The fit interview is like a behavioral interview for the consulting industry. Within that, there are distinct fit interview question types a candidate should be aware of. Today, we're sharing about 3 types of fit interview questions. The direct questions, story questions, and what we call "tricky" questions. Intrigued? Good! Read on as Jenny Rae, ex-Bain consultant breaks down these questions in detail and how to handle each.
Types of Fit Interview Questions- YouTube Transcription
Have you ever wondered how to prep for the fit interview portion of a consulting interview? Well I've got some great insight for you today. We have 3 main types of fit questions that we'll walk you through so that you can be ultimately prepared for what seems like the sneaky piece of the consulting interview.
I'm Jenny Rae Le Roux, the Managing Director of Management Consulted, and the case interview always gets the most focus in the prep process because it's terrifying. You have no idea what they're going to ask, you have no idea where to start, there's math, etc. But the sneaky part of every interview, and ultimately the deciding factor for your offer becomes the fit interview.
So for fit interview questions, how do you prepare? There are 3 main types that you need to prepare. The first type are direct questions. The second type, story questions, and the third type, tricky questions. Let me go through each one of those in turn.
Types of Fit/Behavioral Interview Questions
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Direct Questions
First of all, direct questions these are the questions that someone is expecting you, if you're a top candidate, to slam dunk. These are questions like "Walk me through your resume," "Why do you want to work for this company," and "Why do you want to do this particular job, this type of consulting," for example. And in those questions, they're expecting you to have perfectly thought out, clear, linear answers. They're meant to be 2 minutes for walk me through your resume, and 1 minute for all of the other questions. And walk me through your resume is meant to be a linear story that tells from the beginning to the end how you got to where you are today.
"Why the firm" is meant to be a re-telling of some experience that you've had with someone who's incredible inside the company. And "why do you want to do this job?" Well, that's meant to really explain how you came on the journey to deciding that this is exactly what you want to do. Firms are looking for you to have something prepared, and for it to come across as clear and enthusiastic.
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Story Questions
Now for story questions, we have a very specific recommendation. We recommend that you prepare 15 stories inside your interview. When you prepare these stories, they're meant to be able to answer a variety of story-like questions, such as, "tell me about a time when..." fill in the blank. Here's an example. Tell me about a time when... you demonstrated leadership in a team. Tell me about a time when you used data to solve a problem. Tell me about a time when you faced an obstacle on a project and how you overcame it. And those series of questions altogether pull out from you the examples, the illustrations of how you lead.
We build stories from 3 different categories. Academic, leadership, and work experience. And you need to have a balance of all of them.We also build stories from different parts of your experience, even if it seems like it's not maybe as professionally relevant as some of the more recent experiences. However, when you build stories there is 1 key tip that we have beyond just building the 15 stories. It's that when you're in the interview you do release the most recent stories first inside the interview. So you should have professional experiences from the last 2 years that you use to answer your first couple of questions.
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Tricky Questions
The final set of questions are the ones that everyone fears. The tricky questions. These are ones that you never enjoy answering. Like "what is your greatest weakness?" Or, "tell me about a professional failure," or "explain an obstacle," or "tell me about a difficult boss that you've had and how you handled them." All of these are meant to demonstrate your ability to build trust in a stressful situation. And they're not what you think they are. They're not meant to expose your own self-awareness. They're meant to illustrate in your storytelling, the way that you've faced a difficult problem, the way that you've sized it up, and the way that you handled it to improve upon it.
They're not meant to demonstrate perfection, and they're not meant to specifically set the person at ease that you're a perfect candidate. They're meant to set them at ease that when difficult things come up, as they will in contending with issues that you'll face as a consultant, that you will be ready to handle them.
3 Types of Fit Interview Questions Video
Concluding Thoughts
In summary, if you want to prepare for fit questions, there's a ton of work that you need to do, and if you at least start with these 3 things, preparing for the basic direct questions, preparing for the more advanced story questions, and preparing for the ultimate tricky questions, you'll at least have a good handle on some of the key areas that you'll need to work on when you go into the final steps of the consulting prep process. If you want some personal advice based on where you are, and where you'd like to go in your career, reach out to us at www.managementconsulted.com or on social.
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Additional Reading:
- Case Interview: Complete Prep Guide
- What are Behavioral Interviews?
- Case Study Interview Questions and Answers
- Fit Interview Prep