2017 Fit Interview Workshop presented by the Consulting Club at the Texas Medical Center

1. MASTERING THE CONSULTING FIT
INTERVIEW: TELLING YOUR STORY

2. THEMES FOR TODAY’S
WORKSHOP
1. Know your story
2. Learn to communicate your story with
clarity
3. Get used to telling your story

3. OUTLINE
1. Importance of fit interview
2. Preparing for the fit interview
3. Types of questions
4. Best practices and common mistakes
5. Partner up and practice

4. TYPICAL INTERVIEW STRUCTURE
Fit interview (20-25 min)
Ice
breaking
(1-5 min)
Questions
(1-5 min)
Fit interview
(10-15 min)
Ice-
breaking
(1-5 min)
Questions
(1-5 min)
Case interview
(25-35 min)
Summer workshop phone interview
Full-time position interview

5. IMPORTANCE OF FIT INTERVIEW
Fit interview is just as important as the case
interview, if not more
 Determines your likability
 Could contribute to how helpful the interviewer will
be during the case interview

6. PURPOSE OF THE FIT INTERVIEW
1. Gauge how you mesh with the firm and office
 Professional presence
 Airport test
2. Evaluate your understanding of consulting and
the specific firm
3. Assess your soft skills and character
 Leadership
 Teamwork
 Communication
 Drive to achieve
 Problem-solving

7. OVERALL STRATEGY
KNOW:
1. The consulting industry
2. The firm
3. The job
4. The interview process
5. Yourself

8. RESOURCES FOR LEARNING
ABOUT CONSULTING
 YouTube videos
 Victor Cheng
 Managementconsulted
 Management Consulting Prep
 Consulting prep websites
 www.vault.com
 www.caseinterview.com
 www.managementconsulted.com
 www.mconsultingprep.com
 Firm websites
 Case interview prep books

9. TYPES OF QUESTIONS
1. Resume-based
 General
 Specific
2. Why consulting and why the firm
3. Personality assessment
4. Story
5. Curveball

10. GENERAL RESUME QUESTIONS
 Walk me through your resume
 Tell me about yourself
 What experiences have made you who you are
today?

11. ANSWERING GENERAL RESUME
QUESTIONS
 Highlight your education followed by relevant
experiences (consulting or business, if any)
 Underscore soft skills
 Use reverse chronological order
 Do not rush or ramble (aim for 1-2 minutes)

12. SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTIONS
 Tell me something about you that is not on your
resume
 How did you choose to study/work at X
school/company?
 Tell me your role at X [company]. How did that
grow or change and why did you leave?

13.  Structure your answers
 Mention consulting soft skills and key words
 Quantify your achievements when possible
 Highlight any awards and honors
 Be concise (~1 minute)
ANSWERING SPECIFIC RESUME
QUESTIONS

14. SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTIONS
My role as a teaching assistant for the Cell
Biology course consisted of three aspects. First, I
served as the communication liaison between
instructors and students; second, I organized
weekly Q&A sessions; and third, I assisted the
instructors in grading students’ performance. I
worked as TA for 2 consecutive years, serving
more than 10 instructors and 80 students, and
was 1 out of 50+ awarded the best TA prize last
year.
EXAMPLE ANSWER:
SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTION

15. SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTIONS
My role as a teaching assistant for the Cell
Biology course consisted of three aspects. First, I
served as the communication liaison between
instructors and students; second, I organized
weekly Q&A sessions; and third, I assisted the
instructors in grading students’ performance. I
worked as TA for 2 consecutive years, serving
more than 10 instructors and 80 students, and
was 1 out of 50+ awarded the best TA prize last
year.
SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTION:
STRUCTURE

16. SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTION:
KEYWORDS
My role as a teaching assistant for the Cell
Biology course consisted of three aspects. First, I
served as the communication liaison between
instructors and students; second, I organized
weekly Q&A sessions; and third, I assisted the
instructors in grading students’ performance. I
worked as TA for 2 consecutive years, serving
more than 10 instructors and 80 students, and
was 1 out of 50+ awarded the best TA prize last
year.

17. SPECIFIC RESUME QUESTION:
NUMBERS
My role as a teaching assistant for the Cell
Biology course consisted of three aspects. First, I
served as the communication liaison between
instructors and students; second, I organized
weekly Q&A sessions; and third, I assisted the
instructors in grading students’ performance. I
worked as TA for 2 consecutive years, serving
more than 10 instructors and 80 students, and
was 1 out of 50+ awarded the best TA prize last
year.

18. WHY CONSULTING
 Demonstrate a clear understanding of
consulting
 Display a genuine interest in consulting
 Answer why you can succeed in consulting
 Highlight relevant achievements
 Touch upon soft skills
 Develop a unique and creative story
 Average: Only a simple reason
 Good: I have three reasons
 Great: Let me tell you a story

19. WHY THE FIRM
 Demonstrate a genuine interest in the firm by
knowing:
 People (networking)
 Specific aspects of past achievements or cases
 Staffing model
 Unique culture or initiatives
 Do not compare the firm with the others
 Convey what you can do for the firm, not just how
great the firm is
 Develop a unique and creative story
 Average: Only a simple reason
 Good: I have three reasons
 Great: Let me tell you a story

20. PERSONAL QUESTIONS
 What are your strengths and weaknesses?
 What would your mentor/supervisor say is your
biggest weakness/strength?
 What are your short and long term goals?
 What would you miss about academia?
 Tell me about a time when you failed
 Give me an example of a time when you had to
resolve a crisis

21. PERSONAL QUESTIONS
 What are your strengths and weaknesses?
 What would your mentor/supervisor say is your
biggest weakness/strength?
 What are your short and long term goals?
 What would you miss about academia?
 Tell me about a time when you failed
 Give me an example of a time when you had to
resolve a crisis

22. STRENGTHS
 Pick 3 strengths that are consulting soft skills
relevant
 Provide brief, supporting illustrations
 Highlight achievements
 Quantify results
 Be confident, not arrogant
 Try to tell stories

23. WEAKNESSES
 Pick 2 weaknesses
 Choose examples that are:
 from the past to distance yourself
 distant from the consulting soft skills
 Acknowledge assertively and say how you
have improved
 Try to tell stories

24. STORY QUESTIONS
Specific examples of how you have
demonstrated key consulting soft skills
 Leadership
 Teamwork
 Communication
 Drive to achieve
 Problem-solving

25. LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS
 Tell me about a time when you led a team
 Can you think of a situation where you inspired or
empowered others?
 Give me an example of a situation when you had
to make a difficult decision in a project or for other
people
 Can you think of a time when you took initiative to
make an impact?
 How would you assemble a strong team?
 Tell me about a time you translated a vision into
reality

26. TEAMWORK QUESTIONS
 Give me an example of when you had to resolve a
conflict within a team
 If I brought in one of your teammates here today, what
would they have to say about you?
 Tell me about a time when you didn’t agree with the
direction/leadership of the team
 What do you think is the most important consideration
when working as a team?
 Can you think of a situation where you had a conflict
with your supervisor?
 Tell me about a time you had a difficult time fitting into a
team

27. COMMUNICATION QUESTIONS
 Tell me about a time when you persuaded your
supervisor to make a different decision
 Explain your research project as if you were talking
to a 10th grader and then to a professional in your
field
 Give me an example of when you asked a big
favor from someone you knew well
 Can you think of a situation where you had to
make a recommendation without having all the
facts?
 How good you are at communicating to diverse
audiences?

28. ACHIEVEMENT QUESTIONS
 Can you think of a situation when you made a
significant personal impact?
 Tell me a time when you achieved a difficult
goal
 What are some risks you took in the past?
 What achievement are you most proud of?

29. PROBLEM-SOLVING QUESTIONS
 Tell me about a situation where you had to
solve a complex problem
 Describe a situation in which you found a
creative way to overcome an obstacle
 What was your biggest challenge and how did
you overcome it?
 Tell me about two improvements at your
current workplace you have made in the past
six months

30. STRATEGY FOR STORY
QUESTIONS
 Look at your resume: how do your experiences
demonstrate key soft skills?
 Generate relevant stories for each soft skill
 Formulate the story with the STAR method
 Practice being structured but natural-sounding
 Refine the stories and receive feedback

31. THE FIT MATRIX
Story A Story B Story C Story D
Problem solving X X
Leadership X X
Teamwork X
Communication X X
Drive to achieve X X X

32. STAR METHOD FOR
ANSWERING STORY QUESTIONS
Situation
Task or trouble
Action
Result

33. STAR METHOD: SITUATION
Clearly describe the context of the situation
 Who
 What
 Where
 When
 Why

34. STAR METHOD:
LEADERSHIP EXAMPLE
Situation: Students in the department felt that
they were not getting enough exposure to other
research topics outside of their lab.

35. STAR METHOD: TASK OR TROUBLE
 Identify the task or trouble at hand
 Highlight specific constraints or challenges
such as (for example, deadlines or costs)
 Mention potential consequences if the issues
were not resolved

36. STAR METHOD:
LEADERSHIP EXAMPLE
Situation: Students in the department felt that
they were not getting enough exposure to other
research topics outside of their lab.
Task: Other departments have had success with
bringing in external speakers for weekly
seminars. I decided to try to institute a similar
program in my department.

37. STAR METHOD: ACTION
 Clearly describe specific actions that you took
to complete the task
 Highlight your rationale behind the actions
 Did you consider any alternatives?
 Demonstrate and highlight consulting soft skills

38. STAR METHOD:
LEADERSHIP EXAMPLE
Situation: Students in the department felt that they
were not getting enough exposure to other research
topics outside of their lab.
Task: Other departments have had success with
bringing in external speakers for weekly seminars. I
decided to try to institute a similar program in my
department.
Action: I spoke to departmental administrators about
funding for honorariums. I created a committee of
interested students to send out invitations to potential
speakers and arrange the logistics of the program.

39. STAR METHOD: RESULT
 Conclude with the results/outcome of your
actions
 Did you meet your objectives?
 What did you learn from the experience?
 Quantify the impact if possible

40. STAR METHOD:
LEADERSHIP EXAMPLE
Situation: Students in the department felt that they were
not getting enough exposure to other research topics
outside of their lab.
Task: Other departments have had success with bringing
in external speakers for weekly seminars. I decided to try
to institute a similar program in my department.
Action: I spoke to departmental administrators about
funding for honorariums. I created a committee of
interested students to send out invitations to potential
speakers and arrange the logistics of the program.
Result: The department granted me $3000 in funding, we
have hosted more than 30 external speakers since June,
and more than 100 students and faculty have attended
each seminar.

41. STAR METHOD:
DRIVE TO ACHIEVE EXAMPLE
Situation: My 10-member team maintains clinical trial documents in multiple
3-inch binders for 150+ trials, which is reviewed monthly by 200+ study
monitors who travel on-site. However, filing these documents is a time-
consuming process and our department is running out of office space.
Task: To identify a storage solution to maintain clinical trial documents in
compliance with both FDA and institutional security standards, and also allow
easy access for my team and study monitors.
Action: I researched available options externally and internally by speaking
with various service providers, and worked with our procurement department
to identify potential solutions within the institution.
After identifying an institutional electronic storage application that complied
with institutional security standards and allowed remote access to users, I
worked with the application manager and institutional information security
group to validate the solution’s compliance with FDA standards.
Result: The institutional electronic storage application has been rolled out for
80+ studies. I saved my team about 20 hours of time spent on filing each
week. Moreover, the 100+ study monitors currently in the system are excited
about the ability to remotely access study documents as they do not need to
travel on-site.

42. COMMON MISTAKES WHEN
SELECTING STORIES
Using stories:
 Irrelevant to the question
 Too far in the past
 That can not be backed up with details
Avoid using the same story multiple times in the
same interview session

43. COMMON MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN
PRESENTING STORIES
 Giving a rehearsed speech
 Using “we” instead of “I”
 Being vague or generic
 Not structuring the story
 Spending too much time on the context
 Telling stories with so many facts that the
interview does not know how to follow up

44. RANDOM CURVEBALL QUESTIONS
 Some questions are unpredictable
 How do you feel about [a current business event]?
 What is the most interesting business problem that
[pharma/biotech industry] faces today?
 How many gas stations are in the United States?
 Intended to determine how you react under
pressure
 Strategy: Breathe, take time to think and
demonstrate confidence in your answer

45. GENERAL TIPS DURING AN INTERVIEW
 Smile and sound enthusiastic
 Have a conversation instead of Q&A
 Be concise and elaborate when requested
 Always identify the impact that you contributed
 Practice, practice, practice

46. GENERAL TIPS
DURING A PHONE INTERVIEW
 Find a quiet room with a strong phone signal
 Confirm phone numbers and time zone
 Prepare notes and keep them handy
 Practice talking over the phone
 Volume
 Speed
 Enthusiasm

47. SUGGESTIONS ON
PROFESSIONAL PRESENCE
 Dress code is always business professional unless
stated
 Men: Dark suit (charcoal, navy, black), white or light blue
shirt, conservative tie, and black leather shoes
 Women: Dark skirt/pant suit, white or light blue shirt,
black closed-toe leather shoes
 Jewelry
 Men: No jewelry except watch or wedding band
 Women: Be conservative
 Hair style: Neat and conservative

48. THEMES FOR TODAY’S
WORKSHOP
1. Know your story
2. Learn to communicate your story with
clarity
3. Get used to telling your story

49. QUESTIONS?

50. PRACTICE SESSION
 Choose one
1. Why consulting?
2. What is your proudest achievement?
3. Tell me about a time when you led a team
4. If I brought in one of your teammates here today,
what would they have to say about you?
 Apply the STAR method
 Partner up and share your answers

51. 2017 EXECUTIVE TEAM
President
Ivan Liadi, MDA
VP Finance &
Operations
Jo Zhou, Rice U
AVP Finance &
Operations
Hima Vangapandu,
MDA
VP Education
Sanjeev Khatiwada,
BCM
AVP Education
Carol Chuang, MDA
VP External
Relations
Michael McGuire,
MDA
AVP External
Relations
Marci Kang, Rice U
VP Consulting
Agency
Jing Jin, Rice U
AVP Consulting
Agency
Linhai Zhao, BCM

52. UPCOMING CLUB EVENTS
 Recruiting VP and AVP of Finance and
Operations: Applications due Sunday, April 16
 Case Competition: April 22
 Networking Mixer: Mid May
 Case Interview Workshops: Throughout May

53. APPLICATION DEADLINES
AND ON-LINE EVENT
DATE/TIME EVENT
April 21st (Friday) Bain Advance Into Consulting (AIC)
Deadline
May 7th (Sunday) Connect to ClearView Deadline
July 17th (Monday) McKinsey 2018 Full Time Position
Deadline
July 21st (Friday) Bain 2018 Full Time Position Deadline
July 23rd (Sunday) BCG 2018 Full Time Position Deadline
No due date available Off Cycle Full Time Position ClearView
(Experienced Professional)
No due date available Putnam Associates Life Science
Consultant (San Francisco or Boston)DATE/TIME EVENT
May 16th (Tuesday) at 7:00-8:00
PM
Bain: Cracking the Case