people with 2
wheelers were not able to buy Nano. I asked about any
trend whether any data regarding people willingness to
buy Nano (Through Test Drives taken, visits to
showrooms etc.) but not actually buying was there or
not. After few minute of discussion, I was told that the
main issue was people with 2 wheelers are not buying
Nano. So the main issue was affordability. I
recommended zero % interest rate for EMI for first 2
years of purchase and very minimal ROI after that. We
also discussed about the bank Nano should partner
with and then he filtered the question to 1 bank only. I
opted for SBI as it has branches in adjoining remote
areas of Kolkata and people there have higher trust in
Govt. banks.
2) We also spoke about the Demand-Supply constraint. If
there was any channel conflict. Brief interaction
revealed that Nano had only 7 distributors in that part
of region and this was a major problem and it should
increase by 3-4.
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
My case performance in the second round went pretty well.

The interviewer complimented me about the analysis (though
it may not look that impressive above). The structure and
thorough conversation helped me sail through and I was told

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that I kept the interviewer interested and hooked throughout

the case solving phase.
After my third round I was also appreciated about my prior
work experience and I was told You had a quality work
experience and I appreciate your practical approach of
business understanding.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
My first round didnt go that well particularly the Airline

question. I should have interacted more to understand various
perspectives rather than being biased with current market
situation (Like higher oil price and interest rates which was not
applicable here)
Any tips for future

your experience
1) Stay Cool because it will help you to interact freely and

focus on various perspectives which is very important
in the case
2) Display a lot of enthusiasm and dont shy away from
talking. Remember Consultant need to do a lot of
talking. Just ensure you talk sense on that day.
3) Practise some cases before interviews.
4) Never think that you are out of race. Dont judge
yourself in the interview. Interviewer might give you
chance to bounce back.
5) Higher Work Ex people particularly IT background
can t get day zero shortlist is a myth
Company
Name:
Mahesh
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
stream, Work ex
details, etc. )
Personal interview
questions (With
you choose to share
NA
First (of 3 rounds)
Bpharm
Work experience of 2 years
1. Tell me something about yourself?
2. Asked me about my role at previous workplace?

Page 176
them)
3. Why consulting?
4. How did you know Accenture?
HR related questions were asked in the subsequent rounds

Problem statement:
interview (Please be as A multination firm in oil and gas segment is looking at setting
descriptive as possible) up a green field plant by collaborating with ONGC India. You
being one of the directors chosen to work for this partnership
what are the most important factors you would look at?
Case analysis:
I divided the decisions into HR , operations , finance and
marketing related decisions. Since the venture was a new one I
focussed on the organizational chart development and the role
of director in selecting the right people for higher and middle
management roles. I also talked about getting policies with
regard to skill set of workers, policy on unions being in place.
Talked about setting up a township and hiring a contractor for
it as the location is likely to be in a remote area. Also focussed
on retaining and hiring of talent.
Marketing function decisions included pricing of product
(based on cost estimates of sales force) and sales force for
carrying out B2B activities. Discussion on operations was the
most important one in this case. I talked about the role of
director in hiring a contractor and overlooking the
subcontractors used. I also talked about the timelines of the
project and suggested a milestone based approach with
penalties to ensure that the work gets done. In addition to
contract related equipment i focused on the equipment
specification to match to the capacity expectations. Aggregate
planning with scaling up was also suggested to make the
factory operational and to sort out initial issues. I focused on
the supply chain related issues to transport the end product to
customers.(Suggested pipeline)
Talked about the role of cost accountant in determining the
price of the end product and also focussed on selecting an
external auditor to oversee the accounting standards.
Structure:
Divided the case as per verticals in an organization
A guestimate on the number of streetlights in Lucknow was

asked (He asked me to be very short in description and wanted

Page 177
me to use numbers at every step)

I approached this by assuming Lucknow to be close to a
rectangle in shape the dimensions being 20 x 15 Km. Then i
assumed the main streets to be passing though lines joining the
mid points. I assumed that these roads to be two laned and
had the highest density of lights. The next part was about the
streets branching out of these streets and i assumed lower
density of lights here. Thus i got a series and added them up to
get the number of lights.
Other questions
Guesstimate the number of travellers to Antartica
Guesstimate the number of cab drivers in Dehli
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
Got the structure. I was able to use the ques from the
interviewer and could this helped in approaching the case
better.
After the discussion gave 3 points on which a director needs to
focus
What do you think

went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Should have organized the points in each vertical in order of

their importance.
Ask for clarifications to the interview if needed. Practice a lot
of cases with your peers.
Be clear about Why ABC?

Page 178

Boston Consulting
Group

Page 179
Company
Name:
Abhir Bhomavat
Name of interviewer
and designation
Principal
Round
First
Brief Profile :
BITS-Pilani Goa Campus (8.73 Electronics and

Instrumentation, Fresher with an internship at J.P. Morgan
Investment Banking)
Was a convener on the council during my under graduation.
Institute rank 2nd at IIM-L in the first term with a GPA of 9.4
Personal interview
questions

interview
1. Are you clear about your decision between IB and

Consulting?
2. Why consulting
3. Why BCG?
I had a well prepared answer for all these questions
Problem statement:
The client is a company that manufactures an interactive
educational tool. It is basically something as big as a
blackboard fitted in the classroom and has touch screen
interactivity. What do you think is the scope of this product
and what are the other things that the company can do in the
field of education to increase its revenues (to 1000 Cr)?
Case analysis:
I first tried to understand the product properly.
Q. Does the company make any other products?
Ans: No
Q. What is this particular product used for majorly? To teach
what?
Ans: English language
I was trying to build a structure at this point when he
interrupted me by asking me if I had understood the question.
I felt he was trying to put a bit of stress. He then asked me to
explore what all are the options that an educational tech

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company in India could explore.

Q. Are we looking at only classroom services or online as well?
Ans: Upto you what you want to look at
I built a structure which split into Classroom learning and
online learning. Then further split classroom learning into
providing education material and products (like the one the
client makes). In online I split it into videos and material.
He was happy with this basic structure. He then asked me that
the client was focusing on language needs of people. So he
asked me to estimate the demand of the English language
learners. He then asked me to estimate how many such are
those who already have a source to learn and how many are
wanting to but do not have a source and what should I target?
I started with the metro population in India. Roughly 14mX4
= 56m. Then divided it by the age group. I dint plug in any
figures. I just made the initial tree. I told him that I would plug
in the figures later. Age group of 16 and less who are going to
schools.
He then asked me why I have not considered adults who want
to learn English.
Then I considered that as well.
He then asked me why I have not taken into consideration
those who do not know that they want to learn English. I
didnt understand what he meant, so I asked him to explain.
He told me that a domestic maid is latent demand because she
doesnt know that she want to learn English (got kind of
philosophical at this point)
So he asked me to factor that in as well. He asked me how we
can make them use an online medium when they do not have
basic education in the first place.
Summary:
He helped me a lot with the case. Infact he gave me the 2 most
important points of adult demand and latent demand. Overall I
found the case to be very tough and ambiguous. He kept on
asking me if I understood the question which made me lose
confidence many times.
What do you think
I was passionate about the education industry like I had

Page 181
went right in this

interview?
mentioned. I also was not put down by his comments of have

you understood my question. He didnt give me much time to
think, but I still managed to build a structure with all the
ambiguity in the problem. I feel he was judging the different
ways in which I could think since it was a pretty open ended
and highly unstructured case to start with.
What do you think

went wrong in this
interview?
At first I didnt understand why he was focusing on the

demand of English language. I should have taken into
consideration of adults as well. I was looking at only school
children. I was very nervous since it was my first interview of
the day and was also the very first for BCG in the morning.
The interview was shorter than I anticipated.
Any tips for future

Please make sure of what you say in the initial HR questions. I
batches on the basis of had mentioned that I liked teaching. That was the reason why
your experience
picked out this case for me. So please make sure you can show
the passion for a particular interest that you have mentioned.
Be calm during the case. He will help you out for sure. It is
important to be persistent and keep going at the problem.
Round
Personal interview
questions

interview
Second
1.
2.
3.
4.
Are you convinced about consulting vs. IB?

Why do you want to do consulting and not IB?
Tell me something different/interesting about yourself.
Have you worked on live projects? If so tell me one in
which you used a completely different approach.
Ans: I spoke about a project that I had done during an intern

at a CSIR lab after my 2nd year of engg. It was highly technical
and involved FEM in the field of Biophysics. He asked me
what I did differently. I explained it to him in layman terms.
He was very impressed with my answer.
Problem statement:
A financial services company (NBFC) that has entered India
few years ago wants to know whether it should continue in
India or not?
Case analysis:
Q. I asked him the relative position of the business viz-a-viz its
peers.
Ans: It is not very high. Somewhere around 6th.

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Q. What are the different businesses?

Ans: Mutual funds debt and equity, Asset management, etc.
Equity fund is not performing as well as its competitors. Debt
is on par
Q. What is its target market?
Ans: HNIs with income of INR 5Cr +
I had made a brief structure earlier in which I had said that I
would like to explore 3 things. The historical performance of
the fund, Its competition, and the third thing was future
growth in India.
He gave me some details on the historic performance and all.
He also told me about the competition.
I was then asked to make a decision of whether to continue in
India.
I told him based on the future growth story they should
remain in India. He wanted me to ask the growth rate of HNIs
in India. He then gave me those figures.
Q: He then asked me what all problems they could face.
Ans: Very volatile equity markets, major source of HNI money
is black so we cant capture the entire growth in HNI.
Competition could outdo us. If interest rates fall, investors
would want to invest abroad. I gave a few more options that I
cant recall right now.
Summary:
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Round
Personal interview
The case was very straight forward. Basic questions needed to

be asked. I had expressed an interest in finance so I was given
this case.
He was very impressed with my HR questions. That gave me
major confidence. The case was simple and need a proper
structure initially which I provided. He was impressed with the
option generation as well.
I forgot to ask him the growth rate of our target market
(HNIs).
Prepare HR answers really well. My case was something which
anybody would have cracked but the differentiating part was
the HR answers.
Third
1. Tell me about yourself

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questions
interview
2. Why does consulting excite you?

Was well prepared for these.
I had 2 cases in this interview.
1st case:
Problem Statement:
A taxi driver (black and yellow taxi) asked me if he should
move to a radio cab in Delhi.
Analysis:
I was a simple case of cost-benefit. Split into revenues and
cost. Cost split into fixed (maintenance and insurance) and
variable (fuel)
I asked him the km each car run in a day, the mileage, the cost
per liter of diesel. Charge/km. Made the comparison and gave
him the answer.
He asked me what else I should consider. I told him that the
taxi driver had more freedom owning his own cab. But in the
radio cab he wont have to worry about depreciation of the
vehicle. I also told him that owning his taxi may be a matter of
prestige for the driver.
2nd Case:
Should a PE fund buyout Infosys?
Case analysis:
Q. I asked him what the private equity fund was looking at :
Stake purchase or complete buyout?
Ans. Complete buyout
He asked me how a PE can gain out of buying Infosys.
I told him that the PE would have board members and would
provide guidance and expertise along with the funding
support.
Q. How long is the PE looking to invest in Infy?
Ans. 5 years
Q. what is rate of return that infy will give in 5 years

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Ans: 20%
At this point he asked me will the PE be able to increase the
profits of infy?
I told him that we could better management and expertise
from the PE end. He said that the PE would not be able to
manage Infosys better that what it already was.
Q. Will the PE be able to bring in new outside business?
Ans: no
Q. Will the PE be able to generate more than the expected
20% revenue for Infy?
Ans. No
At this point he told me think of it from an IB perspective. He
told me that if infy can be bought for say Rs 100 and would be
worth Rs 120 after 5 years, its not a big deal. The PE would
not be interested in something like this. So why would a PE
look to invest?
I luckily had some prior knowledge of Infy (0 debt on its
balance sheet and a hell lot of cash) So I told him that the
entire source of funds was only equity. So the PE could buy
the equity and then pay off dividends to it (since INFY was
cash rich) or else raise debt for leverage.
Q. Will the growth remain 20% even if I raise debt?
Ans: yes
So I told him that if INFY raises debt of Rs 100, Firm value
would be roughly Rs 200 and growth would be 20% -> Rs
240. Therefore the PE would make 40 on its initial Rs 100 ->
40%.
He was looking for a solution like: Buy it for Rs 100. Replace
Rs 50 of equity by raising debt. And then sell it for Rs120 5
years later. So effective gain would be Rs 20 on Rs 50 which is
still 40%
Q. What is this mechanism called?
Ans. Leveraging
He spoke a bit about LBOs then.
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
What do you think
The extra information I had on Infosys was something he was

very impressed with. He liked the fact that I was persistent in
the PE case. I was thinking of different options. He led me to
a solution.
I didnt get the hint of him leading me to an LBO based

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went wrong in this

solution even though I knew what an LBO was.
interview?
Any tips for future
Be confident and be persistent. Keep on going at the case even
batches on the basis of if you are stuck
your experience
Company
Name:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
Personal interview
questions
interview

Arjun Bhaduri
Arvind Pandey, Partner and Director
First
B.Sc (Economics Honors) from St. Xaviers College
No work experience
1. Why should BCG select you?
This was a pressure question because everything I said seemed
to displease him. I just tried to match my personality with
BCG and that seemed to work for me.
Problem statement:
A cement manufacturer based out of East India has been
seeing his prices in east India dip heavily in the past few
months. Despite being the market leader, he seems to be
unable to arrest the fall in prices. The aim as a consultant lies
to raise the prices by 10% and find a strategy to make sure the
prices do not fall so easily again.
Case analysis:
This was a very complex case with multiple problems and
solutions with each having a different set of pros and cons. He
wanted me to see the case from a simple demand and supply
point of view.
Structure:
The supply was overshooting demand in the market as a result
of the actions of competitors. So the issue was also to do with
the distributors in the middle and how brand consciousness
would come into the scene. The structure could be simplified
to a 2*2 matrix with price elasticity of demand and brand
consciousness on the axes. The issue could be then simplified
on the basis of the quadrant in focus.

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Summary:
Overall, the issue was embedded in being able to use game
theory with the distributor and play prices up and down at
regular intervals. Another strategy was to enter into forward
contracts.
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Round
Calmness and common sense was the key.
Personal interview
questions
1. General conversation for about 5 minutes?

The interviewer was very calm and reassuring and that
helped me build the conversation.

interview
Problem statement:
Was a little nervous at the beginning of the interviewing as a

result of the complexity of the case.
Second
A local taxi driver in Delhi wants to explore the possibility of

signing a contract with a radio taxi service. Help him with his
dilemma
Case analysis:
This was a case that really tested your ability to think far and
wide because the math was simple but the underlying logic
could have been missed very easily
Structure:
Used a simple revenue-cost structure for the pre and post
radio taxi phase. Then tried to see if any of the key variables
could be modified to come up with a different result.
Summary:
The case had two parts- one was the initial decision and the
decision after changing a key variable.
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
Thought simple and picked up the cues very well.

Failed to see the obvious solution the first time and needed a
little pushing in the right direction.

Page 187
interview?
Round
Personal interview
questions

interview
Third
1. Asked my questions about my tastes in food?
2. General discussion on football and tennis and we spoke
about our favorite stars from each of them.
More than anything else, this was an amazing
conversation where I could speak without any fears and
inhibitions.
Problem statement:
A life insurance company in Sri Lanka is losing out on market
share. Where does the problem lie?
Case analysis:
The case was a test of structure to see if you could create one
with all the levers enlisted.
Structure:
The market share could be seen as a function of number of
policies sold and the revenue per policy. The discussion would
then carry on the aspect of number of policies. The number of
policies itself would be a function of a number of factors, out
of which one of them was creating an issue.
Summary:
The toxic area was something to do with the insurance policy
salesman and the entire structure had to be panned out so as to
get to that
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Was highly energetic and logical in my approach.

I rushed through the case in parts.
Be calm, logical and energetic. That is all you need to impress
the interviewer.

Page 188
Company
Name:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
stream, Work ex
details, etc. )
Personal interview
questions (With
you choose to share
them)
interview

Aman Bhatnagar
Pranay Mehrotra, Partner & Director
First
IIT Delhi
Electrical Engineering (B. Tech)
Entrepreneur, 17 months
1. Started with discussion about Tintin, Herge, literary
quizzing, went on to about yourself, gave his introduction
and a chocolate, clarified on why it took so long to get to
see me
2. Interested with Manchester United, talked about playing
vs. watching football vs. gaming for a bit
Problem statement:
Client is a life insurance agency in Sri Lanka facing declining
market share
Case analysis:
Market leader, no.2 and no. 3 growing in dominance, Market
growing, they didnt release a particular policy, dont give
enough incentives to their agents which other firms are
capitalizing on,
Structure:
Broke it down into their business structure, understood how
they operate, tried to find loopholes in each step
Summary:
Was asked to stop after explaining the approach and asking
two or three questions, BCG vs McKinsey took over, spirited
discussion regarding pros, cons and discussion I had with
Gautam Kumra at McK, after debates and stressing the people
point, we called it a day.
Confidence, at ease, conversational tone and mode
Relating with the interviewer, leading the interview
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
Any tips for future
Take hints, explain approach.
your experience
Round
Second

Page 189
Name of interviewer
and designation
Personal interview
questions
interview
Arvind Pandey, Partner

Talked about himself, food, asked about experience till now,
outlined that well start with a case and then move on to any
doubts I have about BCG
Problem statement:
Leading cement manufacturer is facing declining profits; prices
have halved in the last few months and facing decreasing
prices further as well. Suggest emergency measures for next
few weeks.
Case analysis:
Spoke about the business, market, the competition and how
everyone else was coping. Talked about how the business
worked; distribution and sales network, retailers and incentives
and breakup in terms of branded, unbranded cement. Twist in
the case, BCG says increase prices; profits fall by 12% more
and take a hit. Now what?
Structure:
Value chain + market scenario, focused on issues like rising
costs, raw material sourcing, manufacturing difficulties,
expansion possibilities but were discounted. Went on to
retailers and distribution and his eyes lit up, literally. Focused
on region wise distribution, why there were discrepancies in
individual dealers selling different quantities given same
consumption patterns, focused on price prediction patterns
and inventory holding practices by different retailers.
Summary:
Was stopped after this, talked about BCG, consulting as a
career and how the partner found his calling, how BCG
contributes in making real change in the world
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience

I was informed later it was a stress interview. Since I got offers
from both firms, seems best to be clear, calm and logical on
the day and not let anything bog you down, least of all, the
pressure and reputation.

Page 190
Company
Name:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
Personal interview
questions

interview

Mustafa Rangwala
All interviewers were with partners
First
Did B.Tech in Electronics Engineering from VJTI. Worked in
JP Morgan for 21 months
Asked me why I wanted to join Consulting and not stay in
finance as my CV was fin-oriented. Also asked I whether I
would join McKinsey or BCG (Be ready with the answer to the
last question as it is going to be asked).
Problem statement:
The client is a financial services company. It has started a
wealth management business five years earlier. The business is
not performing nicely. Should the company keep on making
on investments in this or exit.
Structure:
First asked about the industry. The industry was growing but
the company was losing share. This meant that the problem
was with the company.
Structured to find about the revenue and cost structures of the
industry and the firm in particular. Tried to gather as much
background information on this as possible.
Talked about training the employees, any new adverse
regulations, competitor offerings, etc. In short covered a lot of
different angles.
Finally he asked me to give 10 recommendations to solve the
problem. This was difficult as we had barely discussed the case
for 10 minutes. Took 5 minutes to write down my suggestions.
Structured my answer in three areas: Customers, employees
and business improvement. Gave 3-4 suggestions in each
bucket.
I was able to give 10 recommendations which required a lot of
idea generation
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
Any tips for future
Idea generation requires a lot of practice. Make sure you do
batches on the basis of abstract cases which involve idea generation. Also have
your experience
questions for the interviewer ready for at least 3 rounds of the
process.

Page 191
Company
Name:
Vinay Doshi
Round
First
Brief Profile :
UG : Shri Ram College Of Commerce (2011)

Stream: Economics
Work-ex: 0 months
Personal interview
questions
Just a little chat about where youre from, what you like doing
and stuff. Of course, it began with the quintessential -Why
don't you tell me something about yourself?
Well, the simple approach I took to answering this question
each time was to link the major points on my cv and answer
Why you for BCG? I do not think speaking about only one
particular instance or event is a very good idea, unless of
course, the interviewer himself/herself probes the area

interview
Problem statement: About a potato chip manufacturing

company
What do you think went Well I didnt really end up cracking the case as well i could
have. That was really a big negative I thought. But i hindsight,
the fact that i got an offer only affirm that there is no such
thing as cracking the case- they only judge your approach to
problem solving, and as you very well know there is no one
correct solution
What do you think went I really made a connect with the interviewer I felt. Let him do
wrong in this interview? more of the talking bit as i sat listening. It really helps, because
in the end, the interviewer will inevitably end up dropping
those crucial hints that shall help you reach a conclusion.
Any tips for future
your experience
You really need to be calm and only then will the analytical
skills and creativity really show. But do not worry - the
interviewer shall go out of his/her way to make you feel so.
Just be you and try to establish connecting with the

Page 192
interviewer. A smiling face comes in handy too.

Also, there is a lot of buildup on campus to the start of day
zero- just remain calm during that time. Its easy to feel over
pressurized, especially with all the short-lists coming in, but
just relax. Its going to be fine.
Round
Second
Personal interview
questions
1. Although the partner did not ask me any questions

specifically, I started talking to him about his day, job and
used this as an opportunity to highlight the points in my
work experience which I wanted to share (remember they
will not always ask you everything and do ensure that you
connect it wherever possible)

interview
Problem statement:
The client is a large cement company with the highest market
share. The second close player is cutting prices. To match the
prices the client has also reduced its prices and is facing
declining profits. The client has given us 3 weeks to solve the
problem.
Structure:
I asked him about the dynamics of the industry. He explained
that there is not much difference between the products as well
as the cost structures of the company. This meant that even
the competitor is losing money by the price war.
I suggested 2 alternatives to solve this: first involved analysing
the cost structure and trying to reduce costs. But the
interviewer told me that the client has used all the cost
efficiencies possible (this indicates that the interviewer does
not want me to go deeper).
Second option that I suggested involved was the Game Theory
approach. This involves indicating to the competitor that we
will not reduce our prices even if he does so. This I suggested
could be done by issuing some way of communication to the
competitor. But he said that the competitor is not willing to
talk. I could not think of what could be done so he suggested

Page 193
that the client should increase the prices. This will show to the
competitor that the client is serious.
Then the interviewer said that after one week, the sales of the
client had declined drastically and the competitor had not
reduced its prices. This created a problem of inventory.
To solve this data was collected geographically and analyzed. It
was found that some dealers had reduced the stocks of the
clients cement. The clients did this as they expected the price
increase to be temporary and thus wanted to postpone the
purchase. I suggested increasing the prices again. This will
signal to the dealers that the price increase is not temporary.
Finally he asked me to give some suggestions about the same. I
suggested that the dealers should be given discounts based on
the average volumes they generate every week and month.
This will help in inventory planning. Secondly whenever the
price is increased they should be increased all at once and any
decrease should be spread over a larger period. This will not
allow competitors and dealers to pre-empt the client.
What do you think went I was able to get the fact that the problem related to Game
Theory.
What do you think went The case had only one solution but I could not exactly
wrong in this interview? pinpoint that
Any tips for future
your experience
Even though the ideas might sound outlandish, get them

across, they will give you the benefit of thinking out of the
box. Try to involve the interviewer in the case as much as
possible, if he is interested he will point you out more and
more in the right direction.
Round
Third
Personal interview
questions
Started directly with the case. At the end of the case asked me
about LBO (Leveraged buyout) and asked me to give an
example in the Indian markets

interview
Problem statement:
I was travelling in a taxi when the driver asked me about

Page 194
switching his car and joining the radio cab service such as
Meru. What is your advice?
Structure:
I said that we will compare the profits of the two methods and
make our decisions based on that. I asked about the revenue
and costs of the two and calculated the profit.
I proved that joining the radio cab was better. But the
interviewer told me that was the wrong answer. He asked me
to go back.
I took the current taxi and approached the different line items
one by one. I suggested that if the driver installed an AC he
will be able to charge more. But the interviewer asked me to
suggest something else.
If the engine of the cab (which was currently diesel) could be
replaced by CNG (the radio cab used CNG) the fuel cost
reduced drastically making the current cab more profitable. I
showed him the calculations.
What do you think went I was able to get to the required answer.
What do you think went He expected me to get to the answer much quicker.
Any tips for future
your experience
Try to be receptive to the hints given by the interviewer in the

process. They are extremely important to get to the solution
quickly.

Page 195

KPMG

Page 196
Company
Name:
Round
Brief Profile :
Personal interview
questions
Narration of the
case interview
KPMG
Abhishek Mani Tripathi
3 rounds of case interviews
NIT Trichy, ECE, 2years Analog Devices
1. Why Consulting?
2. Why KPMG? What are your expectations from the internship
programme?
3. What would you do for conflict resolution
4. Questions for the interviewer
Problem statement:
Round 1:
A company which has a market share of 60% saw reduction in its
revenue for last 3 years due to intense price competition.
Competitors are reducing prices and the company is not able to
compete since cost of production is higher than prices quoted by
competitors. Machinery employed for production is old and labor
costs have been rising over years. Customers have been very loyal
to the product.
Round 2:
A multinational insurance company wants to enter into Indian
market. They offer life insurance, general insurance and fire and
damage insurance. Company has been offering insurance in its
parent country through online mode.
Round 3:
A company wants to set up an automobile manufacturing unit in
India. Do a cost-benefit analysis for the company. I was not
allowed to ask questions in this round.
I tried to analyse this case taking into account factors like location,
government regulations, market size, availability of labour,
transportation etc. ( Time limit : 3 minutes )
Case analysis:
First case :
I proposed that since machinery has not been replaced since years,
quality of products has degraded. Secondly, competitors have
reduced their prices by outsourcing it to countries like China.
Second case :

Page 197
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
batches on the
basis of your
experience
Analyse it by separating life insurance, general insurance and fire

and damage insurance. Give inputs on mode of delivery (online
mode is not very feasible in Indian scenario). Also, take into
account role of brokers and agents in case of fire and damage
insurance.
I was able to provide solutions to first 2 cases and the interviewers
looked satisfied but couldnt do well in third case
Was not able to provide a good solution to third case
First of all read complete case carefully. Ask questions and try to
get as much information as possible. Communicate your answers
to interviewers and keep them involved.
Company
Name:
Round
KPMG
Rashik Gupta
There were 4 rounds and each round followed a similar
pattern HR questions followed by a case
BITS-Pilani, Chemical Engineering, 8 months at ZS Associates
Brief Profile :
etc. )
Personal interview
questions
2. Do you know about the work that KPMG does
3. Experience at IIM Lucknow
4. Describe the project that you did at ZS Associates This
question was followed by many questions about my project
5. Short-term and long-term goals
6. Personal goals in life
The only thing they were looking was how you structure your
interview
analysis and your line of thinking. They were not looking for
any detailed analysis and in all the cases I was stopped after I
had discussed my overall approach.
Case 1:
Problem statement:
Samsung has come up to you with a business proposition i.e.
they want to start an insurance company for electronic goods.

Page 198
How will you help them?

Case Analysis:
The only thing they were looking was how you structure your
analysis and your line of thinking.
I started with asking questions about the new business model
to extract some information like target customers,, how is the
value proposition different from a warranty, how much can
Samsung expect to charge its customers for insurance.
My first step was to analyze the business model and establish
the financial feasibility. This was followed by target customers
who are the target customers and are they sufficient to justify
investment and why will they be interested in our product.
Third step was to deal with operational issues of providing this
product.
Case 2:
Problem statement:
A foreign bank wants to open its branch in India. They have
hired you as a consultant. How will you approach this?
Case Analysis:
My first step was to inquire about the bank. So I asked them
about their current scale of operations, countries where they
are operating, their market share and reputation among clients.
I then explored what are the different areas of banking where
the bank can start its operations and based on the answers to
above questions, narrowed down on 1 area. Next step was to
deal with operational issues, how they will start operations. I
focused on 2 questions in this:
1. Who will be the customers immediately after starting?
2. How will be getting those customers and build
trustworthy relationship with them?
After an approach was finalized to start operations, I also
briefly discussed how they will proceed in short term to
expand their business in India.
Case 3:
Problem statement:
You want to open a petrol pump. Proceed.
Case Analysis:

Page 199
In this case, my questions were not answered and I was told

that it is your business, make necessary assumptions. So I took
up 3-4 options like highways, a busy market in a city and
similar other options. Then I followed a guesstimate approach
for calculating the demand in these locations. Comparison of
demand or revenues with investment gave me the best possible
option for the petrol pump.
Case 4:
Here they followed a slightly different approach. Before the
case, I was told that no questions will be allowed. I have to
make necessary assumptions by myself and I have 5 minutes to
present my ideas and they wont allow me to complete if I am
not done in 5 minutes.
Problem statement:
A US car manufacturer wants to setup a plant in India. You are
hired as a consultant. Help them.
Case Analysis:
I started with stating my assumptions to make sure that all of
us are working in the same framework. My assumptions were:
1. They already export their cars to India: This helped me
to simplify my case as now I am aware of my target
customers and what is my position in the market. Also I
know how my product is viewed in Indian market.
2. It is amongst the biggest car manufacturers of US: This
simplified the problem of establishing trust among
customers as the company was a big brand name and
enjoyed a good position in the market.
So I started with the reasons of investing in India. Possible
reason can be increase in demand and lost sales because
imports are not able to meet demand or increase in
competition and therefore for reducing costs, I have to operate
in India rather than import my cars. I stated all the possible
reasons and assumed one reason to be the valid one for further
analysis. Lets say the reason is increase in competition.
So we have decided that the motive of investing in India is to
reduce costs. Now next step was to decide on a location that
will help me in this regard. So I looked at 2 possibilities for
this.
1. My customers are uniformly spread throughout India.

Page 200
Any tips for future

your experience
In this case, my only concern about the location will be

investment costs i.e. cost of land, cost of setting up a
plant etc. and the tax rebate that I will get from state
government.
2. I have most of my customers located in a particular
area. In this case, I must strike a balance between above
mentioned investment costs and my logistics costs i.e.
plant must be located close to my biggest market.
Since the reason for investing in India is increased
competition, my last step was to analyze how I will use my cost
savings to deal with competition. I analyzed pros and cons of
different options mentioned below:
1. Increase my marketing budget to attract customers
2. Decrease prices by passing on the savings in
manufacturing to customers
3. A mix of both the strategies
Case analysis is very important. Make sure that you prepare a
structure and show them the structure of analysis before
starting.

Page 201

Mckinsey & Co.


Page 202
Company
Name:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
etc.)
Personal interview
questions

interview
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Round
Name of interviewer
and designation
Personal interview
questions
McKinsey & Co.

Aman Bhatnagar
Rajat Dhawan, Partner
First
IIT Delhi
Electrical Engineering (B. Tech)
Entrepreneur, 17 months
1. About yourself one of my interests is TED talks, talked
about the model of TED, how it works, qualities I talked
about resonated with consulting, led the interview from there
on, asked about mood on campus, preferred recruiter, dream
jobs
2. Consulting fits, where do you see yourself in McKinsey,
your career goals, 10-15 years down the line?
3. Talking about the AIR 147 in IIT-JEE, coaching institutes,
and then questions to him
Problem statement: NA No case
Relax. Be yourself. Talk like you would to a senior colleague at
a swanky restaurant when its his treat.
Second
Gautam Kumra, Senior Partner
1. About yourself about TED talks, structure of TED,
about my venture, how it started up, how it evolved,
current state, future plans
2. Told him about a question Rajat asked, discussed about
that for a bit, and then he asked about other offers,
shortlists, interest in finance etc.
3. Questions about BCG vs McKinsey, detailed discussion
on Collaborative team spirit, Evaluation patterns,
presence in almost all sectors where other firms are
next to absent e.g. Healthcare, Impact in terms of
setting up organizations like the ISB, PHFI, dealing in a
scale which others could never hope to achieve, always
being the innovators, the trailblazers as well as facts
about compensation.

Page 203

interview
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
Problem statement: NA No case

Company
Name:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
Personal interview
questions

interview
Mckinsey & Co
Tejas Choudhari
Mr. Sikka, Associate Partner
1st Round
BTech(IT) from VJTI, Mumbai
Fresher
1. Tell me about yourself. I had practiced this answer many
times so was able to say it fluently and perfectly
2. Asked questions about my entrepreneurial venture and what
was my role in it. Current situation of the venture and future
prospects. General questions, nothing specific
3. Some questions on my cricket career during school and
college
Problem statement:
As he was talking to me about cricket, he started talking about
how we could estimate cricket ball sales in the country for one
year. Basically, I was given a guesstimate first up.
Case analysis:
First, I confirmed whether he was talking about leather cricket
ball. Thereafter, I started talking about where a cricket ball will
be used and who will buy a cricket ball. At each juncture, I
kept on checking with Mr. Sikka so as Im not deviating from
the solution.
Then I told him that I would estimate sales of cricket balls for
Mumbai and then extrapolate it to the whole country.
I calculated number of matches played in one day by
estimating number of grounds in Mumbai (having played on
most of the grounds, it was easy for me). Then I separated one
day matches and 20-20 matches as one day match requires 2
balls and 20-20 requires 4 balls(As two 20-20 matches are
possible on a single pitch in one day).
Also, considering that each ground hosts practice session 2
times a day and this will also contribute towards the sales.

Page 204
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Then he stopped me and said fine. He did not go into depth of

the guesstimate as it could have got complicated with other
parts of the country to be considered for contribution towards
the sales of cricket balls.
I was able to connect with the interviewer. I asked him
questions on which we spoke for 15 minutes and he seemed
interested.
No idea as such. I guess he needed something more from the
guesstimate. More number crunching could have helped.
Please practice your cases as well as guesstimates. Also, know
your CV in and out. Always connect with the interviewer.
Company
Name:
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
McKinsey & Co.

Amit Deshpande
Rajat Bhargava
Personal interview
questions
We started the interview by talking about the video

conferencing facilities in IIM L, since there was a VC setup in
the interview room. We talked about it for a while and then we
started the interview.
He asked the most standard question: tell me something about
yourself. I gave him a long and descriptive answer since he
wasnt engaging me much. We ended up talking about
badminton since both of us were badminton players.
Since I am passionate about badminton, he asked me to
estimate the no. of badminton courts in India. I started off by
dividing India into rural and urban areas, and confirmed with
him that I can ignore the rural areas for this guesstimation. I
divided the urban areas further into tier 1 and tier 2 cities, and
started with Mumbai as an average for tier 1 cities. The rest of
the case was pretty straightforward, since I took an average
number of people per badminton court and multiplied it by the
population. I took a percentage of the number in case of tier 2
cities to arrive at the total number.
Structure was good. I clarified key assumptions with the
interviewer before proceeding.

interview
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
First
I overestimated the total number the first time, but corrected

Page 205
went wrong in this

interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Round
the number after a reality check.
Name of interviewer
and designation
Personal interview
questions
Amit Kheda

interview
The case was about a fertilizer manufacturing company based

out of the US which was receiving complaints regarding its
poor customer service.
I started by asking details about the company, its operations,
its customers, the competitors and the market in general
(barriers, trends etc.). After the initial questions, I realized that
the problem was in the supply of fertilizers to the customers
(which were 5 major distributors across the US). So, I broke
down the case into the supply value chain, i.e., raw materials
(procurement and transportation), manufacturing process and
inventory handling. This led me to the problem which was
their inventory handling methods. Specifically, the demand
estimation was way off; they estimated demand on an annual
basis and it was a word-of-mouth contract with the customers.
Besides, despite geographical variations within the US, the
demand was estimated by one sales team centrally. This was
the key issue and I got to it pretty quickly. The pace of the
interview was very fast and the interviewer did not let me talk
for long periods of time; basically he was testing me on my
speed of option generation. I thought I did pretty well and
suggested seasonal demand estimation based on geography and
that the contracts with customers should be on paper.
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Round
Good case overall. I got the structure right which helped me

arrive at the solution fast.
Draw out an MECE structure before starting analysis of the

case. Reality checks are essential.
Second
The interviewer was extremely informal. He was talking how

weird the interview process is these days, as compared to the
process in his days. We talked about how big the interview
room was and how difficult it is to focus while sitting in a
comfy couch! He didnt ask me any personal questions since
he said he had already been through my CV a million times.
Nothing really. However, I really had to think on my toes

because the interviewer was constantly interrupting me and
trying to disturb my thought process.
Third

Page 206
Name of interviewer
and designation
Personal interview
questions

interview
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Gautam Kumra
Very serious interview. He was completely straight-faced right
from the word goes. Immediately asked me to tell him
something about myself. After hearing me out, he asked me to
tell him something about my work experience at the Bain
Capability Centre. This part went pretty well.
He didnt really give me a case. He asked me which sector I
followed in India, to which I replied the retail sector. We then
entered into a discussion into the retail sector in India. I had
very little sector knowledge and retail was my best bet. SO
after giving him some facts that I had read, he asked me what a
retail company think should about while entering the Indian
market, i.e., the key success factors. I told him that we should
consider the target customer segment, the product offerings,
the retail format and the locations. The interview was pretty
OK till this point. However, then he started getting into
details. He asked me what a company should do to compete
with the huge unorganized sector, and wasnt convinced with
my answer. I knew that Id blown it. Finally he ended the case
and asked me if I had any other shortlists before I left.
HR answers.
Everything else. Sector knowledge let me down.
Please prepare one sector thoroughly, not just facts, but to
have a business opinion about it.
Company
McKinsey & Co
Name:
Srinath Nagarajan
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
Gautam Kumra, Partner

First
Chartered Accountant, BCom(Hons) from SRCC, Delhi
University. Prior work ex as a Tax Consultant with Ernst &
Young, a Visiting Faculty at St Josephs Colleger, Bangalore

Page 207
etc. )
and then as a Ratings Analyst with CRISIL Ratings
Personal interview
questions

Had a 1 minute intro prepared highlighting specific aspects
about myself that I wanted to bring to his notice
2. Tell me what you did in CRISIL
I explained that I was engaged in assigning Credit Ratings
to Corporates under Basel II Regulations
3. How would you go about Rating a Company, lets say
Bharti Airtel
Because it was Bharti Airtel I had to give an answer tailored
to what the approach would be for a Telecom company
would be. While answering I was conscious of 2 things
One, that I have a clear structure to my answers and Two,
tried to keep it as simple and jargon free as possible.
3.1 (An Offshoot from something I had mentioned in the
earlier answer) What are the ratios that you would look
at?
Here I mentioned the financial ratios that I would look
at stating specifically why I would look at each ratio. He
probed me on a few ratios here and there. The
intention appeared to be more to check my articulation
of a financial concept.
Eg: What is a Current Ratio?
I explained the formula. However I did not stop there. I
went on to explain that it was used to assess the
liquidity position of the company. Then I went on to
explain to the logic behind the usage of the ratio
Simply put, it tells us if there is likely to be sufficient
inflows of funds over the next one year to meet the
maturing payment obligations. So a current ratio of less
than one means the company has more to pay than
what is coming in, a liquidity problem
(Based on the approving nods that I was getting, I felt
he liked those portions of my answer where I
endeavored to de-jargonize or simplify complex
concepts)
4. So Tell me, how would you increase the revenues of Bharti
Airtel
That was my case, it had begun. However, at that point I
thought it was just an extension of my previous discussion
and I started rambling. One sentence in, I realized that this
was my case to solve and I wasnt doing any of the things
had rehearsed - probing questions/ 2 minute time out etc.
In fact I did not even pick up the pen and the paper. I will
discuss the case in the next session, but what I learnt is that
the case can come at you un announced just be alert

Page 208
enough to grab it and not ramble on

interview
Problem statement: How do you increase the revenues of

Bharti Airtel
Case analysis:
Preliminary questions - We all know Bharti Airtel and the
services it offered quite well So there was no need to ask
preliminary questions. Also, since I wasnt aware that I was
doing a case I did not have the opportunity to ask preliminary
questions.
Structure: The Structure that I used was fairly simple
Increase in Revenues can in Existing markets or through
expansion in new markets.
I explored the existing markets first. Here increase in revenues
could occur through increased market penetration, increased
usage of basic services among current users or increased usage
of Value added services among existing customers. He asked
me a couple of questions on how these things can be done and
I gave him some off the cuff answers.
For the New markets, I suggested that the company could look
at inorganic expansion through acquisitions or through
establishment of Greenfield operations in new markets with
high market potential.
The entire case was more like an informal chat. There were a
few follow up questions on some of the options I had
generated. The case did not last very long about 10 minutes
at the max.
What do you think

went right in this
interview?
I thought the pre-case portion of my interview went of really

well. I was on top of all the points I had mentioned in the CV,
so any discussion on my past experiences especially work ex
went well. The thing I felt worked for me the most was my
ability to describe the entire rating process without using
complex financial jargons and my ability to explain things from
a laymans perspective
What do you think

went wrong in this
interview?
I did not do the case analysis particularly well. I did not use the
pen and paper. This meant that I was generating options
thinking on my feet rather than providing carefully considered
alternatives. This to a very large extent inhibited my creativity
and did not give me enough opportunity to demonstrate my
structuring skills.

Page 209
Any tips for future

your experience
Know your Resume well. At no point in the interview should

you ramble on. All answers must be natural (ie, must not
appear rehearsed), brief, structured and to the point.
Retaining composure through the interview is critical. Mistakes
may happen during the interview, but it is important to pick
you up and keep at it. People rarely have perfect interviews
where everything has gone right and interviewers dont expect
it either.
Round
Brief Profile :
etc.)
Second
Personal interview
questions

Had a 1 minute intro prepared highlighting specific aspects
about myself that I wanted to bring to his notice
6. You have mentioned that you sing on a Band in Bangalore,
what do you do here exactly?
I explained the kind of music that we played and where we
performed. I also explained the future plans that we have. I
think he liked the fact that it was not something of the past
and that I had a vision for the band in future also
7. How do you manage singing on the band, now that you are
in IIM Lucknow
I mentioned how we exchange tracks over the internet and
how we perform and do studio recordings when I visit
during the breaks
8. All right Srinath, lets start with a case shall we? I nodded
and we moved on to the case

interview
Problem statement: I am the manufacturer of Tata Nano.

While setting up the plant I expected to have sales of
around 5 lac Nanos per annum, but now the number is
way below that. Can you help me find out why
Chartered Accountant, Bcom (Hons) from SRCC, Delhi

University. Prior work ex as a Tax Consultant with Ernst &
Young, a Visiting Faculty at St Josephs Colleger, Bangalore
and then as a Ratings Analyst with CRISIL Ratings
Case analysis:
Preliminary questions Since it was Tata Nano, lot of the
background questions were not required. I clarified whether
the problem was a lack of bookings that they received. He
agreed.
Structure: The Structure that I used was not the best but it did
get me to the problem. I started off by saying the lack of
bookings could be on account of 3 reasons One, a lack of

Page 210
awareness of the product among the target customers

(Marketing problem), Two, Being aware of the product but not
being able to place a booking (Distribution problem) or a
Three, being aware of the product yet not interested in the
product (I called this the product problem). He asked me to
ignore the first 2 (he did not seem highly impressed) and
explore the 3rd the product problem.
Here I again broke it up in to 2 further branches Problems
that the Car has by itself (Internal factors) and problems in the
external environment mainly competition, etc. I deep delved in
to the Internal factors.
Of the internal problems I mentioned, he agreed that the
negative publicity from the steering wheel catching fire was an
issue and comfort factor was another issue. As and when he
acknowledged a problem, I made a separate note of it.
Eventually when he asked me to explore the external factors, I
used these points to do a quick summary of the key takeaways
up to that point
In the external problem, I divided it into competition from
other cars and two wheelers. I asked a few questions here
trying to pick up a clue or 2 of how to proceed from there but
he just refused to shell out any information. At this point he
also took out his Blackberry and acted uncooperative. I went
on to analyze for myself that given that the price of the next
cheapest car was over a lakh higher than this car the issue lay
more with the 2 wheelers. I went on to list factors why people
would prefer 2 wheelers to a Tata Nano. Of the factors I listed,
he acknowledged that the high running costs and availability of
easy financing options seemed like the distinguishing factors.
He said I seemed to have arrived at the problem,
He now asked me to tell me how he could provide financing
options for the Nano. This I felt was like a guess estimate
problem. I said I would work backward to solve the problem.
This is how I solved it I said the average Nano target
customer would earn Rs 10000 per month (he had given me
that number in an earlier discussion, he liked the fact that I had
noted it down and was using it again) I said, given the average
savings rate of the country is at 35%-40% (this is from the RBI
website I think). That meant a saving of about Rs 4,000 per
month. No one would be comfortable giving up their entire
saving, so if we considered 50% of this, the customer will be
willing to pay an EMI of 2000 per month. The company would
want to complete the financing within a period of 4 years cause

Page 211
after that the car may be worthless in case of repossession. So

this meant roughly a down payment of 20,000 followed by 4
years of EMI of 2000 pm approximately (I took his approval
on all of the numbers I used, so he was comfortable with this
number).
Summary: I began to summarize all my recommendations to
that point but he stopped me saying that I didnt have to
absolutely nail the case.
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
My explanation of the stuff related to music on my CV really

worked for me. I tend to get a little excited when I speak of my
music and that must have come across as genuine to him. This
I know because when I met him at the end of the day, he
remembered my bands name which showed that I had piqued
his interest on that topic.
What do you think

went wrong in this
interview?
In my attempt to keep the structure exhaustive I dwelled in to

a lot of aspects that may not have been required. He seemed
unimpressed by my suggestions of it being a marketing/
distribution problem. Then again that may have been a put on
reaction merely to unsettle me.
Any tips for future

your experience
The most important thing to nail a consult interview is

composure and confidence. With this in place, half the job is
done.
In all HR answers it is important to show genuineness. No
answer must come across as fabricated.
Company
McKinsey
Name:
Nirjhar Varshney
Name of interviewer
and designation
Round
Brief Profile :
etc.)
Anuj Agarwal, Engagement Manager

First
BTech, IIT delhi
Fresher

Page 212
Personal interview
questions
1. Tell me something about yourself?

interview
Problem statement:
A company bidding for contracts of Metro construction is
stagnating in a industry with growth rate of 15%? Figure out a
way for them to double their revenue in next 3 years?
2. Sharing same IITD and IIML background he asked my

observations about similarities and differences among 2
institutes?
Case analysis:
Got the working model of the firm. The bidding model.
Eventually came to revelation that they are not winning bids in
last 2 years.
Structure:
Analyzed bidding structure ( COST + MARGIN).
Broke into typical cost analysis and identified different cost
heads.
Required to provide innovative solutions for decreasing cost.
What do you think
went right in this
interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview?
Any tips for future
your experience
Got the initial structure of industry right. Asked information

about an unknown industry before starting to solve it.
Unable to provide innovative ideas in end.
Practice a lot of cases with diverse people to open your
analytical approach.

Page 213

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The

Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

The Consulting & Strategy Club

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Altisource and Ocwen.30

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Boston Consulting Group....52

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations...65

McKinsey & Co. .....77

Interview Experience 10 .................................................................................................................... 109

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations ...................................................................................... 113

Summer Internship Experiences 2012 .............................................................................. 133

Boston Consulting Group.....152

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations....159

McKinsey & Co. ......162

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Summer Internship Experiences 2011 .............................................................................. 169

Boston Consulting Group.....179

McKinsey & Co.......196

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

About Case Interviews

Problem solving skills

Types of Cases Encountered

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

To-do List for a Case Interview

Knowledge of basic types of frameworks is helpful in case interviews

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

SUPPLY AND DEMAND:

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

PORTERS 5 FORCES MODEL:

VALUE AND SUPPLY CHAIN:

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGIES:

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Product Functionality, brand, packaging and services

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Round 1: General HR, followed by Case involving numbers.

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

What do you think went

What do you think went

In Round-1, I was in a hurry to do the numbers, which led to some

Any tips for future batches

Prepare HR answers well in advance.

Clarity of thought in talking about my area of interest

What do you think went

Know your CV really well

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Interview questions (With

Narration of the case

What do you think went

What do you think went

Round 1: HR interview only

R1-Mr. Akash Kedia, Principle

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow

Round 1: long and conversational, asked one case. Overall

The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow