My Interview Experience with Accenture Strategy & Consulting
About Me
Hi! My name is Nayana and I’m currently working as an analyst in an asset management company. I completed my undergrad in Mathematics from Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR), University of Delhi. In my final year, I was one of the many students who sat for the college placement process and I was fortunate to secure an offer from Accenture Strategy and Consulting for their Graduate Program. This article is about my virtual interview experience with the firm and about my preparation for the placement process at LSR.
The Program
Accenture is a leading global professional services company which provides a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. The Graduate Program is a program for undergraduate and advanced degree graduates without prior work experience to get into the field of management consulting. The program hires students from Tier 1 graduate campuses across India to join the Accenture Capability Network or Accenture India Business vertical as MC Associates. Students get to choose their job locations from Gurgaon/Mumbai/Bangalore and work across industries and functional groups. The opportunity came through the Placement Cell of the college and was categorized as ‘Super-Blue’ based on the pay package, company’s reputation and association with the college.
The Process
The selection process consisted of four rounds, resume shortlisting followed by three rounds of interviews. Each round was eliminative in nature. The process was extremely competitive. From around 180+ initial applicants, 20 students were selected for the interview rounds after resume shortlisting and final offers were rolled out to 5 students (2 from Mathematics, 2 from Statistics, 1 from Economics). Post resume screening, the company categorized the shortlisted students into its two main business verticals, Capability Network(CN) and India Business(IB). Since some students had their names in both these lists, I’m not sure if it made any difference to the interview process. I was shortlisted and subsequently selected for IB.
Accenture released the names of the students shortlisted for interviews on 23rd, we had all our interview rounds on the 24th and results were announced on the same day. Although it was a quick process, it was quite challenging and exhausting. We were on our toes the whole time, checking the Whatsapp group messages and the Accenture portal, waiting for our interview calls one after the other. Despite interviews being conducted in the virtual mode, the Placement Cell coordinated the process smoothly, keeping us updated from time to time.
My first interview went on for about 45–60 minutes. It was primarily a mix of a guesstimate and a personal experience interview. The interview had two panelists and it began with introductions. Further, the interviewers proceeded to ask me questions from my resume. They primarily focussed on the academic and internship section on my resume, which I believe were the peaks in my resume. The interviewers showed great interest in my internship experiences, so several questions were centered on that. After this, they asked me to solve a guesstimate, which again stemmed from one of my internships. While I was describing my internship experience as a Product Manager at an early-stage startup in the wellness and productivity space that had a meditation application as one of its products, the interviewers asked me to estimate the number of people who would need such an application in India. I solved the guesstimate and presented my ballpark figure. They questioned me on my approach and wanted to know an alternate methodology of doing the same. In my solution, I started with estimating the number of smartphone users and suggested, as part of the alternate approach, that I could have started with estimating internet penetration percentage figures. The interviewers expressed their approval of this suggestion and proceeded to ask me another problem-solving oriented caselet which was related to my internship experience at the same organization. They asked me to describe the factors that a startup launching a new product needs to take into consideration before doing so. I took some time to formulate my response and came up with some standard factors (such as competition, customer requirements, barrier to entry, capabilities, capital etc.) as well as some creative suggestions such as looking into government regulations and government incentives fostering entrepreneurship in India. The interviewers seemed satisfied with my answers and did not cross-question my approach. They proceeded to ask more questions based on my resume. The interview was quite gruelling and several questions that were asked were formulated from my previous responses. Towards the end, I got the opportunity to ask some questions to the interviewers.
Some of questions I was asked in this round include:
Introductory
- Introduce yourself
Internships
- Are you familiar with financial reporting/analysis? (based on my internship experience at a financial services firm)
- Problems with time series data (based on my internship project which involved time series data analysis)
- Describe what the startup is about. Elaborate on how the startup makes use of AI and gamification for their products.
- Describe your experience working as a Product Manager. What was your role?
- Guesstimate: Estimate the number of people who would need a meditation application in India.
- Problem solving: For a company to start building such a product, what all factors would they need to take into consideration?
Academics
- Questions on my research paper (I had written a review research article on Euler’s Identity and the interviewer asked me how I would explain the contents of the paper to a five year old)
- Why mathematics and how does mathematics prepare you for a job in consulting?
- What do you like about mathematics? Which is your favourite topic?
Consulting
- Why consulting?
My second interview was around 30–45 minutes long. It was a partner round in which the interviewer asked me personal experience questions as well as required me to solve a caselet on a project he had worked on. He was interested to know about my internship experience and how that was coming long since I was interning there at the time. After a couple of personal experience questions, he asked me to solve a case which was based on a fashion retailer affected by the pandemic, looking to expand their revenues. I took my time with the case and came up with some ideas. He seemed quite intrigued by a couple of my suggestions. He asked me a few more experience related questions. In the end, when I got the chance to ask him questions, I wanted to know what was the most exciting project he worked on, since I had a feeling that the case he asked me to solve must’ve been something that he might have worked on in the past. And it was! He described the very same case as the one which was one of the most time-consuming and interesting cases he had worked on. He spoke about the case in greater detail; he mentioned that the project went on for a year and that the consultants on this project primarily focussed on marketing and rebranding the client’s company.
Some of the questions that he asked me include:
Introductory
- Introduce yourself
- What do you consider to be your weakness/an area of improvement?
- What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment?
- What is your 5-year plan?
Internship
- Describe your project and the work that you have done
- What is your level of knowledge regarding corporate bonds?
- What do you like about the work?
- Describe one thing that you did not like about the internship.
Consulting/Company
- What do you know about Accenture? Why Accenture?
- Why consulting?
Case Question
A fashion retailer has been hit by the pandemic. They have an e-commerce platform which they were previously not looking into. The company wants to expand their revenues by x%. Come up with some ideas for doing the same.
The final interview was brief, around 10–15 minutes long. By this stage, several people who had completed 1–2 rounds did not receive a third interview confirmation. It was sort of like the hunger games. I was quite sure that this wouldn’t be a problem solving round but rather more of a casual conversation. And it was. The interviewer introduced herself and we proceeded to have a chat about how my previous rounds went. She asked me questions about my family, hobbies and was curious to know what I thought about North Indian food. She also asked me why I wanted to pursue a job immediately after college instead of going for higher education (an MBA, to be specific) and joining at a senior level. By this point, I was quite calm (and exhausted) so I told her how I wanted to gain some work experience and explore different industries which would hopefully help me figure out what I want to specialize in. We had a good conversation which was the perfect end to an otherwise stressful day.
My preparation methodology
For my interview preparation, I used the material which was shared by the Placement Cell which includes several useful resources such as Case Interview Secrets, Case Interviews Cracked, Day 1, Vault Guide to Consulting, FMS Guesstimate Compendium etc. Apart from these, I also referred to casebooks by IIMA, IIMB, ISB and FMS. I would recommend procuring the latest editions of casebooks published by consulting clubs of various B-schools and practicing cases from them, as they would reflect the latest developments in each sector (the pandemic in our case), instead of just limiting yourself to older editions. I watched several YouTube videos, but the ones I found most helpful were the videos by Crafting Cases. They also have several articles, email newsletters and a free course on ‘Case Interview Fundamentals’ which I found extremely helpful to get a good grasp on the whole process.
Preparing for personal experience interview questions is extremely important. Since I had interviewed at a consulting firm before my Accenture interview, I had spent a significant amount of time preparing answers for several common consulting interview questions as well as potential questions that could be asked from my resume. So, I only had to go through that document the day before the interviews. It is extremely important to know one’s resume in and out since that is the main variable that distinguishes one candidate from the other.
The most important part of my preparation was incorporating case interview preparation into my daily routine. I practiced cases with a couple of my friends and we held each other accountable which helped immensely. I also received a lot of guidance in preparing responses for personal experience questions from my internship manager who was extremely supportive during this stressful period wherein I had to manage my full-time internship, classes, and placements.
Links of some useful resources:
- Crafting Cases: https://www.craftingcases.com/
- FMS Casebook 2020–21: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/16e5UqrSInhtRqHLYMO7X1ZtN5VGVKAPG
- Resources shared by IIMB Consult Club: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FyUmSFuf9VvffpsO07KjskujuFgb-xWA
My post-interview reflections: What went well and what didn’t
There were several points at which I felt that I hadn’t given the best possible answer I could have. For example, when the interviewer asked me to explain my research paper, which was a completely theoretical ordeal, like I would to a five-year old, I was speechless for a moment. I thought about the implications and significance of the topic and went on to explain how the identity was considered one of the most beautiful equations in mathematics as it combined five significant mathematical constants into a simple elegant equation. There were situations in which I simply had to say, “I don’t know”, for example when the interviewer asked me if I knew financial reporting, and that’s completely okay. When I said this, she appreciated my candor and proceeded to ask me questions on other topics.
I believe I solved the guesstimate and caselet satisfactorily. I was able to think on my feet and come up with innovative ideas and suggestions instead of just sticking to the usual approaches and frameworks that are used frequently. I had experiences mentioned in my resume on which I was able to elaborate and give the interviews an overview of my learnings and personal development over the course of my three years in college. What I believe left a good impression, was how I maintained my composure even when the interviewers posed unnerving questions such as, “How would a degree in mathematics be useful for a career in consulting?” Being an anxious ball of stress, building confidence was the biggest challenge I faced during interviews. I had completely bombed the first consulting interview I had because I let my lack of confidence get the better of me and that had significantly impacted my performance. A simple shift in mindset was all it took to do my best in my second interview. I convinced myself that the experience was more important than the results and decided to give my best without worrying about the outcome.
Final Thoughts
Preparing for consulting interviews requires a significant time investment, dedication and consistent effort. I believe the three important things one needs to keep in mind are: building a strong resume, preparing for personal interview questions and finally case, guesstimate and aptitude test practice. Getting shortlisted for a top consulting firm is the first and the biggest hurdle, since the selection percentage is the smallest here. Make sure you build the best resume you can. There are several freely available resources that can be utilized for preparing for cases, aptitude tests and guesstimates. Collaborative working is important at this stage. Give yourself time to improve and collect as many approaches/perspectives you can through your friends, buddies, seniors etc. This would help you to develop your own approach and increase the breadth and depth of your thinking. Personal experience questions are probably the most underestimated aspect of case interviews. They are extremely important as this is what really leaves an impression on the interviewer. Spend sufficient time to jot down and structure your answers for commonly asked questions, practice and perfect them along the way.
The placement process can be extremely stressful and frightening. It is important to stay positive and learn from each experience you gain along the way. Reach out to seniors, practice cases with your batchmates and don’t hesitate to connect with alumni for guidance on the process, resume reviews, mock practice cases etc. I was fortunate enough to have several supportive seniors, buddies and mentors who helped me each step of the way.
I hope this article helped you gain some insight from my experience. I would be more than happy to offer guidance and help in whichever way possible! Feel free to reach out :)
