If you are interested in consulting roles, case interviews are an integral part of that process. Your heartbeat will pulse with excitement when you receive an e-mail letting you know that you made it to the interview stage. Yet, this is also where the challenge begins.
The interview is a nerve-wracking experience. No matter how well prepared you are, you will never really know the case that lies ahead. Even if you manage to practice all the cases you find (which is basically impossible), you will still have to consider the layout of the interview. You might be facing an individual, panel, 24-hour, or team interview.
This article is going to focus on team interviews.
Typically, team interviews involve a team of 4 candidates who are grouped together and given a case, probably in a written format. Your job is to solve the case and present your recommendations at the end. The recruiter will be with you throughout the entire process sitting in the corner of the room, but it is up to the team to figure everything out.
What makes team interviews so difficult is that you have to work with a group of strangers, all of whom are competing with you for the same role. This interview format was specifically designed to measure how well you work in a team, as well as to assess your problem-solving and leadership skills.
As daunting as it seems, there are a few tricks you can follow to nail the team interview.
1. Demonstrate leadership
As a team, you will have a limited amount of time to solve the case, and so you need to use time efficiently. Going around in circles giving a historical background of each candidate is not the ideal way to move forward (even though that is how you will be inclined to act). Instead, this is a perfect chance to show leadership. Do not expect to be proclaimed leader, simply step into the role.
Start by asking your team members about their strengths. For example, “Who here is good at PowerPoint?” “Who is good at public speaking?” “Who has strong analytical or market research skills?” By taking initiative, you can naturally assume the position of leader from the get-go and keep others accountable for their performance.
2. Show problem-solving ability
If someone beats you to the key leadership role, there is still a card-up-the-sleeve that you can play.
What makes team cases so challenging is that everyone wants to give their opinion on the best way forward, hence taking up a lot of the allocated time. This is an uncomfortable position to be in since you do not want to be rude or overly pushy with people you don’t know. However, you don’t want to lose the case either.
An important way you can contribute is by helping the team to decide how the team is going to make decisions. If this is a four-member team, then you might arrange it so that a decision can pass with either 3 or 4 votes. I would highly suggest the former due to time constraints. Forming a consensus on each decision can eat up a lot of time, which you do not have. Remember that the recruiter is observing the entire process, and so if you are the first to raise the issue of how decisions should be made, this will count in your favor.
3. Teamwork skills
Throughout the entire process, keep in mind that it is a team interview designed to observe how well you work in a team. After all, if you want to hit the ground running in a consulting role you have to be an effective team player. Make sure that you are respectful but firm throughout the process. Do not wait for someone to call on you to speak, but naturally step into the role. If you feel uncomfortable with this, then “fake it till you make it”. You want to show the recruiter that you are an easy team member to work with, but also that you are an asset who keeps the problem solving process moving along.
Final thoughts
Team consulting interviews are challenging, but success is achievable. By asking questions you can assert your leadership role from the outset. Instead of assigning roles, ask your team members which of them would like to “volunteer” to fill each necessary role. Determine before you commence the case how decisions are going to be made. Throughout it all, be a valuable team member. Remember that this is not a place to make friends, or to network. You are there for the sole purpose of securing a consulting job. There will be time for pleasantries later on.
Tringa Krasniqi holds an MBA degree from The George Washington University. She is the founder and consultant at Ivy Journey, an educational consulting firm for gaining admission to universities and winning scholarships.
Image: Unsplash
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