Tom SpencerMarket sizing is the test of a consultant’s mettle. It is a classic case interview question, in which a candidate is asked to make an estimate. A market sizing question literally asks a candidate to estimate the volume or the value of a something. This could be the size of a market or something from […]
Let’s face it. A major portion of the consulting case interview tests your quantitative skills. Why? Consultants work with a lot of data and can spend a significant amount of time crunching numbers. So your interviewers want to know that you’re comfortable with math and have strong analytic reasoning skills. Here is a play-by-play of how you […]
(Source: Flickr) The guesstimate question (market sizing or other) is one of the types of question you are likely to encounter in consulting interviews. Below we list twenty three (23) sample guesstimate questions broken down by question type. Population Questions How many births are there in America each day? How many petrol stations are there […]
(Source: Flickr) A guesstimate question can be approached by breaking a question down into smaller pieces by asking the interviewer questions and making a series of narrowing assumptions. You can break a question down either by starting big (e.g. making an assumption about the total population) or starting small (e.g. making assumptions about the average household […]
(Source: Flickr) The guesstimate question frequently comes up in consulting interviews. It will often be a market sizing question, which may be a standalone question or part of a larger case question. What will you be asked to do? The typical guesstimate question will require you to estimate a number by doing a rough “back […]
(Source: Flickr) Below we outline twelve (12) tips for nailing the guesstimate question: 1. Practice Practice doing some guesstimate questions before the interview so that you are prepared. It is a good idea to bring a pen and graph paper to the interview so that you can keep track of your calculations. 2. Know some […]
Your client is a low-cost airline headquartered in Philadelphia with frequent service to cities along the East Coast of the United States. The CEO is interested in expanding service into a small town in the Midwest; let’s call it Greenville. What is your recommendation? THE first step in approaching a question such as this one […]