Interview Preparation

1. Best practices of interview preparation
An IIMB NSRCEL & Goldman Sachs Supported Firm

2. Agenda
• What do recruiters look for in candidate during interviews
• Different type of interviews
• Resume Based
• Behavioural/Situational/Fit based
• Case Interviews/Guesstimates
• Industry/Domain Based
• Commonly Asked Questions
• Structuring of Answers
• Online Interviews

3. What do recruiters look for in candidate during interviews?
Talent | Potential
Competence for
the job

4. What do recruiters look for in candidate during interviews?
Talent | Potential
Achievements |
Projects | Spikes
Competence for
the job
JD | PPTs |
Websites | Mentors
from that company/
industry

5. Before You Start…
• Make a list of domain, company, industry
• For the target list – understand, appreciate and use relevant terms
• Job descriptions
• Company Website/PPTs
• Consulting firms’ websites, thought leadership
• News Analysis

6. Why Resume Based Interview?
• Know you better as a professional
• Achievements
• Competencies
• Depth of experience and expertise
• Working style

7. Resume based interviews
• Be very thorough about your resume
• Not knowing any point written in resume in great detail is strict no-
no
• If you have done lot of job shifts, be ready to answer that
• If you have shown poor academics, be ready to defend that
• If you have travelled across countries/ geographies etc. , be ready to
talk about the difference in culture etc.
• Be prepared with all the details in a structured format

8. Resume based questions - Example
• You have saved xyz mn in this project, this seems unbelievable can
you explain?
• You have worked in this project tell me some of the learning from
this project?
• You have worked in this algo/ model how you can use that in our
case

9. How to prepare – Resume based questions
• Prepare “Interview Preparation” Sheet & expand on each point
• Ask “So what”, “Why” to atleast 3 levels for each point

10. Example
• How would you increase NTPC’s profitability?
• What policy level changes would you suggest for Indian power
sector?
• What are critical maintenance activities?

11. Behavioral interviews
• In behavioral interviews, you need to showcase your knowledge,
skills and competencies by giving specific examples from past
experiences
• Expect questions like "Tell me a time when..." or "Give me an
example of when..."
• Which types of companies are famous for behavioral interviews?

12. Behavioral questions examples
• Tell me about a time when you had to analyze large amount of data
to solve a problem ?
• Tell me a time when you have to take calculated risk?
• Tell me a time you have take initiative to solve a problem?
• Tell me about a time when you took a decision under pressure
• Tell me about a time when you committed to a team member but
could not live up to their expectations. How did you earn their trust
again?

13. Behavioral interviews – how to prepare?
• Create an "Behavioral preparation sheet" in excel and write one line
each of whatever you have done in the past
(Use Amazon 14 principles of leadership as reference)
https://aws.amazon.com/careers/culture/
• In next column describe each instance in detail using STAR format

14. Behavioral questions: Common mistakes/ issues
• Choosing a story that is not impactful
• Choosing a story in which you can not explain your role
• Poor communication skill
• Telling a story with too much technicalities
• Telling a story which is too much detailed (use executive summary,
be crisp, sense check in between)

15. Situational interviews
• Like a behavioral interview, during situational interview candidates
are asked specific questions about what may happen on a job.
• The candidate is asked to assess a situation and to provide solutions
on how he or she would handle it.

16. Situational interviews – How to prepare
• Try to come up with a similar situation in the past and answer it like
a behavioral question

17. Situational questions – Examples
• What you will do if your team members are not listening to you?
• How do you deal with an unsatisfied customer?
• What you will do if your team is not able to take decisions?

18. Situational questions: Common mistakes/ issues
• Not using logic/ facts/ data/ examples
• Giving up too early

19. Use a structure approach – STAR framework
• Situation
An event, project or challenged faced
• Task
Your responsibilities, assignment or objective of the project
• Action
Steps taken to relieve or rectify the situation
• Results
Results of action taken. Try to bring out not only specific impacts
but also how it helped the company in their overall business

20. STAR framework - Example
• Executive Summary
I completed a very complex SAP logistics development project within 4 days (as
opposed to 10 days) for a large FMCG clients which was entering in UK market despite
working alone as my coworker got some personal emergency.
• Situation
In my last job, we needed to develop a very complex and urgent logistics development
for a client which was launching its operations in UK. In this situation I had to work
alone as my coworker had a family emergency and needed to miss work for some days.

21. STAR framework - Example
• Task
My supervisor instructed me to take on the project alone, and with no
leniency on the deadline, I had few days to complete the project that
originally should have done with two resources.
• Actions (Bring your skills here)
I negotiated with my boss for a reduction in my weekly goals, allotting
me more time to attack the special project. As far as my weekly goals, I
was able to delegate them out evenly to some of my teammates.

22. STAR framework - Example
• Results
With the reduction in my daily goals, I was able to dedicate more time to
the special project. This allowed me to finish it 5 days before time, enable
my client to start the operation as planned and with complete accuracy.
My supervisor appreciated my attitude and drive, and I was given
several more projects after that, along with an eventual promotion and
pay raise.

23. Some common questions - TMAY
• One line of basic detail about you/ broad profile (years of exp, company
you worked in, graduation etc.)
• Don’t take too much time here
• Talk about your accomplishments (Academic, Professionals & Personal)
• Try to prioritize the relevant accomplishments for the company and bring
out some relevant knowledge, skills as required for the job
• Why you are interested in the job/ role
• Optional: Close with something which you want recruiter to ask questions
on

24. Example- TMAY
• I completed Engineering from VJTI Mumbai and was the topper in my college and third ranker
in the university. I joined NTPC through a rigorous selection process with a selection percentage
of less than 5%. In NTPC, I worked in the Operations & Maintenance department where I was
responsible for 4 generators and 16 large motors which generated revenues worth INR XX Cr.
• I then decided to do MBA and got admission offers across all IIMs and I chose IIMA.
Here, I did my internship in PwC, where I worked on a transaction for a Hydro Power Project. I
had built a financial model and contributed to Pitch Deck preparation. In my second year, I took
electives such as M&A, Financial Institutions and Strategy and I am looking forward to build my
career in Finance.
• I am also the first woman in the history of Student Affairs Council of IIM Ahmedbad, in which I
won the elections by a landslide margin of 220+ votes. I led two teams and we won prizes for two
live projects.

25. Some common questions – Tricky & Important
• What is your weakness
• Don’t be evasive
• Understand which trait has ‘consistently’ impacted your work performance
• What are you doing to improve and what’s the status
• Use examples/ stories
• Why do you want to join this role
• Tell genuinely how it aligns with your short term/ long term objective
• Talk about learning opportunities, quality peers etc.
• You can reuse some relevant facts/ examples mentioned by them in PPT/
website

26. Interviews around MBA courses / Value add from MBA
• At least be ready with two subjects fully
• Know all the important frameworks 5S, 4P, BCG matrix, Porter's
etc.
• For preparing for value add from MBA type of question, use your
Behavioral preparation sheet, in which add one more column and
write how you will do it differently post MBA

27. Industry/ function/ technical knowledge based interviews
• Industry structure, KSF, key players, new trends, disruptions,
future potential
• Knowledge of company/ its products etc.
• Understanding of function and its theoretical/ practical aspects
• Knowing current trends, future projections etc.
• Algorithms/ models , their use cases

28. Questions related to emerging technology domain
• Use cases
• Benefits
• Business case (RoI)
• Risks
• What companies are doing to convince clients to adopt emerging
technology

29. Questions related to Finance domain
• Significance of financial statements
• Difference between IRR, RoI, NPV
• What is WACC
• What is CAPM
• How do you value a firm
• What makes a good financial model
• What is negative working capital? Is it beneficial?
• What are the key drivers of M&A
• What is pre-money and post-money valuation?
• Questions on ratio analysis: Current ratio, Quick ratio, Cash ratio, P/E ratio, Profitability ratios
(like gross margin, net margin etc.), Risk ratios, Asset utilization ratio, inventory turn ratio, Days
receivables

30. Questions related to Consulting
• Case Interviews
• Problem solving in past experiences
• Understanding Business Context
• Taking initiative
• Taking ownership/responsibility
• Client Engagement/P

31. Questions related to Marketing domain
• 5C
• 4P
• STP
• CAC/ LTV
• Solution selling, consultative selling
• Digital marketing
• Case: How will we improve sales of our XYZ product?

32. Questions related to Analytics domain
• CLT
• Probability
• Hypothesis testing
• Linear regression
• Logistic regression
• Recommendation engine
• Case: A book shop wants to open a store in your campus, what data would you need to help them
take this decision, what kind of analysis will you do, what metric will you measure

33. Case Interview - What is a case
Source: McKinsey Deck

34. How to prepare for cases
• Read The McKinsey Way
• Understand key frameworks (Profitability, Industry structure, Cost structure,
Market entry etc.)
• Know macro numbers (Population, Internet penetration, literacy rate, income
distribution etc.)
• Form a group of 2 to 3 students and start practicing as early as possible
• Practice, practice, practice

35. What if you are not prepared/ sure of answer
Clarify
What is the type
of question
Use your
previous
experience, if any
Be structured
and logical

36. How to negotiate
Were you able to
demonstrate
that?
What value are
you bringing to
the table?

37. Medium term/ long term goal
Check the profile
of alumni of
company
Be realistic

38. Online Interviews
Clear
communication
skills
Engaging
conversation
Back up plan for
network issues
Keep all you
projects/ proofs
handy and in soft
copies

39. Summary
• Explore
• Go through websites of your target companies / MBBs/Accenture and read case studies
• Read up a lot of JDs, make notes of what is the requirement of the company: Knowledge,
skills, key words etc.
• Read up emerging technologies: Use cases, benefits, RoI, Risks, how different companies
are adopting/ convincing to adopt
• Read up a lot of frameworks & reflect how you can apply in real situations (not force fit it,
not throw jargon but utilize them properly)
• Read The McKinsey Way/ Goal
• Prepare
• Prepare all behavioral answers, resume points in STAR framework
• Interview preparation sheet including what is the value add from MBA

40. Summary
• Prepare at least 2 subjects well
• Understand/create your frameworks for answering situation questions
• Practice
• Answering your stories
• Practice case studies and guesstimates with 1-2 people
• In general do a lot of practice, practice, practice