Appendix

Consulting Sample Interview Questions.............................................................................................................................. 122 CPG/Retail Sample Interview Questions............................................................................................................................... 122 Energy Sample Interview Questions..................................................................................................................................... 122 Health Care/Pharma Sample Interview Questions............................................................................................................... 123 Investment Banking Sample Interview Questions.............................................................................................................. 123 Marketing Sample Interview Questions ............................................................................................................................... 123 Manufacturing Sample Interview Questions....................................................................................................................... 124 Media & Entertainment Sample Interview Questions ........................................................................................................ 124 Private Equity/Venture Capital/Buyouts Sample Interview Questions ........................................................................... 124 Sales and Trading Sample Interview Questions.................................................................................................................. 125 Real Estate Sample Interview Questions.............................................................................................................................. 125 Strategic Planning & Corporation Finance Sample Interview Questions........................................................................ 125 Technology/Telecommunications Sample Interview Questions...................................................................................... 126 Case Interview Examples......................................................................................................................................................... 126

Wharton MBA Career Management | Guide to Managing Your Career

Consulting Sample Interview Questions

What makes you different from the other candidates for this position? What does a consultant do? What are the three most important qualities of a successful consultant? Why are you interested in consulting? How is our practice different from other consulting firms? Highlight your achievements/accomplishments. Give me an example of a situation in which you had a problem, how you identified the problem, the methods you used to solve the problem, and discuss the resolution. If you had six months ahead with no obligations and no financial constraints, what would you do? What would you like me to know about you that is not on your resume? If you could invite anyone you would like to a dinner party (famous or historical figures, dead or alive), which ten people would you invite? If you could trade places with someone for a week, who would it be and why? What books have you read recently? What do you enjoy doing outside of work, in your free time?

CPG/Retail Sample Interview Questions

Why do you want a job in CPG/why do you want to work for our company? Give me an example of a well/poorly marketed product. Give me an example of a good/bad advertisement. Tell me about a new product you would like to launch and how you would do that? What skills does a good brand manager need? Demonstrate that you have these. Tell me about a time you led a team/project. What product are you most loyal to? Why? What is the target market for product x? How do you know? If product x was a person, who would it be? If you were setting up a business school, how would you position it and how would you go about getting it into the top ten? If you had to market a new type of water, how and what would you do? You are the CEO of McDonalds and you need to double sales in two years. Disregarding profits, what would you do? You are the #1 ketchup brand and there is a new entrant coming into the category. What do you do? You have to go into a meeting with your boss who is a brand manager. You want to bring financials about the brand but the printer jams and you can only print out 3 line items from the financial statements. Which 3 and why? Why do you want to market credit cards?

Energy Sample Interview Questions

With the effects of deregulation Where do you anticipate our industry will be in five years? Does it still make sense for energy companies to be vertically integrated businesses? What are the strengths and weaknesses of such a strategy? What are your thoughts about Utilicoms - utilities merging with telecommunications companies? Are they a viable and sustainable business model? How would you value a power plant? What is project finance? What are its advantages and disadvantages? When should a company use it as a financing mechanism? How would you value capacity (as compared to the energy revenue stream)?

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What are X,Y,Z companies trading at? Why? Do you expect current valuations to change given recent events in the industry? How could we use the internet to improve our operational efficiency? Our company wants to produce "green energy" using renewable energy resources. Is there a market for such a product, and does it make economic sense? Energy, in the form of a Btu or kWh, is a commodity. What can we do to differentiate our product from that of our competitors?

Health Care/Pharma Sample Interview Questions

Describe an experience in which you have taken a leadership role in the past and what you learned from the experience. Give me an example of how you have dealt with a difficult individual on a team. Given your background, why do you want to be in ? How would your friends describe you? If you only had the resources to continue research on one drug - a potential blockbuster to prevent cavities or an AIDS drug that may save some lives but will likely lose money - how would you decide between them? We have a drug that is entering three months behind the first in class; how do you price it? Why do y ou want to work for this firm? How does a job with XYZ company fit into your long-term plans? What are three things that differentiate our company for our competitors? Your client is a large, diversified medical supply company with an 80% share of the suture market. The CEO has just "heard" from a friend that a new laser technology can now serve the same purpose as sutures. What does this mean to her business and what should she do about it? A clinical laboratory has 13 labs. It is looking to improve performance. What performance measures would you compare? How would you identify best practices? Give us a little insight into what is happening in the health care industry? Assess the market for Telemedicine. What does the yield curve look like? What happens when the Fed cuts interest rates by 50 basis points? If you had to recommend buying Merck, Pfizer, or GlaxoSmithKline stock, which would you chose?

Investment Banking Sample Interview Questions

Why investment banking? Why this bank? What are the characteristics of a good investment banker? What did the Dow, S&P or NASDAQ close at yesterday? What is your view on the market? Why corporate finance as opposed to sales and trading? What role do you play in group situations? What stocks do you follow and why? What would you do if offered drugs as a part of a deal? (or other ethically focused question) Sell us on your quantitative skills. How smart are you? How do we know you are smart? Perform a discounted cash flow analysis.

Marketing Sample Interview Questions

What is Marketing? What does it take to be successful in marketing?

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What are the attributes of a successful marketing campaign? How do you motivate others, particularly those over whom you have no direct authority? How have you developed your interpersonal skills? Give me a specific example of a time you solved a problem creatively. What skills does a good brand manager need? Demonstrate to me that you have these skills. Tell me about a time you led a team/project. Give me an example of a well/poorly managed product. Pick a good and bad ad campaign and discuss them. Create a plan to market brand X to Philadelphia. What are some of your favorite products? Market one to me.

Manufacturing Sample Interview Questions

Why are you interested in the Aerospace Industry/our Company? What characteristics do you have that are important to this industry? What steps would you take to expand our market share? How do you feel about unions? How would you handle a dispute with a union? How do feel about the relationship between state and market in the European collaboration? What made it a success? What interests you in this industry/company? What do you feel are major globalization issues? What would be your suggestions to enter a new foreign market? Give me an example of when you have worked on a team and it was unsuccessful. If CAF standards increase, how will this effect the industry? Should we enter the SUV market? How should we use eCommerce to increase our market share? How can we cut vehicle development time? Should we extend benefits to same sex partners? How will the increase in gasoline prices affect the automotive industry? Should we have an e-alliance with xyz company? Should we enter the ebusiness arena this year? Give me an example when you have worked on a team project and it has not been successful. Why do you think the agrochemicals industry is in the shape it is? What do you see as the next big market for xyz chemical company?

Media & Entertainment Sample Interview Questions

Corporate Strategy - Where do you anticipate our industry will be in five years? Finance - What are the most important indicators of a financially successful company in this industry? New Business Development - Tell me about a new business you think would be successful. Marketing - How would you position our product relative to that of our competition? Production - What experience do you have, who do you know and why should I hire you?

Private Equity/Venture Capital/Buyouts Sample Interview Questions

Why are you interested in private equity? LBO vs. VC? What is your experience/familiarity with venture capital/LBOs? How is your experience in (banking, tech, consulting, etc.) relevant to private equity? What do you think the role of a private equity investor is? Do you prefer a certain stage of investing? Why or why not?

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Do you prefer a certain industry sector? Why or why not? Which industry? Do you think venture capitalists should be generalists or specialists? Would you rather work at a small fund or a large fund? Why? Do you prefer corporate/strategic investing or LP investing? Why? Have you considered joining a start-up or operating company? Are you interested in working for one of our portfolio companies? Why or why not? What trends have been developing in the private equity industry? What do you think are compelling industry trends for a potential investment? How do you source investment opportunities? How do you evaluate an investment opportunity, especially a private investment? What do you look for in a business plan? How do you evaluate a management team? What do you look for specifically in a CEO? A CFO? A COO? What are the characteristics of a good entrepreneur? How would you describe the investment/due diligence process? If you were presented a management teams financial plan, what analysis would you perform? How do you value a company? Specifically, discuss why one technique may be a more accurate assessment of value than another?

Sales and Trading Sample Interview Questions

What makes you think you can sell? Would you like sales or trading? Why? Tell me what you think a trader/salesperson does. Why selling debt vs. selling equity? Why not corporate finance? What particular markets or instruments are you interested in? Describe an instance where you persuaded someone to do something they initially didnt want to do. What about your personality will make you a good trader? How will you make the calls you hate to make? What other firms have you talked to?

Real Estate Sample Interview Questions

Why real estate finance and not real estate development? What is your background in the industrial (or other segment) market? How long do you plan to stay in real estate? Why would you leave? What other firms are you talking to? (It is important to know other firms specialty.) What are the hot markets and how long do you think they will remain hot? How would you develop a capitalization rate for a class A office building in NY? What are the risks of entering a new market? Who runs the real estate division of firm X?

Strategic Planning & Corporation Finance Sample Interview Questions

Why have you chosen a career in corporation finance? Why this industry? Why this company? Give me an example of a time when a project you worked on failed. If you were a controller in charge of our manufacturing facility in the Bahamas, what numbers would you use to measure performance? Were contemplating a new fabrication facility. How would you get at an NVP for us? What cost and revenue drivers would you consider? Where would you get this data? Describe your model. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

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How does M&A activity in banking affect our industry? We are having trouble managing our (division). What do you think the key performance metrics might be and how might you go about improving them? How would you go about valuing our (division) for a potential sale/spin-off/liquidation? Our division is thinking of introducing a (such and such) new product. How would you go about determining if this is a good idea? How do you see your career progressing in our firm?

Technology/Telecommunications Sample Interview Questions

How did you become interested in (e.g. software)? What industry publications do you normally read? Explain a situation where you made a lasting impact on an organization. What company in the market do you admire most and why? Explain platform shift. Define leadership in your words and give a personal example. What convergence is occurring in the industry (media, telecom, and computing)? Why are you interested in the Telecommunications Industry/our Company? What characteristics are important for your success in this industry? What steps would you take to enter a new cellular market? What do you see as the challenges in the Telecommunications industry in the new century? What do you attribute to the success of the Asian Telecommunications Players? Do you see the Asian market declining in revenues? If so, what are steps to curtail the decline? What challenges are facing U.S. wireless carriers in their investors?

Case Interview Examples

The previous interview questions for consulting are designed to allow a potential employer to assess a candidate's fit with the organization and understanding of the consulting industry. The fit evaluation is only one aspect of the consulting interview. The second part of the consulting interview is the case interview. The case interview as mentioned previously in this chapter is utilized to assess a candidates ability to dissect a problem in a logical fashion. The following information on case interviews is from the Case Interview Study Guide written by the Wharton Consulting Club. There are three types of cases that you could be confronted with in a consulting interview. Business cases - In this form of case the interviewer describes a business situation a firm is in and asks you to help the client face that situation. Examples: A computer manufacturer was gaining market share, but experienced declining profits. Why? What should it do? A client has bought a Russian satellite after the break up of the Soviet Union. A large company has offered your client (an entrepreneur) $10 million for the satellite. He wants to know whether he should accept the offer and sell it.

Mini cases - These cases are shorter versions of business cases and focus on a single problem a client may face. Examples: You have a hot dog stand in front of your office. It serves the workers in your building and two neighboring office towers. You want to buy it. How much is it worth? Your client has developed a new material for bathing suits and wishes to launch it. It is priced presently about twice as high as a regular suit. What do you tell him?

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Estimation cases - This form of case asks you to estimate something that you could not possibly know, such as the number of man-holes in the continental U.S. Examples: How many gallons of ice cream are sold in the U.S. each year? I own a shopping mall. How many pennies are in it at any time?

Full Case Study Mike had a liberal arts undergraduate degree and a MBA in finance. His work experience had been in media and entertainment industries, with his functional roles having been in sales, financial analysis, project management, and marketing. He had made significant career changes in the past, but in this move he wanted to make a very large step into investment banking. Mike had already done his Competencies, Interests, and Values Analysis during his previous career moves and had revisited this step again to reassess and revise his lists. He also had done extensive Market Research providing him with a solid understanding of his new target market. Through his market research he had done extensive networking and landed four interviews. He now knew that it was his job to successfully sell himself in his interviews. In revising his resume he had already converted and highlighted his previous experiences to skills and actions that were valued by the investment banking community. He now needed to go one step farther and work intensively on verbalizing his skills, interest, drive, and knowledge about the industry and needed to present his history in a well thought out story that would demonstrate his fit and desire in the industry. He talked with several of his contacts in the investment banking field and asked them what questions he might expect in the interview process. He compiled this into a comprehensive list and then started answering each question utilizing his CIVs and Market Research information. He also had technical questions that he did not know how to answer. He looked back into his finance books from his MBA and spoke to his contacts to learn how to answer these technical questions. He also came up with technical examples of his skills from his previous work experiences. Once he compiled his answers and developed several examples for each question, he began his actual practice. He first started his verbal practice asking the questions and responding aloud. He audio taped this practice and listened to his responses. This allowed him to actually focus on listening to his responses. After several revisions on his responses, he asked a friend in investment banking to interview him. They videotaped the practice and feedback. Mike found this to be invaluable and actually did this several additional times with other friends, although they were not always videotaped. One other thing Mike did was prepare for two issues that he felt may be hurdles to his candidacy - he was older and had a non-investment banking background. He chose to turn both into positives and use them to differentiate himself. He knew the culture and structure of all four companies interviewing him and he focused on individual practices within the firms that specifically handled media and entertainment clients. He used his previous work experiences and his age as a value-added aspect that would help him to make an immediate contribution. His age and, therefore his contacts and connections from having a longer work history, could enhance his ability to bring business to the firm. Mike ultimately received offers from three out of the four firms. He felt that the most important aspect of his interviewing success was the confidence that came from lots of verbal practice, being up to date on the markets, and his extensive preparation.

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