Estimation questions for management consulting. 1) KG/pounds of potatoes sold in the USA each year.

2) Passengers on flights within USA each year. 3) Amount of pencils manufactured in the USA each year.

Recommended methods (there are multiple ways to arrive at each answer). Must make some assumptions, no interviewer will expect you to know how many acres of potatoes fields are in the USA 1) Acres of potatoes planted per year*yield per acre*number of plantings per year(perhaps two in the south, one in the north)-weight of crops unfit for selling 2) Number of trans-continental flights*seat capacity of the average trans-continental airplane*load factor per flight + number of commuter flights* seat capacity of the average commuter airplane*load factor per flight. (Assumptions you might make: Southwest only uses Boeing 737, so say you will assume each category of flights only uses one type of airplane. Assume private business jets are a negligible fraction of total number) 3) Break down the US population into segments. Assume US manufacturing supply meets demand and the US does not export or import pencils. Ask about colored pencils. Schoolchildren will use many colored pencils and less HB pencils until about third grade. Grades 4-7 will use mainly pencils over pens. High school students use mainly pens, but still some pencils. How many art students are in the US universities. Think about industries that use those mini pencils : golf courses, IKEA (say you must divide this answer by two since 2 mini pencils is equal to one big pencil)