Iiml Casebook 2018

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 candidate’s 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 the various frameworks and techniques that can be used in a case interview and also candidates’ interview experiences by different firms that have been hiring from the IIM Lucknow campus over the years. These frameworks can be used as a starting reference, but over time the candidate will have to develop his/her own approach to problem solving. 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 Anurag | Ayush | Megha | Sourav | Supratik | Vatsal Dhruv | Jasmeen | Jatin | Kashyap | Mudit| Sakshi | Shobhit | Srividya

Index 1. Basic case frameworks a. 4 P’s Framework b. Five forces Framework c. Profitability Case approach d. Market Entry Case Approach e. Pricing Case Approach 2. 2018 Summers Interview Experiences a. A. T. Kearney b. Accenture c. Alvarez & Marsal d. Arete Advisors e. Auctus Advisors f. Bain and Company g. Deloitte S&O h. Deloitte Tech i. MasterCard Advisors j. McKinsey & Co. k. Synergy Consulting l. The Boston Consulting Group 3. 2018 Finals Interview Experiences 4. Previous Year Interview Experiences

Case Frameworks Suggested Frameworks by Case category Case Category Profitability Market Entry Pricing Positioning Abstract

Framework Revenue-Cost Breakdown PESTLE, Five Forces Pricing Tripod Three C’s, 4P’s -

4 P’s Framework

Five Forces Framework

Profitability Case Approach

Market Entry Case Approach

Pricing Case Approach

2018 Summers Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

A.T. Kearney Deepak Giri Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

NSIT, Delhi Manufacturing Processes and Automation Engineering McKinsey (27 months) Consulting 27 A.T. Kearney "Principal" What are your 3 strengths and weaknesses?, Why do you think you will be able to fit in AT Kearney? Tell me more about your interest in Dancing ( I had a box of " Dancing" in my CV) You have mentioned very impressive impact during your tenure in McKinsey. Would you really take the credit for it? Our client is a coffee manufacturer based in India. The new CEO wants to double the revenue in next 3-4 years. He has hired ATK to evaluate the options and guide him. I started by asking basic questions about the business and clients preferences. I divided the problem into parts and identified possible income streams and used 80-20 rule to come up with few recommendations. I kept explaining how I was trying to think and solve. The interviewer asked a few cross questions in between which I was able to answer. I asked if it was a real case and what were ATK's recommendations.

Subhendu Roy, Partner Where are you from? Asked about each line mentioned under academics in my CV. What's your family background? Why did you leave McKinsey? Only CV and HR questions. Confidence is the key. Try to have a good conversation with the interviewer. Be genuine, they are smart enough to know when you fake. Know your CV in and out.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Rituparna Das Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

NIT Warangal Electrical and Electronics VISA Financial Services (Software developer) 30 months A.T. Kearney Nishant Nishchal (Principal) I: Tell me about yourself. C: Introduced myself in chronological order. Spoke about student exchange to Japan. (Few questions on that.) I: Probed about a club(HAM Radio & electronics club) I was part of in college.(CV based HR question) C: Explained in detail. Problem Statement: Your client is the Road Transport and Highway minister of India. You have to help him improve the logistics' efficiency. C: (Re-iterating the problem statement) Could you please clarify what exactly is meant by logistics and efficiency in this case. I: Focus on the freight transport logistics. And for efficiency what do you think should be considered for that. C: Broadly dividing the efficiency drivers into 3 buckets1. Time 2. Cost 3. Transit loss/damage 2nd level of branching involving the factors that affect the above 3 drivers1. Time - ( Wait time at tolls/check points, congestion in certain routes, optimizing the freight loading/unloading process to save time, involvement of 3rd party vendors) 2. Cost - (Hub and spoke model of logistics, optimizing "first-mile" & "lastmile" options, #Labour requirements, #Type of freight, Mode of transportation, capacity utilization of the transport. 3. Transit loss/damage- (Nature of goods(perishable/nonperishable/fragile), Route map, skill of the driver/labours, type of vehicle, mode of transport) I: Why don't you consider only the time factor for now? And more specifically the delay caused at the tolls and check-points? C: Sure. The major issue at tolls is that there is queuing as the toll fee is paid manually in cash to the toll gate-keeper. To eliminate/reduce this wait time we can have the following solutionsa)Pre-payment of tolls ( pre-paid accounts, which already have balance in it and the person at the gate only has to note the vehicle number to deduct from the balance). Counter point by I: Routes are not pre-determined and it will require checking of funds and that will still cause some delay) b) Use of NFC (Near field communication) enabled cards, which the driver can wave-pay-go at the NFC-complaint terminals (can even be unmanned) . Similar to Apple/Samsung Pay. Visa already launched a pilot contactless payment system at NHAI’s Manesar toll plaza. Counter point by I: Good solution but too impractical, due to- huge initial investment and poor network connectivity in India. Authorization and settlement should happen real-time and would require net connectivity.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club c) (Took some time to think for another alternative) I : Think of a solution that will not require the vehicle to stop at all. C: Use of trackers! RFID tags/stickers that get scanned as you go past each toll/check point and you have to pay the cumulative amount at the end. Hence no queuing and no delay at any check point. (This was the answer he was looking for). Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Subhendu Roy (Partner) What are your hobbies? Visa Europe and Visa Inc merger related questions Case II: If you had to start an ice-cream company in Lucknow what factors would you consider? Case III: If I am a 60 year old person looking to implement blockchain technology in my business, how would you explain it to me?

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Case II: What is something that you like a lot? C: Ice-cream (felt sheepish after I blurted out ice-cream) I: A case on ice-cream. If you had to start an ice-cream company in Lucknow what factors would you consider? C: Internal- Product offering (PODs), Price point, Promotion channels, Place, Consumer preference External- Substitutes (like Gelato), Compliments ( near a restaurant), Competition, Seasonality (demand is mostly seasonal)I few more random things(don’t remember) which led to Blockchain. I: If I am a 60 year old person looking to implement blockchain technology in my business how would you explain it to me? C: Spoke about how it is immutable, scalable and de-centralized. I also spoke about the (cryptographic keys) public and private keys- digital signature and blockchain in retail. I: What is your long term goal? Who all are there in your family?

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

1. Do not try to force-fit frameworks or connect the interview cases to your prior cases. On day 0, it's mostly your sub-conscious that takes over. 2. Practice cases will help you develop confidence, but do not overdo as it can limit your lateral thinking. 3. Confidence and clear communication are two other very important factors which can be detrimental if not paid attention to. Case solving is just a part of the judging criteria. Have an interesting conversation with the interviewer, they always appreciate cheerful and composed people.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Shubham Sethi Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

IIT Delhi Textile Technology Xiaomi Product 22.5 A.T. Kearney Mr. Siddharth Jain, Senior Principal I - Gave his introduction. Then asked me to introduce. I - Our client company is in coffee business. Company has a new CEO. CEO wants to double the revenues. Explore. C - Where is the company based out of? I - India C - Are the sales in India too? I - No, 95% of sales are contributed by exporting to (some 3 countries) C - What products does our client sell? I - Coffee sachets made from premium coffee seeds and Normal coffee seeds. C - What are respective sales %, and is 95% export valid for both? I - Assume to be 50 - 50%, Yes. C - I want to understand the value chain for both the channel of sales. I - For coffee sachets, client purchases coffee beans. Has its own manufacturing and processing facilities and then sell it to major branded retail outlets such as Starbucks. For coffee beans, client has its own coffee plantation. These coffee beans are directly sold to (I don't remember who the customer was). C - Is it a growing industry? I - Yes, moderate growth C - Ok, one more question. What's the timeline to achieve this target? I - 3 years Asked for a minute to think. Interviewer said take 5 mins if I want and draw the structure. C - There are 2 parts to this situation: How do I increase my revenue & client's capacity to produce more? (I started with 1st part. I should've asked which part to focus on, as the interviewer at the end mentioned he wanted me to focus on 2nd part since that was the challenging part in actual case) C - Possible avenues to increase revenue for both channels * Increase revenue per existing customer. * In the current markets of sale, expand to more customers. * Expand into new markets * Diversification opportunities i.e. instead of only selling coffee beans, client can process it into its final product and sell those. (Interviewer probed on how would I go about in each case. I gave relevant ways) (Couldn't discuss client's capability part due to paucity of time) Mr. Subhendu Roy, Partner Tell me something about yourself. Why consulting? Why A.T. Kearney? (We changed our seats from formal chair setting to sofa to make it more informal) All conversation around my work experience

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

C - I worked as Associate Product Manager for ecosystem products. I - What are ecosystem products? C - Explained in a structure manner. I - Tell me Xiaomi's 10 ecosystem products C - Divided this into: existing ecosystem products & upcoming ecosystem products. I - You mentioned water purifier in upcoming ecosystem product. How do you decide to launch this? C - I had a confident and structured discussion. Covered the overall market size, online/offline split since Xiaomi is extremely strong in online channel, current competition scenario, customer demands and pain points, opportunity for us to disrupt the market, % overlap of Xiaomi's current customer base and water purifier TG since we want to minimize our marketing spends. - Consulting interviews are 50% about case solving skills & 50% about soft skills. Don't ignore latter part. - In majority of the cases I practiced, the crux of case laid in asking right preliminary questions. So don't jump without fully clarifying your doubts. If the interviewer feels you've already asked the right questions and remaining ones won't be relevant to solve the case, he/she will give the cue.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Vaibhav Sinha Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

IIT Kanpur Engineering OYO (6 months), Loylty Rewardz Pvt Ltd (26 months) Hospitality, Information Technology 32 A.T. Kearney Partner and Principle Tell me about yourself, OYO work experience What did you do? How would you pitch an idea of Marathon Run to CM of UP? What are the cost heads of a typical marathon? - Asked Qualifying questions - Explained the cost heads - Technology, Kits, Billboards, Runner's Accommodation, Event Day Expenses (food, water, temp accessories) etc. Pitched the idea to CM under two heads - Public Welfare and Publicity Q - Who are the various stakeholders in a Marathon event? How will you pitch the marathon to them in one line? - CM - Municipal Corporation - Police - Runners - General / Professional - Celebrity (Ambassador) - Organizing Staff - Vendors Q - How will you price a multi-functional shoe (one of my CV projects) ? - Cost Based / Value Based / Competitive Pricing - Value based pricing explored based on substitute pricing

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Principle

Coffee Plantation Company - Increase Revenue - Asked qualifying questions - Number heavy - calculate market share with bean production and conversion factor - Fragmented market and export of goods in place - The answer was to increase supply rather than demand as the market was fragmented Confidence is the key element

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Priya Garg Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Delhi Technological University B.Tech (EEE) Citi, 23 months Banking Technology 23 A.T. Kearney General Questions related to DCE-DTU/NSIT and new campus of DTU their location and differences. Small chat around my hometown - Kolkata. My favourite industry and why followed by a guesstimate related to ecommerce industry (since I had mentioned that) Why A.T.Kearney? What are my aspirations in life? None Estimate the number of packaged bottles that would be sold in Kolkata at present? I was asked to list various parameters that would affect my decision for example, income, size of bottles, usage, etc. around 10-15 such parameters I had to list. Followed by a question to do a future estimation of the number of bottled water which will be sold in Kolkata in next 5 years? Again he was looking for varied decision-making parameters and different ways I could think of and incorporate. We had discussions on lifestyle, habits and culture of people in Kolkata and how is it different from other metropolitan cities.

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Be confident throughout the entire process, right from the preparations and smile.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Jasmeen Kaur Chhabra Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi B.Com (Hons.) Accenture 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why consulting? 3. Why Accenture? 4. What is your role in The Consult Club? My client has a business of agro-chemicals. He wants to understand the revenue growth pattern and how can it be increased. C: I started with asking clarifying questions related to the types of agrochemicals-> if it is for rabi or kharif crops, business model (whether selling directly to the farmers), revenue streams and growth pattern. I: Gave numbers related to the trend of revenue growth of last 5 years and its reasons. C: Identified the reasons for the such trends-> focused on the revenue drivers (includes the seasonality, regions in which the demand is high) I: Satisfied and asked me to further give recommendations to increase the revenue of the business C: Divided the revenue growth into the agro-chemical business and other revenue streams (in case the client is interested). I gave recommendations to provide fertilizers according to the crops, land and soil fertility. I: Happy with the structure and recommendations. Ended the interview by asking about my hobbies. What are the sectors you are currently working in?

Abhinav Mathur, Principal 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why Accenture? My client is a luxury sofa manufacturer. The client is planning to enter India. Suggest whether he should enter or not. C: I started by asking clarifying questions related to business, product line and objective(s) to enter. I gave the structure which I was planning to follow. I: Asked me to focus on the modes of entry if planning to set up a retail store C: Divided it into online and offline modes. I: Interrupted by asking to calculate the market size for sofa for the both the modes. C: After calculating that, I was being asked to consider the factors while entering in luxury sofa business. I: Find the adequate pricing range for luxury sofa and compare the prices of luxury and normal sofa in India. C: Did that I: Recommend whether the client should enter into the business or not C: I answered no and gave the reasons for the same. I: Great! We also recommended the same thing to our client. Discussed about the case and his experience while doing this case.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Sameer Amte, Partner 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. How has been your experience in IIM Lucknow so far? 3. Why consulting over finance? 4. Why Accenture? Be confident about your problem solving skills. Take time to clarify the problem statement. Remember, interviewer is there to help you. Ask him if you are stuck at any point. Stay clam!

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Ayushi Aggarwal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Graphic Era University Computer Science Engineering Infosys Limited Big Data, Quality Assurance 35 Accenture

1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Who is your role model in life? 3. What is your ultimate goal in life? 4. Why consulting? What is sentiment analysis? What is coefficient of regression? How do you do sentiment analysis on public tweets? Guesstimate: Guesstimate the number of light bulbs in Delhi. Case Problem Statement: I am a coffee manufacturer. Profits have been declining. Why? I: Tell me something about yourself. C: *Talked about hometown, education, research paper and YouTube channel* I: Very Interesting. I see a mix of talent in your CV. I am not able to understand why would you want to do consulting. Why not go for some other creative field? C: Sir, my hobbies and interests form a huge part of who I am but besides these, when I think of my ideal career choice, it would be consulting. My interest lies in consulting majorly because of my previous work experience which can be best described by two words: challenges and variety. Handling various roles and responsibilities across multiple domains and industries and faring well at these tasks have shaped my career choices in this direction. I: What is your ultimate goal in life? Please do not talk about career growth and money because everybody wants that. What is that you actually want from your life? C: Feeling satisfied with the work that I do and a state of mind which keeps me motivated to wake up every day and face challenges that life throws at me. I: Who is your role model? C: My father. I: I am really impressed by your honesty. Now let’s discuss a case. Shall we? C: Yes sir. I: I am a coffee manufacturer. My profits have been declining. I want you to tell the various avenues where I should look into? C: There could be two reasons why the profits might be declining- either the revenues have declined or the cost of manufacturing has gone up. I: Assume that revenue generated is the same. There's no new competition and the market share is constant. C: Sir, then I would like to explore the value chain of coffee manufacturing process to assess why the costs have increased. I: Ok. Also, I would like you to explain the value chain for oil and gas industry as well as value chain for retail manufacturing industry. C: *Explained* I: Show how a typical profit and loss statement look like. C: *Explained* After this an HR round of interview followed with basic questions on my work experience.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Ayushi Bansal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation

ZHCET, Aligarh Muslim University B.Tech (Electronics) Reliance Jio Telecommunications 36 Accenture

I - Tell me about yourself. I - What do you know about table tennis in India? Tell their recent victories. (I had played table tennis at state level) C - Told about the Asian games and common wealth games victory. I - Who is the current National champion? Name some female TT players. C - Told I - Why Accenture? C - Tried to leverage my work experience in telecom and digital to link with their industries. I - What is EBIDTA? What is gross margin? C - I struggled at both of them I - What do you think is the future of telecom sector and Jio? NA NA What kind of projects are offered in Communication Media Telecom industry?

I - Tell me about yourself. I - Why consulting? C - Tried to link it with my past and future aspirations. I - How long do you think would Jio be able to sustain such low prices? C - Told how the new technology is helping in keeping the price low. I - How easy do you think it is for any new player to enter the telecom sector? C - Told about the heavy investment required to setup the infrastructure, so unless someone with deep pockets come in, it is difficult to enter. I - Is Jio making any money? If yes, how much and how? C - Told about the profits of Jio and how they have diversified in various other products which is giving them revenue. 1. SWOT analysis of Jio 2. Sell Jio to me 2. Suppose Jio has access to all the people's data and I am a hardcore Airtel fan. Sell Jio to me. C - Tried to explain that with the people's data we can customise our entertainment apps and then promote them and how for a consultant, who is always on a move, entertainment is very important. (He kept on guiding me throughout). How is a typical day in the life of a consultant?

MD

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

I - Tell me about yourself. I - Please explain the meaning of being proactive and channelling hard work. (I had mentioned these things in my introduction) C - Tried to explain by giving some examples. I - Why Accenture? I - How do you think about the price wars between all the telecom operators is affecting the customers and the employees? C - Tried to explain the benefits that customers will get from it. For employees, told that they will have a good learning curve by working on new technologies but at the same time they will have a constant insecurity related to their job as the industry is very dynamic and many old companies have already shut down and merged. NA NA What is the difference between CN and IB roles.

HR I - Tell me about yourself. I - Why Accenture? I - Why do you want to do consulting after working in Jio? I - What do you know about Accenture? C - Told how they use digital technology to help clients. Gave one example for the same. Tried to speak about their CSR activities.

Be confident and smile

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Devaki Dhamankar Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Finance PwC (3 Years internship, 7 months job) Statutory audit 7 Accenture Ketaki Tendulkar Mainly questions around why consulting, background based - why MBA after consulting. Quite some discussion around PORs and ECAs from the CV 95% of the interview based on work experience mentioned on CV. Detailed questions line by line majorly on impact analysis. Multiple questions around value addition made to the team. No case asked N/A Asking questions is looked upon very positively for an Accenture interview. Questions I asked1. How could the skillsets which a CA brings to the table be applied in your scope of work 2. The company has 2 main divisions - questions around how different they are in functioning; core values being the same. Shows interest in the company MD, Accenture He cracked a few jokes, kept it stress-free. Questions around how CA involves a lot of studying already what motivates you to spend 2 years here. None, one finance questions around the falling rupee No case asked N/A How is the synergy between the technological and finance arms at Accenture?

HR (XLRI Graduate, batch of 2018) Very conversational None No case asked N/A Just stay calm and know your CV in and out Whatever written in the CV must be backed by 2/3 examples to add credibility to the point Keep smiling and be extremely confident during the interview even if you falter in answering a few questions

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Harshit Sharma Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

BITS, Pilani B.E. (Hons.) Chemical ZS Associates - 21 months Analytics & Consulting 21 Accenture Not Sure - Senior Consultant Q1. Tell me about yourself. Q2. Why Consulting? Q3. Why Accenture? Q4. Strength & Weakness Q5. Basic Finance Questions - Ratios Pharma based questions NA NA

Not Sure Q. Tell Me About Yourself Q. Why Accenture/Consulting after MBA - you could have directly switched to another consulting firm from ZS? Q. Who were some of your major clients? (Did not tell as DND agreement) Q. Any Indian clients? Q. How do you see Indian pharma sector shape up vs US Pharma sector? ABC Ltd. is a FMCG company, thinking of diversifying in Pharma industry in India. Should they do it? If so, how should they do it? (Typical Market Entry Case) C: How old is the company? Diversification objective? Applied 3C+P I: Can you please come directly to value chain? C: Drew value chain of Pharma Industry I: So, we want to focus on transportation - how you think it would be different from FMCG C: In Pharma, Drugs have to be stored at a particular temperature (Usually around 0 or less) so we can't use road and due to expiry date issue we would want to use air transport, if feasible. I: Mentioned how it is the main issue in one of his ongoing projects. (Did not let me complete the case - Switched to Fin questions) I: What are the five things you would look in a P&L statement to compare companies and comment on their current health? C: Told Financial Ratios (D/E, RoE, P/E) and Dividend Not Sure (Partner) Q1. Many people typically want to shift to Finance after Consulting as in Consulting work hours are around 60 hrs per week and pay is comparatively less. What are your thoughts? (Possibly asked as I was able to answer Finance questions in Round 1 & 2) This is most relevant for people who not having MBBA shortlist Do's: 1. Do not panic when doing cases with the people who have the above shortlists - they are doing cases for a month. Accenture does not focus very much not the case, it's more of a conversation. 2. All the practice, cases & HR prep will go out of the window two hours into Day Z. Companies start to realize they may lose out on good candidates so, they rush through interviews and even if you can able to

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club answer impressively for 3/5 questions - that is good enough. 3. Know your CV - in my case they just picked Pharma and went deep into it. At the same time don't be too sentimental that you need to know how you came to each and every number on your CV - If you know good otherwise not needed - they just scan through the headers 4. Try to do at least 3-4 cases (Focus on Profitability & Market Entry) before you enter the interview room so, that you have the basic structure in place Don'ts: 1. Do not take any company lightly - It may end up helping you in other interviews. For me, A&M buddy call was a disaster as the buddy focused on Financial statements & Ratios but the same came in handy during Accenture 2. Again do not panic - for MBBA, interviews are very different (very much case driven - specially for people not in the hotlist). IIM entrance interviews are much more difficult than Summers & you have cracked it. Remember companies are much more desperate to select you than you are - just relax and be confident.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Madhurima Kar Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology & Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Mechanical and Automation Engineering Fluor Daniel India Pvt Ltd (35 months) Oil and Gas 35 Accenture

1. Situation based que- Suppose you have a new next gen camera model which can read things (for e.g. it can identify a bottle as a bottle and can also act as translator) but is priced 3 times more expensive than the costliest DSLR available in the market. Convince me to buy it. 2. Could you tell me in detail about what you did in AWIM( a project mentioned in CV)? 1. You have mentioned about VBA tool in resume. Could you elaborate? 2. Describe the process of technical bid evaluation (This point was mentioned in CV). 3. Describe the KPI (Key performance indicators) of your field. I asked since Accenture has a division specially dedicated to digital, is Accenture acquiring any companies or start-ups related to digital transformation? The interviewer explained about the various acquisitions the company was currently involved in.

1. Walk me through your resume. 2. What are your weaknesses? 1. What are your biggest achievements in the workplace? 2. Explain about the dashboard that you created for the workplace (point mentioned on CV) Estimate number of cabs in Lucknow. NA

Dr Krishna Murty, MD, Financial Services 1. What are your strengths? (Cross questioned on the examples quoted for strengths) 2. The abovementioned question led to a discussion on hobbies, and photography as a hobby was specifically discussed. ( He asked me to show samples of my photographs) 3. Why should I hire you? Estimate the number of people in the Delhi Airport at a specific point in time. NA

1. Why are you interested in consulting? 2. Why Accenture? 3. How many employees does Accenture have, and what is its net revenue? I asked whether the projects are allotted on the basis of work experience. The interviewer said that even if the initial project allocation might be on the basis of work experience, there is lots of scope to be involved in other projects as well.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Priyanka Panwar Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

IIT-BHU Ceramic Engineering Steel Authority of India ltd.(41 months) Quality Control 41 Accenture Nimish (Designation NA) Tell me any 3 things from your CV which you would like to discuss. Where are you from? How has been the development in Indore in the last 10 years? What are the nearby places to roam around? What is it famous for? Recently it has been awarded as the best city, tell me the category. Why Consulting? Why Accenture? What were your responsibilities at your job? The client is a cold drink manufacturer in Lucknow. Devise a strategy for cost optimization. Started with general clarifying questions. Then came to saving costs in raw materials as in glass, caps, ingredients etc. He wanted me to focus on the factors which can directly affect costs. I suggested for creation of warehouses in far-away cities as in Delhi, etc. Keeping inventory as minimal as possible, applying concept of JIT delivery, as cold drinks come with expiry issue. He was satisfied with that. How Accenture has been adapting and implementing the rapidly changing technology and digitization in solving the real life business problems?

NA ( Supply Chain and Ops domain) Tell me something which is not on your CV. Why should I not select you? What was your job profile? What did you do? I mentioned about some tools in my CV and was probed on it and also given a case based on that. Case 1: Do FMEA of my phone. How will you proceed? What factors would you consider? FMEA is Failure Mode Effect Analysis which I mentioned in my CV. He was from Operations background and knew about it and gave a case based on that. Case 2: The client is a Logistics firm in South Korea. He wanted to enter into India. Devise the market strategy for them. Also, they are planning to increase their market share 5 folds in the coming 10 years, how should they go about it? Case 3: The client is a toy manufacturer in Lucknow. The profits are going down. How to solve the problem? Case 1: I started with all factors which can be the causes of failure of mobile. Then the mode in which it can fail. How each factor was critical, how many times it occurred, how severe it was, etc. Then recommendations etc. Case 2: General clarifying questions. Then considering each factor in the value chain and discussing them. Case 3: Same as Case 2 MD Tell me something that is not on your CV. What did you do in your college? How will you be able to handle the pressure? Why Consulting? What did you learn at your workplace? Give me the real reasons and not prepared.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

How can IIM Indore come into the same league as IIM A, B,C, L? What factors will you consider? -

NA ( 2017 pass out from XLRI) Walk me through your CV. Why consulting when you have your profile completely into operations? What attracts you towards it? Why Accenture? Any locations constraint? Just be confident and truthful while answering. They look for consistency in your answers and each interviewer makes notes based on your answers. Be thorough with your CV. They can ask anything. Do read about the latest news about your city, workplace, college etc. Be interactive while solving cases. They assess based on the approach and not on definite answer.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Sanya Khullar Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies Finance EY Risk advisory 12 Accenture Manager Strengths, weaknesses Explain P2P process. what are the risks associated with it? How would you increase the parking space in Rajouri Garden (my residence)? I- tell me something about yourself. Then basic work-ex related questions. Questions from my academic projects and POR. I- There is parking problem in Rajouri Garden. How would you tackle this situation? I- Why Accenture? What other domains Accenture is present in apart from Strategy? Who is the chairman of Accenture? Manager Tell me about yourself. What is SOX? Guestimate the number of refrigerators in Delhi? Devise a market entry strategy for a South Korean toy manufacturer in India? NA

HR Why do you wish to work in consulting after already having worked in Risk Consulting? What is the share price of Accenture? Principal Why Accenture? Describe how your life would be 10 years down the line? How are you finding life at IIML? What do you think is you learning here? Consulting requires a lot of sacrifices. Would you be able to do that? What motivates you? Do your research about Accenture. The HR guy really got pissed when I was unable to answer the question about the share price of Accenture. Prepare why Accenture and why consulting questions well.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Sneha Jain Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, GGSIPU, Delhi B.Tech (ECE) Accenture (34 months) Data Analytics 34 Accenture IIM L Alum with around 6 years of work-ex Tell me something about yourself. Why MBA? Why Accenture? Why consulting? Your role preferences? Your take on work life balance? What kind of work/opportunities you're looking for at Accenture? What questions you have for us? What did you like the most about past organisation? What did you learn? Thoughts about IIM Lucknow? What are you doing as Team Disha? Describe your role briefly. Your major responsibilities? ITC has launched a new product category - Rice in one of the cities in South India. They are following Direct-to-customer Model for selling. Calculate the profitability for the company and suggest three ways in which it can be improved (i.e. improvements in Direct-to-customer method)? Note: The solution involved application of marketing concepts as well - like STP and promotional strategies. I: Walk me through your CV. C: Started from the city I belonged to, then followed chronological order school, college, work. Talked about hobbies and interests in the end. I: Work-ex related questions like role, team, your take-away, what you liked the most at work. C: Explained all in simple and fluent manner. I: How is life going at IIM Lucknow? How did 4 months go? C: Talked about how it is my first experience at hostel; touched upon academics, competition, committees, multi-tasking, prep etc. I: Let's do a case solving. Took a case related to his area of work-ex i.e. products (FMCG) in this case. I: Any questions for me? C: Asked about difference between Accenture Consulting and Strategy, IB vs. CN at Accenture, his experience at work.

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

MD, Accenture The interviewer asked about my role preferences. Apart from that, no other question from his side. Rather, he wanted me to shoot all my questions and queries one by one, expected that I have read enough about the company & roles and hence was expecting good quality relevant questions. I asked questions about project allocation, how digital and technology are changing the face of consult and strategy, how trends in India and abroad are different, how I can expect learning and growth cure/opportunities for me. It was conversational and one question led to another and went on for around 20 min over phone. Read well about company - recent trends/news + roles offered. Be prepared with some good questions to discuss with Interviewer, HR and MD something that highlights your interest as well as knowledge. Focus on learning and growth opportunities and keep them central to discussion.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Vinita Malayath Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

IGIT , GGSIPU B. Tech ECE SAP (34 months) IT 34 Accenture Lady Senior Manager working in finance domain I: Tell me about yourself I: Have you decided your specialization for next year? I: Which subject do you like the most here at IIML? Which do you hate? I: What extra-curricular activities have you been part of here at IIML? I: What innovative work have you done in your last firm which required use of latest technology? I: Give me an instance of innovation done by you in the field of finance? I: Questions related to machine learning models used by me in my past project? You are having an important meeting. There are 10 men and you are the only woman. You feel they have a bias against you. What do you do? The Interviewer gave me a minute to jot down my points I: Shall we start? C: Yes Sure. So I feel that if my colleagues have a bias against me - it could be due to personal or professional reasons. Since we all are mature adults working in a professional environment, I feel it would mostly be due to professional reasons and so I would like to explore that first. Shall I? I : Yes sure that is a valid assumption C: So in a professional working environment a bias could be project related or non-project related. If we look at project work first. It could be related to the projects I am handling or the ones my colleagues are responsible for. For projects handled by me I would self-introspect on whether I have done my work justice. If I have ensured my work does not impact anyone negatively. If I have not led to any blockers... I: So you'll introspect. Good, what next? C: next I'll look at the projects handled by my colleagues, Have I given them enough support for integration, have I been appreciative of their work I : Ok so introspection from another perspective. Good. C: next step would be communication. I: You are saying you'll be okay asking your colleagues who are maybe your seniors why they have a bias against you? C: I am saying free communication is very important. I: I am just kidding, you are right. Direct communication is often what is required. C: Yes. But I agree it can sometimes be difficult especially when talking to your seniors, but then you can maybe present it differently. However, you must never compromise on what needs to be communicated. Most of the issues faced at a workplace can be easily resolved if we communicate openly. I: I agree, thanks Vinita. Now before we end this interview is there anything you would like to ask me? You have been associated with Accenture for a long time now. Can you tell me what it is that has held you here?

Piyush Manocha. Accenture India, Blockchain head . I: I see blockchain in your CV. If you were to give one issue that blockchain addresses what would it be? Just one word. Tell me C : I think efficiency I : If I give you another chance . What would you say?

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club C: Efficiency I : Its 'trust'. Main thing is trust. So you have done basic blockchain work ? C: Told a bit on what I had done I : Ok. You may go. Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Dr.Krishna (MD round) I: Do you remember me? C: Yes sir you had come for the Accenture ppt I: Ok what is my name? C: (Remembered after thinking for some time) Dr. Krishna I: Why consulting? I: So what is going on in the market? I: What do you know about the market? I: Tell me about the stock exchange? I: You are from Kerala. Do you know about Guruvayoor? I: Where in Kerala do you belong to? C: Thrissur I: What is Thrissur Pooram? . I: I want to set up a new IIM. And I will set it up. Don't analyse that decision. I have to and will set up the IIM. Just tell me quickly what factors should I consider while selecting the land. Don't take a lot of time. Don't ask questions. Just tell me some factors. C: Ok there will be monetary and non- monetary aspects. So I will check the rates at which land is available. I will look at how much area of land I can get at what rates I : Ok next C: I will look at availability of labour for setting up the institute and also for its functioning I : fine next C: I will look at its proximity to industry I : How is that relevant C: Because I would want more and more companies to come to recruit students from the college. Also greater proximity would mean greater chances of industry expert interactions, live projects, etc thus greater exposure I: Fair enough. Next C : I will look at other premier MBA colleges in the area. If there is already an IIM nearby then no point setting up another one. I : Ok that’s good enough HR Round What was your work like at SAP? What SAP modules did you work on?

I wish to explore different domains. I read somewhere that in Accenture there is not much fluidity across domains and industries, can you please clarify this? The interviews were very short and fast. They were mainly looking at idea generation and confidence. While solving cases don't spend a lot of time asking clarifying questions. Show as many ideas, different perspectives as you can. Be confident and interactive. Be thorough with your CV and work ex.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

R.Jananiya Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

VIT University, Vellore Biotechnology Dr.Reddy's Laboratories, entrepreneurial venture Operations, business management 22 Accenture Manager Tell me about yourself Asked to explain some quantitative points on CV I am a pharmaceuticals manufacturer, my costs are going up. Why ? (relevant to my previous work ex) Guesstimate the number of flights that take off from the Delhi airport in a day Case - Value chain of manufacturing unit, identification of some factors that could be increasing the cost such as in logistics, idle time, etc and finally suggested a few solutions Guesstimate - estimate no of working hours of the airport (peak and non peak), capacity of the runway (2 runways), factor in time spent by each flight on the runway. Managing director Why Accenture? Why consulting after having your startup? Why not just pursue that? Tell me one thing you might not like about consulting? Tell me one thing about yourself that you think you need to work on to be a good consultant What industry/domain would you be comfortable working in? Asked about the entreprenuerial venture in detail. None None About recent news that Accenture was involved in- Award for diversity and inclusion. How will the projects be alotted for summers? HR interview Why Accenture? Why consulting? Explain what 6S method is in a very simple way. What are the KPIs you considered before deciding on a location for the startup? What were some of the challenged faced and what parts of the work did you like the most? None None The HR has said that he had joined the firm only a few months back from college. So, made conversation about what he liked about the firm, learning oppurtunities, etc Stay calm, smile and give the interviews confidently. The focussed on body language, how well you can articulate things and put it forward.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Arshiya Tawakley Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi B.A. Economics (Hons) Deloitte [9 months] and Safe Water Network [12 months] (International NGO) Tax Consulting, Market Research 21 Accenture Manager 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Why Consulting? 3. Why Accenture? 4. Why MBA and not an MA? 1. Explain your work in Safe Water Network and what did you learn from it? 2. Why did you switch jobs? I’m a big Indian pharmaceutical company. I began operations a few years back and have experienced rapid growth in my sales and market share. I have recently noticed that the attrition rate of my sales force is ~40%. What should I do? I started by reiterating the problem in my own words so that the interviewer knows that I have understood and assimilated the problem. After that, I clarified the objective and started off by asking about the company, their products and customers. Answer – A large pharmaceutical company that sells its products in India. They have been in the market for nearly 10 years and have experienced exponential growth over the years. The company has a range of products that can be categorized into 2 – high margin products like cancer drugs and low margin products like paracetamol (crocin). Objective: to identify reasons for high attrition rate and give possible solutions to reduce it. After a few clarifying questions, I confirmed if it was an industry wide issue that other companies were also facing or just our company. Also, that sales force meant the lowest level sales people who interacted with the pharmacies and doctors. Without further ado, I delved into my structure and categorized the problem into a) monetary and b) non-monetary issues. (I took 3-4 mins to make the following issue tree and a minute or so to take the interviewer through the structure seeking direction every step of the way) • Under monetary, I categorized it into salary, commission & incentives and reimbursements. o I assumed salary to be only the fixed component and covered the variable component in the next bucket o I asked about the commission and incentive structure here. Assuming that there would be a performance based incentive system Answer - Yes, there is a different target set for every kind of medicine. If the salesperson meets 50%, 80%, 90% and 100% of their target. They get a fixed incentive accordingly. In addition, they also get x% commission on high margin drugs and y% commission on low margin drugs. o Reimbursements included reimbursements on all expenditures such as travel expenses, food expenses etc. • Under non-monetary, I broke the bucket into work related issues and nonwork related issues. o Work related issues were again further divided according to stakeholders, i.e. external and internal. - External issues related to all the customers: a) doctors, b) pharmacies, c) wholesalers (I confirmed if wholesalers were relevant in our case and the interviewer confirmed that it was). - Internal issues related to colleagues and supervisor/boss. o Non work related issues included issues such as a) recognition for work, b) holidays, c) working hours, d) number of leaves permitted, e) company policy such as maternity/paternity leave The interviewer then asked me to look at the commissions and incentives.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

We further discussed the incentive plan. I asked a few detailed questions and arrived to the conclusion that there were multiple incentive plans being implemented and the over lap and complex structure left the employee dissatisfied as there wasn’t a standard procedure for implementation. Asked for a feedback on my case. Projects at Accenture.

Senior Manager 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Why Consulting? 3. Short term and long term goals? 4. Learnings from setting up my own bakery. Why did I shut it down? Questions about what I did at Deloitte and Safe Water Network. N/A N/A N/A

Sameer Amte, Partner 1. What do you hope to learn from Accenture? 2. How does Accenture fit into your career plan? 3. Why MBA? N/A N/A N/A N/A

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Alvarez & Marsal Manishit Chadha Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Panjab University B.E Electronics and Communication Engineering KPMG (32) Consulting 32 Alvarez & Marsal Don't remember I. Tell me something about yourself I. Some basic discussion on digitization and smart cities Estimate the market for CCTV cameras in India The interviewer was basically looking at the approach taken and wanted me to identify the areas where CCTVs can be used. The focus was more on the approach and the breadth of thinking rather than on the number. For 4 areas he asked me to drill down on each of the usage area to identify how will I estimate the demand of the CCTV cameras.

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Manish Sehgal

A glass bottle manufacturer wants to estimate the demand of his product for the next 10 years. Help the client. 1. Started by asking some clarifying questions. Came to know that the company had pan India operations, majorly supplies glass bottles for soft drink industry such as coke 2. Came to know that the industry had recently experienced a dip in the sales of the glass bottles and was currently in recovery stage at a slower rate. 3. Post this the interviewer directly prompted me to identify the factors which I will consider in identifying the demand of the product and form an equation out of it. Niranjan Basic discussion on football (my passion) Chai point wants to open a store in one of the malls in Lucknow. Estimate the number of cups which they can expect to sell in a day. Number heavy guesstimate where he wanted me to reach at a number. Asked me to take but state the assumptions I am making and arrive at a final number.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Rubal Mittal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani Chemical Engineering Vodafone India Limited (15 months) & Manthan Advisors (8 months) General management (Analytics, channel partner management), Consulting 23 months Alvarez & Marsal Rishav Jain; Director Tell me something about yourself. Asked me what's more important - Hunger or Satisfaction. Experience related to UPSC. Conversation about tea vs coffee preference. Why A&M? I explained a bit about work experience in tell me about yourself. There the conversation on Strategy internship with Hilti India and about Network Operations with Vodafone India. 1) Guesstimate: To calculate the market size for curtains in India 2) Guesstimate: To calculate the revenue for a cinema hall in India 1) Market size for curtains in India: Clarified what type of curtains are we looking at; and overall or for some particular type; Divided population into Rural and Urban ; He asked me to focus only on Urban; In urban - further divided it into Residential and Commercial; For residential - calculated number of households (Averaging out urban population as family of 5); Divided them basis income groups: high, medium and low - and for each income group household - number of rooms and thus curtain requirements; In commercials - listed down various areas: Colleges/ Schools, Offices, malls, government buildings, Later - averaged out life of curtains and calculated replacement rate. Thus found out new curtains and replacement rate. 2) Calculate revenue for a cinema - Asked only to list down factors and not do the math; Factors - City; Locality; next nearest cinema hall, Type of cinema hall (single screen, multi); movies shown - Genre, regional/ national movies; weekday/weekend; new releases/old movie shown Divided the working hours of cinema hall from 9 am to 3 am; basis this calculated occupancy rate of cinema hall. For weekend and movie releasing dates, rush would be higher; also during night slots and evening slot. Other than ticketing also suggested advertisements and food and beverage as revenue source. Was asked to calculate FnB revenue; dependent on time of movie show; occupancy rate; rates offered; variety offered; combos offered. Niranjan Ramanan - Director He joked about the fact that I visited other companies first; then asked me to tell about myself - he had also stayed in Jaipur- so questions about school, area I stay in, then was aware about Lucknow and I had done a project here - so questions around that. Asked about my family, parents' work, siblings. Work around Manthan Projects; guessed all my clients correctly - but didn't grill much! Determine the potential for a water bottling plant to setup their base in Lucknow. Clarifying questions: Water bottling means like Kinley; Client is already making liquor; distribution network is well settled; 1 litre standard bottle only SKU; major 4 competitors; question was more centric around estimating size of industry for the company and if it would be suitable for them to start business.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Lucknow population -> Divided into residential and commercial; for residential; income groups division; people who drink via bottled water; so availability; accessibility, and affordability; divided consumption pattern for summers winters; determined on an average how many bottles would be consumed; for commercial - listed all avenues - offices, marriage halls, conferences, in shops; malls; cinema halls; etc. Calculation done only for residential; Then calculated percentage share for this company - basis competition and brand association with liquor. Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Manish Saigal; Managing Director Asked about my day and nothing much; for the question perspective he asked me if I drink. Nope He was asking everyone the same questions - to make an equation to calculate the potential of glass bottled liquor Used the funnel down approach - first calculated how many people drink; then how many people prefer drinking from glass bottle; then for this particular brand - he just wanted the factors I would consider for each funnel bottom; compared it with cans these days. Important thing was reusability of bottles at home and then back to the industry. I told him as per my opinion, people drinking would remain same and just might increase due to changing preferences; but people drinking from bottle will decrease. He asked me to read up on it later. I asked him what's the right question - he said it will increase overall. It was all guestimate and HR centric. Also Disha mentor was very helpful as questions were being repeated and he helped in structure and approach. Rest - Just remain calm and enjoy the process.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Shivam Saxena Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

IIT Roorkee Mechanical Engineering Tata Steel (22 months) Manager (Operations & Maintenance) 22 Alvarez & Marsal

Q1) Tell me something about yourself ? Q2) What drives you towards doing something ? Q3) Given your motivation, why would you choose A&M ? Q4) What is specific to you that you can give to A&M ? Q5) What do you first consider in a race ? Q) Number of chairs sold in India in a year ? Q) Since you are from Bareilly, can you estimate the number of jhumkas sold by a shop in Bareilly, take relevant assumptions. Q) Estimate the Number of trees in Lucknow. Q) Chairs divided it into Residential and Retail and gave approaches for calculating both. Q) Gave some insights based on the city and what other factors will come into play due to location. Q) Divided city area into different parts and considered where all trees could be presented. Gave detailed approaches for each area. Director Q) First 15 mins CV related discussion about 2-3 PORs, how I handled the different situations and overall experience in those PORs. (Person Interviewing was a mechanical engineer and I had a POR related to Off-Road Racing, so discussed about how the team went about executing the whole designing and fabrication of the vehicle, how the funds, parts etc. were arranged, overall experience.) Q) Bata type store in Lucknow Gomti Nagar area - estimate the total number of shoes sold (Men's formal – Rs.1000 shoe) Calculated the whole market for the Rs.1000 men's formal shoes for the city. Divided it across market share of the company in that segment and the number of stores in Lucknow and got the number. Principal Q) So how desperate you are to join A&M ? Q) Case related to a glass bottle manufacturer related to aerated beverages. Had to give different factors which might affect the demand and what would be the overall demand in the future for glass bottles. Mostly a qualitative discussion focused on factors. Majorly analyse across 3 verticals 1) Demand for aerated drinks (What pushes people to buy glass bottles and what drives companies to supply drinks in glass bottles) 2) Reusability of glass bottles 3) External Factors and regulations. All 3 interviewers from Previous Rounds Q1) So what other options do you have apart from consulting ? Q2) What kind of work you did in previous jobs ?

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Q3) How did you handle people ? Q4) What was your approach towards people who were aggressive ? Q5) Different situations given, how would you react ? (Mostly out of the 20 questions that Disha provides) Try to be assertive in an interview without being rude.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Arete Advisors Swetabh Pranwit Kumar Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions

BITS Pilani Electronics and Communication Accenture Management Consulting (33 months) Management Consulting 33 Arete Advisors Consultant Interview 1: One Panelist (P1) P1: Hi! So Day-0 morning, feeling good? S: Absolutely! First interview for me, and since it’s only morning, not a lot of other interview feedbacks as well, hence slightly anxious but looking forward to this. P1: Nice! So why don’t we start with getting to know you a little bit? S: Sure, so am Swetabh, I hail from New Delhi. I'm a 2015 graduate from BITS Pilani in Electronics Engineering and post that I was with Goldman Sachs initially, before shifting to Accenture Consulting where I worked for 2.5 years. At Accenture, I developed my inclination towards strategy consulting and business problem solving since my role involved working on diverse business problems like profitability, market entry, growth strategy and cost optimization, for reputed clients across sectors like automobile, software, retail and investment banking. From exposure to seasoned consultants to domain knowledge and travel schedules, everything helped me understand consulting better. On the extracurricular front, I'm an internationally certified guitarist and have performed at state and national levels. I've also written stand up acts professionally for the Viral Fever, Kenny Sebastian, Garv Malik etc. In sports, I'm passionate about chess and like to study the game actively. P1: Viral Fever sounds really interesting, I like their content. So how’s been the shift from BITS to IIM Lucknow overall? From 4 years there to 2 months here, how did you find IIM-L different from BITS? S: Differences in the academic pedagogy and rigor, BITS 0 attendance policy vs 80% mandate here, case based methodology vs traditional engineering setups, level of diversity and peer group, different avenues for various extracurricular activities. P1: Relating to 2 years of serious academic rigor, how well do you think these translate to industry readiness and professional excellence? S: Talked about the need for a strong theoretical foundation prior to practical application, followed by how case methodology at the top Bschools expose the students to real world scenarios wherein the theory can be practically applied and validated against actual industry situations. P1: Good, so are you in the habit of reading newspapers? Can you list 3 major news items in the last month from India/globally? Views on impact of Budget 2018-19 on the manufacturing sector. S: Answered. (Statistics and Facts help) P1: Okay, so you’ve come from management consulting and have dealt with clients across diverse sectors. That’s good exposure for an engineering graduate. So why MBA at all? And why consulting again? Won’t have expected you to fall for the hype. S: Why MBA: Lack of a structured academic framework to learn consulting during B.E. Work-ex projects and exposure was good but learning from scratch took time and was mostly limited to the problem or the industry at hand. Colleagues who were top MBA graduates had a distinctly solid foundation in case analysis and frameworks that helped their thought process and problem solving. So I felt an academic setup to learn business

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

strategy could help me structure my learning, along with numerous practice cases and the internship experience which are part of the MBA offering. Why consulting: a) Familiarity with this industry due to prior work-ex. b) Inclination towards problem solving and brainstorming on solutions to seemingly abstract/unstructured problem statements c) Opportunity to gain cross domain/industry knowledge since each project can deal with a new sector and can entail a new problem. Plus, the travel component is also a good experience. P1: How would you guesstimate the average width of a book at IIM-L library? Logical Reasoning Puzzle: P1: Okay, so there are 30 horses with unique speeds and 5 race-tracks. Could you tell me how many minimum races I should conduct to find the fastest 3 horses? You can use the paper here, but please keep explaining your method as you work it out. S: Solved interactively. (12-15 minutes with cross-questions, discussions) Note: This is a variant of the popular 25 horses 5 track puzzle, available on the web. Partner P2: Hello! How’s it going? S: Not bad actually, sir. P2: Good then, seems like you’ve come from a consulting role. Consulting is mostly about creativity and innovation in problem-solving, so I’d expect you to be reasonably comfortable with cases, especially one we’re about to do. That’s a fair expectation, right? S: Yes sir, I’ll try my best. P2: Good then, seems like you’ve come from a consulting role. Consulting is mostly about creativity and innovation in problem-solving, so I’d expect you to be reasonably comfortable with cases, especially one we’re about to do. That’s a fair expectation, right? S: Yes sir, I’ll try my best. 1) Okay, so as a consultant, I’m interested in calculating the economic feasibility of running cars on electricity within the next 10 years. From this, I need the perspective pricing and projected recommendation on whether the average Indian man will want to buy an electric car or not 2) How would you guesstimate the average width of a book at IIM-L library? 1) P2: Okay, so as a consultant, I’m interested in calculating the economic feasibility of running cars on electricity within the next 10 years. From this, I need the perspective pricing and projected recommendation on whether the average Indian man will want to buy an electric car or not. S: So sir by cars you mean all cars across brands and type, I believe? P2: Yes, all cars currently operational. S: Sir I believe that just like fuel requirements are different for each car category and size, electricity requirements would be different as well. This then, calls for differential battery setups and charging infrastructure inside different cars. P2: Let’s assume for the time being, that I’m using a similar battery with different power ratings as suited to different vehicles. S: Okay, can I have a moment to structure my approach sir? P2: Sure. S: Okay sir, so If I understand correctly, we’re having differential horsepower ratings for similar batteries to provide electric power for the cars. So sir, can we assume the costs of general features like gear, brakes etc. to be constant for the moment and focus on battery and charging expenses first since that’s a new cost segment? P2: Sure, assume all other component costs to be constant for now. Let’s investigate batteries and charging. S: So sir, looking at Tesla who were also working on electric cars, the batteries used are lithium ion batteries. India usually sources these from China and Japan I recall, but with a 10 year timeline, I think we could be self-sufficient, given that a full scale Li-ion cell factory is already in planning for Andhra Pradesh. Can I have some rough idea about the pricing of such batteries sir? P2: You’re right about the lithium ion batteries. For procurement pricing, say the batteries are priced equivalent to X Rs currently.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club S: Okay, so sir say a battery lasts for say 4000 charging/discharging cycles, post which the battery, or the car would have to be replaced. Also sir, since power requirements vary across vehicles, the same number of charging/discharging cycles would suffice for different distances. So sir, could I get any data with regard to the same? P2: Assume that on an average across cars, one charging/discharging cycle suffices for 100 kms. S: Fine, so if I assume the average man in question travels, say, 25 km by car daily, it’ll take him 4 days to exhaust one cycle. And if the car or the battery last for 4000 cycles, this corresponds to 16000 days or about 42+ years! 42 years are typically more than the # of years an average man drives for, so I think one car would suffice for his vehicle needs by this calculation, unless he wants to change his brand preference or move to a different luxury model etc. P2: Can you substantiate a bit more considering the pricing aspect as well? S: Sure sir, so as agreed, gears, brakes etc are fixed costs. Then we have the cost of lithium batteries priced at X, the cost of charging points, cost of internal safety infrastructure and the added cost of features that would be added in the next decade. I think for an average mid-size car; the price could go up significantly. That’s why I think the electric car would be feasible since this will be a one-time expense if a single car lasts for 40+ years. P2: Are you sure? How many people would drive the same car for that long? If you have to make a term full of notes that are hardly 100 pages, would purchasing a 10000 page register be beneficial practically? S: That’s there as well, sir. I focused on longevity based efficiency and not the actual usage percentage. P2: Got it, thank you.

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

2) P2: How would you guesstimate the average width of a book at IIM-L library? S: Can I take a moment to think sir? P2: Yes. S: Sir I believe the dimensions of the racks are known, is that right? P2: Yes, the width of each rack is known. S: So if we figure out the number of books on each rack, then width of rack/number of books would give us a ballpark figure, but since several books might be issued and hence not kept there, I think it may be safe to assume that racks have 80% occupancy on an average. P2: Okay, but do you think there could be a more direct approach to this? You think weighted average would work ? S: No sir, since there are different sections in the library. Children’s room could have thinner books, say of an inch’s fraction in width, while some other biographies or study books might be quite thick. The range is significant and there are variations within each range, so we cannot assign weights arbitrarily to each of these multiple possibilities. P2: Good, now think that if you have different sections like the children’s sections or the biography section with significant variation in widths, but you cannot use weighted averages, what is the other method to estimate the thickness then? S: Sir maybe we could sample books from each section based on some appropriate statistical sampling method, but am not sure since we haven’t covered methods of sampling yet in our curriculum. P2: Yes, there is a specific type of sampling for this but if you say it hasn’t been covered, it’s fine but do learn that as an important guesstimation tool in the future. S: Sure Sir, thank you. S: Sir, any particular domains to be studied as a prerequisite? P2: No, we deal with companies across sectors so you could grasp that on the go. S: Thank you. 1) Practice guesstimates adequately 2) Solve good puzzles as well as part of prep, they were unexpected for me at the time. Fortunately I was slightly familiar with that specific question. 3) Be aware of what's going on in the world, you can get conversational questions around them or the stats/facts that you produce could impress the interviewer during the case as well.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Swetha Tummula Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Other interviews (Please write about Interviewer, HR/Conversation questions, case problem statement, the complete case transcript and questions asked) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Osmania University Electronics and Communication Engineering Deloitte - 24 Data Analytics 24 Arete Advisors Unknown - Male Tell me about yourself. What do you know about Arete Advisors? Why Arete Advisors? Why a company of relatively of small size? Elaborated on work experience while introducing myself. Asked one or two follow up questions on work flow. Risks involved in setting up a Micro finance institution in rural area. Interviewer: Tell me about yourself. Me: Talked about books towards the end. Interviewer: Which is your favourite book? Me: The Banker to the Poor. Explained why. Interviewer: What are the risks involved in setting up a up a Micro finance institution in rural area? Me: Infrastructure, repayment risks, etc. Interviewer: Elaborate more We worked on it. He was helpful throughout giving a direction to my thoughts. Discussed the case and implications in detail.

Rithika Tell me about yourself Elaborated on work experience while introducing myself. Asked one or two follow up questions on work flow In a 100 bed hospital, profits are declining. Determine why. Interviewer: In a 100 bed hospital, profits are declining. Determine why. Used the general profitability framework – Revenues, expenses. Directed to delve deep into revenues first and then expenses. The final solution arrived was that the hospital is located on a highway and all the 100 beds are not being occupied, which led to increase in operating expenses. Also suggested to establish hoardings from few kms away from the hospital to increase the awareness. How does the company get its clients?

The company was just looking for clarity of thought and organisational fit.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Auctus Advisors Himanki Sahu Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

VNIT Nagpur B.Tech in Electronics and Communication Senior Business Analyst at EXL Service (31 months) Banking Analytics 31 Auctus Advisors Manager 1. Tell me something about yourself 2. CV Based Questions (Revolved around school and my native place) 3. Tell me in detail about your work ex It began in continuation with the previous set of questions. Detail About my both the projects - What was the problem and how did it actually get solved. 1 Case - Not exactly profitability. But ways to maximize profits 2. Guesstimate on one of the above sections of the problem It was a very generic case. I : Do you have any experience in Metro Construction Projects? C: No Sir I : Okay! Doesn't Matter. Have you ever been to a metro station? C: Yes Sir! I: So I am working on a metro construction project. What all should I consider while choosing the metro stations? C: Proceeded like a normal case. Asked few qualifying question. Answer revolved about how to choose the location of the metro station. I: So this is fine. Now you have chosen the Location. What according to you are the major revenue generating streams for a metro? C: Answered. Covered a lot of areas. He chose Food and Beverage stream and asked me to ways to maximize the profits for the same. This wasnt a standard profitability case. It comprised more of the very general but effective ways to increase reach of the commuters. (Actually liked one of the suggestions) I: This is fine. Now how much do you think would be revenue of a Food and Beverage Stall in a particular Metro Station C: It was a guesstimate problem. He didnt expect me to reach on the exact figures. He just wanted to see my structure and approach. I: Okay! Looks fine. Do you have any questions? C: I asked that is there any ongoing project with the firm related to the metro construction! I: The case that I asked you was a real one and we would like to impart some of your suggestions :) Director 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Went thoroughly line by line with the CV. Asked a lot of questions. 3. Work ex in detail 1.Tell me about your projects in detail 2. One thing that you enjoyed in any one of your projects. 3. How do you think EXL is doing in the Industry? Why are the major competitors like MU Sigma going ahead? 4. Future of Analytics Industry 5. Work Experience projects led to the questions on Prediction Analysis ( How will you predict Oil prices in near future) No Case

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

The entire round was more of a discussion where one point led to another. At the end I asked about the ongoing projects and what amount of exposure do interns get in the same Dos : Prepare Your CV thoroughly. Your entire interview can be geared in the direction you want to with this Be natural in HR questions rather than too much mugged up Remember, they look at the approach rather than the end result while solving any problem.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Bain & Company Chaitanya Jain Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Hansraj College, Delhi University Commerce (B.Com Honours)

0 Bain and Company Ravi Swarup, Principal Tell me about yourself Why consulting Why Bain Career goals I'm a steel manufacturer producing wooden finish steel doors for homes. Estimate my market size in India. A fairly long, number heavy case. The interviewer kept giving more and more details, numbers and segmentation factors at every step. Key was to include every data point given, think out loud about how you're going to use various factors to zero in on your number, and show the interviewer your attention to detail. Interviewer specific questions, based on the flow of the conversation

Shuvo, Partner (not sure about name) About yourself Why consulting Why Bain CV specific questions What did you do in your internship? Wire manufacturer wants to increase profits. Suggest all ideas/areas. Classic profitability case. The difference was that the analysis wasn't in just one vertical (costs/quantity/prices etc), but throughout the structure. Fairly long interview, he wanted ideas and possible avenues under every single bucket. In the end, he also tested MECE of my structure by coming up with a couple of vague problems and asking me where (in which bucket specifically) they would fit in the whole structure. Again, interviewer specific questions, based on the flow of the conversation till then. Equally, or maybe even more important than problem solving, is how the interviewer sees you as a person- your personality, communication, fit (in consulting, and in the firm). So it becomes very important to smile, be confident (even if you think you're going wrong), ask questions, and remain calm. All the best!

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Resham Bagaria Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Shri Ram College of Commerce B. Com(Hons) The Smart Cube (24 months); Kinetics Consulting Services (17 months) Consulting 41 months Bain and Company Rachna Bahadur, Manager I: Tell me something that is not there on your CV C: Talked about hobbies. Mentioned baking as a hobby and the interviewer was also interested in baking. Discussed on that for a couple of minutes I: Tell me more about the type of projects you did in the firm I have surplus cash and want to set up a restaurant business in Lucknow. I have three options a) Fine dining b) Kiosk or c) Cafe. Please suggest which option should I go for and what should be my strategy C: Do you have prior experience in restaurants? What is the objective? I: No prior experience. I just have surplus funds with me and find this to be a good opportunity C: Okay. We can evaluate the options based on understanding consumer needs and preferences, then requirements to service those needs and finally where the benefit will be maximum to us I: Okay. Fair enough. Let us start with consumer need analysis C: Talked about culture specific and demographic factors affecting consumer behaviour. Since consumers in Lucknow still are geared towards traditional cuisines, cafes may not be very popular. Can explore fine dining and kiosks further. We can create a fusion modern and traditional food to cater to customer needs. I: Okay, let us look at other considerations on the requirements C: Resources required in terms of capital and labour will be another important factor. Since, fine dining will be highly capital intensive, kiosks may generate better returns. I: What about growth prospects? How would you assess that? C: We can look at ease of opening more such restaurants/kiosks and economies of scale I: Okay, where would you open the kiosk? How would you assess that? C: Provided pros and cons of different types of areas - commercial (Shopping), residential and office areas. Finally concluded on commercial being a better option for the kiosk. Then further discussed the basis on which different commercial areas would be assessed (competitors, pricing, suppliers, customers) I: Okay this seems good. Thank you What is an advice that you would like to give to students like me to have a career like yours in the consulting space

Megha Chawla - Partner Tell me something about yourself Guesstimate the palm oil production in Malaysia I: Palm oil in Malaysia is produced by crushing a particular type of fruits. Fruits are grown in specific farms/forest areas and are then transported to a factory where they are crushed to get crude oil. Then the crude oil is refined to get palm oil C: What types of palm oil are produced in terms of quality? Is there any wastage in the process? I: Only one type of palm oil. There are no wastage. C: Okay, so we can start by estimating the number of farms/forest areas,

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

type of areas and production of fruit. I: How would you estimate the production of fruit? C: Do we have data on number of fruits produced per a typical tree in a typical farms and the number of trees in that farm? I: No, we do not have this data and it would not be practical to get this data. Think of another approach C: Okay, then we can look at typical yield of crude oil in a farm I: Correct. We have three types of farms, we know the number of farms of each type and typical yield of crude palm oil for each type How has your journey been in Bain? What has been the most exciting part of the journey? Be honest about what you have done and make sure you can talk about your projects in detail

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Samay Shah Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

VJTI, University of Mumbai Mechanical Engineering Bank of America Finance 34 Bain and Company Vasundhara Jain, Manager A mid-sized pharma company has declining margins. How would like to analyse my costs? I was one of the last few to enter the Bain process so the interviewer went about the process very swiftly. As soon as I entered the room, I was handed a piece of paper and was asked to solve a case. There were no HR questions whatsoever! The interviewer seemed very strict and didn't help me during the case at all. I track the Pharma sector for CC (the committee) which is why I was given a case on Pharma. I: Let's do a case. A mid-sized pharma company has declining margins. How would you like to analyse my costs? C: Sure! I would like to know a bit more about the issue. By how much has the profit margin declined and since when has the firm been facing this issue? Has it been a sudden decline? I: Assume that the costs have gone up by 25% compared to a year ago. This has not been a sudden increase (I asked a few clarifying questions about the company, product, customer and competition. The client manufactured multiple drugs inhouse, was facing the problem in all channels & products, and the problem was limited to the client. Since I had a basic knowledge about the industry, I tried to use as many jargons as possible and tried to understand the exact business model) C: I would like to analyse all the costs involved. (Laid out the value chain and listed all the broad costs) I: Alright C: Do you want me to focus on any particular part of the value chain? I: You can go about it as you please C: Let's try to analyse the % breakdown of the costs and compare them against our competitors. Wherever we are spending a larger chunk, we can start with that. I: My competitors are not public and getting this sort of data about them would be difficult. How would you like to proceed? Is there any other way to find out which cost head I should begin with? C: Let's compare with our costs from the previous year and look at which cost has increased I: Let's assume I don't have the breakdown for last year. Now what? C: I can't think of any other way. I would just like to begin with the first stage of the value chain. I: Are you sure there's no other way? C: There could be. I can't think of one right now. I: Okay then go ahead C: Let's start with the procurement. The materials that we use would be varied since we manufacture varied drugs. Do we source all these materials from the same supplier? I: What do you think? C: I don't think that would be possible. We'll need multiple suppliers I: Okay C: Are all these domestic suppliers? I: Some are domestic. We import the rest. C: Does the problem exist between both domestic and international suppliers?

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club I: I'm not sure. We don't have the data. C: Okay let's look at the entire procurement process. (Basically said that the costs for procurement would be RM costs, transportation, storage and costs related to credit terms). Should I look at any particular one of these? I: Okay. But what will you compare these costs against? C: Since we don't have a lot of data, I don't know how to compare these costs. I: Okay then what would you like to do? C: Let's try to look at the process and analyze if we can optimize anything I: Okay (Looked at the procurement process. Suggested things like reducing the number of suppliers, looking at quantities procured, trying to go for domestic suppliers to reduce transportation costs, perishability of the RMs, credit terms) I: Is this it? Anything else that I should try to optimize? C: Can't think of anything else I: Summarize the case for me Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Aditya Shukla, Principal Start of the interview: Asked about what we do in Credence Capital, what my role is and how much knowledge I have about the sectors I track. Asked if there are any stocks which I would suggest in these sectors. End of the interview: Asked about my work experience and my love for football. Asked which football club I support. He asked me whether I feel David Beckham is overrated. We discussed in detail about Beckham's entire career. Looked at his strengths and weaknesses, recalled all his important goals in detail When & how he scored the goal, against which team, significance of the stage etc. I asked Aditya the same question and he said he concurs with my thoughts. Just a brief about what I used to do before coming to IIM Lucknow Warburg Pincus wants to invest into PVR. What due diligence should be done? The interviewer was very helpful and told me that we don't need to go about the framework or use any paper. Said we'll discuss the various levers involved in the industry and whether I think it's a profitable investment. Spoke about the increasing mobile and internet penetration in the country. Rise in alternate channels such as Netflix, Hotstar etc Also said that footfalls at malls are declining and people prefer staying indoors since they get all facilities in the comfort of their houses. On the flip side, also spoke about decreasing screens sizes and increasing content that can be broadcasted leading to greater number of shows. Spoke about rise in regional content and how Marathi movies are becoming popular in Mumbai. Spoke about rising ticket prices and F&B revenues. I was asked how we can quantitatively analyze whether Netflix is eating into PVR's market share. I said I can't think of one quantitative parameter which can be directly attributed to the decline in viewership to Netflix. Occupancy rates and footfalls at malls will prove that PVR's market share is declining. I was told to look at occupancy rates in the different weeks for which the movie is being run at theatres. I said that if the occupancy rates in the first week decline over time along with the overall feedback, it's a clear indication that people are willing to wait till the movie is released online. He said it makes sense and that is something that has been noticed in the industry. After this discussion, I was asked if I would invest in PVR stock with a 5 year time horizon. I spoke about the strong PAN India presence and market share. I then listed down a couple of more risks including the rate at which Cineapolis is expanding. He said he just wants to know whether I would invest or not. I said I would invest with a 3-5 year horizon in mind. I asked him about his thoughts and he said that he feels the same way.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Sanchit Gupta Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Delhi University Finance BlackRock Asset Managment 26 Bain and Company Megha Chawla, Partner Tell me about yourself. Why consulting over finance? In the end I was asked if I had any questions. 1) Estimate the market size of Palm oil business in Malaysia 2) Given post part 1; A palm oil company is looking to expand by either merging with or acquiring a competitor in Malaysia, what do you think could be potential sources of synergies? Part 1 I: Started by explaining the Palm oil business in detail and asked me to take note of it. In brief: All major players are in Malaysia and Indonesia which cater to almost entire world demand. Explained the value chain of the business. I was asked to take a moment, digest the facts, and ask any questions. C: Clarified a few doubts regarding the business (no scoping questions) I: Alright now that you have all the information, how would you estimate the market size of Palm Oil industry in Malaysia? C: Market size could be calculated by estimating the number of farms x average area per farm x no. of trees per sq feet x no. of fruits per tree x average amount of oil extracted per fruit x adjustment for wastage x price I: What do you think how a farmer would estimate his production? Could your approach be more simplified? C: Discussed how a farmer would think and simplified the equation to - no. of farms x average farm area x yield per sq feet x price. I: Alright. So there are 3 types of farms: Large, Medium and Small. I was given discrete data points about the three and asked to do calculations. C: It was a simple sum-product Part 2 I: Drew a Map and explained where and how the client (a palm oil company in Malaysia) was operating. After confirming that I understood, gave the problem statement. I was asked to assume the target to be similar to client. C: Stated that there could be operational and financial synergies. I: What is the difference between the two? Post answering, I was asked to focus on operational synergies. C: Started by evaluating each step in value chain given initially. Discussed potential sources of cost saving such as process standardization, logistics, capacity utilization, distribution channels, etc. I: Right, the capacity utilization is not hundred percent, how would you create synergies here? C: Discussed the current setup geographically and operationally and proposed to closed down a proportion of units. I: Correct, that is the case. Arjun, Manager Tell me about yourself Our Client is a Private Equity firm looking to invest in a company in refurbished smartphone business in India. Client wants answer to two questions: 1) What is the market size? 2) Evaluate the target and whether they should invest in it

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

I: You are free to ask me any question, but since we are time constrained we want answer to both the questions before ending C: I asked scoping questions about the PE investment objectives, target company, refurbished phone business and its value chain. I: Right, now how would you size the market? Focus more on metrics you would use than numbers C: Took the demand side approach using income levels, need for change of phone – new features, usage – price point and features of refurbished phones I: Well this is good but consider there is robust demand for such phones. What do you think is much more important here? C: Supply of used phones and percentage of which could be used refurbished and resold I: Right, what metrics would you consider while estimating the supply of second-hand phones? C: Usage of phone from the date they were purchased and rate at which a new model is introduced I: Okay, ignore the new models. Consider there are currently 100 phones being used in the market. How would you project the supply for next 5 years (investment horizon)? Give me approach and values C: Discussed estimating how much each phone has been used and added a growth factor. I: Right, we would look at the age of the phones. Alright, lets now evaluate whether the client should invest in the company. Use the value chain drawn initially for this. C: Drew a more detailed value chain and started by discussing important factors for consideration at each step I: Since we are short on time, what you think is the most important factor to be considered here? C: As established, it is supply of second-hand phones and what the various channels through which company is procuring them I: Could you list those channels? C: Discussed 4 channels - phone companies, physical retail chains/stores, direct from consumer, online I: Right, target is procuring only from flipkart. What do you think could be sources of risk here? C: Discussed concentration risk and possible entry into this business becoming a competitor cutting on supplies I: Right, what is a much bigger risk if flipkart enters this business, consider they are still fulfilling target’s supplies? C: The value of second-hand phones supplied will be affecting the margins I: Right. What would you suggest the client? C: No clear visibility of supplies, very risky proposition I: Right, this is what we suggested the client. Since we are out of time, won’t be able to take your questions. Hope you would have asked those to others at Bain. Always think first principles

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Saumya Agrawal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end

BITS Pilani Computer Science and Mathematics Samsung R&D Institute India, Bangalore IT 34 Bain and Company Partner Walk me through your CV I am a big Chinese player in the mobile industry. My handsets and fit bands are selling well in Indian market. I want to enter into digital medicine sector too. Tell me if there is potential in the Indian market for it and if yes, estimate it for me and tell me how I should go about it and also what all I should include in the product bundle? I asked a few clarifying questions regarding the goal of this proposal and the target group. TG was the untapped low income group people who can switch to the client's phones due to this proposition. I did some guesstimate on the basis of income, age and fitness enthusiasts. Given that no existing competitor in the market currently for tele-medicine. I had discussion about the extent this proposition will entice lower income group people and about expanding the TG to middle income groups too. Talked about the legal regulations in entering into healthcare sector and access to the confidential data and credibility of doctors. For product bundle - Suggested bringing general physicians, specialists, pharmacies and laboratories to the platform. Interviewer suggested bringing insurance companies too. Had a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of it given the Indian scenario and especially the lower income group. Also suggested showing fitness related articles and recommendations for marathon/cycling/yoga/other sports related events happening nearby on the health app to increase user engagement. I saw on the website that a lot of work is being done in IoT sector and it is contributing to around 22% revenue generation. Can you please tell me about the projects you undertake in this domain and what kind of risk analysis you do? Partner What do you do other than academics and work? I talked about sports and had a discussion on cricket. I was asked to select playing 11 for Indian test team from any era and give their batting/bowling order. 1. Estimate the revenue of a PVR outlet in Saket, Delhi for a day. 2. A client has asked us to do PE due diligence for investing in the PVR chain. Guesstimate for revenue. Took the case of weekday, weekend and a special bonanza Wednesday. Divided into different time of the day and estimated the capacity occupancy, no of screens, no of shows. For the due diligence case, talked about 1. Shrinking market for cinemas due to substitutes like amazon prime, Netflix , YouTube, torrent etc. 2. potential of growth of these avenues and shifting of prominent actors and writers on these platforms. 3. Prevailing mindset of different sections of population towards cinemas and its substitutes. 1. The story of Hardik Pandya that you promised (part of the initial discussion) 2. One quality that keeps you going in consulting :)

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Stay confident. Smile while talking. Don't be nervous. Don't rush to the answer. The points you bring to the table matter more than the final answer.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Deloitte – S&O Ashwini Muthineni Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

IIT Indore Electrical Engineering Qualcomm- 35 months Software Engineer (Telecom) 35 Deloitte S&O Senior Manager C: Hi, How is your day? This is my first interview of the day so I am all pumped up. I: *Introduces herself*, tell me about yourself C: Gave the much prepared intro I: Tell me 3 accomplishments you are really proud of I: Elaborate on your hobbies I: How do you find the campus, which hostel do you stay in? ( I am an alum of this campus, it's always exciting to come back here) #VALUE! I am diaper manufacturing company in Lucknow, guesstimate the number of diapers I need to produce yearly C: Please give me a minute to structure my thoughts. I: sure C: I made the basic structure, confirmed with her if I should proceed with the current structure. I: Alright, go ahead. C: Went ahead to expand the structure and considered parameters necessary, clarified with her if I was missing something. I: She gave some suggestions and asked my opinion about them. C: Discussed with her on the suggestions and took her suggestions into account and completed the guesstimate.

Arnav Choudary and another Senior Manager (M&A) I1 and I2: Introduced themselves and asked me to give a brief about myself which is not in my CV C: Gave an intro, talked about my hobbies and my career interests. I1: What motivates you? C: Desire to be the best version of myself. I2: Where do you see yourself 5 years down the timeline? C: Talked about short term goals and how I plan on reaching them I1: What were the challenges that you faced while you were leading a team at Qualcomm? How did you handle them? I2: What are the important projects that changed the game for you at Qualcomm? Case1 Company X is venturing into smart packaging for its products and wants to be a market leader. What are the factors Company X should consider to differentiate itself from its competitors in the market? Case2 You are the product manager of Company Y and you have to choose between the two of the following products to launch: 1)Automated order

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

placing machine for everyday household items 2)A beer cup that lights up whenever it is filled. Consider pros and cons of launching both the products C: Please give me a minute to structure my approach. I2: Yes please. C: Asked clarifying questions mostly about the smart packaging. I1: Gave a detailed explanation of the process and asked me what should the company consider to be the market leader in. C: Explained the supply side factors and the ease of handling the demand. Proposed solution which the company could take up in addition to packing it's own products. I2: What if one of your suggestions fails? How should the company recover? C: Okay, lets look at where it could go wrong, had a discussion with both of the interviewers about the idea and suggested alternatives. I1: let's look at another case, (case2) just tell the ideas that come too your mind. C:(no time to structure now) Gave possible pros and cons to implement both ideas. the feasibility and the markets they should consider before launching the products. * had discussion on the feasibility part* I2: What do you think will be the major issues for launching these products? C: Gave two reasons each for the implementation and launching both products I1 and I2: That's fair. Do you have any questions for us? C: This question is not evaluative right? :P I1: smiles and says, no please go on C: what do you think about the beer mug idea, it sounded funny in my head, but I went on giving solutions. who are the actual customers for that product? I1: Laughs and says even I find it funny, it was a hypothetical case. What suggestion would you give to someone sitting on my side of the table and attending the interview, because you were on this side years back.

Partner Tell me something about yourself? Why consulting? Give a brief on performance evaluation metric at Qualcomm You are the manager of a team, and you have been working with the members for the past 10 years. Now because of budget constraints you need to fire 2 members from your team, explain how you would do it C: proposed three different alternative ideas instead of firing, finding a place in parallel teams where they could work, introducing a review program to improve their performance, cut down on bonus to save costs. I: the parallel teams won't accept the members, how would you convince them C: Explain to the team members about the budget issue and take everyone's opinion into consideration, negotiate with resource management team to extend the timeline so that the low performing members can improve. I: You had given enough time to them, but in this project their technical expertise of no use. C: Find about openings in technical team which would need expertise of the members of my team and transfer them to that team. I: That idea wouldn't be feasible. C: If I am in a managerial position, I would have contacts in other organization. I would give a recommendation for these employees in those tech firms, explain the situation to these two employees before I fire them. I: Smiles and says I was just stressing you out. But honestly are emotions important in business C: Yes, in order to provide best solutions any Business should empathize with the problem situation first. No matter how big the Business idea is emotions are important. I: Why are Indians like that? C: May be it's the culture and environmental values that we are brought up with. I: Agreed .Do you have any questions for me?

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

C: What do you do in such a situation ?Fire them? I: I had tried many solutions including the ones you have suggested, in the end you got to do what you go to do. C: May be I’ll learn how it goes in my journey ahead. I: Trust me. You will. C: What did you learn in your journey do far , something you could share as a take home message for me. I: Explains his story right from his graduation at IIMC to Deloitte. 1. Be cheerful throughout the interview and keep the interviewer engaged 2. They tend to look at what you write on the paper while solving the case or guesstimate, so keep it presentable 3. Have a good night's sleep before the interview, presence of mind and a lot of thinking on the feet is required while you give the interview.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Diksha Jaiswal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3

NIT Bhopal Material Science and Metallurgy EXL Analytics - 9 months Analytics 9 Deloitte S&O Jatin, Vertical head Tell me something about yourself. A general discussion about the city I come from since the interviewer belonged to the same. How has your experience been at IIML? How has your day been? Why consulting? Did you like your time at EXL? Estimate the number of shoes sold in a year. The interviewer was really helpful and ensured to make me feel comfortable. He helped me out with the guesstimate and the overall interview was more conversational than a stress interview and it lasted for about 15 mins. I asked about how his experience has been at Deloitte. Any suggestions for a newbie?

Shweta and another panelist What do you think worked out well for you in the last interview? What didn't you do well? Why is it that you think communication Is important in consulting? None 1. Given you are a beauty products company, if you have to move from person to person sales to online channels, what options would you explore? 2. I was given a data sheet about different channels, profits and sales, costs and labour requirement and was asked to identify two channels I would use. 3. Why would you use these channels? Calculate new profit, change in cost and profitability across channels It started with a general conversation. They asked one plus and one minus of my previous interview to which I said that communication skills was positive and guesstimate was a let-down. Before jumping to the case, they ensured I was comfortable and relaxed. The question was about moving from personal selling to online channel exploration. I suggested YouTube ads, Amazon, personal website and WhatsApp ads. They helped me out with figuring out channels and wanted to know the rationale behind choosing the channels. Then they gave me a sheet which had profit data, different channels along with cost incurred, labour requirement and sales. They first asked me to select to channels that would be most feasible to implement in 2 yrs. I made a mistake there but they were nice enough to help me identify it and reach the correct solution. Next, they asked to identify why these changes would be perfect, the difference in cost as compared to previous channels and the profit. They asked me to not use a pen for calculation and I ensured to keep the process conversational. Also, I made a couple of major mistakes while solving, like overlooking data, wrong calculation, reading incorrectly but they guided me till the end and ensured that I realize my mistakes and rectify them. I took the case with a good spirit and didn't give up which I feel was an advantage. They were also extremely patient, helpful and were making me feel at ease. At the end, they casually asked how I thought I did the case. Any suggestions for the 2 months of internship and what all can I look forward to.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Other interviews (Please write about Interviewer, HR/Conversation questions, case problem statement, the complete case transcript and questions asked) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Vice President Tell me something about yourself. Which dance forms have you learnt? Do you think there is a market for classical dance in India given the commercialization. Are you a business minded person or emotional person? What was your project about? None It started with a general round of introductions. Since I my mentioned my work-ex was in insurance industry, so we discussed that. I was asked about my project as he also had experience in insurance domain. Looking at my PoR, he asked if I have learnt any dance form. Then he asked, given the commercialization, can classical dance forms bring in profitability. He was frank about not wanting to listen to any diplomatic and globe answers. I put forward my view how there can be a balance between profitability, and promoting your culture. Also, I suggested alternate channels like YouTube that can be explored as it can increase viewership of shows and if known people promote local dance forms, it can lead to its popularity besides promoting TV shows as well. He then asked if I was emotional since my focus was less on point and hence I was less money minded. To this I replied that I look at both the things and try to strike a balance since my answer also reflected promoting dance forms along with keeping the TRP. He seemed pretty impressed with the reasoning. Overall, it was a very conversational round and just getting to know if you are a company fit. No stress interview. What all should I be looking forward to learn in those two months as well as post MBA?

Be yourself and keep calm. The interviewers look for qualities that are more than case solving and are helpful enough to guide you where you need. Being prepared with the HR questions, being confident about oneself, striking that conversation with interviewer and making that connect will be the most helpful.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Vishnu Rajesh Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

NIT Surathkal Civil Engineering Thorogood Associates (25 months), Nuplanet Ventures India Pvt. Ltd. (2 months) IT Consulting, Entrepreneurship 27 Deloitte S&O

None. None. Guesstimate the number of flights taking off from Lucknow on 15th January. I: Let's get straight to the guesstimate. How many flights do you think take off from the Lucknow Airport on a given day? C: Do I take all possible flights or just the public ones? I: Your choice. C: Okay. I'll consider just the public ones in that case, ignoring the private flights as they won't be too prevalent in Lucknow. What about the day? Can i just consider it to be any random day in the year? I: No, take it as 15th January. C: I'll just take a few seconds here to gather my thoughts. (Quickly drew my hub & spoke framework of 6 metros, 30 tier 2 cities and 84 tier 3 airports) Okay, so instead of looking at how many travellers would use the airport, I'll be using a hub & spoke model to estimate the number of flights that would be taking off from Lucknow. There are 6 major airports in India (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Kolkata), 30 tier 2 cities (average 1 per state. Eg: Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow). Taking an average of 4 airports per state, that leaves 84 tier 3 airports. I: That's good. Please go on. C: Divided the day into 12AM-6AM (1/4th day) where the frequency of flights is low and 6AM to 12AM (3/4th day) when it's high. Then came up with numbers of flights from tier 2 to tier 1,2,3 cities. I: Please ignore tier 3 cities. C: Okay. Came up with a number (which was around 160). I: That looks good. However, you did not consider 15th January at all. What do you think you would change? C: If it were a weekend, I would increase the frequency of flights per hour by a small margin. Also, there is a lot of fog in Lucknow in winter. So there would be fewer flights in the morning. I: Great. That would be all!

NA (2 interviewers) Tell me about yourself Case: A company manufacturing beauty products has grown leaps and bounds. They have $1.3 billion in sales. What has worked for them is over 1 million women promoting & selling their products door-to-door in their neighbourhood. However, their sales have dipped 7% in the last 12 months and their stocks have crashed by 35%. They are looking for a digital transformation strategy to increase profitability in the short run. I: Read this case in 2 minutes and summarise. C: (Summarised the case, pretty much like what is written above). Pointed out how their selling model is like that of Tupperware/Amway. I: Now come up with a brief digital strategy for the same.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

C: Before I begin, I have some clarifying questions regarding the same. I: Go ahead. C: By profitability in the 'short run' are they not concerned about long run at all? I: No. C: How long is short term? i: 12 months. C: Do they have any existing digital media presence? I: No. C: Okay. I'll just take some time to gather my thoughts here. (Penned down the profitability = revenue + cost framework) Is there any data on competitor data, so that I can judge whether it's an issue with the industry or with the company itself? I: The problem is with the company. C: Okay. Then it's an issue with either revenue or cost. Have there been any significant changes in cost? I: No. C: As expected it is an issue with revenue then. This could be because of price or volume. I: Yes, volumes have gone down. Now ignore this line of thought, and focus on what digital transformation strategy you would implement. C: (gave them my ideas - e-commerce, social media promotions, tabs with women promoters, AR technology to show impact of products) I: (gave me another sheet with lot of pie charts and extremely number-heavy data on each of these ideas) Using this data can you tell us which strategy should be used? C: (Calculated profit through each stream. Involved a lot of calculation such as incremental costs and additional labour in some streams, etc.) I: First tell us which option you'd straightaway eliminate and why. C: I would eliminate the option of using tabs, as costs are too high and don't give adequate returns. (reinforced this by showing my calculations) I: Okay. Which one would you chose? C: The social media strategy. It gives them 'x' impressions per day at a reasonable price and is getting them a y% boost in profitability. Also it is a quick option (6 months). (The approximate time required to implement each strategy was given) I: Give us one number for each strategy, such that all we have to do is pick the greatest one. C: Calculated profit for each. Factored in implementation time. Gave numbers. I: Thank you! I asked them about the kind of projects they worked in, about the work-life balance and about travel opportunities.

NA (2 interviewers) 1. Tell us about yourself 2. Tell us another candidate who you would certainly select if you were in our position 3. Tell us something interesting that isn't on your CV 4. What went wrong in the case round? What would you do to improve it? Tell us about your start-up experience. Same as interview 2 I: Let's work with the same case as the previous round. All your calculations are done. Now assume that we are the clients. This is an official meeting wherein you have come to tell us about the strategy you have devised for us. Begin. C: Good morning Sir (shook hands with both) How are you doing today? I: Good. C: Okay, coming straight to the point. I have gone through all your data and our team has churned the numbers and we have some interesting results for you. The social media strategy is one which we think can do wonders. (used the approximate numbers I had calculated in the previous interview) I: So you're ruling out the others? C: The tabs option, yes. It does not make sense in the short run. The e-

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

commerce idea is a good one, although it doesn't seem to be as good as the social media strategy (showed numbers). However, we aren't ruling it out just yet. We would like to analyse it further. However, the social media strategy is a sure go ahead. I: Alright. Assume we are not clients for now. What social media channels in your opinion should we target? C: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Talked about why LinkedIn, twitter wouldn't work. I: And what all costs would we have to bear? C: Promoted ads, digital marketing experts, content writers, creatives professionals I: Any thoughts on how we'd market on FB? C: Yes. We shouldn't overcommit. Use FB analytics wisely. Come up with strategy on number of posts, and what time of the day/week/year to post more. Brand our creatives and content. and come up with hashtags and contests and events. I asked for the interviewer's experiences at Deloitte and what has kept them going in the company for so many years. I also asked them how easy/hard it would be to change practices (say from M&A to tech) in Deloitte. 1. The interviewers in all 3 rounds were extremely cheerful & nice. No reason to be overly formal and sombre. 2. Don't hesitate to take time to gather your thoughts if you need it. I took ample time gathering my thoughts and they didn't seem to mind. 3. Speak to them as if they are the client. "That's an interesting insight" "Could you please..."

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Deloitte Tech Allamsetty Anurag Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

IIT(BHU) Varanasi Mechanical Engineering 35 months [UnitedHealth Group (Optum)] IT 35 Deloitte Tech Senior Manager I - Tell me something about yourself C - [Projected diversity and interest towards technology from Undergrad. Gave brief about work-ex to link towards problem-solving and project management] I - Why consulting? C - [Problem-solving examples from work-ex] I - Why Deloitte? C - [Focused on their work culture on how it's people-centric by quoting the example of a friend who works in Deloitte USI] I - What's the recent technology related article you read? C - [News article on Elon Musk's comments on AI while balancing Pros and Cons. Gave the example of Microsoft twitter bot which went rogue and example of machine learning being powerful but invading privacy] I - That's all, do you have any questions?

How does Deloitte train its employees? Are there any technology specific projects?

Director or Senior Manager I - (In serious tone)So I see you like to ask a lot of questions, this time I'll be the one asking and you will answer. (Followed by a laugh). So tell me something about yourself. C - [Same answer as before] I - Let's do a case C - Sure *After case* I - What's the first thing you will do after you come to the Deloitte office? A - Talk to people and meet my manager and maybe ask about my project. I - Please don't ask about projects on day 1 There is an insurance firm with three business units and they have been facing rising IT costs since last three years, what should we do? I - To add some details the firm has grown by acquiring a lot of smaller firms and has many IT systems. C - Is there any integration between the systems and do we know anything about the technology stack? I - Questions, 1. What's the preparation you would do before going? 2. What are the questions you would ask the client? C - I'll find out about industry average costs, current technologies and how

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

the competitors are doing. What is the part of the process that is eating up most cost and time? What is the level of automation? I - We don't know about cost but the business team is very agile compared to the IT team and the process is really lacking. A lot of time is spent on manual activities. C - Is the client using the waterfall model and is there any sort of defect triage procedure in place? I - The client uses the waterfall model and there is no defect triaging. You can now give the recommendations. C - Short term: Analyse integration that can be done in short term, find redundancies in processes (parallel processes), automate processes that can be automated easily and do defect triaging to ensure quick fixes for critical issues. Long-term: Overhaul the system to create an integrated system. Build it inhouse as we have the capability to do so while ensuring maximum automation. Move from waterfall to agile to ensure that IT team is in sync with the business team. I - That's all, do you have any questions? Do we get to go to the client's location? No, due to regulations. Since we don't get to go to their location do we get to directly interact or is it via an intermediary? Depends on the project. Partner S&O I - So I have not read your CV, could you please walk me through it C - [Answered, added a bit of hobbies part] I - Why Deloitte? C - [Answered on similar lines as previous ones] I - You have a high performing team but due to budgetary constraints you have to fire two employees how would you go about it? C - Am I allowed to forego my bonus to convert for their salaries? I - Yes C I'll ask my team if they are willing to do the same as only mine may not be enough. If not I'll use my contacts to first try and place them somewhere inside the company and if not then outside with my recommendation. I - Why would someone take your bottom two employees? C - I know that my team is one of the top performing teams, so even the bottom two members of the team are really good. [Quoted example from work-ex] I - That's correct. So do you see yourself as an emotional person or a logical one? C - Depends on the situation, if it is something we as a team has committed to then there is no place for infringing on deadlines due to trivial emotional requirements. But if it is a genuine case then I try to empathise with the person and try and understand their view. I - That's all do you have any questions for me? I know that Deloitte does a lot of trainings, how true is the same for the consultants? Some technologies are quite niche how do consultants handle that? [We have specialists who help with that] Act cheerful and interested. Write the case clearly and give responses in structured buckets. The interviewer was constantly looking at what and how I was writing.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Shubham Sangal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

IIIT HYDERABAD B.TECH COMPUTER SCIENCE ENGINEERING Adobe (31 months) , Samsung R&D Bangalore (4 months) Software Development 35 Deloitte Tech

Time was less. So no HR question as such were asked. The Interviewer explained me as to how the round will happen. He said he would ask me some technology cum business mix related questions to gauge my knowledge. This will be more of a conversation. You seem to work in xyz for 3 years. What did you exactly do? What was your contribution? Suppose, if you want to serve all the contents from your own cloud, what are the possible steps in designing your own cloud network and analyse its effectiveness in terms of cost? I started approaching the problem based on cost. I tried thinking on what could be different points based on cost. The benefit of using current cloud architecture is that there will be no setup cost and a lot of functionalities like Load Balancing, alarming etc are provided by service providers But the periodical costs might be too high. The billings of using these services are very high and the bills can be too high for billing cycles. I: Nice, but now what can be your approach for designing your own cloud web service? Now if we will be designing our own cloud architecture. We will need to have manpower for maintenance and a lot of other costs. We need to procure Servers and Data Centres which will be one time cost initially. Then we need people who are expert in designing and developing this sort of architecture. Getting them is not difficult for a good IT company. Then there will be a lot of periodical costs like maintenance cost etc. I: You are still missing an important cost head. Think on it for some time and try. I took a pause for a minute and made a guess: Licencing costs for OS – We need to procure licences from various companies for running OS like Win, MAC on servers. This will form huge chunk of our cost. I: Correct. This was very important. Overall, the approach seemed good. It would have been great if you would not have taken much time in coming out with Licencing Cost. So Okay, I think we are done with the case here. Anything you would like to ask me.

The interviewer introduced himself and asked me to introduce myself. Few very good deep questions on my hobby. After working in tech , why consulting and why Deloitte? No You have been working in the software industry. So let me ask you a question based on that. Suppose you have a client who is a banking firm. It does basic internet banking services. Its IT cost has been increasing greatly in the past year since the number of customers are also increasing for it. Suggest something as to how will you help them in bringing down the cost? From initial investigation, I discovered that the bank is managing its own infrastructure with 6 data centres in different parts of world. So first I suggested that we should check for utilization of all data centres. If all 6 are properly utilized, if we can do with less, we should reduce data centres. Then Location of data centres is also going to be a major issue. Some countries have many regulations of data centres and data. We should decide the Location of data centres very carefully because it can impact the overall cost.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Now I suggested that we should try to leverage the services of web service providers like AWS and Azure etc. because they can provide various services as per our need and comparatively as low cost than running everything on our own. The interviewer comprehended this solution but pointed out some difficulties in this. Generally, Banks are not that Tech savvy and they are skeptical to make major changes because if there is any bug, it can cause a lot of loss in revenue. Generally, they have a traditional mind set. They want to run things with minimum changes. Then he said, Ok that this might be a long-term solution but what can be an immediate short-term solution. Then we came on VIRTUALISATION. If we can reduce data centres and run virtual machines, we can reduce the cost in short run and in the meantime, try migrating to private cloud and web service providers. The interviewer felt satisfied with overall discussion. Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Designation – Senior Manager The questions were general to check my awareness and logical thinking. How would you design a campaign for the political party for next years election? NA NA NA Prepare your CV related questions very well. All my interviews because cases came out of my CV.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

MasterCard Advisors Shobhit Johri Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

Shri Ram College of Commerce Economics Aon Consulting Consulting 11 MasterCard Advisors HR Head 1) Help me run through your CV Considering that I was one of the last ones to be interviewed, it was important to keep the answer short, and hit the areas that I wanted to talk further on. I therefore, focused my CV around my Consulting Work Experience, and tried to build a story up to that point 2) Tell me something that is not in your CV Focused on my Interests - Cooking and Cricket, also highlighted how I am persistent about being innovative and think about alternate, better options to my workings 3) Tell me about your family Emphasized about where they are working, kept it short 4) Why MasterCard Advisors Explained about the e-payments revolution, and how niche consulting intrigues me, with MasterCard Advisors being the fore-runners in my choice. Having a clear, and to the point answer helped. Was asked some project specific questions around IoT. NA NA MasterCard Advisors, tends to ask this question after every interview, which I believe is evaluative. The key therefore is to ask a relevant question, that could keep the Interviewer involved. In this HR Round, I asked about the HR Policies and framework that MasterCard has, while highlighting that my HR Consulting Work experience, keeps me intrigued about that. The question was well received, and she gave an honest, and descriptive answer that covered a good portion of the interview round. A poised, yet interested expression was also essential as it created a genuine impression in the mind of the interviewer. Remaining confident, and patient while answering the questions also helped.

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Senior Consultant 1)Tell me about yourself 2)Run me through your CV NA Your Client is a European Airlines which is looking to launch a co-branded Credit Card, to boost loyalty and customer base. Help your client decide, which market to enter? In my experience, MasterCard Cases do not involve much cross-questioning and constant involvement of the client, but the interviewee was expected to create the whole structure of problem solving and then explain it in the end. The transcript was therefore as follows:-

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer (I) : Case Statement Given Me (M): Asked a few clarifying questions in terms of: Where is the Airlines Situated? What is the Customer Segment, both present and targeted? Competition faced? What are the product specifications, and objective behind the card launch? I: Assume the Airlines is of the stature of Lufthansa Airlines, standard competition, targeting medium to high-income customers. The Credit Card was is a usual credit card that can be used for any transactions, but would earn loyalty points on partner purchases. Main objective is to increase the customer base. Also, let's focus on building a structure here and you could then explain me each component later. M: May I please take a few minutes? (the interviewer stepped outside during this time, which gave me the hint to draw the whole extensive market entry structure). I drew the structure tree by dividing it into three stages a) Market Selection (Disguised PESTLE, including demographic profiling for risk) b) Industry Decision (Porter's 5 forces, with modifications for a potential new market) c) Launch Evaluation - Risk, Costs, and Benefits I: That is a fairly extensive structure, explain me these components. (I was asked a few short probing questions on the elements I had introduced) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

That was a good case, do you have any questions for me? The Interviewer had prior experience in one of the best General Management Consulting firms, I therefore asked what prompted him to make a shift to a niche consulting environment of MasterCard. The interviewer was pleased with the question, and answered that he wanted to specialize in the field of his choice, which coupled with other commitments, made him choose MasterCard.

Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Senior Consultant Standard Introductions NA The Interview had 2 short cases 1. Big Bazaar has entered the Supermarket Retail Chain Market in Indonesia by merging with the Second Largest Player. What are the risks that the Market Leader will face? 2. The Largest Public Sector Bank in India has received mandate to convert all its strip-based debit cards to chip-based cards. Create a strategy for them. Case 1: M: Clarifying questions on the Market Leader, Second Largest Player and the extents of the merger. I: Let's focus on what will be the risk drivers according to you, basis the information that you have received. M: May I please take a few minutes. I decided to break down this problem to short run and long run risk drivers over Competition, Products, and Customers, which in long run would become the Industry, Production Methods, and Customer Innovations. I explained each component in brief. I: Asked about the long-run and short-run difference and why did it matter? M: Short-Run risks are immediate risks that could also be driven by Hedonics because of an established foreign player entering the market, whereas in the Long Run the production capacity itself could change both in terms of finance, and backward linkages for the stores. I: Okay, let's shift to the next case ( The next case was given)

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Case 2: M: This time, I instinctively decided to create a 2*2 matrix, with Rural-Urban on horizontal, & Bank driven-Client driven on the vertical. I also highlighted the exogenous variables to the structure in terms of Literacy, Technological Capability, and Potential Lag. I: The structure seems new, let's explore this (I was asked questions on 2 boxes, and where would a hypothetical scenario that he mentioned, would fit in the matrix) M: Stayed calm, and tried to be as much precise as possible, to ensure the structure seems MECE. The Interviewer passed a smile at the end of the interview. Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Senior Consultant Do you have any questions for me? NA NA This Interview was a very short one, and entailed a final conversation before the offer was given. I had asked a question to the same interviewer in MasterCard PPT, which he remembered, I therefore took the opportunity to extend the same conversation and asked a question about How MasterCard Advisors is distinct from MasterCard Group in terms of the exposure? The interviewer seemed delighted on the question, and gave a detailed answer. I was given the offer after a short waiting period. For MasterCard in particular, on the basis of my experience, the key is to have an engaging, and energetic conversation with all interviewers. A clarity in structures, which gives them something new as compared to other interviewees, helps. For Day 0, I think it is essential to stay confident, do not cloud your mind with expectations about a company, or the cases you have prepared, or the potential cases that could be asked. Staying in the zone is most important. Even if there is some failure, keep that smile on your face, and don't overburden yourself. There are friends to help, and seek help from, which would eventually ensure, that Day 0 will be one of the most memorable ones for you.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Apoorva Goel Name Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Apoorva Goel Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University Commerce MasterCard Advisors Walk me through your CV. Your interests as per your CV seem more inclined towards finance, then why consulting? Case: You have a client in Indonesia, who has retail stores (lets say like lifestyle) and is the market leader with 500 stores. The 2nd largest player has 300 stores. An Indian player in the same business with 1000 stores operating in India is entering Indonesia by acquiring your competitor. Should you be worried and what would be your strategy? Clarified the basics of client's business. Since they were well covered, the client wanted to focus on customer retention. The Indian player, because of huge economies of scale was able to offer lower prices and some new brands earlier not available in Indonesia. Also the people were quite price sensitive. Now there were 2 things to be done- a tactic move for short term to prevent the customers from immediately switching. This involved promotional offers to reduce prices in the short run. In the long run, the client can focus on following 3 things1. Manage costs- reduce manpower wherever possible (logistics costs were already optimised) 2. Go for a private label in addition to current brands available 3. Start providing post purchase services in order to differentiate yourselves from the competitors. Binay Ray, Senior Managing Consultant Tell me something about yourselves. Why MasterCard? Discussion on hobbies and extra curriculars 1. A global dance academy wants to enter India. Advise them on whether they should enter or not and how. 2. Calculate the market potential for this academy and how much of this potential will it be able to capture over the next 5 years. Give me a number. HR Two things which are not there in your CV. Why consulting? Why MasterCard? One weakness. Finance vs Consulting Senior Consultant Why MasterCard? One habit/ behaviour that would want to immediately improve upon and why. Questions on an internship project done with an NGO.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Himshikha Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation

Shaheed Rajguru College, University of Delhi Food Technology Hindustan Times - 5 months Sales & Marketing 5 MasterCard Advisors

Are you from Chandigarh (he asked because I did my schooling from Chandigarh) ? I mentioned about my army background. He discussed about my family for around 10 minutes and my journey as a child. I mentioned a lot about travelling. Asked about hobby and then gave the case related to it. Case - I m a leading Chocolate manufacturer of designer Chocolates. Give me a strategy to enter India. Guesstimate - To estimate size of customers I can target for the above mentioned business in three years. I - I m a leading Chocolate manufacturer of designer Chocolates. Give strategy to enter India. C - Who are we? Where are we based? More about business model, market share, product, USP, distribution model, pricing, market position & image? I - We are market leader in chocolate business in UK. We deal in premium chocolates and target High earning segment. We focus more on packaging. (He asked to figure out rest on my own and come up with the strategy. He asked. me to assume whatever I want.) C - I defined the Indian chocolate industry initialy and then moved to STP and 4P. ( He was more interested in approach and structure and didn't let me speak much on each point.) I asked something related to last year's internship projects - about its significance and implementation.

Tell me something about yourself and then I was asked to solve the case. My client is an Europe based airlines and they operate globally. They are facing decreasing revenues in ASEAN countries. They want to launch a cobranded credit card in these countries to improve the situation. Suggest the parameters to choose the best country out of these to launch that card. I - Case statement C - Asked about airlines, motive behind the launch. More about business model, market share, product, USP, distribution model, pricing, market position & image? I - (Gave a general answer, asked to take time and directly give a strategy.) C- I gave parameters for country analysis, consumer analysis and swot analysis of airlines in the country. (We did a lot of discussion on country analysis) I asked about Master pass and how it is different from wallets. He asked if I know about Mastercard business and I explained it. I also asked about idea of Mastercard venturing into payments' bank. HR

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

She gave her introduction, asked for my intro and then asked me if I had any questions. NA NA NA I asked questions related to company culture, project assignment and mentorship. Focus more on company prep. This helps in asking questions.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Mahendra Singh Kaviya Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 4 Interviewer Name and Designation

IIT Bombay Structural Engineering RBL Bank (11 months) iLabs - Research & Development 11 months MasterCard Advisors Interviewer 1 Tell me about yourself, Questions on Hobbies and Social work why consulting? why MasterCard? Projects & Team management related questions Case - Have to bring Metro to a Tier-3 Indian city Check for feasibility from demand, supply and cost side, Give your recommendations. Question about MasterCard project which a student did last year during summers.

Interviewer 2

1) Case - We are Dates producer firm. Profits are declining, Find out the reasons and give your recommendations 2) Guesstimate - No. of Electric Lights in IIML campus at a given time 1) We are a dates producer in India & export them to UAE. Profits are declining compared to our competitors. Look from Procurement, Transportation and distribution side. 2) Provide 3 approaches to guesstimate Questions about Payment Consulting, Company's focus on other areas to expand business?

Interviewer 3 Introduction (including the interviewer's) Why MasterCard? 2 Weaknesses and questions from POR and ECA section. Complete life cycle of a particular project (from idea to execution)

Asked the interviewer about his career choices and experiences.

Interviewer 4

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club HR/Conversation Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript Other interviews (Please write about Interviewer, HR/Conversation questions, case problem statement, the complete case transcript and questions asked) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Why Consulting? Name one skill you want to improve. In which sector do you want to work at MasterCard? NA NA Accenture Case - I am a Gym owner. Profits are declining, find out the reason and give your recommendations. Hint - Profits declining from the past 6 months compared to our competitors who are providing Addon services. Take it as a conversation Don't globe and Be honest. Best of Luck.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

S. Vaishnavi Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

NSIT Biotechnology N/A N/A N/A MasterCard Advisors Director Tell me something about yourself Hobbies/ interests Discussion about traveling Why consulting? Why MasterCard? N/A N/A Estimate the number of ATMs in India Case: A retail bank in India is suffering a reduction in profitability since a couple of years. Identify the problem. The problem was that they had started lending to different segments and college students which resulted in rise of bad debts

Partner Tell me about yourself Why consulting? Why MasterCard?

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

N/A Estimate the number of lights in the campus 1. A leading departmental store chain in India wants to enter into a joint venture with a counterpart in Indonesia for expansion. What are the factors they should consider? 2. India has been witnessing a drop in tourism from a couple of years. Identify the problem. ( The problem was a difficulty in issuing the visas for India)

Hr round Questions from CV Strengths and weakness An incident in life which has impacted you What led you to do an MBA NA

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

McKinsey & Co. Mudit Sinha Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

IIT Kanpur Chemical Engineering McKinsey and Company, 24 months Risk Management 24 McKinsey & Co. Misha Pratap Singh, AP 1. What do you do as part of Consult club? 2. Why do you want to come back again given that you have worked in a similar role before? 3. What did you love most about the firm? 3. Questions on one of the engagements I have done while working at the firm- NPA management for European Banks I am a private equity firm looking to invest in food truck business in India. How should I go about it? I started out by asking scoping questions to understand the context (About the private equity firm, basics of the business, why expand into this area). The interviewer gave me inputs on the same and asked me to jump directly into problem solving. Majorly he wanted me to look into the industry level analysis that I will need to uncover. I gave him the following inputs: 1. Since food truck business is a mix of food and logistics, I asked him questions on food industry, how is it growing, expected growth rates, disposable income of Indian consumers and some other higher level macro indicators. On logistics, I suggested him to look into areas like road connectivity levels within and between the cities. He told me to park logistics for a while and focus on the food part. 2. Next I moved into the food truck industry- What is the current level of competition, major geographies (metros, tier 1 etc.) driving demand, size of market, typical menus offered by the food trucks. At this point, the interviewer interrupted me and asked me to identify some more factors. I kept thinking on the food truck level microeconomic indicators and suggested 2-3 more. I think a communication gap happened at this point in the sense that the interviewer wanted me to move ahead from industry level factors to specific factors like key customers to target, mode of entry etc (the general market entry structure). Post this discussion, he turned the interview into a pricing case. He wanted me to calculate the price of non-vegetarian dishes offered by the food truck for break even and identify if the price made sense. The numbers were: CAPEX Price of veg dishes- 1$ Non-veg dish raw material costs Processing costs Labour costs 2-3 other costs. Time horizon At this point, we heard a knock on the door which implied that we have to wrap up the case in 2-3 minutes. I processed the data and quickly converged to the price in a minute. The non-veg dish prize's price was at around $ 3. The interviewer asked me if the price was right to do the operations. I suggested that it does not sync with the veg menu pricing. In general, nonveg dishes in India are priced 15-30% higher while this price was 300% higher. This can result in two things:

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club a) The non-veg customers may perceive the food truck as charging exorbitantly high prices when they compare it with veg menu and not go in first place. b) The veg customers may feel that the veg food offered by the truck is substandard when they compare the veg price with NV. Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

He agreed to both the points and asked me if I had a question. What are the practice areas in which the interviewer worked and his portfolio within the same?

Nitesh Singh, Partner 1. While going to the interview room, he asked me how I felt about being back with the people in the firm? 1. Questions on key studies I did as part of the firm 2. Industries/practices that I will like to work in the firm if I get back again? Reasons for the same. I am a rich family who wants to invest in India. Tell me which sectors to invest in. I started out with scoping questions. The interviewer quickly told me that budget is not a constraint and he wanted me to identify the industry level factors while entering into this market. I told him that since India itself is growing rapidly, we can directly look into the sector level factors: i) Current size of the sector ii) Market structure of the sector and expected market share iii) Key market trends in each sector, disruption frequency, CAGR within each sector iv) Sector overlap with current businesses of the family to identify operational synergies v) Barriers to entry- FDI regulations and caps in each sector, Entry channel partners vi) Post entry, operating model within each sector- Dormant investor or involvement in decision making as well. vi) Operating margins, return on equity, revenue and cost projections, legal and reputational risks of running the business

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

The interviewer seemed satisfied and asked me if I had any questions for him. The interview lasted for 10-12 minutes. At what point in his career will an associate start gaining control over the areas in which he works in?

Suveer Sinha, Partner Partners with whom I have already worked while at the firm? Countries in which I worked in, kind of work delivered there? The most interesting project that I did? The most interesting thing that happened during the project? Whether I will like to come back at the firm again? :p It was a 5-6 minute interview. Interviewer only focussed on HR.

None

The interview process is dynamic. Maintain your energy throughout the process. During the interview, even if you feel things are not going in the right direction, don't lose focus. 2-3 minutes of intense quality output from candidate is good enough to take care of the rest 15-16 minutes.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Atharv Saxena Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University B. Com(Hons) McKinsey & Co. Puneet Chandok (Partner) Tell me about yourself. What excites you about Consulting? Why do you want to join McKinsey? A young IT company wants to grow revenue from $3 Bn to $8 Bn in 4 years, how should they go about it? A young IT company wants to grow revenue from $3 Bn to $8 Bn in 4 years, how should they go about it? I: A young IT company wants to grow revenue from $3 Bn to $8 Bn in 4 years, how should they go about it? C: Asked preliminary questions regarding scale(small, compared to established companies), geography in which they operate (Indian company, major clients in USA, Europe), different revenue streams (remote server maintenance, BPO service and software development), competition(high since most companies outsource work to India and other emerging nations like Philippines) and growth rate of industry which was 10% CAGR I: Can you calculate the growth rate at which company must grow to achieve 8Bn in 4 years? C: Gave him the formula to calculate CAGR and plugged in the values I: So what should the value be? C: Gave him an approximate answer I: Are you sure that’s right? C: Took a minute and calculated the answer I: That sounds fine, what should the company do to grow at this rate? C: Started drawing out a structure to grow revenues by dividing revenue into number of revenue streams, price and number of customers I: I’m sure you can draw a structure, let’s just discuss the methods to grow the revenues C: Discussed various methods of growing the top line such as M&A, geographical expansion, bundling products and growing number of revenue streams. (Increasing prices was not a feasible idea since the industry was highly competitive) I: Great, Due to paucity of time, we will stop here. Misha Pratap (Associate Partner) Tell me about yourself. Picked up a few questions based on my CV and asked questions about my internship in research and extra-curricular activities. Why do you want to join McKinsey? I am the head of an equity research firm and have 2 research wings, one for retail investors and the second for institutional investors. Should I merge them? I: I am the head of an equity research firm and have 2 research wings, one for retail investors and the second for institutional investors. Should I merge them? C: Asked about the company (Indian company servicing customers domestically), size of the two teams(institutional team was small around 25 people whereas retail was more than 100) , differences in the deliverable (specific information regarding small pool of equities for institutional and focus on macro-economic impact, simple buy, hold, sell recommendation for retail) and customers(institutional investors such as insurance companies, mutual funds and FIIs, retail investors comprised of small shareholders, HNIs, etc.), markets(EMEA markets for institutional investors and domestic markets for retail investors), questions like on

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club whether or not other equity research firms have similar structures(no), etc. I: Gave the relevant information and asked me how I would go about the evaluation of the proposal C: Laid out a broad structure highlighting the major steps in my evaluation to understand whether or not a merger would be beneficial. Proceeded to go through each bucket such as current scenario and benefits accrued from present structure, synergies from a merger (content, channel, customers, markets covered, HR, technology), feasibility (cost, HR compatibility, regulation) I: After having covered everything, do you think we should merge the 2 research arms? C: Gave my rationale for why they should not be merged given the nature of the industry and the importance of maintaining separate research arms for different customers based on the information provided during the case I: Great, we can end the case here Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Akash Lal (Senior Partner) Tell me about yourself. Why consulting? What is Enactus, what was your role in social entrepreneurship? What was your work during your internship at Way2Wealth? Tell me about Credence Capital. ( (Akash Lal's area of expertise is financial services so he was really interested in anything related to finance on my CV) What do you want to do after McKinsey?

It is important to keep a clear and level head after making a mistake, the interviewer is willing to give you a second chance to correct it. Try and pick up hints that the interviewer is giving, my first interviewer was not interested in seeing the normal structure of profitability but rather wanted a discussion on different methods of increasing revenues and how to implement them Focus on HR answers, most of my cases lasted only for 5-10 minutes while HR took up 15 minutes on average.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Harshi Kher Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University Economics D.E Shaw (17 months), UBS Verity Knowledge Solutions ( 19 months) Finance ( Investment Banking, Hedge Fund Risk) 36 McKinsey & Co. Akash Lal, Senior Partner- Financial Services (IIM-A alum) How are you feeling today? How is the mood in the campus? Walk me through what you've done in life. We had a long discussion regarding my time at Shaw. He wanted to know what I exactly did and what my day looked like. When I spoke about multiple stakeholder management, he asked me a couple of questions regarding how I handled traders, specially the aggressive ones. While we were discussing my finance experience, Aakash told me about a meeting he had with a global investment banking firm that was just doing offshore deals in the emerging markets and how they wanted to do more direct deals with these markets. He then suddenly said, "Harshi what would you suggest the firm do, which markets should they target and which finance products should they focus on" As soon as I realized that we had shifted from conversation to a case, I asked for a pen and paper and confirmed the problem statement. While I took a minute to think about the factors a global bank would consider before setting base in an emerging market ( Started with basics of PESTLE..) I : All this is fine, why do you think they would want to set base in the first place? What followed was a conversation sans pen and paper. Following markets and current affairs helped immensely. We spoke about how the emerging markets were doing right now, the risks involved with the same. Global banks can bring in their expertise and existing customer base. Further, all global banks in India have a common strategy to work with a few marquee clients and get repeat business ( By now Aakash was smiling, he seemed satisfied) I : What do you think are the major risks here? Apart from the risk of failure C: Spoke about 1. Cannibalization of their existing business 2. The increasing regulatory compliance as we move away from globalization to a more protectionist world where more local brands will be preferred. I : That's really good. All the best for your second round

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

The interviewer had not introduced himself before the interview. Hence, I asked him his name and the practice he heads at McKinsey. He then proceeded to tell me something about himself! Suveer Sinha, Partner (Interview via VC) This interview was mainly HR with the case lasting for less than 5 mins. Suveer asked me how my last interview was and then proceeded with the usual tell me something about myself. This round revolved around my public speaking awards. Suveer asked me to speak about a topic I was really passionate about. Spoke about the power of mentorship. He then asked me to tell him the best advice I had received in the past 20 days! Post which he said " If I give you an offer right now, will you accept it"

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

How will you improve the problem of mobility in the city of Pune. The average speed of vehicles has gone down from 18kmph to 15 kmph. I clarified the objective, specifically whether he wanted me to find how why the problem existed or to just jump into the solution mode. He asked me to do both. I divided this initially into Public Transport, Private Transport and other stakeholders involved( Government, Corporate etc) He gave me information on the current state of public transport ( No metro, some buses , basic auto service etc) He asked me to focus on the public transport. I then took a minute and drew out a structure consisting of factors to be looked at to analyze the current public transport scene and how to improve it. ( Modes and Number, routes covered, frequency, fare, safety, maintenance etc) I read out my top structure and asked Suveer if he wanted me to expand on a particular bucket. Suveer : I think I know you can solve cases well. We are done here.

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

1. The one tip I had received all throughout was that McKinsey focuses a lot on knowing you as a person. All the introspection and the HR prep turned out to really helpful in my interviews, especially in the final round which was 95% HR based. 2. Reading the news- I felt this habit too paid off. Reading about businesses gives you better insight while solving cases and I guess leaves a good impression about you if you are able to leverage real life issues and connect them to your case.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Renuka Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Other interviews (Please write about Interviewer, HR/Conversation questions, case problem statement, the complete case transcript and questions asked) Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

NIT TRICHY B.Tech Instrumentation and Control Amec Foster Wheeler Oil and gas 23 McKinsey & Co. Introduce yourself How will you increase the number of gold medals for India in olympics? -

Walk me through your CV How will you scale up a small restaurant in Chennai? Guestimate the number of cars running in Lucknow. What will be the revenue of a metro station?

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Simran Jindal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi Economics KPMG Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. Management Consulting- Strategy and Operations 22 McKinsey & Co. Misha Pratap, Associate Partner Why consulting? A Private Equity firm is planning to invest in food truck chain industry. How will you go about the evaluation of the same? I asked what exactly was meant by a food truck chain. I was told that it basically meant companies who set up mobile food trucks selling products like Tacos etc. Since the client was a PE firm, I confirmed if the objective of the investment was profits only and if the firm had expectations of a certain ROI. I was told that the company expected 15-20% profits on investment. I also asked about the country where the company was present and was informed that it is a US based PE firm. I was told to focus on factors to be considered for assessment only. I presented my structure which included deciding potential geographies for investment based on economic analysis (Economic growth, FDI regulations, taste and preferences etc.) and industry analysis (Industry size: Average revenue and Concentrated/Fragmented, present/potential substitutes like delivery services (Swiggy etc.), potential new entrants etc.) and further identifying companies to invest in based on cost benefit analysis and risks involved. Once I mentioned cost-benefit analysis, I was presented with a sheet of paper which had cost and revenue related data for a single food truck (List of products, selling price, per unit cost, average volume sold per annum, insurance cost, leasing cost, maintenance cost, labour requirements etc.). I was asked to calculate the break-even point. Post this, I was told that a new product (Meat Tacos) has been added to the product list and I was asked to analyse the given data for the same. I said that the new product had significantly higher volumes (expected) as well as almost two times the profit margins of existing two products. This implied a shift in truck’s product mix and a significantly higher revenue benefit. Also, based on the data there would be no impact on existing consumption. However, I mentioned two caveats to the same. Firstly, the demand expectations might differ from actual consumption and hence the basis for volume estimation needs to be analyzed. Secondly, a shift from a vegetarian food truck to a non-vegetarian one might drive away existing customers based on the culture of the country.

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Nitesh Gupta, Partner How was your previous interview experience? What makes you fit for consulting? Describe your experience and project involvement at KPMG. Describe any experience where you had a feeling of accomplishment. Describe an experience where you failed to achieve the desired objective. Your client is an automobile OEM and their manpower cost as a percentage of revenue is significantly higher as compared to their competitors. Identify the issues and suggest solutions to the same. Interviewer mentioned that since I was following Automobile sector as part of Credence Capital, he decided to give a case from the same industry.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club I clarified the problem statement further and asked since when they had been facing the issue and quantitatively, how much higher is the ratio as compared to competitors. The issue had been present for years and the difference was ~20-25%. I asked what types of products (Commercial Vehicles, Passenger Vehicles, Two wheelers, Three Wheelers) were they manufacturing and if the problem was in any particular division. At this point, I was asked to skip through the questions and instead explain how I will approach the case and enlist the factors I’ll consider while evaluating. I pointed out that there can be three dimensions to the problem, either our absolute revenue base is really small or our absolute manpower costs are too high or both compared to our competitors. I was asked to focus on absolute manpower costs. I started by enlisting various departments/ functions in the organization and assessing their manpower dependence. I started with the R&D division and moved to others including manufacturing/assembly, finance, sales and marketing, admin and IT support, procurement. I asked specific questions like level of automation in manufacturing division and if any of the above functions had been outsourced etc. I moved to discussing the employee structure in each department. The interviewer asked me to pause and said that the issue is that the organization is top heavy and most of the senior management had been poached from other companies. I was asked to discuss the solutions. I said that we should plan both short term and long term solutions to the same. For short term, we can link a significant part of pay structure to performance which can possibly lead to under-performers moving out of the firm. In the long run, the firm needs to undertake proper succession planning and training program to develop talent within the organization for taking up senior management roles (While poaching, the firm had to offer significantly higher remuneration as compared to competitors). Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Malcolm Gomes, Partner Why Consulting? Why McKinsey? What is your long term career plan? Guesstimate the number of data scientists in India As no interview room was empty at that time, this interview took place walking in the back lawn of Chintan. I started the guesstimate by asking what exactly do data scientists do. Once the same was clarified, I asked about the scope of estimate as it can involve two aspects: Current data scientist pool in India (Employed/Unemployed) and potential data scientists. I was asked to estimate both. In order to estimate employed data scientists, I began by looking at the industries employing them including technology firms, Financial companies (Investors), Conglomerates, Government departments like defence and intelligence services etc. I suggested multiplying the number of companies in each industry and average number of data scientist per company per industry. Also, Industry averages would differ basis the type of industry (Technology firms will have the highest number of data scientists and Conglomerates the lowest) and average size of firms in each industry. I was asked to move towards potential data scientists’ estimation. For this, I started with identifying institutions that provide education for the same which included engineering institutions (specifically computer science course) and other special institutions teaching courses like statistics and econometric and data science, information technology etc. I said that we can divide these institutions based on their average batch size and then multiply number of institutions in each bucket with the average intake of that bucket. I mentioned that we need to take into consideration the average failure rate as well and multiply the same as a factor at the end. This will give us the yearly number of potential data scientists. Another caveat to the above approach that I mentioned was students studying abroad who come back to India in search of jobs in the above field.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Before I could move further, I was asked to stop and take a guess for the above figure. (Since, I didn’t have access to pen and paper, no quantitative analysis was asked so far). To this, I said that I can’t take a random guess and instead I can populate numbers in the structure discussed so far and give the estimate after that. The interview ended after this. Focus on HR questions

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Sumit Goenka Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

St. Xavier's College, Kolkata Commerce

0 McKinsey & Co. Malcolm Gomes - Partner Tell me something about yourself Why do you want to work in consulting? I’m trying to figure out the number of data scientists that I can hire from India. Estimate the number of people I can find. I: I’m trying to understand the number of data scientists that I can hire from India. Estimate the number of people I can find. C: Sure, first I would like to understand what exactly the job of a data scientist is and what are the skills required to do the job. I: They primarily work with data analytics and processing of big data to derive insights from it. C: So may I assume that the main skills that would be required to fit the position would be: 1) Database management 2) Analytics 3) Proficiency in programming I: That sounds about right, however the requirement for proficiency in programming isn’t that stringent as the job doesn’t require advanced level programming as such. You could probably teach someone the required amount as long as they have had a reasonable amount of prior exposure C: Thank you for clarifying that. I would like to take a few moments before I start estimating the number we’re after (took 15-20 seconds and started with the guesstimate). At the very outset I would like to split our approach into two areas: potential data scientists and existing data scientists. Which one would you like me to start with first? I: Let’s look into the potential data scientists first. C: Sure, in that case I would like to estimate the number of graduates who could be employed without significant training. These would largely include students from fields such as Computer Science, Data Analytics and other technical backgrounds such as Mathematics and Statistics. *he nodded and gestured to proceed*. I decided on a top down approach and started with the population and applied filters for literacy rate, age, income, rural-urban split and preference for Engineering, Commerce and Humanities. I provided the rationale for each of the filters as and when I applied them and discussed them with him. Just as I was about to arrive at the final number, he asked me to shift to the Existing Data Scientists portion. I: Ok, so let’s look at the number of people I can hire as data scientists at this moment. C: Sure, first I would like to understand the growth and prevalence of the profession in India. More specifically, how long the job has even existed since, as per my understanding, this would be fairly new field of work. I: You’re right, the job probably didn’t even exist a decade ago. It’s a fairly new and upcoming profession with a pretty high demand. C: Is it safe for me to assume that the existing pool of candidates would be relatively small in that case? I: Yes, but how would you estimate that? C: We could look at the number of companies that require these data scientists and try to make an estimate of the number of people in the country who would be trained enough to hire directly. I: Could you name a few companies where you would see data scientists? C: Named a few tech giants such as Google and Microsoft, also mentioned

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club retailers such as Flipkart and Amazon which would have a significant amount of information that they would like to derive insights from and finally I named a few technology outsourcing firms such as TCS and Infosys which could potentially offer these services to their clients. I: Ok that’s good, that would be enough. *proceeded to ask me to selfevaluate my performance* Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Akash Lal - Senior Partner Walk me through your CV You seem to be interested in finance, why do you want to do consulting? I represent an Indian Bank and I want to enter the wealth management space. Help me understand if I should. I: I represent an Indian Bank and I want to enter the wealth management space. Help me understand if I should. C: Sure. Before we start I would like to understand the background of the bank a little better. Could you tell me about the current presence of the bank in India? I: *proceeded to tell me about the operations of the bank and which banking verticals it was present in – both corporate and retail* C: *asked a few more questions on competitors (it was a fragmented industry with no dominant player), the target customer (HNI’s with an income over a specified threshold) and the exact service that the bank was offering (primarily to clarify that my understanding of wealth management was on the same page as what he was referring to)*. C: Thank you for that. Is the bank a public sector or a private sector bank? And is there any specific reason that the bank is looking to enter wealth management? I: Assume it is one of India’s largest private sector banks and that it is just exploring potential verticals to drive growth C: *took more granular information about growth prospects of the industry and the current growth rate of the company* I would like to take a few moments to identify the parameter on which we can make the decision to enter the business vertical (took 15-20 seconds and started with the rest of the case). I would first like to do an industry analysis by looking at the kind of competition that exists, any significant barriers to entry, the target customers and how they are currently managing their money, and finally what alternate options are available to our target demographic. *proceeded to have a discussion on each of the above factors and moved on to company specific factors such as brand, branch reach, customer base by income etc.* I: So with the amount of information I have given you, would you suggest I enter the wealth management vertical? C: *presented a principled argument for both entering and not entering along with major caveats for both but after considering the limited information I had, I suggested that we should enter* I: Good. Could you identify some major risks that are associated with entering? C: Listed 3 major factors and explained them: 1) Possible brand dilution among HNIs if the venture fails to meet expectations 2) Since the primary target for the wealth management business would be HNI customers from other verticals of the bank, any negative impact would directly impact the other verticals 3) Expended resources

My interviews were split equally between HR questions and the cases, so do focus on both while preparing.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Syed Mohammed Nadeem Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

NITK Surathkal Mechanical 34 R&D 34 McKinsey & Co. Sudipta pal About college, undergrad and fests Nil I am a hindi daily with market share decreasing. Help me understand why. Went with the value chain framework, identified reason for decrease as change in content, change in editor resulting in too difficult language for people to understand.

Questions on background. How will you handle a client who has a lot of experience in an industry and disagrees with what you are proposing? Why consulting? Why McKinsey? About Bosch and my work experience. How did it help me grow as a person? Why MBA after a design job? Your client is a private investor from us. Help them choose an industry to invest in. First understood the motive to be a continuous long term profit. Defined various factors which will impact decision such as market growth, availability of a company to takeover, profitability, ease of entry n exit. Discussed work being done by the firm in the automotive industry, BS6, electrification etc.

General questions on interview experience. Why McKinsey? What do you find different about our firm.? None None

Key is to keep calm and think straight

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Synergy Consulting Aparna Gupta Name Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible) Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Aparna Gupta SRCC B.Com Hons. 0

0 Synergy Consulting

1. Where do you live? What is the occupation of your parents? 2. Favourite subjects of Term-1 3. We have 80% engineers and you being from commerce background don't have technical knowledge of the kind of our projects, still why should we select you?

(Cases from FRA) Prepare Profit and loss account and Balance sheet for 7 different situations

CV based questions 1. Difference between B.Com. Hons and normal B.Com. course 2. What does world bank do? 3. What is cash conversion cycle? 4. What do you know about our company?

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

The Boston Consulting Group Dhruv Sehgal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received

Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, University of Delhi Bachelor of Business Studies AT Kearney (30 months) Consulting 30 The Boston Consulting Group Samita, Principal (Completely Conversational) Discussion about college and campus and how has the campus has evolved over the years. Can you briefly explain the work that you did at AT Kearney? Detailed questions about a couple of government projects that I had done at AT Kearney. She spoke to me in-depth about the same asking counter questions and my direct contribution to the same. The client is a Bank. It wants BCG's help to undertake Branch network optimization. I: The client is a Bank. It wants BCG's help to undertake Branch network optimization. C: (After clarifying the problem) Can you please explain the term Branch network optimization. I: With Branch network optimization, the Bank wants to rationalize the number of branches it has. This would involve shutting down branches and opening new branches. C: I have a few clarifying questions. I: Sure, go ahead C: First, I would like to know more about the bank. What type of Bank is it? What are its offerings? I: Assume that it is a normal full service bank. It also has retail and business customers. C: How many Branches does it have? What is the Geographic scope? I: Assume that you are doing this exercise for State Bank of India in the Delhi region. Taking SBI in mind, you should proceed ahead in the case. C: Sure, thanks for clarifying this, I would like to lay out a rough structure to approach this. First, we need to identify the locations by customer and geographic segments. Second, we need to understand the penetration in the location (our bank and competitors). Third, we need to check for feasibility of shut down or opening of new branch. I: Sounds good. Go ahead. C: In the first part, we need to identify the locations based on customer and geographic segments. We can divide the types of customers based on businesses/professionals, salaried employees and retired employees. Further we can divide regions by different zones of Delhi and the income levels in each zone and the corresponding potential of deposits and loans. In the second part we see the penetration of our branches and ATMs in those regions and those of our competitors. This way we can identify the ideal pockets for branch shut down and new branches. I: Great, this way we can identify the regions where we can shut down branches or we can open new ones. Now can you move to the third point and identify the factors affecting feasibility of opening new branch. C: (After taking a couple of minutes) Listed down multiple factors such as accessibility, business (Current and Savings accounts), land/lease/set-up costs, safety(cash transit and lockers) etc. (Was asked a couple of govt. project related questions at the end, so based on those) I asked more about the government projects that BCG was doing. Specifically - Based on the work that BCG has done in education space with the govt. of Haryana and Rajasthan, is BCG now considered the go-to

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Consultant for the govt in the space. If yes, how can you ensure that such projects can be replicated by the firm in other states as well. Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 3 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions

Bitan Dutta, Partner 1. Tell me something about yourself 2. Where in Delhi are you from? 3. A couple of basic questions to know more about my school and college Give a brief on your projects at AT Kearney The client is an global automotive OEM operating in India. Its aftersales revenue in India is significantly lower than its competitors here and that of global peers. How can we help them? C: (clarified the problem statement) I want to understand more about the problem, the firm. I: Sure go ahead. C: Qualifying questions (answers): Could you please clarify what all is included in aftersales revenue? (sales of spare parts and components, does not include accessories) Since when is the firm operating in India? (Around 15 years) What is its geographic presence? (Pan-India) What are the type of vehicles that it sells? (Hatchbacks) Since when is it facing this issue? (since inception) What is it's distribution model? (Company to dealers. During the time of service, the dealers charge the amount from customers. A part of the spares amount goes to dealers and remaining to the firm. The service charges solely go to the dealer) Are the competitors following the same distribution model? (Apart from stocking the spare parts with Dealers, the competitors also have tie ups with retailers which sell their products directly as well.) C: Revenue is a function of Price and quantity. For prices, I would like to clarify if we have any information if the prices are optimized? How can price elasticity impact the overall revenues from aftersales? I: We believe that the prices can be optimized further. For some products such as xxx, prices can be increased and we feel the price elasticity would be lower. For some other products, such as yyy the price elasticity is high and these are replaceable by the local/competitor products, so we can reduce prices to get more market. C: Thanks. That's quite helpful. Thus, we have identified that we can optimize prices to increase aftersales revenue. Next, I would like to explore quantity. I would like to further subdivide quantity by quantity sold per dealer/retailer and number of dealers/retailer. Do we have information if the quantity sold per dealer can be significantly be improved or do we need to improve touch points. I: Quantity sold per dealer is optimized. Identify how we can increase the dealer retailer network. C: Sure. I would like to break this down into 3 parts. First, Identifying the customer regions. Second, assessing the current presence of our dealers, competition dealers and local workshops. Third, Feasibility of retail partnerships in the region. I: Alright. Focus on identification part. C: We would need to map the sales of our cars and their respective registrations by region. In each region, we further need to understand car related factors and customer related factors. For car related factors we would look at usage, frequency of issues etc. For customer related factors, we would look at income level, willingness to use authorized service etc. I: Good. But apart from usage, vehicle age is a direct metric that can be used to determine which cars might face more issues. C: Yes, sure sir. Next we'll look at current presence. I: No issues, you can let that be. That's all from my side. Thanks Is this a real case? How did you go about solving this?

Anuj Khandelwal, Partner

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Client is a Grocery retail chain based in Gurgaon. It primarily deals in Fruits and vegetables. It has not been in profit in the last 10 years. How can we help them? C: I have a few questions to understand more about the retail chain. I: Sure. go ahead. C: What localities is it based in Gurgaon? (assume that its located in all major central markets, malls and near residential complexes) Is it facing issue in all its stores? (Yes, but for simplicity assume that we need to get profits for only one store) What all services do we provide? On-call/Website/App based orders and delivery? (Yes, all services) What is the competition it faces - directly i.e. other retail chains and indirectly i.e. with fruit and vegetable markets/vendors (assume that it faces significant competition from vendors. They are located below the residential complexes and offer direct delivery services as well) Are the target customer segments working professionals? (Yes) C: So Profits are a function of Revenues and Costs. So do you want me to start with Revenues first? I: Yes, there are no issues in the costs. C: The revenues are a function of price, average quantity purchased and no of customers. I would like to understand if our prices are competitive. If yes, are they significantly lower, thus reducing our margins significantly? I: No. The prices are competitive. Also, the quantity purchased is fine. If the customer comes to our store, they buy the products in decent quantity. The problem is with the number of customers. They aren't coming to our store. C: Sure. I'll lay down a structure to address this I: Let's leave the structure and just talk. I want to know your thoughts on this. C: Sure. So the number of customers are not coming because they have the same convenience with the vendor as with us. So we need a differentiated offering. I: Correct. So what can we offer that can attract the customers to us? C: Can we increase the variety of fruits and vegetables that we offer? Include more products such as Organic/exotic fruits and vegetables I: Absolutely. Now we have people coming in and buying the exotic and organic fruits and vegetables. But we feel that we are still losing out. This is because they only buy exotic and organic stuff from the us. The high margin and regular products such as onions and potatoes are still being bought from the local vendors. Can we do something about it? C: Sure. We can bundle the products together and sell them at a cheaper price. I: Correct. So now the customer has the bundled product offering that they can buy. But they still buy the individual products i.e. exotic and organic fruits and vegetables. Can we do something to change that? C: Yes, can we increase the customization for bundles that we were selling? This would involve the customers choosing what to buy in the bundle? I: Apart from Bundling, is there something else that we can do? C: Can we set a minimum purchase level or loyalty scheme for the customers? I: Yes. I think we should do that. Can you summarise the case. C: (done) I: Great! That's all from my side. Thanks

1. Pace your prep - start early and put in extra hours at the start and reduce the pace starting 2 weeks from Day 0. Stop 4-5 days before Day 0 whenever you've done a case decently well 2. There will be lots of downs before ups - Don't get carried away by either 3. Be confident and feel on top of the world – At least 2-3 days prior to Day 0, be extremely confident of the effort that you've put in (whatever your prep situation is). Go with nothing to lose mindset. That surely worked for me. 4. Form an equally invested case group but don't get bogged down with their level of prep 5. Try doing variety of cases. Increasing the number of cases does help you (unlike what others will say) but only to solidify your structures and get you confidence in your communication.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Jatin Mahajan Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

NSIT, DU Electronics & Communication Engineering McKinsey Knowledge Centre (12) Research 12 The Boston Consulting Group Name - Don't remember Designation - Principal, Consumer Retail practice (Lucknow Alum) 1. Introduce yourself 2. What committee are you part of? Why not part of clubs? 3. Which club would you join? Why is it named 42? The client is a 25-year old FMCG manufacturer, among the top 2 players in the industry. It has identified that its salesforce's efficiency has stagnated over the last 3 years. Answer the following: 1. Is this good, bad or ugly? 2. What needs to be done basis the answer given for Q1.? Qualifying questions: Understood the product that we are specifically considering (haircare range), built the value chain with the inputs from interviewer (R&D -> manufacturer -> distributor -> retailer -> end consumer), asked which segment was facing the issue mentioned (distributor), and understood what is productivity (total sales generated (a)/ no. of distributor salesperson (b)). Also asked if we have competitor data available for this. Case: To answer the first question, I asked whether (a), (b) or both had changed. Found out that both had increased at the GDP growth rate in each of the last three years. I was prompted to look for a metric to answer the first question, to which I asked if we have any industry benchmark to compare this growth rate with. I was told that the industry sales were growing at 15% while the salesforce was being added at the GDP rate. This meant that the company was losing market share and hence this was an ugly situation to be in.

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2

To answer the second part of the case, I broke down the efficiency into (a)/(b) and suggested I look into why (a) was not increasing at the market pace. The interviewer suggested I write a formula for sales based on my understanding. TO this I replied (after taking 2 minutes), Total sales in a day = Volume X Price = Total no. of salesforce X Total no of operational hours in a day X No. of distributors visited per hour X % conversion of distributors visited (meaning they'll stock your product) X Total no of units sold X average sales price per unit sold The interviewer asked me to focus on increasing the sales without changing the price or the volume sold after verifying the formula. At first I was confused, but then realized my folly that I had been looking at a daily sales figure. I suggested we look at the frequency at which these products are sold and if we can increase that. The interviewer replied it's a good thought, but asked me to look at other factors. I asked for a minute again and was about to tackle the average sales price, when the P. Com came in to give a reminder. So the interviewer asked me what I thought and I replied that we can probably increase our average sales price by selling higher margin products to which he laughed and said it's okay. You have done well. He suggested that we look at changing the product mix and adding more SKUs into our product range. Asked about a specific question from his practice and one of my work-ex projects

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Name: Anuj Designation: Partner (Lucknow Alum) Discussed how I was one of the few candidates who belonged from Gurgaon. Was quite amused because he was also from Gurgaon. The client is a legacy (75-year old) motorcycle manufacturer. They have 60% market share in India looking to diversify. Have identified Nigeria as a target market and would like to know how to eat into the Nigeria's competitor market share. Qualifying questions: Asked what is the time horizon (as soon as possible), investment constraints (none), objectives (getting market share), the revenue sources/ products that they plan to sell in Nigeria (motorbikes - two variants: 100 and 250 CC). Additionally, asked why Nigeria, to which he said don't bother about the country analysis (PESTLE in my head). So I directly moved into the case hoping to understand what the industry/competitor landscape was like. Case: Asked about our motorcycles - USP, features, price. At this point, the interviewer explained that our motorcycles were functionally the same ones as available in India - no special features or USP. In fact, the mileage was also not a concern because oil was quite cheap in Nigeria (I categorically asked for this as mileage is an important issue with motorcycles). However, the company's prices were Rs. 35000 while the main competitor, a Chinese player with 100% market share was selling at Rs. 25000. He reiterated that the company wanted to get market share despite this price differential. I suggested we take a customer lens ("let me think like a customer myself") to understand how we can offer better value (hence get market share) at a higher price to the customers. He was quite happy at this and asked what the approach is. After taking two minutes, I listed the following: Need -> Options -> Awareness -> Availability -> (can add 'Trial experience' here as is the case with most vehicle purchases. I forgot at that stage.) -> Affordability & Credit availability -> Experience with the motorcycle -> After-sales service. I began with 'Need' and asked what the motorcycle is used for. Even suggested that it might be used for travel or delivery purposes. The interviewer replied that actually Nigeria uses motorcycles for taxi purposes. I asked if this was like Uber Moto in Gurgaon and he chuckled at this. So I suggested that since the Chinese competitor has 100% monopoly in the market, it would be selling standard products with no differentiation and hence we could probably serve the needs of the customers better. I asked if we can look at customizing the bike - meaning more colours, better design, better seating and so on and so forth. The interviewer picked on the seating aspect and asked what can we do about that. I suggested that we can provide better seating experience for the driver and the pillion by better shock absorption, better clothing design and colours, and in fact we can increase the size to add one more person. The interviewer agreed that this is what he was looking for and would have liked me to get to adding another seat suggestion more quickly. (My heart sank a little here thinking the interview was over, but I was offered an olive branch as follows) He then asked that we have implemented this solution and have gained market share also. But the company has struggled to get hold of the mountain drivers’ customer segment (forms 50% of the total market). How should we serve them better considering R&D dept will not add another seat for these bikes since they may destabilize on the rough hilly roads. I took a minute and thought of all that we could do to serve the mountain riders. I suggested that we can offer additional storage for food and clothing, better mileage for long distance travel, better lighting system for visibility, improved tyres with better traction and better shock absorption. He said these are all very good options, but can you think of what else will be needed? At this stage, I took another minute and suggested that we need more power to drive the motorcycle on the steep slope. To which he asked how can we do that? I suggested immediately that we can offer the higher powered engine - 250CC motorcycles to these folks and can further increase

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

this to suit the customer needs. He was quite happy with this and asked me to summarize the case None

Interview As you may have noticed that my answers were probably not MECE enough (at least I felt that way) and lacked structure too. But that's because these interviews are quite conversational and the interviewers are looking at your thoughts and ideas more than anything else. Hence it is quite important to be conversational and show awareness during the case/ discussion. More often than not, the cases need not be solved and the interviewers help and guide a lot. So definitely pick hints wherever offered. Additionally, the interviews happen quite quickly (less than 20 mins). So it is beneficial if you practice case solving in less than 15-20 mins to get better adapted to Day 0 interviews. All the best!

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Kashyap Harlalka Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Presidency University Economics Deloitte (12 months) Transfer Pricing Consulting 12 The Boston Consulting Group Bitan Dutta, Partner Tell me about yourself The client is a global tools manufacturer and has two product lines- hand tools (hammers, pliers etc) and power tools (drill machines etc). They launched their hand tools business in India, but have only been able to achieve 1.5% market share. The global management has asked them to get into the top 3 in 18 months or exit the market. What should the client do? I- The client is a global tools manufacturer and has two product lines- hand tools (hammers, pliers etc) and power tools (drill machines etc). They launched their hand tools business in India, but have only been able to achieve 1.5% market share. The global management has asked them to get into the top 3 in 18 months or exit the market. What should the client do? C- Thank you for the problem statement, Sir. I would like to begin my analysis by asking a few questions about the client and the environment they operate in to understand the situation better, may I? I- Sure. C- Can you tell me a little more about the company? How old it is? Market standing worldwide? When did it enter India? I- It is a pretty old company. Entered India 3 years back. It is a global leader. C- How does it operate in India? Does it manufacture or import? I- It imports. C- I'd like to know a little about the market and competitors. As I understand, given the Indian ecosystem, the tools market is largely unorganised and scattered, what is the competition that the firm faces? I- The market is pretty unorganised, but I want you to restrict yourself to the branded tools market. There are three large players. Player 1 has 35% market share, Player 2 has 15% market share and Player 3 has 10% market share. All are Indian brands with manufacturing within India. C- Since you are operating in the branded tools market, who are your customers? I- Our customers are all tool users- carpenters, electricians etc. But largely, our products are bought by institutional buyers and large contractors for the bigger projects. C- Thank you for the information, Sir. May I take some time to draw out a rough structure? I- Yes. *drew out customer journey structure on paper* *Need- Awareness- Availability- Accessibility- Experience- Post Purchase* C- Sir, I have drawn out a rough customer journey to analyse where the problem might be and why the consumer is not choosing to buy our product. May I proceed with this? I- Yes C- Our first bucket is need or demand for the product, which according to my understanding must have been same. Am I right to assume this? I- Yes C- Our second bucket here is awareness. I am going to analyse our promotional strategy vis a vis our competition and see if there is a problem here. How do we promote our product? I- We use all normal promotional channels. I think the problem is that brand recall amongst customers compared to other brands is not very high. Why don't you leave the structure and just tell me what I can do to get into

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

the top 3? C- Sure, Sir. I think there are primarily 3-4 ways in which you can aim to grow. These are greenfield or growing organically, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures. Is there any particular area you want me to explore? I- What do you think we should go with? C- Since, brand recall is less, greenfield isn't the most viable option. Also, because we plan on staying here long term, I don't see JV as viable. So, I think we should look at M&A. I- Great. Whom would you merge with or acquire and why? C- Since our aim is top 3. I would look at the firms on rank 2 and 3. I- Why not rank 1? C- With 35% market share, they seem to be way ahead of the other competition and striking a deal with them might be difficult as compared to the rank 2 or 3 players who'd be more interested in associating with a global giant. I- Fair enough. What do we do about the brand recall problem? C- I think there are three ways we can go about it. First, we can run two product lines under separate brand names - the indian brand and our brand. Secondly, we can do a joint branding- something like a TATA SKY. This would resonate with a lot of people. Third, we can do an umbrella branding like one of the global tools giant Black and Decker did. So we would launch a sub brand under the Black and Decker family brand and it would be called Black and Decker's brand x. I- Okay. What about the manufacturing and distribution? C- Since we've been in the market for only 3 years, it's not like we've made relations with distributors which will affect us in a major way, plus, any established player that we look to merge/acquire with must be having their own set distribution channel which we can leverage. For manufacturing, it depends on the number of product lines we want to run. If we want to keep importing our products, we can do that, or we can use our global expertise in enhancing the complete range of products. I- What about pricing? You haven't asked me for any numbers yet. C- How are your products priced against competitors? I'm assuming they must be higher, given that you import? I- Yes, they're 15% higher than market. C- That would also depend on product line and way of operation....we...could...*cut in between* I- Okay, do a quick valuation for me. C- Umm, Sir, I have no idea about that. But, I'll still try. (tried to globe around a bit) I- Okay, I don't think you've studied it and we're short on time. Tell me something, why did you keep referring to Black and Decker? C- Sir, we'd done a case in Term 1 marketing on Black and Decker where they were facing a problem with one of their product lines in a similar manner. Hence, I remembered some details. I- Oh, nice. Actually the client in this case was also Black and Decker when they launched one of their sub brands in India. C- I think the India growth story will be driven by Start-Ups and SMEs, but the stark reality is that they can't afford consultants even when they need help. What is BCG's outlook on that? I- said something about partners investing in start-ups in personal capacity and BCG trying to set up an incubation centre. Gaurav Srivastava, Partner Tell me about yourself Your client is an apparel retail outlet (assume Shoppers Stop), and their flagship store in Mumbai is facing declining sales. Help. I- Your client is an apparel retail outlet (assume Shoppers Stop), and their flagship store in Mumbai is facing declining sales. Help. C- Before I begin with my analysis, I would like to ask you some questions about the client. How old is the client and where is the store? I- Client is pretty old. Store is located in a posh area in Mumbai. C- Is the store inside a mall or does it exist separately? I- Inside a mall. C- How long have you seen this trend of declining sales for? I- Last 6 months. C- What are the products? I mean categories, genders served, age groups

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club served, brands, etc. I- So we have everything, we serve everyone, we have both outside brands and our private label. C- Have you been facing issues across any particular segment or is it throughout the product range? I- Across all products. C- What is the competition like near the mall and inside it? I- Within the mall there are other multi-brand stores like ours, and most other brands that we have inside our mall also have their own outlets. There are a couple of other malls in the area who operate in a similar way. C- Are other malls and stores also facing this issue or is it something that is restricted to you? I- I don't think I have data on that, but it seems like its only me. C- Can you tell me a little about your customers- age group, income group and which area they come from? I- You can assume any normal multi-brand store and the customers it gets. Our customers mostly come from the area around the mall. C- Okay, thank you, Sir. According to me a decline in sales can be a function of two variables- 1) A reducing average bill amount of customers, or, 2) A decline in the number of customers visiting the store. Do you want me to look into any of these specifically at first? I- No, begin wherever you like. C- I'll begin with average bill amount per customer, then. I think this can be because of two major reasons- 1) A change in the pricing of products or discount cycle in the store, and, 2) A change in the stock that we keep. Have we changed pricing or our discount cycles recently? I- No, they've remained pretty much the same. C- Okay, can you tell me a little about how the store is arranged in terms of category? I- We have three major sections- Men, Women and Children. These sections are divided internally via brands. C- Have we changed our stock of outside brands or private label recently? I- Yes, we've been trying to increase our private label. C- Did we do any analysis before deciding which brands or products to cut down on or was it random? I- We just increased the floor space of the private labels by reducing the floor space of brands which were displayed next to it. C- I think it looks like a potential reason to me. I- Could be. Lets move to the other part. C- Sure, Sir. At this point to check why the number of customers have decreased, I'd like to map out a customer journey. Mapped out *Need- Awareness- Availability- Accessibility- ExperiencePost Purchase* Has there been a change in consumer need or demand? I- No, people keep buying clothes. C- Let's check awareness then. Have we changed our promotion methods? I- No. C- Have our competitors changed anything? Increased discounts? Or is there a new competitor? I- Yes, a new multi-brand store got launched in the mall that we're in and is running an inaugural offer. C- Seems like another reason. Let's move to accessibility, since we've already covered the availability part in under average bill amount. I- Okay. C- Accessibility can be further divided into- accessibility to mall, accessibility to store within mall. Are there any disruptions on the way to the mall which could have increased travel time or caused an obstruction? I- No. C- As we enter the mall are there any changes in the car parking system or entry system which could have hampered footfall? I- No. C- Where is our store located in the mall? I- On the third floor. C- And are all the elevators and escalators working in perfect condition? I- Well, the mall has been under renovation due to which some of the elevators and escalators are dysfunctional. C- Okay, that could have majorly affected footfall. Let's move on to experience. Experience can come in two ways apart from products- store

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

ambience and facilities and the salespersons. Have we changed anything within the store- lighting, ventilation which could have affected the customer experience? I- No, everything is pretty much the same. C- Have we changed our salespersons? In terms of how they deal with customers or approach them? I- Yes, so recently we underwent mass hiring, and the new sales guys are still undergoing training while on floor. So that could be a potential issue. C- Okay, do you want me to explore this area further or should we move on. I- I think, we've pretty much discussed everything. Why don't you quickly summarize the case for me with some recommendations? *At this point I summarized the case first, by highlighting the overall approach and the problems identified. I picked up recommendations after that* C- As for recommendations, lets move by picking up specific problems. 1) For increase in private label, I suggest that we do an analysis of which brands sell more and which sell less, and accordingly cut down on brands or their floor area. 2) As for the new competitor, let's increase the points we are offering via our loyalty program, which can be redeemed later for discounts or a gift. In this way we might manage to maintain our loyal customer base. 3) For the accessibility issue, there's nothing much we can do about it. In the short term however, let's try talking to the mall authorities and make a temporary path to our store and also if we can get a dedicated elevator for our store. In the long run, let's look at installing private elevators within our store. 4) As for the new sales people, let's use a model where three or four trainees are placed under an experienced salesperson who shall act like a POC for a particular area. This POC can monitor the trainees, give them live feedback and step in when a customer needs something which a trainee isn't equipped to handle. I- Sounds good. Thanks a lot for your time. I- Do you have any questions for me? C- No Sir, I cleared my doubts in the previous interview.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Kamna Mittal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation

Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies Business Administration N/A N/A N/A The Boston Consulting Group Gauav, Project Leader The interview started with a short 'Tell Me About Yourself', which immediately led to the case. N/A Client is a pharmaceutical company which has recently developed a blood pressure drug. The problem is to estimate the price of the same. C - Asked all the clarifying questions about company, product, and market I - The client is selling a generic drug, and currently there are no substitutes to cure blood pressure. C - There are basically three methods to price the product: cost based, value based and competitor based. I - Pharma companies usually don't follow cost based, so we can start with competitor based and then move on to value based. (Tried asking questions about the competitors and their prices, was told that the objective isn't to come up with a number, but rather evaluate the approach) C- Asked questions pertaining to the industry. The differences between generic and non-generic drugs for the customer and the business. Why will a person choose a generic drug? Apart from cost, is there any difference? I - Our client's generic drug is slightly better than other generic drugs, but worse off than other non-generic ones. Is there anything else that the company should include in the pricing decision? C - Spoke about the costs of getting a doctor to prescribe our drug compared to other drugs. This included costs of reaching the doctor, and then inducing him to prescribe, like dinners etc. I - Okay, this is great. Now let's discuss the value based method of pricing. C - Spoke about pricing on the basis of cost associated with non-existence of the drug. Asked questions pertaining to alternatives available to cure the disease. I - This is a lifestyle based disease, and there aren't any substitutes, so it's largely dependent on costs associated with changing one's lifestyle. C - Divided costs into actual and opportunity costs. Actual costs included cost of exercising (yoga classes, gym membership etc), diet based (dietician, healthy food etc) and medical (doctor appointments). Opportunity costs involved income that is foregone by not being able to work. I - Please elaborate on all and tell me verbally how you would estimate the same. C - Most people suffering from blood pressure problem will resort to external help to solve the problem. So maybe he goes to classes 3 days in a week, and the cost of the classes can be estimated, similarly for dietician and healthy food. For opportunity cost, if the patient is suffering from this disease, then it can be assumed that he will probably have to forego certain number of hours' work to do the same. Hourly income can be estimated and calculated. I was very interested in a particular sector, so asked for the interviewer's frank opinion regarding the future of that sector, for BCG and other consulting firms. This led to a ten minute conversation about the working of the sector and BCG's outlook towards that sector. The discussion ended with the interviewer comparing niche consulting firms working exclusively in this domain with BCG. Anuj Jaiswal, Principal

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

N/A N/A Client is a fruits and vegetables store in an affluent neighbourhood in Mumbai. Its sales have been poor ever since inception 10 years back. C - Asked clarifying questions about what type of store it is, if there are non-resident customers also etc I - The store is like a spencer's, but only for fruits and vegetables, which also delivers to people's doors. Customers are mainly residents. C - There could be two reasons for low sales: either we're unable to provide the product to people, or people don't want to purchase the product from us. I - I suppose it's a demand side problem, because we always have ready availability of the fruits and vegetables. C - Drew out a customer's journey to figure out that people aren't ordering or walking into the store. Asked about e-commerce and other substitutes for purchase. I - There are movable stalls that sell these fruits in front of people's doors. So people don't feel the need to come to our store or order from there. What do you think we can do? C - Spoke about keeping exotic fruits and vegetables, so people are forced to come to our store to purchase these, since movable push carts rarely keep the same. I - Great, but is there any way to increase sales of vegetables like potatoes or onions? Because those sales are what eventually drive profits. C - Identified two techniques. One was bundling kiwis with potatoes so people can buy both. And other was designing the shop floor in a manner to ensure visibility of potatoes and onions, with kiwis at the back. So people will purchase the same when they see them. I - Great. Please summarise the case for me. N/A

I froze for a second after hearing my first interview case, because I hadn't done any pharma or pricing case before. But I remained calm, and ensured that I kept asking questions and used logic. Enter the interview with a mindset that you won't get a case similar to something you've done before; it will help you to not get anxious and to include the interviewer in your thought process.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Mehul Kothari Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal Electrical and Electronics Engineering Morgan Stanley - 33 months Information Technology 33 The Boston Consulting Group Sushma, Partner Tell me about yourself and a question on my Btech summer internship N/A Banking Industry - A bank deployed a sales force to sell Home Loan policies, however that didn’t lead to an increase in revenues. Identify the reason. Clarifying questions revealed that the Bank had set up a new Central Processing Unit which reviews all the home loan applications submitted by the sale force and scrutinizes and processes the applications diligently. Issues: Sales force targeting brokers/real estate agents who weren't keen on taking home loans/ conveying to the potential customers; Central Processing Unit was doing an intensive scrutiny to flag the potential bad debts due to which home loans processes successfully were low in count. CPU's work also increased the turnaround time to process applications Questions about the Industry the partner was currently working in.

Nishant, Principal Tell me about yourself N/A Retail Industry - Productivity of sales force had become stagnant- What can be done to improve it. Frame the equation of productivity of the salesforce. I mentioned output/cost i.e. (Sales by Salesforce / Salaries to salesforce). Further broke the numerator to Customers Targeted* fraction of Customers convinced* Revenue per customer. Productivity of salesforce can be increased by generating ideas under each head of the equation. Greater reach, tie ups with retail stores, discount offers, sales force can use a bike to minimize travel time, focus on high margin SKUs etc., were few things mentioned by me. Questions about the Industry the principal was currently working in.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Navneet Kaur Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions

Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation

St. Xavier's College, Kolkata B. Com (Hons.) specialization in Finance and Accounting

The Boston Consulting Group Principal I: Tell me about yourself. C: I am Navneet Kaur. I was born in Ranchi and brought up in Jamshedpur. I have studied in around 5 schools and I love interacting with people. I did my graduation from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata in B.Com (Hons.). I have always been interested in studying and that is something that I enjoy doing. Hence, the gold medallist in college and the other awards. In college, I took up other activities as well like being a part of Placement Cell and AIESEC. I am also interested in social work and that is something I am passionate about. I worked in an NGO as well. In my hobbies, I like reading, walking and running. I am an FMCG company. My productivity of sales person is going down. I want you to help me optimize that. I: Are you familiar with the distribution channel of FMCG companies? C: Not that clear. It will be better if you could tell me about it. I: So, the company has sales persons. These sales person go to a certain number of shops in a particular area in a week and try to sell as much as they can to the retail shops there. C: Okay. How do you define productivity per sales person? I: sales/no. of sales person C: This can be looked from two ways. We can either increase sales or reduce the number of sales person, depending on the nature of work that they perform. I: Let's look at increasing sales. How do you plan to do that? C: We will first look at the existing sales that these salesmen are doing and then, try to figure out the loopholes in their actions. So, sales per sales person is a function of the area they cover, the number of retail outlets they cover per area, the average price of the product and the number of products they can sell per outlet. We can try to increase any of these items to increase sales per person. For example, a sales person can go to that area where there are more number of retail outlets and cover all of that. That will minimize the travel time of the person. I: Okay. The sales person cover adequate area that they can. Keeping the area and the retail outlets constant, how do you wish to increase the productivity? C: We can try to push more variety of products in the retail shops. Also, we can try introducing higher priced products and try and push that in the shops to increase our revenue from these shops. I: If we keep the price of the goods constant, and the total quantity constant, is there any way we can increase our sales? C: Yes. We can introduce and change the SKU size of the product which will be more acceptable to the customers and the retailers to keep. I: Thank you. Your interview is over. C: Currently, what is the area of your project? I: I work in the Consumer goods area and I handle similar issues like the one I gave you. (Then he spoke about his current project) Partner

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

No HR questions. He was an alum of my undergraduate college and asked me questions about my college and how much it has changed since he graduated. I am a store which keeps fresh fruits and vegetables. That is my only source of revenue. My profits have been declining for the past 10 years. Help me understand why and how can I get over this? C: Since you mentioned that the profits have been declining since 10 years, have you done anything to improve the situation since then? I: No. I am hiring you now to solve the problem. C: Okay. I would like to ask some clarifying questions to understand your organization in a batter manner before I start looking into the issue. I: Sure. Ask me whatever you want. C: How long have you been in this business. Where do you function? Is it a standalone unit or do you have multiple units? What are the products that you sell? What kind of customer base do you cater to? Who are your competitors? (All of these were asked one by one.) I: I have been in this business since 25 years. I function in a posh locality like Salt Lake in Kolkata. I am a standalone unit and don’t have any other units. I sell only 2 products: fresh fruits and vegetables. I cater to the basic households of Salt Lake. My competitors are the vegetable and fruit vendors that sell on the street. They have been growing their profits. C: So, this is surely not an industry issue. This is an issue pertaining to your organization. So, profits are a function of revenue and cost. Either your revenue has decreased or your costs have increased. I: My costs are the industry standard. Let's look at the revenue side. C: The revenue is also a function of quantity and average price. I: I charge as per industry standards. Let's look at the quantity side. C: Okay. Quantity can be increased by differentiating your organization from the local vendors. We can bring in some new products which these vendors do not sell so that customers come to the shop. I: So what do you suggest? C: The local vendors don’t usually keep things like mushroom, kiwi etc. We can introduce that and get the customers. I: This seems like a nice idea. But then the customers would just come and buy these products and go. The major profits come from the regular items. How do I increase my revenue of that area? C: We can place these products in the beginning and ensure that the customers look at these products. Also, we can try bundling. As in, bundle things like potatoes and onions with mushrooms and baby corn so that customers buy these things together. I; Excellent. Your interview is over.

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Nihit Gupta Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

BITS PILANI, Pilani Campus Chemical Engineering ZS Associates, The Boston Consulting Group Analytics/Consulting 34 The Boston Consulting Group

What was your work at BCG? What was your role in the project? My Bank has restructured the loan giving process but I am not able to change the no. of loans. Identify the issues and suggest recommendations. C: Candidate, I : Interviewer C: General Qualifying questions about Bank location, branches ,customer, market etc. I: Bank in Mumbai, Focus on one branch in a particular colony, Market: People living in that colony, competitors: 2-3 more banks were present C: what changes are we talking about in the loan giving process? I: We made two major changes : 1) Introduction of sales force 2) Creation of Central Processing Unit for loan disbursed 1-Earlier we were only advertising through newspaper and print ads but now we have introduced on ground sales force who will meet the customers at their home and pitch the loan products. 2- We have moved the processing of all home loans to a central location from all the branches of our bank in the nearby areas. C: Okay! I think the overall process can be classified under 4 major buckets. 1) Promotions 2) Application Process 3) KYC and other doc verification 4) CIBIL Score Check, Collateral etc 5) Loan Disbursements I: That's great! but for now focus on the promotions part C: Okay! How many people are there in our sales force? I: They are sufficient enough to cover the market C: Are they qualified enough on the knowledge of the product? I: Yes C: Are they targeting the right people at right time . For ex: Meeting the decision maker of the family at a convenient time? I: Yes C: Are they taking prior appointments? I: Yes C: Are the customers satisfied with the overall conversations? I: Yes C: Okay! So it seems there is no problem with sales force effectiveness. Am I correct? I: Yes C: Now, I would like to know about our target customers. I: Okay, GO ahead. C: Whom are we currently targeting to ? I: Households in that area C: I think one of the major reasons for less number of loans is wrong targeting of customers I: How? C: I believe as a consumer ( busy and less time available) , If I am looking to buy a new house, I would definitely consult a property dealer and he will play a major role in influencing what kind of loan I am taking. Thus, as a bank we should be targeting property dealers and agents rather than only focusing on the end customers. I: Brilliant! That's great. Now move on to the next part of the case. What do you think CPU has done to the overall loan disbursing process? C: I think it has increased the overall ease of the process such as less time taken in overall process, maintaining records has become easy. I: Okay, focus on the problem statement and give me two KPIs on which

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club you want to measure the effectiveness of a employee working in CPU? C: Amm.. it could be No. of loans process in a day and no of loans rejected? I: Yeah! the answer is in one of the KPIs you mentioned. C: No. of loans rejected? I: yes! The CPU was following some stringent rules in processing loans and we can relax some of them. Great job btw! I: Thank You! The interview ended with a little chat over BITS and BCG as the interviewer was also a BITS Pilani alum. Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

Anuj Khandelwal Partner Tell me more about your team at BCG? Who was the partner? I am a motorcycle manufacturer who wants to introduce motorcycle in Nigeria. What can be done so that people in Nigeria purchase my bikes? C: Have we decided on Nigeria as a Market? I: Yes C: Okay! I would like to know more about the company. Where are we located and what kind of bikes are we producing? I: I am currently based out of India and I am producing bikes ranging from 100 to 150 cc and my prices are fairly competent. C: Okay! I would like to know more about the market in Nigeria? What is the intended use of bikes? Are they used only for personal purposes or commercial as well? I: The bikes in Nigeria are primarily used for as a cab for ex: UBER MOTO and personal segment is very small say 10%. C: Who all are my customers? Are there any cab aggregators? I: No, there are no cab aggregators. consider individual bike drivers as your customers. C: Who are my competitors and what is their market share? I: The market is dominated by Chinese players whose bikes are relatively cheaper than us. There are 4-5 big players but all are Chinese. C: Okay! How price sensitive are my end consumers? Can we increase the cab fare rates? I: No, they are very price sensitive. They use them for daily use and don't want the price to increase. C: (After thinking for 30 secs) I think it seems pretty difficult to enter the Cab Market. I would like to explore the personal segment. C: How can I differentiate my bikes from other bikes? I: They are almost same. C: Do we have the capacity to create a differentiating factor? for e.g., visual appearance? I: Yes , we have C: Great! Then I think we can modify our bikes and give them a trendy look because I feel as a consumer I would not like to buy a bike that looks like a cab bike. I: That's a very good point! What else? Let’s move to the cab segment back. Think yourself as a cab driver. How can you maximise your revenues? C: Revenues can be increased by increasing no. of trips and price. I: Okay! We have already discussed about price. How would you increase the no. of trips? C: The no of trips can further be increased by 2 major bike features. 1) The pickup time 2) the top speed I: Okay! good but I feel these are good for the hilly terrains in Nigeria. What about plains where the major problem is of traffic congestion? C: Can we increase the no of seats on the bike? I: Great job! That's the suggestion I was looking for. Now, quickly summarize the case Don’t panic, if you are stuck somewhere, ask the relevant questions. Its a test of your patience in tense situations. Interviewers are really helpful and they will give you direction wherever required.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Sanchit Jain Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate

Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

IIT Delhi Civil Engineering EY Management Consulting 35 The Boston Consulting Group Sinchan Mukherjee, Manager Tell me something from your resume on which you want to focus on during the interview. 1. Tell me the three factors you would look at for increasing revenue of a company. 2. A distressed port in South India is facing high interest costs. The EBITDA is in line with similar ports but the PBT is negative. What parameters would you look at to improve their situation? 1. Price, Quantity and product mix 2. C- Asked him questions about the location and products handled and asked him for numbers to get a better sense of EBITDA and Financial costs. EBITDA was 1000 Cr. The port had taken a loan of 9000 Cr. at a rate of 10% p.a. Suggested to look for alternate and cheaper financing options, increasing the cargo ships berthed at the port and tieing-up with passenger cruise companies for improving the overall utilization and hence revenue generated from the port. 3. I- Do you know about the current situation at IL&FS? C- I haven't read much about the case. I just know that there is some kind of financial crisis going on and Uday Kotak has been appointed as the new chairman of IL&FS. Partner at BCG The partner happened to know the partner under whom I worked at EY and we had a brief chat about him and the type of projects that I have done at EY. Bengal Govt. has approached BCG for suggesting a suitable price for the ticket to Victoria terminal. What would you do? C- What is the current price of the ticket and what type of tickets do they currently sell? What is the breakup of domestic and foreign customers ? I- There is a single entry ticket priced at Re. 1. 2 Cr. people visit Victoria terminal annually, out of which 60% are Indians. Total cost is 100 Cr. annually while only 2 Cr. is generated in revenue. C- Gave him options by which we can improve our revenue. i. Differential ticket pricing for Indians and foreigners ii. Providing guide services at additional cost iii. Introducing an additional ticket to enter the museum area iv. Increasing the entry ticket price for Indians from Re. 1 to Rs. 5. (Asked him about general trend of prices charged for govt. run services like bus facility) v. Setting up food joints inside the campus and leasing those sites on an annual fees basis Finally was asked to estimate the revenues that could be generated when these suggestions are implemented. I priced the services so that I would be able to get a total revenue of more than 100 Cr. in order to service the cost Be confident. The way you talk and communicate your ideas is the most important thing.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Nihar Aggarwal Undergraduate College & University Field of Graduation Work Experience - Companies Worked at Previously (include months) Work Experience - Domains Work Experience Duration (Months) Company Name Interview 1 Interviewer Name and Designation HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Interview 2 Interviewer Name and Designation

IIT ROORKEE MECHANICAL ENGINEERING i3 Consulting (18 months), Tata Motors (16 months) Management Consulting, Private Equity, Auto Sector 34 The Boston Consulting Group Sushma, Partner 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Why Consulting? 1. A brief follow-up question on work experience at i3 Consulting and Tata Motors from CV (She was going through my CV in the meanwhile) Client is a large Indian car manufacturer who holds the largest market share in terms of revenue. They are into car sales, service and spare parts sales. All of the divisions are doing good. They want to protect their market share going ahead. What should be the strategy? The partner was already seated inside the interview room. I entered later on so didn’t get extra time for initial greetings before the case. I. Client is a large Indian auto manufacturer who holds the largest market share (revenue). They want to protect their market share. What should be the strategy? C. Sure. Please help me understand a bit about their business. C. (After taking around 10 seconds to frame the questions) What all do they manufacture and sell? I. They primarily sell cars in budget and sub-premium segment (this is where I understood their target customer segment as well) C. What are their other revenue streams? I. They are into Service and Spare part sales as well C. Where are they geographically located and their current markets? I. India; Sell pan-India; No exports C. How much market share do they have? Degree of consolidation? I. Around 40% market share. Assume that the rest is divided evenly among 4-5 other players. C.Trend of their revenue and market share? I. Largely in line with the industry growth rate, which is stagnating in our sector now C. Thanks. Let me reserve the rest of my questions and I'll ask them as we move along the case. Does that work? I. Yeah sure. Please go ahead. C. Give me a few seconds to jot down my thoughts. C. (After around half a minute) I can think of two broad ways to protect the market share: a) Increasing penetration in current business b) Expansion to new markets c) Launching new products d) New revenue streams I. Nothing much can be done to increase penetration. C. Do they export? If not, they can consider exporting I. I understand export and new product launches part, tell me about the additional revenue streams that you would propose in line with their current business practice C. I’d look at current revenue streams i.e., sales, service and spare parts, to leverage the strengths. Suggested some lines of business along all the 3 existing lines of business while gauging their strengths around distribution network, supplier partnerships, brand perception etc. on the go. I. Great. Let’s end the case here. Do you have any questions for BCG? C. Not as such. Thank you. None

Gaurav Srivastava, Project Leader

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club HR/Conversation Questions Work Experience Questions Case Problem Statement(s) / Guesstimate Complete Case Transcript (please try to be as descriptive as possible)

Brief chit-chat where he introduced himself None Insurance Sector company whose sales are declining The interviewer walked with me to the interview room. Initiated a quick conversation with him. Exchange of greetings and a small bit of laughter broke the ice there. I. Lets’ solve a case Nihar. Our client is an insurance company who is facing a sales decline. Suggest some recommendations to help him. C. Sure. (Confirmed the objective before starting off. Asked about the meaning of sales. Was told that it is about number of policies sold in a year). C. (Asked clarifying questions along the buckets of Client, Customer, Competition and Products. Received the following piece of information: Client: - Operates PAN India - Been operating for past 20 years; facing sales decline for past 3-4 years Product: - Sells complete range of insurance policies - Consider similar to any other insurance company that you know of Customer: - There are relevant products pertaining to each demographic profile of customers - Distribution channels are online (minor contribution to sales), agents, 3rd party points of sale like banks which sell our policies for commission to customers who come to their banks for banking. (This is where I asked the interviewer a few clarifying questions which gave away important insights. Covering them below) C. You mentioned banks as policy selling points for customers who are come for loans. But there are policies like health insurance, vehicle insurance etc. that you mentioned out client sells. Do we have such tailored distribution channels for those policies as well? I. No, we don’t. C. That’s seems like an important factor to consider. I’d like to come back to this point later in the case (Noted the insight on side margins of the page and also subtly announced that I’m noting it down separately) Competition: - Other 3-4 national players who own market share equivalent to ours - They are witnessing sustained growth in sales while we are the only ones facing this issue C. I think I have a fair bit of understanding about our client’s business here. Let’s move with finding possible causes of their sales decline. I have a few more questions which I’d reserve for respective sections of the case I. Sure. C. Please give me a few seconds to jot down my thoughts. (Proceeded by mapping the customer journey) Demand for insurance policy -> Awareness about us -> Preference for buying from us -> Accessibility to buying -> Sales conversion process C. What is the sales trend for overall industry? I. The market size is growing and our competitors are also enjoying increasing sales, only we are losing C. Then let’s move on to the next link which is, awareness about us. Effective communication has the following elements: - Targeting right set of customers - Right modes/ channels of communication - Conveying appropriate message Are our target set of customers aware of our products? I. There’s no issue on awareness side C. Sure. Let’s analyze customer preference now. Has demand for our products have fallen in general? I. Yes. C. Sure. Let me chalk down various components affecting our products’ demand. Please give me a few seconds. (After a few seconds, I drew the first line of structure on paper and next line of structure in my head) C. The demand is for our products would be a function of internal and external factors. External factors would comprise of Competition, Regulatory issues and social perception. Internal factors would be product, pricing, service, brand value/ perception, Preferred distribution channels. Similar factors would also be there under “Competition” bucket as well.

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Product bucket includes product specifications/ terms, variety and quality C. Are our product specifications and terms in-line with the competitors? I. Actually our competitors have been innovating with their products while we are not. C. In that case it could pose an issue with respect to being relevant to customer demands. I. Fair point. C. Should I analyze it further or move to other buckets? I. No, let’s analyze other factors first. C. Sure. Let me note this problem down separately C. Variety: Do we have enough variety of products vis-à-vis our competition? I. This is also a problem related to product innovation. C. Sure. We’ll analyze it separately then. Moving on to the product quality, are customers raising any complaints with our existing set of products? I. No. There is no problem with the existing ones after they are sold. C. Moving on to the broader bucket of pricing, is it in line with our competition? I. Yes. C. Brand value/ perception: How is our general brand perception in the market. Specific to our case, the perception be pertaining ease of claims, customer centricity among some of the factors. I. Yes. Our loan claim percentage is lower than the competitors. C. It can be a function of 2 factors: a) More number of ineligible customers b) Internal policies and processes to keep claim ratio low I. Yes, we face more number of ineligible customers when we receive the claim requests. C. In that case, do we conduct a due diligence their eligibility before selling the policy? (I also mentioned one more point which I don’t remember, which made the structure exhaustive) I. No we don’t have a due diligence process unlike our competitors C. Then this is the root cause of this issue here. I’ll note it down separately. Moving on to the next bucket of preferred distribution channels¸ we already discovered that our client doesn’t have selling points for policies such as health insurance, car insurance etc. But let’s analyze the sales from existing channels as well. We can analyze it in light of following factors: 1) Distribution network coverage 2) Selling capabilities 3) Selling motivation 4) Other supporting factors. Has there been any change to our distribution network’s coverage? I. No, there has been no change as such. C. Okay. Then, has their selling skills facing any noticeable decline? I. No, they are all our old agents and selling partners C. Considering selling motivation, what is our arrangement with the agents and the bank sales partners? I. Agents are like third party who work on commission basis with us. In banks, there are bank employees who sell our policies and earn a percentage out of it. C. Do they sell exclusively our policies? I. Agents do but bank partners can sell competitors’ policies as well C. (Chalked down certain factors affecting selling motivation. Stating the most important one here) Since there can be a commission margin based competition among insurance players for banking partners, are our commission margins lower than our competitors? I. For agents, if you compare, they are similar to what competitors pay to their agents. But for banks, they are offering higher margins. C. Then this would certainly push them to sell our competitors’ products. We should find a way to tackle this. (Someone knocked on the door indicating we had consumed enough time) I. (Laughing at the knock), now that we have discovered some of the problem areas, please give me some recommendations. C. Sure. Please give me a few seconds. C. I’d share recommendations for each of the problem areas separately. 1) For product innovation, in short term, we should analyze at the competitors’ products and derive learnings for near term launches. For long term, we should form a product innovation team and build a mechanism for KPI monitoring and adherence. 2) For due diligence of customers, we can either have an in-house team or

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Please state any questions that you may have asked at the end of the interview and the response received Some tips (dos and don'ts) for the interview and the Day 0

we can outsource it. Assuming that in-house capability development might be costly and time taking, we should consider using services of some expert due diligence partners. 3) Distribution network: Diversifying sales points to auto sales dealers, hospitals, corporate offices etc. corresponding to each type of insurance policy to ensure maximum customer coverage 4) For bankers’ incentive, matching the competitors’ commission margin is a short term solution but not the sustainable one. We should include coin other engagement programs for bankers like, in-kind or cash incentives on achieving set targets, reward program while engaging their families too, organizing award programs, inviting them to conferences over lunch/ dinner etc. I. Thank you Nihar. Let’s end the case here. C. Thanks you Gaurav. Had a really great time None

Golden tips that I received from my seniors which really helped me: 1. Be confident and natural. No second thoughts about it 2. If losing confidence in the middle of the case, try and summarize your analysis so far, it fetches you extra time to think, brings interviewer on the same page and calms your nerves down 3. Case solving must be a conversation, not an interview 4. HR answers are particularly very important

2018 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2018 Finals Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Name

Rahul R Kamath

Graduation College

BMS College of Engineering Schneider Electric (22m), PGP Internship – Amazon (Operations-SC) Accenture Management Consulting

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case

Branch

Mechanical Engineering

Domain

Manufacturing, Supply Chain

Not Sure - Senior Consultant (Not Partner) Tell me about yourself. Why Consulting? Why Accenture? Few CV based questions Guesstimate of Electric Cars in India if a foreign manufacturer is to enter; Implement Lean in a company that services elevators

Interview 1 case Transcript

Approach followed as per MECE

Interviewer 2

Senior Consultant

Interview 2 HR Questions

Lot of questions regarding Amazon and about cost optimization

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

NA

Interviewer 3

Partner Round + Senior Consultant Why Accenture? How Amazon can do well in future? Why should Accenture hire you?

Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

NA

None

Any Remarks

None Prep for Why Accenture? and why you ? Approach is more important in Accenture Case or guesstimates and not numbers

Name

Shashwat Goel

Graduation College

IIIT Delhi S&P Global Market Intelligence, Futures First (18m); PGP Internship – Alvarez & Marshal Accenture Management Consulting

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case

Branch

-

Domain

IB, Consulting

Name: Bimag (Designation NA) Tell me about yourself. The client is a tech major. They have 3 verticals in which they are operational - Core solutions, Basic essentials and Cloud. He is performing well in basics and cloud but has fallen behind in Core Solutions which was also his cash-cow at one point of time. His F/B/I (Finance/Banking/Investing) arms are the key to revive the Core Solns. business. Come up with a comprehensive structure and help the client in over-coming this problem.

Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case

Name: Shantanu (Senior Manager) 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Tell me in detail about your internship project - team's contribution and your contribution 3. How did you approach the problem and what was the solution you ultimately pitched to the client? 4. Are you comfortable with in-depth questions about the insurance industry now? (Asked because my internship project was based on designing investment strategy for the client for investing in the insurance sector of India) My client is LIC which has 1200 branches in India. The CEO comes to you and says - 1000 branches are performing well whereas 200 are not. Help me out.

Interview 2 case Transcript

Lots of cross questioning with the evaluator on case facts and performance parameters.

Interviewer 3

Name: Krishnamurthy (Designation NA) and one more guy (can't recall the name) 1. Tell us something not on your CV 2. Now tell us something about yourself 3. You mentioned that you have won so many case competitions and quizzes but how will it help Accenture? 4. Why consulting and not investment banking when you are tailor made for it? 5. How will you justify joining a management consulting firm when your entire work ex is entirely in finance?

Interview 3 HR Questions

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 6. Work ex in finance. Specialisation in marketing. Internship and all these case comps speak of consulting/strategy. You have been all over the place. What's your ultimate aim? Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

None None Do's - Read well about the firm, the role, the responsibilities involved and how will you prove to be an asset to the company. You should be fully convinced yourself that the company requires you more than you require them. Then all other conversational and spontaneous HR Q&A will be relatively easier and will sound convincing. Don'ts 1. Don't be overconfident - These people have taken hundreds of interviews across various campuses and can sense arrogance easily 2. Don't take them for a ride - These guys are domain experts in their respective industries/function groups. Do not try to bluff with them. Your poker skills should be limited to your respective hostel rooms only 3. Don't be blank about your CV - Know your CV in and out. Even the name of that teacher with whom you designed that random erupting volcano experiment in Grade 5 Science class should be at your fingertips (provided it's written in your CV) Remember: At the end of the day they are spending so much time and resources (monetary and otherwise) to select/hire you. So don't go with a mindset that they have a preconceived bias and are hell bent on rejecting you. Be prepared and make their job easier to extend an offer to you.

McKinsey & Co. Name

Sujit Emmanuel

Graduation College

BITS Pilani Bain Capability Center (22m); PGP Internship – Accenture Strategy McKinsey & Co.

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Branch

Mechanical Engineering

Domain

Consulting

Malcolm (AP) Tell me about yourself, Tell me about your work at BCC (talked a while about this), Are you tensed? What activities have you been a part of on campus I am a Biotech company planning to setup an R&D centre in India. I am planning to recruit a new batch. What is the size of fresh talent produced by India every year which is available for me to hire? I- Please do ask any clarifying questions if you have any C- Repeated the question, took little more context (understood he needed inexperienced people), identified which streams to hire (Undergrad and Masters, without PhD). Also decided which are the relevant streams: Bachelors in Biotech/ B. Pharma/ M, Pharma *I took a minute to think and identify a structure C- Started with a supply side approach, defining three types of colleges that one could hire from (Engineering, BSc./MSc. colleges and Specific colleges for biotech). Asked the interviewer if this makes sense I- Yes, that seems alright (Starts working on the laptop in the meanwhile) C- Started working on the numbers, of number of colleges. I- I don’t want you to take this approach. What are all the possible ways of doing this quick, I want innovative answers C- You could try Demand side, Supply side, Check on Linkedin, Look at the hiring numbers of similar firms across India I- try the demand side C- Divided India population into rural, urban; removed bpl, put a split for people who go for graduation, the split by age group, took 18-25 age group, divided their interest in to 3 (engineering 50%, Bsc 20%, biotech specific-1%) then looked at percentage within each of these which have the relevant degrees. For engineering took 1/10 as there are 10 courses generally offered, for bsc (took 5 basic sciences (bio one of it) and assumed it has psycho, bio proper and biotech) hence took total 1/15, and total for pure biotech specific. Then divided these numbers by number of years of these courses. Got a total number I- had gone through each numbers. he adds, this number seems too high ? Are you sure C- lets backcalculate. I assumed 30 states. Lets say we have 100 engineering colleges per state I- It seems too high, rethink, say 50 C- Lets assume50 engg, 20 bsc, 1 pure biotech. Took approx batch sizes for each and came with the total. Came with total of 1 lakh I- Earlier you got 5 lakhs now you got 1 lakh. Which one do you agree with. C- We could take an average or retest the assumptions in the first approach I- That will be enough. We can end here Ankur (Over VC, Partner) Introduced himself, asked how the earlier interview went, asked couple of questions about my work experience (ended very quickly) Multiple caselets. Asked me to be precise and said that he would move to the next question if he was satisfied with the answer I- I have to improve the gross margin of a company and I cannot change the price or reduce the costs. How can you do this?

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club C- Change the product mix I - I have to improve the service level from 80% to 90%, Inventory days from 100 to 50, and Transportation cost. Tell me two ideas which can improve all the metrics C- Said technology and workforce training, he said its too generic and fits everywhere. Tried giving multiple ideas, seemed to agree with one and the rest he left hanging I- I have a truck fully packed with soaps and seated with a driver. He is currently in France and plans to follow a straight line path to Zurich. I am a consultant who just noticed the situation and figured I can provide 20% cost reduction, whats my idea? C- Broke down all the variables into respective cost component that could come on the path and also the packing fraction of the truck. Went through a lot of possible issues. A lot of different structures I tried to find the issue, he kept asking for more ideas. I- I am Haldirams Sales manager for North India and I have been asked to reduce the margin from 20% to 15% to Big Bazaar, how will I do this? C- Again multiple ideas given (AMS classes helped here as Kumra Sir had talked a lot about Sales and Distribution recently in class), he agreed with some, said 2% is still left. I will give you 1 more minute, its make or break. *VC connection breaks, in the meanwhile desperately thinking of ideas. After 3 minutes connection regains C- Since I took more than the allotted time, let me give you 3 ideas. I- Started laughing C- Gave the three ideas and completed the interview. I- Do you have any questions C- Asked a question about his experience in CPG (he was ex-HUL, he later mentioned) Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Vikas (Partner) You have a lot of consulting background, so why do you want to keep doing it ? Tell me more about your work in Bain, If you are in charge of McKC, what are the three changes you will implement, Tell me an instant where you worked in a team and created impact, Where do you think the Telecom sector (CV based) is headed, If you are the CEO of Airtel then what will you do? Do you have any questions for me? NA (10-15 minutes of HR)

Any Remarks

None Be confident through the day, cases are simpler than what you practice for. Try to improvise through the interview and keep your cool. This is what worked for me.

Name

Aasrith Kandula

Graduation College

NIT Warangal ITC, Omni RK - Operations (10m); PGP Internship – HUL (Finance) McKinsey & Co.

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Branch

Mechanical Engineering

Domain

Operations, Finance

Ankur Modi, Partner Initial introductions and chit chat I was walking in an Ice cream factory, I looked around and found out that I could cut costs by 20%, What did I find? ; I had to setup a laundry powder factory, what would I look at? Fund arrangement? For the first question, have him a normal factory costs break-up; second question was a normal brainstorming one.

Interviewer 2

Suvojoy Sengupta, Partner

Interview 2 HR Questions

Introductions & HUL internship (Basic project description)

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

How to motivate people to buy electric cars? Did a preliminary life cycle cost comparison. (Had to use Power = Voltage * Current !!), proposed what the government can do (increase taxes on petrol etc.)

Interviewer 3

Malcom Gomes, Associate Partner

Interview 3 HR Questions

Why McKinsey? (Was impressed !), What did you do at HUL? Some more chit chat

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

NA

Any Remarks

None Making it conversational is the most important thing. You actually have some leeway in making a few mistakes. You don't have to be perfect. The interviewers were very helpful.

Name

Kumari Ankita

Graduation College Work Experience

BIT Mesra TATA Steel (Operations-GenMan) (24m); PGP Internship – ITC (Supply Chain)

Interviewing Company Interviewer 1

McKinsey & Co.

Interview 1 HR Questions

About Internship project in detail, impact of GST on logistics industry(detailed)

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Total logistics cost for India is about 12%, the government wants to bring it down Structuring+ Discussion about 1.) Causes of the issue 2.) Benchmarking 3.) Resolution Mechanism; Number+ logic driven case

Interviewer 2

Vikas: Pharma, Partner

Branch

Engineering-ECE

Domain

Operations, Supply Chain

Suvajoy- Partner

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case

Sectors I follow, why consulting Estimate size of the field force required to sell a new premium diabetic drug, mostly conversational, more about idea generation than numbers, was trying to gauge how you handle an industry you are not comfortable with

Interview 2 case Transcript

NA

Interviewer 3

Malcom Gomes, Associate Partner

Interview 3 HR Questions

About previous interviews A bank(selling insurance products) is facing operational issues with due diligence as most of it arises towards the end of the month. How do you rationalize it 1.) Structuring about the causes of the problem 2.) How to resolve: both supply side and demand side. Wanted 3 big recommendations Dos: Just be confident, none of the case interviews were in my comfort area, but confidence in each of the rounds helped me. Structuring and idea generation are equally important. Both are tested in one or the other interview. Doing a handful of cases just helps you tackle any case on that day. Don'ts: Don't succumb to peer pressure in any regards, chalk out your own prep plan and follow it

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

The Boston Consulting Group Name

Apurva Jha

Graduation College

IIT Kharagpur Barclays (18m); PGP Internship – Citibank

Work Experience

Branch

Economics

Domain

Finance

Interviewing Company Interviewer 1

The Boston Consulting Group

Interview 1 HR Questions

NA Client has a tractor assembly plant in India. They get all the parts from other parts of India but manufacture Gear Boxes in the assembly plant. Now want to have one more manufacturing unit. Option1: Have the additional unit in the existing plant in India. Option2: Establish a new unit in China. Which one would you suggest? Asked a little basic questions and then moved ahead. Said that I would look into cost comparison for the two. Divided into Fixed and Variable. He asked me to mention the components of both. After he was satisfied that all the components were mentioned, he asked me to move ahead. He gave me numbers for whichever component I asked. Then it became simple calculation problem. Answer was China. At the end, he also asked if there were some strategic factors to look upon. I structured that into 'people' and 'processes' and mentioned the costs under each and then also talked about the operational cost reduction in the long run.

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Prateek, don't remember the designation

Vikas, Partner Why consult? What are some of the pitfalls of consult? One thing that you have done that you are very proud of? An 70 yr old guy who is the owner of an FMCG company want to open a new company in FMCG Ecommerce space. Should he go for it or not? It was more about a conversation rather than pen-paper-solving and structuring. I did a basic level of structuring to show the macro and micro factors to look at. He mentioned that all the Ecommerce businesses are into losses. And as the size grows, they will make further losses. I still went ahead into mentioning the products that could be offered. Here an interesting point came about selling services. We discussed Alibaba and some other Ecommerce businesses like BigBasket. It was more about a conversation. Towards the end, he said he wanted an answer- yes or no. I said yes and explained how the current networks of the company can be leveraged upon. "

Interviewer 3

NA

Interview 3 HR Questions

NA

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

None

Any Remarks

None Keep smiling and keep calm. The interviewer is there to guide you through so don't worry about the outcome of the case. Just keep an open mind and take a step back whenever you feel you are stuck.

Name

Devesh Chincholikar

Graduation College

IIT Roorkee iRunway (10m); PGP Internship – HUL Marketing The Boston Consulting Group

Work Experience Interviewing Company

Branch

Eletrical Engg

Domain

Consulting, Marketing

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Project leader Tell me about yourself, and some counter questions on why did I not chose to pursue an MS instead of an MBA even after working extensively on tech projects

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

An underground mining company wants to increase their productivity by 20% C: I would like to reiterate my understanding of the business. The client is in an underground mining business, and wants to increase productivity by 20%. I: Yes C: Can I know what is the process of extracting, the output and what do we mean by productivity? I: So, the client digs out underground mines, extracts ores, and by productivity, we mean the tonnage of ores extracted per unit area C: Can I know the customers of the client and the geography it operates in? I: Irrelevant. I think you are not able to grasp this problem correctly. Is that right? C: Yes, I am sorry but I am not able to understand how to narrow down this problem. Can you help me to understand it more clearly? I: Okay. I’ll walk you through the steps of this extraction problem. So the process takes place in 5 steps: Step 1,2,3,4,5 I: What do you think is the most crucial question for this problem? C: I would like to know the time and labour required for each of these steps. I: Good question. //Gave the information// C: What time of day does the process operates, as in, do we operate in shifts? I: So there are 3 shits of 8 hours each in a particular day. C: Okay. So from the time you told me for each step, we can see there can be 3 iterations of the process in one shift, and still x amount of time would be left. Is that correct? I: Yes, but they also take around 60 min back and forth to travel till the mine location. C: Alright. So, that makes it 2 shifts, and y amount of time still left. Can I know what do labors do during this free period. I: They just chill out. How would you approach this case? C: So, productivity can be increased when we either reduce the time required to extract a fixed tonnage of ore, or we decrease the cost associated with the extraction, i.e. either by reducing the labor or using technology. I: Okay. I would like you to focus on the time aspect only. C: Can I just take a minute to jot down my thoughts. I: Sure. C: So, I will like to divide the time of process in two parts: One when the process, i.e. the 5 steps take place, and one when the process doesn’t take place. Then, I would try to reduce the amount of time for both the categories. If I try to improve process time, it may lead to a reduction in the left over time after 2 iterations, and we can try to fit in another iteration. While, we can try to reduce the free time by doing a few process in the leftover time, so that the next shift workers could just take it up from there. I: Okay. Reducing the time of actual process doesn’t seem feasible, since it would involve changing the cycle time of each process. Why don’t you suggest me some measures to use the non-process time more productively? Also, by how much do you think the productivity rise, if we make them work in the free time. C: Okay. //Did some calculations, made a mistake, but the interviewer guided me, and helped me understand that just by using that time effectively, the productivity can rise by 16%//. I would like to understand why the labors are not using that time productively right now? I: What do you think? C: Since, the labors are already skilled in doing that process, it may be because, they are lacking motivation in terms of incentives. Can I know ho does the client pay them? I: Let’s say they are paid per unit coal extracted. C: Ah! They are not doing it because since doing partial steps won’t extract any further coal, and they wouldn’t be paid anything for the work they would perform in the free time. I: Exactly! What do you suggest the client do? C: Would you like me to suggest some specific HR policies for incentivizing the labors to start performing step no. 1,2 in the free time, so that the next shift takes on there. I: Yes. C: Just give me a minute. C: So, we can divide the HR policies into two categories: Hard and Soft. I: The client is interested in knowing the hard policies. C: I can see two things: 1. Linking the salary/incentives to the time spent in doing operations instead of digging out the ore. 2. Linking not doing work with their job security. Also, I would also like to know how we monitor the work performed by our labors currently. Do we have CCTV cameras, or it is only monitored by the next batch of workers? I: The latter one. We would only know if they worked in the free time, if the next batch of workers tell us so. C: The first suggestion may result in an overall loss of productivity, so we’ll have to think a middle ground. Can I know how would tweaking their salary structure a bit would entail any reaction from the workers. I: Why would that be? C: They may be a part of the union, and making some changes might cause problems. I: Okay. C: Would you like me to list a few more options to implement this? I: No, I think that’ll be it. Don’t worry, it was a tough problem. Any questions? C: It looks like a real life problem. How did you approach this case? I: Haha! Sorry we are short of time. Why don’t you brainstorm till the evening and we will discuss it if we meet? C: Okay! Thank you.

Interviewer 2

Partner Started with the case immediately. After the case ended, asked about the work as VM in MV. Also, asked about interest in music and performances in 3.4

Interview 2 HR Questions

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

The client needs to set-up a new gear manufacturing plant. Needs to compare China vs. India I: Our client is a COO of an automotive factory based in Karnataka. They have a manufacturing plant with different set-ups for producing gear, wheels etc. They want to ramp up their production of gears. There are two ways to do it – first is to just set-up another unit in the existing factory, and second is to set-up one factory unit separately in China owing to the low costs there. The COO wants to meet us for discussing this matter. What would be the key points you’d like to bring in the discussion. Also remember, the client would like the analysis to be backed up by numbers. C: Alright! May I know why does the client needs to ramp up the gear production? I: It is primarily because of an increase in Demand. C: The way I would like to proceed for this case is by first understanding the costs involved in producing a gear, comparing them for both India and China, and ultimately discuss some risks of setting up a unit in China. Does that sound fine? I: Okay. Where do you want to start? C: Can you please walk me through the value chain of producing a gear? I: What do you think? C: Based on my understanding, I can divide the costs in these brackets: Raw materials, Storage and Transportation, Processing, Storage and Transportation, and finally delivery to the assembling unit. Do you think I am missing something? I: No, that is correct. C: I will now enumerate the costs inside specific buckets. // Just kept on asking cost points on various aspects, like raw material mix, cost of setting up a unit in India vs. in China, transportation cost from China, custom duties, storage costs etc. C: Now, I would like to create a table and calculate the total costs for producing gear in both the countries. I: Go Ahead. C: So, it looks like China has a significant cost advantage with respect to India in production of gears. This advantage is mainly driven by 3 factors: x,y, and z. I: What do you recommend? C: Based on the cost assessment, China would me the preferred location. However, I would also like to analyze if there can be any risks associated with the entry. I: Sure. Go ahead. C: There can be mainly 3 kinds of risks: Political/legal risks pertaining to the FDI regulations of the country, Technological risks since China is pretty infamous for IP infringement and we may have a proprietary gear production set-up, and social risk because the labor setting may be different for both the nations. I: Do you think there may be positive aspect associated with the entry? C: Yes, I think the labor aspect would be positive, as in India we have unionized labor, and in China we may get a more preferable contractual labor setting. I: Alright. I think we can stop here.

Interviewer 3

Partner

Interview 3 HR Questions

Started the interview with Why Consulting, and Why BCG? 1) Asked a guesstimate on the total number of sunglasses sold in India 2) A salesman who sells Kinley bottles is not able to increases sales, what would you recommend? Basic framework used. Not much discussion on numbers, simply saw my approach, and asked how would I collect usage data?

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

For the salesman case: I: Our client is a salesman who sells Kinley bottles to retail stores. He hasn’t been able to increase the number of bottles sold and has come to us for a recommendation. What would you tell him? C: May I know since when have the sales been constant, and how long has he been in the business? I: He is 35 years in the business, and the sales have been constant for more than a year. C: May I know how many bottles is he currently able to sell? And how much has the competitor salesman been selling? I: He’s able to sell 3 cartons every week. While, he has been stagnant at that number for some time now, his competitors have been increasing their sales. C: I would like to proceed in this case by first, analyzing if the sales can be increased through the current number of retailers, or if not, can we increase the number of retailers in the given territory? I: Sure. How would you do that? C: May I know how is Kinley, as a brand performing w.r.t. to its competitors in terms of promotional aspects? I: The brand has high mindshare and is the industry’s top brand. C: Has there been a change in pricing with Kinley, not reflected by the competitor brands? I: No, there hasn’t been any. C: Has our retailers been able to sell all the bottles they buy from the salesman in a given week? I: Yes C: Have they increased their intake from other competitor salesman? I: No, they have kept it the same. C: It looks to me that we have already exhausted the maximum amount of bottle we can sell to existing retailers – given that there’s no increase in demand expected from the customer side on the stores we cater to. So, I would like to explore if we could start targeting more retailers. I: Currently, the salesman spends all of his time in visiting the existing stores. How will you do that? C: We can think of measures to reduce the time/store, or increase the total time he spends working? I: How can he reduce the time/store? C: As you tell that the salesman has been in the service for so many years, I think we can assume 1) he already has a fair idea of the requirement of existing retailers 2) the relationship is strong I: Yes C: A few ideas that I can think of: 1) Reducing the frequency of visit to the existing stores 2) using mobile

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Any Remarks

phones to take the orders rather than physical visit 3) Directly sending the fixed requirement rather than taking orders each time I: Okay. I think I have understood your approach to the problem. We can end the discussion here. -

Name

Cebin P Sebastian

Graduation College

IIT Madras HCL Healthcare (16m); PGP Internship Standard Chartered Bank The Boston Consulting Group

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case

Branch

B Tech Engineering Physics

Domain

Finance

Comments on weather and gen chit chat. Take me through your CV quickly? Why a gap of 2 years? Why civil services? Client is a oral care FMCG who want to increase its sales force productivity. How will you help ?

Interview 1 case Transcript

C - May I know more about the company - what are its products and geography of operation? I - It produces typical oral care products like toothpastes and brushes it has presence across India. C - What sort of price range are we currently in? Can I know more about the size and market share? I - Clients have products across price range. The market share is not relevant for this. C - How does the sales force operate now? What is the composition of sales force? I - Sales force is organized geographically. Typical sales guy would be a 10th or 12th pass out earning ~20k per month. C - How is productivity defined? I - It is total sales upon number of sales persons C- Can I take some time in organizing my thought I - Sure C- I would look at in 3 segments (draws) - Ability, Motivation & Opportunity I - I dont think this is the right approach. Can you come up with a mathematical formula? C - (after some thought) How does the sales guy operate typically? I - He would visiting shops in allocated areas and make sales like you see in a typical FMCG model. C- (after some time) Productivity = avg. number of shops visited * conversion into sales * avg. sales per converted customers I - Okay. Can you suggest 3 measures in each of the three categories? C - In the first bucket - we can provide better transport facility I - You are planning to reduce time between visits? C - Yes. Also we can increase the working hours or increase coverage area of a sales person. I - Okay. Increasing the work hours would help C- We can reduce the time spent in shops. This can be through support through collateral or neat packaging to optimize time spent in a shop....We can also help sales persons to locate stores better by route optimization via a mobile application I - Okay.. lets move to next bucket.. C- To increase the conversion % we can provide marketing support with attractive offers and as campaigns. This includes volume discounts as well as ATL and BTL campaigns. Also, we can provide training to the sales force. I - Okay, Lets move to the last bucket without wasting time. C- To increase the sales, sales skills may be developed through training programs. I - What can sales guy do to increase volume? Think in terms of demand side... C - (time) He can push for better shelf space to increase visibility; this can be complimented by marketing support given to them. I - I think we have covered most of the points...

Interviewer 2

Your CV looks like a fin CV. Do you want to go into consulting? What other shortlists do you have? What was your work in HCL Healthcare? What was my internship project? Client is a Tractor manufacturer who has a assembly facility in India. Gear boxes are currently manufactured in a plant inside the facility. This plant is experiencing capacity constraints. CFO wants you to evaluate two proposals - 1 to build second plant inside the facility; 2. build a plant in China were raw material costs are less. I - How will you start the analysis? C- We can use the NPV analysis along with certain qualitative parameters... I - Okay lets proceed with NPV C - What would be the expected production from the plant? I - 5000 units per year C - What is the plant life? I - 5 years C - What are the raw material used along with costs? I - three raw materials - with Indian price given with chinese prices as x% lower than indian prices ( per unit of gear box) C - Details of capital investment costs - Plant building & land etc. in China? I - numbers given

Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club C - What about the human resource, other operational and overhead costs? I - Gives the numbers for China and gives Indian values as x% lower than China's C - WHat would be the cost of capital for the company? I - Assume it to be zero for the analysis. C - I think I have enough information to analyse. I - Are you sure. Arent you missing something? C- (time) Shipment costs of transporting costs to India. I - Yes. What all costs would it include? C - packing; transport to port; duties/charges at port; shipment cost; duties at landing; transport to facility; final processing or assembly if any I - gives the combined value per gear box C - calculates the NPV and makes a minor error; pointed out by interviewer C- from NPV it is clear that Chinese option is better I - Okay. Looks good. What other factors will you consider? C - Exchange rate risk is a major factor - so there will be a hedging cost; Political and regulatory restrictions in both campanies along with tax implications. Perhanps more importantly the raw material costs might rise in China I - Okay. What else? C - Management capacity to operate the plant in China; Time to set up operations etc. I - All of these are negatives. What are the advantages of the strategy? C - We are testing waters with the project in China. If things are good we can shift complete manufacturing to China. Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case

We look for a thread in a CV. In your case, you seem to jump a lot. Why choose this path? Why didnt you continue preparing for civil services? You will be 28 when you join. Many in your age will be at a higher level. How ill you deal with it? Our client is a energy company who went into connected home segment in US. They want to enter India; can you help them with market sizing

Interview 3 case Transcript

C - questions on connected device & motives of entering India. I - it is similar to a wifi hub with devices connected to it. Plug and play style. They want to increase the sales as well as profit C - Price range in US? I - $xx C - Do they have a price range in mind? I - You have to help them with pricing C - We can start by finding the target segment size in India. I - GO ahead C - Divides population (no. of families) on basis of income and geography. I - These individuals can pay for the product. But what will be target group? C - (time) If we look at the product value - it is suited for people living busy lives. Where time and comfort would be valued more. Certain level of comfort with technology and education can be assumed in this segment. I - Okay. How will you identify them? C - We can go by occupation category and this would be concentrated in urban areas to start with I - Okay. How will you determine the initial demand? C - It will depend on the pricing. DO we have any price range in mind? I - No. How will you help the client? C - There are three pricing strategies - value based, cost plus and competition based. We might have to go for first one as this is a new product. I - But how will you find the price elasticity of demand? C - initial assessment can be done through similar product adaption rate. We may look at smart watch for example and see how many in the target segment purchased in the first year. I - Okay C - We may also do a survey to find the price range and then do a price skimming strategy. I - Okay

Any Remarks

Take time in answering questions and be clear in communication. Draw neat diagrams and structures Just be confident and be yourself

Name

Preetham Krishna

Graduation College

IIT Bhubaneswar GrabTheSport (startup), Cognizant Analytics (21m); PGP Internship – AT Kearney The Boston Consulting Group

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Branch

Strategy, Marketing at IIM L

Domain

Consulting

Partner Quick Introduction

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Interview Number - 1 Case

Interview 1 case Transcript

Case 1: Client is a private player in the tourism industry. They handle end to end operations of any renowned monument/ heritage places. They are top players in the US and Europe market. They want to enter India. Recently, they saw an advertisement by the Government in the newspaper inviting bids for the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. The client wants to know if should they enter India and if yes, should they bid for this place/ not. Case 2: How do you determine the number of business travelers entering in Delhi on a typical day. Give me a number Case 1: Understood basic objectives of the case and about the client through initial questions. Divided solution into 3 parts. 1) Objective and target of the client 2) Should they enter India/ not 3) If Yes, should they go for this specific bid. I calculated how much can they bid and what is the revenues they get and the B.E time among other operational and functional abilities. Finally concluded that the client can bid for this project for xx /- provided they have yy, zz capabilities. Case 2: This is a fairly simple guesstimate

Interviewer 2

Varun Boppana and Project Leader

Interview 2 HR Questions

NA Case 3: My client is a hedge fund owner. Recently American express claimed that they would increase the market share in India by more than 50%. Client wants to know if that's possible. If yes, how are they doing it and can that be replicated?

Interview Number – 2 Case

Case 4: My client is into steel manufacturing business. They manufacture a specialty steel. A new competitor entered into this space who provides good quality of steel with lower price. What should the client do? Interview 2 case Transcript

Case 3: Interview started by interviewer asking my specialization. Having understood that I don’t have a Finance specialization, the interviewer started the case with a Hedge fund player. Another number intense case. Calculated the revenues and estimated if that claim is possible/ not. Found reasons for the advantages and suggested what the client can do. Case 4: I jolted down various things that the client can do and basis the discussion suggested the most possible one. One of the scenarios under 4th level of tree came the possibility of collaborating with the competitor and manufacturing their parts in our production facilities (we have ability to manufacture more) and take a cut on that. Interviewer was satisfied for this answer.

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case

Sumit Sarawgi and Partner Interview started with ~15 min HR. The partner who interviewed worked at A.T. Kearney prior (I didn’t know this during the interview). So, he asked many questions about my intern experience, projects I worked and the people of the firm. He asked many internal things of the firm and bombarded with multiple questions. I maintained my calm and answered all the questions. He seemed satisfied and so I expected an easy case. Client is in the telecom space. They came up with a new product using which the customers can consume unlimited data per day. How should they price it. The current offering is priced at 200/- per month for 60 GB (limit of 2 GB per day) and much more data was given

Interview 3 case Transcript

This was one of the most difficult case of the day. In the start, I was given so much data and was asked to finish the case in 10 mins. Post the initial questions, I started with Cost + premium pricing method upon confirming with the interviewer. I jolted down many ways of finding the cost, but the interviewer rejected every one of them. During our way back to the hall, something clicked and I explained the solution and the cost that the client can charge. We were standing and discussing the solution outside the interview room and somehow this time the interviewer liked the solution and appreciated the same.

Any Remarks

Dos: Being confident is the key. Maintain your calm all throughout the interview and be ready to expect any new thing. I had 3 number intense cases (this may be due to my prior experience in analytics). Haven't expected this based on previous interview experiences of people. All the best :)

Name

Avinav Singla

Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1

BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus DE Shaw & Co (23m); PGP Internship – Avendus Capital The Boston Consulting Group

Branch

Computer Science

Domain

IT, Wealth Management

Varun Bopanna, Project Leader

Interview 1 HR Questions

Tell me about yourself?

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Our Client is a coal mining company. They are facing some operational issues, help them out. C - Clarifying questions about company background, scale of operations etc. I - All of that information is irrelevant. Focus on the operations. C - Can you a brief idea about the operational details of mining? I - Sure, there are two types of mining normally used: open cast and excavation based. Our client follows excavation method. Under this method, a hole is dug vertically and at each level there are horizontal rows

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club from which excavation is done (was explained with the help of a diagram). There are three major processes, cleaning and planting dynamite sticks, blasting and loading the coal in elevators and sending it up towards the surface. C - How is the labor organized? I - Good question, labor works in shift of 8 hours and within their shift they do all the activities mentioned above. C - How are their incentives (or variable pay) decided? I - The variable pay is linked to the amount of coal excavated in a day. And, it is given to the shift that does excavation, not all shifts. Here, after some unstructured discussion, it was identified that some shifts were wasting time, because they were not getting paid for the intermediary work. Therefore, the solution was to change the existing variable pay structure and link it to all shifts, not only the shifts which does excavation. Interviewer 2

Principal

Interview 2 HR Questions

NA

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Estimate the entry ticket prize for Imambara? C - Details about Imambara? Why do people visit? I - Oh, you haven't been to Imambara? C - No, sir. I - Which city do you come from? Take any tourist place from that city? C - Yes sir, I come from Chandigarh. Can I do it for Rock Gardens? I - Yes, sure. C - There could be three approaches to pricing the ticket. Competitive, Cost and Value Pricing. Since Rock Garden has hardly any competition in Chandigarh, therefore it is not valid here. Coming to Value pricing, visiting Rock Garden is not really an aspirational experience, so Value Pricing is also not valid. In my opinion, Cost based pricing is the most appropriate method here. Sir, should I go ahead with Cost based pricing? I - I think you are right here. Go ahead with the cost based pricing. C - Listed down various sources of cost and revenue. I - I am only interested in maintenance costs, and revenue from tickets. C - Sure sir. Listed down various sources of cost in maintenance (repair, security, gardening etc.) and calculated the annual cost by taking and verifying estimates. I - Good. Go ahead with the revenue calculations. C - Tried to estimate number of tourists by estimating number of tourists visiting Chandigarh and then taking percentages. I - Is there an easier way to estimate number of tourists? Probably by number of window tickets? C - Definitely sir, assuming no online tickets. Estimated number of tourists using number of window tickets and average time to issue a ticket. I - Good, so how much does the ticket price come about? C - It comes around to be Rs. 6. The original ticket is around Rs. 10. By adjusting a few numbers, we can get there. I - No need. It was a good effort, well done. Any questions for me? C - In this changing world of consulting, what keeps do we need to possess to have a successful consulting career? I - Definitely the world of consulting is changing with the coming up of digital. Bu at the core of it, consulting is mainly about problem solving and that's one skill you definitely need to possess. C - Thank you sir, that will be all.

Interviewer 3

Sumit, Partner

Interview 3 HR Questions

Why consulting? Tell me about yourself? Our client is a US based Home Automation company. They want to launch their Home Automation Solutions in India. How do you estimate the market size of a product that doesn't even exist? Again, this was a more discussion based rather than an actual structured problem solving scenario.

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

C - Clarifying questions about product, company etc. I - Gave a few answers. In general, the info was irrelevant and he wanted me to focus on the approach of estimating the market size. C - Gave general ideas about we could look at other such high tech novel products to decide on the probable market size. Also, we could look at market size in two ways: short-term and long-term. In the short-term, only 'innovators' segment of the population would be interested while in the long term 'early adopters' or 'early majority' of the population would also be interested. (from technology adoption graph) I - Sure, and how would you decide on the price of such a product? C - Sir, there are three methods of pricing: Competitive, Cost and Value. In this case, I think value pricing is most appropriate. And, we could estimate the price in terms of value it provides to customers by estimating the opportunity cost. I - I think that approach is fine enough.

Any Remarks

The last two conversation happened while walking, and the interview got over as soon as the interviewer reached their room. -

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2017 Summer Interview Experiences HR Questions asked by Companies during Summer Interviews 2017 Accenture Management Consulting • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Tell me about yourself. Why MBA? Why IIM Lucknow? What are your learnings from IIM Lucknow? Why Consulting? Why Accenture? What do you know about Accenture Management Consulting? Tell me something that is not on your CV. Tell me an instance where you have failed in your life. How will you react when a consulting assignment that you were a part of doesn't achieve the desired outcome? Strengths, Weaknesses What are your hobbies? Sell yourself to me? Why should I hire you? Which subjects do you want to study here in your second year? What do you prefer, doing everything, with not much depth or doing only a few things, with clarity? What drives you in life? Detailed discussion about points mentioned in CV and your learnings from it Detailed discussion about previous work experience and your learnings from it

Alvarez & Marsal • • • • • • • • • •

Tell me about yourself. Why MBA? Why IIM Lucknow? What are your learnings from IIM Lucknow? Why Consulting? What do you bring to the table? About work experience Why consulting after business tax (to a CA) What are you expecting from here (A&M) Why A&M?

Deloitte •

Tell me something that’s not on your CV.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club • • • • •

Where are you from? Questions on Work Experience Questions based on unconventional points on the CV What have been some of your failures? Does the candidate regret any decision?

MasterCard Advisors • • • • • •

Introduce yourself Why consulting? What do you know about MasterCard and MasterCard advisors? Why MasterCard Advisors? Why did you leave your job in less than 1 year time and not wait for MBA? Discussion on interest in extra-curricular activities

McKinsey & Company • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Tell me about yourself. Why consulting? Why McKinsey? Walk me through your CV. What career path do you see for yourself? Your CV tells me what you have done. Tell me who you are. What is most interesting part of your CV? Tell me a situation in which you solved a major challenge & how did you go about it. Tell me a situation in which you handled a conflict & convinced someone. Who was your previous interviewer and how was your interview experience? Do you have any questions for me? Discussions on your hobbies Discussions about your leadership roles Detailed discussion about points mentioned in CV and your learnings from it Detailed discussion about previous work experience and your learnings from it

The Boston Consulting Group • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Tell me about yourself. Why MBA? Why IIM Lucknow? Why not finance? What does your current company do? What did you do at your current company? Some questions around family background What do you think about the engineering services industry in general (work-ex related)? Who will be more valuable in the near future - techies or MBAs? Why? Do you have any questions for me? Why was my college CGPA low? He had worked at EY before, so he asked me a lot of questions about EY - my partner, how did I find the work, where did I work out of and other stuff. What did I do in the placement team (at an IIT)? Tell me about the work you do at Enactus. What is your passion? Why switch from research in Quantum Computing and AI to consulting? Experience working with BCG? Discussion about high school

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Vivek Gala R.A. Podar College (Mumbai Branch Commerce University) Tata Teleservices Ltd. (21m) , Godrej Domain Finance Consumer Products Ltd. (6m) Accenture Management Consulting Panel 4 – CN Tell me about yourself. Why Consulting? Why Accenture? Few CV based questions Not given NA Panel 3 – CN Few HR based A CEO of a coffin manufacturing co. which is situated on an island city comes to you. He want to increase his revenues. Me - Size, operations of the co. , market share? Int - Gave data... (3 players... one is old and one is new apart from the client) Me - Okay..so now we need to increase the revenues. We can do that majorly in two ways.. either increase in qty of units sold or increase in Selling Price. Int - Interesting.. Go on! Me - Firstly, to increase the price - I understand prices can be increased if the demand is inelastic or if there is any differentiation in the product offering. Secondly, for increasing the quantity, you can toggle around the product, place of operations (check for new markets) and promotion. Int - Ok. Me - Product offering can be enhanced. The market share needs to be increased. Int - how will u enhance it? Me - One can provide complimentary services (like providing a priest) Int - Ok.. Think also in terms of enhancing the product. Material, Design etc? Me - Yes, the product can be improved by using better quality of wood, having unique designs/shapes, could have some spaces for floral decoration etc. Int - Fair enough... Go on.. Me - Apart from Product, new markets can be captured. It's a island city so might be difficult to enter a new market with competitive prices, but can compete on the different product offering Int - Ok.. Me - Promotions... err!? Int - Yes, Promotions... Me - It would not be appropriate to promote the coffins but one could have a mention of the logo etc. in the obituaries of the clients. Besides, one can tie-up with morgues, hospitals etc. to push our coffins. Int - Ok. Good. how about E-commerce. Do you think it is a good idea? Me - E-commerce could also work but it would be for people who want to pre-book the coffin for themselves. E-commerce cannot fulfill the immediate requirements on a death ocurred. Int - Okay Good. Dr. Krishna, Director What do you think about outsourcing? What are the factors you would keep in mind before consulting someone to outsource? What parts of Finance functions can you outsource? None None

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Darshana Mukherjee Branch B.E EEE BITS Pilani, Goa Campus Tredence Analytics, [24]7.ai (TotalDomain Analytics, Software Development 34M) Accenture Management Consulting Manish TMAY, Technologies that I have worked on - how comfortable I am with those, detail discussion about my previous work ex Discuss about the current status of retail in India and future of Amazon in particular in next 2 years. Factors to be considered to open a grocery retailer like Big Bazaar in a city - where would you open such a store There were a lot of questions on the retail sector in India as I had previous work ex in this industry of US. Reading IBEF helped. They were strategic questions but I could state facts which worked for me. My answer to the Amazon question was looking at the demographics and consumer behaviour of India - 2 years is a very short duration for it to capture the whole market (internet penetration, rural population, trust issues etc.). Open a grocery retail in metro and Tier 1 cities before penetrating the rest of India. I listed down attributes looked for while buying/selling groceries (freshness, supplies, price) and a typical retail customer (working population, relatively lesser price sensitive). Quality and price are prime factors as we intake these and use on a daily basis. Local vendors dominate the smaller towns/cities and form a strong bond/trust with the households. Therefore, start with metro, make a name, build trust and then venture into smaller cities. NA TMAY, Mess committee strength and functions, questions on my TMAY, questions on my work in the retail space, what do you know about AMC What are the typical problems faced by a big retailer? Take Pantaloons as an example, assume it only sells clothes; what could be the reasons it approaches AMC for consultation? How can it expand - challenges and a lot of cross-questioning here. This was a very long round with the interviewer questioning every word I wrote. I started off with citing operational challenges/metrics because I had a background in that but he asked me to look at broader problems. He helped by asking leading questions in some areas. I had to explain why cannot it open a grocery store or why not under the same banner (house of brands vs branded house) - why retailers keep the grocery section in a separate floor. Can sell accessories, shoes etc to improve market share/increase sales/attract customers. Asked me to draw the profit structure and give all possible ways to improve profit. Drew value chain in the cost branch (was asked how and where can we reduce costs in each node). Gave options to increase revenue/customer (bulk discount, bundling, cash and carry model) and # of customers(marketing, ancillary products) in the revenue branch. Was asked about ways to market - ATL, BTL. Krishna Murty – Partner TMAY, Speak on demonetisation (as I have been associated with Toastmasters), something not in my CV, what other shortlists do I have None None They put a lot of stress on TMAY. They had a multiple pages form where they would write the pros and cons of the candidate. People with work-ex should know their CV and past work/industry thoroughly. They gave a very detailed open-ended case in the second round and kept building on it by figuring out your weaknesses. TMAY helped me as I was able to steer the interviews towards my work-ex. Friendly panel.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interviewer 4 Interview 4 HR Questions Interview Number –4 Case Interview 4 case Transcript Any Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case

Divyasree IITM Ola (16M)

Branch Domain

BTech Metallurgical Engineering Program Management (operations)

Accenture Management Consulting NA Tell me about yourself; Why Ola?; Asked more questions about the exact work I did while at Ola (from resume) Guesstimate - Milk consumed in Bangalore in a day NA NA Tell me about yourself; Work ex based questions; Why Consulting? (Work ex based) What according to you should be the basis of cab allocation in Ola ? NA Krishna Why consulting? Tell me an instance where you have failed in your life? Not exactly a case. How will you react when a consulting assignment that you were a part of doesn't achieve the desired outcome? Completely HR. Strengths, Weaknesses, Learnings from IIM Lucknow, etc No case NA Apart from the last round, all other rounds were heavily based on resume and work ex.

Kanika Vashisht Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Branch Business Studies (Finance Specialization) Studies Axis Risk Consulting Services Pvt Ltd Domain Process Risk Consulting (26M) Accenture Management Consulting NA 1. Tell me about yourself 2. From my CV, I was asked about my work experience in brief. The interviewer asked me to explain a couple of my projects related to vendor management. 3. Questioned about my social initiatives- association with Teach for India and an acid attack survivor rehabilitation organization 4. Questions about diploma in music (CV point) Guesstimate the number of passenger airplanes in India I approached the guesstimate from the demand side with Delhi airport as a point of reference. Segmented the population based on age, income levels, flyers, flying frequency and so on. At the end, the interviewer asked me if my approach was right since I had missed out on one age groupchildren. He then asked me to discuss the problem from a supply side (oral discussion) and in the end asked which was a better approach- demand side or supply side. Manish Kumar Rai, Senior Principal 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Work experience related questions were asked in more detail In the procurement to pay (P2P) process of an automobile giant, how would you reduce costs I charted out the P2P process of a typical automobile giant- starting from purchase requisition to final payment made to the vendor. As asked, I also incorporated the vendor selection and onboarding steps. The interviewer wanted me to give practical examples from my past work experience where costs could be reduced. For instance, vendor screening costs and man hours could be reduced if the client would skip the first two steps of the screening process for vendors that were present in the global database of the company and were approved by other sister companies. Dr Krishna Murthy, MD 1. Asked about an internship project which was mentioned on the CV 2. Questions about general hobbies and music 3. Important learning from Teach for India I am a US telecom giant and am one of the market leaders. The market in US is saturated and I have decided to acquire a telecom operator in Mexico. All the operational synergies are taken care

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview 3 case Transcript

of but now I need to convince my board. Help me in designing a pitch for the upcoming board meeting and come up with some out of the box ideas. This was not a case per se but he just wanted me to come up with points that I would like to include in my pitch. I segregated my points into 3 broad buckets- workforce diversity, global presence/ footprint and others where I included all the points mentioned by him in his problem statement. He asked me to focus on the first two buckets and had a qualitative discussion on the same.

Any Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

ANWER CM Branch Mechanical Engineering NIT Calicut L&T Valves (3 Years); Hindware Kerala Domain Senior Engineer- International Sales & distributor (1 Year) Marketing; Manager - Kerala Sales Accenture Management Consulting Round 1 1. " Its written in your CV that you were leading a team of 7 sales people, tell me about your learnigs during that period" 2. "Your CV doesn't contain any sports activity or any other extracurricular activity, why? what were you doing during your UG days, you had a lot of free time no?" 3. "So you generated 40 Lac Rs for your UG project, tell me how did you do it?" 4. " Why consulting?" 5. "How did you resolve the conflict between the Senior management and distributor, what you think helped you do it successfully?" 1. Estimate the market market size of Hindware's faucets in a new state 2. Forecast the crude oil price for the next 1 year? 1. A: Estimate the market market size of Hindware in a new state Me: Ok, Which state are we considering? A: Take any new state to which Hindware want to enter Me: Ok, we are already into all the Indian states, Can I proceed with a hypothetical situation, taking the population of the state to be X? A: Ya that will be alright Me: Alright, Please allow me to take 1 minute to put this together A: Sure Me: (Wrote the answer in the sheet and explained to him) - Population -> APL & BPL -> No of households (Avg. 4 Memeber) -> Product replaced once in 10years -> Average billing per household 1 Lac Rs - > Correcting factor for new houses, Assumed no two houses per family -> Extremely brand Loyal customers of Jaguar/Other brands -> Market outside of housing (Hotels, Businesses and other facilities etc..) 25% of house hold market 2. A: "Lets do another one - Forecast the oil price for the next one year" Me: Looked at the interviewer and smiled at him, he smiled back. " Sir this one is indeed very interesting" A: "Alright go ahead. I am happy that you liked it" Me: Now there are a lot of ifs and buts there, i would like to stick to the recent phenomenons alone There are couple of important aspects which need to be kept in mind: Regarding Saudi Aramco (a) Their cost of production is around $8 a barrel and their crude is sweat with minimal H2S content (Further reduces the cost of refining and transportation). If H2S content is low then it can be transported through WCB pipes which is basically cheap steel and if H2S content is high then you would require alloys like Inconel which increases the cost by around 10 times. Whereas the shale gas production cost is around $40-45 and it is sour gas which makes the processing costly. I have reviewed the present reserves of ARAMCO and they are not running out of oil anytime soon. So it is highly likely that they will have a big say in setting the oil price. Everyone (Competition/Other countries) say that they are in a good position but the truth is everyone is scared an they should be. Now lets look at what they did after dropping the bomb. These are the things that i observed: 1. ARAMCO Put hold on every project (Including JAZAN- Which is particularly interesting) 2. Announced two projects (Both of them Gas projects) - Hasbah and Fadhili

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 3. Started awarding projects to Chinese EPCs 4. Extreme cost cutting measures 5. Chief of ARAMCO was inducted into the ministry (Prior to rolling out the strategy) 6. Invited all of its vendors to set up factory in Saudi Arabia. We all got invitation to do so and they offered to cover the additional cost by giving us premium Now another interesting thing happened - King Salman appeared on the National television and told his people that he is setting up a 1 trillion dollar wealth fund for ensuring sustained growth in the future and to achieve independence from oil income. And at the same time its important to note that their foreign reserves had depleted considerably and they are also stressed

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

So it would be safe to assume that it is highly likely that they will act rationally at least in the foreseeable future (They are trying to list ARAMCO Subsidiaries) and hence my conclusion would be that it is highly likely that the oil price will steadily go up unless the usually known other factors cause any fluctuations Dr. Krishna 1. Tell me about yourself? 2. Sell yourself to me? Why should I hire you? 3. What are your strengths and don't give me the nice sweat answers that you have prepared for the interview 1. Estimate the market size of filtered cigarettes in India 2. A telecom operator presently operating in US want to enter the Mexico market? what should he consider? 1. A: Do you smoke? Me: No sir A: What is this man? why not?...... Alright, estimate the filtered cigarette market in India Me: Sir, filtered cigarette is the normal cigarette stick which cost around 15 Rs right? A: Its the cigarette with a filter at the end Me: Alright , May I take 1 minute to analyse this? A: Oh please please....., take 3 minutes... Me: I drew the diagram in the paper and then explained population-> APL/BPL-> Male/Female-> Age-> Intensity (No of cigarettes per day) 2. A telecom operator presently operating in US want to enter the Mexico market? what should he consider? Me: Could you please explain the exact nateure of business they are into? A: You can consider that they are into all the telecom related businesses (When I started asking further questions he interrupted) A: Tell me two reasons why he should enter the market which you will never see in any of the frameworks that you have ever seen in your entire life Me: Ok, that's interesting. It is a business reason or other reasons? A: Of course business reasons (I told him around 7 points) Me: One of them you said is very close to what I want, Keep trying (After a while i ran out of sensible points and then stopped). I looked at him and smiled and he smiled back after a while No 3rd round No 3rd Round No 3rd round NA I believe that getting trained on "body language signal interpretations" will help

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case

ANUBHA GUPTA Branch Mathematics & Computing Engineering Delhi Technological University Deloitte Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. Domain Technology Consulting (22M) Accenture Management Consulting I1 (Manager) 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. What did you do at Deloitte? 3. There was a particular line in my work-ex about IOT , he was really interested in knowing about that. There is a manufacturing firm with two plants in a country. Both have the same capacity. One is doing really well, Other is not doing so well. Give me three ways to increase the overall sales by the two manufacturing plants. I was not allowed to ask any questions. Only had to make three recommendations. - try to understand what is it that our competitors are doing better than us. and see if we can incorporate the same. - cater to a new geography with existing product line -diversify our product line to cater to new market segments I2 (Partner) Tell me something about yourself which is not there in your CV. Why MBA? Why IIM Lucknow? Which subjects do you want to study here in your second year? I am planning to start a new hair salon business in Gurgaon. Suggest feasibility and how should i go about doing it . N.A. I3 (Partner) - Telephonic interview 1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Some detailed questions about Deloitte (As he also had a prior workex at Deloitte). 3. What do I prefer, doing everything, with not much depth or doing only a few things, with clarity? 4. Why MBA? 5. What drives you in life? Estimate the number of passengers arriving at Lucknow airport on any given day.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Alvarez & Marsal Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Interviewer 4

Interview 4 HR Questions Interview Number – 4 Case Interview 4 case Transcript

Sahil Shah Jai Hind College, Mumbai EY, Ashwin Shah & Associates (Total25M) Jai Hind College, Mumbai Commerce EY, Ashwin Shah & Associates Business Tax

Branch Domain

Commerce Business Tax

25 Alvarez & Marsal Manager About work ex why consulting after business tax what are you expecting here Guesstimate the number of medium size cups being consumed in Lucknow on a yearly basis Broke the kind of users into age groups, further broke each age group into uses on a daily basis. Covered colleges like IIML on a separate basis. IMP: Do not forget to cover party use of medium size cups Suman, Director Why AnM? Why consulting Europe based auto player also exporting in China and South East Asia want to come to India. Open to any entry. Analyse India..industry..demand potential..mode of entry and geographies to be targeted Background check on the co. where are they operating, how old, what type of car, price range, competitor scenes, popularity in India. Used Pestel to analyse India as a conducive country, then covered the industry specifically using Ansoff matrix. In term of mode of entry, broke it into immediate options like exporting, licensing technology, franchises and longer term options like Mna, JVs, setting up facility. Rishav, Director Tell me about yourself Why AnM what do you bring to the table 1. Profit and sales given. Ask only one question and tell me how to decide to invest or not Ans- ask capita employed for ROCE 2. how many tennis balls to fit in an airplane 3. How to decide whether to enter fragmented market or consolidated I am a snacks manufacturer, local brand. Help me understand which market to enter. 4. I'm a mall provider. Help me decide whether to set up mall on highway 5. Pepsi type co. Wants to do dairy in India. Analyse and help to decide I am a long standing co with stagnant profit margins at 15 % for 3 years. Other are either at 20 or breakeven. Help me improve.

Any Remarks

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Deloitte Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Nitin Govind C Govt. Model Engineering College Mu Sigma (22M)

Branch Domain

Computer Science Analytics

Deloitte Sharmishta, Guesstimate round Tell me something that's not on the CV. Where are you from? Find out the number of people awake in your hometown at 3 A.M. Segmented into four age groups. Divided the age groups into occupations: students, newspaper publishers, policemen, security personnel, railway employees, metro construction workers, doctors, nurses. Interviewer aided once or twice but only for course correction. Gave a number using a top-down approach. Asked what percentage of total city percentage was the final number. Knowing the population of my hometown helped. Interview over. Estimated time: 15 minutes Vamsi Case Round A few questions on work ex. Type of analysis I did at Mu Sigma. Merger & Acquisition case. Two pharma companies, one based in the U.S. and the other based in Sweden. Different core competencies and operate in different markets. Aim was to analyse the synergies between the two companies. Analysed various cost synergies and revenue synergies. Broke down different products and markets of both companies. Looked to cut costs and improve revenues for new entity. Interviewers asked follow-up questions based on candidate’s answers. There were 3 follow-up questions in total. Was offered water in between the case. If offered, its suggested you accept it. It gave some extra time to think about the case. Finally asked for an executive summary. Do practice giving executive summaries of cases you practice. Comes in handy when they ask to summarise the work done in 2 minutes or less. Asked if candidate had any questions. Questioned what are the implications of new Visa norms on Deloitte, and how it affects our chances of travelling. Estimated Time: 1 hour Sudeep Krishna, Sr. Director Casual conversation. Started off from the CV, Naval Academy, Mu Sigma, Make A Difference. Picked out a few incidents from CV, asked what were some failures. Specifically asked if candidate regretted any decision. This round attempted to understand if the candidate was a good fit for the organisation. Estimated time: 10 minutes NA NA I felt that one pointer that worked for me was being a good listener at the interview. When they course-corrected me, I listened to them completely and tried to understand their approach. I further questioned them on the approach they suggested.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Mastercard Advisors Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Sourav Kumar Agarwal Hans Raj College Boston Consulting Group (11M)

Branch Domain

Commerce Consulting

MasterCard Advisors Senior Consultant Introduce Yourself? Why Consulting? What do you know about Mastercard and Mastercard Advisors? Client is a POS manufacturer looking to enter into an African country. Help I:Interviewer; M:Me; I: Case given M: Basic Clarifying questions about the case, regarding competition, non-cash transactions currently, etc. Took a minute to think after that. I presented a basic market entry structure and started to list down the parameters to be used while making the decision I: Gave some quantifiable values to each of the parameters and asked me to calculate the total market size. M: I was fairly quick at this and did the calculations in about 15 seconds. I: How much as a new entrant occupy of this total market share and give the break between the existing demand and new demand that we would be capturing. M: Again some heavy calculations, which was handled effectively. I: Any questions you have for us? M: Some random globe. I: Thanks! Senior HR Manager Introduce yourself. Why consulting? Why Mastercard Advisors? Why did you leave your job in less than 1 year time and not wait for MBA? Detailed discussion on work at BCG? Given a couple of real work life situation and asked to tackle them by showing a structural approach. Co-curricular interested in. Discussion about stand-up comedy industry(I had mentioned this as one of my interests during discussion) and renowned comedians and why? NA NA Manish, Partner NA Guesstimate the number of tea cups drunk in India in a year? NA

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

McKinsey & Company Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

PVS Anurag IIT Gandhinagar Branch Mechanical Engineering ZS Associates (12M) Domain Analytics McKinsey & Company Kunwar Singh – Partner 1. What was your JEE rank? 2. Tell me about yourself 3. Why McKinsey? A bank has approached you for resolution of a non-performing asset. How will you approach this? I - Tell me a few questions that you would like to ask the banker C - I would begin by understanding the asset in greater detail. Then look at the degrading performance of the asset over time (financial details included), the measures taken by the management to turn it around, the measures taken by the bank to stop it from turning into an NPA, the other competitors in the asset's industry are doing. I - Okay, the asset is a steel plant. The way this works is after surveying the asset, they would invite bids and then the process would follow. What all the options the bank has? C - The bank has two options - 1. Get out of the business after taking a haircut (or whatever scrap value is after the asset sale) 2. Convert the debt into equity (Retain minority stake and onboard a new investor) I - What are the factors that you will look for in an investor? C - 2 factors - 1. Nature of management - Whether it is already in the core business (steel) or it is a financial institution. We would also assess the commitment of the management towards the turnaround 2. Turnaround Plan - Do a cost benefit analysis of the proposal at hand. Look at certain parameters to evaluate the investment like I - Good, Thank you. Since we are out of time, I would not be able to take questions. I think you would already have asked any questions to your buddies Suveer Sinha – Partner 1. Tell me about yourself 2. How often do you get a chance to do planespotting in India (mentioned as non CV hobby in introduction) 3. Tell me about your analysis after planespotting? 4. Who do you think among Boeing and Airbus will emerge the winner in long run? 5. Do you know the market shares of Boeing and Airbus? We are working on the Pune smart city initiative. How will you improve mobility? C - Mobility can be looked under two broad heads - Public and Private. In public, we can look at bus (BRTS and Regular) and rail (metro). In private, we can look at cars (self and cabs) and others like autos etc. I - Lets focus on cars. Why do you think the travel time between 2 points A and B has doubled over last few decades? C - Congestion on roads would be leading to an increase in travel time. Congestion is possible through various sources - 1. Increase in total cars 2. Deteriorating condition of roads (Both quality and quantity) 3. Improper traffic management systems (Cops, Traffic signals) I - Why do you think the number of cars would increase? C - Two possible reasons - 1. Growth in self driven cars - Rising income levels and increasing population 2. Growth in commercial cab services - Rise in demand for cab services and presence of taxi aggregators I - What changes would you recommend to the mayor to improvise the situation? C - Short Term - 1. Increase use of public transport by ensuring proper operations of the existing capacity 2. Introduce temporary legal restrictions through schemes like the Odd-Even option to reduce traffic during some peak seasons Long Term - 1. Invest in increased public transport capacity 2. Promote car pooling as significant alternative 3. Optimize urban planning so that residential areas are found near all business locations, thus reducing the need for long distance travel I - Good, Thank you! Rajat Dhawan - Senior Partner 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Tell me something about your Caltech experience - How, Why, What learning you had? 3. Tell me something about your work at ZS. What projects you worked on? How did it help you? NA. Only HR Round. NA

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Megha Aggarwal Shri Ram College of Commerce United Airlines (11M)

Branch Domain

B.com Hons Finance, Internal Consulting

McKinsey & Co. Rajat Dhawan- Senior Partner Chitchatted about how I was doing and how the day was Asked me to walk him through my cv Asked pointed questions whenever he found something interesting (Eg My United Airlines work experience Smart cities and smart transportation on which I'd written a paper How I could score 100/100 in economics and from there what are the new current trends in the indian economy and what I think about how the government is doing on the economy) Then what career path do I see for myself? Why consulting? And if I had any questions for him and from there another conversation ensued. NA- only HR NA Kunwar Singh- Partner Tell me about yourself Where are you from? A bank has approached you for resolution of a non-performing asset. How will you approach this? Interviewer- So have you heard about the new policies coming around resolving NPAs? Me- No. I- That's okay, A bank has approached you for resolution of a non-performing asset. How will you approach this? Me- Okay, so to understand the problem better, what kind of NPA is this and what is the bank's objective? I- The bank wants to sell its loan on a steel NPA and has invited bids for the same. How would we go about evaluating those bids? Me- There are several approaches the bank can take. One, for instance, is evaluating WHO is bidding i.e. is it an HNI, a VC/PE firm (that may have prior experience with turning around such assets), another steel firm looking to acquire assets etc. and then look at their liquidity, profitability etc. I- What else do you think you can look at? Me- We can obviously look at the amount of each bid and in what form are they bidding- is it cash, equity in their firm, equity in the asset, cash + equity or any other such form. I- Do you think they will provide equity in their own firm to the bank? Me- Okay, that may not be an option- they have better options to offer, with lower risk. I- What would be the risks associated with offering equity? Me- Dilution of stake, threat of control and takeover, interference in day to day working etc. I- Okay, sounds good. Do you have any questions for me? Me- *had a lot of things to talk about, this went on for quite a long time, with several knocks on the door* Misha Pratap- Associate Partner He said let's jump straight to cases, I've been asked to refrain from chitchatting. 1st- About payment banks and how do we make a profitability model for them. 2nd- About a painting he owned that he wanted to give to Christie's, London and what reserve price should Christie's keep for it. I- Do you know what are payment banks? Me- Yes, like PayTM... I- Yes, good, so imagine PayTM. How will you make a profitability model for them? Me- Okay, so for this I'll look at the revenues and costs for the bank. I- What are revenues for a payments bank? Like regular banks, they cannot invest your money elsewhere. And they can also not lend this money. So two major sources of revenues for banks are out of the question. Me- They can charge their partner merchants some amount for each transaction done through them, they also generate huge amount of transaction data which can be sold to companies who may value such data, say insurance companies... I- Okay, leave this, let's do another case. I have a painting. I want to give it to Christie's, London. What reserve price should Christie's keep for it? Me- Who is your painting by and what is its subject? I- A relatively unknown artist, depicts a house of a madman who did not allow people around his house. Me- How much did you buy it for? What is it's make? I- I found it in my attic. It's a simple oil painting, has a frame and a back sheet. Me- What's special about this painting?

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Any Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

I- This green thing you see here (he was pointing to the bulletin board) on the painting, it is quite rare. Not available now. Should I sell just the structure, or the entire painting? Should I cut the structure in 4 parts and sell it? Me- But if your painting is of a subject that is unique, there might be value... I- Oh that was just a madman's house. Just because he didn't allow people to paint it doesn't mean anybody was actually interested in it. Me- Okay, but cutting the structure into 4 parts, means your frame will be useless. I- That's okay though. Okay good, do you have any questions for me? Me- *had things to talk about as I knew his background, this went on for quite a while* What worked well for me was communication, confidence, presence and the ability to engage the interviewer in interesting conversations. The interviewers were all senior people from the industry and had many experiences to share- just waiting for me to ask the right questions.

Harsh Gandhi Narsee Monjee College of Commerce Branch Commerce / Chartered Accountant and Economics / Institute of Chartered Accountants of India Articleship at Lovelock & Lewes (PwC Domain Assurance Network Firm) (36M Internship) McKinsey & Co. Dr. Karan Narang – Principal 1) Your CV tells me what you have done. Tell me who you are. (At this point, I mentioned about my interest in World War II) 2) Tell me the 2 crucial points where the Axis Powers lost the WW II (Stalingrad/Leningrad and Attack on USA) 3) Do you think the air attack on Great Britain was not a turning point? Do you know what happened? 4) What are your sources of the WW II? What documentaries have you watched? 5) You said your hobby is reading. Tell me which are the top 3 non-fiction books you would recommend to me. (Recommended a blend of 3 books - This Time is Different by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff (Finance), Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins (Psychology and Self-help) and Mein Kampf - the autobiography of Adolf Hitler (Strategy and Leadership)) 6) Tell me the 3 best attributes you could derive about Hitler and relate it to the BIO course you have studied at IIM L. Tell me the 3 things that you want to pick up from Hitler's vision. Estimate the size of the marriage industry in India Assumed the marriage industry to derive its main business from 1st time weddings. I divided the population of India by age and then decided the marriageable age as 21-30. Assumed the population in this age group to be 30 crore people. Then I assumed that I would take a weighted average age wise with highest weights to the age groups 21-24. The interviewer asked me to use a simpler measure. I thought of dividing into 5 years of age groups and then giving weights based on that. The interviewer wanted a simpler measure. Finally, he suggested that I divide it into 10 groups of 3 crores each. That was 1.5 crore marriages every year. Then I divided this based on the income level of the families as given in the Economic Survey 2017. Based on that, I assumed that a couple would spend 200% of quarterly incomes. Finally I arrived at an amount. Abhishek Agrawal – Principal 1) Tell me about yourself. (Talked about my interest in cricket) 2) Why cricket? How cricket? What kind of tools do you use? 3) Give me some insights which are very difficult to decipher without proper knowledge and tell me how you arrived at them. Also tell me how you will use them. 4) What would you change about the current Indian cricket team? A company X is thinking of acquiring a company Y. The feasibility study has been done and Y is a suitable fit financially. What would you evaluate next? This was not a normal case per se. Hence I focused on 3 things - synergistic benefits (operational and financial), valuation and stakeholder management. I also talked about some niche problems such as anti-competition, capital and other commitments (off balance sheet items) and special liabilities (such as regulatory liabilities in case of telecom industries and pension liabilities like that of Tata Corus UK). Post this, I inquired in depth about the background of both the companies and the reason for X's decision to acquire. Based on this, I figured out that X was looking to diversify its risk and Y was a good company to start with. I then asked about what my specific focus should be on. The interviewer told me to talk about synergy and how it will affect the exercise of acquisition. Hence I talked about some examples of financial and operational synergies and then talked about valuation of synergistic benefits and the division of synergistic benefits between the acquirer and the target. Based on this, I was able to identify the main issue was the valuation of synergy in this transaction.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Interviewer 4 Interview 4 HR Questions Interview Number – 4 Case Interview 4 case Transcript Any Remarks

Nitesh None Was given a case of a car rental company in the US in the Chicago City and New York City Area. 3 aspects were to be looked at. The whole case was numbers heavy. 1) Find out the BEP for this company. 2) Find out the possible costs which have not been put in this analysis (Drivers' Expenses such as tolls etc was the main issue) 3) What factors can you think about in this analysis? (It was using the PESTLE framework) 4) (At this point, I was given a segment details of the cars and their costs.) The company is thinking of using only Category 1 cars. Evaluate their decision. (I performed a Relevant Costing analysis. Also mentioned that this is only financial analysis. Other analysis must also be done.) What other factors would you look at? (Used the Porter's 5 forces and 4P's) Suwek - Senior Consultant None I am from Pune (a city in Maharashtra, my home state). The use of public transport has reduced. Can you tell me what are ALL the possible factors for this?` Since I had to list down all factors, I asked about the time horizon and the benchmark based on which the decrease was seen. I then divided it into customer-side and factor-side issues. Talked about all possible external and internal factors. Was a very long interview session - 10:30-13:00. However, all interviews ran for 20-30 minutes on an average.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Abhishek Kumar Hans Raj College NA

Branch Domain

Economics NA

McKinsey & Co. Karan Narang Tell me about yourself Client is Sharad Pawar, BCCI President...2007 World Cup was a disaster. How to make 2011 world cup in India a success What does success mean..identify various stakeholders and prioritize in terms of who to satisfy After identifying various stakeholders, move on to how to plan, execute, promote event VC Interview Leadership roles Client is an Indian car manufacturer...worried about electric cars becoming available in the future Identify various considerations which go into buying a car Calculate the cost of ownership (purchase price plus further maintenance) for fuel and electric vehicles Suvir Interest in sports and how do I pursue it in campus Pune witnessing extreme traffic problems.... give advice Qualifying questions like timelines, areas, time of day Causes can be: Quality of roads Traffic management and planning Number of vehicles Other natural/social/economic events In the past few years, a lot of commercial and corporate complexes had opened in outskirts Problems identified: Poor public transport and hence increase use of 2 wheelers Increase use of Cab Aggregators Poor planning of traffic and routes Recommendations.. Structure it as planning and execution Short term and long term Idea generation

Any Remarks

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case

Shubham Jain Shri Ram College of Commerce Deutsche CIB Center (23M)

Branch Domain

Commerce Finance

McKinsey & Co. Malcolm Gomes – Associate Partner 1) Tell me about yourself? 2) What was your role at Deutsche Bank? 3) Why do you want to do Consulting? 4) Why Mckinsey? I am Telecom company operating in India and my profits are declining Are the other players also facing the profitability issue in the industry? Malcolm: Yes, all players are facing the issue but it is more prominent for our company. Me: How much is the decline in profitability and since when have we seen a decline? Malcolm: The decline is around 20% and we have been seeing it since the last 1 year. Me: Can I assume the current scenario of the Indian telecom industry? The entry of Jio and the subsequent happenings? Malcolm: Yes, you can assume that. Me: (After taking 15 seconds to think) The issue profitability can be either because of Cost rising or revenue falling. Which one do you think is more prominent for our company and you would like me to focus first one? Malcolm: You can start with anyone? Me: Okay, let me start with the cost. Have we seen a rise in the operating cost of the company in the last 1 year? Malcolm: Yes, the cost has increased. But, it’s in line with inflation. We haven’t noticed any extraordinary spike in our cost drivers. Me: Okay, do you mean to say that the cost has more or less grown as per normal inflation in the country and this has been the case for all the players? Malcolm: Yes (Perplex, as to why did he let me venture the cost vertical. Reluctant to pursue further, I decided to switch) Me: In that case, I am assuming that cost is not the factor leading to decline in our profitability and hence I would like to look at the revenue. Is that okay? Malcom: Yes Me: For a telecom company, the revenue is dependent on the number of subscribers that the company has and the average revenue generated per customer. Have we seen a decline in any of the two? Malcolm: The number of subscribers has increased a bit. But, yes, the average revenue per customer has declined in the recent times. Me: Okay. The major revenue drivers for the company would – Calls, Data, Text Message, Broadband (if applicable) and VAS. Is there any major revenue driver that I am missing? Malcolm: Those are indeed the major revenue drivers for us. You can focus only on the data and calls segment Me: As we have seen in the industry recently, there has been a major decline in the revenue from calls as customers are moving towards more data consumption and using internet for voice and video calls. Is it possible that the revenue we generate from data is less as compared to revenue that we generate from calls? Malcolm: Yes, the trend you mentioned is true. But it is true for all the other players in the industry. Then why is only our revenue going down despite the subscribers increasing. Me: Taking a personal example, it is possible that even though people are buying our company’s sim card, but they are not utilizing it. Everybody has a dual sim card phone nowadays. So, people might be using other company’s data and call, causing a decline in our average revenue per customer as we are not generating any revenue from existing or the new subscribers. Malcolm: True, might be possible. Due to paucity of time, we will stop here. Kunwar Singh - Partner 1) Tell me about yourself? 2) Detailed discussion on my role at Deutsche Bank? (Kunwar’s expert area is Banking and Finance) Statement: One of Mckinsey’s banking client (say SBI) is facing an issue. One of SBI’s biggest borrower has filed for bankruptcy and it owes SBI a large amount of money. The dissolution process is about to start and SBI has approached Mckinsey to help with the entire proceeding. The problem statement is 2 fold: 1) You are going to meet SBI for the first time What are the initial set of questions that you will ask SBI regarding the borrower’s bankruptcy? 2) SBI is the only creditor and has most of the say in the bankruptcy proceeding. For the dissolution of the company, the company has received the following 3 options: a. Old management wants to buy the shares of the company and re-build it. b. Private equity firms are willing to buy the company

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Interview 2 case Transcript

c. Other competitors in the same industry wants to take over the company Which are the various criteria on the basis of which SBI should evaluate the different options available to the borrower. Me: (Since most of the information was already provided, I didn’t ask any qualifying questions) (After taking 15 seconds to think) – If I am going to meet SBI for the first time to help them with the borrower’s bankruptcy, I would like to know the following answers from SBI first: • In detail, what is the criteria for evaluating a company’s credit capacity and rating that SBI follows • Was the procedure duly followed in the case of said borrower? If no, what were the deviations • If yes, then were the follow-up procedure followed when the company started defaulting on its commitment? Why was SBI not able to identify that the company is not in good shape and the probability of it defaulting on its loan commitment was increasing? • Now, since the dissolution proceeding has already started, what is SBI’s expectation and objective? • How many other creditors/banks have lent to the company and what are their expectation? Kunwar: Okay, these questions seem reasonable. You might have missed couple of important questions but that will get covered up in the 2nd part of the problem statement. Me: (After understanding the problem statement more carefully and re-iterating the same for confirmation) So, the first criteria that I would use to judge the various options would be the Objective of all three parties interested in the proceeding. That will help me identify which option is best suited for SBI’s needs. Kunwar: Okay, that’s valid. What else? Me: (Taking some time to think) Kunwar: (Feeling my unease, as I was unfamiliar with bankruptcy process) Okay, let me help with another criterion. You would look at the management of the company and how competent they are. Makes sense? Me: Yes, that would be very much relevant. On the same lines, we would also need to look at the history of all the 3 options and how they had fared in similar situations. Next criteria would be the credit ratings of all the 3 options as well as the % return that SBI would get on their outstanding loan in each of the three cases.

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Kunwar: Right. Due to lack of time we will stop here. Suvir Sinha - Partner 1) What is most interesting part of your CV? (A very good opportunity to drive the interview towards your strength area) – 15 minutes’ discussion on the same One of the state government (say Maharashtra) has approached you with a problem. The traffic condition in one of the city (say Pune) has been deteriorating and the roads are always congested. Come up with a plan to improve the condition of roads and traffic in the city. Me: Since when has the city been facing congestion issue? Is it a one off thing or has it been increasing steadily over the time? Suvir: It has been increasing steadily and now the government wants to tackle the situation Me: Okay, Is the problem because of increasing number of vehicles in the city or due to lack of infrastructure? Suvir: Both are related. The numbers of vehicles are increasing in the city and thus the infrastructure is not adequate to handle the same. Me: Then I would like to divide our solution into 2 parts. One to reduce the number of vehicles in the city and two, increase the transport infrastructure. Suvir: Okay, that sounds good. Go ahead. Me: So, to decrease the number of vehicles in the city, the government needs to discourage people of the city to use private vehicles by providing them with a good alternative public transportation. Can I assume that Buses and Auto are the major public transport available? Suvir: Yes, you can focus on these 2 modes of transportation. You can also consider Ola/Uber under the public government and how those can be leveraged to improve the condition. Me: Okay. Starting with Bus transportation, would you say that there are enough buses on the roads to cater to the needs of the public? And are the routes of the buses efficiently utilized? Suvir: Well, the buses are always utilized to the full capacity, so there is scope to increase the number of buses further. To answer your second point, the buses apply to only certain parts of the city which have a high demand for public transportation. Me: Okay, in that case, the government look to not only increase the number of buses plying on the road but also cater to not so popular areas. Also, what is the typical profile of the public that use public transportation? If only the lower strata use the buses, then the government can come up with a premium AC bus service with better facilities and services (govt can charge higher amount) which can be positioned for the middle income group. Suvir: Okay, those are valid points. What else? Me: Apart from the points mentioned, I believe that timing of the buses is another important

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Any Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

factor that determines if the public will use the buses or not. For that, I suggest that road infrastructure i.e. traffic lights as well road condition needs to be improved and a proper scheduling of the buses with fixed timings is implemented. Suvir – Okay, I would have liked you to focus on the Ola/Uber solution as well. However, due to limited time we will have to stop the interview here. Suvir: Do you have any questions for me? Me: I believe, I have cleared all my doubts in the many interactions that we had. So, no questions as of now. Thank you. HR questions are extremely important. Even if your case does not go well, if you are able to create an impression from your HR answers, you will clear the round. Satyam Taneja Delhi Technological University Branch Mechanical Engineering McKinsey & Co. (23M) Domain Research Analyst- Procurement McKinsey & Company Malcolm Golmes, Associate Partner 1) Tell me a situation in which you solved a major challenge & how did you go about it 2) Tell me a situation in which you handled a conflict & convinced someone You are a telecom company and your profits are falling. Identify the issue. This round was a 15-minute interview which began with the case first, and was then followed by 2-3 HR questions. The interviewer was generally pushy & tried to throw me off at multiple occasions initially, but later became helpful & conversational. The case was a bit twisted logically (probably because interviewer also wanted to complicate it & throw me off), and it took me some time to get into the groove for solving & picking the right details. However, it was fairly standard, given that it was based on the telecom industry. Here's a shortened & simplified version of the discussion: Interviewer: Hi Satyam, hope you are having a good day so far. We do not have much time, let’s start directly by solving a case. Let’s aim to solve this within 7 minutes. You are a telecom company and your profits are falling. Identify the issue. Candidate: Started by asking details regarding the company, where is it based(India), since when are revenues falling (6 months) and then proceeded to draw a structure. Started by Profits=RevenuesCosts.... Interviewer: Don't focus on creating a structure on the sheet. Let’s just problem solve. Both revenues and costs are increasing. Candidate: Ok, so let’s look at the cost side first. Can you tell me more about the rate at which they are growing compared to the revenue growth? Interviewer: So costs are growing at the rate of inflation. Candidate: Ok so, costs are growing at rate of inflation and our revenues are also growing, but since our profits are decreasing, it means our revenue is growing at a rate slower than inflation rate. Interviewer: Correct. Candidate: So let’s look at the revenue side. Its driven by two factors; the number of users we have & the average revenue we get per user. What do we know about the growth in these two areas? Interviewer: Number of users has been increasing faster than industry, while ARPU has been decreasing faster than industry. At this point I took the hint to ask compare growth rates qualitatively with industry, instead of with time. The discussion flowed to segments that comprise ARPU; voice and data, usage across the segments, post which we discussed pricing mechanism (bundling for both prepaid and post-paid). The interviewer wanted me to make a guess on why the different growth rates were the way they were. I did a quick synthesis and realized that existing customers were possibly switching over to our plans for new customers based on the discussion (vaguely remember now). Post that, interviewer wanted me to share some recommendations on fixing the situation, which I did. The interviewer had in general been pushy throughout the interview, but seemed satisfied with the solution. By this point, we had received a knock on the door, but he wanted to talk more. There were a couple of HR questions: 1) Tell me a situation in which you solved a major challenge & how did you go about it

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

2) Tell me a situation in which you handled a conflict & convinced someone Kunwar Singh, Partner The second round was a short round with some quick conversational questions and then a quick case. Interviewer was fairly friendly, but wanted me to be quick with the case. Here are few opening questions which I remember: 1) Who was your previous interviewer and how was your interview experience? 2) What was the case about and what did you arrive at? 3) You worked at McKinsey before. Could you tell me about a few engagements and people you worked with? This was followed by a discussion of the Indian Tyre industry, since I had mentioned that I published a document about the current supply situation while I was at McKinsey.

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer: So you published a document on the Indian Tyre industry in McKinsey. What was this document about & when did you publish it? Candidate: The document was about the supply situation in the Indian industry from a sourcing perspective; industry competitiveness, key segments & players, capacity situation, expansion plans, current trends affecting the industry, cost structure etc. Published in Jan 2017. Interviewer: You published it fairly recently(10 months ago). Could you share three insights from the document? Candidate: Shared three learnings from the document. Also mentioned about some changes that have occurred in the industry since then (investing in Tyre stocks helped) Interviewer: Okay, so can you provide me the key segments you covered in your document and also provide the breakdown across the segments? Candidate: Mentioned the segments covered & ask whether volume or value wise industry split is required. Interviewer: Both Candidate: Didn't remember exact numbers for all. Gave rough range estimates. Interviewer(seeming satisfied): Okay, so let’s do a quick case. You are a bank which has lent 5000 crores to a manufacturing company in the steel sector & you are concerned about this company since they are making losses. How would you go about assessing the future of this loan account & what action you should take? Interviewer: You are a bank which has lent 5000 crores to a manufacturing company in the steel sector & you are concerned about this company since they are making losses. How would you go about assessing the future of this loan account & what action you should take? Candidate: Started by asking a few background questions about the company, its products, since when is it in debt etc. Interrupted. Interviewer: Just list down the broad parameters you would look at to assess the company. Candidate: Took a minute and shared broad parameters; current profitability, future profitabilityprojected revenues & costs. Also mentioned how we could arrive project future profitability by estimating future price levels for steel based on current & future industry demand and supply situation. Interviewer: Okay, so what quantitative factors would you specifically look at? Candidate: Mentioned. Interviewer: Okay so here are figures for current prices, quantity sold & costs, projected growth rates for the three & applicable simple interest rate. Tell me what will happen? Candidate: Calculated current revenue, which was less than costs so company was making losses. However, quickly realized qualitatively that revenues would grow at a faster pace than costs, so company will eventually become operationally profitable. Explained current and expected P&L situation while also mentioning that details regarding taxes, depreciation etc. were not available. Interviewer: Okay, anything else you will look at & anything else you will do? Candidate: This represents the paying ability of the company. Even if they might get paying ability in future, they may pay still not pay us back, so we need to actively monitor the account & ensure the bank gets a say in company operations if we are to restructure the loan. The discussion was really quick, with the case lasting ending within 4-5 minutes. Case did involve some financial understanding, so having the basics right helped. Partner didn't want to spend much time on the case due to shortage of time, so he was guiding me through it with the expectation to be quick in solving the problem.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Rajat Dhawan, Senior Partner 1) Tell me about yourself 2) Tell me about your work at McKinsey as a Research Analyst 3) You have mentioned about winning a Firm Competition for a digitization project. Can you explain to me what was the project about and what was your role? 4) Could you explain more to me about the Stanford Funded Venture- Avanti and Credence Capital, mentioned on your CV? What are these two about and what did you do? 5) Why do you want to do consulting & why do you want to join McKinsey? No case was asked. As soon as my second round ended, I was rushed into a room where a tablet was set up with Rajat waiting over a video call. I was given also given a mobile with Rajat on line, as the tablet speaker was not working due to a technical glitch. This was a short interview where Rajat's focus was to get to know me as an individual. The interview was rather one sided, with Rajat asking me straightforward HR questions about my background from my CV, and me responding to them. Probably the only tricky part about the interview was due to the technical glitch. 1 minute into the interview, there was some issue due to which I could no longer see Rajat on screen. He asked me to ignore it and carry on with what I was saying, which thankfully I did without being bothered. Due to this, throughout the round I could not gauge Rajat's reaction to my answers, and understand when I had spoken enough since he was fairly quiet. However, there was an interesting twist to it. Towards the end of the round, I asked Rajat if we should connect the video call again, to which he replied that he could still observe me and had just turned off his camera. Surprise! The interview ended with Rajat asking me if I had any questions for him, which I mentioned that I didn't since I had been at the Firm and knew the expectations.

Any Remarks

The entire conversation lasted for ten minutes, and ten more minutes later I was given the offer. My interviews with all three Partners were really short. I was probably the first to be interviewed that day, so they had a lot of candidates to interview and wanted to be quick. Throughout the rounds there was an expectation to be really succinct, with focus more on pure problem solving, demonstrating my approach & arriving at an answer quickly, rather than going through the lengthy paper based case structuring approach which we typically tend to do. I had to mould my responses accordingly and carefully pick the hints interviewer was giving to rush through the case. I believe this responsiveness to interviewer, flexibility in approach, being quick & engaging in problem solving worked best for me. I would also suggest candidates to not analyse how an interview went until all interviews are done. Throughout my three rounds, I had a feeling that I could do so much more or tell much more if we had the time. However, keeping such thoughts aside & approaching every interview afresh was & is the right way to go.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College

Any Remarks

Kabir Khattar Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Branch Business Management Studies, University of Delhi Verity Knowledge Solutions (UBS) Domain Investment Banking (12M) McKinsey & Company Suveer Sinha – Partner My general impressions after my interviews were that more than anything, McKinsey looks for a ‘good fit’ while recruiting. Of course, the case solving abilities of the candidate are of paramount importance, however, I believe, McKinsey places equal importance on whether the candidate seems like he/she would fit well with the company culture. Please bear in mind these are just my views. Moreover, all my interviews were inadvertently (or not) split equally into a case and plenty of HR questions, which corroborates the fact that McKinney is willing to utilise a major portion of a 20-minute interview to ‘get to know you’. The first round began with a ‘Tell me about yourself’, “You have pursued diverse activities for long periods, out of these, which one is a true passion? Why?”. He had a few follow up questions and seemed satisfied with the answers, post which we started the case. Problem Statement – I am the head of a 5-star hotel, which has a small presence in India. I want to expand our footprint and compete with the likes of Taj effectively. Suggest how should I go about it. Thoughts – It was a real case that the partner had worked on recently. It was more of a conversation where he took active interest in the structure I drew and probed me further on various subheads with questions like, why would my IRR be higher in India versus other countries, what are the key cost considerations, etc. At large, the interviewer answered the qualifying questions generously and kept suggesting directions in which he want me to think. Malcolm Gomes – Associate Partner This round was roughly divided into two sections - a guesstimate of 10 minutes, and 10 minutes of HR questions wherein the interviewer was a tough one. HR - Asked me 'Why consulting'. After answering that, I ended my answer with how McKinsey was the most suitable fit for me, which prompted the question 'Why McKinsey'. Of course I had reasoned both those answers out to the T, they were well researched and genuine. Apart from this, the interviewer asked me what all had I done after quitting my job in the previous year. Turned into a bit of a stress interview as he was not satisfied with anything I said, repeatedly asked me “Okay, what else did you do?”. It was important to maintain calm and answer as truthfully as possible. Guesstimate: I am the CEO of a chemicals company starting off operations in India. I want to recruit a team of engineers. To that end, estimate the number of chemical engineers in the talent pool. There is no prescribed way for solving a guesstimate, one can take any approach one wants, as long as one is able to communicate it well. To begin with, I asked questions such as whether the company was looking for undergraduates or postgraduates, whether there were preferences in terms of urban/rural, skilled/unskilled, etc. I spent 2-3 minutes on asking questions to properly define the problem before beginning the case, after which I asked whether I should be putting numbers alongside the structure, he said yes. Throughout the case, he didn’t let me finish a thought, kept pushing to come up with numbers quickly (maybe because my PST wasn’t the best, just maybe), and kept me on my toes. My rough approach involved a division into urban and rural and then using, age group divide, literacy levels and proportion of people who move from primary to secondary to higher secondary to graduate studies. Most importantly, I kept checking with him if my assumptions (and consequent numbers) seemed fair. Kunwar Singh – Partner "Statement: One of McKinsey’s banking client is facing an issue. One of the biggest borrowers has filed for bankruptcy and it owes the bank a large sum. The dissolution process is about to start and SBI has approached Mckinsey to help with the proceedings. The problem statement is 2 fold: 1) You are going to meet the bank officials for the first time What are the initial set of questions that you will ask the bank regarding the borrower’s bankruptcy? 2) Our client is the only creditor and the loudest voice in the bankruptcy proceedings. For the dissolution of the company, the company has received the following 3 options: a. Old management wants to buy the shares of the company and re-build it. b. Private equity firms are willing to buy the company c. Other competitors in the same industry wants to take over the company Suggest a few parameters based on which the bank should evaluate the different options available to the borrower. The problem statement was repeated across many candidates, hence the solution should be described in detail by others here. -

Name Graduation College

Shivani Bansal NIT Durgapur

Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case

Interview 3 case Transcript

Branch

Computer Science

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Microsoft (35M)

Domain

Software Engineer

McKinsey & Co. Don't remember Introduce yourself. Describe a situation where you faced a conflicting situation while working in a team and how did you resolve it. In the end was asked if I had any questions. The client is a car rental company. It operates at different points in the city and airport. It rents car for leisure and business purpose. The profits of the company have been declining. What are the different aspects you will look into while solving this case? This was followed by a problem where Revenue, Cost breakup and profit figures were given. There were four categories of cars. Find the change in Profit if all the four categories were replaced by a single category. Interviewer- Stated the case. Me: Asked few clarifying questions. Then proceeded with the issue tree. The interviewer wanted to see the entire approach and not a particular solution. Divided the problem into revenues and cost. First laid the entire structure of the revenue streams and discussed what could lead to decrease in revenues. Then proceeded to cost. Went through a supply chain approach, figuring out various cost drivers. Interviewer: Was satisfied with the approach. Gave data for per day revenue, cost (fuel price, maintenance cost, etc.) and profit margin. Also gave annual fuel prices figures for 4 category of cars. Asked to find out the change in profit if all 4 categories were replaced by a single category. Me: Needed some more data to find out the solution. Interviewer: Provided the data. Me: Found out the per day change in fuel price and finally the profit. Interviewer: Correct answer. Any questions? Interviewer: Kunwar. Designation: Principal Introduce yourself. What was your role and responsibilities at Microsoft? In the end was asked if I had any questions. Your client is a bank. The bank had given loan to a steel company. The steel company recently turned insolvent. Now the bank is looking for bidders for the steel company. What factors should the bank consider while deciding whom to give the bid. Interviewer: Your client is a bank. The bank had given loan to a steel company. The steel company recently turned insolvent. Now the bank is looking for bidders for the steel company. You are a consultant at work. What will you ask the bank the very first day of your case. Me: Stated the various aspects I would consider like current investments/mode of payment(if equity, then financial strength of the bidder and expected market value in future) Previous records/ Relevance of business, etc. After stating the factors, did a pros/cons analysis.

Structure, problem solving skills and presence matter the most during the interviews. Be calm and confident during the interview and make it conversational.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

The Boston Consulting Group Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3

Vatsal Malavia BITS Pilani Branch Electronics & Instrumentation Zinnov Management consulting (23M) Domain Management Consulting The Boston Consulting Group Perseus Patrawala, Principal None I am a telecom service provider. I have been losing market share. I went from being in top 4 telecom companies to top 6. Can you suggest new partnerships and distribution channels for me to explore? Currently I only sell through local kirana stores. Also I want you to explore cost benefit analysis for setting up a store. Me: I would like to know more about the company first. What exactly does it offer? Where does it operate? How long has it been in business? Interviewer: All services same as Airtel/Vodafone. Operate pan India- urban & rural both. In business for 15-20 years M: Target Customers? I: Middle-aged to elderly major customers. Not so much penetration in youth. M: What’s the competition? I: Same as contemporary M: Let me divide the customers into two segments. Existing customer segments and new customer segments. Existing customer segment can be further divided into offline and online channels. Within offline channels, divide between working class and retired. For working we can either contact through corporates or directly. Corporates will include offering customised prepaid and post-paid plans through their companies. Direct contact can be either in person or through cold calls. For the online part we can divide the customer segment between educated and non-educated classes. For educated we can promote website and mobile applications. For non-educated we can connect through SMS and USST. For the new customer segment divide between students and early working class which are also those having newly married. Further dividing each segment into offline and online. Within students for offline we can setup stalls in colleges, canteens, malls and cafes, Direct contact through calls and salespersons. Online can be done through website, digital marketing, and mobile applications. Similarly, we can do for the early working class- have bundled corporate and family plans. I: Okay let’s move on to the second part. I want to set up a store. Can you tell me how to go about it. M: Can you tell me more about the store? I: It is same as a regular Airtel store. M: Where do you want to set it up? I: It should be a pilot store to gauge the response. You can take a location of your choice. M: Okay, I would like to open a store in Charni Road, Mumbai where I stay. It is a prime residential location in South Mumbai. I: Okay, go ahead. Can you list all the costs in setting up the store? M: Dividing the expense into human and non-human expense. Human expense will include salaries of executives, store staff and security guard. Under non-human we will have all other costs such as Storage, inventory, all machines and equipment, rent, utilities. I: Ignoring the 1 time set up cost, can you estimate the monthly expense of running the store? M: Sure! There is a Vodafone store there with 10 desks. Ours being a smaller firm, let’s assume there are 5 desks, plus storage area plus seating- Rent will be arouond 1Lakh per month. Salaries of executives will be around 25k for 8 executives, 15k for 3 staff members and 15k for security guard making it a total of 2.6 Lakhs/month. The utilities spend for electricity, fuel for generator, water, internet will be around 5060K per month. The total comes out to be around 4-4.5 Lakhs/month. I: Fair Enough! Can you tell me the revenue streams of the store? M: These stores are usually cost centres as they work more towards customer complain resolution. Some revenue streams can be sale of new SIM connections, sale of better schemes and VAS, any merchandise in the store. We can also track the complaint resolution success rate to monitor productivity of the store. I: Sure. That will be it. It was a good case. Thank you. Nitin Chandaliya, Principal Tell me Something about yourself? Why not finance? What does Zinnov do? What did you do at Zinnov? Some questions around family background None None Vikas Jain, Partner

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview 3 HR Questions

Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Other Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Do you have any questions for me? What was your work like at Zinnov? Questions around specific projects at Zinnov. What do you think about the engineering services industry in general (work-ex related) None None I had 2 interviews which did not involve a case. What helped in these interviews was making casual conversations and building a rapport with the interviewer. Creating a comfort level with the interviewer helped me a log way. Talking with confidence is the key.

Abhay Agrawal IIT Roorkee i3 Consulting (25M)

Branch Domain

Metallurgical & Materials Engineering Management Consulting

The Boston Consulting Group Akshat Gupta, Project Leader Had an informal "how have you been" conversation on the way down to the interview room from the waiting room. He seemed friendly and kept referring to me as 'sir'. Introduced himself and then asked about me. Went on to the case. The case was to increase the sales of a mutual fund. With minimal knowledge of the industry, I did not take any chances. I told him that I am not aware of how a mutual fund is being sold and asked details about the company, operations, customers, competitors' performance and other clarifications. Realized that he does not want me to go into the depths of banking and that the problem can be considered as increasing sales of a standard product. Used a value chain approach to suggest ideas to increase sales at each stage. He kept guiding me throughout the case with suggestive questions. Prateek Gupta, Principal He briefly introduced himself as we walked to the interview room. Started with the case as soon as we sat for the interview. Post the case he asked me one major accomplishment from one of my PORs. The case was to increase the profitability of a new restaurant that is currently operating at break-even. The clarifying questions helped conclude that the restaurant was a 3-month old restaurant in a corporate space, serving Indian food. There were other restaurants serving all varieties of food and most were doing well. The issue was lack of customers, which could be solved by decreasing the prices. The key was to reach this conclusion after which it was a simple mathematical case of deciding optimum price by asking increase in footfall and costs due to reduced costs, and then calculating profits. He asked for some recommendations at the end, and I gave some recommendations aside from the discussion we had, such as increasing operational hours, phone delivery to offices and exploring other revenue streams.

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Aviral Saxena IIT Bombay Ernst & Young (EY) (11M)

Branch Domain

Chemical Engineering (B.Tech.) Management Consulting

The Boston Consulting Group Vikash Jain, Partner Tell me about yourself. Who will be more valuable in the near future - techies or MBAs? Why? Do you have any questions for me? Improvement of situation of telecom company with 3 products The interviewer walked with me from the waiting room to the interview room. On the way he asked me about myself and introduced himself. We made some small talk. The case was not about following frameworks and arriving at solution. It was just a logical conversation about the business problem at hand. A table was drawn out which had the three products, landlines (fixed lines), mobiles and corporates (used in that order from here onwards) with the following information – 1. Individual revenue share for the company – 30%, 50%, 20% 2. EBITDA for each product – 20%, -10% and 15% 3. Market growth rate for each segment – -5%, 15% and 10% 4. Competitive positioning of the company in each segment – top 3 in landline, 6th in mobiles, and top 3 incorporates 5. Total revenue for the company – INR 10,000 crores 6. Total long-term debt for the company – INR 30,000 crores Interviewer (I): Firstly, tell me whether the company is making any kind of profits. Candidate (C): Revenues = Net company revenue*Revenue share for that product. Revenue for Landline = 10,000*0.3 = 3000 crores. Revenue for Mobile = 10,000*0.5 = 5,000 crores. Revenue for Corporates = 10,000*0.2 = 2,000 crores. Profits for a product = Revenue for that product*EBITDA for that product. Profit for landline = 3,000*20% = 600 crores. Profit for Mobiles = 5,000*(-10%) = -500crores (Loss). Profit for Corporates = 2,000*15% = 300 crores. Therefore, net profit = Sum of individual profits = 300 crores – 500 crores + 300 crores = INR 100 crores. Therefore, I would say that the company is making a gross profit of INR 100 crores. I: Okay, so what would you say about the health of the company? C: I learnt in the course Financial Analysis and Reporting this year that the EBITDA should be able to cover for the interest payments of its debts, using the EBITDA to Interest Coverage Ratio. So I would assume 5% rate of interest on long term debt? I: 5% is too low. Take a higher number. C: Okay, I’ll take 10% then, if that is fine? I: Sure, go ahead with that. C: So, the interest payment for this year = 30,000 crore*0.1*1 = 3,000 crores. This is a lot of interest payment, and our current profits are not high enough to cover for this. I would thus say that the company is not in a very good financial health. I: Okay. What do you think is the culprit? C: The negative EBITDA margin of mobile phones, which has a huge chunk of our revenues, and a negative EBITDA margin ensures a proportionately big impact on the P&L account. I believe that if this is the case of an Indian company, this may have happened because of the telecom disruption by the entry of Jio last year. I: That is true. What do you think that the company should do? C: What is the company’s objective? I: To come in the top 3 of the mobile sector, as the top 3 companies usually make a lot of money. The rest don’t. C: Okay, so for that we would need to reach a certain market share if I’m not wrong. Do we have any kind of data on the market shares of the companies in mobile sector? I: Yes, we do. The top 3 players are at 35%, 25% and 20% market shares. Rest companies are somewhat around 10%, we are at 8% and the rest in the remaining 2%. C: Okay, I see. I think that organic growth in an already saturated market with an incumbent following predatory pricing would be very difficult, and very slow if possible at all. I think we would need to go for either a Joint Venture (JV), merger with another company or to acquire another company. Do you think these are possibilities? I: Yes, they are possible. Please go ahead with the analysis of this. C: Okay, for an acquisition to happen, we would be able to acquire a smaller target company, but none of those is at a position to be able to make us reach the target of 20% (third position market share). Then we could look at the possibility of a merger, such as the one of Vodafone and Idea that happened to compete with Jio. I: Okay, interesting, go on. C: In either a JV or a merger, we would be able to reduce our average fixed cost with every new product produced and reduce our customer acquisition cost per consumer because of an existing consumer base with both the firms. Hence, we would be able to leverage economies of scale. I: But why would a well-to-do company want to do a JV or a merger with a lagging company like ours?

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

C: Hmm, I think if the company has cost reduction motives like us in a competitive scenario that Jio has created, we may be able to convince them on a similar argument of economies of scale. I: That is fine, but do you think there is something else that we can leverage? C: *thinking and looking at the worksheet till now* I: Think on the lines of whether we have something to offer to them? C: *realization hits* Yes, we can leverage our stronghold in the corporate customers segment, which is growing at 15% a year, and we are in the top 3 of them. Hence, through cross-segment benefits, we may be able to convince a bigger company to do a JV or a merger with us. I: Okay, that is fine. Let’s close the case now. The interviewer then took me back to the waiting room, and on the way, we did some more small talk. Nitin Chandalia, Principal Completely conversational round, no case interview About myself Why was my college CGPA low? He had worked at EY before, so he asked me a lot of questions about EY - my partner, how did I find the work, where did I work out of and other stuff. What did I do in the placement team at IIT Bombay? Do you have any questions for me? The Boston Consulting Group Vikash Jain, Partner

Just stay confident with what you are doing and be aware of the things you should be knowing from the term 1 at IIM. The interviewers are also human. The give a lot of hints along the way, we just need to be aware of those and catch hold of the hints. Also, I think that being able to make and maintain conversation even in small moments like when walking with the interviewer to the interview room/waiting room, counts. This shows that you are genuinely interested in the person/company and can talk to strangers. This is an essential trait of a consultant.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Shubhankar Gupta Ramjas College NA

Branch Domain

Commerce NA

The Boston Consulting Group Geetika Basra, Principal Tell me something about yourself You are a government school and you want to introduce pre-nursery classes also and through that you want to increase your revenues. How will you generate revenues out of it ? The case was very different, in the sense that the interviewer was saying no to every option being told. The benefits of pre-nursery were spoken of. After laying down various options, the interviewer expected me to quantify each and every option. The only positive of this interview was that I kept on trying something or the other for 30 minutes and kept the interviewer engaged. Pratik Gupta, Senior Partner Tell me something about yourself. Tell me about the work you do at Enactus. Tell me more about the Transcreations project. We are a new Restaurant and were expecting good amount of profits but it didn't really happen. Identify and Rectify the reasons for same. The Clarifying questions provided me lot of clarity w.r.t the case problem. I understood that the restaurant was placed in an office complex in Gurgaon and it had been one year since its inception. The restaurant was serving various cuisines but main earnings were through The Indian cuisine. The seating capacity was 100 seats and the occupancy was 25% at all meal timings. I asked questions on meal timings, occupancy, seating arrangement, staff, training, entry and exit, delivery services, USP, Competitor, Location, office complex and the number of offices and people in these offices. It was identified that there were two major issues- 1) The relative pricing of the restaurant, 2) Similar Food and similar services. Then various price changes and situations were discussed, and I turned a simple case into a number heavy case and I guess it turned out in my favour. The interviewer was very impressed and told me same after my selection too. Ashish. Senior Partner Tell me something about yourself. Tell me more about your Enactus Work and then about Projects. You are a bank and you want to set up an ATM. Tell me where, when and how will you set it up. Also, how will you earn profits from it. You have a corpus of 10 crores to burn in 5 years. The case began with identifying that the service will be outsourced and not performed by the bank itself. The interviewer was a tough person. He did not agree to any of the criteria of deciding on a location and made me think and analyse 5-6 different parameters. Then finally agreed to one which was mentioned earlier. Then we spoke of the very purpose of setting up an ATM and the various other reasons for setting it up. The revenue model was discussed. It was a very tough interview and the interviewer asked in the end, " What do you think you did well?". I said I tried very well and never stopped trying despite resistance. Also I came up new ideas and parameters to set the location of the ATM. He nodded and said, "Well done."

Any Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Astha Didwania St. Xavier's College, Kolkata The Boston Consulting Group (11M)

Branch Domain

B. Sc. Economics Consulting

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3

The Boston Consulting Group Don't know Asked to introduce myself. Questions on dissertation done in college. I am a Cement manufacturer. My profits are declining. Please identify reasons for the same. It was just a 5-minute discussion around possible ideas to reduce cost of cement manufacturing. The interviewer was primarily looking at the structure and thought process. Don't know Asked about the previous projects done while working in BCG No case was asked NA NA

Name

Anantdeep Singh

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions

Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2 Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions

Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Branch Finance Studies McKinsey & Co (Knowledge Centre) , Domain Consulting ICAP Shipping (Total-36M) The Boston Consulting Group NA, Principal Had a very nice and detailed conversation with the Interviewer. He came to the common waiting area and escorted me to the interview room. While walking back, we started chatting, and discussed our backgrounds + general stuff about Lucknow. When we sat, he finally asked me- what is that one thing I wanted to do in Life. I replied to this by mentioning that I wanted to have a maximum impact on the society. We then had a short discussion on this topic where we discussed alternative ways of achieving this objective including politics and consulting. Given the constraint of time, we then moved on to the case statement. Problem: An online restaurant listing company reaches out to you. They have been seeing an increase in their listings, however their advertising revenues are not increasing. The management has hired you to figure out the reason behind this situation. Clarifying questions + case + solution Na Kanika Agarwal Hans Raj College NA

Branch Domain

Economics NA

The Boston Consulting Group Garima Batra Tell me about yourself? Your biggest achievement? You are working with the government. Government schools run classes from 1st grade to 12th. They're thinking of introducing classes for lower grades. Help them with the decision. I: What timeline are we looking at to implement this? Interviewer: As soon as possible. It's not a concern here. I: Are there any budgetary constraints? Interviewer: Would want to minimise them. I: Seeing that we need to decide whether we should go for it or not in the first place, I'll look at the benefits and costs of such a move. Interviewer: Okay, that works. I: I can divide the benefits into educational, economic, social and others. Interviewer: Okay, what all would come in those categories? I: In Educational, we can look at dropout rates, number of enrolments and quality of education. The number of enrolments should increase as an avenue that wasn't available to them earlier will be open and even for people, earlier sending kids to private schools might get an incentive to shift them here. Interviewer: Okay, how is the quality of education going to differ? I: Well, might lead to better absorption compared to status quo, where compared to private schools, the level of learning is very low in government schools. If they start on time, their basics can be cleared earlier. Interviewer: Right, and about dropout rates? I: As the quality of education increases, might lower dropout rates. interviewer: Do you think it can impact repetitions? I: Yes, as quality improves, the repetitions required should lower. Interviewer: Yes, and that is where a huge avenue of saving is cost can come in. What all factors come in Economic and Social? I: In economic benefits, employability of graduates will be the factor and for social, we can talk about benefits related to health and sanitation (with access to mid-day meals etc.) and improvements related to other social problems such as women empowerment etc. Interviewer: Right, Move to Costs now, please. I: So, I can divide costs between infrastructural, staffing and faculty, provision of services such as books, uniforms, meals and also, the opportunity cost of making such a move. Interviewer: Explain what you mean by each head, please. I: Infrastructure would include building up of new classrooms and buildings if required and provision of benches, boards etc. Staffing and Faculty would include hiring of new employees and their training. The next one is pretty much self-explanatory. By opportunity costs I mean, that the impact of government not redirecting such funds to other areas such as defence, health etc. Interviewer: That’s good, Thank you! N/A Conversation about the last interview. Gave me an offer at the end of the case.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Your client is a new bank in Delhi-NCR. Assume that on a transaction in an ATM by a customer of another bank, the other bank pays the client Rs. 20. The loss that this bank is willing to sustain in a year is Rs. 1000 crores. Help the client decide how many ATM's should they open and in what locations. I want you to explain this to me through numbers. I: Okay, since as the bank would want to maximise revenues present and future, minimising costs, I would look at both these heads. Is that satisfactory? Interviewer: Yes, seems sensible. Tell me the Revenues side of it. I: So, revenues could be through the own customers and through the inter-bank fees from other banks’ customers. Interviewer: Considering that the bank is at its infancy assume that the revenue from its own customer base is minimal here. I: Right, then revenues depend on number of transactions that will depend on the location and context of the ATM. Interviewer: That’s true, how can you categorise that as then? Took a minute to think here. I: We can categorise the locations as residential markets, office complexes and thirdly, shopping complexes and public hubs such as airports and railway stations. Interviewer: Yes, that will work. Why don’t we move to costs here and discuss that considering we have a certain burnout constraint? I: Okay, costs can be divided into rent, utilities, staff( security guard) and others. Other costs can include any regulatory costs accrued here too. Am I missing something? Interviewer: Yes, what would be a major cost associated with running of an ATM machine? And you can ignore any regulatory costs. Took a minute to think here. I: A cost associated would be to transport cash and stock the machine with it. Interviewer: Yes. That’s the one. Now, how shall you proceed? I: Well, all the costs would be about the same for all location categories except rent as that’s dependent on the location of the ATM. Interviewer: Fair enough. Then, assume that per ATM, the utilities, security guard and transportation cost INR 20000, INR 15000 and INR 50000 pm. And the rent in residential is INR 15000 pm, in offices it is INR 20000 pm and in shopping complexes, it is INR 30000 pm. I: So, costs pm for residential, offices and shopping complexes would be INR 100k, INR 105k and INR 115k respectively. Annual costs would be Rs. 12 lakhs, Rs. 12.6 lakhs, Rs. 14 lakhs respectively. Assuming you operate only on those centres, you can divide 1000 crores to get the number of ATM’s that can be opened on an annual basis. Interviewer: Okay, thank you for your help.

Just be confident and keep smiling. It's okay to make mistakes and to take time to get to answers. Just be your normal self and have a nice conversation with the interviewer.

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Himanshu Aggarwal IIT Kanpur EXL Service LLC (35M)

Branch Domain

Chemical Engineering Analytic Consulting

The Boston Consulting Group Principal Himanshu, I am also from IIT Kanpur. I see you have done something related to blood donation in Kanpur can you please explain that? A restaurant is not satisfied with its profit for the last six months. Owner believes that they can do much better. Evaluate owner's claim. I: So Himanshu, you must have had an interaction with your buddy and you know format of the interview. Me: Yes. I have had a healthy discussion with my buddy. I: Okay so let's start. A restaurant is not satisfied with its profit for the last six months. Owner believes that they can do much better. Evaluate owner's claim. Me: Okay. Can I have some time to think about the problem. I: Yes. Sure. Take your time. Me: {After some time} Where is the restaurant located? I: It is one of the restaurants in a corporate eating area. Me: Is it an all cuisine restaurant or it has some specialty? I: It is an Indian restaurant. Me: Is it a self-serving restaurant like McDonalds or is it fine dining restaurant? I: Fine dining restaurant. Me: Do they have any other competitors as in other restaurants and do they have any other competitors in terms of Indian restaurant? I: Yes. They have other competitors. Client is more worried that there is one other Indian restaurant. Me: Okay. Let me structure my thought. {I summarized my findings till now} Me: Profits can be divided into two components. Revenue and cost. Revenue can be broken into primary and other sources of revenue. Primary revenue can be broken into average price of a meal x no. of customers. Other sources of revenue can be broken down into advertising revenue, rent revenue and other sources. I would have to understand the business more deeply to know more about other sources. I am parking it for the meanwhile and will come back later on it. Costs can be broken down into raw materials, conversion cost and final service cost. {I drew the framework on paper as well so that I don’t miss out on anything and communication between me and interviewer is clear} Is there anything specific you want me to explore? I: Client is satisfied with costs. There are no secondary sources of revenue. Let’s focus more on primary sources of revenue. Me: Okay. Do we have numbers here? When I say average price of the meal what is it? I am asking because I have to establish two things - i) if there has been any change? Ii) is the restaurant too costly/cheap and people really don’t like coming here? I: Price is Rs 500 and there is no change in the last six months. Me: Okay. And number of customer, do we see a change in number of customers? I: No. It is fairly constant. Me: Okay. So you mention one another Indian restaurant. I really don’t know how to benchmark Rs 500 and I would really want to know what is the charge in another Indian restaurant so I know how big or small the number is. Also what is the profit of the other restaurant? I: Okay. Good question. Other restaurant is charging the same. Himanshu, client is not aware of the other restaurant’s profit. Me: I would now want to understand what drives number of customers to understand if there is something which we are doing wrong or if there are some low hanging fruits which we can suggest to our client while helping him build long term capability to gain more profits. I: Okay. Me: Number of customers can be divided into likeability, availability and accessibility. Likeability would constitute my food perception and food quality, availability would constitute my opening hours and if there is any space in my restaurant, it can be a case where in there is no space in the restaurant leaving no room for new customers to come on board and accessibility would constitute where is my restaurant located viz a viz other restaurants. I: Okay. Me: {Covered everything one by one. We were perfect in every sense} {Asked for more time to understand what could be going wrong} I want to benchmark my number of customers with that of my competition. How are my numbers compared to him? It can be a fact that we don’t have data, but generally there is a perception on a floor and more number of customers are going where? If I have data or generic perception I would want to establish my customer base viz a viz his so that I know my standings? I: Other restaurant attracts more number of customers. Me: Gathering insights. We are better in terms of food quality, service and ambiance. Average price

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club per meal is similar. Still the competition seems to be doing well in terms of number of customers. It seems a bit counter intuitive to me {thinking out loud}. My hypothesis is it is driven more by what my competitor is doing rather than in-house. Are we aware of anything new our competitor has done in terms of offerings of food? I: No changes. Competition has started providing discount coupons. Me: {This was my aha moment} Okay. Do discount coupons mean more number of customers going in there? Our customers do seem to be price sensitive. I: Can be a case. How can you establish it? Me: My hypothesis is that current or loyal customer base may not be price sensitive but my competition is able to expand its base – reach out to new customers by offering them discount. This strategy seems to work for them. I: Okay. {Interviewer gave a few numbers here to check my basic understanding of numbers and understand if I know my objective. We created a case where in revenue increased but profit declined. He confidently asked me I think this should be the scenario we should propose to our client which I negated by saying that our current objective is profit and not revenue. He further created a scenario where in profitability was increasing. Again I negated by saying that current objective is profit and not profitability.} I: So what would you suggest to our client? Me: Based on current data, there is scope of expanding my customer base by reducing prices via offering discount. However, I would want to retain my current customers as well. I would study the trend of restaurant occupancy as in where in my current customers are coming. Based on that I would divide my occupancy rate into low, medium and high. For high occupancy rate time, I won’t do anything. No discounts. For low occupancy rate time, I would offer discount coupon in order to attract more customers. One more thing which I left out was we can explore loyalty option in order to strengthen my current customer base. Do you want me to drill down more into all the suggestions? I: No, that would be it. Thanks Himanshu. Let me help you on your way out. Me: Okay. Thank you for your time. HR I: Himanshu, I am also from IIT Kanpur. I see you have done something related to blood donation in Kanpur can you please explain that? Me: It was one of the initiative which me and my roommate started when one of our hall workers – ABC chacha {used more IIT Kanpur lingos in this answer} was facing blood problem. We were faced with a situation where is there was a small demand, huge supply but zero liquidity. All of our struggle is provide a platform so that the transition happens. We have been fairly success in the initiative. For the last 4 years there has been no blood shortage in the city of Kanpur in nearly 8 months i.e. the time period when IIT Kanpur is open. I: So, what’s next? Me: Well, we want to achieve 100% voluntary blood donation in the city. Currently the number is less than 1%. People donate blood but under the pressure that their kin needs it and hence blood banks follow an exchange policy. I aspire to build a platform which creates a huge supply so that blood can operate without their exchange policy. I: I see no problem with current system. On one hand you say there is no blood shortage and on another you talk about an exchange policy? Me: People do get blood whenever they need it. So there is no shortage. Exchange policy is a worry because it increases the lead time, which can be fatal in many cases like pregnancy and accidents. Also for diseases like Leukemia and Thalassemia, unfortunately blood transfusion is a part of their life and hence it is important to create a situation where in blood banks can go away with their exchange policy. Interviewer 2 Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript

Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript

Don't remember None A new bank wants to establish ATMs in Delhi NCR region and have hired you to help you do that. Budget is 1 crore. Overall this interview of mine was a disaster. I was able to establish the cost of establishing a ATM but was not able to establish parameters which would help me decide where in particular region we have to open ATMs. Partner What is your passion? Zomato is losing on its advertising revenue. {interviewer did not mention Zomato’s name but gave enough description for me to know that the firm is Zomato} for the last one year and they want to know why. You have 15 minutes to solve the problem. I: We will divide this interview in three parts, one I will like to know you, two we will do a small case and three I have been in this business for the last 18 years and if you want to ask anything we can proceed to that. Me: Okay

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club I: So, Himanshu, What is your passion? Me: {I explained how trekking and healthcare is my passion and how I have identified it and how I plan to pursue it in the future} I: Wow! I have met a lot of candidates and people generally talk about fields in which they are good at. Yours came straight from your heart. Let’s proceed to the next module of interview. I: Zomato is losing on its advertising revenue. {interviewer did not mention Zomato’s name but gave enough description for me to know that the firm is Zomato} for the last one year and they want to know why. You have 15 minutes to solve the problem. Me: {This was the first time I was doing an interview with a clock on my head, I skipped the drill of asking few minutes and began asking my preliminary questions} What all are the sources of advertising for the firm? I: They have slots on websites and mobile applications. Me: Do we have any kinds of competitors and are they also losing out on revenue? I: I am not aware of competitors… So Himanshu, like I said earlier you have 15 minutes to solve. You have already spend 2 minutes. Solution should come in next 13 minutes. Me: {I had never been in this kind of situation, and this is where interaction with buddy helps. He had taught me to construct a MECE structure using mathematics which in some sense is convergent. Keeping that approach in mind I resolved to start again} Okay. I understand the time criticality here. I would re-start my approach and consider from where advertising revenue comes from. I: Okay. Fair enough. You have 12 minutes. Me: Has the number of users of visiting mobile or website dropped? I: No. In fact, they have increased. Me: Has there been any drop in number of advertisers? I: No. Again they have increased. Me: Advertising Revenue = price charged per slot * No. of slots sold I: Okay. Prices charged have not changed and there is no drop in number of slots that have been sold. All the slots are still getting sold. Me: Okay. Another feature which is important here is the occupancy rate of the slots. So the equation changes to Advertising revenue = price charged per slot * no. of slots sold * occupancy rate of the slot I: Occupancy rates are the same on an average though there has been a drop in occupancy rates for some time. Can you help me understand why is there a drop in occupancy rate? Me: There can be two reasons: 1. Good – Restaurants are getting whatever they had estimated in terms of advertising benefits and they really don’t want to advertise more. 2. Bad – Restaurants are seeing no value additions in terms of advertising on the platform and hence they are not advertising. I: Okay, Himanshu let’s move to the third part of the interview. You can ask me whatever you want to ask? Me: How did you chose your practice specializations? I would want to choose healthcare as my specializations and unclear if BCG would assist me in achieving if I show the right results? I: {Monologue of roughly 30 minutes followed} Any Remarks

You can use the two minutes you have from the time they come to pick you from the room to their interview room effectively. Pro question - Ask about their selection process, how did they get into BCG? It certainly is a good ice breaker question and they can very well relate that you can be nervous

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript Interviewer 2

Anubhav Vardhan Branch Chemical Engineering IIT Kanpur Domain AI and Robotic Process Automation Axis Bank (11M) The Boston Consulting Group NA, Principal NA NA Your client is a restaurant owner serving Indian cuisine in an office space. He is currently operating on the break-even point, and would like you to help increase his profits. M: When we say increase in profits, should I look at only ways to increase profits, or does the client want an increase in revenue as well? I: The client is open to any idea you propose. M: I would like to know more about the company first. Where exactly is the location in which it operates, can I say that it is in an SEZ? Is it the only restaurant there? How are its competitors faring? I: Yes, the restaurant is in an SEZ area with big office buildings all around. The central area is the food court, where man restaurants are located. There are two other Indian cuisine restaurants, which can be considered competitors, rest all offer different cuisines. The two competitors are also facing a similar situation. M: Office buildings will mean that there are different class of people using the food court every day, say the lower level, middle level and senior level employees. They will all have a different expected standard of the restaurant they visit. Does our client serve all these people or a specific category? I: The client usually has the senior-level executives as his customers. The average revenue per customer is Rs. 500. M: Okay. How many customers does the client server every day? How much is the seating capacity of his restaurant? I: The client serves 100 customers during lunch and the same for dinner. The seating capacity of the restaurant is 100. M: So assuming a standard lunch/dinner break of 1 hour, I can take the restaurant to be operating at full capacity. I: No, the breaks are spread across 3 hours. M: That changes things. Assuming a regular distribution of customers, our client is currently operating at only 33% of his capacity. I: True, how do you plan to proceed? M: I can look at both the revenue and costs side. On the revenue side, we can look at ways to increase the number of customers or average revenue per customer. On the costs side, there will be the fixed costs like rent and wages, variable costs like raw materials and overheads. I would like to begin with the revenue side first. I: Let’s look at the costs before we go to the revenues. M: Okay, for the current setup, the rent and wages are not likely to change. This leaves us with the raw materials and overheads. We can look for alternative raw material suppliers to reduce the procurement cost without sacrificing quality. In the overheads dept., the electricity bill can be targeted. Switching to led lights can significantly reduce the bill, so can power glass, which will help in temperature regulation, both in the summers and the winters, thus reducing the air conditioning charges. We can also look at switching the restaurant to a new and smaller spot to reduce rent and associated costs if increasing capacity is not feasible. I: Okay, but let us keep the idea of shifting shops to the side for the time being. Now let’s see some numbers. Suppose the fixed costs are 60,000, and the variable costs per customer is 200. Can you verify the current status? M: Total revenue is 100000, so is total expenses. The client is indeed working at 0 profits. I: Yeah. Assuming the client reduces the average bill per customer to Rs. 400, he will get 200 customers for lunch and dinner instead of 100. What will his condition be then? M: At this new level, he will be making a profit of Rs. 20,000 a day, and his capacity utilization will increase to 67%. Not to the ideal level, but still a significantly better position. I: So should he decrease prices further to increase his capacity utilization and profits? M: No. As he keeps on decreasing his prices and increasing the capacity utilization, the overall effect on profit will fall off. Say, if Rs. 300 per customers gets him 300 customers a day, he will be operating at full capacity, but his revenue will be 1,80,000 a day, while his expenses will also be 1,80,000 a day. This will bring his profits back to 0. I: So what should he do? M. There will be a maxima in the plot of number of customers and the revenue per customer, which will give us the maximum profit level. We should aim to be as close to that level as possible. I: Okay, so what will your recommendation to the client be? M: I would advise the client to reduce his average revenue per customer to increase the footfall in his restaurant. It can be done by decreasing the cost of the entire menu by some percentage, which will induce more senior management people to come to the restaurant. Alternatively, he can also

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Interview 2 HR Questions Interview Number – 2 Case Interview 2 case Transcript Interviewer 3 Interview 3 HR Questions Interview Number – 3 Case Interview 3 case Transcript Any Remarks

Name Graduation College Work Experience Interviewing Company Interviewer 1 Interview 1 HR Questions Interview Number - 1 Case Interview 1 case Transcript

Interviewer 2

introduce a new economy dish, say a veg thali, which will bring more middle level employees to the restaurant, as the place where their bosses eat might have an aspirational value, and a menu item in their budget can bring them to the restaurant. I: Sure. That will be it. Thank you. . Tell me about yourself? Why switch from research in Quantum Computing and AI to consulting? Experience working with BCG? Discussion about high school. NA NA NA NA NA

Ashna Goenka Hans Raj College OneDirect (21M)

Branch Domain

Economics IT

The Boston Consulting Group Prateek Rai, Partner What was your biggest achievement at OneDirect? Are you doing anything in MV? I am a restaurant owner in cyber hub Gurgaon. I serve lunch and dinner a la carte and have been able to break even. But I am not able to make profits. Help me. There are other vendors who serve the same cuisine and they make profits but I don't. I started with the qualitative aspect because on clarifying the interviewer told me that "Help me" implies that he wants my help in figuring out the reason for no profits. So I started with a framework similar to the 4Ps. He went into details til the third brand but then said no all of this is okay. The peers were charging slightly lower prices though so I suggested that we too should reduce prices (but I mentioned the pros and cons of this and the factors to be kept In mind.) So then he made it a quantitative case and gave me numbers for the restaurants total capacity, the current average guests per meal and per customer cost of making the meal. So I had to recommend the magnitude of prices reduction possible to keep making positive profits cost remaining constant. So I did it for three levels and ultimately made my recommendation. Na

2017 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2016 Summer Interview Experiences

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Interview Experience 1 Name Aishwarya Vishwanathan Background

Undergrad : VJTI Mumbai Work Ex : JP Morgan Chase

Round 1

My client is a steel manufacturing company off late expecting a decline in my sales. Find the reason & provide recommendations for the same Solution: It was mainly a supply side issue. The reason was decline in supply because of high attrition rate. I basically had to walk the interviewer through the entire Value chain & once cause was identified I had to come up with recommendations. Focus was highly on structure & approach, clarity of thoughts. The more practical &innovative your recommendations are the more convinced is the interviewer

Round 2

Client is a FMCG industry. Come up with a growth strategy for expansion

HR Questions

Solution: The conversation was lot around digital marketing This was with Principal. Had an option to solve a case or talk about a subject or sector that I am interested in. I chose the latter. Talked about the consumer sector, shared few insights about upcoming trends etc. in this sector as I follow it as part of my portfolio management in Credence Capital

Interview Experience 2 Name Ankita Upamanyu Background

Undergrad : NIT Bhopal

Round 1

Asked questions based on CV, why consulting, why Accenture. Case was that a payment service provider is facing the issue of decreasing profitability. What is the issue and how will you solve it? Firstly, I asked the basic questions about the company, when the issue of declining profits started, were competitors facing the same or not. I found out that our company does not deal with customers directly, but has some intermediaries to deal with the customers. And also as it was established that only our company was facing the issue, the concept of industry trend could be neglected. I then proceeded with the basic structure of dividing profits into revenue and costs and further divided costs into various subheads like infrastructure, logistics, etc. and asked if they have been changing, and found that the cost increment was marginal and thus could be neglected. I then divided the revenue into subheads like change in the price of each transactions, change in number of transactions per user or change in the number of users. By analyzing and asking questions on all these subheads, I could correctly conclude that there was a change in the price of each transactions due to increase in the margins the company gave to the intermediaries. After the case, it was again some questions based on recent trends of M&A in Indian Pharma and Automotive Industry. (related to some points on my CV) Asked some questions regarding the CV. Then the case was in the form of a diagram, where there was a conveyer belt drawn with 3 materials at the input side, their weights were given and they were being dumped into the market at output. The question was to find the speed of the conveyer belts for all three items separately and I was given 5minutes to think of all possible questions regarding the information I would need to calculate the speed of the belt and prioritize them and ask 3 most important questions.The top 3 questions I asked was the demand in market (to determine the revenue), input and the differential costs (to determine the profitability) and status of our company and the existing players, for each of the products. He wasn’t looking for the numeric values, but for the factors one should consider while deciding the speed of the belt.

Round 2

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 3 Name Sujit Emmanuel Background Undergrad: Bits Pilani Work Ex : Bain Capability Center – 23 months Round 1 1) If the market share of south region and north region are increasing yet the market share of overall country is reducing. Is this possible? (Assume, country has only north and south regions and there are no other external factors) 2) If yes, then what should the company do to boost the sales in overall country? Round 2 1) Size the market of the number of Honda Activa’s sold in Lucknow in a given year. 2) You have to launch a new supermarket chain across India. How would you go about it, which cities would you choose? Round 3 1) Size the market of rock band enthusiasts who would become professionals in your city? 2) What could be ways to check this number? (Cross-check points) HR Questions Why should we not select you? Tell me your strengths and weaknesses Why Consulting? Why Accenture over other consulting firms? Work experience related deep-dive (not really HR, but just mentioning it here)

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

A.T. Kearney Interview Experience 1 Name

Mukul Jha

Background

Undergrad :IIT Madras

Round 1

The interview started with basic introduction. The interviewer further asked me about my hobbies. I mentioned “Theatre” as one of them. So, my case was “ Naseeruddin Shah and Paresh Raval have decided to revamp bollywood movies. Help them out.” Solution: I was able to structure the abstract case. When I had reached to the plan of action, he also asked a guesstimate on the revenue that one movie theatre will earn for them. There was an intimation to end the interview as soon as I was given this guesstimate. Although I was able to layout my approach for the guesstimate, he did not feel very convinced as I did not arrive on the number within time. My second round was completely based on my resume and consulting cases that I has done during my Workex. Last round was HR. Both these rounds were with Partners.

Round 2

Interview Experience 2 Name Meenakshi Khemani Background

Undergrad : SRCC

Round 1

A Chinese automobile manufaturer wants to enter India. If it should enter, what portfolio shall it consider. Solution: 1. PESTEL analysis for India 2. Porter’s 5 forces for automobile industry in India Established that all forces are in favor and hence we should enter. 3. Operations of the company Focus on volume and profit share of each product. Mode of entry – JV/Export/ Manufacturing Units Target Segment – Which products for which segments Gave exact answer, which market segment to target, with what product. ‘Mukesh Ambani wants to bid for a team in Indian Soccer League. How much should he bid?’

Round 2

Solution: After basic clarifying questions of the objective and budget constraints, wrote down the revenue streams for a soccer team. Turned it into a guesstimate and estimates cashflows from each source. Was stopped before I could complete the calculations and give an exact number.

HR Questions

Add-on question, how would you convince TATAs to sponsor your team? Again, estimation of benefits for TATA and calculations of cashflows for them. Was stopped mid-way and taken for Partner round. Interview 1: Tell me something about your work experience. Interview 2: Do you drink? Do you watch sports? Then straight to case. Interview 3 (partner round): Casual conversation (After a long introduction by him) You have a very cluttered CV. All the CVs on your campus seem to be the same. Tell me something that is not there on your CV, that can help me understand you as a person. I feel that digitization is only for start-ups or for sales and marketing. What is your take? How can you apply digitization to any 3 business processes to increase efficiency of the company? Is digitization applicable for old-school industries like Oil and Gas? I spoke about logistics and procurement, he then converted the question into a case of a cement manufacturer company. I pointed out the processes that could benefit from digitization. Towards the end, he asked me why I want to do consulting at AT Kearney (this topic came up conversationally; wasn’t a direct question). I supplemented my answer by citing examples of friends and seniors working at AT Kearney and their experiences.

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 3 Name Surbhi Singhania Background

Undergrad : IIT Kanpur

Round 1

Case 1: Estimate the revenues of a super market. What should be done to increase the revenue of the store. Case 2: What can be done to increase the popularity of Honey Singh in South India.

Round 2

Case 1: How can a chemical company digitize?

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

The Boston Consulting Group Interview Experience 1 Name Shikhar Kohli Background

Undergrad : NSIT

Round 1

A leading bank has consolidated its loan processing (credit check etc) to a central location and has cut back its on the ground marketing force. Despite an increased push to sell these loans, the fact is the bank has seen a decline in the number of loans being approved. Why?

Round 2

Solution: The bank was targeting the wrong set of customers with its ground marketing force. The sales people were literally going to every household selling the loans. Instead they should have approached the real estate agents and builders to have a targeted marketing Regarding the centralization, the probability of loans being approved reduced as reducing the processing time was a KRA of the employees and hence they rejected all the dicey loans Started off by asking me about my work ex and internship. Moved on to a technology based case where a client of theirs wanted to reduce their costs of providing an AMC. Essentially, they had two service levels. Clients could get in touch with a call centre agent who handled basic troubleshooting. If needed, the second level was activated, where an engineer would go to the client’s site. You need to cut down on the cost of this AMC operation.

Interview Experience 2 Name Priyanka Unnithan Background

Undergrad : Bits Pilani Goa Campus

Round 1

Started with an HR question: mention one thing each from Acads, Work ex and extra currics that you are proud of. Situation- You’re the PM of India. There has been a massive earthquake in Nepal (assume the recent 2015 one). Case was about trying to estimate how much aid should the government of India give. Approach: Started with qualifying questions- confirmed similar degree of damage as 2015 earthquake, budgetary constraints (none), power of the PM (unlimited), reasons for giving aid (Nepal has been an ally). Structure-Tried breaking down “aid provided” into monetary and nonmonetary. Was interrupted and asked to look only at the monetary part. Broke down monetary aid into micro and macro levels. Micro-to resurrect life and livelihood; macro – i) counter infrastructural damage – further segmented into public infra and damaged archaeological sites (Interviewer was curious why I considered the latter here) and ii) help the affected bread-winning tourism industry. Declared I’d like to look at the micro aspect first (easy to compute). Tried to engage the interviewer with estimated people affected (deaths, injured, displaced) figures. While attempting to go in the direction of rescue persons required-if we are just sponsoring the local team or sending one ourselves, I was urged to get to a number for aid quickly. To get to a number, decided to go first principles with this and estimated amount needed to be expensed for 3 primary requirements of an affected household: food, shelter and medical expenses. The interviewer hinted that I should look at the figures closely once I was done. Realised that one of the figures was a per day estimate while others were per month, rectified that quickly. On the insistence of the interviewer, came down to a final number. With this, proceeded to ask specific questions on government relief budget and if the contingency fund was to be used for both national and international situations. Fell short of time to continue further.

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Round 2

Started with a generic ‘Tell me about yourself’ HR question. Interviewer was keen on creating a case from the answer. Case 1: I had led a team in organizing a Limca Book of Records attempt. Given that attempt wasn’t successful, the interviewer asked me to strategise a Guiness Book of Records attempt Approach: Right away confirmed the premise that such records are either a) large number of people doing something b) creating a unique product or c) a daring/life-threatening act usually. Mentioned that for ideas, I would mostly keep a) in mind since large number of student participants is achievable. Took the value chain approach and broke down the procedure into: 1) conceptualization of the event (idea, venue, partnerships), 2)implementation (team formation, field work) and feedback (analysis, leaving behind documentation for the next time). Spoke about how the idea itself can be found in one of two ways- a) establish a new record altogether b) break an existing record. Case 2: Create a go-to- market strategy for a trekking-gear company based out of Cochin Approach: Started with the qualifying questions about the nature of their products, how they are unique, existing players, info about location.. Went with STP flow: laid out the value proposition, the suitable target groups, how to reach them, the communication channels for publicity and so on. Interviewer interjected when he thought he knew what line of thought I was going for. Invited questions for him, had a candid conversation on his work, the marketing projects BCG undertakes, recent breakthroughs with the use of analytics.

Round 3

HR Questions

Started again with an HR question, this time on work-ex since he works in the technology. Asked about the role, the job description, key achievements at Nvidia. Case: Global product-centric tech firm with two different types of engineersremote and onsite of different pay scales. Company provides AMC to clients for its products and a detailed flow for dealing with complaints was given. Firm finds itself grappling with increasing labor costs. Find the problem and recommend a solution. Problem statement was deliberately detail heavy. There was a lot of tech jargon and being from a similar background helped. Approach: Clarified what an AMC was, what exactly the company did and how it served its clients. Initially tried to focus on the engineering division and understood role of remote vs onsite engineers. Put forth questions regarding the geographical accuracy of engineer distribution, if work traffic had displayed any trends recently. Was prompted by the interviewer to look into the value chain of the complaint handling process. Quickly charted out a flow and associated high labour costs with the work spilling over to the expensive remote engineers and the need to find ways to curtail the work to the onsite engineer level. Couldn’t continue due to lack of time. 1) Mention one thing each from Acads, Work ex and extra currics that you are proud of. 2) Tell me about yourself 3) Work-ex role, the job description and key achievements

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 3 Name Divyanshi Bhansali Background

Undergrad : Hindu College

Round 1

I’d mentioned that I am from a boarding school in my ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ and so I was asked to determine how should parents decide whether or not kids should be sent to a boarding school. Case: The client was a new VC firm who wanted to invest in a new cab business in Lucknow and had approached BCG to decide the metrics that they should base their decision on. The interviewer was more interested in my thought process and structure and did not give me any data. I had to decide everything about the cab service right from the model of operation to revenue model of the cab service.

Round 2

Since we still had time remaining he asked me if I had any questions and I asked about the Education project in Haryana that BCG had been involved with and stated my reasons for interest in the same. In the beginning, I was asked about myself and then about why consulting would be the right career choice for me. A sheet with data was kept on the table which the interviewer narrated to me. The case was about an AMC service provider. Before getting to the case I was warned that I should not try to solve the case but just think out loud. He said I would not be able to solve the case or even get close to the end even if I tried. I did feel pressurized by the statement and the case was too technical for me, but I tried maintaining my calm and doing the best that I could.

Interview Experience 4 Name Shivali Vij Background

Undergrad : DTU

Round 1

Started with basic introduction and activities taken up in college. Read that I had won a competition in supply chain management, so gave a case related to that CASE : I am a pharma company and have just finished my growth phase. I observe that after expansion into china market, my delivery time has reached 7-8 days and I want to reduce it. Tell me how. S : May I take a minute to think about the parameters in play After a minute S: What do we do as a pharma company , just medicines or equipment too? I :We produce just medicines S: Where are we based ? I : We are an indian company , and are delivering to China. Focus on just this market S : How are we delivering? I : We can either deliver by ships or planes, plans cost us 2.5 times more though they take lesser time (same day ) as compared to ships (2 days) S: What is the delivery time of our competitors ? I : They deliver in 4 days after receiving an order, we do in 8. I draw a structure of delays caused by internal or external reasons. On futher talk I realize that the problem is internal, we don’t have to work on the cost of delivery Redraws the internal side value chain S: So I assume that we have some admin department to collate the orders and pass it on for manufacturing, we then procure materials from our supplier, have quality check on it, Then storage would be a step, then we process it to make medicine, then we do another round of quality checks, next we package them and ship them. I : Alright, go on S : Is there any other step our company takes ? I : You tell me that S: I can break down manufacture process futher to check for delays I : Do that in order. Lets start S: So by what process do we receive orders ? Is the admin and paperwork efficient ? I : Yes, there are no problems there S : Who are our key suppliers? I : In pharma industry the supplies are fragmented. We receive our total RM from many vendors, who supply as much as possible. Sometimes they lie that they already have RM in store to not lose our order. S: Alright then. Why don’t we look for a bigger vendor who can supply to us. I am sure we will also save on costs through that. I : That is not possible in this industry. Besides all our competitors also have fragmented suppliers S : So we can introduce mechanisms to ensure supply on time. I : Like what ?

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Round 2

S : We can think about trade discounts and on-time- delivery benefits for our vendors. We can give them some technology like a tablet where they can update us on status of shipment of raw materials, so that we can map when it will reach us. This will help us track RM I : Alright. Good. Anything else? S : We can have a warehouse were we can store some common RM. That we will not face delays. I : Good. Lets move on S : Next process would be quality check. This is core to pharma industry and hence this step cannot be eliminated I : Yes, it is true. Medicines need huge amount of checks S : Why don’t we standardize our RM and give specifications to our vendors. That way the responsibility to maintain quality will be on time as part of contact. I : Ok, go on. S : I would like to know more about manufacturing of the medicines I : So medicines are made in 4 phases, 1st is processing of raw material and making a solution of required efficacy, next is converting the solution into tablets , 3rd is adding standard colors and fillers. Last is packaging S : So we can reduce time in fillers part I : Actually the 2nd step takes 70% of the time, filler is just a small part S : but we cannot reduce the main process since quality of the medicine will be compromised. We can think about reduction of time in fillers and colors since changes in that will not affect quality of our product. I : Right S : Also, in manufacturing, we can think of maintaining some WIP inventory to speeden up production when order comes, provided life of WIP is high enough I : Good. Can you conclude and summarize Started with a puzzle after introduction I am sitting in a boat in a huge swimming pool . The boat has a large rock which I pick up and throw in water. What will happen to level of water ? Increase Decrease or remain same CASE 1 : I am working for a client similar to big basket. They deliver items at a slot chosen by customer. They have a metric called OTIF i.e if the delivery was On Time and if all the items were delivered (In Full ) . There OTIF is currently at 50% and they aim to take it to 90%. Suggest ways of doing so

Round 3

CASE 2 : I am a very rich man and I see that ola and uber have a lot of customers, that it is a thriving market. But I also know that they both are making losses. I want to start a similar business but I also want profits within 5 years. Design this business for me CASE : A hardware manufacturer is looking to cut costs. We manufacture machines in-house and have maintenance services as well. They have 2 types of servicing features of broken hardware 1. An off shore low-level engineer who takes complaint calls and solves problems via virtual desk or over call 2. An on site engineer who visits and repairs machine Tell me how do I go about cutting costs

Interview Experience 5 Name Himanshu Bhatia Background

Undergrad : IIT Guwahati

Round 1

Client is a logistics company which guarentees 95% ontime performance. Identify the industries that they should target

Round 2

Solution: Started with preliminary questions like the areas of operation and pricing policy. Divided the industry in consumer and industrial segements. Further divided in FMCG, durables, e commerce etc for consumer and power, automobile, construction etc for industrial. Compared the industries on basis of importance of on time delivery, return loads, ability to pay etc to arrive at the rankings. A leading bank has consolidated its loan processing (credit check etc) to a central location and has cut back its on the ground marketing force. Despite an increased push to sell these loans, the fact is the bank has seen a decline in the number of loans being approved. Why? Solution: The bank was targeting the wrong set of customers with its ground marketing force. The sales people were literally going to every household selling the loans. Instead they should have approached the real estate agents and builders to have a targeted marketing Regarding the centralization, the probability of loans being approved reduced as reducing the processing time was a KRA of the employees and hence they rejected all the dicey loans

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 6 Name Radhika Purohit Background

Undergrad : Kamla Nehru College

Round 1

I was given one case. You’re the PM of India and Nepal recently had an earthquake and you have to calculate the relief amount you’ll be paying. I started with asking a bit about the caseWhen did the calamity take place? Do we have a quantitative idea about the damage? And a few more. Then re-instated my objective of calculating the relief fund amount. I gave an over overview of the structure I’ll be using to calculate the amount which included dividing the damage into broad areas of household infrastructure, commercial infrastructure, government offices, educational institutes and hospitals then calculating the amount of damage and then after considering our budget for relief fund, the allocation we’ll be doing. In the next step I divided the sectors in a detailed manner. I calculated the number of households based on the number of population and average number of people in a family. Then divided the sectors further like household into houses completely damaged, need repair and are unaffected. The interviewer then asked me to focus on the household sector first, he gave me the size of homeless population after I inquired about it. After calculating the amount, the interviewer then asked me to move on to other areas and gave me a time limit (I think to put me under pressure). I based my calculation for the rest as a percentage of amount of damage in households and gave a rationale behind the percentage division. After calculating the total amount of monetary damage and our countries relief budget, calculated the percentage of damage we’ll be funding keeping in mind the relief received by Nepal from international organizations like World Bank and other countries.

Round 2

An international hardware tools company in India. I have the second largest share in the automatic segment but an embarrassing profits in the manual segment. Find the problem and suggest ways to increase the sales. I started with asking a few questions about the company, its competitors, consumers, the products and the division of sales in these products. I used the 5ps approach and delved further into each. In products I majorly covered quality of product, price, usage etc. Price was higher as compared to competitors I followed a value chain process to find points where cost can be reduced. Then moved to promotion and distribution where I created a chain the company followed. Then moved on to the 5th P, people and asked various questions like perception, understanding of the utility of product etc. I identified the problem in this area that people were unaware about the association of the two segments, the value of the international brand and the quality it offered. I then moved on to recommendation part. Divided the recommendation into 2, one catering to the existing problem and the other segment which would help increase in sales beyond the problem.

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Deloitte Interview Experience 1 Name Background

Rohan Danait Undergrad : COE Pune Workex : 1 year, ZS Associates

Round 1

There is a telecom company in US having sustained growth since 2005 uptill 2012. Profits started declining from 2012 -15. Solution: Qualifying questions regarding the company and industry (growing). Issue was in the plan mix and the rates for each plan. What kind of data will you look for to identify the issue? The rates were high compared to the competition especially in the SMS segment. In the data we had plan rate and customer adoption rate for each service in past 5 years. 1 graph showing graph of industry and company. Comparison of 2010 and 2015 customer usage of various services. Calculate the relevant parameters using the data provided. Interviewer asked for exact figure.

Round 2

Problem: Estimate number of MRI machines in India. Starting point population. Solution: Divided in cities. Hospitals - > Pvt Govt and Private Clinics.

Round 3

1. What was the case in second round and recommendations on it? 2. Telecom related discussion in India

HR Questions

1. Tell me about yourself 2. Why Deloitte : Related to consult workex. Ops background. Interest in Ops. 3. Extra-Curricular 4. Work ex related – Guesstimate round

Dos

Pay more attention to approach than data for guesstimate. Data based case round. Comfortable with calculations with big numbers.

Interview Experience 2 Name Background

Round 1

Round 2 Round 3 HR Questions

Amogh Bihani Undergrad : IIT Delhi Work Ex : Samsung R&D Problem: How will you increase the profits of an Insurance company based in US Solution: Discussed about the product offerings and used Ansoff Matrix to identify new revenue streams. Next the aspect of pricing was taken up. Various methods like value based, cost based and reference based were used. Additional Problem: Interviewer explained about the Cobra Insurance industry in USA which refers to low premium insurance for people switching jobs. Explore if the company shall enter this market Solution : Market entry framework and guesstimate to estimate the market size and factors for entering Partner Round: Asked to pitch the recommendations to the CEO of insurance company Solution: Prepared the summary of the case in 3 minutes time and presented to the Partner. Each recommendation had to be backed up with sufficient data and logic. HR Based round 1. Describe a situation where you overcame obstacles 2. Why consulting 3. Questions on projects done in college and work ex

Interview Experience 3 Name

Rishav Krishna

Background

Undergrad : NIT Trichy WorkEx : 32 months 2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Problem: Guesstimate the overall sales of flipkart on big billion day Solution: Demand side - Started with internet penetration in India, further classified in types of buyers. Assumed the daily average time spent on purchasing to get the quantity and multiplied by Round 1 average price to get the total earnings Supply Side : Started with number of sellers on platform and multiplied by the average daily revenue of each to get the net sales

Round 2

Round 3 HR Questions

Discussion on the case given during campus case workshop Problem: Telecom company in USA is losing revenue in past few years. Identify the reason Solution: The case was provided with yearly sales and volume/subscriber data (of last 10 years), last two years - revenue stream data, price-mix data and current market-trends data for each services. There was a surge in the cheaper internet services as growing number of people started using internet to place voice calls rather than strictly buying the costlier voice-calling plans from the service-provider. This had caused decrease in the voice-calling plan users. Besides this, there were more such negative driver as well, such as decreasing volume of message service users. There were few more follow-up questions on the same case. Questions based on work ex Problem: How could you forecast the sales of a drug? Solution : used the concept of ‘Potential’, ‘Available’, ‘Target’ and ‘Penetrated’ Market from Kotler and drew parallels with ‘Epidemiology’, ‘Diagnosed Pool’, ‘Treated Pool’ and ‘Penetrated Pool’ of patients. Extra-Curricular

Interview Experience 4 Name

Nishant Paliwal

Background

Udergrad : Workex: 4 years Problem: Market expansion strategy for ERP system providing company. The case was based on work ex and hence required technical knowledge of the subject Solution: Used the basic market expansion framework to comprehensively analyze various options and the specific technical requirements in each case. Problem: Market expansion strategy for payment systems like Paytm and their role in promoting financial inclusion Solution: The case was provided with data on the industry growth and other trends. Analyzed the market potential by a guesstimate of market size and present penetration. Further analyzed the case using ansoff matrix for recommendations Tell me about yourself Work ex related questions

Round 1

Round 2 HR Questions

2016 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2015 Summer Interview Experiences

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Interview Experience 1 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions:

Aditya Pratap Singh Accenture Strategy 3 Commerce in XII. Did Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) in Finance from SSCBS, DU. 2 years of work experience in EY in the consulting domain. 1st round – 1 manager A. Tell me about yourself – Started with work experience and took a 1 second pause. B. He picked one project (work ex) from my CV and asked me to explain the problem and what all levers did we tweak. C. The discussion went to NPV and IRR (because I mentioned it) – Was asked very in-depth questions. I had used NPV for a hospitality client for a buy-v/s-lease analysis. I was able to justify it. He then told me that his clients in Steel industry prefer IRR and asked me as to what could be the reasons. D. Gave a small case – Telecom client is rolling out promotional schemes and offers but the conversion is low. Client wants to improve conversion. More information was given upon questioning.

Narration of the case interview:

a. Conversion was less than 1% - comparable to industry norms but the client wants us to improve it. b. Established player c. Schemes are targeting existing customers d. STP has no issue e. 3 ways of rolling out schemes – SMS, IVRS calls, manual calls. f. Focus on SMS, identify possible areas and generate ideas – some of the areas were – content, frequency, personalization of text messages (mention the name of customer using a script), ease of ordering (reply using SMS, missed call, website etc.), channel conflict, overall service experience and satisfaction, pricing and so on. These factors were categorized to appear structured. 2nd round – 1 partner/director Was made to wait 15-20 minutes A. 3 reasons why should I select you B. Guesstimate – Titan is launching a smart watch for Rs. 12,000. Estimate the market. a. I identified the cuts. b. Explained the approach that I planned c. Asked him if he was ok with it and if he wanted to put numbers - He said that numbers are not required d. Countered me at one place on logic – I Was able to defend my stance using Aspirational value concept 3rd round – 1 HR Be nice to the HR who is scheduling you (even if you are being made to wait), he/she might take your final round 2-3 minutes interview A. How were your earlier rounds? B. Did you make any mistake? C. 3 things that will stop you from becoming a good consultant – I struggled in this question. I had an answer ready for weakness but it was (obviously) miles from consulting. Tried to globe D. It seems that you are overconfident – tried to globe yet again. Finally, came up with 1 genuine weakness related to consulting.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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

Interview Experience 2 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Leveraged my work experience. Should have prepared an answer for "3 things that will stop you from becoming a consultant" Confidence is most important. Numbers are not at all important. Focus on approach and logic. Don't unnecessarily fit models. If they question you, you must be able to defend it based on logic.

Ankur Agarwal Accenture Strategy 3 VIT University (Mechanical Engineer) 10 months work experience at LnT Construction. - Why consulting?? Need to show that you are interested in it. - Why Accenture? An in depth knowledge of how Accenture is different firm other consulting firms and what are the opportunities it can provide. - Goals in your life? Should know yourself and your goals. Round 1:(about 1 hour) A very interactive round. More of a conversation with the interviewer sharing his experience. After a few minutes of interaction, questions were asked based on my work experience and interest in consulting. Then a case study on the construction industry was given where there was an issue of material shortage. An extension of the same was to get to the issue of improper labor distribution. The interviewer explained the processes and was very interactive. Not sticking rigidly to a particular framework was the key as the interviewer was more interested in the approach and how diverse I could think.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Round 2: (1 hour) Initially there were many HR questions on why consulting, why Accenture, why not General Management, my strengths, goals in life and in depth about my work experience and a few questions from my CV. After that a case based on manufacturing industry was given where I was expected to find out the output function parameters of the machine. The case discussion was nice, but halfway through the case, he told to switch on to another case. This was based on my work experience where I was asked to select any product and do the costing of the same. The interviewer was interested in seeing what all parameters I take into consideration and how diverse can I think. After listing down a lot of parameters, he told me that as a manager of a firm you are required to cut down the cost considerably to bag a big order. I was asked to do the cost cutting taking every possible parameter. Again, diversity in thinking and covering all areas was what he was looking for. Round 3: (15 minutes) The final round was an HR round with the Principal where questions like strengths, weaknesses, goals, achievement, failure, regret in life, one thing you want to change and similar questions were asked. It also included a rapid fire round in which one word answers were expected. Not sticking rigidly to a particular framework for the case studies worked in my favor, as the case studies were more on my work experience where application according to the case was more important. Trying to cover all areas and giving all diverse ideas and trying to interact more with the interviewer and extract more information played to my advantage. Even asking relevant questions to the interviewer helped to show that I was interested in the job. Knowing more about the company would have been better as I had stated a wrong fact about the company. As stated by all my interviewers, Accenture hires not as interns but as future prospects, so try to show your interest in the company. Most importantly, you should be able to convince them that you are interested in consulting and that you are interested in the domain. Know about the company in depth and do not strict rigidly to a framework for cases, rather apply one as per the case and be as diverse in your thinking as possible.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 3 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Arushi Singh Accenture Strategy 3 B.Com (Hons), SRCC Analyst, The Smart Cube (6 months) PG Diploma in International Business Operations Round 1: This was a short 15 minutes interview with the HR. The questions were CV based, mostly centering on the projects I did at Smart Cube, the kind of projects I'm interested in, which sector do I like the most, do I enjoy working in teams, would I be okay with working on long projects etc. Apart from that, there were a couple on how I was finding college and what PRiSM does, wrapping up with if I had any questions for her. Round 2: This was a 30 min interview with Principal (Vivek Chopra). It began with HR questions: Tell me about yourself, which POR did you enjoy the most (Volunteer teacher/social work) and what would your NGO kids say are your strong points and areas you can improve upon? I was asked my favourite subject (International business), which was followed by “Give me 5 reasons why companies choose to go international” and a case on that. Then he asked me a random question “What logics are used in lifts?” Since I had absolutely no clue he quickly left it. Round 3: This was a 20 min interview with Partner (Vivek Singh), beginning with “Tell me something not on your CV” and “What would your manager say are your strong points and weak areas?” As I had mentioned a course on Scuba Diving in my CV I was asked a case on it. After that was a random fun round - Tell me in One word the first thing that comes to your mind when I say the following words: 1. Success (Perseverance) 2. Failure (Experience) 3. One thing that irritates you (Fakeness) 4. One thing you hate about engineers (Not mentioning it here!) Round 2: Case: "Dabur has hired you to increase its international revenues to 25%". He directly wanted the solution instead of going about it like a case interview, so I used the Ansoff matrix as a base for coming up with several strategies, did a costbenefit analysis of each strategy evaluating them on parameters, and then suggested the best strategy for short term and long term. Added a few Dabur-specific things like capitalizing on its Ayurvedic image and the growing trend towards natural/herbal products.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

Round 3: I had to tell in exactly 2 minutes whether it was feasible for him to start a Scuba Diving Institute in India, finance not being a barrier. So I did a quick market analysis covering the overall macroeconomic scenario, current and forecasted state of the industry, and gave a checklist of all the requirements needed to start the institute. After establishing feasibility, I proceeded to discuss the probable locations (primarily Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep islands. Rejected Lakshadweep islands because they require entry permits), services offered by the institute and USP, possible tie ups with travel agencies, cruise ships etc. A key factor to mention in feasibility was seasonality of the sport. It rains more than half the year in Andamans, and scuba diving is not possible when it rains as it becomes difficult to see the corals. - Since I’ve lived in both Andamans and Lakshadweep islands and done scuba diving there, I had a lot of local knowledge, which I used to my advantage in the case. - In the 2nd interview, after I had given 5 reasons for why companies go international, he asked “Give me one more” another three times to make it stressful. But I didn’t yield and gave him as many reasons as he wanted, with real life examples, which impressed him. - Overall, I maintained a positive, enthusiastic and confident demeanor, which helped in establishing a rapport with the interviewers and making the interviews more like conversations.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 4 Name: Company: Round Brief Profile :

The sudden question on the different kinds of logics used in lifts had me stumped, so I just said that coming from a commerce background I wasn’t aware of it, but could attempt to answer it if he wanted. Thankfully he didn’t push it. - Focus on HR and CV. Accenture does not require heavy case preparation. - Always prepare a question for the interviewer, it shows your interest in the company. - Stay calm and confident. Smile!

Marut Taneja Accenture Management Consulting 2 NIT Kurukshetra, B.Tech. – Electrical, 34 months work-ex, B2B Sales in Schneider Elecric Round 1: This was more of an HR plus guesstimate round which lasted for around 30-35 minutes. Below are some of the questions that were asked 1) Tell me the 3 best points out of your CV 2) Your experience in INDEX committee till now and what were your responsibilities 3) Why consulting 4) What do you know about AMC 5) What sets you apart from others 6) How will your previous work ex be of any importance to us 7) A few questions on my extra-curricular activities

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

I was then given a guesstimate about the number of airplanes flying over Lucknow at that particular moment. Instead of arriving at a number, I was asked to describe the approach. Round 2: This was a Case based interview which was taken by the Partner. This again went on for around 30 minutes. Round 3: This was a 15 minute HR round. Some of the questions asked were as below: 1) Why management 2) My motivation to join AMC 3) What did you learn in your previous job 4) Do you think your sales experience is going to be of any relevance in AMC 5) What initiatives did you take while working in Schneder 6) Strength and weaknesses Problem Statement

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

An MNC that is into manufacturing of Healthcare Wearable devices wants to expand its operations in India by entering tier-3 cities. Along with the device it provides service of a personal health instructor twice a week for a year. After the end of the period (a year) the device has to be returned. I was supposed to advice regarding the feasibility of the expansion of operations. I started by asking some clarifying questions about the company, its operations, the product, any competitors in India, pricing, market share etc. After a discussion of around 10 minutes, he asked me to come out with the market size for the product in any small city. It was a very interactive discussion where the interviewer kept

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club guiding me towards the right direction. Although he did not seem to agree with the number that I arrived at, but he liked the approach. What do you think went right in this interview?

I remained calm and confident during all the interviews. This helped me to have a nice conversation which is very important in a consulting interview. While solving guesstimate and cases, I tried to involve the interviewer as much as possible by thinking loudly and explaining my entire approach.

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

My case interview could have been better as I was not able to structure it properly and the interviewer had to constantly pull me towards the right direction.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Just maintain your composure, show enthusiasm, look interested and interact well. Prepare your HR answers especially why consulting and AMC. Also, there is a high probability, you might get a case that you have no clue about. It is important not to get bogged down by the same and ask the right questions. They are looking for your ability to handle pressure situations and the logic and structure in your thought process.

Interview Experience 5 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Monika Agarwal Accenture Strategy 2 B.Com (Hons), SRCC Fresher Round 1: (20 minutes) 2 questions on CV Case: A reputed FMCG company wants to buy a brand of a competing FMCG company. The books of accounts value the brand at USD 100 million but the investment banks suggest a value of USD 130 million. What could be the reasons behind this difference? Who is your buddy? How many times have you spoken to her? Which all cases you did with her? Were you satisfied with her guidance? Tell me something about Accenture. Round 2: (10 minutes) Tell me 2 things about yourself that are not on CV. You have Rs 100. Where will you spend? A) On locally produced goods B) Donate to an orphanage Round 1: It started at a very positive note with questions from the CV. He asked about my internship experiences and POR. The interviewer seemed satisfied with the answers. Case: It was testing my finance knowledge as I had a few finance-related points on CV. The reasons could have been higher expected cash inflows, building of synergies.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Round 2: Started with clarifying a few things whether we could divide the amount between the 2 options and if we need to consider what others are spending in the market. Asked the interviewer what would the orphanage do with the Rs. 100. (Ans: fund 4 meals). I explained to him the multiplier effect that would take place if money was spent on Option A. (It would benefit the entire community involved in the channel of distribution and contribute towards the growth of the domestically made goods). Since Option A would have a greater impact, I suggested this option I was confident throughout. The interviewer tried to distract me in round 1 by asking questions in the middle of the case but I just answered them without taking off my mind from what I was doing. Should have read more about the company and practiced a few more cases with my buddy. Stay calm and composed. Just show that you are confident. Clarify any assumption that you take and follow a logical approach.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 6 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Nehaarikaa Talwar Accenture Strategy 3 Graduation: B. Tech - CSE, GGS Indraprastha University Work Experience: Eko India Financial Services, 9 months Concern Areas: Digital Banking, Payments, Banking Correspondent 1. Why MBA? 2. Why Consulting - Apart from the usual pointers, I talked about their projects, related them to my POR/work ex and explained why they interest me. Projects I talked about: a. Feasibility analysis of smart cities - talked about during PPT b. Market Strategy of HUL's Vision 2020 - talked about during PPT c. Go-to-strategy for SBI's digital solution for branch less banking - talked about during PPT + News + related to my work ex 3. Run me through your CV - I talked about my work experience, PORs 4. Why we should take you? (2 reasons) 5. How have you been spending time at IIM Lucknow? Round 1: Case Interview + HR CASE: Your friend has an e-commerce venture and has been facing losses. What would you recommend? The interviewer expected me to analyse costs, majorly in logistics and promotions. Recommendations to control them. CV related questions on PORs Why consulting? Why MBA? Time at Lucknow? Run me through your CV

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Round 2: Guesstimate + HR How many airplanes would be above your head at present? Interviewed wanted a qualitative analysis only. Just the factors that would affect the answer. 1. Air corridors. 2. Flights Scheduled during that time. 3. If Lucknow lies on the routes CV related questions. 5 divisions at Accenture Strategy

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

Interview Experience 7 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Round 3: Partner Round CV related questions. Give us 2 reasons why we should take you? Why Accenture and consulting? What was the motivation behind being involved with so many projects/organisations in college? [I had 6-7 PORs] 1. Talking about 3 projects and relating them to my past experience and interest displayed my interest in the firm and the role. 2. They look for logic in case interviews and guesstimates. There were no major low points. 1. Could have approached the case in a more structured manner. 2. Could have asked better question in round 1. 1. Go through the website, know about the divisions and projects. 2. Identify your interest in a particular division and sector 3. Be ready with smart questions to pose to them, if they ask so - shows interest. 4. Be thorough with the sector/industry concerning your previous organisation. (in case of work ex) 5. Find more reasons to join consulting, than the cliched ones. 6. Be honest & logical, smile and you should be through :)

Sarang Shamshery Accenture Strategy 3 Mechanical Engineer from BITS Pilani Goa, 2013 20 months of work experience at Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. (Enterprise Risk Management)

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Tell me about yourself. Tell me something not on your resume? Why consulting? Why Accenture?Explain Work experience? Work-ex related projects? 2 cases as elaborated afterwards Round 1: HR+CV Basic Tell me about yourself. Work-ex related questions. Tell me something not on your CV. Round 2: Case Interviewer asked me to choose a sector. I picked Financial Services and e-commerce. Straight away went into a case. Asked me the valuation of Snapdeal and will I recommend buying it at say ($5 Billion). Solution: Listed out cost and revenue sources elaborately. Interviewer guided me to segregate buckets like promotions, logistics, etc. He needed the factors I'll consider in order to arrive at a decision. I added that I'll even conduct a dupont analysis, which lead to another discussion on the different parameters of dupont and what each component represents and how (Profitability, ROE, etc.). After drawing an elaborate case diagram, he asked me to summarise the case. He seemed pretty convinced.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Round 3: Case+CV Started off by asking whether I attended the ppt. What did I like about it. After a few minutes of general HR, they went through my CV and saw that I play guitar. Gave me a case based on it. Case: I am a person with a lot of money and want to set up a business manufacturing guitars in India. Should I do it or not? Take 2 minutes to think and then give me your answer in 1 minute. In those 2 minutes, I listed everything that came to my mind about what can we use to evaluate the guitar market. Started with the market size of Guitars in India. Like any other market sizing problem, took suitable assumptions and arrived at a number. Listed current competitors. Their penetration and brand value. Whats missing currently from the market.

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

Went to evaluate the business: Diversity of guitar types- Acoustic, Classical and Electric. Wood sourcing - different woods used (rosewood and maplewood), Pickups, strings and other components. Geographic location (North v/s South) for making a plant. Evaluated pros and cons. Was cut short that 2 minutes were over and I need to know your answer now. Told him that it seems a very profitable business and should go ahead. Supported my decision with rationale and numbers as calculated. The comfort level I established with the interviewer(s) in all rounds was one thing that I feel was perfect. One reason for that was that I had already interacted with two of them before during ppts/case workshops. So, they remembered me by face. I knew most of the current projects of Accenture and its recent news, which benefited me in two out of three interviews. Sometimes, I ended up giving answers too quickly when asked a question, especially in case based interviews. Being able to absorb the question and answer them after giving the right amount of thought to it is definitely an area for me to work upon. Maintain your composure. Know your CV well. HR answers are crucial for the interview. Be prepared with good questions in case the interviewer asks you if you have any questions. It should reflect that you are really interested to join them. Read about the "Digital" focus of Accenture. Smile and be confident.

Interview Experience 8 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Shivi Garg Accenture Strategy 2 B.Tech. (Computer Science) from JIIT, Noida ERS Consultant at Deloitte US India - 22 months 1. Brief intro of yourself 2. Profitability of a business plan - business provided was dance academy because I have two year experience in classical music 3. Problem solving case

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 1st round - HR+Case 1. Intro - very detailed. Interrupted and discussed a lot 2. HR Question - Biggest achievement 3. If we ask you to invest in a business of opening a dance academy. Would you invest? Will it be a profitable venture? How? Relate to your experience? - I answered telling that it would be a profitable venture. I also shared my expansion plans and the marketing strategies I can use to maximize the profitability. 4. They asked me to summarize the answer in 30 seconds. Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

2nd round - HR+case 1. A situation where I was in a fix and couldn't make it - shared a personal experience. The interviewer took it well. 2. Problem solving case (15 minutes) - Gold insurance company is experiencing lot of costs. Investigate. - Key was to look into all the cost objects. I figured out that the company was situated in a rural setup and therefore power and electricity was costing them bit too much. I suggested using tablets. The interviewer had laptops in mind

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

Interview Experience 9 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

3. Any questions? - I asked how and why Accenture is linking with amazon cloud. There was a detailed discussion of 15 minutes on this topic. I maintained my calm and confidence. I was thinking out loud and presented all the ideas in my mind even without asking example while answering the dance academy question, I proactively shared my future plans and expansion strategy The 30 second summary sealed the deal in 1st round In the second round, the interview was going moderate but I asked a question to engage the interviewer in a conversation and buy some more time to prove my skills and understanding. Did a healthy discussion with him, which helped a lot I was very confident in the first round but in the second round, I got a little nervous and did not give a good structure to my case. Just stay calm and confident Prepare really nice questions Write on the paper provided. They do take them into account Think loud and don't hesitate from sharing your ideas with the interviewers.

Siddharth B. Ghivari Accenture Strategy 4 College: IIT Roorkee, Chemical Engineering Work Experience: 3 years at IOCL Q) Tell me something about yourself? Q) Why Accenture? Q) Why consulting when you have a background in Operations? Q) What happens in a committee at IIM Lucknow? Tell me about Beer Game (Written in CV as part of OIG)? Q) Tell me five major expense heads as part of promotional campaign done in Under grad school? (I was the promotional co-cordinator for my technical fest) Q) What was your biggest achievement in your work experience? Round 1: HR + Guestimate Guestimate: No. of heavy vehicle trucks in western India Round 2: Case Case: There is a pharmaceutical company who are having frequent stockouts at the retailers store. You need to analyse the problems and come out with a solution. I asked about the manufacturing (whether in house/ outsourced) Interviewer: Factories present all over the country but only two belong to the company. Rest are on lease basis. Me: Stockouts happening for certain products/ all the products? Interviewer: Happening for 30% of the products on a regular basis. Rest of the products it happens sometimes. Me: Location of factories Interviewer: Around 6 factories. 2 in North, 1 in west, 1 in East, 2 in South.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Me: Any transportation issues Interviewer: No Me: Supply chain of the company. Interviewer: Manufacture- Main warehouse (one in each region)- CFA- retail store Me: Any use of software for communicating the demand from retailer to manufacturer Interviewer: An ERP software used but it not very effective I analysed other problems. At the end he told me that pharmaceutical cases are very complicated. Took him a year to solve the one he asked me. Round 3: Case+ HR HR: Tell me two things which will convince me to give you an offer right now? Case: I have a factory for packaging all kinds of meat. I need to set the speed of the conveyor belt. What should the speed be? Ask 6 questions. I'll answer them together. I asked 6 questions for which his answer for either good question or not relevant but he did not answer any one of them. He asked me to ask more questions. I asked one/two more and the round ended.

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 Interview Experience 10 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview? What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Round 4: HR One question about the biggest achievement in IOCL? I was calm during all the rounds. I did not panic in the third round which was what they were checking as they did not answer one question I asked in the case. I had gone through my CV a no. of times. I had prepared stories about each line. They analysed my CV completely. I could have done the second case a bit better. I could have made my resume a bit better. The future batches should prepare their CV well. They need to put numbers, which they can defend in an interview. HR is very important. They don't proceed to case without doing HR round first. Disha HR questions to be done without fail. Surbhi Jain Accenture Strategy 3 No work Experience Engineer, Stream- Information Technology First round started with the most frequently asked question: Tell me something about yourself. Interrupted in between while I was talking about POR's. Asked to tell about a POR in detail. Then the interviewer jumped directly to cases. Was asked two easy cases in the first round. One was on the declining sales of the company. I had to find out the reason. On solving I found the reason was the improper training of sales people. Other was on the declining manufacturing capacity of a company. I followed the value chain approach. The reason was more than expected breakdown of the machines. Second round started with HR questions from my CV. Asked about my college project and a POR in detail. Some other HR questions like a situation where I convinced people about my idea and started something from scratch. Told about the dance club I started in undergrad. Then the interviewer moved on to a case. The case was more of a logical reasoning question. The case was: If I had to lay off some people from one unit of my organization, how would I go about it? I divided the problem in two parts: First we will have to identify the number of people from each department who can be removed and then we will find out whom will we remove. I talked about various ways like bench marking with competitors, with other units of my organization (Internal bench marking) for the first part. For second part I talked about parameters such as productivity, work satisfaction, absenteeism and some more. The interviewer seemed convinced with the solution. Third interview was with the partner. It was more of a stress interview. I was given a guesstimate. It was about finding the number of people who will come to my sketching classes started in Delhi. I was very confident from the beginning and was well prepared with the HR questions. In the stress interview I maintained my cool. I could have solved the guesstimate better. Made some mistakes in assuming some percentages.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 11 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Be well prepared with your HR answers and CV. It can make or break your chance to get through a company. Also practice as many cases as you can with different sets of people.

Vidhu Garg Accenture Strategy 3 B.Tech in Engineering Physics, IIT Delhi Risk Analyst, RBS (7 months) Business Analyst, Urban Ladder (5 months) Round 1: HR + guesstimate + case Round 2: HR + case Round 3: HR + case Round 1: (60 minutes) Tell me about yourself Questions related to work experience, mainly from CV Why consulting? Do you think that the ecommerce business model is sustainable? (I answered that it is. Also talked about what companies are entering into and their innovation like Kindle and Amazon cloud) 1 case - You have an ecommerce company, the revenue is growing but the profit is not. (It was about reducing the costs. Mentioned the different types of costs involved and then analysed each of them. Suggested cheaper alternatives. The problem was high transportation costs. I was telling him different ways of handling this when he interrupted and asked me to do a guesstimate instead) 1 guesstimate - Calculate the number of autos in Delhi (Approached this from the demand side, calculated the number of rides and then autos)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What major would you go for? (I said that I have not yet come across all the fields, strategy is still left. I would like to have an idea of all the branches before choosing one) Okay, out of Finance and Marketing which one would you choose? And why? (I said marketing) Would you like to ask any question? Round 2: (20-25 minutes) A lot of questions from CV Tell me about a leadership experience of yours? Which branch of Physics is your favorite? 1 case - I have to launch Parle G glucose biscuits in the US. What all factors would you look into (Typical market entry case, was mainly about STP) Would you like to ask anything? Round 3: (15 minutes with 2 partners) What 2 things about you would you like us to know? (2 strengths) 1 Case - If you work for the CFO of a metal mining company, what all factors would you care about - I mentioned 5-6 factors namely political stability of the country, licenses and regulations, changing technology (told them how change of extraction process of Aluminum had reduced the costs significantly), financial condition of international markets (How Glencore is facing problems of lesser imports from China because of economy slowdown) He asked me if I was missing any other point. I said that I could not think of any. Then he said that FX rates should also be taken care of.

What do you think went right in this interview? What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Would you like to ask any question? - I asked why they did not hire from IITs like other consulting firms. I spoke fluently, answers did not seem rehearsed. I was spontaneous almost all the time. Supported my points with examples either from personal experience or news. Interview was more of conversational. I could have been more structured in my approach towards the cases.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Be confident and be yourself. Don't mug up HR answers. That might be visible in the interview. Don't lose your calm. The interviewers did not take a stress interview and were interactive. Be logical in your approach. Take time to think and then reply. Try to solve cases first with common sense, recalling a case framework might miss out some points.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

A. T. Kearney Interview Experience 12 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Ajay Rathore A T Kearney 3 NIT Calicut, 2013 Electrical & Electronics Engineering Goldman Sachs, Analyst, 2013-2015 Round 1: General Introduction Round 2: Why consulting, Why ATK? Greatest achievement, both personal & professional Round 3: Energy sector as I showed interest in same Round 1 – Introduction (2 min) + Case Interviewer - Siddharth Jain Case - Design a delivery system for e-commerce for a city based on demand Basically design everything from number of delivery hubs in city based on demand and their proximity to one warehouse to number of delivery boys required, the area they will cover and number of deliveries per person. Lot of variables in the case, initially I went to the qualitative aspect but was told to focus on the actual variables and did so. I spend around 20-25 minutes on the problem and was asked to conclude. Round 2 - HR + Guesstimate (partner round 1) HR - Why consult, ATK, brief introduction and mainly focused on resume Guesstimate - Usage of number of lens pairs in a year Solved from demand side, from finding actual users to their average usage Went for 10-15 minutes maximum. Taken straight to next partner round Round 3 - interests + case (partner round 2) Partner was from energy sector, so we talked mostly about the Industry since I was interested in renewable sector and the type of projects.

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 Interview Experience 13 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Case - Market for company in Germany, which produces a part used in Safety equipment and factor affecting demand He was mostly testing me on the approach of the case. Lasted 10 minutes. Taking cues from Interviewer. Directing the HR and about me part very well in interviews Giving cues to Interviewers to talk about Taking it light. Give better approach to first case and be crisp in it. Could have given better responses to questions asked maybe Be chill, let it flow and enjoy the process.

Ankit Raj A T Kearney 4 Mining Engineering - IIT Kharagpur Work ex - KPMG, Management Consulting, 2 years 4 rounds in total - 2 normal case rounds and 2 partner rounds. The first two rounds were case intensive with a guesstimate in the 1st round. Partner rounds were a combination of HR questions, a small guesstimate and a small case. Round 1: 45-60 minutes. Guesstimate + case based on same Estimate the market size of ISL (Indian Soccer League) in India (in terms of number of viewers or followers) I started off with a top-down approach; used assumptions on the way and crosschecked with the interviewer. The exercise was quite conversational; the interviewer helped me with some assumptions as well. At one stage of the estimation, he asked me a specific question. I needed the proportion of television watchers who would prefer viewing football. I was going with a geographic segmentation and he asked for a different method. I was finally able to give the answer after taking some time. He

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club was looking for the method of "what else do people watch / do if not football... so on and so forth" I was asked to calculate each and every number quite accurately and give the basis for each assumption as well. Then after the estimation, he asked what factors you would take into account to see if the ISL as a whole is profitable or not. This was a confusing question and I asked a lot of questions to clear my doubts. The fact that was confusing was which entity to focus on while calculating profits for ISL. He had mentioned initially that all stakeholders should make profits – so I clarified whether I should take my “system” as ISL or the organizing entity. He pushed me a lot to think of more factors. Finally, he asked how you would increase the following / viewership of ISL, if you had sufficient budget – gave answers relating to promotions and infrastructure investment. While leaving, he asked me if I had any questions. I had completely forgotten to prepare for this (in spite of being repeatedly told), and had to say no nothing. Round 2: Business scenario case – which country to export to? (30-35 minutes) The client is a passenger vehicle manufacturer of India. Sales are dipping, so client wants to export. How would you decide where to export? I started off with basic questions pertaining to the client and its products. The discussion was much more interviewee-led in this interview. He just wanted an approach to the problem and not some specific countries (I clarified this early). In the middle of the discussion, I was asked to solve the case on the green-board. I made two buckets - market attractiveness and ease of entry and listed factors in each of them. While I was analysing the market attractiveness bucket, he was pushing me to think of 1 more factor, which I was unable to get. I then requested him to let me write all factors in both the buckets. It turned out I had written the said factor under the second bucket. Once I was on the board, the interview got very conversational. We were discussing each point, ranging from costs implications, technology improvements needed in the cars for a different country, political stability, economic stability etc. Overall, it went very well. And yes, I asked a question this time – the basic one – was this a real case and if yes how did the team go about it? Round 3: Partner round – HR and a guesstimate (20 minutes) The round started with him just giving a comment about the "spot-offer" system. He then asked me what I thought about it. It was so casual that I didn't realize at first that the interview had started (he was working on his laptop at the time). But, I managed to give a balanced answer. The partner was from IIT KGP and he asked a lot about my life at IIT - what did you do in your free time; which subjects you liked; which hostel etc. Then a question on my experience at KPMG - what did you learn? Then, all of a sudden he asked me to stand-up and quote something by Brutus from Julius Caesar (it's there on my CV). I went blank for the first few seconds as I could not understand why I was being asked this question (Prepare your CV thoroughly). Finally, I realised and said a line. Then, he asked me a guesstimate - market size of contact lens in India. It went average. Finally, I asked him a couple of questions.

What do you think went right in this interview?

Round 4: Partner round – small case (15 minutes) The Partner asked a little about my internship with Tata steel. He then went straight to a case from the steel industry – Your client is a HR/CR coil manufacturer with some related services as well. How would you increase the realization per unit? He clearly mentioned that he was just looking for different ways and not a full-fledged approach. I listed a few suggestions. He seemed satisfied with them, but was looking for another answer. Finally, he gave me the answer (bundling of services) – one which I had thought of at the first instance but forgot to write down and hence missed it completely. I told him how I had thought about the answer – by relating to aviation industry – bundling and un-bundling of services. He seemed convinced. I asked a couple of questions in the end. 1. I attempted each case from first principles - using a basic MECE analysis. I did not try to force fit any frameworks or asked irrelevant prepared questions. All my questions were contextual and specific to the case. 2. I engaged the interviewer in all the rounds and had a conversational approach to solving the case. 3. I was given the feedback at the end that my breadth of thinking was very good, and that I did not miss out on any factors in the interviews, 4. I was completely honest in my responses to the HR questions. Regarding the

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 14 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Brutus quote, I told the partner honestly that I do not remember any quotes by him now, so can I quote something by Antony? He allowed me to do so. 1. I could have solved the guesstimate better. I had made some irrelevant assumptions, which I tried to defend with the interviewer. Finally, he asked me not to take such an assumption and then go ahead. Later, when I arrived at the final number, he showed me how I would have missed about 50-100 mn from my estimate had I taken that assumption. 2. I did some erroneous calculations in the beginning, which should not have happened. 3. I should have prepared a few questions to ask from the interviewer, 1. Make full use of the mentors assigned - do at least 3-4 cases with them. It's evaluative as well as very helpful in preparing you for the case. 2. Practice different types of cases rather than too many cases. Doing too many cases leads to a narrow frame of mind - you will automatically memorize questions and use the same in all cases. 3. Use basic first principle approach to solve cases - don't force fit frameworks. 4. Be honest in your HR answers. Partners and senior recruiters will absolutely know when you are lying - trust on this. But you should also have a proper justification or an alternate suggestion. 5. Prepare 3-4 questions for each company you interview 6. Don't panic if you are stuck. Just think out loud and make your way. Listen carefully to the interviewer and engage him; he is there to solve the case with you.

Kavya Bhargava A T Kearney 3 Fresher, B.Com (Hons) from SRCC Three cases and about three guesstimates were asked. Details in the next question. Round 1: With a Partner It started with a tell me about yourself question. Then one significant achievement in college. Then a case: I was asked to determine how and why can AT Kearney charge double the price compared to its competitors. What justifies this action. It wasn't this direct but it boiled down to this. Round 2: With a Principal How to popularize Chess in India and on profitability case. A national manufacturing company; labour strike in one of the factories was the reason. One simple guesstimate; no HR Round 3: With a Partner Mostly an informal conversation about IIM Lucknow and the consulting life. Discussed a couple of cases that the Partner had worked on. 2 guesstimates: Estimate the number of cups used on campus and number of people tuning in to the radio daily. One specific HR question: Why ATK, how did you rank ATK and why that particular rank. I think one of the things that worked for me in this particular company was that by the time I was being interviewed, I wasn't nervous anymore and to a certain extent I stopped thinking of it as a do or die situation. It helps you calm down and the interviewer can see and understand you better. In contrast, you might be too strung up and hence not able to show how you think/communicate clearly leading to you tanking the interview. Another thing I made sure of was that I kept the interviewer engaged and that they didn't get distracted. I extended my answers a bit sometimes. You can come across as a bit talkative. It's always better to be more to-the-point - Don't let the pressure get to you. It's not the end of the world. - Don't talk too much. You don't want to appear immature or chatty - Always give answers according to the person who is interviewing you. Having backup answers and changing your attitude according to the person that is interviewing you is always a good idea.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Alvarez and Marsal Interview Experience 15 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 16 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Deepika Saxena Alvarez and Marsal 2 B.Tech in electrical engineering from NIT Allahabad, 2012. Worked as design engineer at Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd: 34 months 1. Tell me about yourself 2. Guesstimate : Market size for milk in Mumbai 3. Case study on whether a PE firm should invest in a multi-specialty hospital in Lucknow Round 1: Tell me about yourself and your work at Reliance. He asked me why I considered myself an ideal candidate for A&M. The interviewer asked me to estimate the market size for milk in Mumbai and analyze why organized players such as Reliance are losing out to unorganized players in the milk market in Mumbai. Round 2: Brief introduction about myself and then a case study. It was related to a multi-specialty hospital in Lucknow and I was asked to determine whether a private equity firm should invest in the hospital. This was the problem statement laid out and I had to ask questions to the interviewer to gather relevant pieces of information and come up with final recommendation. Prior to the interview, I had done my homework regarding the firm and the profile for which it had come to recruit. I was confident throughout the interview, trying to be as interactive as I could while solving the case and the market-sizing problem. Even when I made certain mistakes, I did not defend myself or get nervous, rather I admitted whenever I overlooked some aspect of the question or did any calculation error. Even though I tried to be very interactive throughout the case analysis and guesstimate round, there were few instances where I estimated some figures or adopted a method for solving things without explaining them clearly to the interviewer. So he had to ask me why I did certain calculation or how I arrived at a certain number, which I think I could have avoided by explaining every single step to the interviewer. Stay calm and confident. Don't get nervous if you do some mistake while solving the case. The interviewer is there to guide you if you go a bit off track. Just maintain a calm composure and try to keep the case study round going as more of a conversation than an interview. Think out loud. If you are asked a question you don't know the answer to, don't blurt out the first thing that strikes your mind. Rather, request the interviewer to give you a minute to gather your thoughts. They'll gladly give you time to think. Jay Shah Alvarez and Marsal 2 B.com, CA, Fresher Done a lot of social work Round 1: Run me through your profile- hardly some time spent here Case analysis Round 2: Tell me about yourself. CV related questions on extra-curriculars. Didn't ask about academics Case analysis Round 1 Run me through your profile Picked up TT from my profile and said, "you think you can beat me?" Discussion on TT was a light one. Intention was rapport building Case analysis- kept narrating details on a health sector related case. Advise to be given on profitability Factors considered to be enlisted

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Round 2 Tell me about yourself. Getting a rank in CA Entrance impressed. It suited the profile. Picked up 'art' from CV and some discussion on the same. Case analysis: Case about e commerce. Market entry case related to ethnic wear. Narrated the case. Gave some figures Asks factors to be considered. Before case was over the first round interviewer took her out. They discussed for 3 whole minutes. She asked me to stop writing and leave. As I was leaving, they said "you are selected" Confidence was critical At times I couldn't pick on the hints that the interviewers were dropping about the case. But I stuck on and kept trying. Showed dedication. Was cheerful and relaxed throughout the interview. What do you think went right in this interview?

Being a CA also gave brownie points As a matter of coincidence, I had some extra-curriculars for each of the interviewers liking. Rather than asking questions they started telling their experience with the activity passionately. I didn't do justice to number crunching.

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

I objectively went about analysing the case without going into the calculations. I also hadn't done case preparation. I was focusing more on General Management and marketing. Alvarez and Marsal was the only consulting Day 0 call I had. Case practice would have helped The role offered is business advisory. They prefer differentiating themselves from consulting. A good amount of importance is given to being an organizational fit. So be cheerful and show motivation and willingness to learn. Not much time is spent on CV/ HR. That part is a hygiene factor. Majorly does the work of rapport building. Demonstrate good logic for case analysis.

Interview Experience 17 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) What do you think went right in this interview? What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Saharsh Agarwal Alvarez and Marsal 2 Shri Ram College of Commerce, (B.Com- Hons) Worked at DE Shaw and OYO Rooms prior to joining IIML Q. A PE firm wants to invest in the healthcare sector. It needs to decide on whether it's going to invest in the eye care segment or the dialysis segment. Advise. Q. A snack manufacturer in the unorganized space operational currently in Maharashtra and Gujarat wants to expand to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Advise. The HR round was the generic questions such as - Tell me something about yourself - Why Consulting? - What do you understand by due diligence? - Work experience and complete understanding of the role - Explain the business model of OYO Rooms Half the interview is won by attitude. Confidence and the willingness to learn in your internship is what was the key. Number skills are a must (mental math) and the ability to use numbers while solving a case. I could have prepared for cases better. Had prepared mainly for finance because of which the structure wasn't excellent. To my advantage, structure wasn't exactly the main criterion.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Be thorough with basic finance and interact with companies in every opportunity provided with. You're judged by companies right from Day 1 and make the right impression from the first time you meet the officials till you walk out of the interview room.

Auctus Advisors Interview Experience 18 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 19 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Argha Mondal Auctus Advisors 3 IIT Kanpur, B.Tech Electrical Engineering, Batch of 2012 Work-ex: Opera Solutions, 33 months Round 1: Decision Tree Based Quantitative case. Asked to determine the optimum inventory for a retailer to maximize profits. Sales depended on the demand, which had 3 scenarios of high, medium and low with different sales and occurrence probabilities. Explained the scenarios, with the expected sales revenue in each case based on basic probability calculations. Round 2: PVR is acquiring DT Cinemas. Analyze the situation. I had some experience with the workings of the multiplex retailers, so the question was relevant to my work-ex. More of a discussion on the factors and the pros and cons of inorganic v/s organic growth. HR rounds started with basic HR questions like about yourself, reasons for leaving last job, resume based questions about PORs and work projects. Mainly they are trying to look for a fit with their firm and an enthusiasm to work in an uncertain and high responsibility environment. Round 1 Case: I asked all the relevant questions and probed for the right data. I also came up with a MECE framework for the decision tree. Round 2 Case: I was able to cover all-important aspects. HR: My past work-experience allowed me to leverage a lot of my work into the HR answers. Also, to all his questions, I had answers with some incident to justify it. For the second case, I started to solve the case as a quantitative case, when it was basically a strategy case. The interviewer had to pull me back from the numbers a couple of times. There are two cases in general. One quantitative decision tree based probability case. These are generally number intensive. Second is a qualitative strategy case. For HR, try to leverage instances from your resume to justify our answers.

Devika Mathur Auctus Advisors 2 Grad - NIT Allahabad Stream - Biotechnology Work Ex- 12 months at INDUCTIS (EXL SERVICES) Both the rounds had one case each. The cases are different from the general market entry and profitability cases. They deal with expected probability of different scenarios of any situation given. Round 1: Only Case Round 2: Case and HR combined Eg of case: I am a supermarket chain and have to order deodorant of the brand

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Ferrari. How much should he order to maximize his profit. On asking the interviewer, you will get the further details.

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

Interview Experience 20 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

There are 3 different seasons of sale: low, medium, high. Assume margin to be same throughout. During these seasons let’s say the probability of the deodorants being sold is 1, 0.6, 0.4. If you are not able to sell all the stock and have to return to the company, you have to bear a loss per every bottle. The basics of probability, being good at math helps. The cases are very logical and just think from a basic level. I was honest throughout my HR interview and that is essential under all circumstances. I am from a consulting background and relating thing and giving examples from previous background and learning helps as well. Maintaining your nerves is one thing I could have improved upon. It helps you think logically and helps solve the case better. During the period of preparation, focus on your mistakes and make sure to work upon them. A variety of cases always helps you on the final day. As per the final day is concerned, keep yourself calm and composed. :)

Sandip Kumar Sen Auctus Advisors 3 Graduation college: BITS Pilani Stream: M.sc Economics+ BE. Mechanical Work Experience: 2 Years Organization: Credit Suisse Role: Equity research analyst Round 1 (Case): A company wanted to find out the best way to prepare itself for a possible increase in demand. It could continue with current technology or experiment and invest in a new technology (The success of new technology was not certain) or it could outsource surplus demand to other small manufacturers. The cost of production would have been different in different case. Which of the three options would have provided with the maximum profit given the uncertainty around demand and success of new technology? Round 2 (HR): The entire round revolved around my internship experiences and positions of responsibility. They basically wanted to see how I will manage client-facing roles and why I wanted to leave finance and join consulting. Round 3 (Case): A bank wants to open 100 ATMs in the city. Where should it open them for maximum profit? Round 1 started with small HR round. The interviewer picked up one of the research work at Credit Suisse and had a small discussion. Then we proceeded to case. I was able to draw an exhaustive structure in first five minutes, which helped me ask key questions. I did the calculations (It was a probability based case) in next 5 minutes and reached the final conclusion. The interviewer was quite satisfied.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

Round 2 was complete HR round. I had prepared a lot for it and so was able to answer all his questions with relevant proof in my CV. He too was very satisfied. Round 3, the final round was with the partner. Since the first two rounds went pretty smoothly, I had become slightly complacent and started very poorly. I was all over the place and was not able to draw a good structure. However, I recovered in time and was able to gain some of the lost ground. Since my round 3 went very bad, they had some additional informal meetings with me to check my analytical skills. They discussed with me about Bihar Election, problems in IIM Lucknow etc. Finally they were convinced and I got the offer :) I was quick to make a good structure in first round and so reached the solution very neatly. I had prepared a lot for HR interview and so was able to answer all the difficult questions that they asked in round 2 and the informal session after round 3. In round 3, although I had started horribly, I was able to maintain my composure and do some bit of damage control.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

After two excellent rounds, I assumed that I will get the job and hence became complacent in round 3. I should have kept myself on high alert in the all-important round 3 with the partner. We all are smart enough to crack consulting cases. HR answers can sometimes become the differentiating factor in a 50:50 case. So, I would suggest everyone to devote at least 40% of total preparation time in HR questions.

The Boston Consulting Group Interview Experience 21 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Aatish Pandit BCG 2 IIT Delhi - Civil Engineering - 2013 passout KPMG management consulting - 2 years Meaning of your name? (Try and make it an interesting conversation starter) Tell me about yourself? 2 rounds (both case) We were called in a batch of 7, all of us were asked to wait in a common area and were called one-by-one by our respective interviewers. Round 1: with Partner (mainly case) - general questions like how are feeling today, tell me something about yourself? - 5 min chitchat and then into the case - Very specific problem statement, not an open-ended case - Case: A bank has recently acquired licence from RBI to operate, devise an optimal ATM placement strategy for Delhi market given a budget constraint of INR 1 crore. - The partner was looking for factors to be considered. He narrowed it down to only cost, given budget constraint. - Listed down all possible costs, and factors on which the costs will depend. For eg. rent cost will depend on location, cash replenishment cost will depend on number of cash dispensing cycles per day etc. - After considering all the costs and factors, calculated cost for setting up one ATM at Delhi airport. This came out to be 45 Lacs given very high rent at airport. Hence not advisable to put an ATM at airport. - But given high visibility for ATM at the airport, recommended that the company can simply consider this ATM to be an advertisement and reach higher number of customers. - Partner seemed satisfied. Round ended with a knock on the door by the PCommer. Round 2: with Project Leader - started with tell me about yourself and then straight into the case - Case: Client is an EPC player, wants to expand into other businesses. What factors would you consider while suggesting him? - started with basic questions like, what do you mean by EPC?, what business is our client into currently?, in which geography, why does he plan to expand, any other objective in mind? etc. - Explained him my approach first that how I would like to tackle this problem, when he agreed then went into drawing the structure on paper. - First, listed all possible industries where EPC is applicable. - then listed parameters on the basis of which either filtering or ranking of industries can be done. - He was satisfied with the approach. > Came out of the room and after waiting for 10 minutes, was given the offer by the Partner and Associate Principal.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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

Interview Experience 22 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

> Stayed calm & confident > Asked questions where I did not have prior knowledge > Stated all my assumptions beforehand > Always tried to engage the interviewer by constantly interacting with him and showing interest in what he is saying > Should have listened carefully to what interviewer wants > Could have made the structures more neatly Stay calm and confident during the day. Even if you don't know something, be candid about it and stay focused. Only thing which will take you through that day is your confidence. But be cautious, don't be over-confident, can go horribly wrong if you come out as arrogant while being confident. Ask for honest feedbacks from your close and reliable friends while doing mock interviews.

Avinash R Kothari BCG 2 B.com, Chartered Accountant, CFA - US, 3 years of work experience in debt syndication and investment banking (PINC) Broadly case based interviews with very pointed questions on HR. I had one case on pricing a product and deciding on whether to manufacture in India or China. Required lot of thinking on the toes.

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Second case was on government policy making related to child education which is government sponsored. This case was difficult and couldn't be cracked without prior knowledge of the costs involved in government-sponsored education. Some knowledge related to world bank and IMF funding was also required. One question was common in both the rounds. "Why consulting?" Given my background in finance and as a CA handling this question in the right way was very important. More than 5-7 minutes were spent on this question. My first round was with a partner known as Mr. Gupta. He seemed to be in a rush though asking questions while we were walking from one room to another. He was pretty much straightforward and cut through the small talk relatively quickly. Just after we sat he gave me the case and we began discussing it. The case was moderate in difficulty and required us to list down all the costs involved in manufacturing a product in India and comparing it with manufacturing costs in China.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Interview was very interactive in nature and not at all stressful. He guided my thinking from time to time and appreciated the good points also giving me a boost of confidence. Round 2: Principal named Ms. Seema working in social impact segment. This round was slightly stressful initially but after hearing the why consulting answer she got convinced and interview went smoothly thereafter. Initial minutes were spent only on why consulting. The one line that worked for me in that answer and allowed me to sell myself completely was "I look at consulting as a sophisticated form of entrepreneurship." Handling this question correctly was key to cracking the interview. Apart from this there was no other HR question. Remaining part of the interview was completely case based. In the case a prior knowledge of IMF and world bank funding came to my rescue. The case was a relatively difficult one and she was very helpful at certain points. It was that kind of case in which we could have easily lost our composure. Breaking up the benefits of government-sponsored education in short term and long term gave the structure. However just mentioning that long term benefits will be abstract and can’t be counted would not be correct. I had to mention a number of domains under which benefits could accrue.

What do you think went right in this interview?

The case ended on a good note and you know it when the interviewer is still delighted to speak to you even after the time is over. Regarding HR questions: Being honest about it made a lot of difference. Given my background I had to be really convincing about consulting. This would come only after a good amount of time is spent on the answer. Speaking confidently with

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club honesty and being frank about it did the job. Case questions: My ability to have a range in my thinking and to suggest various parameters to be looked at came very handy. Coming up with a few corner points convinced the interviewer. Though this is more random in nature, it worked for me on that day. Others: Good eye contact and ability to make the interview conversational. Regarding cases I think I could have been more succinct and quick in reaching to the solution. However that's a perpetual challenge. What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 23 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

The interview could have been better and more convincing if through my HR answers I would have been able to drive the interview to topics, which I wanted to discuss. Like work experience and discussion on various sectors that I would have covered. Had it been so, my reliance on case to crack the interview would have reduced. Much has been said about personality, loud voice, eye contact and an aura to crack consulting interview. But people, BCG is completely different. It is more about your logical chain of thoughts and your achievements. Expect BCG interview outcomes to be drawn from case solutions and not from cues about your charm and personality. However, prepare HR question very well. Don't goof up in that area.

Danvir Suri BCG 2 BA (Hons) Economics from Delhi University MSc Economics from LSE 5 months at HSBC 22 months at Genesis Economic Consulting First round had a case and questions on work experience Second round had a guesstimate and a little HR Round 1 Had done a project on mobile payments. Interviewer was also interested in the topic so asked me to describe the project.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 24 Name: Company:

Case involved giving costs and benefits of moving children from Anganwadi to government schools at the age of 4 rather than at the age of 6 in the context of studies that have shown positive outcomes for early interventions in education. Interviewer wanted me talk about the potential benefits. I divided the benefits into those to the individual and his family (increased income) the government (increased taxes, lower subsidies) and society (lesser crime) etc. Was also asked how I would estimate these benefits. Spoke about how you could use existing studies, use a control group etc. Round 2 Was asked to guesstimate the number of x-ray machines sold in a year. Divided demand into replacement and new. I started with replacement demand, and took Lucknow as a sample. Spoke about the different class of people and how they were treated by different hospitals. Divided hospitals into tiers which would cater to different section of population. Interviewer at this point asked me to stop with numbers and just explain the methodology so I spoke about how the ratio of x-ray machines to number of beds would vary, and this would be higher for hospitals catering to the rich. Then spoke about new demand. Was told to stop at this point. Was confident and played to my strengths. When I was asked to explain the mobile payments project I did so in great detail and in a structured way. Use HR answers to impress interviewers with communication skills. Prepare a unique answer for Why BCG/McKinsey?

Diwakar Agarwal BCG

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

2 Btech Mtech dual degree, Electrical Engineering, IIT Kanpur. 34 month experience at Intel (software+hardware engineer) 1. Estimate the size of new xray machines in India. 2. Client has recently received license for banking operations in India. It wants to start operations in Bangalore such that the net annual loss is not more than 1 crore. you need to help him make the strategy. Round 1: It was a small guesstimate. As the interviewers were wrapping up they asked me to finish it fast telling them the approach along with approximate numbers without calculating the final answer. I started with the population of India, divided it in BPL and APL population (Above Poverty Line population being able to afford medical care). Then I divided them in 4 age groups i.e 0-15, 15-30, 30-45, 45 and above. The frequency of each group falling sick is different with first and last group falling sick much more (assumed 6 times a year). I assumed that about 40% of times the treatment will need an X-ray. Hence I had total demand for X-rays. Now I made a cut based on Income. High income people would go to places which are costly and hence less crowded => number of X-rays taken by machines in these places per day will be lesser. Assumed (20,35,50) X-rays per machine for these three cuts. After multiplication I had the total number of machines needed. Now the new machine requirement can be calculated based on the expected life of a machine and the population growth rate.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

At this time interviewer prompted me to think more if I missed something, I could not guess. Then he asked me to compare with the car market. Then it realized that I missed accounting for second hand market for X-ray machines. Round 2: It started with a basic tell me about yourself. Then the interview directly came to the case. In the start he mentioned that this is a quantitative case and he is looking for specific numbers in the end. At first he said that the client is looking for entering in a particular baking service. He asked me to list all the services provided by a bank and then he said that he is looking to establish only ATMs in the first year.

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

Interview Experience 25 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

I needed to find out locations and number of ATMs in each location such that total loss in a year is not more than 1 crore. I then listed down the sources of revenues (only transaction fee in this case) and costs (rent, operating cost, electricity, internet etc) security, refilling cost). I was asked to identify prime locations for these ATMs (malls, airports, train/bus/metro stations, corporate offices/parts, school/colleges, residential societies etc). Made a matrix for the each cost revenue for 5 of these locations. Based of net profit/loss at each location I suggested some possible ATM distribution. During both the rounds, interviewers kept pressurizing me to do it faster but I did not lose my calm. I missed few factors during round 2 for which the interviewer had to probe me. I could have been more thorough in each step if there was no time pressure. Just be confident and have a reason for whatever you do during the case solving. Always keep in mind what was the problem statement and keep track if your approach is leading to a solution.

Manasvi Goyal BCG 3 IIT Delhi - Electrical Engineering 3 years at NetApp as Software Developer Round 1 - General HR + Guesstimates Round 2 - Case + Why BCG? Round 3 - HR + Case + Guesstimate

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Round 1: General HR - Tell me about yourself and Why consulting questions. Two guesstimates based on the statement - A new 5 star hotel is being opened by client in a metro city. Guesstimate 1 - Estimate the water bottle consumption per day for the hotel Started with assuming the metro city to be Delhi. Identified the customer segments business/corporate. Identified the various places where water bottles could be used rooms(single, double, suites), conference rooms, party halls, restaurants, waiting area and staff. Interviewer asked me to write an equation to define the water bottle consumption for rooms. Took some constant water bottle consumption per day (staff + complimentary bottles) and a occupancy factor for single/double rooms to come up with a linear equation.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Guesstimate 2 - Interviewer asked me to calculate water bottle consumption for a restaurant. I started with the standard approach of taking the population of Delhi and then discussed some cuts like age, income etc. Interviewer asked me to find a way in which one could directly estimate the expected footfall in restaurant. After a while, I figured that by directly looking at the competitor's footfall we could get a ballpark number. Interviewer asked if I have any question. Asked him a well thought question. Round 2: It was a pure case based interview. Profits of a hospital were declining. Clarifying questions - location, specialty, customer segments and competitors. Then looked at the revenue as well as cost aspects. Interviewer asked me to focus on revenue streams. Listed out - patients, pharmacy, diagnostic centre, hospitalization and surgeries as the key revenue drivers. Interviewer specifically mentioned fall in number of surgeries. Listed quality, price, technology, image and doctors as the major factors affecting the number of surgeries. Identified the issue as reputed doctors moving to a competitor hospital. As patients were 60+ in age and wealthy people with heart diseases, they preferred to go to reputed doctors. Other reason was decline in cleanliness of the hospital. While walking back from the interview room to the waiting hall, Interviewed asked me why BCG? Round 3: The round started with basic HR questions - What is NetApp? Brief overview of my job responsibilities? Why MBA? Comparison of life at IIML v/s IITD? Why consulting? Then it went to a data intensive case. In nutshell the case was to perform a costbenefit analysis of moving children of age 4-6yrs from Aanganvaadi to primary school. Aanganvaadi is a pre-school place in villages where children of age 4-6years are taught. Due to lack of workforce Aanganvaadi is not a good place for educating children. Interviewer asked me to list revenue streams as well as cost streams for the government if it allows movement of children.

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 Interview Experience 26 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Guesstimate: Interviewer asked me to calculate number of new primary school teachers required if children of age 4-6years are to be moved in primary schools. In first round, I understood the hints given by the interviewer and took sufficient time to come to an answer instead of just trying random ideas. In second and third round, I was confident and calm. I guess solving both cases with a well-defined structure and explaining my thought process to the interviewer helped me build good rapport. Both these rounds were more of discussion oriented. In first round, I got stuck for a while and repeated an answer twice. I could have avoided it. Practice cases well. Be calm and confident during the process. Engage the interviewer by thinking out loud.

Nitish Rathi BCG 3 B.Tech. Chem Engg., IIT Kharagpur; cleared CFA Level-II; Work experience: RIL (project management) - 2.75 years, Motilal Oswal Securities (equity research, oil & gas) - 7 months, and Capital One - 6 months

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Why did you shift to Motilal Oswal Securities? Tell me about yourself? Have you ever taken risk in life? Why do you want to join consulting? Had total 3 rounds:1) Principal – Prateek Gupta Interview started off with 1 HR question – why did you shift to Motilal Oswal Securities (I had a few of job-shifts in CV)? Had a good reason for all of my jobshifts. I used them as demonstration of willingness to seek challenging work and gain diverse exposure. It followed by a calculation heavy case on a tractor manufacturer who wants to know if he should install capacity of gear boxes in the existing facility in India or start gearbox manufacturing in China. He pressured on the time constraint of finishing it in 15 minutes. I had practiced similar cases, hence I was very comfortable in structuring, getting the relevant data required, and calculating the break-even period. He then asked if I had any questions. The interview went really good. 2)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

She asked me a couple of HR questions, which I was prepared for. One of the question – Have you ever taken risk in life? – was not so common, but I had thought about such an instance before during preparation, and hence could share it without any hiccups. She then shared her background (she was in Technology and Media practice), and gave a market entry case of a Technology company who wants to enter India with its internet search engine tool (similar to google). I briefed her about my structure, but I was then asked to restrict to market size estimation only. I broke the revenue streams into parts, and checked with her for assumptions taken. Many a times she gave cues to where I was going wrong. Finally, I came up with the size of USD 700 Million and told her it seems to be an overestimation (I checked later, actual size was USD300-400 Million, which I think is fairly good estimation). While summarizing, I was not very crisp, as I was thinking about where did I go wrong. I left with a feeling that it didn’t go that well. But, after 10-15 minutes was called for third round. I was really excited now. 3)

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

Interview Experience 27 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Principal – Shweta Bajpai

Director – Seema Bansal

She asked me where was I from, and I was able to make good connection, as I shared my diverse exposure of staying at more than 6-7 States during my education and work-ex. I was then asked why consulting. Then she gave a case that a public health organization, which supplies vaccines across India, was facing frequent stock outages, or wastages due to oversupply. Post few clarifications, I prepared the entire value chain of the vaccine supply and distribution. The problem lied in demand forecasting. Then the case became more of discussion as to identifying different ways of demand forecasting, what should be the criteria to choose, etc. She then asked me if I had any questions. It was noon when my interview started, and it was my first interview for the day. By that time a lot of offers had already been made. But, I was really cool and calm during my interviews. It was something very important in demonstrating confidence in solving cases, answering HR questions, etc. In my second round the interviewer had to give me a lot of cues to get me on the right track, as I had not practiced guess estimates much. Prepare and practice well for the interviews, but on the interview day you should not worry about the outcome.

Nirali Raichura BCG 3 CA+ Bcom graduate, 2 entrepreneurial ventures. Round 1- A gearbox manufacturer in India wants to expand the production capacity. To evaluate options between India and China Round 2- A new bank has received license in the recent past and wants us to frame the ATM set up strategy in Mumbai. Maximum cash burn limit is Rs. 1 crore.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Round 3- A foreign search engine wants to enter rural India, what all can be done? Round 1- No HR, only case (15minutes) as specified above. Case description: First was a background study of the company. Then was told to focus only on quantitative factors for decision-making and therefore was completely a number focused case initially. I started with the differences in the yearly- fixed and variable cost between alternatives and then the set up cost, etc. The yearly cost difference was favorable towards China, but the set up cost for China was high. Ultimately the decision lied on how much time would we take to recover our set up cost from the differential benefits in yearly costs. In my case, we could recover the set up costs in 1.5 years and the project was for a period of 5 years and hence capacity was to be set up in China. After this, I was asked to list down the qualitative factors I would consider for my decision making- I took the value chain approach for the same. Round 2- No HR, only case (15minutes) as specified above. Case description: After the problem statement was given, I asked for some moments to think so that I could go about my initial questioning. However, the partner said "No. Suppose I am taking you to the CEO of this Bank right now and he asks you what your strategy is going to be. Give me a 30 second response that you will give him". After 2-3 permutations, the apt answer to be given was "I will set up some ATMs at residential locations, corporate houses, railway stations, airport, near colleges, malls, etc. The number of ATMs need to be evaluated." Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

The case then turned completely numerical. I was supposed to estimate cash inflows and outflows for each of the 6 alternatives above and arrive at a decision. The trick was to do it using matrix method and marginal costing. Also, the partner did not appreciate the standard way we approach cases- evaluation of environment, opportunities, competition, etc for a market entry case. He kept saying he did not want such approach till the time I started focusing on numbers, since that was what he wanted. Key was to take the hint. Another key was to know the meaning of cash burn. At the end he asked the 3 most important learnings for me from the case. Round 3- 2 minutes HR, case (15minutes) as specified above. HR- Briefly tell me something about yourself, what is your biggest achievement during college days. Case description- A background check on the company was done first. The case started with finding out the rural consumer pain points. For this I segregated the rural population by age and found their occupational/ career requirements. For eg: Trainings for farmers, education for children, etc. Then I identified the non-educational requirements- entertainment, etc. On being asked to consolidate on what possible offerings we could provide, I listed down four: Online education, Farmer training modules/ collaboration platform, Entertainment apps and Travel apps. The next step was to list down the factors affecting decisions for each one of themlike level of requirement for consumers, internet connectivity required, population who will use the products, long and short term benefits, etc. I allocated scores on the scale of 1 to 5- 5 being the most positive and used matrix system for presentation.

What do you think went right in this interview?

The case ended with decision-making. 1. Being confident and assertive. I would have easily buckled down in my 1st and 2 round where there was quite some grilling and expectations were to go about the non-conventional way for approaching cases. But, staying confident worked to my advantage.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 28 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 29 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

2. Took hints. I had a open mind and hence was able to take hints towards the direction the interviewer wanted to take the case to. Could have used and exhibited my background knowledge (as a CA) a bit more in the 2nd round- which I did towards the end and got the feedback from the interviewer that I should have done that earlier. Be prepared for any mix of HR and Case. You cannot make it without being very positive and confident. Do not give up till the end, no matter how bad you think the interview is going.

Rachit Shah BCG 2 Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst Level 3 Cleared with 2.5 years of work experience in the Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory department of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and 3 months of professional teaching experience (CFA Level 1 and a finance certification course) at Edupristine Round 1 - Guesstimate the number of water bottles used in a restaurant in a day Indicative solution - Started with asking questions regarding the size, type and area where the hotel is located. Went on to determine the occupancy rate, factor in seasonality and finally determined the usage in the different sections of the hotel like rooms, restaurant, meeting rooms, gymnasium, etc. Post this there was a follow up guesstimate of the expected footfall in the restaurant Round 2 - Cost benefit analysis of reducing the entry age for primary education from 6 years to 4 years Indicative solution - Started with trying to understand the reason for reducing the entry age. This provided me with a very good idea of the direction in which the case needs to be solved (increasing the number of kids who get exposed to formal education). Went on to do a revenue versus cost analysis both for short as well as long term. Potential revenue - Increase in GDP due to higher literacy rate, higher taxes, entry of private sector investment, increased employment, etc Potential costs - Teachers & administrative staff, investment, marketing expenses, closure of nursery schools, etc. Round 1 - The round started with an informal discussion about the campus and what the best memories of the interviewer were in campus. Went on to talk a little bit about my work experience in PwC and about life in Mumbai in general. After about 10 minutes of informal discussion, he gave me the guesstimate which was again was more of a discussion & not a proper case solving session. Round 2 - The first 10 minutes were about the interviewers experience so far in the company and the interviewer wanting to understand more about my teaching experience (I have been associated with a professional teaching institute & have also taught underprivileged children for 8 years). This was followed by an HR question of Why MBA given my interests and involvement in the teaching profession. She then gave me a case in the education sector which seemed complicated at first but could be solved by maintaining a continuous conversation with her and because of my prior experience in the sector. Continuously maintained a healthy conversation with the interviewers while solving the cases and this helped to get relevant points to solve the cases. The most important thing is to continuously maintain a conversation and ask questions if you think you are stuck. The interviewer is always willing to help you by giving you hints and pointers. All you need to do is ask! Also be confident & positive and always maintain eye contact with the interviewer.

Saksham Pant BCG 4 B.E. (Hons.) Electronics and Instrumentation, BITS Pilani - Pilani Campus. Worked for 22 months as a hardware engineer at Nvidia Corporation, Bengaluru.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Round 1: Case – Tractor manufacturer, with a plant in the outskirts of Hyderabad. The part of the facility where the spare parts are manufactured is running out of capacity. Need to take a decision on whether to establish a new one in the same facility or in China and then bring the spare parts to India. Round 2: Case - Regional newspaper in Kolkata, experiencing a decline in sales. Need to identify the core issues and provide solutions/recommendations. Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Round 3: Case – Cardiac hospital in Delhi, revenues are declining. Need to identify the core issues and provide a solutions/recommendations. HR questions like – Why BCG? Round 4: Case – Anganwadi is a government sponsored child-care and mother-care center in India. Apart from nutrition it also provides preschool services to children from 4 to 6 years of age. The problem is that the children who attend primary school after going through the Anganwadi preschool perform very poorly compared to others. So the Government is planning to shift the preschool services of Anganwadi to formal primary schools. Need to look at all the cost and benefit considerations. All rounds lasted for around 20-25 minutes with 1 or 2 extra minutes in the end for me to ask a question to the interviewer.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Round 1: Partner (don’t remember the name). The interview started with my brief introduction while the interviewer was taking me to the interview room from the waiting area. The case was mostly numbers based and calculation intensive. I took the value chain approach to cover all the aspects of cost comparison. Apart from the monetary factors, I also mentioned some nonmonetary concerns like acceptance of made-in-China products etc. The case was pretty straightforward and the interviewer was very helpful, so it went quite well. Round 2: Principal (don’t remember the name). This case was a qualitative one. Did a 4P comparison with the other local regional newspapers along with the online channel. Forgot to bring the advertisement revenue into consideration initially and had to be hinted towards that direction. The interviewer politely contradicted me many times but overall the interview was good. Round 3: Anurag Agrawal, Principal and IIML recruitment lead. This was a very simple and short qualitative case and revolved around customers experience and promotion. It was more of a casual conversation and the case lasted for less than 10 minutes. It was followed by the question of why I want to join BCG. The interviewer added to my answer based on his own experience. The interview went well according to me. Round 4: Seema Bansal, Partner and Director. I found this case to be the toughest as it required a broad span of monetary and nonmonetary factors to be taken into account. It also involved a short guesstimate of the number of children affected by the scheme. I missed out on a few aspects, like the long term benefit of reduced cost of Government subsidies through improved education facilities, and had to be hinted. The interviewer was quite helpful but overall I wasn't able to ace this round completely. According to me, my confidence and enthusiasm worked well in my favour. I was able to properly communicate my approach and was successful in picking up hints on being prompted by the interviewers. I had prepared a few questions for the interviewers beforehand, which came in quite handy. I was clear in my mind and well prepared for questions like why consulting and why BCG and hence was able to convince the interviewers about the same. Not much went wrong for me in the first 3 rounds expect for 1 or 2 small calculation mistakes or missing out on 1 or 2 aspects. In the last round, I was expecting an HR interview and wasn’t prepared mentally for another case based round. I somewhat lacked energy in this round and could’ve come up with a better structure. Based on my experience, I would say that confidence is the key to crack the interviews. Be confident and enthusiastic at all times while communicating with the interviewer. Always keep smiling, even if the interviewer is trying to contradict you. Try to communicate your structure and approach before delving into it and be crisp in your responses. This should do the trick.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Deloitte S&O Interview Experience 30 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Ashish Kapoor Deloitte S&O 3 IT Engineer from NSIT. Average extra curriculars/PORs. 4 years work experience in analytics consulting. Awards and promotions during work-ex. Round 1: Guesstimate round - Royal Enfield is launching a new bike at a price of 2 lakh in India. Estimate the market size. Round 2: Case study round - A data intensive case. Profits dipping for an insurer. Some basic questions on workex. Round 3: Partner/Director round - Asked me for feedback on the ppt and case workshops. Was more of a discussion rather than an interview on analytics and how it can be leveraged in the consulting context. Was asked use cases and scenario-based questions like how can Deloitte pitch analytics competency to a client 1. one who has a full-fledged analytics setup 2. one who has heard the buzzword and wants to set it up Guesstimate Round: 1 interviewer went on for about 20 minutes. Started with the population of India, split it by age, income and gender first to find the potential buyer profile. Then assumed a small market among these potential buyers since not everybody is interested in bikes and even for those who are, this is a semi-luxury product and not a utility item. Also looked at other competitors in this segment like Duke, Kawasaki etc. Also in this case the usual 5 years life for a vehicle is not applicable as this segment would in most cases be a onetime purchase. I do not think I was being evaluated much on the numbers or accuracy of assumptions in this round. The focus was more on the approach on how to split the market and which segments to target. After the guesstimate, he flatly said he had a concern with why I wanted to move to strategy consulting from a data scientist role given the demand for analytics. The last 5-7 minutes went in convincing him. Had a clear answer prepared for this and he did seem convinced. Case round: 2 panelists, Went on for close to 40 minutes. The case was a straightforward profitability problem where the profits of an insurer were consistently dipping for the last 3 years while the industry remained stable. The sheet on which he had the case was divided into four sections and I was being fed data sequentially. I started out with dissecting profit into revenue and costs at which point he showed me revenue trends for last 3 years on the first part of the sheet. Revenue was broken down by average premium per customer and number of customers. Back of the envelope calculations without rounding off were expected. I had to prove that

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club revenue was stable in these years. Made me calculate percentage change year on year. As soon as we settled that since revenue isn't an issue, I was given five options on what could be causing a profit dip (2nd part of the sheet). Three of these options related to drop in revenue (eg. competitors lowering prices, new entrants etc) and only one related to costs (something related to operational inefficiencies in the IT department). I identified this option and he showed me the next part of the sheet, which described the processes and steps in IT. One point clearly stated that a few critical softwares had become obsolete and had started to malfunction. I suggested that to get the new software in place, we could either outsource the development or build it in house or buy a product from a technology company. They presented data on two options (last part of the sheet), which had tentative costs and revenues over a three-year period for two cases: buying a product from Microsoft and developing the software in house. Was expected to do a cost benefit analysis taking NPV into account and compare the two options. Again calculations were pretty intensive and answers were being checked in decimals. The focus was a lot on speed and accuracy in calculations and rounding off was not permitted. At the end I was asked to summarise in 30 seconds for the client CEO, my findings. Some basic questions on work-ex were also asked at the beginning of this round. The guy knew a bit of analytics and asked me questions on regression and model efficiency etc. Fairly straightforward.

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

Interview Experience 31 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Partner/director Round: Started off with asking me if I knew the names of people I had interacted in the previous rounds. I remembered one name but luckily remembered the name of the director himself from the PPT and case workshop. Then went on to ask my feedback on PPT and case workshops. Had a suggestion on the case workshop, which were discussed in detail. Asked me if I had any questions at which point I brought up the concern the interviewer had shown in the first round and made sure I cleared it out with him as well. This is where the use cases and scenario questions came in. I could luckily bring up some industry specific points in the guesstimate (from my interest in automobiles) and the case (from prior experience in insurance). I made sure to address their concerns regarding the fitment and my inclination towards management consulting with examples from my work-ex and tied in the need for MBA within the same making it a coherent story which I felt was crucial, especially in the last round. He did agree that there was a concern. Towards the end of the case, i missed an input he had given while I was calculating a number and ended up asking a silly question which could've been avoided. Otherwise I felt it was a near perfect interview. Just remain calm and relaxed, especially in the partner round. The questions I was asked weren't particularly difficult. They were just looking for structure and clarity of thought is what I inferred.

Komal Havelia Deloitte S&O 2 SRCC – Bcom Hons Work Ex – 3 years - KPMG - 5 months, CEB - 28 months Round 1: Basic HR questions such as tell me about yourself and work experience details. I was asked a question on probability in which time durations were given for the student arrival and bus departure from the bus stop, and I was supposed to compute the probability of student catching the bus. The answer was divided in a number of scenarios. Round 2: A lot of HR questions (tell me about yourself, why consulting, why did you leave KPMG, my work profile at CEB, my entrepreneurial initiative, discussion around US bschool offers I had) and then a case on an insurance company. Round 3: They just made the offer and asked me “if you decide to not join Deloitte, what would be the reason”. The case was on an insurance company based out of US whose profitability had declined. I was first told about the company background and the amount of change in profits. I was then asked the probable reasons why the profitability might have declined. Post that I was given four factors which the CEO had shortlisted as reasons behind the decline. I was asked to relate these factors to the profitability in the US insurance industry scenario and explain why each of these might be the right causes. They wanted qualitative answers for this. When they were satisfied with my answers, they gave me a sheet having four tables.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club The first one had information on components of quantity and revenue for the 3 insurance products over the period of decline of profits. I pinpointed that revenue wasn’t an issue here, since for two products having a majority of sales, the premiums had increased with the quantity sold and for the third one, revenue was almost unchanged. So, cost was the problem. The second table had information on 4 softwares which were used for different purposes in the process. One for storing all client background data, etc. One of the recommendations for cost savings I made here was integration if possible, otherwise better collaboration between these four software teams since their work was not independent of each other. The third had information on cost and benefits from two alternative solutions over a period of 3 years. I asked for the internal rate of return and based on it, calculated the NPV of the 2 alternatives. One alternative had a very heavy negative cash flow in the first period, followed by increasing net positive flows whereas the other had much better net inflows in the first period but they were decreasing over the three years. The NPV of the first alternative was better. I gave my recommendations with reservations such as “recommendation is based on the fact that a similar trend will continue post 3 years”, etc.

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 Interview Experience 32 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Then I was asked to convince a third person who just entered the room of the viability of my decision. I used the number of years it would take to recover the lost profits through the recommended channel vs. the other channel as one of the ways to convince him. The case went pretty well since I had prepared more complicated/difficult cases for my other consult shortlists. In the first interview, I mentioned something about poems in my “tell me about yourself” answer. He asked me to recite a poem, and I wasn’t prepared for that. Be confident and very interactive during the interview. Don’t hesitate in asking for details not given in the case. Pranay Vimal Deloitte S&O 3 B.E. (IT), BIT Mesra, ZS Associates (17 months), Accenture (12 months). Tell me something about yourself that is not on your CV but still connects you to your CV - Explained to them the reason behind why I chose Engineering and then my job profiles and how it shaped my personality. Why are my engineering grades low? HR Questions: Basic questions around CV and background. From there the interviewer jumped to my hobbies - got hooked on to cooking. Asked me a few questions about my cooking preferences and gave a guesstimate on the market size of Chicken in India. Simple one - key metrics to sub divide the problem - Population - % Vegetarians - Income - Household Size - Frequency, by this time interviewer said I am satisfied with your thought process, please go for the next round. Case: Production inefficiency of a company. Revenues going down. Reasons? Gave me 4 options to choose from. I chose correct. Production Efficiency. Tried to make me buzz as much as possible from the answer but I had my logic behind it because customers and revenue per customer both were increasing for my client. The only reason that I could see was production inefficiency, so I did not. Some more qualitative questions. What should your client do? Answer - Either change the technology used for production or repair it. Again correct. Some data based questions after that. I did all kind of calculations to show the profits through both the methods. The interviewer asked me to find out the Net Present Value, which I could not. I told him that I do not know how to calculate it. Partner Round: Where have seen the case before? My team tells me that you know the case and that your answers are quite familiar to our solution. I told him that I solved the case just now and have never seen the case. Having worked in similar situations, case solving comes naturally to me. He asked me if I was that kind of a person who does not change his view. I told him that I am a rational person, I don't buzz only in situations when I have done my research completely and I am logically satisfied with my solution. Second Question- If you don't get into Consulting at all, what will you do. I told him that I am interested in E-Commerce companies and will look at the options at

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went right in this interview?

my hand before reaching to any conclusion. After that, it was all about his and my consulting experiences. We talked for around 10 minutes more. Comparisons between ZS and Deloitte and how I find them similar and at the same time quite different organizations. I had a conversation with all my interviewers and was not trying to just answer their questions. Always calm even when the interviewer was trying to make me buzz from my answer. Had logic behind everything that I said. Did not utter anything without a reason behind it.

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

I could have solved the end part of the case better.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Be calm and talk to the interviewer rather than just answering his/her answers. Always have a smile on your face. They would like to know if you want Consulting as first preference or not.

Interview Experience 33 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

Sneha Khurana Deloitte S&O 3 Dual Degree (Economics and Electronics & Instrumentation) from BITS Pilani, Goa Worked for an year in LatentView Analytics as Business Analyst and 1.5 years in Thorogood Associates as Business Intelligence Consultant 1st Round: Tell me about yourself Something you are passionate about - I spoke about travel What did I learn from travelling Guesstimate to estimate the revenue of Makemytrip in an year Partner Round: What I learnt during my work experience? Why does everyone mention leadership when they talk about work? Why Deloitte? If you could ask one question to me (partner) what would you ask? The rest was discussion on my feedback from previous rounds 1st Round - The interviewer was a senior manager who asked me about my background. I mentioned that I want to travel to 30 countries before I am 30 and he asked me to list the countries I have been to and what I learnt. He then asked me why not travel to 30 states in India and then asked about a few destinations in India and what I knew about them. He asked me what was the feedback from people who had already been interviewed. He then gave me a guesstimate on the Revenue of Make my Trip in an year. I first listed all the possible revenue streams of Make my trip. I had missed out on the revenue from tour packages and he pointed that out. After that he asked me to just calculate the revenue from flight tickets. Round 2: The Case was on a Hospital in the US whose profits were declining and the economy was also in recession. After I drew the revenue and cost streams they told me that the profitability was low because they were not processing the insurance claims fast enough and the cost of processing them was high. They gave me data on 4 processing centers with the revenue, cost, processing amount of each center. I had to identify the problem processing centers. They then gave me two options of either - outsourcing the operations or doing performance improvement with the cost associated with each and asked me what option they should go for. They then said the hospital had decided to go forward with buying a processing agency and with 4 options and asked me to select which one (based on revenue, cost and collection %ages). They also gave the P/E and EV/EBITDA value of recent similar transactions and calculate the price, which the hospital would need to pay. I was finally asked to give my recommendation of buy/not. I recommended not buy because the price of the processing center was more than 60% of revenue of the hospital because and there was a recession in the economy. I also mentioned that if I knew the current financial position of the hospital and the cost of debt I would be able to make a better recommendation. I was pretty relaxed during all the rounds and was not flustered when they tried to confuse me during the case. I had prepared questions for Deloitte (mostly based on my interest in Sustainable Supply Chain) and asked one during the first round and partner round. The interviewers spent quite some time answering those questions and in the first round he was happy that I had gone through their practices and projects in detail.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

I could have structure my case better and have done the calculations faster. -

EY Interview Experience 34 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Ankur Kedia EY (PI) 1 IIT Roorkee, Metallurgical & Materials Eng., 34 months of work-experience at ZS Associates and a startup Voziq Round1: PI All questions were based on my CV. Asked me in detail about each and every projects I have done. Since my work-experience at ZS was related to consulting in pharmaceutical domain, the interviewer asked questions on pharmaceutical market in India and where it is going. Also, the key players in the market, biosimilars and how attractive are biosimilars. I have also worked on contact center analytics. So, the questions were framed around how to reduce churn in a telecommunication company of India. What are the key factors that determine the churn rate in subscription business model. Few HR questions on why I switched companies, and why I want to join EY. I was able to explain my work-experience very well. Prepare your CV thoroughly

KPMG Interview Experience 35 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Ashwini Gupta KPMG 2 B.TECH(MECHANICAL) from NIT-BHOPAL, 58 Months in HPCL as Operations Officer Two members were present in the interview panel. 1. Tell me about yourself? 2. Why MBA after these many years of work-ex? 3. What all other IIM calls (Considering my top600 rank in CAT) did you have? -Only L&K; told him about my not so high academic scores (10+2 & Grad) 3.a Why your academic scores are low? -Told him about them being above average but as IIMs compare relative CGPAs (prevalent now) with the absolute (prevalent then), they appear below average 4. Describe the job roles that were handled by you in HPCL? 5. Questions about one of my job -projects. How you were able to save 80 Lakhs. What role did you play in it? -In-depth knowledge about the project from developing the blueprint till the execution and end-results. 5a. how were you able to quantify the savings? 6. You like solving puzzles. Then answer this puzzle. Gave a puzzle. 7. Gave a scenario pertaining to my work-project and asked me to enumerate at least five factors affecting it. -was able to give a total of 7 factors with 3 as sub-heads under 1 head; could quantify the effects of each of these factors on the overall scenario by relating the

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club corresponding sub-projects to substantiate the claim( e.g. factor 5 can have a max.10 % effect on overall o/p which is evident from my project x with PCRA where I got it as 10%) 8.What are your subjects of interest? 9. What methods do you employ to keep off the pressure in highly demanding situations? -told what I do in the short-run and in the long-run(related it to what I used to do during my work-ex)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 36 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

In the end, they asked me if I have any questions to ask. I asked two questions one pertaining to KPMG's zero presence in fields relating to conformance to specialized statutory standards (OISD in my case), and another pertaining to third-party audits and inspections which are increasing exponentially in government sponsored energy sector enterprises. In the first round we were asked to carry a write-up with ourselves but since I was pulled out directly from Snapdeal's process, I could only get 2 minutes to write it just outside the interview room. The round two was more like a formality in the form of interaction with one of their partners Substantiating every answer by relating it to an experience/event of my life-This way you are efficiently covering your whole CV in the interview and also making sure that the interviewer have also thoroughly gone through it. Being thorough and precise about each and every thing mentioned in the CV. Quantifying all my CV points. The write-up that were supposed to be carried along with me. Though, it seemed it had a very small weightage as compared to the interview. -

Samrdhi Ramawat KPMG 2 College graduation- B.Tech from JIET jodhpur in electronics and communication engineering Work ex- 0 years What is your passion? How is it positive? Where are you from? Tell us about your family. Are you a role model for your younger brother? How is your experience at IIML? which subject you like the most? Are you comfortable with finance? Imagine you have a matchbox factory, tell us 5 methods in which you can add more value to its supply chain. About what you are very passionate? if you are asked to encourage your juniors to pursue that as hobby then what you will say? Do you have any constraints related to travelling? There were two rounds first was HR + functional and the second was partner round in which the senior partner interviewed about my interests I think my self-confidence and the way I talked that worked in favor of me. They wanted to check my interest in the field and how much passion i have for my interests. Just be honest and engage them in the conversation. That's the key to success. I could have done better if I had read more about FRA. A proper interest in one particular area should be there. Know about the company, the role they are offering. Be clear with what they are offering and how you fit in that role. Have confidence and be clear with your answers.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

McKinsey & Co. Interview Experience 37 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

Amlan Lenka McKinsey & Co. 3 Graduation- BE hons CIVIL, BITS Pilani- 2013 Work ex- 23 months. Business Analyst for DELL Financial Services (Marketing Analytics)-17 months Assistant Manager- Citibank Global Decision Management (Campaign Management)-6 months Round 1 - Junior Partner It had a basic HR (personal) and 1 Case and 1 Guesstimate Case- I am a cellphone carrier company (Airtel/Vodafone) and my revenues are falling. Guesstimate- Number of Chemical Engineering graduates in the country. Round 2 was with a Senior Partner and hence was more of a conversation. Case- I am a white goods manufacturing firm and my growth is stagnant (Possible maturity of the industry). Should I venture into manufacturing smaller electrical equipment. Pros and Cons. Round 3 Partner It was an extensive case on online grocery delivery business (Grofers) Case- I am a private equity firm. Should I invest in something like a Grofers. Why? Why not? Round 1- Lot of numbers and the idea was to check the thinking capability. I had done a case on the value chain of cell phone carriers and so that helped. Guesstimate was also a bit confusing and had lost my calm for a minute or two. Round 2- Amazing conversation with the Director. He seemed a little tired at first but we managed to have a pretty decent chat over a lot of things including the origin of my name. Round 3- Extensive number crunching and idea generation. Heavy case which included a guesstimate for market sizing. -Maintained my composure at all times - Was extremely confident - Could strike a chord with each of my interviewers

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

- Could have kept my answers short and crispier which is highly critical.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

The firm is here to help you. It is not you against them. If you have a shortlist you already are good enough. So take the cues and be confident of your own abilities. Pick up a friend or two with whom you can practice cases.

Interview Experience 38 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Anuj Singh McKinsey & Co 2 IIT Roorkee B.Tech (Metallurgical and Materials), 35 Months (8 Months in Oracle, 27 Months in ZS Associates) Round 1: Tell me about yourself, resume base, a guesstimate and a case to find out why the profitability of a cellular network company is declining. Round 2: Tell me about yourself, case on how to increase revenue of Google in India by 10x and a guesstimate. Round 1: Interviewer asked to introduce myself followed by few questions about my work at Oracle (he knew about the product I worked on very well). Then he gave a case to determine reason for decline in profit of a cellular network company. Interviewer was in a sort of hurry and kept on pushing me to do it fast. He kept giving me clues, which helped me move forward and solve the case. This was followed by a guesstimate, which he asked me to solve in 2 minutes. I was able to do it but missed a factor towards the last step. Finally he asked me whether I have some questions for him. Round 2: Started with "tell me about yourself". The interviewer used to work previously in Google so asked me a case about how can Google increase its revenue

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club in India by 10x. He kept on asking me to give more and more ideas. He then asked me to synthesize the case. This was followed by a small guesstimate. 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

Interview Experience 39 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

In the second round, I felt that I was too involved in solving it rather than making it an interactive exercise. I also got a little nervous during my first round, which the interviewer was able to sense. Keep the process interactive. Be thorough with everything on your resume. Practice case and guesstimates with time limits.

Anuja Rege McKinsey & Co. 2 B.Com from HR College, Mumbai; Chartered Accountant. Work-ex at EY in assurance services of 21mths+ 3 years of articleship 1 round was with a partner and 1 with a director. Both involved 1 case each with some HR questions. Round 1- The partner started with some HR questions. Tell me about your work-ex, some of your qualities, narration of one incident about one of my qualities, etc. Thereafter we proceeded to solve a case. The case was a market entry one. Before ending the interview, he asked me whether there was anything I'd like to ask them. Round 2- It started with a case with basic HR questions like tell me about yourself, why McKinsey etc. To ease the talks, he started with how has the day been, asked me how many interviews I have given so far. The case was based on supply chain management. Round 1- This round lasted for about 30mins. The initial HR was to assess how I fit into the profile of a consultant. He remarked that intense interaction with various clients that I had during my work-ex was a quality, which fit into the life of a consultant. Thereafter the case was one, which I could not complete in the given time. An electronic goods company was not growing since the past few quarters and they wanted to get into white goods sector, which had seen considerable growth in recent times. We discussed why there is a need to diversify, why growth had halted. The case involved him being the CEO and me as the consultant. So only precise and relevant questions had to be asked as he had given time constraints. Round 2- This round lasted for around 20 minutes. I was able to solve the case pretty quickly. It was a moderately difficult case with a slight catch. It involved a Japanese chemicals company wanting to enter India. The HR questions were quite easy to tackle. In the round 1, I exhibited confidence even when I understood that the case was getting nowhere. A thorough revision of the variety of cases that I had solved in the month of preparation helped me tackle the crux of the case in Round 2. In the HR questions, I answered all of the questions honestly and took a moment to pause & think when I could not think of an answer - not being too prompt without having thought through. In round 2, while laying out options for supplying the product, I assumed that the product was B2C. The interviewer pointed out my mistake, which I then readily accepted and amended my solution. It is vital to not make any assumptions, no matter how trivial. Confidence is the key. Solving a variety of cases is important. Quantity of cases solved does not matter if each additional case you solve does not teach you something new. It's crucial to not make assumptions and if you need to make any, you should clarify the same with the interviewer beforehand.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 40 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Mugdhaa McKinsey & Co. 2 B.Pharm. (Hons.) from BITS Pilani, Pilani 11 months at Goldman Sachs as an Analyst (Regulatory Operations) Tell me something about yourself. (Round 1) Tell me something about yourself in 30 sec (Round 2) Why Pharmacy? Was it your choice or your parents? Do you have any questions for me? Round 1: Interviewer: Self Intro Me: A few questions along the way out of curiosity. Interviewer: Tell me something about yourself. Me: Answers Interviewer: Now let's do a case. Asked me my preference amongst three sectors he'd given. I chose Pharma. A simple market entry case in which the company had to enter the market. I had to suggest what exactly should the company aim at while entering the market to get maximum revenue. Forgot the main thing. After a few hints, caught it and then admitted that that should've been the first thing coming to my mind. Round 2: Interviewer: Be crisp, be concise and to the point. Me: Okay Interviewer: made me do a guesstimate Me: Taking time with calculations Interviewer: Tried to show that he didn't care about it, wanted answers quickly. Kept asking me questions in the middle to throw me off while trying to solve the guesstimate. Next we went to a case: Normal profitability case. Almost had the answer. He said chuck it. You are almost there. Never finished. Post that was asked multiple times if I had any questions for him.

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

I asked him to introduce himself. Was a short conversation but I ensured it was still two sided and not just him speaking. I communicated well. Accepted that I had forgotten something. Stayed calm. Tackled it as if it were a conversation rather than an interview. Followed first principles even if I wasn't able to come up with a structure. Was confident of whatever assumptions I took during the interview because I had a logical backing to it. Gauged that the interviewer in Round 2 didn't want me to use a paper and wanted me to verbally solve the case. Could've worked a bit better on my guesstimate numbers. Formed a better structure to my case. The tell me about yourself should be about you and not everything from your CV. Add that one thing you are passionate about and in your conversation it should show, maybe through an instance or an experience. Be calm, consider it to be any friend talking to you, it helps. Admitting that you've made a mistake might just work in your favour. Do not get worked up because of that. Try maintaining eye contact with the interviewer(Obviously not to an extent that it feels like you're staring). Shows that you are confident.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 41 Name: Company: Round Brief Profile :

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Sanchit Jain McKinsey & Company 2 Rounds B-Tech, Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi (2009-13) 20 months work experience at Samsung Research Bangalore Round 1: The interviewer first introducted himself, his practice areas and work. Then my part started with the standard question ‘tell me about yourself’ which led to more discussions around my job, interns and PoRs. There were situation based HR questions as well which went to the secon level detailing atleast. Next we did a short case on a cement manufacturer which had increasing costs and a small analytical problem on the same. Finally the interview ended with me asking some questions about consulting in general and McKinsey in particular. Round 2: The partner met me in the waiting room only and we chatted on the way to the interview room (which was my section classroom only). He was also doing a case in Jaipur only (my hometown), so we talked about, my family, and background. There were some questions from my CV and then we talked at length about our recent Europe trips. The case was purely idea generation for a tourist company entering Jaipur and establishing an exciting and profitable business. After the case, the interviewer asked me why I saw McKinsey as a fit. I gave my reasons and the conversation culminated with me asking more questions on the same lines to the partner. Round 1 Case: A cement manufacturer is facing increasing costs. After understanding about the company and industry and doing a value chain approach, we zeroed in on transportation costs. The mines were located close to the plant so inbound logistics was not a problem. In outbound logistics, the company was dependendent on rail (60%) and road (40%). Then I focussed on road transportation costs and identified the various levers that can affect these. I divided them into different buckets and here important points were fuel and backhaul costs (return journey). The numerical problem was around breakup of some of these costs for the company and impact of increasing fuel prices (the interviewer wanted me to do the exact calculations to the second decimal point and we saw the difference approximation caused to the final cost figure.) Round 2 Case: A tourist company was looking to setup something exciting and profitable in Jaipur. After understanding the problem statement and requirements, I started with deciding what to setup. Based on the different attractions I had seen or heard about, I classified them into categories and tailored them to Jaipur/ Rajasthan/ Indian context. The partner was impressed with the idea of a light and sound show (on the lines of Songs of the Sea, Sentosa, Singapore) on villages and rural India. Next we talked about concept research, target audience and feasibility. I was confident and well prepared with my HR answers. My case solutions reflected some structure and creativity. Throughout my interview and resume, travel was reflected and I played that card well in my second case. My case in the first interview didn’t go that well as I approximated the numbers. But then I course corrected and quickly did the calculations. Case preparation is important but keeping an open and creative thought process is vital. Give a lot of time and thought to HR questions and preparing about yourself. The answers should not be memorised and they should be something that you totally believe in. Have some good questions prepared for the interviewer.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 42 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Swarnima Gupta McKinsey & Co. 3 SRCC, B.A.(Hons). Economics; Fresher First Round: *Tell me about yourself *One situation when you convinced a group of people : what approach did you use ? An alternate approach that can work *Brief discussion on a social entrepreneurship venture that I had worked on in the past *Case: how will you reduce the travel cost of the Government of India: Second Round- video conference *Brief Introduction *Case 1: Infosys is growing at below industry average growth rates. How do you increase growth? * Case 2: How to reduce logistics cost of E-commerce businesses like Amazon Third Round: *Case : Client is the Govt. of U.P. : work on restructuring the power distribution system, currently running in losses, has huge debt -how to make it profitable? i) Given figures for different costs: Make a P&L ii) Identify sources of losses iii) Suggest measures to mitigate the losses and tackle the debt

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Same as Above

What do you think went right in this interview?

*Maintained composure *Asked clarifying questions wherever needed * structured thinking in case solving

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience Interview Experience 43 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

* Solutions of the second round cases lacked detail *Be very logical throughout *Confidence and maintaining composure is essential

Utsav Kumar McKinsey & Co. 2 Dual degree (Economics + Electronics) from BITS Pilani Work experience - Bain Capability Center (11 months) 1. Work experience related to kind of cases I had worked on 2. How would I expect work at McKinsey to be different - what different skill sets would I require etc 3. Discussion on ecommerce industry 4. Small case on the ecommerce Industry Round 1 The initial discussion was around my work at BCC and the kind of cases I had worked upon. The interviewer asked me for the kinds of skills that I had to work with and then asked me to compare if I expected the work at McKinsey to be any different. This resulted into a discussion about the client interfacing aspect which I pointed out would be the stand out difference. I had also mentioned that I liked McKinsey's focus area of 'Going digital'. So the discussion turned into a case midway as he asked me for my views on the business model being followed currently based on heavy discounts offered to capture audiences. Then he asked me whether the app only model being followed by some companies is viable or not. This finally turned into a small case where an ecommerce company's financial numbers across segments was given and I was asked to calculate which segments were profitable. Finally I was asked for suggestions to lower the inventory cost and logistics cost of an ecommerce company. Round 2 - Purely HR based Right out of the box I was asked for reasons why I should be selected. He pointed out that I was involved in Credence so would be inclined towards Finance also. I gave my points why I preferred consulting to Finance and also why I thought

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

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

Interview Experience 44 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Credence was an important learning experience for me. He then asked me for my views on ICSE v/s CBSE and which board did I think was a better option. The questions in both interviews were very different and probably not something that I had ready answers for. Hence I made sure that my answers were logical and most importantly short and succinct. Also in my first interview I was very sure about the workings of the ecommerce industry. This helped me give very solid answers especially on the utility of app only model. I did not realize when my interview turned into a case so I had to ask clarification questions later on. Had I realized it sooner, I could have tried to bring them up slightly less abruptly Ensure that you know about your work experience especially if it is in a highly relevant domain. Also don't neglect reading up on businesses or sectors that you would normally follow. For all that you know, your entire interview can be based on it.

Vineet Rawat McKinsey & Co. 3 IIT BHU Varanasi Work Ex- 0 Having Flipkart on my CV the question was framed on increasing Logistics cost of Flipkart over years. Solution: 1. New Products: Furniture, Durable goods incurring more cost 2. Greater Coverage 3. Return Policy 4. Larger Customer Base 5. More complaints regarding products so double trip 6. Fake Orders 2. Electricity Distribution Loss Problems: Bad Debts: Write off policy, collection systems, penalties levied 2. Transition Loss: Wiring Material, Maintenance, Distance, Step Up and Step Down variations 3. HR Based + Small Case 3. Theft 4. Govt. Distribution Base 1. Mostly about college life. 2. Leadership instances. 3. Why Consulting at this age? 4. How do you pursue your hobbies. 5. Why Placement Committee when already did this sought of work in under graduation college 6. Instance: On the feet thinking 1. Structured Approach in all three cases 2. Confidence 3. Be yourself 4. Interaction was the key 5. Thinking aloud 6. Numbers: Was able to deal with big numbers in Second case1. Composure 1. Composure Structures should be intuitive not bookish. Create your own way of solving the case.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

PWC Interview Experience 45 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile:

Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 46 Name: Company: No. of Rounds: Brief Profile: Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Gowtham Maddirala PWC 1 B-Tech 2010 IIT Madras Civil Engineering 30 months in Mold Tek Technologies Hyd 22 months in I&CAD Andhra Pradesh 1) Tell me about yourself 2) What would you do if there are two high priority works which are to be submitted simultaneously? - related to team work - you should say that you would take the help of other employees 3) What have you done in the Irrigation department 4) If there is a railway track to be built what all factors would you take into account to choose between two villages through which the track has to pass? - Can answer using PESTLE 5) The same above question if you are profit centric, social welfare oriented, if you have to take politics into account 6) How would you tackle if your colleague or your immediate superior is corrupt and unethical? - Maybe this is the turning point of my interview as I gave examples in my own life, Volkswagen case where there was a communication gap, satyam case where the auditors were PWC. Tried to explain that if we don't tackle these practices immediately it might lead to a huge organizational failure 7) What do you know about GRID? 8) Tell me about feasibility analysis you have done before 9) Have you done any Technical feasibility analysis? 10) About grades GRID means Government Reforms and Infrastructure Development Interview questions are both technical and HR related. Interview went on for one hour. Interview taken by 1 HR (female) and a technical person (male) HR woman enters and takes the interview for 20 minutes and leaves. The other guy started asking HR questions and then slowly moved into technical questions with some HR questions in between. You will be asked GRID related questions. My experience was what helped me in the interview. They already selected some people which made my interview even more difficult. I have an experience in Irrigation department and I know everything about the problems of government projects, technical feasibility etc. For example in the interview, I told them that one of the factors for determining the site for the construction of a retaining wall would be consulting the villagers and asking their opinion. Even though it doesn't matter it would gain the confidence of the villagers and they will in fact would help us instead of being a hindrance like in Narmada project. He was very impressed by this and I think this prior experience helped me a bit. I could have been more practical and crisp while talking. I could have answered the questions without going into too much details. Be practical. Know about the company. Show huge enthusiasm in a calm manner rather than showing desperation. You would have to tell lot of examples and be unique. They have to remember you through your examples. Show confidence and don't show desperation.

Shashwat Sharma PWC 2 B.Tech from IIT Mandi in Mechanical 10 months work-ex as network and security consultant 1st interview was straightforward HR questions, why join this company, what do you understand by consulting. 10 minute interview, 5-6 questions. Others were grilled more. Was not asked detailed case, they just asked me what factors to consider when in building a power plant. Went through all the possible angles, the interviewer seemed fine with it.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

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

Hardly a 10 minute interview, no grilling. Interviewer asked a little more about family, nothing much. I could think about different angles in the question about power plant. Rest I was direct and crisp with answers, which I guess they liked (they can see-through globing i guess). I could've been a little more thorough with the HR answers, it would've made a stronger case for me. Just relax before the interview, be thorough with HR answers, have a little knowledge of the industry of your graduation stream. Nothing more.

2015 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2014 Summer Interview Experiences

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Interview Experience 1 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Arushi Agarwal Accenture Strategy R3- Jayesh Pandey, Partner R1, R2- Don’t remember All IIT Delhi, B. Tech (Textile Technology) 1 year experience at KPMG in Shared Services and Outsourcing Advisory (Strategy Consulting) 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 company’s profits. A little tricky but doable. The company’s 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 didn’t 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.

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

What do you think went 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?”

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 2 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile: (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Himani Anand Accenture Strategy Round 1- HR, Round 2 – Head, AsiaPac, Round 3- Partner Three rounds B.Com(Honours), SRCC, Fresher Round 1: Round 1 was the HR Interview with questions covering the followingTell 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? NPV vs IRR My stand on US- Syria war, Hong Kong protests Why consulting How has the journey been so far in IIM Lucknow?

What do you think went right in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 3 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 Know your CV really well Maintain your calm, it shows. Enjoy the process

Karthick Nivas Accenture Strategy NA First - HR Second – Case IIT Kanpur Civil Engineering (B.Tech.) Work Ex 22 months (Flipkart, Aspect Ratio) 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? 8

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

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.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

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.

What do you think went right in this interview?

Interview Experience 4 Name: Company:

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Neha Agarwal 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) BITS-Pilani-2012. MSc. Economics & B.E. Mechanical 1 Year internship at Morgan Stanley Capital Intl prior graduation-(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 country’s 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 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)

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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 you’d 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) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Case in Round 11- One of our client’s 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) 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?

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 2-

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Interviewer: 4.5 kg/ household, 180 households 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 doesn’t come out to be 4.5kg. Gave me a calculator to do so. 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.

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Can I assume if the quantity of garbage produced remains same each day? Ans: Yes

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Apart from households, who else supplies us garbage, e.g. local kirana stores? Interviewer: Ignore, we only consider households

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Who is collecting and disposing waste currently? Do we have the figures on what price the competitors/current vendors are charging? Interviewer: Ignore.

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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 Interviewer: let’s 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: we’ll ask the society people to do so. They’ll segregate the waste and give us. However think of the costs associated with this. Me: We’ll keep 5 separate bins for this. So costs of bins is required.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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, that’s 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

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Do we calculate price based on profit before tax, or should I factor tax paid? Inter: ignore tax, calculate EBIT

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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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Any other set up cost? Ans: No

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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.

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

Interview Experience 5 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

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 doesn’t 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. 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. Vishwas Nandan R AMC Round 1 : One Senior Manager Round 2 : One Partner, One HR

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

2 Rounds NITK Surathkal, Mechanical Engineering, 23 months of work 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)

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club •

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

Questions related to Flipkart’s Big billion Day - What is the motive behind Flipkart’s 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 • 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 Flipkart’s 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

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your 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

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Alvarez and Marsal Interview Experience 6 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third)

Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Nishant Kumar Alvarez & Marshal 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 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 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) What do you think went right in this interview?

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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

A T Kearney Interview Experience 7 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Anupam Bhattacharjee A T Kearney Round 1: Manish, Partner Round 2: Nithin, Principal Round 3: Can’t Recall 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

What do you think went right in this interview?

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Round 3: HR based round which included CV Review, why consulting, questions on my areas of interest and long term career goals. 1) Was calm and relaxed throughout the interview. 2) Wasn’t 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.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 8 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Prateek Sekhani A.T. Kearney Akshat, Principal Round 2 St. Xavier’s 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Round 3: Size of the second hand car market in India 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. 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 won’t be able to sound smart if cases don’t go as intended, so prep those well. ;)

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Auctus Advisors Interview Experience 9 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Deepali Jaiswal Auctus Advisors Akshat Jalan, Business Analyst (Round 1) Abhishek Mukherjee, Senior Manager (Round 2) Saurabh Singhal, Associate Director (Round 3) 3 rounds in all 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?

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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) get from 3 rd 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?

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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. Didn’t discuss much on this case due to lack of time.

What do you think went right in this interview?

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. 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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience Interview Experience 10 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third)

Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Ask clarification questions. Think loud. Have a good discussion. Stay calm, confident and happy. Enjoy the process.

Divya Chopra Auctus Advisors Consultant, Consultant, Senior Manager, Director Round 1 : Consultant (HR) Round 2 : Consultant (case) Round 3: Senior Manager (Guesstimate) Round 4: Director (HR) 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 Round 3: • Guesstimate

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 in-house or outsource them. The costs for each of the activity was given. Explore all possible scenarios and decide.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went right in this interview?

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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

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.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Be confident. They are looking for enthusiastic people, good communication skills and presence of mind.

The Boston Consulting Group Interview Experience 11 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Anand Barot BCG 3 Rounds of interviews. Last round with Partner named Ravi 3 rounds IIT Bombay (Btech +Mtech) Workex-33 months, 20 months: American Express, Last 13 months: Business development in a foodprocessing 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 company’s capacity to meet the price requirements of the customer. Important point was that the two-wheelers 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 customer’s 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 dealer’s engineer

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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 was a fraud happening at the dealer’s 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. Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

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. 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 don’t 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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 12 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Arpit Vnayak Boston Consulting Group 3 partners 3 rounds 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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

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

Interview Experience 13 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 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. 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 don’t miss out on any point, on the day of interview it’s 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.

Gautam Bansal The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 2 rounds B.com (H), SRCC 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. 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:

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

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

Interview Experience 14 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

The interviewer didn’t 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: Didn’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Concluded with a recommendation and case synthesis. R2: Data overflow. There was too much data to comprehend. 1. 2.

Respond to the tone of the interviewer. Being composed is definitely one of the top 2 things that matter.

Mohit Agarwal BCG N/A 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 Electrical Engineering, IIT Dlehi Deutsche Bank (3 years) Round 1: 10 minute chat on the HR and then a 20 minute case. Round 2: 30 minute case

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 it’s 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 number 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 it’s 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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club h)

The math worked out that there was no way to make money 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) b) c) d)

e)

f)

g) h)

i)

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 Interview Experience 15 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

CATCH: As it turned out in the course of our discussion, the motorcycles were used as taxis The drivers owned the motorcycles and plied pillions around the city for a fee. I worked out the math for these chinese motorcycles - buying cost, maintenance, life, mileage, etc. 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. 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. 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. So a go ahead was declared. Now came the second part, given that we decide to enter 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 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.

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. Mohit Kataria Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Round 1: Partner Round 2: Partner Round 3: Partner

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Three Rounds B.Tech from PEC. Worked for 21 months in Strategic Services Group (SSG) of The Smart Cube, a business research firm. 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 company’s 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.

What do you think went right in this interview?

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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

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.

Interview Experience 16 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Parvez Jesani BCG Don’t remember the name, Partner

Round (First/Second/third)

First Round – HR + Case Second Round – Only Case

Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Third Round – A little bit of HR & Chit chat on why BCG v/s McK etc Narsee Monjee – B.Com, CA, CFA 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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went right in this interview?

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Interview Experience 17 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

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 aftersales 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 wasn’t convinced with my why consult answer and coz of that I screwed up my case too. Also, it was the 1 st interview for the day and screwed up coz of nervousness. Didn’t 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.

Radhika Saini BCG Partner 3 rounds Eco (Hons) – Hanraj College 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. 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.

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations Interview Experience 18 Name: Company: Round (First/Second/third)

Abhinav Maingi Deloitte Round 1: HR Round 2: Case based

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Round 3: HR Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee – ECE 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

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 Interview Experience 19 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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. Focus on your academic subjects. Good case solving is just a big +.

Komal Agrawal Deloitte 1st Round : HR 2nd Round : Case based 3rd round : Case based + presentation round B.Sc. Biology, MBA IB, Associate Consultant at Infosys Ltd-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 don’t 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( it’s 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 that’s why I am here” I felt like the opportunity died this very moment…

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 didn’t 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 don’t 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

What do you think went right in this interview?

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 don’t know what they liked in first interview, but probably my answers were to the point and I didn’t panic

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

I should have prepared a question to be asked, could have rehearsed the answer for “how good in Maths” and “which other shortlists”.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

For all the interviews, just know the answer to “who am I”, (you did somethings, you didn’t 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.

Interview Experience 20 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Rupika Malhotra Deloitte Consulting S&O

I had two rounds of interviews only (the others had three) 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

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

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

Interview Experience 21 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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 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 can’t 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. Shalu Mitruka Deloitte US S&O Round 1: Senior Manager Round 2: Senior Manager Round 3: Partner Architecture and Economics from IIT Kharagpur, with 20 months 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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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. 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 what’s 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 client’s US benchmark, they invest 30% of the revenue on sales so i got the amount they want to invest in sales rep ( let’s 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 don’t 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

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club So I started with few general questions to check whether it’s 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 client’s market share has actually increased rather decreasing so it was not competitor’s 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 competitors. So I was asked to calculate the price of company’s 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 don’t 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) 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)

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went right in this interview?

My first round had 2 cases related to job ex. As I prepared for job ex cases, I was able to do good.

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

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

KPMG Interview Experience 22 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

Prateek Kumar KPMG Senr. Consultant 2 IIT Kharagpur, Civil Engg. , 22 months in Techno-commercial aspects of Construction in JSPL 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 Knowing your CV through and through. And Case practise

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 23 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Swapnil Vadnere KPMG (S&O) Senior. Consultant

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

1 NIT Bhopal, Information Technology, 24 months at Deloitte

What do you think went right in this interview?

My Experience of working at Deloitte

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your 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

Round 1: PI Case:

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 24 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them) Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

Tuhin Kanti Mondal KPMG S&O summer internship 1 IIT Kharagpur, Instrumentaiton; almost 5 year work ex in 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. 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 can’t verify. Be confident, and try to put a smile. Also be through about your CV points, in details.

McKinsey & Co. Interview Experience 25 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Akhilesh Chauhan McKinsey & Co. Suvojoy (Partner) Suveer Sinha (Associate Partner) Mandar Vaidya (Partner) Vikas (Director) All 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)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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.

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

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. 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.

Interview Experience 26 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Amrita Singh Mckinsey Partner

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

All three rounds I was interviewed by partners. B.Com (Hons) from Jesus and Mary college, Delhi 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)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 27 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third)

Round 3: A case based on market entry of a firm into India (basic structure required).HR questions on why consulting?Long term goals? 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 wasn’t 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. 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.

Arpit Vinayak McKinsey & Co Mr. Rajat Dhawan + 2 other partners 3 rounds

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Engineering (IIT Madras, B.Tech Biotechnology), 4 years work-ex: Jaypee Capital Services (Derivatives Trader, 6 months), JP Morgan (Equity Research Analyst, 2.5 yrs), Samara Capital (PE Analyst, 1 yr) 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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Interview Experience 28 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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 wasn’t good. HR answers could have been better. Guesstimate wasn’t good. 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 shouldn’t, don’t lower your guard/ be too friendly.

Fern Sharma McKinsey Mr Vikas ,Senior Partner First Works on Pharma cases 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

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

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) 2)

Prepare Why Consulting? Long term plans and Why McKinsey questions well Involve the partner as much and take pauses while solving the case. No need to rush

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 3) Stick to the structure that you have been following with your case group

Interview Experience 29 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Krishnan Sankaranarayanan McKinsey & Co. R1: Abhishek (EM) R2: Partner (Don’t remember the name) R3: Partner (Don’t remember the name) B.Com, Loyola College (2011) Goldman Sachs, Fixed Income Round 1: About me and a case Round 2: Case

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

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

Interview Experience 30 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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.

Nishtha Khandelwal McKinsey & Co. Ruchi (Associate Partner) Vikas Badoliya Malcom Gomes (Engagement Manager) Rajat Dhawan (Director) All 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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

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.

Interview Experience 31 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Parvez Jesani McKinsey & Co Mandar, Partner

Round (First/Second/third)

First Round – HR + Guesstimate

What do you think went right in this interview?

Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Second Round – HR + Guesstimate Narsee Monjee – B.Com, CA, CFA 2 Years work ex – Credit Suisse (4 months), Edelweiss (9 months), 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 – needgap. 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 didn’t 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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 32 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

Shifali Makkar Mckinsey 4 rounds Bcom(Hons) Sri Venkateswara College 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 interviewer’s 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. Didn’t 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. 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.

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 33 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

Surbhi Kalia McKinsey & Co. Partner, Partner 2 Chandigarh College of Engineering & Technology, Punjab 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 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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 34 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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.

Swati Thakur McKinsey and Co. Round 1: Partner (Case) Round 2: Partner (Case) Round 3: Director (Short-HR Only) Economics (H), St. Stepehen’s 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 work-projects undertaken, insights Guesstimate: No. of tennis balls in India at any point of time (2 approaches) Case: Falling revenue of a Theatre in Mumbai; wasn’t typical was a detailed discussion on all possible aspects that could affect revenue/profitability

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

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

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 that’s 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. 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 you’re given a chance at the end of the interview If you don’t 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

2014 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2013 Summer Interview Experiences

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Interview Experience 1 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round Brief Profile : Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Mohammed Mudassar Accenture Management Consulting Rounds 1,3: Do not know Round 2: HR Round 4 (Telephonic) : Vishwesh Prabhakar, Partner 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 Micromax’s 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 clichéd HR questions. Round 3: Guesstimate the size of the Indian Diaper market. Repeating the point about me being too technical for the role.

Narration of the case interview

What do you think went right in this interview?

Round 4: What is Accenture’s 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 macroeconomics in general. What should the governor of RBI focus on? Boeing parts: • I was only asked to list the broad areas I’d 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club • •

• What do you think went wrong in this interview?

• •

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 2 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

• • •

In Round 1, the interviewer stated an incorrect fact about the aviation industry and I corrected him. This made me look knowledgeable and he didn’t 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 wasn’t 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 naïve. In-depth knowledge of one or two sectors is very valuable. Consistency of answers across interviews and your CV makes you look sane.

Rhythem Pahwa Accenture Management Consulting Round 1 – Senior Manager from Supply Chain Vertical Round 2 – Some HR executive Round 3 – Vikrant; Partner, heads the sustainability practice are

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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 didn’t 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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) What do you think went right in this interview?

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 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

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 3 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Couldn’t justify satisfactorily why I wanted a particular practice area Prepare well for HR questions, it helps

Sabyasachi Dhar Accenture Management Consulting Principal 3 Rounds Economics (Hons.) St. Xavier’s College. Worked for 35 months as part of the Essar Group Corporate Risk and Insurance Management Team 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. 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

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

Interview Experience 4 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 positioning of the vehicle vis-à-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

Preparation of HR answers, most essential In a case, look at every aspect possible If you don’t know how to proceed, take time out to think and involve the interviewer as much as possible Don’t jump to conclusions

Stuti Garg AMC -First, Second(telephonic) MNNIT Allahabad, Electrical Engineering Worked at NTPC Ltd. for about two years Round 1: 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 administered and how much say developed nations have in it. Finally giving some examples concluded that isn’t 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 she’ll 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 joint’s profitability is falling despite same sales revenue? Analyse the reasons. 2) ESPN has to bid for an upcoming cricket match series.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

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

Interview Experience 5 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Give them a reasonable quote. Ans: I asked about the kind of series: test, oneday or IPL. I asked about the match’s 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 Know your CV really well. Sort things out in your mind before answering. Ask them only relevant questions. Never beat around the bush. Stay calm and composed. Suraj Serikar Accenture Management Consulting Don’t remember Round 4 (Telephonic) : Vishwesh Prabhakar, Partner 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 Tell me about yourself? 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 Tell me about yourself? 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?

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

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. 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience Interview Experience 6 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Be confident, energetic and enjoy the process.

Swati Singh Accenture Management Consulting Four rounds in all Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Delhi (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 de-centralized supply chain? Advantages and Disadvantages of each 6) What are the various ways in which you’ll 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? 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 don’t 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:

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

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 enter- by 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 interviewer’s 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 should’ve taken more time in solving the guesstimate and not rushed into getting an answer

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

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

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

A. T. Kearney Interview Experience 7 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Naveen Bansal A T Kearney 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

The Boston Consulting Group Interview Experience 8 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

Aditya Dogra The Boston Consulting Group Rishabh, Project Lead (First Round) Sachin Kotak, Principal (Second Round) Priyanka, Principal (Third Round) Amit Sachdev, Principal (Fourth Round) B.Tech. Civil Engg, IIT Bombay, Work ex – 11 months at 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 weren’t 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 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).

What do you think went right in this interview?

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. Picked up the hints given by the interviewer – in my first round, after laying down the approach I was going in a different direction. At that point I picked up a hint from the interviewer’s 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Interview Experience 9 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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 wasn’t giving the kind of ideas the interviewer was looking for. Extremely important to stay calm and confident throughout the interview and have a good discussion with the interviewer.

Chinmaya Golecha The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Amit Sachdeva, Principal One round Worked at Deutsche Bank Centre as a part of the TMT team in London (11 months) 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 PoR’s. 25 minutes - Case around Computers/Laptops manufacturer’s service revenue increase. Round 2: n/a

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 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?

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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!

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

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 you’re enjoying it, it acts as a huge positive!

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Deloitte US Strategy & Operations Interview Experience 10 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Abhinandan Pandey Deloitte 1st Round : HR 2nd Round : Case based 3rd round : Case based + presentation round Bengal Engineering & Science University, Shibpur 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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

What do you think went right in this interview?

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Interview Experience 11 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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 cliché, Thinking out Loud helps a lot! I fumbled in 2 instances. There are times when the answers just don’t 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! Anmol Mahajan Deloitte US S&O Senior Manager 3 Rounds B.Tech in Electronics and Electrical Comm. Engg. from IIT 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 client). On one day, our client company’s 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 supplier’s 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 supplier’s 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.

What do you think went right in this interview?

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 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

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 12 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

N Susheel Kumar Reddy Deloitte US S&O Rd1,2 - Senior Manager Rd 3- Partner 3 Rounds Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras 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?

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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. 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 didn’t 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

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

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

KPMG Interview Experience 13 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Prince Arora KPMG Advisory Services 2 interviewers over a video call. Do not recall their name and designation Only One Round Fresher, Dual Degree IIT Madras [8 pointer] Member of The Consulting & Strategy Club

What do you think went right in this interview?

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 I’ll 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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

I messes up a little on the company specific questions. Do go through the Company RG before you enter the interview.

Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

Stay confident. They seem to like people who are confident about what they speak. If you don’t know an answer, tell it to them politely.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

McKinsey & Co Interview Experience 14 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Abhishek Gupta Mckinsey & Co. Involved an Associate Partner (Pradeep), Partner (Navtez) All NSIT (2011 Passout) 18 months in J.P. Morgan and 5 months in Reliance Capital 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?

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 didn’t 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 one’s idea generation will be tested. Also involved testing of quant skills, specifically math calculation required (basic but one can panic under pressure).

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

Being calm and confident, thinking on the feet really helps. I had already gone through a fair set of interviews before, so wasn’t 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 wasn’t so much a big deal. The way you structure your thoughts is more important. To me case solving had much more importance in the course of the interview, but HR answers shouldn’t be ignored for sure. Make sure you are properly dressed. You get evaluated on every aspect.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 15 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Anonymous Mckinsey and Company Rounds 1,2: Case Study Round 3: HR 3 Rounds Round 1: 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

Narration of the case 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

What do you think went right in this interview?

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 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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 16 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Aviral Srivastava McKinsey Vikas Bhadoria, Partner Shivanshu, Principal Mukund Sridhar, Associate Partner (Not sure) B.Tech Mechanical Engineering from IIT(BHU), Varanasi. One 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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

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. He asked if I had any questions about Mckinsey and my company priorities. A little chitchat and that’s 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 hadn’t 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 didn’t 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. Round 1: I didn’t 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 can’t 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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. Don’t read too much into the interviewer’s body language (unless he’s giving you hints during a case). Take pauses during cases but don’t let the silence get heavy. Each interviewer may ask you at the end if you want to ask him something about the company. Don’t 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. Interview Experience 17 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Ishani Roychowdhury McKinsey & Co. Round 1: Gunjan (Partner) Round 2: Vikas (Partner) Round 3: Navtez (Partner) Three rounds in total (third round was purely HR) Economics Honours from St. Stephen’s College, 21 months of work experience at Bain Capability Center (BCC) 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 Partner’s consulting career so far. 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

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 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Finally, he asked me if I had any question for him. I had a question and the discussion went on for 5 more minutes.

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

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 wasn’t great- it was my first case of the day and I couldn’t 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. Be calm and enthusiastic throughout. Carry yourself with confidence and smile- that reduces the nervousness too. Prepare your ‘about me’ well because that feeds into the discussion that follows. Also, the questions on ‘why consulting’ and ‘why McKinsey’ are common. Further, it’s very important to structure your HR answers too.

Interview Experience 18 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

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-à-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

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

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) Don’t get flustered; keeping your cool is very important 2) Try to approach it like you’re going to meet a new person rather than you’re going to face the most important interview in your life; it helps in being yourself => More confidence => Best performance

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 19 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Pratik Goyal McKinsey & Co. Suhail (Associate Partner) Naftez (Partner) Vikash (Partner) Total 3 Rounds Interviewers names in order St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata Chartered Accountancy Inter Fresher 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?

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible) 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

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. Generally the interviews are targeted to test the idea generation ability, comfort level with numbers and the problem solving ability 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.

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview Experience 20 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation

Round (First/Second/third) Brief Profile : (Graduation College, stream, Work ex details, etc.) Interview questions (With indicative answers if you choose to share them)

Shreya Sachdev McKinsey and Co. R1- Shivanshu (Partner) R2- Vikas (Partner) R3- Gunjan (Partner) R4- Navtez (Partner) Round 2 B.A. (Hons) English- Lady Shri Ram College for Women-Fresher All three interviews revolved around my educational background (I’m 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.

Narration of the case interview (Please be as descriptive as possible)

“My friend runs a standalone theatre in the heart of Mumbai, but has recently been witnessing declining profits.”

What do you think went right in this interview?

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-ofthe-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 solutions over and above the ones I didn’t 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 don’t make the mistake of getting trapped by your structures because McKinsey partners usually tend towards unorthodox case interviews.

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

2013 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

2012 Summer Interview Experiences

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

Accenture Management Consulting Interview Experience 1 Name Company Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile Interview questions

Deep Banerjee Accenture Management Consulting 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

Narration of the case interview 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

Interview Experience 2 Name Company Name of interviewer and designation

Round 3: HR Questions “I’m 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

Ipsa Kalra Accenture Management Consulting Round 1- Anurag Johri, Strategy Head Round 2- HR Round 3-Saurabh Bhatnagar-Partner

Round Brief Profile Interview questions

Case in first round only Graduation in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata. Fresher. 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.

Narration of the case interview

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.

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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 Interview Experience 3 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile Interview questions

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.

Meghana Katiki Accenture Management Consulting 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 Round 2: HR • What do you like about Accenture • What do you remember from Accenture’s 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.

Narration of the case interview 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

Interview Experience 4 Name Company

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 couldn’t 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. Accenture’s PPT is very important to them. If you are serious about that company make sure you attend the ppt.

Preethi Viswanathan Accenture Management Consulting

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Name of interviewer and designation Round

Senior Manager

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

Had three rounds of interviews

•

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. 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.

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club He explained the answers in a detailed fashion. Narration of the case interview What do you think went right in this interview?

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

What do you think went wrong in this interview? Any tips for future batches on the basis of your experience

A firm answer about why I wanted to join AMC as it was asked in all rounds of my interview Nothing that I can specifically point out. • • •

• Interview Experience 5 Name: Company: Round Brief Profile Interview questions

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

Sruthi Nooka Accenture Management Consulting 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 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

Narration of the case interview

Questions on subjects of Term – I and Term – II: Regarding Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Prisoner’s 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 it’s 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

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club I analysed the scenario in three parts – Customers, Company’s 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 company’s capabilities its financial and operational capabilities should be considered. Factors such as investment cost, company’s financial position, investment cost as a proportion of the company’s overall cost base should be analysed under financial capabilities. Operational capabilities include resources, availability of channel partners in the new market etc. 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

Interview Experience 6 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round Brief Profile Interview questions

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 it’s 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.

Ashok Patsamatla Accenture Management Consulting Senior Manager 2 Rounds Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras; Prior work experience - 24 months as Analyst in KPMG Management Consulting Round 1: 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? 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.

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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. 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.

Narration of the case interview 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

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. 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!

A. T. Kearney Interview Experience 7 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round Brief Profile

Nidhi Mehta A.T Kearney 1st Round : Sidharth Jain , 2nd round : Praveen (Principal), 3rd round Manish(Partner) 3 rounds Shri Ram College of Commerce ( Eco Hons), 13 months work-ex with Tata Capital Ltd. (Senior Credit Officer)

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview questions

Round 1:Tell me about yourself ; post the case I was asked to give my view on the recent reduction in CRR rates Round 2: Why Consulting ?

Narration of the case 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 SUV’s. 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 client’s 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 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

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

Approach : The partner didn’t 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 didn’t 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.

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club

The Boston Consulting Group Interview Experience 8 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Round Brief Profile Interview questions

Mohit Agarwal Boston Consulting Group Navneet Vashisht, Partner 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: 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. 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:

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 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 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. Narration of the case interview 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

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. 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. It’s 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

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club 3. 4. 5. 6. Interview Experience 9 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile Interview questions

Structured thinking is very important. Also, explain briefly the broad bucket in the structure. All suggestions should have some basis based on the inputs taken during the interview. Thorough CV and HR preparation are hygiene factors. Always smile!

Shraddha Gupta Boston Consulting Group Rahul Jain, Partner ( First Round) Seema (Second Round) Economics Honours, St. Stephen’s 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.

Narration of the case interview

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

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 (he’d 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 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 didn’t really feel like a case interview at all, felt more like a discussion. I was able to pick up the clues well. Can’t think of anything. Try to have fun. Don’t fret too much about how many cases you have practiced.

McKinsey & Co. Interview Experience 10 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile Interview questions

ANURADHA TYAGI McKinsey & Co Round 1: Pradeep (Principal) Round 2: Navtez (Partner) Round 3: Mandar (Partner) 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)

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Ans : Bargaining power, occupancy ratios, original ticket costs for standalone routesRange for Lufthansa is INR (15,000-30,000) & 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

Narration of the case interview

Ans: Again, case involved numbers and exploring several factors. I don’t 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 offshoot 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 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 India’s 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.

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

Interview Experience 11 Name: Company: Name of interviewer and designation Brief Profile

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. It’s 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

Swati Sengar McKinsey & Co. Deepak, Partner B.Com (Hons) from Shri Ram College of Commerce 23 months work experience with KPMG

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences

IIM Lucknow | The Consulting & Strategy Club Interview questions

Narration of the case interview What do you think went right in this interview?

Since it was Deepak’s first interview of the day, he didn’t 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 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 didn’t 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). 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.

What do you think went wrong in this interview?

Any tips for future batches on the basis of 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 don’t 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 - Don’t freak out and have fun

2012 | Summers | Interview Experiences