Co2010 Consulting Case Book

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cosebook
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uear ConsulLlng LnLhuslasL,
We are happy Lo brlng anoLher edlLlon of Lhe lS8 ConsulLlng Casebook based on experlences of Lhe Class
of 2010. Co2010 was a beneflclary of Lhe lmproved buslness condlLlons and relaLlonshlp bulldlng efforLs
of Lhe ConsulLlng Club 2010 whlch ls clearly reflecLed ln Lhe enhanced number of consulLlng offers.
As l wrlLe Lhls leLLer, my mlnd ls ln flashback mode Lhlnklng abouL all Lhe lnlLlaLlves we rolled ouL durlng
Lhe year and Lhe fun we had dolng lL. Cf course, l was forLunaLe Lo work wlLh one of Lhe besL core Leam
and wlLhouL Lhelr supporL many of Lhese lnlLlaLlves would have noL maLerlallzed.
l have few words of advlce for poLenLlal consulLlng asplranLs:
1. Make an lnformed and carefully 'LhoughL Lhrough' declslon Lo pursue a consulLlng career. lL ls
lnLellecLually challenglng, rewardlng and may appear glamorous buL do evaluaLe your flL wlLhln a
consulLlng role [udlclously. lL would be rewardlng Lo assess Lhe role's sulLablllLy Lo your
LemperamenL and capablllLles. l belleve LhaL only you can make Lhls declslon for yourself and you
should spend some Llme dolng Lhlnklng abouL lL. 1alk Lo alumnl and Lap your neLwork wlLhln Lhe
consulLlng flrms Lo geL an accuraLe plcLure. 1here wlll be Llmes when lL wlll be dlfflculL Lo reslsL peer
pressure buL have a clear vlslon of whaL you wanL and sLlck Lo lL.
2. Cnce you have made Lhe declslon, make every efforL Lo achleve your dream role. unforLunaLely
Lhere are no shorL cuLs and Lhe key ls Lo 8LA8L hard. Cracklng cases ls absoluLely cruclal and
conLrary Lo whaL many belleve case solvlng ls noL rockeL sclence. lL [usL needs a LC1 of 8AC1lCL. So
sLarL early, keep up Lhe momenLum and you wlll succeed.
3. Chooslng Lhe rlghL flrm Lo work wlLh ls equally lmporLanL. So when you meeL Lhe alumnl and senlor
folks from consulLlng flrms, acLlvely evaluaLe whaL Lhey have Lo say. SLudy polnLs of agreemenL and
evaluaLe conLradlcLlons. alnL your own plcLure of whaL lL would be llke Lo work wlLh Lhe flrm. lew
amongsL us do Lhls buL lL ls absoluLely cruclal slnce each flrm has a dlfferenL culLure and dlfferenL
approach Lo consulLlng.
4. llnally, be prepared for Lhe roller coasLer rlde and sLress levels on uay CnL. 1hose of you wlLh
mulLlple shorLllsLs and good preparaLlon levels could experlence push and pull" dynamlcs on
mulLlple fronLs. CrafL your sLraLegy Lo handle such slLuaLlons ln advance. Agaln your besL beL ls Lo
anLlclpaLe mulLlple scenarlos and Lhlnk abouL approprlaLe responses.
l would sLrongly recommend LhaL you use Lhe lS8 Casebook 2009 LogeLher wlLh Lhls edlLlon. lL capLures
elemenLs of Lhe resume revlew process, shorL-llsLlng crlLerla and lnLervlew preparaLlon ln sufflclenL
deLall. Some of Lhe commonly used frameworks capLured ln Lhe Co2009 casebook are a good sLarL. l
sLrongly recommend LhaL you read ChapLers 2, 3, 4 & 3. 1he case frameworks conLrlbuLed by Mouneesh
Slnha for Lhls edlLlon of Lhe case book are more evolved and wlll be more effecLlve ln Lhe hands of a
relaLlvely more prepared consulLlng asplranL.
8esL Wlshes,
Anlp Sharma
resldenL, ConsulLlng Club Co2010
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Acknow|edgements

l would llke Lo Lhank Lhe enLlre ConsulLlng Club core Leam of Abhl[lL Cnkar, Abhlnav Somanl, Abhlshek
narayan Slngh, ueepak Srlkumar, 8avl krlshna, SamraL 8ose, Sarvagya Sharma and ShobhlL Coel for Lhelr
fanLasLlc and Llreless efforLs LhroughouL Lhe year ln bulldlng on varlous lnlLlaLlves and ldeas.

Speclal Lhanks Lo:
Mouneesh Slnha for conLrlbuLlng case frameworks and enrlchlng Lhe llbrary of lS8 ConsulLlng
Club Case lrameworks. Some of Lhese come rlghL ouL of hls prep dlary" and l am sure all Lhe
consulLlng asplranLs wlll beneflL from lL.
Sarvagya Sharma for many of Lhe self drlven lnlLlaLlves lncludlng pushlng conLrlbuLors Lo
documenL Lhelr case experlences and collaLlng everyone's experlences.
ueepak Srlkumar and Lhe Leam of lCon coordlnaLors for wonderfully leadlng Lhe lCon lnlLlaLlve.
CllenLs and lS8 admlnlsLraLlon for bellevlng ln Lhe value of lCon pro[ecLs and spendlng Llme wlLh
Lhe pro[ecL Leams. Pope you conLlnue Lo supporL lCon ln comlng years.

A speclal Lhanks Lo Lhe sLudenLs who conLrlbuLed Lo Lhe casebook by documenLlng Lhelr case
experlences.

llnally, Lhe Club would llke Lo Lhank Lhe alumnl wlLhouL whose acLlve supporL Lhe fanLasLlc [ourney LhaL
Lhls Class had Lhe pleasure of experlenclng would noL have happened.
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Case Irameworks
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uisc/oimer
noLe from Mouneesh Slnha who has conLrlbuLed Lhls secLlon for Lhe casebook:
l do noL clalm Lo be Lhe auLhor of all Lhe lLems LhaL wlll follow ln Lhls llsL of Case lrameworks. 1hls ls
merely a compllaLlon done by from varylng sources. Cf course, some of Lhe work ls orlglnal Loo. Also, a
noLe of warnlng, followlng Lhe frameworks bllndly wlll lead you nowhere. 1hls ls supposed Lo acL as a
gulde whlch should help you geL golng fasLer on developlng your own frameworks. 8elleve me, Lhe
golden rule Lo solvlng cases on Lhe u-day ls Lo develop your own frameworks.

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cose 5o/vinq 8osics
1here are some baslcs LhaL need Lo be followed whlle solvlng a case. l wlll Lry and llsL down Lhlngs LhaL l
conslder as baslcs whlle solvlng a case.
As you musL already be aware by now Lhere are four sLages of solvlng a case:
uefloe - Lhls ls parL where you scope Lhe problem. 1he ldea aL Lhls sLage should be Lo ldenLlfy
Lhe goal of Lhe case and flgure ouL whaL exacLly you are requlred Lo do, as preclsely as posslble.
1ry to narrow down the prob|em as far as poss|b|e |n th|s part by ask|ng re|evant quest|ons
and e||m|nat|ng certa|n opt|ons. lf Lhe problem ls very LlghLly deflned by Lhe lnLervlewer (as lL
Lurned ouL for me ln all cases on Lhe u-day), Lhen sklp Lhe phase. uo noL [usL repeaL whaL Lhe
lnLervlewer has already menLloned.
5ttoctote - Lhls ls Lhe mosL lmporLanL parL of Lhe case and Lhe parL where l sLruggled Lhe mosL.
Pence, mosL of whaL l wrlLe wlll address Lhls lssue. 1he sLrucLure ls Lhe approach you would
follow Lo solve Lhe case. Slnce Lhe enLlre case may noL be solved always, you are [udged on your
case solvlng ablllLles based on your case sLrucLure. It |s |mportant get your |nterv|ewer to agree
w|th your structure before proceed|ng w|th the ana|ys|s. Wherever poss|b|e, wr|te an equat|on
for the prob|em and attack each parameter one by one.
Aoolyze - once you have goL Lhe sLrucLure, analyzlng Lhe case should be a cakewalk.
5yotbeslze - agaln, Lhls ls an lmporLanL parL of Lhe case. 8emember, Synthes|s |s not a
Summary. uo noL repeaL whaLever was dlscussed durlng Lhe case. !usL ment|on your key
recommendat|ons, wh|ch wou|d bas|ca||y be the answer to the uefine part of the case. lf
appllcable, you may wlsh Lo suggesL a way forward, especlally ln cases when you could noL flnlsh
Lhe case. Many a Llmes, cases would noL be compleLed on Llme, hence l suggesL you lnclude a
synLhesls aL Lhe end of each of Lhe four sLages. 1hls would leL Lhe lnLervlewer know LhaL you can
synLheslze well even lf he hasn'L expllclLly LesLed you on Lhe same. ln case you weren'L able Lo
sLrucLure Lhe case durlng Lhe SLrucLure phase, buL could somehow solve Lhe case, SynLhesls
could be an area where you can galn back losL ground. ln Lhe synLhesls, behave as lf Lhe
sLrucLure was always Lhere ln your head and use Lhe sLrucLure Lo synLheslze Lhe case.
now, as l have already menLloned, SLrucLure ls Lhe mosL lmporLanL parL of Lhe case. lL ls lmporLanL LhaL
you look and sound sLrucLured ln your approach. Pence, noL only Lhe quesLlons you ask, buL also Lhe
sequence of Lhe quesLlons becomes very lmporLanL. A|| the r|ght quest|ons |n a wrong sequence may
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pro[ect an unstructured approach. A|ways take your t|me before ask|ng quest|ons and dec|de on the
sequence |n wh|ch you w||| ask the quest|ons.
AlerL: uo noL lgnore esLlmaLlon cases, many people ln our baLch dld and many people were asked
esLlmaLlon cases durlng Lhelr lnLervlews. lL ls dlfflculL Lo do esLlmaLlon cases unless you have pracLlced.
AlerL: Always pracLlce Lo flnlsh Lhe cases wlLhln 30 mlnuLes, because you are noL golng Lo geL more Lhan
LhaL durlng Lhe acLual lnLervlew.
LeL us go Lo Lhe sLrucLures now.
5tructurinq the cose
1here could be varlous dlfferenL klnds of cases, some of whlch we wlll see ln Lhe followlng pages.
Powever, Lhe guldellne sLarLlng polnL ln all cases should be Lhe roblem Landscaplng dlagram LhaL l wlll
show ln Lhe nexL secLlon.
rob|em Landscap|ng
roblem Landscaplng ls a meLhod LhaL can be used as a guldellne Lo collecL baslc lnformaLlon abouL Lhe
case, and l parLlcularly found lL Lo be exLremely useful. noL all parLs of Lhe dlagram would be appllcable
Lo each case, hence use your dlscreLlon durlng asklng quesLlons. keeplng Lhe dlagram ln Lhe head wlll
help a loL. 1ry Lo geL answers Lo as many parLs as posslble and as may be requlred by Lhe case durlng Lhe
deflne phase lLself.
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ln Lhe followlng secLlons l wlll cover few of Lhe lmporLanL case Lypes and frameworks LhaL can be used Lo
solve Lhe cases. l belleve, Lhese can form Lhe base of any oLher case analysls as well.

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Case 1ype: rof|tab|||ty
1he proflLablllLy case ls the most |mportant type of case LhaL exlsLs. 8aslcally, mosL of Lhe cases can be
solved assumlng Lhem Lo be proflLablllLy cases, even Lhough Lhe lnLervlewer doesn'L expllclLly menLlon
so. Pence, l would devoLe mosL of Lhe Llme ln elaboraLlng how Lo solve Lhe proflLablllLy case and how
Lhe sequence of quesLlons should be.
8efore golng lnLo Lhe quesLlons, l wlll flrsL show Lhe dlagrammaLlc represenLaLlon of Lhe case sLrucLure. l
wlll follow Lhls up wlLh Lhe sequence of quesLlons - comlng dlrecLly from Lhe sLrucLure.

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roducL 8elaLed roblem
oor producL quallLy
roblemaLlc producL mlx
lnadequaLe breadLh of producL llne
uepLh of producL llne
neLwork effecLs wlLh oLher producLs/ ComplemenLary producLs
Servlce 8elaLed roblem
oor servlce quallLy
Plgh cosL of servlce
1ralnlng Adequacy
Currlculum
lrequency of Lralnlng
uepLh and 8readLh
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ulsLrlbuLlon 8elaLed roblem
eneLraLlon (no. of sLores)
ercenL Shelf Space (no. of faclngs)
1rade Mlx (reLall segmenL LargeLlng - do cusLomer segmenLs buy from Lhese reLall ouLleLs)
Servlce Level (no. of days of sLock-ouL - ls Lhe producL avallable when cusLomer wanLs lL)
Lead 1lme
romoLlon 8elaLed roblem
lnadequaLe promoLlon
lmproper LargeLlng
lor decllnlng proflLs Lypes of cases, |t m|ght be worthwh||e to create an |ncome statement |n your m|nd
and ana|yze each |tem |n the |ncome statement one by one for anoma||es] recent changes.

8evenues
rlce
volume
CosLs
ulrecL MaLerlal
ulrecL Labor
Cverhead CosLs
CLher llxed CosLs
lnLeresL Lxpenses
We have Lhe framework requlred for solvlng Lhe proflLablllLy case. 8uL as l have already menLloned, lf
Lhe sequence of Lhe quesLlons LhaL you ask ls lncorrecL, you wlll sLlll look unsLrucLured and flshlng for
answers. Pence, ln Lhe nexL secLlon, we wlll see how Lhe sequence of quesLlons should be ln each of Lhe
phases.
uefine uestions
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1. WhaL ls Lhe magnlLude of loss/ proflL? Cver whaL revenue base?
2. 1rend? Slnce whaL Llme?
3. roducL Mlx CuesLlons
a. WhaL ls Lhe buslness model?
b. Share of 8evenue/ roflL/ Loss - across producLs
c. Same Lrend ln all producLs?
4. Ceographles of operaLlon - 8evenue/ roflL/ Loss spread across geographles
3. Channels - 8evenue/ roflL/ Loss spread across channels
6. CllenL Mlx
a. uomesLlc/ Abroad?
b. SegmenLaLlon?
c. rlce LlasLlclLy?
d. CusLomers of roducL vs. CusLomers of Servlce
e. Loslng old cusLomers or noL geLLlng new cusLomers
7. lndusLry wlde Lrend or company speclflc?
a. CompeLlLlve scenarlo and conLexL
b. Any recenL compeLlLlve acLlvlLy?
8. Sales force model/ lncenLlve schemes?
9. Cb[ecLlve of Lhe case? 1lme frame?
AlerL: Ask as many of Lhese quesLlons as you Lhlnk relevanL durlng Lhe deflne phase lLself. 1hls wlll help
you LlghLen Lhe problem deflnlLlon. 1o appear sLrucLured, ask all quesLlon relaLed Lo a parLlcular sub[ecL
aL one go. uo noL [ump beLween Loplcs. L.g. never ask one quesLlon on cllenL mlx, Lhen ask some
quesLlons on channels and Lhen agaln come back ask abouL cllenLs. 1hls would glve an lmpresslon LhaL
you are unsLrucLured. When you sLarL asklng quesLlons on cllenLs, flnlsh whaLever you can Lhlnk of ln
one go.
LeL us now wrlLe some equaLlons whlch wlll help us solve Lhe case:
roflLs = (rlce - varlable CosL)*volume - llxed CosL
volume = MarkeL Slze*MarkeL Share
roflL = opulaLlon * SegmenL * eneLraLlon * usage 8aLe * rlce * Margln
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now we have a LlghL problem deflnlLlon and lL's Llme Lo sLrucLure Lhe problem, whlch we have already
done. Show Lhe lnLervlewer Lhe sLrucLure and geL hls agreemenL.
4no/yte uestions
1. Ask wheLher Lo analyze Lhe cosL slde flrsL or Lhe revenue slde flrsL - never sLarL off analyzlng Lhe
wlLhouL asklng Lhls quesLlon Lo Lhe lnLervlewer. 1lme ls llmlLed and a wrong dlrecLlon ls
someLhlng you cerLalnly do noL wanL.
2. 8evenue Slde
a. Sources of 8evenue
b. 1rends
c. CompeLlLlve ConLexL
3. uecllnlng rlces
a. Why prlce reduced? CompeLlLlve acLlvlLy? LlasLlclLy of uemand?
b. roducL Cfferlng - low cosL player or dlfferenLlaLed player?
c. Pas Lhe producL mlx changed?
4. uecllnlng volume
a. Cverall markeL decllnlng or markeL share decllnlng?
b. Cverall MarkeL uecllnlng
l. lndusLry decllnlng or cycllcal Lrend?
ll. Chances of revlval?
lll. SubsLlLuLe producLs? 8aLe of subsLlLuLlon?
lv. C and Cu of subsLlLuLes - do a 4 analysls of our producL vs. Lhe subsLlLuLe
v. Change ln preferences?
vl. Lnd of llfecycle for Lhe producL?
c. MarkeL Share uecllnlng
l. WhaL ls Lhe currenL markeL share? MarkeL slze?
ll. 8aLe of decllne?
lll. roblem of percepLlon?
1. ercepLlon map, ldeal locaLlon, your locaLlon, compeLlLlon locaLlon
2. lCus Lo ldenLlfy aLLrlbuLes and raLlngs on aLLrlbuLes
3. Change percepLlon by promoLlon - change Lheme of adverLlsemenL
based on percepLlon map resulLs
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lv. M.S. = SCv*SCM* SCu
1. SCv = Share of volce/ AdverLlsemenL = [Ad. us/ Ad. (us+1hem)]
2. SCM = our brand percepLlon vs. compeLlLors = urchase lnLenslon
ercepLlons abouL 4s - roducL, rlce, lace and romoLlon.
8emember Lhls ls percepLlon and noL acLual producL aLLrlbuLes.
SCM = [(Ad. us/ulsLance)/(Ad.(us+1hem)/ulsLance)]
3. SCu = Sales force (us)/ Sales force (us+1hem)
3. lncreaslng CosLs
a. WhaL ls Lhe company's cosL sLrucLure?
b. ercenL llxed CosL vs. percenL varlable CosL?
c. 1rends?
d. Comparlson wlLh compeLlLors? 8enchmark?
e. erformance vs. 1argeL?
f. ApproprlaLeness of 1argeLs?
g. varlable CosLs - CCCS, 8M, Labor, Cverheads. llnd percenL composlLlon and prlorlLlze
h. CperaLlng CosLs - Sales and ulsLrlbuLlon, MarkeLlng, Ceneral and Admln, 8&u
l. lnLeresL cosLs - CuL worklng caplLal/ reflnance debL lf Lhls ls Lhe lssue
[. 8educe 8M CosLs - have made a separaLe framework for Lhls. lncluded laLer ln Lhls
casebook.
k. value Chaln - benchmark cosLs ln each parL of Lhe value chaln
l. llxed CosLs
l. Look aL CapaclLy uLlllzaLlon
ll. Look aL lncreaslng scale
lll. ls Lhe producL Loo complex because of whlch cosLs are hlgher (smaller
producLlon runs)
Possib/e 5o/utions:
1. ulfferenLlaLlon - command a prlce premlum by glvlng value added servlces. 1argeL a nlche
markeL
2. 8undllng of producLs and servlces (cross-selllng)
3. lncreaslng volume (lncrease usage)
4. rovlde complemenLary producLs (for cusLomer acqulslLlon)
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3. Seasonal Schemes (lf seasonallLy ln demand)
6. 8ulk ulscounLs - L.g. yearly membershlps
7. CuL rlce - lf *v goes up as a resulL of Lhls. uepends on Lhe elasLlclLy of demand.
8. ConsolldaLlon - for commodlLy producLs. ConsolldaLed players can charge a premlum ln a
commodlLy markeL. Channel becomes loyal Lo you and pushes your producL.
9. lncrease overall markeL slze
a. MarkeL = * l * 1 * A
Where = opulaLlon, l = lncldence, L.g. drlnk epsl when LhlrsLy/parLy/games eLc, 1 =
1lmes of purchase, A = AmounL of purchase every Llme
b. uo Lhlngs ln collaboraLlon wlLh lndusLry
c. Approach Lhe governmenL
d. Look aL new cusLomer segmenLs
e. new Ceographles
f. AlLernaLe uses of Lhe producL
g. More/ lncreased usage?

16

Case 1ype: keduce kaw Mater|a| Costs
8educe 8M cosLs Lhrough:
8eLLer sourclng/negoLlaLlon
Can you provlde someLhlng ln reLurn for a beLLer prlce
Lfflclency of uLlllzaLlon
lf efflclency ls lmproved, less 8M would be requlred and hence reduced cosLs
1lme of sourclng
CpporLunlsLlc buylng/ buylng when prlces are low
Scale of sourclng
LCC (Lconomlc Crder CuanLlLy)
8ackward-lnLegraLlon
SubsLlLuLlon
1ry a dlfferenL raw maLerlal
value Lnglneerlng
8eplace 8M 8 wlLh 8M A, when boLh A and 8 are belng ordered currenLly
lncrease scale by comblnlng A and 8
Suppller raLlonallzaLlon
SLandardlzaLlon of parLs
Currency hedglng
ln case sourclng done from more Lhan one counLry

17

Case 1ype: New Industry Ana|ys|s ] Investment Ana|ys|s] Market Lntry
AlerL: new lndusLry Analysls/ lnvesLmenL Analysls/ MarkeL LnLry cases are very slmllar and very
lmporLanL and commonly asked as well. l belleve LhaL lf you have masLered Lhe roflLablllLy cases and
Lhe new lndusLry Analysls cases, you should be able Lo solve any case uslng Lhe prlnclples used ln Lhese
Lypes of cases.
uefine uestions
1. MoLlvaLlon behlnd enLry?
a. Why lnLo new lndusLry?
b. Why lnLo Lhls parLlcular lndusLry?
c. AnyLhlng oLher Lhan proflLs a moLlvaLlon?
2. 1argeL for roflLablllLy? 1lmellnes?
a. CosL of CaplLal? 1argeL 8aLe of 8eLurn?
b. 1argeL markeL Share?
c. 1argeL 8evenues and 1argeL roflLs?
3. Any consLralnLs on lnvesLmenL and scope of Lhlnklng?
a. Levels of lnvesLmenL
b. Ceographles of lnLeresL
4. undersLand Lhe company, llne of buslnesses and Lhe exlsLlng buslness model
a. Wlll help from Lhe Synergles polnL of vlew
b. CorporaLe sLrucLure/ CrganlzaLlon SLrucLure
5tructure
1he sLrucLure for solvlng Lhe case has four parLs:
1. lndusLry ALLracLlveness
2. 8esources Lo succeed
3. Pow Lo bulld susLalnable compeLlLlve advanLage
4. Pow Lo enLer
We wlll see each of Lhem ln deLall now.
lndustry 4ttroctiveness
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1hls parL of Lhe sLrucLure Lrles Lo deLermlne how aLLracLlve Lhe lndusLry ls. SomeLlmes you may be asked
Lo evaluaLe/ compare more Lhan one opLlon. AL oLher Llmes, you mlghL be requlred Lo generaLe Lhe
opLlons and Lhe case openlng can be vague. ln such cases, Lhe besL opLlon ls Lo draw the va|ue cha|n
(w|th the he|p of the |nterv|ewer), and |dent|fy wh|ch part of the va|ue cha|n the company shou|d
enter. A shorL-llsLlng crlLerlon llke Lop declle of reLurn and boLLom declle of rlsk can be used. Whenever
you have Lo make a cholce, remember you need Lo develop a cholce rule or maLhemaLlcal meLrlc of
evaluaLlon. 1he cholce cannoL be made enLlrely based on quallLaLlve analysls and quanLlLaLlve meLrlcs
need Lo be developed ln order Lo exerclse Lhe cholce. 1he meLrlcs of evaluaLlon could be:
lnvesLmenL (upfronL, CALx, Change ln Worklng CaplLal)
8CCL / l88/ 8Cl/ ayback erlod
nv/ roflL
CpporLunlLy CosL of lnvesLmenL
8eal CpLlon
ro[ecLed Cash llows
1ermlnal value
8lsk
A besL case/ worsL case/ average case analysls can be performed lf requlred.
now leL us geL back Lo Lhe case sLrucLure. LvaluaLlng lndusLry ALLracLlveness has Lwo parLs:
1. Iundamenta| Attract|veness - wheLher Lhe lndusLry ls aLLracLlve for anyone Lo enLer or noL?
MarkeL Slze
MarkeL CrowLh raLe
rlclng ower (uemand Supply Cap, roflL Marglns)
CompeLlLlon (consolldaLed or fragmenLed, relaLlve slzes, pro[ecLed markeL share)
Crganlzed or unorganlzed
8egulaLlon
ConLrol over key resources (supply slde consLralnLs)
SubsLlLuLe Lo LargeLed producLs
8arrlers Lo LnLry
AmounL of lnvesLmenL
8lsk
19

2. ke|at|ve Compet|t|ve os|t|on|ng - wheLher lL ls proflLable for our cllenL Lo enLer Lhe lndusLry or
noL, conslderlng Lhe Synergles lL mlghL have wlLh exlsLlng buslnesses
8rand LqulLy
Lconomles of Scale
Supply Chaln/ ulsLrlbuLlon Synergles
MarkeL Share galns
aLenL/ roprleLary 1echnologles
8ased on Lhe above analysls, a graph can be drawn wlLh lundamenLal ALLracLlveness on ?-Axls and
8elaLlve CompeLlLlve oslLlon on Lhe x-Axls. All Lhe avallable opLlons can be ploLLed on Lhls graph and a
declslon can be Laken based on where Lhe polnLs lle.

AlerL:
SLraLeglc declslons are noL hard cholce declslons llke Cholce A or Cholce 8. lL ls deflnlLely noL one correcL
answer mulLlple cholce quesLlon. lL could also be
Cholce A followed by Cholce 8
20

Cholce A and Cholce 8 boLh
8ackward lnLegraLlon
AcLual declslon depends very much on your/ your cllenLs rlsk proflle

kesources to succeed
key resources LhaL need Lo conLrolled for success ln Lhls lndusLry:
1echnology (how Lo acqulre)
CosL leadershlp/ roducL dlfferenLlaLlon
P8/ 1alenL - CrganlzaLlon SLrucLure
lncenLlve SLrucLure
ulsLrlbuLlon neLwork
CaplLal (excess caplLal or debL/equlLy)
now to bui/d sustoinob/e competitive odvontoqe
WhaL sLraLegles need Lo be lmplemenLed Lo creaLe susLalnable compeLlLlve advanLage, by lmplemenLlng
lnlmlLable sLraLegles ln Lhe lndusLry you wanL Lo enLer? 1hls ls lmporLanL because your fundamenLal
aLLracLlveness analysls shows LhaL Lhls lndusLry ls proflLable and hence you wanL Lo enLer Lhe lndusLry.
Slmllar analysls can be performed by anyone else as well, and he may also declde Lo enLer. lf many
people enLer Lhe lndusLry, Lhe lndusLry may noL be proflLable. Pence, susLalnable compeLlLlve advanLage
needs Lo be creaLed.
CreaLe 8arrlers Lo LnLry/ LxlL
CreaLe CusLomer Lock-lns
now to enter
Crganlc CrowLh
!olnL venLure
Merger & AcqulslLlons
Llcense / lranchlse

21

Case 1ype: Mergers & Acqu|s|t|ons - how to pr|ce an acqu|s|t|on?
uefine uestions
1. ueclslon Laken or noL?
2. undersLand Lhe buslness model of Acqulrer and 1argeL
1o undersLand synergles
Ask whaL asseLs (Langlble and lnLanglble) Lhe LargeL flrm owns?
3. MoLlvaLlon of Lhe acqulslLlon?
5tructure
SLakeholders - Acqulrer Shareholders and 1argeL Shareholders
lL has Lo be declded durlng Lhe case LhaL wheLher Lhe LargeL shareholders would conLlnue Lo exlsL afLer
acqulslLlon or noL. 1he nexL [ob ls Lo evaluaLe Lhe Synergles, and how Lhe Synergles would be spllL
beLween Acqulrer Shareholders and 1argeL Shareholders.
Lv (LnLerprlse value) = MarkeL CaplLallzaLlon + MarkeL value of uebL - Cash
vo/uinq 5ynerqy:
1. CalculaLe standa|one va|ues of target [1a] and acqu|rer [1b]. use lCls dlscounLed by WACC
Lo geL Lhe value of Lhe flrm (valuaLlon done uslng lCl)
2. CalculaLe value of LargeL when opLlmally managed
3. CalculaLe va|ue of the comb|ned ent|ty, wlLh synergles accounLed for [Acqulrer + 1argeL]
5ynerqy = 3 - [1a+ab]
= Va|ue of "Acqu|rer + 1arget" taken together - Va|ue of "Acqu|rer + 1arget" taken separate|y
lf Lhere are Lwo acqulrers: A1 and A2
Synergy = value of A1 + 1" Laken LogeLher - [value of 1 + A1 (glven A2 acqulres 1) Laken separaLely]
Pere, calculaLe
SLandalone A1 (glven A2 acqulres 1)
SLandalone A2 (glven A1 acqulres 1)
22

1hls accounLs for Lhe opporLunlLy cosL of noL acqulrlng Lhe LargeL as well.
Price of 4cquisition = vo/ue of 1orqet + Percentoqe of 5ynerqy
5ources of 5ynerqy
kLVLNULS CCS1S DLkLCIA1ICN]
ASSL1S] kLGULA1ICN
NL1 WCkkING CAI1AL
rlce premlum
Cross selllng
8undllng
Lconomles of Scale
Lconomles of Scope
ManufacLurlng CP
Sales lorce
Channel
Warehouslng
Sourclng 1erms
AsseL WrlLe-up:
hence hlgher
depreclaLlon
1ax 8eneflLs
Synergles ln Cash
llow Cycle: can
comblne poslLlve
and negaLlve neL
Worklng CaplLal
companles Lo geL
opLlmum nWC

cosh vs. 5tock deo/ in M&4
lf sLock of Acqulrer ls over-valued use SLock
lf LxpecLed CosL of llnanclal ulsLress (LCClu) ls hlgh, Lhe debL flnanclng ls cosLller use SLock
lf Acqulrer ls very large and has excess Cash use Cash
lf Slze of Acqulrer ~ Slze of 1argeL, Lhen large LCClu use SLock
lf u/L raLlo of Acqulrer ls very hlgh use SLock

eck|ng Crder
1. 8eLalned
Larnlngs
2. uebL 3. SLock
23

Case 1ype: r|c|ng
uefine uestions
WhaL ls Lhe producL/servlce Lo be prlced? WhaL ls Lhe lndusLry?
Who are Lhe LargeL cusLomers? 1argeL MarkeL - 'geographles'?
ls lL an lnnovaLlve producL or are Lhere comparables ln Lhe markeL?
WhaL needs of Lhe LargeL markeL ls Lhls producL servlclng?
(ln case of no comparables) ln whaL way ls Lhe cusLomer servlclng Lhls need presenLly
(subsLlLuLe)?
5tructure

Analysls
24

rlce > vC (=uM+uL+vCP)
lor a glven break-even perlod, calculaLe Lhe roflL (or nv of roflL) dlscounLed based on WACC.
PlghesL rlce LhaL can be charged depends on wheLher Lhe prlclng ls Comparable based or value based:
a) Comparable based:
(l) LxlsLlng producL wlLh slmllar feaLures - MarkeL rlce charged or ask for markup over cosL of
manufacLurlng
(ll) LxlsLlng producL wlLh superlor feaLures - MarkeL rlce of Lhe exlsLlng producL + value of Lhe
addlLlonal feaLure Lo Lhe LargeL cusLomer
(lll) LxlsLlng slmllar producL does noL exlsL, buL alLernaLlve/subsLlLuLe exlsLs for Lhe producL. ln such a
case, prlclng should be done such LhaL - nv Lo cusLomer for Lhe subsLlLuLe = nv for Lhe producL
b) value 8ased:
(l) value Lo cusLomer - wlll be funcLlon of
- 1argeL CusLomer's ockeL Slze (lncome levels)
- CpporLunlLy cosL of noL geLLlng Lhls servlce
- AsplraLlon value Compare asplraLlon value of slmllar producLs (L.g. - Monallsa palnLlng)

23

Case 1ype: D|vest|ture
"8us|nesses needs to d|vest e|ther due to a wrong acqu|s|t|on, or due to externa| changes |n the
market, or |f the product]serv|ce be|ng so|d does not make sense"
uefine uestions
WhaL ls Lhe producL/servlce LhaL Lhe cllenL wanLs Lo dlvesL from? ls lL hlgh/low margln buslness?
Slnce when are Lhey ln Lhls buslness? Was lL organlcally developed or acqulred? Cr ls lL a !v?
Why does Lhe company wanL Lo dlvesL from Lhls buslness?
ls lL based ouL of any meLrlcs, such as 8Cl, 8CA, and roflL Margln?
lf yes, whaL has been Lhe Lrend of Lhls meLrlc/proflLablllLy for Lhe company?
ls Lhe markeL shrlnklng?
Who are hls key cusLomers for Lhls producL?
Who are Lhe maln compeLlLors? WhaL ls Lhe company's sLandlng ln Lhls compeLlLlve landscape?
Pas someLhlng changed ln Lhe buslness landscape? 1echnology? CovernmenL 8egulaLlons?
5tructure {More qeneric, shou/d be customited bosed on the onswers to the definition questions)
1he cause for dlvesLlng can be
Lack of roflLablllLy
need for CaplLal
ldenLlflcaLlon and hence geLLlng rld of Lhe non sLraLeglc unlL
8ased, on Lhe reason ldenLlfled do a cosL beneflL analysls of Lhe dlvesLlLure
rocess of ulvesLlLure:
oLenLlal 8uyers
valuaLlon of Lhe company
8eservaLlon prlce
8lsk Analysls:
Loss of sLraLeglc buslness enLlLy
Loss ln Lconomles of Scale / Scope
Change ln CosL sLrucLure
26

Loss of verLlcal lnLegraLlon
Long Lerm growLh belng sold ouL

4no/ysis
Why are you dlvesLlng?
a) lf due Lo decllnlng erformance:
roflLablllLy analysls: As-ls vs. wlLhouL Lhe dlvesLed unlL
b) lf for caplLal ralslng:
Analyze lf Lhe reLurns from Lhe new lnvesLmenLs made wlLh Lhe caplLal glves a hlgher reLurn
when compared Lo Lhe presenL scenarlo
c) lf selllng off a non-sLraLeglc buslness unlL:
CosL lncurred presenLly vs CosL from ouLsourced operaLlons

27

Case 1ype: Log|st|cs & Supp|y Cha|n
L8C lramework
: roducL and value Chaln
roducL SLraLegy
roducL Mlx
MulLl-producL SLraLegy (dlfferenL producLs, may requlre dlfferenL supply chalns)
uraw Lhe Supply Chaln
8everse supply chaln may also exlsL, Check!
Suppller
CuallLy
lnvenLory Levels
Labor CuallLy
Make vs. 8uy
ulsLrlbuLor
Lxcluslve dlsLrlbuLor vs. mulLl-brand dlsLrlbuLor
ulsLrlbuLor marglns
CusLomer
CusLomer Servlce Levels
L: Lconomlc lnLegraLlon Lo Supply Chaln
CusLomer Lconomlc roflle
Lconomlc condlLlons and regulaLlons where Lhe company operaLes
ollLlcal 8lsk/ SLablllLy/ ApproprlaLlon 8lsks
8: 8esource ManagemenL
8M Sourclng
CosL
AvallablllLy
Lase of procuremenL
llL Lo Lhe manufacLurlng process
28

1ransporLaLlon
Lead 1lmes
varlablllLy ln lead Llmes
CosL
lnformaLlon 1echnology
L8
SCM
C8M
Puman 8esources
Sklll Levels
1ralnlng
lncenLlves
ALLrlLlon
Worklng CaplLal
Loan/ uebL
LqulLy
C: ConnecLlng 1echnologles
l1 / LoglsLlcs lnlLlaLlves
ldenLlfy Lhe purpose of Lhe lnlLlaLlves
8educe CosL
lncrease brand awareness
CperaLlonal Lfflclency
Servlce lmprovemenL for cusLomers
lmproved forecasLlng/ plannlng
lnvenLory/Warehouse ManagemenL/ Crder 1racklng
lf any of Lhese ls noL geLLlng done, Lhen Lhe lnlLlaLlve ls [usL addlng cosL

29

Genera| rob|em Ident|f|cat|on Case

P?C1PLSlS
Make an exhausLlve llsL of problems
8CuuC1 = roducL + Servlces
use 4 's Lo formulaLe hypoLhesls
Conslder Lhe Sub[ecL ln Lhe case as Lhe producL - L.g. Church could be a producL
1LS1 P?C1PLSlS
CollecL daLa
rlmary uaLa
Secondary uaLa
ldenLlfy Lop causes - areLo Analysls
SelecLed samples musL be represenLaLlve and sLaLlsLlcally slgnlflcanL
AC1lCn LAn
Analyze Lop causes and formulaLe acLlon plans

30

Case 1ype: Market S|ze Lst|mat|on
ldenLlfy Lhe drlvers for growLh ln Lhe markeL - ldenLlfy sub-segmenLs lnLo whlch Lhe problem
can be LreaLed as a separaLe problem. L.g. MarkeL Slze for CemenL - ldenLlfy uses of cemenL,
Cfflce, 8esldenLlal, lnfrasLrucLure eLc.
lor each sub-segmenL, ldenLlfy Lhe drlvers of growLh once agaln. L.g. ln Lhe CemenL case, for
Cfflces, Lhe drlver of growLh could be Cu. Also, Lry Lo ldenLlfy Lhe fundamenLal drlvers and also
Lhlngs for whlch daLa ls readlly avallable. A drlver for whlch daLa ls noL avallable ls of pracLlcally
no use.
Always choose approprlaLe varlables. L.g. Square leeL of consLrucLlon for Lhe CemenL case.
Wherever posslble, wrlLe an equaLlon for Lhe problem and aLLack each parameLer one by one.

31

Case 1ype: kevenue Stream Ident|f|cat|on
1he followlng 2 x 2 maLrlx could be useful:

32

Case 1ype: Infrastructure] Land Va|uat|on
Cpt|ons Customer
8ase
Compet|t|on Locat|on]
Infrastructure
Connect|v|ty
Costs Lxpected
kevenues
kCI Lxpected
Cha||enges
1
2
3
4
S

33

Case Lxper|ences
34

Contributors
1. Accenture
a) Jasmeet Singh Marwah
b) Shweta Tiwari
c) Abhishek Gupta
d) Abhishek Bhatia
e) Vinayaka Padmanabha

2. Arthur D Little
a) Samrat Bose

3. AT Kearney
a) Abhineet Sawa
b) Sudipta Ray
c) Barathi S
d) Akash Jain

4. Booz and Co.
a) Somesh Satnalika

5. Boston Consulting Group
a) Pallavi Malani
b) Deepak Deshmukh
c) Siddharth Negandhi
d) Parag Dhanuka
e) Mouneesh Sinha

6. Deloitte
a) Rakesh Ranjan
b) Apoorv Gautam
c) Deepshikha Ganjoo
d) Laxmikant Vyas
e) Chitra Unnikrishnan

7. Diamond Consultants
a) Rakesh Ranjan
b) Vivek Arora

8. Feedback Ventures
a) Puneet Kataria
b) Anant Tripathi
c) Nitin Vishwas

9. Global eProcure
a) Anshu Vazirani
33

b) Mohit Gupta
c) Zorawar Singh
d) Abhishek Narayan Singh
e) Sarvagya Sharma

10. McKinsey and Co.
a) Ankur Vaish
b) Suyog Kalyanji Kotecha
c) Kirti Varun Avarasala
d) Vivek Arora
e) Gaurav Punia
f) Aditya Pradip Kulkarni
g) Saurabh Vashishtha
h) Maninder Gulati

11. Parthenon Group
a) Anip Sharma

12. ZS Associates
a) Gautam Pande
b) Srinivas Sainaga Chilukuri
c) Rohit Bhagwat
d) Vinit Garg
e) Megha Khatri
f) Nitya Thandavan

36

Accenture

37

Name Jasmeet Marwah
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Mithul
Round and Interview
Number
(first/second/third)
1
Personal Interview
Questions
Why Consulting? Which other companies interviewing with? Why
Accenture?
Case question The company has implemented a demand forecasting system and
improved the forecast accuracy significantly, what operational processes
will be affected, which process metrics will improve and what will be the
financial impact?
Case Type General
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Basically, I had applied to the supply chain position and had done
demand planning at my previous job.
This case was more of discussion. We identified several planning
processes in the company (inventory planning, transportation planning,
facility planning) and discussed how each of them would be affected. We
talked about the differences in sales and marketing forecasts. We talked
about promotions and cannibalization. We then shifted our discussion to
how marketing in U.S. uses AC Nielsen.
Then we discussed the process metrics like no. of stock outs. I started
talking about costs but then he said that would be financial impact. I
couldnt come up with many metrics.
For the financial part, I wrote the formula for free cash flow and then
discussed how each component will be affected.
What do you think
went right for you in
the interview?
I had a good connect throughout with the interviewer. I honestly told him
which my top target companies were, also gave him the reasons. He
seemed very convinced.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
This case was based on the work I had done before. I was not very
thoroughly prepared. I took time to understand what he wanted from the
case. We had this interview on the AC lawns, where he gave me the
case and went on a walk. I called him after 2 minutes and then started
discussing in detail.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be thorough with what work you have done before
Know why consulting and in case you have several shortlists, be
prepared to answer what your target companies are and why?
Outcome Moved on to the next round

38

Name Jasmeet Marwah
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Amit Kumar
Round and Interview
Number
2
Personal Interview
Questions
This was a PI round.
Again similar questions tell me about yourself, talk about your previous
work experience, what skills you bring
We discussed what happens when a firm acquires another (talked about
realizing synergies)
Case question No Case
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
No Case
What do you think
the interview?
This was a telephonic interview. I was very confident.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Next round

39

Name Jasmeet Marwah
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
HR round
Round and Interview
Number
3
Personal Interview
Questions
An exhaustive PI round
Asked me instances of leadership, conflict with the client
Something beyond your resume
How will your previous manager describe you (your strengths and where
you need to improve)
Why Accenture?
It lasted for about 45 minutes and another person was noting down
something (dont know what)
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
No Case
What do you think
the interview?
This was an exhaustive PI round and I was well prepared for standard
questions.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Made an offer

40

Name Shweta Tiwari
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Amit
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
2 mins of general introduction asking about my previous experience.
Case question 1. A bank of Australia is planning to enter the Indian market. Assess the
opportunity
2. Assess the opportunity of Bank A acquiring Bank B in US.
3. Sales of a retail store is going down, provide a strategy to boost sales.
Case Type 1.Market Entry
2. M&A
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
1. It was a direct case of market entry. I analyzed the Indian Banking
industry in terms of its attractiveness to enter. We then discussed about
the existing banks and the products it was offering. The discussion
further went ahead with how to enter the Indian market- organic,
inorganic ways.
2. Assess the opportunity of Bank A acquiring Bank B in US.
3. Sales of a retail store is going down, provide a strategy to boost sales.
What do you think
the interview?
I was able to apply my experience in the Financial Services domain to
discuss few key essential things which he brought up during the case.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be Composed & Confident.
Outcome Next Round

41

Name Shweta Tiwari
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Dont remember the name
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
40 mins HR interview Questions about my previous experience at
work.
Why consulting?
How would you manage the travelling part in the job?
Why Accenture?
Case question No
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be Composed & Confident
Outcome Offer made

42

Name Abhishek Gupta
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Shantanu (dont) remember the last name
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
The regular questions Why consulting, Why this firm, Why you, Prior
Work Experience
Case question Process
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
A new business is being set up for collecting car insurance data from
different companies focused on accident claim history and no-claim
bonus. The agency with collect the history data, validate it, and sell it to
other insurance companies who will decide to transfer the no claim
bonus benefit to the insured party based on their performance with the
old insurance company.
What is the key issue in this business model
What do you think
the interview?
I understood the business model quickly.
I drew the process on a sheet of paper and got the buy in.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
The main issue with the business model in this case was data quality. I
did not understand the significance of the word PSU in the Insurance
company context and relate it to bad data quality. I got there, but I think
it took a little bit more time than expected.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Listen keenly to every word that is said. It is said for a reason.
Outcome Qualified for next round (which was an HR round) and then final Partner
round. Both these rounds were PI questions and I was ultimately given
the offer.

43

Name ABHISHEK BHATIA

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Mitul Shah
Round and Interview
Number
First, First
Personal Interview
Questions
A detailed description about Accenture and what do they do and the various
consulting verticals. The Perennial debate about Accenture being much more
implementation driven than other consulting firms. Mitul gave his viewpoint of
how that was actually not the case but Accenture definitely did projects which
were of much longer duration and hence always had a strong implementation
flavor to them. Then he asked me a bit about my background and told a bit
about himself. Some pointed questions on my other interviews on Day1 and
why I was not able to crack the McKinsey interview. This was hence a very
short introduction and the main emphasis had to be on the case.

Case question Not a regular Case
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Mitul didnt seem to be in mood of a regular case. He asked me about the
upcoming budget proposals and since he was involved in the Logistics which
would affect the industry. He asked me to think for a minute and tell the three
key announcements which could happen in the budget which will affect the
industry. Then he asked me about three key industry trends that would define
the industry in the next decade I harped about the Infrastructure building
spree that needs to be matched with China to ensure that GDP growth is
maintained, the movement of freight mix from road to rail and the retail
revolution which will again spur demand for freight.

What do you think
the interview?
Detailed knowledge of the sector
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Cleared Round 1

44


Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Amit Kumar
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
A detailed description of the GTIN process at Accenture and why they recruit
from ISB for this vertical. I think the idea was to tell that ISBians have done well
in Accenture and put me a little at ease.
Case question Logistics Scenario Analysis
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Amits case question was fairly straight forward. He wanted me to design a
warehousing and logistics system for a typical FMCG firm (given my P&G and
Reckitt background) in a scenario of GST reforms, as are being planned by the
government to happen in the recent future. The idea was to compare the
current freight costs, inventory holdings and the location of the warehouses and
logistics strategy in case Central Sales Tax reduces from 3% to 2% then to 1%
and finally complete elimination of CST from the Indian taxation system. I
structured the problem well dividing it into sub-parts on all possible firm
metrics that would be affected due to the same including free cash etc. and was
able to compare the current situation to the new one with reduced tax liability.
The idea here is to think through the problem like a simple transportation
problem where the tax acts like a constraint on the cost elements of the matrix
and hence affects the optimal decision.
What do you think
the interview?
Structuring a problem vast in scope and impact
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Cleared Round 2

43


Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Accenture
Name of the
interviewer
Two Partners (dont remember the names now)
Round and Interview
Number
Third
Personal Interview
Questions
This was the final interview which was a classical example of the airplane test
that consulting firms have. Was not quizzed on any case here, it was a purely
discussion driven, behavioral and general sector knowledge interview the
ability to carry out an intelligent conversation with a partner long enough to
impress him. We discussed a variety of things like why attrition in P&G is very
low, why I left P&G, how would leadership differ in P&G and in Accenture. He
asked me a mini case of me leading a project team and the work getting
delayed beyond measure how would you deal with the situation and the client

The interviewers were extremely chilled out. All in all, the key thing was me
being cool. Stay cool and confident. Engage with the partners in any discussion
and steer it to topics which you are comfortable with.

Case question None
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Got an offer

46

Name Vinayak Nandalike
Interviewing with (consulting
firm)
Accenture
Name of the interviewer Himanshu Tambe and Vaibhav
Round and Interview Number
First
Personal Interview Questions - Expand on career highlights
- Specific details of your role in product development for
emerging markets
- Details of international work experience
- Since I have done product development in automotive
electronics for considerable part of my career, will I be able to
cope with assignments in non- automotive sectors, such as
telecom, healthcare, etc
- Talk about your extracurricular activities
- Talk about two defining moments in life which have made you
what you are today
- Two positives and two negatives which your family, peers and
superiors see in you. What steps have you taken to improve on
it?
Name of the interviewer Saurabh Bhatnagar
Second
Personal Interview Questions - Tools used for product life cycle management
- Career progress
- How much did you score in DMOP?
- What is your CGPA?
Name of the interviewer Amit Kumar
Third
Personal Interview Questions - Career progress
- Will you be able to cope with assignments in non- automotive
sectors, such as telecom, healthcare, etc
- Talk about your extracurricular activities
- Are you willing to relocate to Gurgaon?
- Salary expectation
Case question None
Case Type -
Narration of the case, as
descriptively as possible
-
What do you think went right
for you in the interview?
- Work experience
- Relevance of work experience for the job description
What do you think went wrong
in this interview
-
Any tips for the future batch -
Outcome Offered the role of senior consultant
47

Arthur D Little

48

Name Samrat Bose
Interviewing with (consulting
firm)
ADL
Name of the interviewer 1. Consultant from DOHA
2. Manager from Singapore
3. Principal from Dubai Mr.Janardan
4. Partner travelling from Bahrain to Doha
4 persons, 4 rounds, 4 days
Personal Interview Questions 1. Why consultancy? 2. Why ADL 3. Long term plans
2. The asked a number of brain teasers which are short -
shouldnt take more than 3-4 minutes
Case question 1. Telecom company wants to reduce the processing time of
applications
2. Farmer grows oranges assuming lot of money in the market.
Herd mentality makes everyone think the same, so everyone
grows oranges. What happens then? How to tackle the
problem?
3. How to find the Appraisal points of a Pilot KPAs to be more
precise
4. How to go about finding the right country to sell Islamic
Insurance
Case Type
Ground rules: 1. Its a telecom so they are not checking your paper
2. Too much of silence is dangerous, u have to engage them all the
time.3 Be very clear with your pronunciation, diction voice modulations
as he is not seeing u gesticulate. Be loud.
Case 1: This was a typical ops case. A few pokes made me realize this
is a local company, a govt body, is suffering from loss of customers due
to long time of processing leading to frustration. The guy kept repeating
the fact that most of the application did not need any house survey by
the officers but still they used to continue with the process (This was a
hint). Poke him more he will give u the entire process flow: 1. Receive
2. Documentation 3. Survey 4. Permission 5. Fee collection 6. Approval
7. Installation. Poke him more he will come out with the time on each
process. It was found points1, 2, 5, 6 dint take much time. 3, 4, 7 were
the time consumers. 4, 7 nothing could be done. Zeroed on 3. Final
solution: make categories of applications basis survey requirement. A:
Needs survey as it is close to bridges, lakes, rivers etc. B: does not
require survey as it is in plain lands. Find indicators to sort out such
applications 1. Maps 2. Customer questionnaire 3. Experience from old
customers

Case 2: Typical micro-eco case. Supply overpowers demand. Prices
will fall, profits will go down. Hell will let loose upon the farmers.
Solution: 1. Store it to sell in future = So then think of storage cost + lost
of quality + Loss of moisture in the fruit 2. Any sort of value addition
possible = 1. Pulp 2. Ketchup 3. Juices & Squash etc

Case3: That was an easy one, I know u ppl will crack it
Case 4: I messed up with this case. Asked the preliminary questions
49

on the current company ops, why they wanted to expand, and particular
revenues targets etc. I dint lay out a structure as such and came out
with random variables 1. Size, demo, populations of Islam, income
slabs, requirement etc. Missed out on a very big point and that was govt
regulations which was declared to me in the end.

What do you think went right
for you in the interview?
1. Rapport 2. Picked up the hints well 3. Was honest if I got stuck
4. Dint maintain long silence over the phone
What do you think went wrong
in this interview
1. Messed up the brain teasers because I was pretty much caught
unawares most of the time. The last rounds brain teaser was
made to be mailed to me to the partner, and it had to be done on
10 minutes!!
Any tips for the future batch
based in this interview
ADL needs separate and an early preparation than the rest as the
rounds start early than the actual placements
Outcome Got the Job
30

AT Kearney

31

Name Abhineet Sawa
Company AT Kearney
Interviewer Abhishek Poddar
My State 6:00pm, My 10
th
interview (first at ATK) I arrived 6 hours late.
Parthenon & Diamond had turned down my request to attend the 2
nd
round of
interview because I was late. ATK & Deloitte were the only other options left for
my day 1.
I had little hopes from McKinsey & BCG had said that they will get back to me
ATK interviewers were already packing for their flights back. Interview co-
coordinator said that all offers have been made and they may not consider me
now. Somehow they agreed to initiate my process.
PI Tell me about yourself: The usual stuff
Why were you so late? How many interviews have you attended? What other
companies did you interview with?
Case Type: Market Sizing / Demand Estimation
Estimate the size of car Head lights market in India
Me:
Mkt Size = Avg. price X # bulbs
# bulbs has 2 drivers (#1) new cars (#2) replacements due to age of the
bulb
Interviewer:
You forgot one more driver (#3) replacement for bulbs damaged in
accidents, which is a big driver

Rest of the case was simple. Overall it was a reasonable solution to a simple
problem
Post Case
PI
Done in 15 mins. Asked to wait for the second round
Pls Note N.a.

32

Name Abhineet Sawa
Company AT Kearney
Interviewer Mohit Rana
th
interview, 2
nd
interview @ ATK
PI Tell me about yourself: I started with my points. I kept rambling for 1:30 mins
when the interviewer interrupted and asked let us get on with the case
(1)

(They did not want to miss their dinner back home with Family I guess)
Case Type: Market Sizing again
Estimate the market size of post-its in India
Me:
Mkt Size = Avg. price X # post its
I used a bottom up approach.
Use the population and estimate the # of post its each person uses.
Consumption buckets: (a) office use (b) household usage
(b) is too small so focus only on (a)
Post-it consumption varies by
1. Income
2. Industry type
3. Age of person (post it being a relatively new concept may be highly
used by young)
Interviewer looked satisfied with the solution
Post Case
PI
What other companies are on your radar? What is the preference order?
I was not sure of results from other companies. So I clearly indicated that
companies X & Y are still not closed; I rank them above ATK
(2)

I got hints that I may get an offer at ATK. As soon as I got out of the interview, I
requested my wife to check results with other companies.

Pls Note 1. If it is an interview late in the day keep answers short & meaty (especially
if the interviewers have a flight to catch)
2. Be frank and honest.

33

Name Abhineet Sawa
Company AT Kearney
Interviewer Mohit Rana & Vikas Kaushal
th
interview, 3
rd
interview @ ATK
PI Tell me about yourself: I started with my points. ?
Asked about my role at Inductis?
How much client relationship did you handle?
While the interview started with Mohit alone, Vikas walked in to observe the interview after 10
minutes. This was a strong signal to me that I may get an offer.
What was the level of clients whom you interacted with?
I said middle management almost twice a day, few CXOs and on rare occasions
to the CEO.
(Interviewers showed particular strong interest in this question)
What other companies are you interviewing with?
What is your preference order?
I was asked to wait outside. This is when I checked with my wife who said that
other companies have dinged me.
There was one short discussion with Vikas where he made me the offer which I
accepted.
Pls Note Following is a summary of my experience from day 1.
1. Day 1 is extremely crunched if you have multiple shortlists and the
process will not allow you to attend all interviews. Companies delay
interviews. Sometimes companies have 2 first round interviews when
CAS has scheduled only one interview for you. If you have back to back
interviews, you will surely miss 3-4 interviews. I had 8 1
st
round interviews
scheduled before 4pm, of which I got delayed for 4 & missed 2.
2. Prioritize among companies based on 2 things (a) how much you like a
company (b) What is your chance of getting through. In a more geeky
terminology look at the expected value instead of focusing on the payoff
alone. Everyone does a but b is tough to do and must be done on the
fly on the date of interview. b is dependent on how (i) how well you did in
the interview, (ii) has a company given some hints that they are interested
in you (iii) how much is the competition for that job. I realized this only
after half the day had passed.

34

Name Sudipta Ray
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
AT Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Abhishek Poddar, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
Interview #1
Personal Interview
Questions

Case question Case 1 A metal mining company has 3 divisions Mining, Smelting &
slab/wire manufacturing. Analyze why the profits are decreasing and
what has to be done to reverse this trend.
Case 2 Estimating market Size of Post-its in India
Case Type Case 1 Profitability Analysis
Case 2 Market Estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Case 1 Profits were decreasing due to the rising cost in one division.
Used concepts of capital expense Vs Operating expense for the division.
Do not remember the factual details of the case.
Case 2 Estimated based on first principle of user x uses x usage.
Also, how to conduct a market survey and design a representative
sample.
What do you think
the interview?
Was the first interview with ATK and the interview started with general
conversation on ISB experience which further helped in solving the case
in an easy and conversational style.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Was my first interview for the day, and I was probably a bit excited.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be relaxed and be yourself, especially when it is the first one with the
firm. It sets the stage for you and is very critical for future rounds.
Outcome Next Round

33

Name Sudipta Ray
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
AT Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Himanshu Bajaj, Manager
Round and Interview
Number
Interview #2
Personal Interview
Questions
We discussed about my previous experience in the FMCG.
Case question A renewable energy firm is primarily into solar energy and they want to
enter India in the Wind energy space.
Case Type Market Entry
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
We discussed about the following heads:
- Existing Market Analysis in India- Market size (in this case driven
by total demand), growth, Competitive Landscape etc
- Our Firms key competencies, sustainability etc
The discussion quickly moved onto market demand Existing & growth
rate and corresponding growth in supply. The demand v/s supply trends
showed a feasibility of entry in the third year. Thereafter, we discussed
some other points on what the firm should do in such a situation.
What do you think
the interview?
The structure was laid out well and we could come to the demand/supply
part without much delay
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Always discuss the case facts/assumptions/understanding with the
interviewer in details; The interviewer helps a lot to reach the solution he
is looking for
Outcome Next Round

36

Name Sudipta Ray
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A.T. Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Vikas Kaushal, Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Interview #3
Personal Interview
Questions
I was questioned on my key takeaways from ISB.
Also, he questioned me on my average GPA
Case question Estimate the demand of Natural gas in India
Case Type Market Size Estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
We divided the total demand between Domestic and Industrial.
Thereafter estimated each sub category based on usage rates/ sales of
natural gas driven ancillaries
What do you think
the interview?
The interaction before the case question came up was very good and it
helped set the stage for a good discussion during the case as well.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
--
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Try and build connect with the interviewer especially during the PI. It
helps in making the entire interview more conversational
Outcome Next Round

37

Name Sudipta Ray
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
AT Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Manish Mathur, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
Interview #4
Personal Interview
Questions

Case question Estimate the number of headlights manufactured in US annually
Case Type Market Size Estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Analysis was broken down between number of headlights sold to first
hand cars and the number of replacements made annually. The latter
figure was further analyzed based on :
- number of road accidents that happen
- % of head on collisions v/s sidewise collision

Also discussed possible data sources for this analysis.

What do you think
the interview?
The discussion was very interactive. Most rationales and assumption
were discussed and I think Manish guided me very well to the final
solution.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I think Manish guided me at several points during the case especially
with the rationales.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
It might not always be great to seek a lot of help from the interviewer.
State your assumptions clearly and the interviewer will correct you in
case he feels you are going over-board with the assumptions
Outcome Next Round

38

Name Barathi Srinivasan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A.T. Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Himanshu Bajaj, Manager
Round /Interview
Number
1
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me about yourself
Case question Biscuit manufacturer- higher costs vs. competition
Case Type Profitability/ Costs
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Himanshu: Theres a biscuit manufacturer in India with a cost
disadvantage
Me: Asked questions to understand more about the company. How
many centers/ factories there were and if there was a cost issue in all of
them or just one. He said its common across the board. I asked the unit
of measurement- it was 100gm of biscuits. I then went on to break the
costs down into Fixed and Variable Costs as follows:
Variable Costs:
Material: Flour/ Sugar/ Other
Labor: Labor Rate * Hrs/ 100gm (Productivity * Wage Rate)
Variable Overheads
Fixed Costs: Rent/ SG&A/ Utilities/ Depreciation et al.
He said it came to $6/ unit including fixed costs and variable costs but
competitors had $4/ unit. I then went on to understand the product a little
more and if we produced the same type of biscuits as the competitor.
He said we produced glucose biscuits (commoditized market) and
premium-quality biscuits. Glucose biscuits costed 4.5/ unit and premium
biscuits costed 6.5/ unit. At this point, I asked some more questions and
learned that this firm produced a higher share of premium biscuits and
charged 6/ unit for glucose and 7.5/ unit for premium biscuits.

I analyzed the numbers quickly to say that more than 50% of the
production were premium biscuits, given that the average was 6- closer
to the 6.5 than to the 4.5 unit cost.
Summarizing inferences thus far I said that two issues, before we go
forward seem to be The 4/ unit and 6/ unit comparison were not
apples to apples, since the products and corresponding prices
charged were different
The glucose biscuit itself is produced at 4.5/ unit vs. competitors 4/
unit which I said I would investigate in detail now

We went into the details of Fixed and variable costs again
VC: flour (material) costs were higher because the flour cost and
packaging cost was higher. I also checked off the possibility of any
additional flavors et al used that could cause an increase in material
costs.
FC: Factory related fixed costs i.e. depreciation and lease expenses
were higher

39

I then summarized all three aspects of the case and wrapped it up.
What do you think
the interview?
Laid out an all comprehensive structure upfront. That made the
interviewer comfortable that I would cover all points ultimately. Was very
relaxed and comfortable- and picked up hints all the way- I think that
was very useful.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Not much
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
As everyone would probably say, keep your structure as MECE as
possible. Feel comfortable and go over each point step by step!
Outcome Shortlisted for Round 2
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A.T. Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Abhishek Poddar, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
2
Personal Interview
Questions
None. Had had a long, good conversation during the ATK Dinner for
shortlisted candidates
Case question Mines- costs case
Case Type Profitability/ Costs
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Abhishek: the client is a metal mining company that mines ores, smelts
and refines it and draws wires out of it. 3
rd
player in the market with 10%
market share. Not doing well for over 40 years but last 1.5 years profits
seem up because of an increase in price from international market tariff
rates.
Me: We need to look over why the company has not been doing well in
the past first and then analyze the impact of the prices on the profit
improvement and if the company has done anything to improve profits
other than the price rise.

Through discussion we figured the company had not done anything to
change the way it operated. So clearly, the price was the only temporary
savior and we needed to look more closely at the costs.

I used the profitability framework through understanding the value chain.
Asked about the end product, if it was differentiated (no!) and the
customers (auto/ industrial manufacturers/ construction industries et al)

I laid out the cost structure labor/ productivity/ labor rates, materials
issues- quality of materials, wastage, bargaining power and hence rates
with suppliers, fuel costs- unit costs, sourcing, quality of fuel, efficiency/
utilization. I then went over to the fixed costs: rents/ equipment/
depreciation/ SG&A/ logistics and supply chain costs. The one thing I
thought I mentioned (from my previous interview) but didnt is the
SCALE of operation.
What do you think
Laid out an all comprehensive structure upfront save one point (that I
thought Id mentioned, since it came up in the previous interview). I had
60

the interview? an amazingly good connect with the interviewer, stemming from striking
a rapport during the dinner
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Make sure you start on a clean slate, after your previous interview. One
thing I did-like stated above- was to think I mentioned scale, as I had
gone over it in my previous interview moments ago. Fortunately, I told
the interviewer that very honestly and he saw the point!
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Leverage the dinner and every interaction point with the company to
build a rapport and understand more about the firm- and demonstrate
your fit for it

61

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A.T. Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Vikas Kaushal, Partner and Vice President
Round and Interview
Number
3
Personal Interview
Questions
1. Tell me about yourself. 2. Why is your GPA what it is (!) 3. What
drives you 4. About my musical background and interest, the band in
undergrad that I had started et al. in short, a quick snapshot of my
story thus far!
Case question Supply Chain Streamlining
Case Type Operations/ costs
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Vikas: TV Manufacturer with an inefficient supply chain- come to us for
advice

Me: Had a first moment of panic since I have had NOTHING to do with
supply chain management, be it at work or through coursework. So,
started off with first principles and tried to work with the interviewer to
understand the mechanics. Started off with asking the following
questions:
What inefficient meant- quantified as costs of supply chain
process
About the TV manufacturer: type of products (generic product)
About the firms market position: market leader (15-20 years)
I laid out the supply chain; suppliers through to firm to distributors. At
this point, Vikas asked me to focus on the dealer/ distributor side. I
asked about the dealers: own retail stores/ local dealers and was told
that it was local dealers. I started asking about the dealer margins et al
(yikes) when Vikas told me to take a minute and grab a drink of coffee
before proceeding! . Thank God for that.
I then went back and said I wanted to look at where the end
customers where (all over India, uniform distribution), where the current
distribution centers were (Chennai, Pune, Nasik and Delhi). I also broke
down the costs into (i) transportation (ii) shipment (iii) packaging et al.
At this point, I drew a quadrant and said that there was a mismatch
with 2 centers in the west, none in the east and one up north and one
down south, indicating that wed be spending more than required on the
distances covered.
I then went into the modes of transportation- (i) road (ii) rail (iii) air (iv)
ship , explaining the pros and cons of each and further broke down the
costs into sort-of variable and fixed, once Vikas asked me to focus on
the road route.
Fixed: Equipment Own/ Rental (in which case a lease rent would be
paid)
Fuel costs/ equipment (depending on how the company charged
these costs)
Variable Costs- Packaging costs (LCD TVs would require more
62

packaging than normal TVs- so I wanted to rule out the possibility of
disproportionate allocation)

Zeroing on the equipment costs, per Vikas hint, I broke down the costs
into loading/ unloading/ on-the-move (fuel: quality, mileage, efficiency)/
storage costs, especially given the distances involved. I also asked
about the size of the trucks. Clearly bigger trucks were used with less
utilization and that clinched the close of the case.
What do you think
the interview?
I approached the case based on first principles, especially given I had no
background or coursework in supply chain, and kept the interviewer
engaged in the discussion by constantly thinking aloud and picking up
hints.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I jumped in a wee bit quickly on to the case initially, at which point the
interviewer asked me to pick up some coffee and think for a bit . So,
maybe I shouldnt have let my excitement get to me!
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be comfortable and avoid getting frazzled or excited if the case is
something out of your expertise/ experience/ coursework radar.

63

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A.T. Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Manish Mathur, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
4
th
and the last
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me about your work experience. Manish had done a lot of work
with private-equity clients and wanted to hear about my private-equity
turnaround experience in detail.
Case question PE Fund acquiring Italian company
Case Type Acquisition/ LBO
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Question: An Indian PE Fund is looking to acquire an automotive firm in
Italy and they have come to you for advice.
Me: I would like to understand three pieces of the story first- (i) The PE
Firm, the industries it usually invests in, the size of investments, required
IRR et al (ii) The Automotive Firm- what products/ services it produces,
product differentiation, market position et al. (iii) Any overarching reason/
objective why the PE Firm was looking to acquire this firm.
Manish: (i) Size-wise, the PE Firm invests in all size firms, industry-
agnostic and requires a 25-35% IRR (ii) The company manufactures
high quality, high technology end-gears and has a market share of 20-
30% with the immediate next competitor having 5-10% (iii) No
overarching reason what could be the reasons, do you think?
Me: I laid out a framework talking about
a. Attractiveness of the company, growth/ IRR et al
b. Access to the Italian industry for the PE Firm, towards other strategic
interests maybe getting into a different company through starting
here
c. Being an LBO, easier availability/ better terms of debt in Italy since
private equity players amplify their returns primarily through debt
d. Any benefits for the PE Funds current portfolio companies in India
courtesy the Italian association
e. Any domain-specific expertise the PE Fund could bring to the
company
f. Any of the PE partners being Italian thus having a leverage there
g. + Other factors I spoke about, that Im unable to recall now!
For each I laid out the typical acquisition framework around market/
industry analysis, other factors, profitability et al. and added the PE
perspective to it.
What do you think
the interview?
I used my learning from my work experience and the Investing in Private
Equity course to go over (i) What a PE fund looks at (ii) Basic
Acquisition frameworks (iii) Factors governing an LBO et al. This
interview also took a discussion form where I also got a chance to ask
Manish what the real situation was and why the Italian firm was acquired
et al, since it was a live case
What do you think
went wrong in this
Nothing much here . I enjoyed the case, given it was on PEs and was
thrilled to use my INPE course concepts therein!
64

interview
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Nothing Ive not already mentioned in previous pages!
Outcome Secured an offer!
63

Name Akash Jain
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A T Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Vikas Kaushal
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
I was asked about my previous interviews that I had that day and then a
bit about my work experience.
Case question Estimate the demand for natural gas in India.
Case Type Market Estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started with identifying the possible sources of demand of natural gas:
power sector, process sector, domestic and transport. Vikas told me to
focus only on the process sector. Natural gas is used as an input in
some of the process industries. There are two sources: import and
domestic. We had to figure out, how much would be the domestic
demand for Natural gas. We were solving the case more or less
together. Vikas was quite involved in the case and was helping me out. I
dont really remember the details, but according to me my performance
was strictly ok.
What do you think
the interview?
I had been able to establish connect with Vikas, when he came to ISB
for PPT, and I think that helped a lot. He is one of the key decision
makers at ATK, and if you get his buy-in, it would be ideal. He could also
make out that I would be a great fit with the ATK culture and that really
worked in my favor.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing Really.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Try to establish connect with the key people in the firm whenever they
come to ISB. It always helps.
Outcome Shortlisted for the second Round.

66

Name Akash Jain
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A T Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Manish Mathur
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
How has your experience been so far and other very general PI
questions.
Case question We want to form a strategy for a Cement company for the next 5 years.
What are the key issues/elements that we should consider? How should
we go about it.
Case Type Strategy
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started by laying out a structure which covered market estimation,
current production capacity, marketing & branding and distribution and
supply chain. Manish then asked me to get into the supply chain in
detail. I again formed a structure to analyze the supply chain and
distribution. I made a typical value chain diagram starting from Raw
material sourcing, production, inventory management and then
distribution. There were subparts to each of these. I did a fairly good job
in solving this case. However, I completely missed the raw material
sourcing part in the discussion, although I had written that when I formed
the structure.
What do you think
the interview?
I think I did a good job on the case.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing much except for the raw material part which I missed during the
discussion.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Work hard on forming a good structure. Laying out a good structure is
half the battle.
Outcome Shortlisted for Third Round.

67

Name Akash Jain
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
A T Kearney
Name of the
interviewer
Mohit Rana
Round and Interview
Number
Third and Final
Personal Interview
Questions
Why ISB and not IIM? How was your ISB experience?
Case question Estimate demand for Broadband connections in India
Case Type Market Estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started by dividing the market into two- Corporate and Households.
Mohit asked me to focus on households. In the households I again
divided the market into Tier-1, Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. I identified PC or
Laptop as a very good proxy for the broadband demand. I dont
remember the details but it was a fairly short case discussion and maybe
got over in 10-15 minutes.
What do you think
the interview?
Did well on the PI question, was able to bring out a genuine interest in
consulting career.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing really.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Prepare PI questions well. In the final rounds its the PI which becomes
more important.
Outcome Was made the offer.
68

Booz and Co
69

Name Somesh Satnalika
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Booz and Co
Name of the
interviewer
Ashish Sharma, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
First round first interview
Personal Interview
Questions
The interviewer started tell me about yourself while he was reading
through the resume.

Then the interviewer asked about a particular bullet point in resume
about improving performance of two retail stores. He asked me how I
went about it. For the next 15-20 minutes, we spoke about the measures
taken to improve the performance. We went into exhaustive discussions
about the steps taken and what else could have been done. We
discussed about product mix, the performance of other stores in the
region, agricultural potential of the area, means to attract customers etc.
The question was almost given a turn of a case study. Guess he was
satisfied with the exhaustive discussion.

After the above discussion, Ashish gave me a basic question on cost of
capital of companies. He gave a scenario where there were two
companies one with 50% equity and other with 60% equity and rest
debt. Everything else being same, what would be the difference in cost
of capital of the companies. I asked about the tax rate and he said the
tax rate is zero. I gave the answer.

He then asked me if I wanted to ask something about the job. I asked
him about his career progression. I also asked that Booz being relatively
new entrant in India, how it was planning to expand.
Case question Refer above
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
The detailed discussion on resume point went well. I was also pretty
relaxed during the interview which helped.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
While giving answer for the WACC question, I simply gave an answer
and did not illustrate the logic of it. I could have taken him through the
logic.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Typically we prepare a 3-4 minute pitch for each resume point. In my
case the discussion on a single point went for about 20 minutes. So its
important to know your resume very well and talk about it convincingly.
Outcome Went for the next interview

70

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Booz and Co
Name of the
interviewer
Piyush, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
First round second interview
Personal Interview
Questions
- Tell me something about yourself (went on for about 4 minutes
as he did not stop me and expected more)
- What are the qualities required to be a successful consultant
- Why do you think you would make a good consultant
- What other career choices are you looking at. Which other firms
are you interviewing with.
- What are your long term career goals. How would you achieve
them.
- While discussing my experience in KPMG audit, the discussion
veered towards corporate governance. So he asked me to tell
what went wrong with Enron the question stumped me because
I had not expected it and had last read about Enron more than 5
years back. I gave him a rough sketch about how Enron
managed to cook its books.

The personal interview lasted for about 15-20 minutes. Generally there
were follow up questions to what I answered. Then we started with a
case.
Case question An oil marketing company wants to launch a fuel card where the
customer can pay through the card and settle the bills at the end of the
month. Users would also get loyalty points. How would you advise the
company on whether they should undertake the project.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started with broadly stating that the considerations would be strategic,
financial to see if the project is viable and then operational to see if it can
be implemented.
To see whether we would have any strategic advantage over
competition with fuel card launch, I explored the potential customers.
S: Has any competitor launched fuel cards or any similar program of
their own?
P: No. Ours is the first company considering its launch.
S: To see whether customers would value fuel cards, lets categorize the
customers. One set who would value it would be transport service
operators. Other set would be retail customers who would appreciate the
convenience offered by fuel cards and loyalty points. The points would
also help in creating a customer lock-in.
P: That covers practically everybody. Why would transport service
operators value fuel card?
S: It would mean drivers would not need to carry cash with them on trips
and hence greatly reduce operational hassles. There will be decrease in
leakage/theft as the drivers would be paying directly by cards. Operators
71

would have transaction ease in paying at the end of month and also
greater control over the fuel usage. Interviewer seemed happy with the
reasons. I said that there seemed to be a market for fuel cards and by
implementing it, we would be able to increase our sales by eating into
our competitors pie. We proceeded to check the financial viability.
To check the financial feasibility I outlined the following scheme:
Incremental contribution due to fuel cards
Implementation and operating costs for the same
Hit in margin if we do not implement and some competitor implements
the same
I checked with interviewer if he was ok with the overall approach and he
said fine.
S: To compute the incremental contribution, we need the current sales
level and the margin level
P: Current sales are 100 mn lts. Margin is 10 cents per ltr
S: We would need the competitive scenario, number of stores and
incremental sales expected at each store to estimate incremental margin
P: Assume there is an overall 30% increase in sales volume
I thus calculated the incremental contribution. We then proceeded to
calculate the cost of implementation and operation.
S: Operating costs would depend on the model of operation. We can
either tie up with a bank and they can take over all the back-end like and
operate it like credit card operations. Else we can have our own set-up
and generate bills for the customers. In our own set-up, there will be
higher set-up costs and interest foregone for credit period. In tie-up with
bank, we would have credit card charges as normally levied by the
banks which are generally around 1.5% and maybe some additional
operating costs. Other than that, we would have incremental costs at the
pump level like a telephone line for card usage.
Interviewer gave me a fixed cost per month which was same for both
scheme and included depreciation etc. This certainly made life easy
S: What are the loyalty points costing us?
P: 3 cents per ltr
S: When we launch fuel cards, the card sale would also poach into our
cash sale. Hence though the overall incremental sale is 30%, what is
card sale as a % of total sale?
P: cash and card sales are 50% each.
I then worked out the numbers to determine that launching fuel cards
was leading to financial loss on a standalone basis.
I then asked whether we should proceed to compute the potential loss in
revenue in case we do not launch fuel cards but a competitor launches
it. The interviewer asked me to summarize the case there.
I said that fuel cards seem to have a good market but is leading to a loss
on standalone basis. To take a decision, we need to see potential loss if
we do not launch and a competitor launches the same. Also, we could
look into reducing loyalty points as its a major cost head. We are
delivering real value to customer and current scheme may not be
required.

What do you think
Prep for personal questions helped me in the first half. Case went well in
a structured manner.
72

the interview?
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Enron question surprised me and I did not give a very good answer. But
I guess there can always be surprise questions. Having a fair idea in the
field of prior experience would help.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Next round

73

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Booz and Co
Name of the
interviewer
Suvojoy Sengupta, Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Second round first interview
Personal Interview
Questions
The interviewer started by asking how many interviews I had given in the
day.
Then the usual tell me about yourself question.

We did not discuss any case during the interview. However, we spoke
on length about my work experience and learnings.

I had worked in rural retail business and rural marketing business in ITC
before joining ISB. So we went into a lengthy discussion about rural
India and its potential. He asked whether the buzz surrounding rural
India was justified. I gave my opinion. He then asked what were the
hurdles in rural India and what were the factors determining success.

I gave examples from my experience and listed down the hurdles and
success factors. We discussed them in details and he came up with a
sort of matrix to evaluate the potential for rural success based on factors
discussed. I also highlighted the importance of right product which can
make a big difference and gave some examples in this regard. I also
listed down the key drivers for business in retailing business in rural
India.

After some more questions, the interview ended.

Case question No case
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
I was able to talk about my experience of rural India in both retailing and
marketing businesses in detail with numbers and examples which made
the discussion more lively and believable.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing really
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Again knowing about your work experience thoroughly helps.
Outcome Offer made.
74

Boston
Consulting
Group
73

Name Pallavi Malani
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Boston Consulting Group
Name of the
interviewer
Emre Sucu, Project Lead
Round and Interview
Number
Round I, Interview I
Personal Interview
Questions
This was my first interview with BCG and 3
rd
for the day. Since Emre
was not from the India office, we discussed his stay in India for the BCG
Ambassador Program and I gave him some housing tips for Mumbai
Case question I was presented with several slides which had graphs on the revenues,
costs and growth potential in different segments for a water treatment
firm looking to acquire another water treatment plant. I was asked to
decide on the basis of the data given whether the acquisition should be
made and what should be the bid for the same.
Case Type M&A
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Since I was not allowed to take the slides, I dont have the data to
narrate the case. However, the discussion was mainly to determine what
financial and strategic leverage the acquisition would lead to, if any. The
case was quant heavy but the calculations were simple.

I started by first establishing that strategically this deal would open new
geographical markets and customer base for the acquiring firm. I then
identified the operational and financial synergies for the 2 firms. Also, I
went onto identify which customer targets the merged firm should focus
on for optimal growth given the core competency of the 2 firms. Most of
this analysis was on the basis of the 10-12 graphs provided to me and
very little was on the basis of questioning the interviewer.

Having established that the acquisition was strategically and financially
sound, we went onto to determine how should the firm bid for the water
treatment company. I calculated the bid for a 100% equity buy-out by
calculating the NPV and determining what % return on equity the
acquiring firm expects. I did not arrive at a single number since the
calculations were very tedious but the interviewer basically wanted to
see the approach.

The wow factor for the case was when I used the concept of Best
Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement and Zone of Potential
Agreement (from negotiations analysis elective) to give a perspective on
how one could negotiate this deal and what should be the win-win deal
for both firms. For this analysis, I also calculated that if the acquiring firm
had to individually capture the new geography what would be the costs
and challenges.
What do you think
the interview?
There were a lot of graphs and numbers to analyze and I maintained my
cool throughout the interview always focusing on the crux of the issue.
The negotiations analysis was an add-on which the interviewer was not
expecting and liked the way I thought about the ZOPA.
76

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I could have been faster with my calculations but I dont think the
interviewer was gauging the speed of calculation but the approach I
took.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
For BCG, especially in the first round, there is generally a numbers-
based case. Be prepared and comfortable to deal with quant heavy
cases though the calculations will be very basic. Also, some graphs /
data might be given just to distract the candidate. Avoid such traps and
focus on the core problem. In case of any confusion, ask the interviewer
if you are on the right track (this will not be counted negatively) but he /
she will feel part of the case process. Also, be wary that all the data
might not be in the same units so always convert all the numbers into a
standard unit before proceeding to avoid calculation goof-ups.

77

Name Pallavi Malani
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Ashish Garg, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
Round 2, Interview 1
Personal Interview
Questions
This was my 7th interview for the day and I was starting to drain out. We
just exchanged some pleasantries and jumped straight to the case.
However, the brief discussion gave me a haunch that the interviewer is
not very interactive and hence I should not get unnerved if he does not
participate actively in the case discussion.
Case question An Indian chemical company uses Palm Oil for some of its formulations.
However, the price of palm oil is very volatile and thus pricing its
chemicals (output) becomes a problem because the company is never
sure of the margin. The company wants your help to resolve this issue.
Case Type Sourcing and Pricing
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started by asking how the palm oil is currently sourced and why its
price is so volatile?

Ashish told me that currently Palm Oil is procured from South-East Asian
countries from a commodities exchange (spot market) and prices
fluctuate by about 15%. The reason for this volatility was that the
demand for palm oil by various companies which purchase it was very
stochastic. Thus high demand led to increase in prices and sudden
slump in demand led to fall in prices. Also, the palm oil price is highly
correlated to petroleum and diesel price and thus added to the volatility.

This made me realize that the fluctuation was not seasonal and was
more chronic. I then asked Ashish to tell me are there any other regions
in the world from where palm oil can be efficiently sourced. He told me
that while palm trees are grown in other regions of the world too, the
transportation cost from there would be way too high compared to the
saving in price fluctuation.

Having understood the sourcing side, I asked what % of Palm Oil
constitutes the chemicals manufactured by the company and can this be
substituted by any other oil / ingredient. Ashish informed me that palm oil
was critical in the chemicals manufactured and is 60% of the
formulation. Thus, I realized that this was a critical cost for the company
and I would have to explore alternate ways of sourcing and pricing.

I laid down the following structure to analyze the problem:

- Options for Alternate Sourcing:
Long term contracts with suppliers from south East Asia so that
procurement can be agnostic of price fluctuation
Trading for palm oil on the futures market to hedge for
78

fluctuations
Integrate backward and produce palm oil
- Manufacturing
Minimize the inventory holding for palm oil and make the
procurement just in time (taking from the Toyota way) to pass on
part of the burden of price fluctuation to the supplier of the oil
- Pricing
Pass on the changing input cost to the buyers of chemical so
that constant margin can be maintained (variable selling price)

Through this structure I tried to cover all aspects of the value chain
which could affect the input cost and help maintain the margin.

Ashish was happy with the structure and ended the case. He also added
that this was an actual case and the solution they finally adopted was
the just in time procurement of palm oil.

What do you think
the interview?
Laying down all the options upfront helped because I did not waste time
discussing each. After seeing the exhaustive list of options, Ashish knew
the case was cracked.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Try to keep your structure as MECE as possible. Lay down the options if
possible up front instead of discussing them one after the other and
eliminating them.
Outcome Moved to the 2
nd
interview

79

Name Pallavi Malani
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Anand Raghuraman, Partner & Director
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Being the 9
th
interview for the day I was in the autopilot mode. Anand
had a brief conversation about BCG and the work BCG is doing in the
retail sector (my area of interest)
Case question A Korean television manufacturer wants to enter the US Market. Please
help them through this.
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started by asking if I we also had to look at the Go /No Go decision or
the company was sure to enter the US market and we only had to chalk
out the entry plan?

Anand told me that the company also wanted to evaluate the market
potential and he would like me to start by estimating the market size of
televisions in the US.

I asked Anand what were the different kinds of TV the manufacturer
produced and if he wanted me to estimate the market product category
wise (Flat screen, HDTV, LED TV etc)? He asked me to assume there is
only one kind of TV.

I stated up front that TV could be used for commercial or personal use
and either there could be a replacement market for TV or new
purchases. Anand, asked me to look only at the current base of TV in
the US.

I took the bottom up approach:

opulaLlon of unlLed SLaLes = 300 mllllon
Assumlng average household slze ls 3 members (1hls was an
assumpLlons based on Lhe facL LhaL ln lndla average household slze ls
3.3 members and Lhere are more nuclear famllles ln Lhe uS: Anand
was ok wlLh Lhls assumpLlon). 1herefore Lhe number of households ln
uS = 100 mllllon
l declded Lo Lake Lhe lncome approach Lo segmenL Lhe famllles
dependlng on whlch Lhey would own no. of 1vs.
80

To find out how many people would replace their TV in a year, I
assumed that the life of a TV is 7 years. So the low income would
replace their TV in 7 years, middle income in 5 years and high income
households who are more tech savvy in about 3 years.

At this point, Anand told me to assume that the personal use market is
attractive and to move on.

I then started analyzing the commercial use segment:

I started by listing down the top 3 industries where TV is used. Based on
this we could extrapolate the usage in other industries (the industries
listed were totally on the basis of my general observation that TVs are
extensively seen in public places and I asked Anand to correct me in
case I am off-track):

Hospitality Industry (Hotels, Restaurants, etc.)
Healthcare (Hospitals)
Media Industry

Anand was satisfied with the list and asked me to start with the
hospitality industry.

I further decided to divide this into hotels and restaurants / pubs.
I then assumed that there are 2 kinds of hotels: High-end and low end

Assuming a high-end hotel has 250 rooms thus they would need atleast
250 TVs. I asked Anand to give me the approx number of high-end
chains in the US since I was not aware of the number and had no basis
to guess-estimate a random number. He once again stopped me mid
way and asked me to move ahead assuming the commercial number is
attractive.

Every time Anand asked me to leave an analysis and move forward I
knew I was on the right track and he thus wanted me to go ahead. This
boosted my confidence.

I then looked at any other barriers for entering into the US market:

Low lncome (10): 10 mllllon households havlng 1 1v each = 10 m 1v
Mlddle lncome (30): 30 mllllon households havlng 2 1vs each =
100m 1v
Plgh lncome (40) 40 mllllon households havlng 3 1vs each = 120
mllllon 1vs
1herefore 1oLal number of 1vs ln Lhe unlLed SLaLes = 230 mllllon
81

Regulatory: Anand told me here are no FDI restrictions
Competition: Anand told me the market is very competitive and
there are too many players in the market. I told him that this
could be a deterrent but we need to explore what capabilities or
competitive advantage the Korean manufacturer can offer.

So since the market was attractive and there were no regulatory hurdles,
we decided to explore further.

I told him I would like to further look into the following:

Industry Attractiveness: growth, margins etc.
Customer segment wise competition (size, profitability, share
etc.): to identify a niche if possible for the Korean manufacturer
Core competency of the manufacturer: Operational efficiency,
branding, product innovation especially pricing since Asian goods
are cheaper
If the above looked attractive and we could identify a segment to
enter, I would then look at how to enter the market:
- Cost benefit analysis
- strategic analysis and
- risks of the different alternative

Anand looked happy with the approach. He asked me to tell him how I
would evaluate a strategic partner and what would I look for in a partner.

I said there could be 4 options:
Strategic partnership
Joint Venture
Acquire an existing player
I also said we could explore job work contract of an existing
brand

The interviewer asked me to look at a joint venture. I stated upfront that
the sources of value for a JV must be advantageous for both the firms.
Thus I would look at identifying complementary skills to identify a JV
partner and then see what strategic, economic and operational fit would
work for the JV.

I guessed that being a Korean manufacturer they would have labor and
input efficiency for low cost manufacturing and Anand testified that this
was right. So then we would have to look at a partner who has a strong
distribution and marketing hold in the US so that we can leverage the
Koran manufacturing and the branding of our US based partner. This
would be complementary and get the Korean company inroads into the
US market.

I also mentioned that of course all this would have to take into account
integration and cultural fit.
We had a general discussion after this on the risks that low cost
manufacturers face while trying to enter the western economies.
82

What do you think
the interview?
This was a long discussion and even though I was very tired I managed
to keep the enthu level high during the case and engage the interviewer
in a healthy discussion.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I think I spoke too much and could have been less verbose
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
For a market sizing case, always de-average the problem as much as
possible to make the analysis richer. Keep the interviewer engaged and
try to solve the case with him rather than make it like a question answer
session.
Outcome Made an offer for the role of Senior Associate

83

Name Deepak Deshmukh
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the interviewer Navneet Vashisht, Project Manager
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
This was my third interview for the day after Deloitte and
Parthenon, so I was pretty charged up. Navneet made me
comfortable; we did some PI after the case. He asked me after
having worked as a Consultant for 2 years do I still have the
energy to again start in Consulting. I answered YES and reasoned
that the potential to create an impact through my work will be
significantly higher at BCG.
Case question
He showed me a perfectly balanced portfolio of companies within
an Indian conglomerate on a BCG matrix. He said that despite
such a balanced portfolio the conglomerate has been losing value
on the stock markets. He asked me to think through various
possible reasons and solutions.
Case Type Business Portfolio Valuation and Structuring
Initially, I tried to understand the nature of the companies first
cash cows were firms in heavy engineering and steel, stars were
insurance and pharma companies. There were no dogs. So, I
concluded that it was a fairly diversified portfolio.
The second question was about the stage in the lifecycle of these
firms. He liked the question and replied that insurance and
pharma are newly started and heavy engineering and steel are
mature businesses. I then connected this with the fact that
pharma and insurance sectors need a lot of investment initially.
The third question was regarding how this conglomerate is listed
on the market as separate firms or as one unit. He replied as
one entity and wanted to know what implications on value this
structure will have. I explained that every sector is valued
differently by the market e.g. Pharma companies have a higher
P/E than that for mature sectors so may be the conglomerate is
not valued appropriately since it is listed as ONE entity.
Then I started talking about what could be possible reasons for
the fall in the valuations. I drew BCGs Total Shareholder Returns
(TRS) framework (visit BCGs website or Google for a PPT on
What drives shareholder value ). As we discussed each
element of the framework we concluded that insurance / pharma
companies require a lot of cash for growth and therefore the
conglomerate has not paid dividend for the past couple of years.
Moreover, even the mature companies are in the reinvestment
phase so cash is very scarce.
Then we started taking about what could be various reasons for
this structure. This discussion was a little vague and more of a
dialogue. I mentioned that the new companies need a lot of
resources cash and managerial talent which can be available
84

economically when it is structured as ONE. I also asked if this is a
family run business and the owner has any issues with division
between management and control. He liked the point and said
that in some cases this can become a major issue; however here
it is not relevant. Then he mentioned about how the dynamics has
changed in India earlier the firms with resources and access to
Govt. licenses did well, then IT firms with capabilities and now
firms like Airtel that build strong network are successful. Here, he
did the talking and I just guided the discussion through citing
examples.
What do you think went
right for you in the
interview?
I moved pretty fast and therefore could cover a lot of topics in 20-
25 minutes. I asked very few and only relevant questions and I
think he liked that.
Some books that could be of use
Consulting psychology: The Trusted Advisor and Flawless
Consulting
Communication: The Minto Principle, Say It With Charts
General: BCGs Perspectives on Strategy
wrong in this interview
I could have been more structured while discussing the second
part.
Any tips for the future
batch based in this
interview
Get to the heart of the problem fast and try to discuss all relevant
aspects of the case valuation, management control, operations,
etc. While preparing for cases, we follow all the steps religiously,
however on the I-day, everyone is hard-pressed for time and if
you can give the interviewer confidence by showing him the
breadth of possibilities and quickly get to the most important part,
your job is half done. Maintain eye contact and appear energetic.
Outcome I moved to R1, Interview 2.

83

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the interviewer Emre Suku, Project Manager on Exchange from USA
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Emre did not ask any personal questions. In fact, after reading his
profile I asked him about his background and how he finds
Mumbai, India, etc.
Case question
I do not remember the details of the case but it was for an
industrial cleaning company that plans to enter Turkey. The
company wants to evaluate M&A opportunity with an existing
player in the Turkish market. It was a combination of market entry
and M&A case.
Case Type
Numbers case numbers were simple but it required asking for
the right data and interpreting from charts and doing the math.
It was a bit long case and the bright sunrays from the window
made the room hot. Initially I was not very clear about the case
but still started discussing elements of the traditional M&A
framework. Then I asked for data one part at a time and shared
with him the conclusion at each step that kept him engaged.
interview?
I tried to do the math vocally so that he knew what I was doing
and why I was doing that. Kept concluding at each stage and
discussed its implications. Stick to the basics of frameworks learnt
in M&A type of cases.
Nothing much maybe.
batch based in this
interview
Do the math at decent speed accuracy is more important than
speed.
Outcome Proceeded to Round 2 with Partners.

86

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the interviewer Ashish Iyer, Partner and Head of Strategy practice
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Ashish was very quiet and his first question was about my family
background. I answered for 1 minute giving details of my family
members. He then I asked me why not any other profession. I
answered saying that consulting is very efficient in terms of value
addition to the Consultant and that is how we can create more
value for India.
He asked me if I had any questions for him. I asked him - as Head
of Strategy practice where he draws a line between strategy and
operations work. He replied that BCG did management consulting
work and does not consider strategy as high end and Ops as low
end. In fact, in India now a lot of consulting work is about getting
things right since markets are growing. However, in the West, one
needs strategy to differentiate in the mature market place. Then I
asked him about his background and we found some common
links with Godrej and Accenture.
Case question
The case was a seemingly operational case but he was looking
for strategic thinking.
Case Type Strategy case
There is a BPO that wants to reduce costs by 10%. I started off by
saying that Ill look at all the cost heads and compare it with
industry benchmarks and first-principle costing. Then we
discussed different options to reduce each cost head.
For example, (1) cost of office renting a place, leasing or work
from home; (2) Cost of equipment total cost of ownership
analysis, standardize work-processes to improve equipment life,
outsource equipment like printers in ISB
interview?
He was quiet initially but somehow I got him talking in the end
he was talking more than I did. He said people get bogged down
by what the client asks for just 10% reduction. He said true
value addition happens when Consultant questions the
assumptions of the client.
Nothing much.
batch based in this
interview
Adapt yourself according to the interviewer. Speak your mind if I
had restricted myself to just 10% cost reduction then I may not
have thought about options of outsourcing and work from home.
Outcome Moved to final round.

87

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the interviewer Ravi Srivastava, Recruiting Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Ravi did not ask personal questions. I asked him do BCG
Consultants actually use a lot of conceptual foundations like
Optimization tools, Game theory, etc.
Case question A cement company wants to improve profitability per unit.
Case Type Mix of Strategy, Game theory and Network Optimization
I first asked him if this company is performing as compared to
industry standards and he liked the question. He said this firm is
the industry leader in performance. Then I asked about the
capacity utilization to know if sales can be increased. He replied
that capacity utilization was 100% and there were no revenue
enhancement opportunities since this was a commodity market.
So, we had to reduce per unit cost.
We discussed cost heads and decided to pursue logistics since it
is significant for cement. Then I suggested we set up an
optimization to minimize logistics costs and recommend supplies
of RM from mines / ores to each of the demand nodes. This will
reduce costs.
He then asked what would be reaction of competitors and what
would be a stable outcome. I used game theory concepts and
replied that players having national presence will fight this out.
However, if each player focuses on their area of strength then the
industry will be stable.
interview?
The case moved very smoothly and pretty fast. My questions gave
him the confidence that I would do the correct analysis and draw
the right conclusions. I combined concepts from DMOP, Logistics
and Game theory pretty well.
My optimization function was not right the first time. I had to
rework it while discussing with Ravi.
batch based in this
interview
Do not freeze in difficult times and ask the interviewer to think
through the situation. Always break the problem into pieces.
Outcome Offer was made at the end of the interview.

88

Name Sidharth J Negandhi
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
The Boston Consulting Group
Name of the
interviewer
Harsh Vardhan, Partner
Round and Interview
Number
First round, first interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me something about yourself. Followed up with some related
questions
Case question A bank is looking at revamping its organizational structure for its retail
business. The current structure is not designed for growth.
Case Type Organizational design
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The bank has pan-India operations and has been in business for the last
12-18 months. They have a 900 strong branch network. The current
organizational structure is as follows:

The zonal heads have dual reporting into the Head of Retail operations
and also a national sales head.
The bank is targeting a 40% year on year growth. The historical growth
has been 25 to 30% p.a.

I began by defining the important characteristics of an organizational
structure:
Clarity in responsibility
MECE
Clarity in reporting
Poised for growth
(This is not exhaustive and additional points can be incorporated)

It was important to understand where the bank was planning to get the
growth from. This was to come mostly from new customers (30%) and
from cross-selling of products to existing customers (10%). While the
bank was present in most geographies, there was scope for penetration
within the existing geographies.
It was then important to understand how the current sales force worked.
In case of home loans, sales happened through two channels viz. builder
tie-ups and outbound calls. The bank consciously did not wish to appoint
third party agents for sale of home loans.

Sales were being currently managed at each branch. There was no
Pead - 8eLall
operaLlons
Pead - CredlL
Cards
Pead - LlablllLy
roducLs
Pead - Pome
loans
Zonal heads
8ranch
Managers
89

external sales push from the branch, but only sales to walk in customers.

The case ended at this point given the time. Harsh mentioned that I was
asking the right questions and it was only a matter of time before I
solved it.
What do you think
the interview?
Asked the right questions, approached in a structured manner
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Took a little too long to analyse so wasnt able to solve the case
completely.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Expect the unexpected. Harsh primarily works on corporate development
practice and organizational design. Given my past deal background, I
walked in expecting an M&A case. But what came by was totally
different.
Outcome Shortlisted for next round

90

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Avarthan Bokil, Project Leader
Round and Interview
Number
First round, second interview
Personal Interview
Questions
None jumped straight into the case
Case question An international car dealer is look to set shop in India. Could you
evaluate this market entry for them.
Case Type Market entry
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The company in question has car dealerships primarily in the western
countries. They would like to explore the possibility of an India entry.

The offer has come in from the car manufacturer which is looking to add
dealers in India. The car is a premium segment and priced at Rs. 15
lacs.

I began by laying out a market entry structure of assessing the market
size, competition, growth etc. We walked thru the structure and how I
would assess different parts of the structure. He then asked me if there
was anything additional that I would want to assess. At this point I
presented some points such as the overall company strategy, future
economies of scale etc. He kept asking if I could look at something else.
At this point, I finally came to the important aspect of looking at return on
investment. We discussed this further as to how this must be assessed.

He then asked for one reason why the company should go ahead with a
dealership even if the ROI criterion was not met. Mentioned that the
relationship with the car manufacturer spanned across geographies and
could be a possible reason.
What do you think
the interview?
Asked some right questions, approached in a structured manner
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Took long to come up to the ROI factor. Was trying to think of non-
financial factors just to provide a holistic analysis. Almost missed the
moot point (money matters :P)
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be yourself

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Ashish Iyer, Partner
Round and Interview Second round, first interview
91

Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Why consulting? Your CV is all about finance?
Why BCG?
Case question None. The interview began with him asking me if I had any questions
about BCG. The entire discussion revolved around the questions I
asked. As he answered the questions in detail, I also spoke of some
instances that I had observed at PwC. Overall it was a discussion rather
than an interview. Ashish even remembered the questions that I had
asked him during a BCG session on the economic crisis on campus way
back in June. The alums had told me that Ashish is an extremely sharp
person. But he likes listening to young peoples views and engage in
discussions.
Case Type NA
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
NA
What do you think
the interview?
The discussion went off quite smoothly. It didnt feel as if I was talking to
someone who was so senior. Ashishs pleasing personality and calm
made me quite comfortable. Also, the fact that I was able to add
something from my experience at PwC did help a lot.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Dont think anything went particularly wrong with this one
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Expect the unexpected. Also, a consulting interview is as much about
the PI questions as it is about cases. While cases are extremely
important, do not ignore the PI. Also, it helps if you make the interview
more of a discussion than a pressure Q&A.
Outcome Shortlisted for next interview

92

Name Parag Dhanuka
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Amar Chowdhury (Project Leader)

Round and Interview
Number
First round,
Personal Interview
Questions
Amar loves to talk a lot. In his entire case he was the one who did most
of the talking and I sat back and listened. PI comprised on standard
questions such as TMAY, why consulting, what are your strength.

Case question If you have to merge two companies what will you look at?

Case Type M&A
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Wrote the formula as Company As value + Revenue synergy + Cost
synergy Loss in Shareholders value. He was impressed by the
detailed formula and then we discussed about all of the points we had
written. I further broke down revenue and cost synergy into financial and
operation synergies and mentioned about how these synergies can be
realized.

What do you think
the interview?
-
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
-
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Take your electives seriously. Call a few alums in case you need help.
Please do take CCMA (Term 6) and MGSP (Term 6). These courses will
make all the M&A cases a walk in the park for you. Other than this I
found LSCM (Term 6), ECSG (Term 7) and ATAM (Term 7) very useful.
Term 5 for me was a disaster because I didnt consult with any alum and
ended up taking most of the irrelevant courses.

93

Name Parag Dhanuka
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Navneet Vashistha
Round and Interview
Number
Second round,
Personal Interview
Questions
This was by far the best interview I had. Navneet was a lot of fun to talk
to and we immediately connected with each other. He said that we will
do a case first and then the PI. Once the cases were over we started
with PI.
1) Tell me one reason why you will not join BCG? I told him that
people are great and that is why BCG was my top priority but
BCG did not have as big a brand as one of its competitors. Then
he went on to explain how BCG has the same brand value in the
eyes of senior management of most of the top firms in the world.
2) Tell me three reasons why we should not hire you? He was
smiling when asking this question and told me he knows the
question is not fair. Its very important to reciprocate the way the
interviewer is behaving. I also smiled back and said I do not have
any consulting experience. If you find people with that experience
you should hire him. Both of us laughed at the answer and then
he asked me about a genuine weakness. I said procrastination
and how I had to go and work in the SantaCruz office during
Mumbai terrorist attacks because of this habit and what I was
doing to overcome this problem.

Case question A conglomerate is trying to open another company in IT sector. Tell me
what are the things the conglomerate should give to this company and
what are the things it should not give? He also asked to tell him how
should the firm ramp up its operations?

Case Type Expansion Strategy
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I asked him what was the aim behind the decision to open an IT arm and
he revealed that it was the company believes IT sector will be profitable
in the future. He also told me that the conglomerate is aiming to reach a
turnover of $400mn by the end of the five years. I asked him about the
size of the conglomerate and he said I can assume somewhere close to
$40bn. I decided to solve the case using the profitability framework and
told him that I will look at what contribution can the conglomerate make
on increasing the revenues and decreasing the cost of the IT firm.
Navneet was fine with this structure.
Thereafter I started by talking about revenues and wrote revenue = num
of projects * avg hrs per project * price/hr. For increasing the number of
projects we should do the following:
1. Internal projects. Since the firm is valued at $40bn I assumed
that it will have about $400mn worth of IT projects internally and
hence the target can be achieved by giving only the internal
94

projects. However I also said that the conglomerate should not
give all the internal projects to the new IT firm and should
continue outsourcing some of the critical projects for the next few
years at least. Navneet then asked me should all the internal
projects eventually be given to the new company. I told him that
different projects require different expertise and hence a new
expertise should be developed only if we can get more projects
on that particular expertise. He was visibly impressed with this
answer.
2. Brand name. I said that the biggest advantage which the
conglomerate had over other new IT firms was the brand name
associated. I made the assumption that since its a big
conglomerate it has a good reputation in the market and it can
leverage it to get a lot of internal as well as external projects.
3. Relationship. I also told him that the conglomerate will have good
relations with number of other big players in India as well as
internationally. We can leverage these relationships to get more
projects.

I made an assumption that we cannot make an impact on avg hrs
per project. However we can charge a premium on price/hr since we
have a strong brand associated with us.

On the cost front I told him that the primary spending in cost will be
1. Direct Labor (S/W engineers, Project Managers): I told him that
brand should help in this recruitment as well since brand is one of
the biggest non monetary motivators for employees. Besides the
firm should already have some IT engineers in their current firms.
They can transfer them to this firm. This will give the IT engineers
higher satisfaction as it will give them an opportunity to work on
different projects.
2. Sales: Since the firm is an IT Conglomerate it should have a
brilliant sales team. The firm can transfer some of their best sales
guys to the new firm initially to rope in more customers.
3. Administrative (Finance/HR): In this case I told him that the firm
should not give the new IT firm its HR/admin team but hire a new
team. This was the case since IT is very different from
conventional sectors and hence the culture is different and hence
HR and management team should be radically different from
other firms.
4. Power: Probably some subsidy can be obtained from the
government.
5. Infrastructure (Rent, Laptops, Computers etc.): The
conglomerate might have some land available and can lease out
the land to the new firm at a cheaper rate.

After this he asked me to tell him how should the sales look like in the
next few years and how will that impact their hiring plans. He asked me
to predict sales in 6, 12, 24, 36 and 60 months. I wrote a GP series and
said that sales would keep increasing exponentially. Hence if the firm
wants $400mn in 60 months they should get $200M in 36, $100M in 24
93

and $50M in 1 year. He smiled and told me whats wrong with this. I
immediately corrected my mistake and told him that it will be $200M in 4
yrs, $100 in 3 yrs and so on. Then he asked me what might go wrong
with these projections. I told him that what may be wrong is the growth of
100% at the end of 60 months. Hence may be the growth will slow down
and hence the growth in sales might be 100% in first two years, 50% in
the next two years and 25% in the final year. He was fine with this
answer and then we went forward with PI.

What do you think
the interview?
-
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
-
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Do not neglect PI. I was asked why we should not hire you in my DB
interview in November. I screwed it up badly because I never expected
that question. But during my consulting interviews I was ready for this
question and it helped. Make a list of at least 50 questions which can be
asked in PI interviews and write brief bullet points for each question. Do
not mug up the answer but practice each question at least 3 times in
front of the mirror.


96

Name Parag Dhanuka
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Ashish Iyer, Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Third Round
Personal Interview
Questions
This was my 13
th
interview of the day but looking at Ashish I was sure it
was his 13
th
or 14
th
as well. However I had got an offer from Booz and
hence was upbeat and confident. There was no case in this round which
was a bit strange. However we talked for more than 15 minutes. I do not
remember all the questions but they varied from mugged up questions
like why consulting to questions about my family. He even asked me that
since I plan to get married as soon as I join consulting how is my wife
going to take it. On this I replied that she has told me that I can work as
much as I want on weekdays but weekends are for her. Hearing this
Ashish smiled for the first time in the interview and said good that she
already understands this . After this we had some discussion on
telecom sector since I decided to talk to him as to where does he think
the price war in the sector is heading towards.
Case question None
Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
-
What do you think
the interview?
-
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
-
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
During the entire interview Ashish looked disinterested. He was looking
down, at my CV, wasnt maintaining eye contact and asking random
questions. However I decided to remain upbeat and kept answering with
confidence and a smile on my face. This helped me in maintaining the
pace of the interview and he did smile back eventually at one of my
answers. In spite of this being the 13
th
interview I was able to achieve
this because I had got into the habit of solving 4-5 cases in a day. Hence
start practicing cases on a stretch and do take mockathons organized by
consulting club very seriously. Besides remember to keep the mood
upbeat at all the time no matter how your previous interviews have gone
and no matter how tired you are.


97

Name Parag Dhanuka
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
Ravi Shrivastava Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Fourth Round
Personal Interview
Questions
None
Case question There is a cement company which is interested in increasing their
profit/kg. How should they go about doing this?

Case Type Profitability
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Asked him why they are interested in profit/kg and he told me to think
what might be the reason. Told him that the amount they can produce is
limited and hence might their profits are maximized if their profit/kg is
maximized.
After this I wrote profit/kg = Price VC FC/kg. Since cement is a
commodity we cannot affect the price a lot. At this he told me that is it
impossible to increase the average price for the company. On hearing
this I asked him about the markets we serve and does each market have
different price. He also told me that was indeed the case and the prices
were higher in certain regions of India and lower in other regions. I
asked him why and he told me to think. I could not come up with an
answer so he asked me to look at the cost. I broke VC to Direct Material,
Direct Labor and transportation cost. It then struck me that transportation
cost will be different for different regions and hence prices in those
regions will be different. On hearing this he smiled and told me how we
can then help our firm optimize.

After this I wrote the standard DMOP supply demand optimization
problem and he was happy with the answer. But then he asked me to
think if we change supply in a region what will happen. I drew the supply
demand curve and told him that price will go down. He told me how I can
represent the graph in the optimization equation. I could not think of
anything and then he replied back telling me that we will include the
price elasticity for cement in each region in the equation as well.
After this he told me to think of competitive response. I told him that we
can solve the optimization equation for the entire industry and try
optimize for the entire industry. He liked the solution but asked me what
else we can do if we do not know about the exact cost of all our
competitors. Then I drew up a 2 X 2 with one axis being our variable
cost in a region vs. our competitors variable cost.
Competitors Cost Low Competitors Cost High
Our Cost Low Be Cautious while
increasing supply
Increase supply
Our Cost High Do not touch
(competitors can also
Be Cautious while
increasing supply
98

increase supply and
this can lead to a price
war)

He told me to think in terms of strength of competitors as well and I told
him we should increase supply in regions where strong regional players
are not there since the regional players cannot reduce the supply in a
region but the national player can reduce supply in this region and
increase supply elsewhere. He then asked me what may go wrong. I told
him that if we do not communicate our strategy well than we may get
into a price war in the entire country with the national player and this
might lead to a bigger problem. On hearing this he was satisfied and told
me if I had some questions for him.

What do you think
the interview?
-
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
-
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Read all the core term courses well. I never thought a DMOP problem
might be asked in the case study and it was and hence you should have
good control of all the core term courses. Also revise Economics
properly since a large number of cases can be solved if you can think in
terms of demand and supply properly. Besides in the interview do not try
to judge yourself. In this interview I was not able to answer about the
elasticity bit but I did not lose my confidence and excelled later in
analyzing the competitive response.

Outcome Made an Offer!

99

Name Mouneesh Sinha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the
interviewer
Navneet Vasishth, Principal
Round and Interview
Number
1
Personal Interview
Questions
The interview started with a case, unlike most of the other interviews that
I had given. In fact, most of the interviews at BCG started with a case
and then the PI. However, since this section is mentioned before the
case, I will list down the PI questions here.
1. Tell me about yourself standard question, was well prepared for
this
2. Most significant achievement talked about IQRS Level 8 that I
implemented at ITC, and that it was the first time any company
had achieved that in India. He enquired more about the same,
including the complexity of the task and my learnings from the
task.
3. Why Consulting and why BCG? had a well prepared answer.
Since my first choice was BCG, had a tailor-made answer for
why BCG, and he was visibly impressed.
4. Any question for him had read his bio-card, so asked him a
question in his field of work.
While I left the room, he told me he liked the passion with which I spoke
about my work experience. He asked me to continue the same in the
remaining interviews. Theres a small background to this, which is not
appropriate to mention in this space.

Case question 1. Why is the stock market performance of this particular company
poor in the last 2 years? (it was underperforming the market by
15%)
2. How to turnaround?
Case Type Case on stock market performance.
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
He drew a BCG matrix for the portfolio of companies this company
owned. He told me that the stock was underperforming the market by
15%, and I had to identify why and what to do for a turnaround. Heres
how the BCG matrix looked:
100

I told Navneet that stock market performance is generally affected by the
companys performance against Analyst forecasts. Hence I asked him
how the company was performing viz. a viz. analyst forecasts. Navneet
told me that it was a good thought, but for the time being let us assume
that the analysts do not cover this company. He told me that he knew it
was an unrealistic assumption, but he wanted me to continue with this
assumption.
Next I asked him how the company was performing w.r.t. to its
competitors in the various segments. I got the following data:
Steel and Industrial Equipments in business for 2 decades, EBITDA
slightly better than competition
Real Estate in business for 10 years, EBITDA slightly lower than
competition
Other 3 businesses 5 years old, EBITDA lower as they were new, but
they were meeting their EBITDA targets as per initial business plan.

Then I proposed a hypothesis to Navneet, which was based on the MM
principle (Corp. Fin.). I told him if the investors can do what the company
is doing, then investors are likely to value the firm lower and hence stock
performance may suffer. I told him I wanted to test this hypothesis in this
particular case. Navneet told me to build upon the idea. To understand
about the investors a bit more, I asked him about the type of investors
the company had. He asked me what the typical types of investors are.
To this I listed 2 types of investors:
1. Investors looking for Dividends
2. Investors looking for Capital Gains
Navneet told me there is another type, which I could not come up with
Speculative Investors. Then he asked me to identify for which of these
investors the portfolio of businesses was better suited. I told him that it
was suited for neither. The logic I gave was that the dividend type
investors would not want any diversification into new businesses like FS,
Insurance, Pharma or Real Estate. The capital gain investors would be
101

interested in these new sectors, but given the relative size of these
businesses, any good performance in these sectors would be absorbed
by the two large sectors of Steel and Industrial Equipments. Navneet
seemed to be happy with the answer.

Navneet now asked me what the company should do. I told him that the
company can look into listing these companies separately so that they
cater to the needs of the particular type of investors. He asked me given
the company the company has 6 different businesses as of now, how
many companies should be listed and how many of them should be kept
together. I made a small structure to evaluate the same based on the
following criterion:
1. Relatedness of the businesses
2. Type of customers retail or industrial
3. Employee remuneration differentials
4. Core competencies required by board members/ top
management.
Based on this model, I suggested that 4 entities should be formed:
1. Steel and Industrial Equipments
2. Real Estate
3. Pharma
4. Insurance and Financial Services Distribution
Navneet seemed happy with the answer and ended the case and started
the PI.

What do you think
the interview?
I think I managed the situation well considering I had never done a case
like this before and that Finance was not my forte. Thinking logically
helped.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Dont let external factors affect your performance. Many things can
happen on Day 1 that you would have never expected, but its important
to keep your calm and think logically if get stuck.
Outcome Made it to the next round

102

Name Mouneesh Sinha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the
interviewer
Anand Raghuraman, Partner and Director
Round and Interview
Number
2
Personal Interview
Questions
This was a PI first interview. The PI questions mostly revolved around 2-
3 key themes:
1. Why do you want to join BCG? had a well prepared answer for
that
2. Why BCG over McK? again, since BCG was my first choice, I
had a well prepared answer for that. Interestingly, I mentioned
about 2 alums and said that I wanted to become like them. He
was impressed and said that he has worked with one of them
and having a target to become like him was awesome because
he felt that guy was a superstar (these were the words he used).
So he seemed pretty impressed with my answer.
3. Long term goal talked about improving Indian Hockey and
opening up an NGO.
4. Any questions I asked him for his most satisfying moment in
BCG
Case question A South-Korean TV manufacturer wants to enter the US market, like LG
and Samsung have entered the US market in the past
As of now it is a regional player, operating mostly in SE Asia
Should it enter the US? If yes, how should it enter?
Case Type Market Entry / Market Sizing Case
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I asked a few clarifying questions:
1. What was the motive of entry to the US market? Anand told me
it could be anything, it could be profits, and it could be ego.
2. If at all we enter the US market, whats would the manufacturing
model look like? Would we manufacture in SE Asia and ship to
US or set up manufacturing base in US? he said its open for
discussion during the case.
I asked for a minute to structure the case and came up with the following
structure:
1. Fundamental Analysis
a. Market Size
b. Growth Rate
c. Level of Competition
d. Market Share
e. Pricing Power (Demand and Supply gap)
f. Investments required
This was the first part of the analysis where I said I will first evaluate
the US TV market as it is, and see if it is profitable for anyone. I told
him I wanted to project the revenues and profits for our client. He
asked me what would be costs involved and listed the following
broad categories:
103

a. Investment Cost (cost of capital)
b. Marketing Expenses
c. SGA
d. Transportation Costs (depending upon the model of
operation)
2. Synergies/ Other benefits (benefits which were specific to our
client)
a. Brand
b. Economies of Scale
c. Sourcing Scale
d. Real Options
3. Key Resources Required/ Key Success Factors
4. Creating sustainable advantage once entered what all should
be done to build sustainable advantage
5. Mode of entry
a. Organic Growth
b. Acquisition
c. Alliance
d. JV
e. Off-shore manufacturing
Anand seemed happy with the structure and changed the case here a
bit. He asked me estimate the no. of TVs in use in the US.
I told him that we need to first find out the no. of households in US to
estimate the no. of TVs. For this I said we can take the population of
USA and divide by the average no. of people per household. Anand told
me to proceed with the calculation. I told the population of USA would be
around 500 million. Anand corrected me saying it was 300 million. I took
the average family size as 3 and came up with 100 million households.
Then I told him that I would divide the households on the basis of their
income:
a. Low income 30% = 30 million
b. Medium income 60% = 60 million
c. High Income 10% = 10 million
Then I said I would take an average of 1 TV per household for the low
income category and 2 TVs per household for the medium and high
income category. This way I came up the total base of televisions in US.
Anand asked me estimate the new demand for TVs. I structured this part
in two categories:
1. Demand due to growth in population Anand told me that
population growth was negligible in US and could be ignored.
2. Replacement Demand Anand asked me to estimate the
replacement demand.
I again went back to the categorization of households and estimated the
average life of TVs in each of the categories:
a. Low income 8 years
b. Medium income 5 years
c. High Income 2 years
Based on this I told him we can estimate the total no. of new TVs
required each year. I also told him that the dollar size of the TVs would
depend on the kind of TVs each of these households would purchase,
which again can be estimated by taking a different average price per TV
104

for each of the three categories of households. Anand seemed happy
with the analysis and asked me to guess the 3 largest non-household
markets for TVs in USA. I told him:
a. Restaurants/ Pubs
b. Broadcasting Networks/ TV Channels
c. Plasma screens in airplanes
He told me I missed the largest market, which was Hotels/ Hospitals, but
also me that I did the case very well and should not worry about it.
Anand ended the case here.
What do you think
the interview?
I think I structured each mini problem that came up during the case very
well, and Anand was visibly impressed by the way I took a structured
approach to solving problems.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Made two errors:
1. Wrong estimate for the population of USA
2. Could not come up with Hotels as a potential market for TVs
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Get your basic GK right on population, languages, per capita income etc.
of various countries before going for the interviews. It would help.

103

Name Mouneesh Sinha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the
interviewer
Ravi Srivastava, Partner and Director
Round and Interview
Number
3
Personal Interview
Questions
This was a case first interview. After the case the PI began.
The first thing Ravi asked me was how my day had been so far. And I
told him that it had not been good, especially not the way I expected it to
be. He asked me why and I told him about my McK experience, where I
was stuck for 5 hours. I told him that I left the McK interview in between
and came for the BCG interview. Ravi asked me why I did so. I told him
what actually happened that day why I came to BCG. He asked me why
BCG? I told him that in a sense I had already made the choice by
skipping the McK interview and coming to the BCG interview.
Standard last question, he asked me if I had any questions. I asked him
a question on the difference in culture across various organization in
various countries, since he had worked in several countries.
The entire discussion lasted for 15 minutes.
Case question Our client is a Cement manufacturing company, and wants to improve its
profit/ton of cement. What should it do?
Case Type Profitability Case
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I asked a few clarifying questions:
1. How many plants does this company have? 10
2. What were the markets it was operating in? it operated pan
India, and sold its cement in 450 districts
3. How many types of cement did the company produce? only 1.
Ravi asked me to assume that there is only 1 type of cement
available in the market as well.
4. What type of customers did the company have- institutional or
retail? retail
5. Was the price of cement same in all markets? No. Each district
had a different price and hence a different profit. Ravi also added
that in each individual market it was a price taker.
After this set of clarifying questions, I defined the problem and started
analyzing the problem. For the analysis, I made a very simple structure:
Profits/Ton were a function of:
a. Capacity Utilization
b. Revenues
c. Costs
To this Ravi told me that Capacity Utilization was 100% at each of the 10
plants the company owned. I told Ravi that since the market was a price
takers market, there was no scope to increase the further. Further, since
there was only one type of cement, there was no scope for product
differentiation as well. Hence, the only option was to reduce the cost.
I asked Ravi how the company was faring w.r.t. to its competitors on cost
of manufacture of cement. Ravi told me that they were at par with other
players in the markets w.r.t. the cost of manufacture.
To this effect, I suggested writing a Linear Programming equation to
106

optimize the transportation costs across various districts. It seemed Ravi
was looking for this answer, and he asked me write the LP. I asked for
minute and then wrote the LP, including the Objective Function and the
Constraints. It longer than expected and was not as simple as I thought.
Thankfully, I wrote the equation and Ravi was impressed. I suggested
that our client should redistribute the volume to various districts from the
10 factories based on the outcome of the LP optimization.
Ravi asked me should the client do exactly what the LP suggested or
should he keep some other factors in mind. To this I told him that the
client also needed to keep some other factors in mind, like:
a. Market Size and Future Growth rate
b. Demand Supply Gap, and hence pricing power in future
c. Real Options, i.e. exiting a market totally may not be good option
even if the LP suggested so.
d. Competitive Response, including where their factories are
located and how much excess capacity they have, how much
they plan to build in the recent years etc.
Ravi seemed okay with the answer and proceeded with the PI.
What do you think
the interview?
I structured the problem well, and covered capacity utilization as well,
which is generally not covered in the profitability cases.
Also, I wrote the LP very comprehensively, which included the objective
function as well as the constraints. I got stuck in between while writing
the LP because it was a complicated one, but I took my time and
eventually came with the correct LP.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Practice few cases on LP. By practice I mean complete practice where
in you write the full LP Objective Function as well the constraints. It will
help should a similar question comes up during the interview.
Be truthful during the interview, and say what you feel. From my
experience, this is very much appreciated. Also, treat the interview as a
discussion and not as an Q&A session.

107

Name Mouneesh Sinha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the
interviewer
Ashish Iyer, Partner and Director
Round and Interview
Number
5 (I had one more interview in between which I do not remember now)
Personal Interview
Questions
This was again a case first interview. After the case, Ashish started the
PI. Following were the questions he asked:
1. How was my experience at ITC I talked a lot including things
that I liked about ITC and things that I didnt.
2. How was my experience at ISB again, I spoke about lot of
positive things and some negative things. He seemed to like that
I took a balanced approach while answering the questions.
3. Asked about my Hockey and if I was still playing I told him that I
didnt play Hockey after IIT. However, I was playing football at
ISB.
4. Asked about my goals in life I told him about my short term and
long term goals, which I had prepared and vetted with Alums.
5. Any question for him I dont remember what I asked him
Entire thing lasted for about 10-12 minutes.
Case question Our client is a Telecom service provider like Airtel. It wants us to
evaluate two things:
1. Wants us to evaluate the competitive scenario in the market
2. What dimensions should it benchmark its performance against its
competitors
Case Type Telecom Benchmarking Case
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The case was very vague and I was little confused how to begin. The
first thing I asked him was why the client wanted us to undertake the
case. Ashish answered that our client wanted to evaluate where it is viz.
a viz. its competitors and wants to do the same on a continuing basis.
Hence the case.
We had a discussion on the Telecom market in general and gave my
views on the same. Post this he asked me to solve the benchmarking
issue. I made a very simple structure for the benchmarking purpose
which was based on 4 key parameters:
1. Profitability obviously, to survive in the competitive telecom
industry, profitability needs to be benchmarked against
completion
2. Costs the various costs the company incurs also need to be
benchmarked to as to sustain advantage, especially given the
market scenario of declining tariffs
3. Distribution/ Network to have a sustainable advantage, the
network and distribution, including access to towers in already
serviced as well potential growth areas needs to be
benchmarked
4. Access to technology with the advent of services like 3G, the
access to upcoming technology also needs to be benchmarked.
108

Ashish seemed to be happy with structure and ended the case. This was
very short case, and lasted hardly 15 minutes.
What do you think
the interview?
I had certain opinions regarding the Telecom industry, which helped a lot
during the discussion on the industry. Also, while solving the case, I
structured the case well.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
You need to have an opinion on the key industries and sectors, as in
what are the current trends, what is happening right, what is not
happening right, what would you change if you had the power, your
recommendations about the industry etc.

109

Name Mouneesh Sinha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
BCG
Name of the
interviewer
Harsh Vardhan, Partner and Director
Round and Interview
Number
6
Personal Interview
Questions
This interview started which started with a case, followed by a PI, and
then again a case. I will mention about the first case here itself, because
the PI was driven mostly by the answers I gave in the case.
He started the interview by asking why had the stock of HUL been stable
at Rs. 200 per share for the last 10 years, whereas stock prices of other
FMCG companies over the same time period risen (the question came
because I was from the FMCG background).
I started the analysis of the case by saying that I would benchmark HUL
strategies against some of the other FMCG companies whose stock
prices had risen. I took ITC as the benchmark, because I was working
for ITC and evaluated HUL vs. ITC strategies on various levels. At this
point the discussion become qualitative and Harsh kept asking for my
opinions, and I thought it became more of a PI than a case. When asked
about my opinion on what was the primary reason for HUL stock prices
not growing, I told him that I felt the HUL strategy of master-brands, i.e.
eliminating various smaller brands into single umbrella brands was a
wrong strategy for the Indian market. I told Harsh that in the Indian
market, there are various types of consumers with varying needs, and to
have one brand catering to all segments may not be a good idea.
At this point, Harsh asked me about my opinion on the ITC FMCG
strategy. I gave some plus points, but Harsh asked me what I thought
ITC was not doing right. I told him that I felt that the names of the
products Vivel, Fiama etc. were too foreign and unfamiliar, and maybe
ITC was going wrong here. Harsh told me that Lux and Lifebuoy, the
largest selling soap brands also had foreign names. I told Harsh that Lux
and Lifebuoy have been around for such a long time that the names may
not appear foreign to the Indian consumer anymore. I also added that I
did not like the idea that ITC ended all its product names with WILLS,
e.g. Fiama Di Wills, and there were many consumers who still attach the
name WILLS with cigarettes and there are many people who would not
buy the product just because of that.
Harsh asked me how the reaction at my home was when I decided to
join ITC, a company which apparently sells cancer. I gave him the
standard ITC answer, which is ingrained into your head the moment you
join ITC. Harsh said he completely agreed with whatever I said. He then
asked me about my long term goal. I told him that fortunately or
unfortunately, I know that I dont know what I want to do in the long term.
However I had some tentative plan and I told him about Indian Hockey
and my plan to set up an NGO. We had a small discussion on why I had
these goals and I backed it up well, linking both back to previous
experiences.
110

He then asked me if I had some questions, and I asked him what kept
him going in the consulting career for so long. Again, there was a small
discussion, but this time he was the one doing most of the talking.
He then gave me another case.
Case question Harsh told me that there was new phenomenon that was emerging in the
US. In the US, there are certain people who spot basketball and
baseball players very early in age and pay them a lump sum amount
when they are very young in return of a certain percentage of their
lifetime earnings. Harsh told me that our client wants to do the same for
budding cricketers in India, and our job was to help him figure out what
the lump sum amount should be how much percentage of lifetime
earnings they should demand.
Case Type Valuation Type Case (vaguely related to valuation actually)
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The case was a vague one and I tried to structure it in some way. Since
there were two parts to the problem, I decided to handle the two parts
separately.
First part was to determine the lump sum amount. For this I told Harsh
that we needed to forecast the potential earnings of the selected
cricketer and discount it back to the current date to get the NPV. This
problem in structured in the following way:
1. Judging the potential this would determine the potential income
greatly. E.g. A Sachin Tendulkar would earn much more than
VVS Laxman. Hence, the first step would be to identify the true
potential. I suggested that we can use a comparable approach or
expert opinion for the same.
2. Forecasting the future earnings:
a. Earning from core activities match fees, board contracts
etc.
b. Earnings from non-core activities endorsements,
advertisements etc.
Once we have identified the potential, we can estimate how much
the cricketer of his caliber can earn in future.
3. Selecting the Discount Rate since this was a very risky
investment, as the potential earnings were not sure, subject to
injuries etc., I suggested we use a high discount rate, of the order
of 30-40% for discounting the earnings.
4. How much of the NPV should we pay to the cricketer here we
could take a percentage of the NPV (i.e. percent of the NPV we
would get) or use a high discount rate incorporating all risks and
pay the entire NPV(percent of the NPV we would get) to the
cricketer.
The second part was to determine what percentage of lifetime earnings
we should demand. Here I said it was essential to optimize the
percentage of the earnings, because if the percentage of total earnings
that we would in future is very high then there would be no incentive for
the cricketer to perform. He might indulge in drugs, drinking etc. and
may not pay attention to practice. Hence it was essential keep enough
incentive for the cricketer to perform as well. To this, Harsh asked me to
draw the graph of upfront payment versus the percentage of total
earnings that we would get. I drew the following graph:
111

Basically through the graph I intended to say that the upfront payment
would plateau after a certain point, beyond which we should not pay any
extra for any additional percentage of total income.
Harsh seemed happy with the analysis and ended the case.
What do you think
the interview?
I think I structured a seemingly vague case reasonably well, which paid
off. Also, the point that a higher percentage of total income would mean
no incentive for the cricketer to perform was highly appreciated by
Harsh.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I did not handle the question of ITC FMCG strategy as well as I should
have, especially as I was working for ITC. I should have been better
prepared for that kind of a question.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be very well prepared about the industry you were working in, including
their current strategy, what they are doing right and what they are doing
wrong, what you would have done differently etc.
Outcome Was made the Offer!

112

Deloitte
(Strategy and
Operation
113

Name Rakesh Ranjan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the
interviewer
Mohan
Round and Interview
Number
Round 1
Personal Interview
Questions
To start with, we connected really well, while we were walking down the
corridor to the interview room. Mohan started off by asking You all seem
to have strong extra-curriculars (I had done put classic music
performances in my resume)
I mentioned that it is also a factor that is seen during admissions, and
thats why the observation.
Mohan: Take me through your resume.
I: Let me take you through the things that I did apart from the expected
duties at each level/stage.
Mohan: Thats great; go on
I: Went on to mention what initiatives I took at undergrad, work, ISB etc..
Mohan: Your CGPA takes you to which percentile in your batch.
I: Top 20%
Mohan: Do you think this is low? Why do you seem to have a
comparatively lower CGPA?
I: (I had strong acads in undergrad) Answered appropriately on how I
focused on lot of other things, ELP, PaEV etc..
Mohan: Thats nice to hear. You also seem to have done an ELP on a
FMCG product launch in India. Can you elaborate?
I: Explained everything in detail including the focus on distribution etc..
Mohan: What is your view on the implementation of GST (Goods and
services tax) in India? How do you think it might change the dynamics of
distribution?
I: I do not have a lot of knowledge on this, but I can talk about the impact
on FMCG goods. (Went on to describe how under the current structure
double taxation happens and how that is limiting supply chain
optimization etc). Also mentioned that it might have an impact on
businesses and consulting in supply chain.
Mohan: Thats what I wanted to hear. Which other companies are you
interviewing with?
I: Diamond
Mohan: What if Diamond and Deloitte both make you an offer?
I: Answered appropriately. Mentioned that it is responsibility and work
that I am looking for and hence my decision would be based on that.
Mohan: What if Deloitte and McKinsey both give you an offer?
I: Answered appropriately.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as

114

possible
What do you think
the interview?
The connect! We soon established a strong rapport and were conversing
like colleagues. I also mentioned that I didnt know a lot about GST etc,
but still made a good attempt at deconstructing the problem.
When asked to take through the resume, I went ahead to mention all
initiatives and other responsibilities that I undertook at each level rather
than a routine account of the work.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing that I can recall.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Read the body language of the interviewer. If he is relaxed, smiling etc,
try to be in the same disposition.
Outcome Asked to appear for case round

113

Name Rakesh Ranjan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the
interviewer
Two Senior Partners Arun and Some other partner
Arun was just watching me while the other partner kept asking the
questions
Round and Interview
Number
Round 2
Personal Interview
Questions
Not much. After a small introduction moved to the case.
Case question A long case was given. Lots of data and whenever I asked questions, a
few set of slides were passed onto me. It looked like that the case was
an actual one that the team had worked on.
Case: A European pharmaceutical manufacturer (top 3) wants to double
his sales from Eur 5bn to Eur 10 bn in the next 5 years. Please advise.
Case Type Revenue growth, product line optimization, market entry
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Laid out a small structure for the problem. There are primarily three ways
in which the company can achieve the revenue growth:

1) Natural growth of the Industry

2) Organic Growth

3) In organic Growth a) Acquire companies to expand product portfolio
b) Acquire companies to improve market
power in
existing segments

The partners were fine with the structure. Then I went ahead to discuss
each of the points in slight detail.
Me: What is the expected growth of the branded cardio drugs (the
market in which the company was operating) industry in the next five
years?
Interviewers: Assume 8% per year.
Me: This means that if they are able to maintain their market share
(value wise) over the next 5 years, their revenues will be approx =
5*(1.08)^5
Interviewer: I want you to show the calculations as well
Me: Sure, it will be approximately 1.4*5 = 7 bn + .15*5 = 7.75 bn
Interviewer: Ok. Can you please explain why you used such figures.
Me: Explained. So, the problem now seems to be divided into mainly two
parts: a) How to maintain/improve market share in current operating
segments
b) How to achieve another 2.5 bn of revenue growth.
Sell more Lo exlsLlng cusLomers
Sell more of exlsLlng producLs Lo exlsLlng
cusLomers
Sell new producLs Lo cusLomers
Cross sell new producLs Lo exlsLlng
cusLomers
116

Let me first explore the inorganic growth opportunities for our client. Let
us first try and understand market consolidation and cash position of our
client. We will also try and evaluate any target that might
Interviewer: (Interrupting in between) We are not interested in any
acquisitions.
Me: Ok. That leaves us with organic growth opportunities. I would first
want to explore what are the expansion opportunities in the existing
market segments and then venture into new
products/segments/geographies.
Interviewer: Can you prioritize your action right now; we are running out
of time.
Me: Sure. My first action would be to explore if we can grow with our
existing products segment itself. Moreover, with our client being a top 3
player, it might be easier to grow with existing products than explore new
products.
Interviewer: Ok. So what do you suggest?
Me: I can think of three opportunities here: a)Exercise market power to
alter prices, if possible or b) alter distribution channel to improve
revenues that reach us or c)cross-sell existing products to existing
customers and increase value derived from a single customer.
Interviewer: Ok. That sounds fine. Now let us try to understand how we
can expand into new geographies/new product segments.
Me: (Smiled! Realised that he was just trying to stress me out when he
said that we dont have much time) Ok. Can you share market size and
growth by geography and segments information with me?
Interviewer: Gave a slide with lots of tables and charts (cant recall, we
were not allowed to carry notes outside)
Me: To frame my analysis, let me create a simple matrix. (Created the
GE portfolio matrix). Went ahead to evaluate opportunities and
suggested new segments.
Interviewer: Do you think it makes sense to introduce Generics?
Me: Given the existing market size of Generics and margins in the
operating market segments it does not make much sense. However, to
protect market share, the company should evaluate options of
introducing fighter brands like generics.

Interview got over at this.

What do you think
the interview?
Did lots of quick calculations and did not get stressed out. Maintained
my composure and adjusted speed when required.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I felt that sometimes my structure was too elaborate and tended to put
off the interviewer.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Read the body language of the interviewer. Dont get annoyed if
interviewer interrupts in between. Before going into an elaborate
discussion ask interviewer if he wants you to prioritize options before
explaining each one of them in detail.
Outcome Did not have to appear for the third round. Made an offer.
117

Name Apoorv Gautam
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte Consulting India Pvt. Ltd.
Name of the
interviewer
Vinay
Round and Interview
Number
First round, 1
st
one to be interviewed by the 13
th
panel
Personal Interview
Questions
I had met Vinay on the night before during the company dinner
organized by Deloitte. That helped to start the conversation. First he
asked me to briefly go through my resume.
I also mentioned about things which were not mentioned in the resume.
It really helped that I prepared in advance and listed down a few things
which needed to be mentioned during the interview. Vinay picked up
from there and asked me why I chose Marketing and Finance
specialization. He also asked some questions related to my past work
experience. All in all nothing surprising then he asked me question which
I did not prepare for. He asked me what I think of issues related to
formation of new states such as Telangana. I quickly gathered my
thoughts and gave my rationale. Overall I was satisfied with my answer
but in the hindsight I should have prepared for this question as this was
one of the most talked about issues in the media.

And when I thought interview was almost over Vinay asked me to solve
a small guesstimate which was to calculate the number of shoes sold in
Hyderabad in a year. I gave him couple of methods to approach the
problem. He suggested using either one of them and coming up with the
final number. I chose one of the methods and told him the final answers.
All this while I have been talking with him about my assumptions and
why I was solving problem in that particular way. Vinay questioned one
of my assumptions and helped me in making corrections. In the end, he
seemed to be satisfied with the approach and I was relieved that first
interview of my day went fine.
Case question Estimate the number of shoes sold in Hyderabad in a year
Case Type Guesstimate
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
I was prepared for most of the questions. All these were mentioned in
the interview guides distributed by Consulting club and other alums.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I should have been more prepared about popular media issues.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Always attend networking events. I am sure everyone would say this but
importance of such events cant be emphasized enough. Practice PI
questions by writing them; it worked for me at least. It helped me be
clearer about the answer which is important when you are cross-
118

questioned in the interview.
Outcome Moved to the second round
Name Apoorv Gautam
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte Consulting India Pvt. Ltd.
Name of the
interviewer
Santosh and one of the Managers
Round and Interview
Number
Second round
Personal Interview
Questions

Case question To figure out the market entry strategy of a pharmaceutical company
Case Type Marketing and Strategy
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I was asked to figure out how a European pharmaceutical company
should go about launching beauty products. This company may launch
new beauty products by making small changes in existing health
products. New management wanted to double the revenue in 5 years. I
was given a lot of matrices and charts, showing market sizes and growth
rates of various markets such as North America, Europe and emerging
markets. Based on data and other qualitative judgments, I suggested
going to European markets. I used hybrid of multiple frameworks such
as new product introduction, market entry etc. to come up with a
framework for solving the case. After number crunching we reached to
the conclusion that this new beauty product market wont be sufficient for
the firm to double its revenue. Hence firm must increase market share in
its existing pharmaceutical market. I used 2X2 matrix with new products,
old products on Y axis and new customers, old customers on X axis.
After probing, I realized that bottleneck in firms business was their
business model. Firm used to buy patents from other small firms and use
its manufacturing capabilities and extensive distribution network to sell
the product. After number crunching I suggested the approach involving
developing its own R&D capabilities and better incentivizing the
distribution network. Also used share of voice*share of mind*share of
distribution framework to give my recommendations.

At this stage Santosh asked me if I had solved the case before because
I had touched upon all the aspects of the case I was pleased to see
that case round went well and I came out relieved.

Later one of the alums asked me to wait. He went inside and discussed
with my interview panel. He came out in 10 mins and asked me if I had
other offers. I was damn pleased to hear that and got the sense that my
interview went really well.
What do you think
the interview?
Framework which I came up with was exhaustive, kept communicating
while solving the case. Even when I was stuck, I re-iterated my approach
and showed the logical progression. Sometime, we get so involved in
thinking especially when too much data is thrown at us that we do not
communicate our approach. It is very important even to justify why you
are asking any particular question. If you have shared your approach
with the interviewer then it becomes easier. See the whole case
119

interview as a mutual problem solving exercise where interviewer is also
part of it.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Could have done calculation little faster. Small tricks of multiplications
would have certainly helped.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be flexible in using frameworks. Sometimes you may need to use
multiple of them in the same case so one needs to internalize them.
Importance of solving sufficient number of cases cannot be emphasized
enough.
Outcome Offer made after a brief conversation with a partner

120

Name Laxmikant Vyas
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the
interviewer
Mohan Akela
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
A) Why MBA?
B) Why come back from US?
C) If offered Booz and Deloitte, what would you prefer?
Case question A) What is the difference between risk and flexibility?
B) If 4 warehouses were combined how would the inventory levels
change?
Case Type None
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
Thinking aloud for the questions
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
A) Its ok not to give precise answers, just think aloud and you
should be ok.
Outcome Shortlist for 2
nd
round interview.

121

Name Laxmikant Vyas
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the
interviewer
Deloitte Partner and another Sr. Manager
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Questions on past experience
Case question A pharma company wants to expand its business. How?
Case Type Market entry strategy. I was provided slides of case on request.
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Pharma company currently in Generics. Want to explore other options.
Details of Market size, share, competition given. Draw inferences and
support your logic.
What do you think
the interview?
Kept cool head. Supported by inferences well with numbers. Talked
loudly and kept focus on the problem at hand.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Missed out on some information I was given earlier.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
A) Keep track of all the information you have.
B) It is ok to change your recommendation, in light of new
information.
Outcome Offer made.

122

Name Deepshikha Ganjoo
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the interviewer Sudeep Head of Healthcare Practice
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
The first round was a very amicable interview where we had a
general chat about multiple things. The positive thing was that I
had already met Sudeep and most of the other Deloitte folks at a
dinner hosted a couple of days before the interview and they
recognized me from there. Sudeep asked me about my
background and the usual PI questions like why consulting, why
Deloitte, why I moved back from the US. We also spoke about
travelling being an integral part of the job and whether I wanted to
change industries or remain in the same. We happened to live in
the same places and we spoke about that. All in all it was a casual
talk where he just wanted to gauge my communication skills and
readiness for a career in consulting. I asked him about the
healthcare practice and how it was in India and also how the US-
Hyderabad business model of Deloitte worked.

Case question None
Case Type -

interview?
One major thing that went right was that the rapport between me
and the interviewer. He had a good sense of humor and I could
gauge his personality and talk accordingly. Also the fact that I had
spoken to him and asked questions during the dinner session


batch based in this
interview

Outcome I moved to R1, Interview 2.

123

Name Deepshikha Ganjoo
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the interviewer Santosh Anoo and another Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
-

Case question
The case was about a pharmaceutical company in Europe. The
Partner gave me a lot of data upfront which I noted down. It was
as follows
Case Type Market Entry Decision
The pharma industry is fragmented and this company is one of the
larger players with sales of $5 billion a year. They have a very
good brand and sell mainly branded drugs in addition into a few
generics. Their end customers are mainly hospitals and
distributors. They now want to double their turnover in 5 years and
have decided to enter the space of medicinal cosmetics.
From here, Santosh took over from the other partner. First I
summarized the case facts and clarified the objective. I asked
them what sort of turnover they were looking at and he said it was
their sales.
I used the 3 Cs structure and examined the Company, Customers
and Competition. I went over the state of the industry (current and
future) and whether it made business sense to enter the new
market. . Then I went to how we would go about entering the new
market. I drew the 2 by 2 current market, new market, current
product , new product and questioned whether they could
exercise all the 4 options or not. Santosh said it was a good
approach but we would come to it later.
He showed me a sheet of paper with some data and charts on it
and asked me to interpret it and then proceed towards the
analysis
This is some of the data I can recall (numbers might not be
accurate):
Size of world market in billions
124

Growth rate per region
Region Growth Rate
Europe 10%
US 10%
Japan -5%
Rest of the world 12%

They asked me which region they should focus on
Japan: eliminated Japan due to small market size and negative
growth.
Europe: Definitely enter. Have the local knowledge, established
customer base and distribution networks
US: I said US is seems like good opportunity but there might
already be strong competitors in this developed market and it
might lead to price wars.
Rest of the world: I was leaning towards this since it was a
growing market but decided against it since it had multiple
challenges. Rest of the world included many countries and would
be difficult to set up operations in multiple companies. In addition,
regulations were not strong and piracy was high, would take time
to customize to the local markets.
Growth rate by Drug type and distribution channel
Branded Generic
OTC 15% 5%
Prescription 25% 10%

uS, 30
Lurope,
20
!apan, 3
8esL of
Lhe
world,
20
123

They asked me which drug type and channel should they focus on
and I said that branded was their competency so they should go
for that. The channel should be prescription and even though they
dont have experience in OTC they should, try that channel as well
since it had significant growth rate
Next he asked me to calculate how much their turnover would
increase in 5 years through the choices I had made. Given the
market sizes and growth rates, I calculated the sales and found it
to be about half of what was required. So then he asked me what
should be the next step now. The current solution doesnt seem to
work
I went back to the 2 by 2 of market entry matrix and said they
could try to expand the current product in new markets rather than
focus on a new market. He was happy and said that its always
better to first expand in an area which you have expertise in
provided it is profitable. Then he asked me what I would do
differently to expand the current market.
I went over the value chain analysis and gave various possible
options like increasing marketing spend, Joint ventures etc. I
finally zeroed in on the distribution network and he asked me to
probe that further. The current issue turned out to be that they
were dealing with hospitals and were too localized. They needed
to expand their network in Europe and this would give them the
turnover needed. He said that you have cracked the case and was
satisfied.

interview?
I remained calm even though the interviewer was putting a lot of
stress and trying to hurry me up. I came up with innovative
solutions and made sure I listened to the hints given by the
interviewer about whether the direction I was proceeding on was
ok or not. Practice done on cases helped.

While practicing cases, I had not done timed practices. So when I
was subjected to this in the interview, I had to make a big effort to
not let it get to me. The interviewer was very aggressive and
wanted quick answers. Also, dont get bogged down by structures,
I was letting structures determine my thinking initially but later
customized by analysis as per the case.
126

batch based in this
interview
Outcome
I moved to R2, Interview1. I had a Small PI, where they asked
questions related to TMAY, reasons for NOT joining deloitte if any,
etc. Then the offer was made.

127

Name Chithra Unnikrishnan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Deloitte
Name of the interviewer -
Round and Interview
Number
Round 1, Interview 1 AND 2 (Interview 1 was PI and interview 2
was a case)
Personal Interview
Questions
1. How has interviews been going so far?
I had only Deloitte interview scheduled for Day 1 but I gave a
general answer that they have been going well. I really didnt
expect this question and dont know the right answer.
Thankfully he didnt follow up with which other interviews did
you attend etc.

2. Why Deloitte? I gave 3 points:
a. Work culture. Very approachable and down to earth and I
had personally experienced this during the dinner. (Deloitte
had organized a dinner for all short listed applicants 2 days
before the interview. I had met and chatted with most of their
team, which helped as they recognized me during the
interview.)
b. TMT (technology, media & telecommunication) division of
Deloitte is where I want to work as it ties in with my previous
telecom experience at Nokia. Logical career progression.
c. Deloitte does a lot of implementation along with strategy
consulting which I would enjoy as I am an engineer and
have enjoyed product design experience.

3. So you are from RVCE, Bangalore? Didnt Kumble or Dravid
study in your college?
I said yes Kumble did study in my college. Though Rahul
Dravid didnt, however his brother Vijay Dravid studied in my
college and he was in the same class as my elder sister. We
than casually chatted about how I have gone to watch a
cricket match with Vijay Dravid and my sisters gang at
Chinnaswamy stadium and the interviewer mentioned his
experience in IIM when Dravid had come to their campus.
My PI interview ended on a very casual note and I felt the
interviewer was pleased with the conversation. He then wished
me best of luck.

128

Case question

Case Type Market Entry Decision
I was through for the second round. The ratio that cleared the first
round was 2:5 (~40 out of ~100). The 2
nd
round was a case
interview with 2 partners of Deloitte. The interview was in a small
room with a small table and 3 chairs. Both the partners were
sitting right in front of me. After brief introductions they jumped
right to the case.
They first mentioned it as a heavy case and that they would first
give a 1 part of the data after which I have to make some analysis
and then based on what information I ask for they will give out the
rest of the data. The case was Market Entry strategy for a
European Pharma company which until now was into skin and
hair products which was sold to hospitals. The market was highly
fragmented and the firm had 10% market share. The company
had strong relationships with doctors. It had a distribution channel
which consisted of direct sales and wholesalers. The revenue was
stable at ________. (some number in billions.. dont remember
exactly. Lot of facts was thrown at me and I was jotting down
everything. One of the partners was keenly looking at my sheet so
I tried to be as organized as I could.)
The firm wanted to expand into consumer market and had to
decide between some options to achieve an increase in revenue
by 20% in 5 years. A Sheet with a 2 by 2 matrix and a table was
shown to me which had growth rates and size of OTC vs
Prescription and Generic vs Branded markets. Then another
graph and a table which had information of 4 geographies
(Europe, India, US, Japan): market size and characteristics of
customers in each geography was given.
They first asked what factors I will consider for my evaluation. I
gave the market entry framework tailored to the scenario
presented. They were fine with this and a partner said Good I
covered all points including company alignment which is critical.
By looking at the 4 tables/graphs I had to tell them which business
to enter and which Geography to target for this?
After some quick analysis based on attractiveness (growth and
alignment of the business with the companys current business) I
said the company should enter Branded business. Since branded
would be expensive India was ruled out and Japan was a
diminishing market so ruled out that too. I said the company
should target both US and Europe. Europe because it already has
129

a presence and distribution system and relationships with doctors
which it can leverage. US because the market was attractive and
though there was huge competition the company can enter US by
merging/acquiring a big player if it has the money to do so. I felt
one partner liked the rationale for US as he nodded vigorously.
Then came the number crunching where I was asked to calculate
in 5 years how much revenue I will make by following the strategy
I had mentioned previously. I asked for the required data to do so
and started calculating. It was quite unnerving as both of them
were staring at my sheet and I got the feeling that they wanted me
to be fast (may be because they need to conduct so many
interviews). However I gave them the numbers they asked for and
one of the numbers was wrong. The partner went over the
calculation with me and pointed out where I went wrong. Basically
I had taken 15% growth rate instead of 8% for US.
The result was that the revenue was not much and did not reach
the target Return the CEO was looking for. They then asked
strategic questions on what the firm do should. I said since in
their current business they have only 10% market share they
should attempt to capture a larger portion as their existing
business was giving them high margins. They asked what
specifically the firm should do to increase revenues. I was a bit
stuck and thought for a while; I said they can increase their
product offerings to target more segments. Also they can
increase the quantity of purchase from the current customer base.
With this the interview ended and I was through for the 3
rd
round
which was a HR round and I knew I was in! The HR interview was
mainly about my family and whether Hyderabad base is good for
me etc.

interview?


batch based in this
interview

Outcome Got the offer
130

Diamond
Technology
and
Management
Consultants

131

Name Rakesh Ranjan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Diamond
Name of the
interviewer
Rajesh Balaraman (Partner)
Round and Interview
Number
Round 1
Personal Interview
Questions
We had interacted before in the Dconstruct challenge and hence the
interview started on that note only. PI questions were the usual ones:
How has the ISB experience for you been?
Why Diamond? Why not some other consulting organization?
Rajesh is one of the coolest guys to interact with at Diamond. It is very
important to establish a good personal connect with him as he also took
the interview in a very relaxed way, unlike many recruiters who might
want to stress you out, or might act a little too professional.
Case question He started off by asking: How much are you aware of Auto after sales
repair market in India? I mentioned that my knowledge was very limited
on this. To which he said that, Lets try and explore it further then.
Question: A big client wants to set up after-sales repair shops/stations in
India. Please advise them.
Case Type Market entry and market estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I had mentioned in the PI that I liked the work that Diamond is doing in
Retail. I guess that sparked off his interest in auto repair services, as
many dynamics are similar to a retail business.
I: Thank you for the case, it looks interesting. Before I proceed to
analyze the case, let me first lay an overall agenda for the discussion.
We will first lay-out an overall structure and try to narrow down the
problem into more identifiable sections, and then we will dig deeper into
the most relevant of the sections. As and when questions come up, we
will discuss them. Towards the end, we will also explore the risks and
implementation issues associated with the business.
Rajesh: That sounds like a good plan! Please go ahead.
I: What are the current businesses of the client?
Rajesh: Lets consider that the client operates similar stations in
developing countries and given that India is a huge auto market, he is
interested in it
I: Ok. Since he is already in the business, he must have thought of the
different services that he seeks to provide through these stations. To my
understanding, the following services can be provided:
Periodic maintenance
Accidental/Heavy damage repair
Insurance services
Components and parts, including tyres etc
Does the client want to pursue these services or he has some other
services in mind as well?
Rajesh: I think you have covered the services that he is interested in
starting in India. So lets first see how the market of each of them looks
like.
132

(Its very important to take cues from the tone of the interviewer. It clearly
looked that he was not interested in going into the regular market entry
structure of market attractiveness, competition, customer analysis,
regulations etc...)
I: Another clarification; can you also guide me on the kind of vehicles
that his services are targeted at?
Rajesh: Thats a good question. He is primarily looking at Cars.
I: Thanks. So let us first try to calculate market size of each of the
businesses. Lets take periodic maintenance first. For convenience sake,
let us take a city, for example Delhi.
Rajesh: Ok. I am more interested in how you handle the problem overall.
So lets start.
I: Thanks. (I first divided the entire population into households, then
different income segments, and then taking an average number of cars
per income segment I calculated the total number of cars. I also
mentioned that I am ignoring rental cars, taxis etc for calculation. I said
that these can be taken as a percentage of the overall market. Rajesh
was fine with this)
Average distance travelled by a car= 40 km/day (ignoring the extra/less
kms that the car might be travelling on weekends etc)
In a month = 40*30 = 1200 kms
I took an assumption that services are required every 5000 kilometers,
this gave me the total months after which car required service.
Service required: 5000/1200 kms = approx every 4 months
However, its imperative to understand how many of these cars are new
cars, as for the first few thousand kilometers, services are given for free.
Then I took an average car market growth figure to estimate the
proportion of new cars in the existing stock. Did some calculations there.
After all this exercise I had these figures:
Total number of new cars (which were under free service period)
and other cars (which were not in free service period
Total number of cars divided into: entry level, mid-range, and
premium/luxury cars (This was very important as we will very
soon see)
Average age of older cars (This was important for taking an
average value of periodic maintenance)

I then took each car segment separately and assigned an average value
of maintenance and calculated a value. For example: 500 entry level
cars * INR 1500 per visit * 3 visits in a year.
Then I mentioned that this is the Total Available Market (TAM) and not
the Total Served Market, as many people tend to go to company
authorized stations. Rajesh then asked how you would account for this. I
mentioned that typically customers base their choice of service stations
on three things:
Cost of service
Proximity
Quality
Since our client can provide the right quality and good pan-city/India
presence, by keeping cost of service lower to service stations, he can
target a big portion of the TAM. Rajesh was happy with this.
133

Rajesh: I am glad that you covered lot of extraneous factors and
variables. Lets analyse the insurance services and vehicle
damage/repair market.
I: Ok. For vehicle damage market, lets assume an average accident rate
(the figure was immaterial). We will keep the same rate for each of the
segment of cars. Overall market for each segment = total no. of cars *
accident rate * average amount spent per repair
I: Moving to insurance market. I think we should first try and calculate a
blended rate.
Rajesh: That sounds interesting. Please go ahead.
I: Insurance rates for each of the cars will vary according to age and
value of the car. Lets take entry level cars for example.
Average age of the car = 10 years
Assuming 60% of the cars are less than 5 years old. (The figure 60% is
not important, what was important was that I mentioned that car sales
have been picked up a lot in last 5 years and hence proportion of new
cars is higher)
Blended rate = 0.6*1500 + 0.4*2200 (1500 = insurance charge for
newer cars, 2200 insurance charge for older cars)
Total market = blended rate*total number of cars
Rajesh: Thats it Rakesh. I have no more questions. Do you have any
questions for me?
I had done a good amount of research on his profile and work; asked
very pointed questions. Also gave some views on his research papers.
Had an 8-10 minute discussion on it.

What do you think
the interview?
I think that the initial two minutes here helped Rajesh visualize that I had
understood the problem well and was willing to consider implementation
as well. Remember that Diamond focused on implementation!
I also took into account a lot of externalities and factors. Took
assumptions and guided the entire conversation.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing that I can recall.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Always take hints and cues from the interviewer. Sometime, he doesnt
want you to go into standard structures and if you still try and force fit, it
might put him off. Treat the case as a discussion; say thanks, this
sounds fine etc...
Outcome Asked to appear for second round

134

Name Rakesh Ranjan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Diamond
Name of the
interviewer
Govind (Partner)
Round and Interview
Number
Round 2
Personal Interview
Questions
Had an initial 1 minute chit-chat. I asked him how he was doing, given
that he took an early morning flight to Hyderabad. He asked me how it
feels to sit on the other side of the table. PI questions were the usual
ones:
Why Diamond? Why should you not join some other consulting
organization? You must know all other shortlists; why should we take
you and not them?
Govind is a no-nonsense guy. He appreciates straight forward answers
and likes to explore at least 2-3 alternate solutions to every solution. But
overall, an extremely pleasant person to have a good conversation with

Case question Question: A street hawker has been selling coconut water in a high-rise
residential area for last few months. He has been making good sales
and is now thinking of selling fresh juice also. You go over to him one
day to have coconut water and he asks you whether he should start
selling juices or not?
Case Type New product launch, and market estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Govind: I first want you to calculate how much money is he making right
now?
I: Sure. I will make some assumptions and we will walk through the
calculations.
Total money made = No of coconut shells sold * price per shell * margins
* factor to account for wastage
Where does he exactly sell it? Near a park or something?
Govind: Right. The high-rise has a park where residents go for morning
and evening walks. Its essentially these park going residents who
consume the product. Ignore wastage, but good point!
I: Thanks. Since he is happy with the current sales, I am assuming that
he is able to sell a full cart by early evening.
Govind: Safe assumption!
I: Taking an average length and breadth of a four wheeled cart, approx
150 coconut shells can be accommodated into this. The money that he
makes = 150*2*15(average price) * 0.3 (margin) = approx 1350
rupees/day
Govind: Okay. Can this estimation be done in some other way?
I: Yes. As of now, we have approached this from a supply side. We can
also do demand estimation and then calculate revenues and subsequent
profits.
Govind: Go ahead.
I: First I will estimate average no of people coming to park in morning
and evening and then take a percentage of people buying coconut water
133

and arrive at the total demand in day. Can we assume that the high-rise
is in a sub-urban area?
Govind: Yes. Which city you want to take? How does it impact your
calculations, if any?
I: Lets take Gurgaon for example. Typically you will find only one park
for a big area, as compared to say Delhi, which will have many more
parks and more visitors. Also, lifestyles are slightly different. In a satellite
town percentage of people working in a family is higher. Also families
are smaller.
Govind: Ok. So take assumptions and give me a figure.
I: Ok, I will take Gurgaon as an example. Assume that there are 20 high-
rise buildings per park. High-rise in India is typically of 10-15 floors. On
each floor I will assume approx 5 apartments. This gives us 20*10*5 =
1000 apartments. In a city like Gurgaon, typical household size is 3
people. This gives us 3000 residents per park. Out of these only wives
and children will have time to go to the park every day. Total likely
visitors to park are = 1000*0.5 (children) + 1000*0.5 (females) = 1000
visitors. (I also took other assumptions around average age of kids,
females etc)
Out of these usually 10% people are likely to take coconut water.
(Mentioned that 10% is an arbitrary figure. We have to consider factors
such as people who might consider a street hawker as hygienic enough
etc). Calculated average demand and market.
Govind: Can you use estimate market for fresh juice in a similar way?
I: Yes. We can take a similar approach of juice consumption by going
through a similar exercise, where we calculate population, likely
consumption etc.
Govind: Do you there is any other way in which a not-so-educated
person can estimate market for juices.
I: The best way for him will be to do some simple field research. He can
just talk to nearby shop owners and get an idea of litres of juice sold in a
month/day. However, if residents usually shop from a supermarket,
thats not in that area, it might become very tough for the hawker.
Govind. Ok. Is there any other way in which he would like to estimate the
market?
I: I can think of another way. I am assuming that he has been selling
coconut water for a few months. In that case, he must have already
developed a somewhat loyal customer base of residents who visit him
regularly. Based on this, he can take a percentage of his current sales to
arrive at a figure.
Govind: I want you to estimate how much juice he can sell.
I: Ok. I will estimate the number of standard glasses (200 ml) of juice
that he can sell per day and the money he can make out of it. For that
lets divide the entire demand for juices into apple, mixed, oranges,
sweet lime. The reason for doing it is rates are usually different for these
fruit juices. (I then went ahead and took some assumptions to calculate
juice demand etc)
Govind: Ok. Lets say he wants to open the juice bar, what all costs etc
he will incur. What considerations he should make?
I: (Standard framework of costs capex, opex, maintenance, Sg&A,
etc..) additional points: small entrepreneur and hence credit period
136

extended by fruit suppliers might be small, high asset turnover required,
etc..
Govind: Lets say you want to give an advice to him in 1 minute whether
he should open a juice parlor or not?
I: My advice will be not open a juice parlor in this area. This is because,
selling juices is very different from selling coconut water. For example:
People are very worried about hygiene when it comes to juices,
but since coconut water is inside a shell, they are willing to buy it
from road-side as well
In a high-rise area (with high income people) they will prefer to
have a proper place where they can sit and have juice
Both these things would mean that he will have to rent a proper place.
Now we calculated that he is making approx 40,000/month from coconut
water selling. Lets assume that he can make half of the amount from
juice also. So additional profits = 20,000. Additional costs = 20,000 (rent)
+ 2 (no of employees) * 3000 + other opex = at least 30,000
Hence the plan doesnt look viable.
Govind: Ok. Thanks. Do you have any questions for me?
I had done a good amount of research on his profile and work; asked
very pointed questions. Had a 5-6 minute discussion on it.

What do you think
the interview?
Kept on considering alternate ways of arriving at solutions. Did not show
any sign of frustration or fatigue. Did not allow to have awkward silences
during the conversation

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
At times I was not as focused as Govind wanted me to; tended to
elaborate too much at times.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Do not get too mired up in standard structures. Create your own small
ones during interviews; also practice in a similar way.
Outcome Asked to appear immediately for third round

137

Name Rakesh Ranjan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Diamond
Name of the
interviewer
Vinod Nair (MD and Managing Partner)
Round and
Interview Number
Round 3
Personal Interview
Questions
Had an initial 1 minute chit-chat. PI questions were centered around my
previous organization, Evalueserve.
How has recession affected Evalueserve?
What business model changes, if any, have come in the last 3-4 years?
In the last one year?
(Vinod apparently was a friend of COO of Evalueserve, Ashish Gupta)
A few more questions on Evalueserve.
Case question Question: A 3 G handset manufacturer wants to enter India. First he
wants to understand the market for 3G handsets in India. Help him.
Case Type New product launch, and market estimation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Vinod: Have you done any cases with Rajesh/Govind which involved
numbers?
I: Yes. However, they involved simple calculations and approximations.
Vinod: So let me ask you another case, which will involve similar
calculations. (Then he gave the case question)
I: (Followed the same approach as I did with Rajesh in first round, laid out
the overall agenda for the discussion) Since 3G is not expected to be
launched full-fledged before 2011, I will do all calculations considering
that we are doing the case in 2011. ( I was expecting some questions on
3G spectrum allocation after this, but Vinod just nodded, didnt ask any
questions)
Market size can be divided into:
1. Replacement demand (People already owning 3G handsets
some existing smart phones are 3G compatible, such as I phone
3G)
2. New demand (New 3G handset buyers)

Vinod: Ignore replacement demand
I: Ok, sure. So, total demand for 3G handsets =
total number of mobile subscribers in 2011 * percentage adoption of 3G

expected mobile penetration in 2011* population

Vinod: Ok. May be you should take up some numbers and walk through
some calculations.
I: (I got the feeling that Vinod wanted me to start taking assumptions and
use uaLa A8u as a proxy.
We can do lL clrcle wlse
138

start working around with numbers). Ok. India is divided into 22 telecom
circles. Metro cities circles are a good start for 3G market size
calculations. Lets first take Delhi for example.
Population = 20 mn; penetration = approx 100%
Mobile subscribers = 20 mn
(I noticed that Vinod was smiling)
I: Is there something that I am missing here?
Vinod: I am not sure, do you need any data from me?
I: Well, I will need to arrive at a benchmark ARPU to calculate likely
adoption of 3G services. Can you provide me that figure?
Vinod: How exactly do you intend to use it?
I: Once I have the Benchmark ARPU for 3G users I can calculate the
number of current 2G subscribers likely to buy 3G services and hence the
handset.
Vinod: But I dont have the number.
I: (Tried ways to calculate the benchmark, but could not do it) I think I am
stuck here.
Vinod: Do you think it can be done differently?
I: Yes. I can think of another way. Can we instead use Handset prices as
a proxy instead of ARPU?
Vinod: Go on
I: If we can estimate the total number of high-end phone users (more than
10k) we can get an estimate of our target market, and then we can use
percentage adoption figures (derived from 3G introduction in other similar
markets) to arrive at a figure.
Vinod: Go on..
I: So first divide entire Delhi mobile phone market into three segments
1. Entry level
2. Mid range
3. Premium This is target market to start with
Then we can use some models such as Bass diffusion model to
understand adoption of 3G handsets by comparing it with similar markets.
Vinod: (Interrupting in between) Thats it. I have no more questions; do
you have any questions for me?

I asked some questions on PE practice in Europe. Upcoming insurance
practice in India. Vinod had worked for an NGO promoting children
student exchange; I had similar interests. We discussed it at length.
Approx 7-8 minutes.

What do you think
the interview?
Was willing to accept mistakes/stuck-up situations. Researched a lot on
his interests/activities/experience. We had a really good last 7-8 minutes
of the interview. Was also able to come-up with alternate solutions and
use MBA concepts (Bass model) to solve the case.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
The initial hypothesis of ARPU benchmarking. I did not foresee the entire
structure before hand and was hurrying in to the solution
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Dont exhaust yourself mentally in the interview. Be cool and relaxed,
otherwise alternate solutions might never come out.
139

Outcome Made an offer!

140

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Diamond Consultants
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Govind Balan- Principal
Round and Interview
Number
Round 1; Interview 1
Personal Interview
Questions
The interview started on a comfortable note. He asked me about my
interview experiences so far and I asked him about the same. He told
me how it was a pleasure being in such a campus. Talked for a couple
of minutes on ISB.

Then he started off by looking at my resume and appreciating the work I
had done at ITC, educational record and the extra-currics. This was
confidence boosting. He then asked me to narrate an instance which
has been the most challenging (again on Work-Ex). Told him about the
major project I had done at the factory in Bihar. He then quizzed me on
reason why I chose that. Told him about the context surrounding the
project, the problems I faced and what the success meant to me at that
stage.

We then discussed some other work that I had done like managing
infrastructure projects and from there came the first case.

Case question Evaluating feasibility of a housing construction project by analyzing
costs, revenue, break even stats and profitability.
Case Type Cost/Revenue/Profitability
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The client is real estate construction company. They are evaluating a
project to build 10 housing towers. Each tower would have 30 flats each
thus a total of 300 flats are planned to be built. We need to advise the
client whether to go ahead with the project or drop it.

The initial dose of numbers indicated that it would be number-heavy
case. I asked a few start-up questions like, where is the project being
proposed as it may have an impact. Also, what was the time frame to be
considered- project initiation and construction time. He asked why this
was important and I talked about the current real estate scenario and
likelihood of improvement in the years to come. He was happy and said
the project is being planned to be implemented in 2010 and told me to
assume 1 yr as the time of construction.

I said the objective of any project is to make money (i.e. positive NPV)
and thus we need to evaluate the cash outflows (costs) and inflows
(revenue) involved. He agreed. Started off with costs and within those
the CAPEX Costs. He said he had some nos. to share. I dont remember
the exact figures but the cost heads were:
Construction Cost: Rs/sq. ft
Furnishing and Fittings Cost: Rs/sq.ft
Other Electrical/Mechanical/Plumbing Costs: Rs/sq.ft
Landscaping Costs: Rs/sq.ft
141

Then on asking, he gave the Area (sq.ft) of each flat. As I had
experience in construction projects, I asked him the split up of the
compound into the built-up area and landscaping area. Told him the
local laws need you to leave out 30-50% area as un-built which required
landscaping. He appreciated the point and asked me to consider all the
figures as weighted average nos. So, could calculate the total capex =
sum of all costs/sq. ft * area per flat * no. of flats(300).

Then enquired about the maintenance/operating expenditures. He gave
similar figures.

Coming to the revenue side, asked him about the various revenue
streams. He confirmed that revenue would only be from the sale of
houses. He shared the most likely price per flat (or per sq.ft). Here, I
talked about the time stream of cash flows. Asked him whether 100%
sale of flats would happen during the year of construction. He asked me
what I thought. Told him that in the present scenario, this seemed very
ambitious. He asked me to make assumptions. I assumed 50% in Yr 1
(Yr 0 being the construction), 30% in Yr 2 and 20% in Yr 3. He agreed.
Some other assumptions that we agreed upon were: prices to remain
constant during the 3 years and only 1 down payment on handing over
of apartment.

Made the cash-flow stream. Assumed some discount return and
calculated NPV which was highly positive. Then I talked about other
concerns which might be important in evaluating the project such as:
market demand forecast, sourcing of capital, target rate of return etc.

To wrap up, asked him some questions in his area of work: media &
entertainment and telecom.
What do you think
the interview?

Handled the nos. quite well. Figured out that the case was going to be
number heavy so did the calculations very cautiously. As it turned out,
there wasnt anything else in the case.
Also, I could ask many insightful questions related to housing
construction, which although I was asked to ignore but impressed him.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Was one of the earliest interviews in the day. So wasnt well warmed up
with the Work-Ex related questions. Got better as the day progressed.

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be well versed with the strongest point on your CV. I thought mine was
my Wok-ex and was thorough with it. As it turned out, all my interviews
revolved around that. So amidst revising core terms, electives etc, dont
leave this out.
Practice no. heavy cases. These one are conceptually very easy. Just
need to manage nos. well.
Outcome Passed on to a nearby room of 2
nd
R-1 Interview

142

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Diamond Consultants
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Rajesh Balaraman- Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Rajesh is a very warm and cordial person. Somehow we got along really
well right from the start. Commented on the location of the room and we
chatted on that for some time. He said he was very impressed with the
CV and again discussed similar questions on work-ex. Asked general
stuff on where else I have been interviewing etc.

Case question Determine the market potential for a one stop shop automobile services
retail outlet
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Rajesh said that one of his friends had returned from abroad and was
considering the concept of opening a retail store for automobile services
from where he would like to address all the issues/services associated
with automobiles. He asked me put myself in the shoes of a Diamond
Partner and help him evaluate the opportunity in India. He then quickly
corrected him and said Not a Partner, as an Associate. I asked him
why the change and we had a good laugh about it

I asked him a few clarificatory questions on the concept as it seemed
new. He explained that once a new automobile is bought, the client
wanted to address all the service needs that a vehicle customer would
have. I asked him what vehicles we are talking about. He confirmed only
light motor vehicles (LMVs) used for personal use. I asked him if he also
wanted to deal in the sale of vehicles to which he said no.

I suggested that we first clearly define the scope of services he wanted
to provide and then consider each one of them one by one for business
opportunity. He agreed and I asked him for a minute to structure my
thoughts. I started thinking what I would need once I buy a car. Thinking
on those lines, I came up with the following sequential order.

Insurance > Accessories > Planned Maintenance/Servicing > Unplanned
Maintenance/Servicing (further split into Major Accident related and
small repairs/spare part replacement) > Car re-sale

Asked him if this is what the client is looking at. He said Yes. Then I said
we good go in the sequential order and evaluate the business
opportunity in each area. He offered me to pick up any one area and
define the roadmap to analyze the opportunity there. I realized the key to
doing well was to choose the most convenient area. I asked him for a
minute and chose Planned Maintenance as there wouldnt be many
idiosyncrasies there are I could flaunt some of my knowledge of the
automobile industry that I had picked up from the sector summaries.

143

Firstly, I clarified that along with the car purchase, there is an OEM
prescribed maintenance/servicing schedule based on the no. of
Kilometers run, which I am referring to as Planned Maintenance. The
schedule also lists the parts to be serviced and sub-assemblies to be
replaced. He agreed. I sought his approval on taking 5 years as the
average life-time of a vehicle. He agreed.

I asked him if the client is open to servicing all cars of all makes. He said
yes. Then I said that as Maruti, Tata Motors and Hyundai combined hold
almost 75% of the automobile industry and also their data/figures are
easy to locate, we could analyze them and extrapolate the nos. to the
remaining 25%. This was additional knowledge which was appreciated.

Then I suggested that in the interest of time, he shall take up Maruti
(~50%of the industry) and follow similar approach to other makes. He
can easily get the sales figures of Maruti for the last 5 years. Although
his can be further split into multiple models that have different servicing
requirements/bill of materials but for simplicity we shall assume one
typical model. He agreed.

We could then assume the Kms run per month for the car. He said how
we could do that. I gave a couple of examples from personal experience
and we agreed on 1000 km/month on average although it was prone of
high SD. Thus, we could calculate the Kms run for all the Maruti Cars on
road. He could then classify then into various Ranges/Categories. Then
for each category, we ascertain the remaining service requirements in
their left-over lifetime. As details of Planned Maintenance are available,
we could fund out the sourcing requirements, costs involved, possible
revenues and thus profitability.

I thought it got a bit complicated in the end but Rajesh seemed quite
happy. I knew we had worked a lot in Retail. I told him about my ELP
and asked him what he thought was the future of organized retail in
India. Had a discussion for 5 minutes. I could share some example from
the ELP that were in-line with his opinion.
What do you think
the interview?
The much abused CONNECT was very good. The mood of the
interview was light throughout. This gave me the opportunity to take the
case where I wanted it to go.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing at all. Yes the approach to determine Market Potential could
have been more streamlined but was able to put-forth my view point very
convincingly.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Need not be extra formal in all interviews. Take a couple of minutes to
get a feel of the mood/attitude of interviewer and then carry on from
there.
Once you start off on an approach, then build on rather than going back
to an alternate approach (unless you realize that your approach was
hopeless). Interviewer is interested in the clarity of your thought and
confidence.
Outcome Made it to Round 2

144

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Diamond Consultants
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Vinod Nair- Managing Director
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Before I entered the interview, I was told that they wanted to make an
offer. Vinod, being the senior most member of the team just wanted to
have a chat with me.

As I was caught up in interviews with other firms, Vinod had to wait for a
long time before I could come to meet him. So the interview started off
with discussion on my status with the other firms. Vinod then asked me
where did Diamond lie on my priority list and why did I want to join
Diamond. I told there were 3 reasons (1) Profession: The 4 sectors in
which Diamond specialized matched with m favorite sectors. Some
discussion on this. (2) People and Culture: Told him how much I had
heard about him and other partners from seniors and his personal
achievements. Also, how good my interactions had been with the
interviewers and the way they had accommodated my schedule on that
day. (3) Future Prospects in India: Talked about an interview of the
Diamond global head that I had read a few days back and his plans
about growth in India. Being a part of the growth story would be very
appealing.

Some talks on being Ok with the locations of work and the travel
requirements.
Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
-
What do you think
the interview?
My knowledge of the company, its work domain and the people. For a
small company like Diamond, this was very important. This last interview
was all about this.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing that was in my control. As soon as the conversation ended, I
was called out for interview with another firm so could not wrap up the
discussion with some questions from him.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Do read up well about each firm and the interview panel that is visiting
the campus. These go a long way in signaling your interest in the
company.
Outcome Made an Offer
143

146

Feedback
Ventures

147

Name Puneet Kataria
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Feedback Ventures
Name of the
interviewer
Anil Sikka (Director, Transportation Division)
Round and Interview
Number
First round
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me something about yourself.
Why entrepreneurship?
Tell me about your ventures.
Why Macquarie after entrepreneurship?
Why not entrepreneurship now?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
How has been your ISB experience?
Why did you choose Real Estate & Infrastructure Club?
What does the club do?
What are some of the initiatives taken by the Govt. of India in the
infrastructure sector? How much expenditure is expected?
Case question None
Case Type None
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
My academics, past background, RE&I Club and confidence. I came
across as highly focused when I told them that I did not apply to McK,
BCG, etc because I wanted to be in Infrastructure only.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Though having grades is an advantage but I dont think they were
looking for grades. Be well read about the sector. Convince them that
you have been following this space because you want to pursue a
career in Infrastructure. Be confident and humble.
Outcome Second Round Though my feeling is that the first round itself sealed it
pretty much for me.

Name Puneet Kataria
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Feedback Ventures
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
How did you manage to do all these things (written on my resume)?
Explain the career progression.
Describe your work and responsibilities.
Did you write IIT-JEE?
148

Case question A PE firm wants to invest in a hospital. How would you identify that a
particular hospital is a good investment.
Case Type Private Equity Due-diligence
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
They were very impressed by my profile. Moreover, I guess the case
went very since I covered almost all aspects having done due-diligence
work earlier.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
The people were very friendly and humble. They were not specifically
looking for a structure; they were more concerned whether you can
identify all the important aspects.
Outcome Got an offer.

149

Name Anant Tripathi
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Feedback Ventures
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
Walking though the resume
Some basic cross questions, such as why returning back to India,
why ISB
Case question Innovative revenue streams for Delhi Metro?
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Along with the traditional revenue streams of Delhi Metro such as
ticketing and advertising, what could be other ways of earning revenue?
What do you think
the interview?
Clearly told the interviewer that I do not have much exposure to
real estate, roads or ports.
Applied common sense and let him help me out when I was
running out of ideas at times.
The guy was looking at how I think more than what answers I
come up with
I think coming out clean with the fact that I have limited
knowledge of the industry/sector set the expectations right, which
helped me out.
I think I came up with good answers for the question.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Could have prepared more and studied some obvious projects in
India infrastructure
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Shortlisted for the next round

130

Name Anant Tripathi
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Feedback Ventures
Name of the
interviewer
Anil Sikka (President, Transportation Division)
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
Most questions were to understand my motivation and interest in
infrastructure sector
Also he was trying to look for things in my resume that indicate
that I will stick around since its not run of the mill industry in India
and his its own challenges. (very outdoorsy projects, familiarity
with heavy industry)
Asked me to ask him any question I like.
Case question Handed me a picture of a coffin manufacturing facility. Asked me
to point out what changes will I recommend in their operations
(just by looking at the picture, no further information was given)
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
Experience to have seen heavy industry up-close gave me a lot
of confidence and I think that helped me answer question very
well.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
None
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be yourself
Outcome Selected

131

Name Nitin Vishwas
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Feedback Ventures
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Anil Sikka
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
Why infrastructure division?
Why not pure strategy and why operational consulting?
How did you deal with people in your previous organizations L&T and
Accenture consulting?
Give me a time when you were faced with an ethical dilemma and how
did you tackle the situation?
Case question You walk into the office of a GM of a Coffin manufacturing company. He
wants to improve his cash situation. You look outside his window and
see the shop floor. You have 2 mins to gather what you see and make
some quick recommendations to him.
Case Type Operations
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I was given a photograph of a coffin manufacturing line. A very quick
reading made it clear that it is to do with the Theory of Constraints and
lean manufacturing. I took some time to identify the point like:
Inventory distribution across the line
No of workers around the floor
Type of operations
Material identification problems
General work environment on the floor
I then used the 5 steps of TOC to evaluate how it would be the best tool
to tackle the issues and an estimate of the types of savings possible

I was the told that my suggestions were implemented but after 5 months,
workers began to return to their original ways. They then asked my next
course of action.
I discussed points on using right incentives, using display methods like
that used in Toyota to describe how the process could be made
sustainable. I also spoke about the correct usage of Kaizens and how
they help improve productivity and reduce cost.
What do you think
the interview?
I have a background in Lean manufacturing and that tied in well with the
case. I was able to immediately zero in on TOC and use the steps
effectively
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
For most operations case, make sure you have DMOP and Ops 101
very clear.
Outcome Shortlisted for round 2
Name Nitin Vishwas
Interviewing with Feedback Ventures
132

(consulting firm)
Name of the
interviewer
2 IIMB chaps. One had been a CA and worked in L&T finance and the
other was a typical manufacturing background chap
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
Run us through the projects you worked on while at L&T and Accenture.
Why not Accenture and why Feedback
Case question Your client has just won a BOT tender for Road development. He has
come to you to improve IRR. What do you think?
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started off by gaining the understanding of situation and objective. I
gathered info on the type of cities, the nature of vehicular traffic,
distance, alternatives etc which gave me an understanding of the
revenue streams.
After some preliminary data gathering, I suggested they ration the
number of food courts on the road (since they said its a 300km journey
connecting 2 state capitals) and on the basis of a revenue sharing model
issue discounts coupons to be used at specific food courts. The
frequency of a particular court would be based on % revenue sharing.
The exact numbers would need some complex pricing and revenue
optimization model
I also enquired about any tourist location which could be developed and
a revenue sharing could be instituted with the government.
What do you think
the interview?
The case was an actual project Feedback had been involved in. The
tourism idea turned out to be the suggestion which worked well for the
project and did actually improve the IRR for the firm.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I could have structured the case better. As in divide it into 2 revenue
streams Internal (toll) and external (revenue sharing streams)
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Common sense goes a long way
Outcome Offer was made.

133

Global
eProcure

134

Name Anshu Vazirani
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
Raja Ramchander
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
The interviews were running late. So he asked me only one question
What do you think is your most important achievement in life?
Case question A truck manufacturing company has negative cash flows. Suggest
creative ways (from my resume I appeared to be a very innovation-
driven person to him) to enhance the cash flows (currently negative) and
improve profitability in the long run.
Case Type Profitability/Cash flow improvement
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The truck manufacturing industry on the whole was performing badly.
Hence revenues were declining. Costs had not increased per se.
However, Raja was mainly looking for short-term and long-term
measures to reduce costs.
What do you think
the interview?
I drew the entire supply chain in front of him and listed down measures
for cost-reduction at each stage. In particular, supply-side rationalization,
leasing out excess machine capacity, labor layoffs, outsourcing of
operations were the steps we spoke about for the most time.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
-
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be sure to think through and create frameworks for the typical cases
Outcome Was asked to take the next round with Turin

Name Anshu Vazirani
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
Turin
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
Turin asked me general questions about my work with my previous
employer. He then asked me if I had any questions for him. I asked him
quite a few questions about the role, the travel and the work culture in
general, which he patiently answered
Case question No case questions
Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
-
133

possible
What do you think
the interview?
Turin could probably gauge my interest in the company through the
questions I was asking. This worked in my favor.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
-
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be sure to prep about the company you are interviewing with. The
questions you ask the interviewer will show them your interest.

136

Name Mohit Gupta
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
-
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
He made sure I understood what the company does and what the nature
of the job is.
- Why do I want to move into consulting from technology?
Case question A major electronics company has been experiencing slowdown of
growth in revenues. Why?
Case Type Revenue
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Data Gathering:
Interviewer: A major electronics company has been experiencing
slowdown of growth in revenues. Why?
Me: I first clarified that since the case is about the revenue slowdown,
we wont delve into the profitability initially. However we can do it later if
needed.
Me: Since what period has the company been experiencing the
slowdown?
Interviewer: Since the last 1-2 years
Me: Is it a global company?
Interviewer: Yes, however the problem is only in the US
Me: What are the lines of business of the company?
Interviewer: The company is into semiconductor design, consumer
electronics and white goods (dont remember the third type accurately)
Me: Are all the three businesses facing the slowdown?
Interviewer: No, only the consumer electronics has faced the problem

At this point I took a minute to decide the structure to solve the case
I just wrote that Revenue = Price * Quantity

Me: Has the price changed for the company in the last 2-3 years?
Interviewer: No
Me: Has the price changed for any of the competing companies in the
last 2-3 years?
Interviewer: No
Me: Thus we can assume that the unit quantity of the goods being sold
has reduced. Is this problem across all geographies?
Interviewer: No, this problem is faced only by the west coast (dont
remember the region accurately)
Me: How does the company sell its consumer electronics goods? Own
store / resellers? (Essentially I was going through 4 Ps: price, product,
promotions, place however I didnt make it obvious)
Interviewer: The company sell via big electronics chains like Best Buy
Me: Is there a change in the setup of the channels?
Interviewer: There has been a new store chain which has come up on
137

the west coast
Me: Is it correct to assume that currently this new chain doesnt sell our
consumer electronics?
Interviewer: Yes

I summarized the root cause of the problem and asked if at this point he
would you like me to look at possible solutions, to which he said yes. I
took 30 seconds to come up with the strategy

Me: At this point I would like to propose three possible strategies the
company can adopt:
1. Open up its own stores, similar to what Apple does
2. Approach the new retailer (electronics chain) to start selling our
goods
3. Work with the existing retailers to strengthen the selling of our
products
The company should look into each of these in greater detail and adopt
the strategy which is the most feasible
What do you think
the interview?
Structured approach
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I was a little confused when the price of the goods hadnt moved,
however following the 4 Ps helped solve the case
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
-
Outcome Shortlisted for 2
nd
round

Name Mohit Gupta
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
-
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
This was more of a fit discussion
- Why do I want to move into consulting from technology?
- I had a few questions with regards to the growth prospects of the
company, culture etc
Case question None
Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
-
What do you think
the interview?
I makes sense to do some basic research about the company and listen
to the PPT
138

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
The interviewer was running late on time, and there werent many
questions
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
-
Outcome Offer

139

Name Zorawar Singh
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
First Round
Personal Interview
Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
This is quite a standard question and one that must be prepared for.
When preparing please do not create a standard answer that you put
out in front of every firm. The answer must be tailored as per what
the form wants. My understanding was that this firm wants a person
that can be easily presented in front of a client on day one and a
person who loves to travel.
Hence my answer was all about my love for travelling on the
personal side and how I managed clients from my professional side.
2. Why global eProcure
My answer to this question stemmed from the CEOs passion for
knowledge development. I said to build a career I would love to work
for a smaller org looking to grow it human and knowledge capital.
Off-course the same was sugar coated with MBA speak
3. Where do you see yourself in 2 years
In such questions it is my opinion that staying away from job titles is
the best way to go. My answer was that in 2 years I intend to learn all
the facets of the business and become a go to guy in the company
for all people in atleast one aspect of the business. The answer
basically harped on generating knowledge capital
4. If u suddenly had all the money in the world what would you do?
My interpretation of this question is that how honest you have been
in the interview till now. Nobody in their right minds will be jet setting
around the world working for clients if they had a billion dollars. So I
kept my answer simple. I said I would buy a house in Scotland and
play golf every day

Case question How much would you bid for a taxi license (medallion) in chiago?
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
This was quite a simple case which had to be tackled as below
1. Estimate revenue
2. Estimate living expenses and costs associated with the taxi
3. Estimate opportunity cost
4. Look at soft aspects (i.e. does the guy want to be a taxi driver to
begin with?)
In order to estimate revenue
1. Ask for sources of revenue : Fares, advertisements
2. Ask for work hours, holidays etc
3. Average revenue on weekdays, weekends and holidays etc
160

Costs
1. Living expenses
2. Fuel
3. Maintenance
4. Insurance
5. Misc
Opportunity cost
1. If not a cab driver then what?
Soft aspects
1. Does he want to be a cab driver. If yes then he can do it at zero
profit and zero loss. If no then how much compensation does he
want in order to bear the emotional aspects of being a cab driver
Then you do some simple math and come up with a figure

What do you think
the interview?
I think the way I engaged the interviewer sealed the deal for me. I
engaged him in conversation throughout and the interview turned into a
discussion instead of a question answer session. Also the fact that I
slipped in a few jokes that made the atmosphere a little more casual
helped my case.
Also my diagrams and pictures helped me make my points in an
effective manner
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I tried to steam role the case into a quick conclusion rather than make it
an elaborative discussion. Also my notes were a little haphazard and I
noticed a smirk on his face when he looked through them during the end
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Go listen to the CEO when he comes down for the talk!!! That is
preparation enough. He will basically tell u exactly what he is looking for.
If you want any information please shoot me an email at
zor.singh@gmail.com
Outcome Offer made

161

Name Abhishek Narayan Singh
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Tuneer ( Director)
Round and Interview
Number
1
Personal Interview
Questions
Spoke about my past experience. Intensive questioning around my past
experience in analytics and SFE consulting. Discussion around value
add through ISB. Why GeP? Why consulting? Expectations at GeP?
Other interests
Case question A CPG firm has experienced declining profits in the last one year.
Analyze
Case Type Profitability analysis and alignment of channel incentives
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The firm had three major product lines: say A , B and C. Dont remember
the exact ones. Throughout the case information was only provided
when asked for. The main idea was to first identify the product lines.
Then understand their contribution to both sales and profits. This was an
important factor has one of the lines had been majorly responsible for
the declining profits. Approached the case then as a standard
profitability analysis covering all aspects i.e. external factors , which had
not changed at all. Moved over to cost reduction opportunities which
again were best in class in the industry. Post which we discussed about
the channels. Info was provided that the firm had entered into a contract
with discount retailers. This had resulted in the premium outlets not
promoting the companys products, resulting in reduced sales and
margins. Discussed the company strategy of venturing with a new
channel and if it was required.
What do you think
the interview?
I did not jump into discussing solutions at the beginning. Asked for all
information and completed the analysis as exhaustively as possible. In
doing so moved off from aspects where the interviewer mentioned
nothing had changed. For example once told that the cost effectiveness
was best in class did not drill further. This helped me to solve the case at
a decent pace which was appreciated. Also, the exhaustiveness was
something Tuneer mentioned to me as being good a couple of times
towards the end of the interview.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Was pretty decent
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Stay calm and know your past work thoroughly.
Be prepared to listen. It always helps to get the interviewer to talk more
initially as you figure out the case. Ask relevant questions and dont be
hesitant to admit any goof ups.
Have a friendly and interactive tone of conversation. Research the
company. Gives you a lot of talking points.
Outcome Called for 2
nd
round

162

Name Abhishek Narayan Singh
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Raja
Round and Interview
Number
2
Personal Interview
Questions
Why procurement consulting? Why GeP? How do I fit in? What are my
long term career plans? Why only consulting? Tried to check both
through personal and the abstract case my inclination for a career in
consulting.
Case question What will I do if I had all the money in the world and could do whatever I
feel like?
Case Type Abstract
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Spoke about everything I ever wanted to do. Didnt say explicitly that I
wanted to do consulting and Raja pointed it out. Try to relate it to some
village welfare project I had spoken about earlier. Didnt look too
convinced.
What do you think
the interview?
Raja is one of the toughest interviewer I have come across. He had a
very different and informal style. I was honest about all questions he
posed and did not try to build random story lines. Told him had not much
clue about procurement consulting but was impressed by the GeP PPT.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Should have been more focused on talking about my interest in
consulting rather than talk about all the fun stuff I would do with limitless
money
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
The moment you get a sense that the interview is not your typical case
one, relax and speak your mind.

163

Name Sarvagya Sharma
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Raja Ramachander
Round and Interview
Number
1
Personal Interview
Questions
Raja, a regular visitor to ISB campus is a very jovial and
energetic guy. Essentially, while interviewing with such person,
you need to keep up pace with his energy levels.. i.e. thinking
and analyzing too much might make him too uncomfortable as he
is always walking around in the room, bending over to look into
your paper etc. Try to keep the discussions light so as to engage
him. Another particular aspect his that often his cases and his
way of presenting are going to sound funny (like in my case), but
dont be thrown off track. It is only when you go through the entire
process you will realize how deeply has he thought about them.
1. We see you have interviewed with a number of management
consulting firm, do you realize that GEP is in a niche consulting
business? (Basically a slightly modified version of why GEP)
2. What it so special about you that differentiates you from all the
candidates that we are interviewing?
3. What is the Sarvagya Sharma which I dont see in this resume?
4. What will you do if you had all the money in this world?
- I fumbled on this question, talked about some dreams of mine
which would be difficult to fulfill with consulting salaries.. but
realized that Raja was looking for something deeper. I took a
slightly tangential path and shifted the discussion to something
which I will do, about which am really passionate about but
somehow am not able to convince others. I mentioned things like
business ideas/ my thoughts on some consulting projects which
were not appreciated by others but I believed in them, I will want
to implement them without any worries about failures, as I can
always compensate the client for his losses if any. Strange as it
may seem, this convinced Raja about my love for consulting. We
took a good 15 minutes to discuss this answer.
Case question You are Vijay Mallya (VM). The GOI has issued a Blanket Ban on
advertisements (all forms) for alcohol industry. What is your state of
mind?
Case Type Abstract/ Industry Analysis
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I clarified on the intent of the question, As VM, should I be worried or
now with the current decision of the GOI. He said yes. He asked whether
I drink/ have any idea about this industry to which I said no. He smiled
saying that he loves to do this case with teetotalers. I sought answers to
some clarificatory questions.
a) Is there no way through which companies can communicate their
message now? He answered that only through signages on the
shops.
b) What is the alcohol industry like. He pointed out that it is a fast
growing industry, with a CAGR of 20%.
164

c) I tried to gain some insight in the products that exist within this
industry. Then I tried to Deaverage the CAGR into VMs lines
of business, i.e. how are businesses like beer etc where he
mentioned Kingfisher has a strong dominance. He pointed out
that he understands my intent, and the concerned lines of
businesses are doing fairly well, either above or on average in
terms of growth. He also gave me Market shares at this point.
d) By now, through his hints and inputs, I had established that we
are in a forbidden industry which is doing pretty well. I had to
apply my thinking in the direction of what will happen from now
on.
I took a 30 sec break to absorb all the facts, and essentially
presented point d written above in more MBA like jargon, In a
successful Forbidden industry, what are the KSF (Key success
factors) which can explain this success of the firm. If any of those
is being affected by this ban, then I should be worried. Raja said
bulls eye.
I checked that in this analysis, should we keep our focus limited
to customers (the target of advertisements only) or are we in any
way exploring the loss it will entail for Brand Vijay Mallya, who
will now not be seen in F1 races, probably IPL matches (as he
mentioned all forms of surrogate advertising will go). I could see
that he was impressed by this chain of thought. He said that this
would be a concern as well, but for the time being, he wanted me
to focus on sales related losses if any.
I split my analysis into 2 categories, impact of advertisement ban
on a) sales to existing customers b) sales to new users.
I checked which category should we start with. Please make note
of the fact that this is a very essential in case interviews as the
interviewer feels more involved in the case solving process if you
ask such questions. He mentioned that we should start with a
discussion on new users.
I drew out a chart showing decision making factors for a new
customer. I used some fancy chart in this case, by using a
concentric circular chart patterns, with the customer in the middle
and surrounded by circles depicting factors in decreasing order of
their importance. Obviously I listed factors first, discussed them
with Raja and then categorized them as peripheral or core
issues. It included factors like
a) Social Sphere around the person comprising of friends,
parents, relatives etc who are already alcohol consumers.
b) Advertisements and the manner in which they affect an
individual
c) Circumstances like poverty/ debt/ depression etc..
The discussion from here was purely qualitative. The idea
that was coming out from here was that the single biggest
factor (the core issue) in someone unexposed to alcohol to
start drinking was his social sphere, i.e. set of already
existing users. Thus, essentially we decided to shift our focus
to impact on already existing users.
I somewhat used my knowledge about Cigarette consumption
163

patterns (courtesy my ITC experience). While listing down the
factors, I pointed out the factors that affect consumption of
already existing users will be
a) Price- I mentioned that in alcohol there is a positive as
well as negative substitution effect. i.e. in some
segments, increasing prices can increase sales. He
mentioned that it is true and often price is related to
quality, but said that we can park our discussion on this.
b) Continuity factor- What is that an KF product consumer
really enjoys? In a way, what is the USP of KF over other
brands. What thoughts does the KF logo conjure up in the
customers mind that he would want to continue with us
even witjout any advertisements. He mentioned that I was
drawing closer.I brought in my ITC gyaan to the
discussion. I talked about factors like taste to be most
essential, much like cigarettes. Despite blanket ban on cig
advertisements and increasing prices (largely due to
regulation) ITC sales have never dipped significantly) as
customers are addicted to the taste. He was visibly
impressed
c) The forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter: I mentioned
that objects that are made difficult to achieve (through
such government measures etc) end up gaining some
sort of publicity or attention and appear more attractive to
individuals. i.e. people would want to do things that they
are being indicated they shouldnt do. Raja was fairly
impressed by this point.
We thus concluded that advertisement ban will hardly
have any impact on current users and hence the addition
of new users year on year will also not be greatly
affected. Though the interview stretched over 1 hour, I
could see that raja was all smiling at the end of it.
What do you think
the interview?
Interviewing with Raja help me complete my interview experiences. On
the one hand, I had interviewed with the likes of Pankaj Shahani of
Mckinsey and Arun Unni of AT kearney (who appeared as the super
serious/ indifferent/ perpetually on blackberry kinds) and on the other
here was raja who had a very informal style, was always hovering
around you, talking while facing in the other direction and doing all sort
of things you will not expect someone like him to do. I must say that it
was a a very different interview, I had not faced any such case questions
in the other 5-6 consulting firms I was interviewing with. The idea was to
keep a positive frame of mind, and treat the interviewer as a friend,
which I believe I was able to do pretty well.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Well, I have no clue, the entire interview experience was so different..
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
It is most essential to be calm and composed and put your best foot
forward. I was for a good part not doing that. I was expecting a result
from some other consulting firm all this while and was treating this
interview as somewhat less important. This was also because of the
reason that GEP was pushing me down their interview list. From
166

Interview number 8 in the order out of the 20 who were shortlisted, I had
been pushed down to 20
th
. This was giving me some signs that they
were not keen on my work profile, which lacked international work
experience. Btw, GEP really values your previous work experience, both
the nature of it (international/local as their clients are largely outside
india) and relevance. Despite these factors, when I entered the interview
room, I was able to somehow gather my thoughts and focus. Infact I was
so engrossed in all these factors when I entered that room that I
accidentally moved on the wrong side of the table and sat on Rajas
chair. This was a hilarious moment, but Raja brushed it off and asked
me not to get up
Outcome Made it to round 2

Name Sarvagya Sharma
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Global eProcure
Name of the
interviewer
Tunir
Round and Interview
Number
2
Personal Interview
Questions
Why procurement consulting? Why GeP? What are my long term career
plans? He also explained the work is some greater detail.Overall it was a
very short interview.. more of a informative session lasting some 10
minutes
Case question None
Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
None
What do you think
the interview?

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Attend the GEP PPT because typically that is the only time the firm
actually comes to the campus. I had missed out on the PPT but made
sure that I saw the PPT video.

167

Mckinsey
and Co.
168

Name Ankur Vaish
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Rajiv Lochan, Partner
Round and Interview
Number
First interview (I had 3 interviews with McKinsey and they were not
clearly split into rounds. I was done with my 3
rd
interview before the
formal 2
nd
round shortlist came out)
Personal Interview
Questions
Rajiv was pleasant. I was waiting in the corridor. He came out of the
conference room and before getting into the interview room, we first
went out to get some coffee for him.

Perfunctorily, I started the conversation with simple How is your day
going? When did you come to Hyderabad this morning or last night?
How do you like the quality of candidates this year? type of questions.
To my third question he replied he liked the quality of this years batch. I
said yes the quality of ISB batch was improving year by year. He asked
me why it was so to which I replied that as the ISB brand got stronger,
even better students chose to come to ISB. He agreed.

He started looking at my resume and complimented me on an
impressive one. Intrigued by some of the stuff, he asked me to tell more
about myself. I had thought my points for this question and framed a
good impromptu response around these. The mistake I made was
perhaps that I came out too strongly in favor of my leadership style
(leading by example). It was so noticeable that he grilled me on
leadership nuances and my style in particular for the next 5 minutes. At
one point, in flow, he even said and consider your team your slave. It
was unexpected, so I took a couple of seconds to think and was about to
defend my point when he laughed and said he was kidding. But this
indicated me that I had been too strong on my leadership point and
needed to correct it whenever I got a chance.

He then said alright why dont we do some free consulting.
Case question He said our client owns a hospital that has 10 Operation Theatres. There
are three types of diseases for which they are used
- Cardiac surgeries
- Orthopedic surgeries
- Gastrointestinal surgeries
The client feels that he can do more operations per day and has asked
us to look into it. What do we do?
Case Type Operations Optimizing resource utilization, efficiency, redesigning the
process, reallocating the resources.
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Because the problem statement was short, initially it involved some
questioning to find out the details of hospital operations to figure out the
processes, bottlenecks, resource requirements, current resource
allocation, etc. In between, I brought in my experience with hospitals to
support my analysis and recommendations. In the end, my final
recommendation was around building an efficient queuing based
169

process for operation theatres much like the assembly line for an
automobile manufacturing plant. Operations theatres were to be used for
the most critical activities with much of the preparatory and post
operative work done at other points (similar to different stations in a
factory). I also borrowed some principles of just-in-time.
I think Rajiv liked me modeling the OT process around a factory
assembly line. I may have been successful at indicating an ability to link
diverse areas to build a solution.

In the end, he asked me if I had any questions.
What do you think
the interview?
My personal interview part was very strong. Secondly, because my
nervousness had gone in the first two interviews of the day with other
consulting companies, I was very confident and smiling in this interview.
Thirdly, even as I was framing my response, I kept my calm when he
took me by surprise by his strong comment on my leadership style.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I came out too strongly in favor of my leadership style. Apparently, Rajiv
went in and asked the next interviewer to check me more on leadership.
I think so because my next interview started from leadership points
again.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
During the preparation phase, I wanted to know how much does PI play
a role in McKinsey interviews. Everybody seemed to emphasize only on
cases. I was doing cases well enough but my PI was very strong and I
really hoped it would carry some weight in the interview. Further, most in
the McKinsey shortlist of 39 people were so strong in academics and in
their analytical abilities that I wasnt sure how to bring a differentiation
solely by case solving. Youd look at any of these 39 and say this person
is definitely making it to McKinsey.

As I realized from my own experience, there is no set rule. What might
get a person into McKinsey would vary from person to person. It
depends on what points you use to sell yourself and how well you use
them in making the pitch. Go back into your past and look for things that
have made you the kind of person you are today. These things
differentiate you. Realize that even the McKinsey director sitting before
you is a person and he wants to see more than a case solving machine
in you. He should remember you when he goes back into the conference
room where all of them discuss their experiences with candidates after
each interview. The likelihood of anyone remembering you just for
cracking a case is relatively small. Moreover, if many people are doing
well on cases, a good PI can really differentiate you.
Outcome Asked to stay for 2
nd
interview.

170

Name Ankur Vaish
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Vivek Pandit, Director
Round and Interview
Number
Second Interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Vivek was also very pleasant. He also started with a tell me about
yourself. And I told him almost the same thing as I had told Rajiv.

Then he asked me if I am given a chance to change one thing about
India, what it would be. (And here I was helpless. After the previous
interview experience with Rajiv, the last word I wanted to use was
Leadership and here I was about to go with the same word again. I had
no choice but to say this because changing leadership was what I felt
would change everything in a cascading effect) I thought for a few
seconds and replied I would change Indias entire political leadership.
Some conversation followed on this.

Then he asked what I believed was the ability common to all the leaders
(There you go again dude! I thought). I thought for a while and replied
that it was context specific. Abilities of a military leader, a political leader
and a business leader are very different. He agreed but still said there is
some common thing across all. It was clear that he had something in
mind but I was convinced by my own answer. The thought in my mind at
the point was that if I insist on my point, it might go against me. Already I
had gotten myself into trouble with Rajiv on leadership. And even if I
dont insist on my stand and say something which is not what he is
looking for, I wasnt sure how that would be. Overall, I didnt know where
my interview was going at that point. Still, as an interviewee my job was
to respond in the best possible way, so I thought for some more seconds
and went back to the first principles. Then I said it was the leaders
ability to do justice with the expectations of their teams/followers. And
there came the million dollar smile on his face. He nodded and gave me
his view on this which was on the same lines.

Then he asked me some specific questions on what I had told him in my
answer to tell me about yourself. Apparently, I dealt with them well
because in the end, he said that the most important thing for a person
was to believe that he is successful, only then he can do really well in
life.
In the end, he asked me if I had any questions.
Case question I have forgotten exactly what case it was but it was about market entry. It
wasnt very different from the standard market entry cases you will have
done in your case preparation groups by the interview day. No catches
here.
Narration of the --
171

case, as
descriptively as
possible
What do you think
the interview?
Here too, my personal interview part was very strong. I was also able to
undo the damage done in the first interview with Rajiv. And I think
Viveks last line in the PI indicated that I was being seen favorably.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing. This one was very positive.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be confident but be moderate where extreme opinions can damage your
candidature. This is a delicate balance.

When the interviewer insists on something different from what you said,
think if you can come up with better points. Stick to your first opinion only
as a last resort.
Outcome Asked to stay for 3
rd
interview.

172

Name Ankur Vaish
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Sirish Sankhe, Director
Round and Interview
Number
Third Interview
Personal Interview
Questions
As he studied my resume, he also asked me to tell him about myself. I
recited the stuff. He picked up a few points from that and this time the PI
questions were on different lines -

Any specific reasons for choosing IIT Roorkee?

Looking at your engineering entrance exams ranks, UG record and
GMAT, why are you not 4.0 here? I used my answer to this question to
bring out my passions in life.

Give me an example where you led people. (Time for a deep breath
man! Here went my leadership again) But I had learned my lessons in
the first interview. Handled it well this time and he was satisfied.

Alright, shall we do a case?
Case question He told me that our client was some iron and steel company who used
coal extensively in their operations. Currently <some capacity> was their
plant capacity that required <some amount> amount of coal per quarter.
The sources of coal in India were < some sources> whose production
was also limited to <some capacity> and hence currently the demand
and supply of coal matched.

Our client was planning to increase its capacity to <some capacity> in
the next one year. Can you design their coal strategy for the short,
medium, and long terms?
Case Type Supply Chain Strategy
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The case exploration went as usual.

Basically, the issues were that Govt. is involved in procurement of any
new coal mines or increasing the capacity of existing mines. The
processes of govt. are long and thus whereas in the long run we can
think of lobbying for acquiring a coal mine ourselves or helping our
supplier acquire one, something else needed to be done in the short run.
All the procurement costs had to be looked at and some cost benefit
analysis was also involved in deciding that in the long run our client
would be better off acquiring a coal mine themselves.
In the short run, we had to look at alternate sources in the adjacent
countries. Some more cost and risk analysis was involved in deciding
which source was the best option. In international transportation of coal,
shipping costs came into discussion and Sirish specifically asked me to
look into the various shipping costs. At one point, we even came down to
173

listing the various costs involved in shipping. When I had exhausted my
possibilities, he said that he didnt expect me to come up with all the
possible costs because I was perhaps not acquainted with the shipping
industry and he just wanted to see how I went about recognizing various
costs (structure?). He then told me some more costs that are involved in
shipping. Medium term strategy involved a plan on how to manage the
migration from short to long term procurement strategy.

After this, he talked for a while about this case and the strategies he
thought were possible. He told me he had taken it from one of his real
assignments.
In the end, he asked me if I had any question.
What do you think
the interview?
Some of my answers brought out my passion for my hobby Workout. I
realized later that these answers stayed with Sirish even after the
interview was over.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing. This one was also positive.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
If you feel strongly about a hobby or any other thing, try to subtly fit that
into some of your answers at appropriate places. People have different
passions and this differentiates them. Bring out yours.

Questions can come from anywhere and many of them will be
unexpected. You cant prepare for every question beforehand. I think a
better way to prepare for your interviews is to think a lot about how your
life went and made you what you are. Have a consistent story right from
childhood to the interview day ready. Then whatever question the
interviewer throws at you, just take a thread off your story and frame
your answer impromptu. This means you cant lie but I think being
yourself in the interview helps differentiate you because you are unique.

I also dont think it necessary to write down your PI answers during
preparation. Just think a lot and have your story ready in mind.
Outcome Was made an offer.

174

Name Suyog Kotecha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Dont Remember
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
This was my first interview with McKinsey and was obviously nervous.
Normally McKinsey sends out profiles of all the panelist couple of days
in advance. But this guy was last minute addition and I had no clue
about his background. (Hence dont remember the name as well!)
Got some basic information about him quickly from alums and
proceeded with the interview.
Started with Usual PI questions
Take me through your resume.
Discussed in detail about what exactly was my role at work and he
started with the case.
Case question The case was about Oil company (Retail Fuel Distribution) having fuel
stations at various places all over India. They have introduced a loyalty
program but customer do not value the same so suggest possible
remedial actions

Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
First narration of the problem was vague so I tried to drill it down to a
specific question. It was basically about loyalty program where
customers can redeem the points earned for small gifts. But customers
are not satisfied with the loyalty program and do not value it much.
Firstly I had to understand why they dont value it or not satisfied.
- Was it problem with execution of the program (how the points are
earned, how they are redeemed, is the whole process customer
friendly or there are service problem in between?
- Or was it because of the structure of the program itself where the
number of points earned and kind of gifts received through
redemption process itself are not valuable.

After brief discussion, we concluded it was the problem about the
structure and basically customer was thinking that kind of gifts received
through redemption are not worth it.

After that we discussed about possible solutions.
- In order to increase the value of the gift we need to increase
amount of points they earn.
- For that they have to buy more amount of stuff from station.
- Limited scope in increasing their fuel consumption.
- Hence look at other places like opening up small retail shops and
other servicing facilities. Align your loyalty program with all these
facilities to increase the wallet spend of your customer at fuel
station.
173

At this stage he asked me to conclude the case.
What do you think
the interview?
The PI went very well. He was interested in my background and knowing
in detail about my work experience which was my strong point.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
The case went average. I was asking too many questions in order to
define the problem very precisely. But he was more interested in getting
ahead in discussion. (He thought he had clearly specified the problem
and there was no need to further define the problem!) I should have
taken hint and closed the initial definition phase as soon as possible.
Also did not define the structure of the entire case at start. I was forming
sub structures at the start of every discussion but never discussed the
complete approach with him at the start of the case.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
In Consulting prep, the amount of time spent of PI and Case Prep are
very disproportionate. Case prep takes 10 times more time than PI. But
in actual interview PI is as important (sometimes even more important)
as Case. Hence please give due attention to PI prep at least two weeks
before the interview dates!
While I was solving the case, based on his expressions, I thought I was
performing terribly. But later from the alum, I understood that he typically
gives that expressions and actual feedback from him in evaluations was
positive.
Outcome Was asked to proceed to second round.

176

Name Suyog Kotecha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Shirish Sankhe, Director
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
Shirish and me were chemical engineers from same college UDCT
Mumbai. And we had also good discussions in previous meetings.
(dinner organized by McKinsey) I was told by alum that he is director
and it is very important that I crack this interview.
We started with casual discussion about UDCT and he asked me about
my rank there and also at ISB. He went into details about academic
performance.
At the end of the interview we again had general chat about his work in
renewable energy sector and he was very interested in talking about it.
Studying some of his earlier projects did help!

Overall, in this interview PI took more time than Case. And I was able to
build rapport with him in the initial 5-10 minutes of PI which helped me a
lot in case discussion.
Case question The case was about Mumbai Metro. Basically the investments required
are in the range of 40,000 Cr. and government do not have any money
to fund the project so how would you go about arranging the finances
and making project viable.

Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I started with listing down various ways of raising finances. He stopped
me and said he is not interested in those details. It was very clear that
private involvement is necessary and asked me to look at how to make
project viable.

Then I made a small structure about the possible revenue streams from
the project. (Asset Non Asset revenue structure). Then I gave him
number of possible revenue streams in both the classes. From that we
picked up Tickets, Advertising, Shops as the most significant ones.

But after doing some numbers I realized that it was nowhere enough to
make project viable.

Then he asked me to think creatively and forget about solving the case
in structured manner. I started giving him various ideas and then on of
that was use of land adjoining the stations and tracks.

He was looking for that point and then he took on discussion from there
and explained to me how high are the land prices in Mumbai and how
the appreciation in land prices due to Metro tracks is more than enough
to make the project viable.
177

What do you think
the interview?
The PI stuff was good. Being from UDCT helped in breaking the ice.
Again I made sure we spent more time on PI as I knew I had a strong
point there.

Because of good start in PI, in the case discussion he was very helpful.
He was more in interested in having a discussion rather than going
through four meticulous stages of solving the case.

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing much.

I knew I had done well in this interview but was still apprehensive
because I had the impression that first round did not go that well.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Again focus on PI. It is lot more important that the amount of time we
give during the prep phase. It is very important to have a personal story
which will make interviewer interested in you.
Outcome Was asked to proceed to third round.

178

Name Suyog Kotecha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Rajat Gupta, Director
Round and Interview
Number
Third
Personal Interview
Questions
I was actually supposed to go interviews for other companies. But I was
asked to wait and go for third round immediately.
I knew Rajat Gupta is also very senior person and two back to back
interviews with directors means I had done well in last interview.

At the start of the discussion itself, he told me that I have received strong
rating from the first two interviews which made me feel relaxed.

Then he told me that he is not interested in case or anything like that but
would like to know me as person.

He went into detail about my rural background, education in vernacular
medium and how did I cope up moving from village to Mumbai at the age
of 16. He also asked me about family (parents, brothers and sisters) and
what do they do.

We spent almost 15 mins discussing about PI and then we went on to
work experience. I had mentioned one of the troubleshooting project I
did at BPCL, Kochi and he asked me explain more about the same.

Case question He told me to take that example as case and explain it to him how I went
about doing the troubleshooting and what are the three most important
things I learned from the while exercise.

Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I am not giving more details about the case here because it was very
directly related to my work experience and did not belong to any general
category.

We talked about the same for almost another 15 mins then I concluded
with three learnings from the project.
What do you think
the interview?
I think the whole interview was only about PI. At the start of the
discussion itself, he made it clear that they were interested which helped
a lot. Also knowing in detail about the troubleshooting project helped as I
could discuss the same for 15 mins.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing much!
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Whatever you write in the resume, make sure you know enough about it
and it is really something you think is very important achievement in your
life. You should be prepared to speak for 15 mins on any of the lines in
179

your resume.
Outcome Was made offer.
180

Name Kirti Varun Avasarala
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Mckinsey
Name of the
interviewer
Rajat Gupta (Director)
Round and Interview
Number
R1, 1
st
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me something about yourself?
How would your team members at work describe you?
What is your most memorable achievement in life?
Some discussion about the article I had written in WSJ about Green
Business
Case question How should India reduce its Carbon Intensity by 25%?
Case Type Public Policy
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Rajat was leading the Climate Change Special initiative and so he was
visibly intrigued by my WSJ article and we had a good discussion
around that for a few minutes. He is a very nice and articulate person
and he put me at ease immediately. The case started off as an
extension of that discussion. I asked him a few initial clarification
questions:
What is Carbon Intensity? How is it measured?
What is the level of GDP that needs to be maintained while
reducing the Carbon Intensity?
What is the time frame for the implementation?
To this he said that Carbon intensity is the amount of CO2 emitted per
unit of GDP produced. No compromise in GDP growth from the current
trend of 7-8%. Time frame was next 3-5 yrs.
I laid out the following approach:
Identify sources of CO2 emissions
Disaggregate them by sectors and geographies within India
Prioritize these based on Amount of CO2 that can be reduced
and the impact on GDP that would occur
Implement steps to reduce Carbon intensity for the prioritized
areas

He was visibly happy with this approach. I detailed out the emission
sources and identified the following sectors as the major contributors to
emissions:
Power, Transportation, Construction, Cement, Steel and Agriculture.
As I was discussing the remaining steps in my approach, he said that he
understood them and asked me to quickly synthesize the case. I did that
and the case ended there. After that he asked a couple of PI questions
which I mentioned above.
I asked him a few questions about what Mckinsey had done in the
Climate Change Special initiative. I also asked him what still keeps him
going in the firm after so many years.
What do you think
Pretty much everything. Connected well with the interviewer as he was
leading the Climate Change Special Initiative of Mckinsey and had a
181

the interview? good discussion about Carbon Emissions and the fall outs of the
Copenhagen Conference. Also did the case very well.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Didnt answer the question about team members that well.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Please read up about the interviewers interest areas at work or
otherwise and try to have a knowledgeable discussion around that.
Outcome Yes
182

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Mckinsey
Name of the
interviewer
Faridun Dhotiwala (Associate Partner)
Round and Interview
Number
R1, 2
nd
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Questions about my work experience at ITC
How was life at ISB?
Some questions about my co-curricular activities at ISB
5 words that my team members would use to describe me
General discussion about ITC and whether everybody in ITC smokes
Case question
Valuation for a hotel chain that has existing hotels and new hotels in
different stages of completion
Case Type Valuation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
This was a long drawn out case with lots of details and numbers. Cant
recollect
it completely as Faridun asked me to leave my working sheets with him.
So, Ill mention whatever I can recollect.
There is a hotel chain whose revenues and EBITDA margins are known.
It is also currently expanding with 50 new hotels in different parts of the
country in different stages of completion. I was asked to do a valuation.
After asking a couple of initial questions about the hotel and its
operations, I suggested the following 2 approaches for valuation:
DCF based valuation
EV/EBITDA multiple based valuation

Faridun asked me to use the 2
nd
approach. I did the calculation for the
existing hotels based on their EBITDA margins and the multiple values
(which I was asked to guess and I told him it could be in the range of 5-
10 and he said use 7). While I was doing the numbers, he shot some
quick calculations at me and I was able to respond to them. Clearly, my
quant skills were being tested here. After completing the calculation, he
told me that for the new hotels the chain was looking for Private Equity
investment and I had to present a case for this investment. We
discussed about the different new hotels that were being planned and
the factors that were needed to be considered like location, competition,
region specific macroeconomic factors like income levels, purchasing
power, etc. Here it was more of a qualitative discussion and he wasnt
looking for any numbers. The case concluded here.
Since Faridun was initially not scheduled to be a part of the interview
team, I didnt have any idea about his profile and the work he does in
Mckinsey. So, I asked him a few questions about that.
What do you think
the interview?
The case was a bit unusual, so I wasnt completely sure whether it went
well or not. The PI was good and he seemed to like my answers.
What do you think
went wrong in this
Not sure
183

interview
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Keep your cool even if the case is unusual and is filled with a lot of
details and numbers. Show the interviewer that you can handle the
ambiguity and still come up with a logical approach.
Outcome Yes
184

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Mckinsey
Name of the
interviewer
Noshir Kaka (Director)
Round and Interview
Number
R2, 1
st
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me something about yourself?
Why Mckinsey?
Life at ISB
My most significant leadership experience
Questions about work experience at ITC
Case question How do you improve the performance of a Call Center?
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Noshir is one of the nicest and most humble people youll ever
encounter in an interview. He makes you feel so comfortable that you
just dont realize that you are talking to a Mckinsey Director. He is also
probably the decision maker when it comes to recruitments at ISB.
We were discussing about my experience in ITC in implementing
Operations Performance Improvements in a manufacturing setting. As
an extension of that discussion, he asked me to apply the same to
services industry, specifically in a Call Center.
I told him that we could use the following metrics to measure
performance cost, call quality, delivery (meeting customer demand).
He asked me to use Cost per employee as the performance metric. I laid
out the following structure
Understand the components of Cost/employee
Analyze the process drivers for each component
Suggest suitable recommendations and an implementation plan

He was satisfied with this structure and we started off discussing the 1
st

point. I disaggregated the cost components as follows:
Salary & Compensation
Long-term benefits
Training & Development
Infrastructure
We then had a discussion about how can Compensation & Other
benefits, which he told me were almost 60% of the costs, could be
reduced. We started discussing aspects of motivation and during this I
figured out that Attrition is the single biggest problem in Call Centers due
to which high levels of compensation are paid to employees and it is
difficult to reduce the cost of this component. At this stage, he ended the
case.
Since Noshir was involved in the design of ISB, I asked him a couple of
questions about that and then we had a chat about what ISB should do
to further reinforce its position as a top tier global school.
What do you think
Pretty much everything. Connected well with Noshir during PI and he
seemed to be impressed with all the answers I gave. The case went very
183

the interview? well as I could relate to my Operations experience and knew how to
approach the problem and the related issues.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Please enjoy the interview experience and show the interviewer that you
are genuinely interested in solving the case

186

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Nalinikanth Gollagunta- Engagement Manager
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
PI Questions came after the case. It started with Nal asking about my
prior work experience. All subsequent questions emanated from the first
question which was: Of all your achievements, which one do you think
is the most important to you. This was a classic case of being able to
draw the interviewer to where you want to go. I talked about a very tough
implementation project that I did at ITC Factory in Munger, Bihar. I said
for me an achievement is about 2 things: (1) The Context in which I
achieved it (2) What it meant to me at that stage.
In the context part, I talked about managing an un-skilled workforce.
Then he asked me how do you manage such a work force? I said by
established an internal connect with them. He asked how do you do
that? Went into a couple of instances which made me establish such
connections.
Although he had asked me to talk about just 1 instance, but seeing that
he was impressed, I requested him if I could talk of another different type
of incident which is also very close to my heart. He allowed. I talked
about selling a extravagant project to the company chairman. It was
about high-end world class patented Audio-Visual systems. Nal too
seemed to have some knowledge about those equipments and thus we
had an interesting conversation.
The idea was, I could not only show my Project Implementation Abilities
but also talk about Planning and Inter-personal skills.
Case question A Canned Juice Manufacturer facing drop in profitability.
Case Type Cost/Profitability
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The case was about a canned juice manufacturing company. Recently
they have diversified into different types/more variety of juices. Their
profitability has gone down in comparison to their competitors. Need to
analyze, identify root causes and advice solutions to the client.
I asked a few Start-Up question These are standard questions which
you would ask for most of the cases. Some of them were: How big is the
client? Has been in the business for how long and how and when has
their business strategy changed. Who are the major competitors? What
are the various revenue streams (different type of juices et al)? He gave
me some info but asked to assume one standard fruit juice for the
analysis.

Now I approached in the classical Profitability Case. Profit = Revenue
Cost. Problem can be in either of the two factors i.e. Revenue or Cost. I
asked him if he wanted to delve into Revenue or Cost first. He advised
to go into the cost aspect (we never visited the revenue aspect). Then
he asked me about what are the various cost heads in such a business.
187

This was the key!!! Process Value Chain rules I drew the entire value
chain from Agri-sourcing of fruits to In-Bound Logistics to Warehousing
to Processing/Manufacturing to Out-Bound Logistics to Retailer to
Customer. Started from the Left Side i.e. Sourcing. He asked me what
could be reasons for lower profits. This was more of a brainstorming
session. Coming from ITC (of e-choupal fame) background, I could talk
the possibility of competitors being able to backward integrate and
establish a symbiotic relationship with the farmers which allows them to
remove the middle-men and thus get cheaper and good quality fruits,
whereas our client has not done that. Then came to In-Bound logistics. I
said that juicy fruits being mostly hygroscopic are prone to damage in
transit. Talked about the quality of infrastructure en-route to their plants
and quality of logistics partner.

Then came the crux: Processing/Manufacturing. At first it was qualitative.
I said the client might have a very high Cost/Unit because of excess/high
quality infrastructure. Somehow this turned out to be the case. I realized
there has been loads of strategy based talking and there bound to be
some nos. I asked him and he gave me whole lot of nos. about their
manufacturing costs as well as the manufacturing costs of competitors.
There was Maths involved here as he gave costs and throughputs of
different plants of client as well as competition. Had to find out the
average cost per unit of juice manufactured by client vs competition. Of
course clients cost of manufacturing was way higher.

Talked about some ways as to how can this be brought down. Talked
about economies of scale as some of the assets were under-utilized.
This would involve launching other related products as well or expanding
markets. There were a few more points discussed but this was merely a
closure.

Asked him a couple of questions on his area of expertise and how
markets were shaping this year.
What do you think
the interview?
I believe that your work-experience (which is a huge factor in your being
short-listed) must be reflected in the way you approach cases.
Sometime we lose sight of that in following standard
structures/frameworks etc. At each stage, I could use my FMCG and
Manufacturing experience to come up possible reasons. So, your
experiences must show in case solving as well and I believe I did that
well.

One very interesting thing, right at the start which I think worked well for
me. When I entered the room, I generally talked about the view being
great from the window. Nal generally asked whose room was it. I had not
noticed the name-plate while entering which anyways was covered with
a McKinsey signage. Looking at the books and brochures in the room, I
made a guess giving the reason of the guess. It was Bang On!!!
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing really. This was one of best interviews I gave on that day.
Any tips for the Do not lose sight of Who you are and What have you achieved till date.
188

future batch based
in this interview
This should reflect in your interview.
Also, be ready to delve into nos. Interviewer also wants to test your
analytic ability with nos. as they back/justify your claims, ideas and
suggestions. So ask him if he has nos. when he says Cost is High or
Profits are Low etc.
Outcome Passed on to a nearby room of 2
nd
R-1 Interview

189

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Dr. Shirish Sankhe- Director
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Just imagine. It does not get bigger than him. The senior most guy in the
panel who is rumored to take the final call on each and every candidate.
I was to interview with him in my Round-1. Thought this was the do or
die situation.

Questions started coming right from my CV. We talked about taking up
very good projects additional to normal course curriculum, participation
in sports, organizing ILS and some other personal focus areas for the
year.

Then he asked which one of the 3 academic experiences: School,
Undergrad, ISB was most enriching. I split it into 2: Academic and Over-
all. Academic was School and Over-all was Undergrad for me. He asked
me the reason. Came from the CV plus how it was important for
personality development and so on

Then he asked about my work-experience. Talked about CAPEX for a
while. What did I do as Capex Manager etc.
Case question An Agri-Technology company has come up with a patent. This is a never
seem before technology. How much should the company price the
patent at?
Case Type Valuation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Started off with the standard warm-up questions but somehow warm-up
questions and Dr. Sankhe dont go too well. I asked him about the
background of the company/competition/industry.
For each question I was quizzed on why did I think that question was
relevant and how will it help me achieve the final objective i.e. valuation.
Some useful information which I could generate was that the patent
was for cotton farming and would increase the yield of cotton growth.

Realizing that it was a valuation case, I proposed following the a
combination of 3 approaches -(1) Value Based Costing (2) Competition
Based Costing (3) Cost-Up; to come up with a band of prices and then
zero-in on the final price based on other factors. He agreed.

Started with Value i.e. Willingness to Pay on the part of the customer.
The customers would of course be cotton formers. Then he asked what
is the value of the patent to them? I told him about it increasing the yield
and asked if he could provide some nos. on the same. He said it
increases the yield per sq. ft by a factor of 50%. Believing that it would
again be a complicated nos. case, I took some time and came up with a
complicated structure to calculate the monetary value of this increase in
yield. It involved numerous factors such as average land-holing, no. of
190

cotton farmers, current yield, cotton prices in the market etc. etc. But
rest-assured Dr. Sankhes cases would rarely involve complicated
calculations. He said he was looking for something very simple and
asked me to think about it.

Now was the moment of surprise. While I was thinking, he asked me to
pause. He said Oh you have worked in Capex right? How would you
reduce Capex Cost in a Power Plant? I was really surprised. I started
off by giving him a structure (yeah right!!!) which we need to put in
place to identify the scope of reduction in Capex. I came up with various
stages involved in setting up and commissioning a power plant which
would be:

Engineering Design > Construction of Infrastructure > Procurement of
equipments > Electricity Generation > Electricity Distribution &
Transmission

Told him we need to look into Capex requirement at each of stage and
started off with Engineering Design. Just I as started, he asked me to go
back to the Patent Case (strange!!!!)

He wanted a simplified model to calculate the value. After some
discussion, we have me the annual turnover of cotton in India and the
average price per ton. From this I calculate the value of the higher yield
that all Indian farmers could get.

He asked apart from increasing revenue, how else the patent could
benefit the farmers. Now with revenue there has to be cost!!! I said the
new technology could lead to reduction in costs. Was asked to
brainstorm on the costs involved. I told land, water for irrigation etc. Yes
the patent reduced irrigation requirements. So I talked about reducing
water consumption, associated energy costs as well as the
psychological costs and risks associated with reliance on monsoons
which could now be mitigated. He asked what else? Very happily I told
him that now lesser seeds may be required. He said The patent is a
variety of seeds only. I realized I had forgotten to ask him what does the
patent entail.in one of the professors language, is it a bird or a
plane. Should have asked it upfront.

Anyways recovered. Had already found out of the increase in revenue
(was asked to neglect decrease in costs). Told him this would be the
maximum willingness to pay and thus the upper end of the price band.
He agreed. Asked him the cost of Research and Development. He
asked why? Told him this would be the lower end of the price band
unless the focus was not profitability but social upliftment. He said the
focus was completely profitability and gave me a Net Present Value
(assume N). Could not understand it immediately but realized that it is
Revenue net the costs. Thus, the price band for the patent (in NPV
terms) would be between Rs. 0 to N. He agreed and asked me to zero
down on a value. Told him we need to look at similar launches in the
past to capture some trend (and therefore arrive at a value in the middle)
191

but he cut me short and said that no need to look at past records and
you would price it at less than N as we need to incentive the farmers to
overcome their switching costs by passing on some benefit to them.
Now this is what I eventually wanted to say but could not.
What do you think
the interview?
Firstly it seemed that Nothing went right. I wasnt confident interviewing
with him. Missed basic pointers and took time to identify the simple
model he was looking for. And of course couldnt conclude well.

But, later I was told, what went right was the CAPEX piece He wanted
to test how good I was with my basics while I was caught up doing
something else. Cant expect this from anyone but him. The framework
was bang on!!!
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Got a bit psyched. Could not structure the Patent Case well and it was
more of bouncing off ideas.
But was later told this is what happens with everyone when they
interview with Dr. Sankhe
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Cant emphasize more the need to be thorough with your work-ex and
reflect your experience in the case.
And if can, be confident no matter whosoever is interviewing you. Please
remember, you know stuff much better than the interviewer. You have
slogged your back while working. Who else would know about it better?
Outcome Made it to Round 2

192

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Rajat Gupta- Director (Head Industrial & Operations practice of
McKinsey in India)
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
I was told that he was very keen to meet me because of my Operations
background and was especially interested in my CAPEX experience. I
was told that he wanted to know more about what I had done during that
stint. So I went in with the frame of mind that I have to maximize on that
aspect of my profile.

As expected, he asked me thread bare on what all I did in that stint. He
did try to intimidate me by passing a few sarcastic remarks but I seemed
to enjoy it and gave him appropriate responses.

Then he asked a very interesting What do I expect to hear if I were to
go out and ask people randomly what they thought about you? Now
McKinsey allows you to be innovative, frank and candid in such
questions. But these need to be backed by some logic. Told him that
different people are entitle to have different opinions about a person and
how my different types of interactions i.e. in class, in events, in sports
would result in varied responses. Also, talked about the situational
aspect of it being 1
st
Day of placements and how that could influence the
responses. Then came up with a few candid ones. You can call me to
find those out
Case question The case was about a company thinking of launching a Hovercraft- a
motor boat based transportation system between two parts of Mumbai.
Was supposed to advise the client on the optimal fare for such a service.
Case Type Valuation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Was told this is a short case and we need to wrap up the case fast.
Without asking too many Start-Up questions, came to the 3 dimensional
approach of (1) Value to Customer (Willingness to Pay) (2) Competition
(3) Cost-up.

Started with Value. Was asked to brainstorm on how could this service
be valuable to the customers? Talked about the qualitative aspects of
Mumbai traffic having various tangible and in-tangible costs. Tangible
benefits could be saving of time, fuel and fare. Intangible benefits could
be alleviation of psychological costs like being stuck in traffic and getting
to spend less valuable time at work and office. But he said that fare is
something we need to find out Then moved to the 2
nd
aspect of
competition. Asked him what were the other modes of transport
available to the public? He said two alternatives existed- Road (Taxi)
and Rail (Train). Asked him information on Time and Cost. Dont
remember the exact nos. so will use indicative figures. By Taxi you took
45 minutes and incurred costs (all inclusive- tangible + intangible) of Rs.
250. By train you took 30 minutes and incurred costs of Rs. 50. Now
asked him the time supposed to be taken by Hovercraft and how many
193

of them were there. He said that a hovercraft would take 20 minutes to
cover the distance. The company was planning to start off with just 1
hovercraft. Asked him its capacity and he gave a figure of 100 people.
In a flash of rushing ideas, I just said that then there would be a capacity
constraint or atleast the hovercraft would always be full as the no. of
travelers would far exceed 100 in a busy place like Mumbai. Although at
that stage I didnt know how this was important in the context of the case
but he liked it

Ok, coming back. Hovercraft saves 25 minutes over Taxi and 10 minutes
over Train. So though would try and valuate in monetary terms this
saving of 25 minutes and 10 minutes. But point to note is that cost of
Train is much lower than cost of Taxi. So, value based approach if
applied on both the modes would result in two different nos. poles apart.

He quizzed me how to proceed and after some discussion, I concluded
that it made no business sense for the Hovercraft company to compete
with the Train and thus focus on competing with the Taxi only. Plus, with
only 100 seats, there would be no issue of in-sufficient traffic. Now this is
where the earlier remark on capacity made sense

At this stage he asked me to synthesize by giving an elevator pitch to
the client CEO, asked me to fit it in 1 minute and started looking at his
watch saying I was being evaluated for brevity.

To wrap up, knowing that he Head the Ops practice, I asked him a
question on benchmarking in operations and whether Indian firms are at
a stage where they can be set as international benchmarks. Surprisingly,
he asked me why I wanted to know about it. Now this was strange as I
had never ever heard of an interviewer asking the interviewee a counter
question on the closing question. I told him how we had to benchmark
many of our expansion/ up gradation projects with Japanese firms and
wanted a view from someone who has been exposed to such facilities
across the world. He was satisfied and then answered the question.
What do you think
the interview?
Discussion on Work-ex. Taking the sarcastic remarks in the right way
and not getting intimidated. Again reflecting the learning from the work-
experience in the case.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
The synthesis could have been better. His staring at the watch for an
accurate 1 min pitch intimidated me a bit. My bad. Otherwise nothing
much was wrong here.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Again, work-ex thoroughness is imperative.
Think through carefully the closing questions that the interviewer offers
to answer at the end of the interview. The questions need to make sense
in the backdrop of your profile, experiences and those of the interviewer.
Outcome Moved to 2
nd
R-2 Interview

194

Name Vivek Arora
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey & Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Mr. Noshir Kaka- Director
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
PI came after a couple of cases. This PI for this interview too was Work-
Ex centric. Noshir asked me about the two most important leadership
instances in me work life. Again my idea here was to use these 2
instances to reflect upon 2 different sides of my profile. First example
was of course on leading one very tough project in a logistically
challenging location. The other was captaining my ex-companys cricket
team which comprised of my bosses and super-bosses, and the
leadership tools that you need to put into use in such situations.
Case question I was given 2 mini-cases in this round:
(a) You need to advice Mr. Tata on how he would design Nano
(materials cost Rs. 65000) from Indica (materials cost Rs. 245,000)
(b) Indian IT industry has grown at over 20% in the last 15 years. What
do we need to do in order to maintain this growth trajectory for the next
10 years?
Case Type (a) Procurement Cost Management
(b) Growth Strategy
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
This 11
th
interview of the day and for sure the final/most critical interview
for McKinsey. When I was given the first case on Tata Nano, he could
figure out looking at the time of the day as well as the previous few
interviews that all he wanted was a structured brain-storming output on
strategic cost management. So, I did not spend any time on asking
clarifications/start-up questions and got down to business.

As there wasnt any readymade framework/structure for this, I imagined
myself a part of the Nano team and thought through the sequence in
which the material design and procurement process would unfold (of
course, again, my experiences at work came in very handy).

After a minute of thought, I started off by saying that this was a huge cut-
down on costs (by almost 75%) thus process improvements wont suffice
and that it called for radical changes in the design and sourcing
processes. I then recommended that we should first identify the various
steps that are involved in the material procurement process and see how
we can cut costs in each one of them. The sequence I gave was as
follows:

Technical Specifications of the car and individual parts and sub-
assemblies > Preparing the Bill of Materials (BOM) > Identification and
Selection of Vendors > Negotiations > Logistics- Freight, Duties,
Insurance, Taxes etc.

I asked Noshir for his approval which he promptly gave. Then I brain-
stormed various ways of cutting costs as each step. Car & Parts
193

Specifications: Car to adhere to the bare minimum specifications that are
needed to be adhered to by Indian Rules n Regulations (E.g. no need to
Euro N+1 of Euro N compliance required in India) but without
compromise on the safety of the passenger which is very important.
Technical Specifications of the parts and sub-assemblies to the at
Minimum Technical Standard (MTS) i.e. the specs need to be just right
to meet the requirements.
Bill of Materials (BOM): Talked about how big companies being risk
averse always order and add extra quantity of material in everything.
E.g. if 90 kgs steel is required, they would order 100 kgs and end up
putting 95 kgs. So optimal safety margins need to defined and be
adhered to.
Identification and Selection of Vendors: Said for experience that big
companies chose their trusted and loyal vendors, and are inclined to
have single vendors/point of contact for a plethora of related/unrelated
materials. This way, the vendors make unnecessary money. Thus, to
manufacture the lowest car in the world, we need to rationally evaluate
vendors outside our Zone of Comfort and their scope of supplies.
Talked for Chinese manufacturers that give both cost and quality
advantage. Gave examples of some proposals of Chinese
manufacturers that I had evaluated at work.
Negotiations: Then, negotiate hard. Tata can use their buyer power
(multiple businesses and product lines) to fleece suppliers but showing
them possible opportunities in near future.
Logistics- Freight, Clearance etc.: This was a pure brainstorming session
with ideas like bulk shipments through sea (no part shipments, air
freights etc.). Centralized insurance and clearance agents. Managing
road taxes etc.

Finally, something which is typically talked of in manufacturing:
INNOVATION. Although setting Indica as an anchor and working
backwards is a possible way, big companies like Tata Motors which
have presence in the foreign markets (talked of JLR) and access to the
modern technology, must mobilize their R&D department to come up
with revolutionary car design. Some cutting-edge innovation like a new
cost effective fuel injection system etc.

WhoaI spoke for 20 minutes continuously non-stop. Did not find the
need to. Noshir was constantly smiling and acknowledging.

Then straight away came the second case on IT. Now thats his area of
expertise and he wanted to check if I could talk about an industry I had
no prior exposure to. I came to know later that this case was in some
past years case-book and he had written a paper on that. Anyways, I
had missed both

Again I gave the initial questions a pass and asked for a minute to think.
Exhausted after so many cases, I was not able to recollect any jazzy
structure and thus stuck to the basics. I proposed looking at 2 types of
factors/aspects which need to looked at by the IT giants of the country:
(1) Internal Factors (2) External Factors
196

Told him that I am a firm believer that any individual/organization should
first have an internal introspection and then start looking at the world
outside. Thus would recommend starting off with the Internal Factors. He
smiled and said go-ahead. Internal factors meant how the company
needs to improve and uplift it-self internally. Said the biggest assets for
IT firms were its people and it boiled down to (a) Productivity (b)
Innovation.
(a) Productivity: Here, I used Productivity = f(Efficiency, Effectiveness) .
Explained the difference between the two and gave some ideas on how
IT industries could do that. We could see Microsoft from one of the
windows so pointed out and shared some experiences I had while I was
visiting an old friend there.
(b) Innovation: This is always a safe point to say. No one will challenge
Innovation as an improvement measure . Talked a bit about Google
and how it fostered a culture of innovation. This again translated to
sound people practices.

(2) External Factors: Here I used the 3 Us framework in disguise- Users,
Uses, Usage. Users: Talked about IT firms expanding their user base in
India and un-explored markets abroad. Once, once you get an
organization on-board, need to penetrate to all departments. Uses: Used
some SAIT funds to discuss codability and measurability. How certain
key process where still handled by companies internally (gave example
from work) as they were highly strategic in nature. Here, IT firms could
built enhance their credibility and build stronger partnerships with the
clients. Usage: Discussed growth through service provisions like AMCs
etc.
And then of course, Mergers and Acquisition abroad. Talk of more and
more Indian firms expanding outside India through this medium and how
biggies like Infosys, TCS etc. could continue this trend.

This was followed by PI (explained above). Asked him a couple of
questions on increasing role of consultants in assisting implementation
and talked about the trend at McKinsey.
What do you think
the interview?
By this time, I was a robot. This was the best interview of the day for me.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
If you cant immediately think of established structures, just think-through
the logical sequence of events. If you were there in that situation then
how would things unfold stepwise? Then within each step, mini-
structures/frameworks would readily fit. Again, give examples from work-
ex and life beyond work. If you have seen something happen, it has to
be true. Also, industry awareness is important to some extent. Reading a
Financial Daily for 2 months before the interviews if enough.

197

Name Gaurav Punia
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Mckinsey & Company
Name of the
interviewer
Sameer Shetty, Engagement Manager
Round and Interview
Number
Round 1 Interview 1
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me about yourself
Why do you continually push yourself to perform well academically
Sameer is into sports himself hence my interest in running became our
topic of conversation for several minutes including how I train for half
marathons.
Case question Our client is one of the largest banks in India. They have done fairly well
in retail banking but have struggled in commercial banking division.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Identified details about the bank which region, products etc
Next identified the competition and the products they offered. Grouped
products as per the total volume of transactions.
Was able to isolate bad performance to a single product - forex
derivatives.

Then tried to understand how banks make money from forex derivates
and by benchmarking with competition was able to ascertain why we
arent selling.

At this time we realized we had already spent about 35min on the PI +
Case so was asked to synthesize the case.
What do you think
the interview?
Was able to scope the problem well and isolate the problem to a single
product. It was never an interview, more so a conversation.

Honestly speaking, for atleast the first 10min of the case I had little idea
on where it was going but I tried to employ a MECE structure and spent
considerable time on being absolutely clear on the problem.

Finally, even though I had not touched upon the recommendations in the
case analysis, I was able to give 2 recommendations as part of my
synthesis. This was something which Sameer actually liked.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
My lack of practical knowledge about the banking sector.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
PI is important!
Read and be comfortable on different sectors. Also dont lose you cool
even if you think the case is going around in circles.

Outcome Went for Round 1 second interview

198

Name Gaurav Punia
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Mckinsey and Company
Name of the
interviewer
Rajat Gupta, Director
Round and Interview
Number
First Round, second interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Walk me through your resume.
Questions on my academic performance at School, Engineering College
and ISB
Strengths
If you had to relive ISB again whom would you want to be
Weaknesses here was really grilled as he continually pushed back on
each of my prepared answers until I finally cracked
Lots of questions on my work experience.
Why do you want to move from EDA to consulting
Do you think you will do well in a consulting company
Why Mckinsey and how will you make your decision between firms

Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
Really got along with Rajat.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Practice your PI!! It is as important as your cases.
Outcome Moved to round 2.

199

Name Gaurav Punia
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
Mckinsey and Company
Name of the
interviewer
Vivek Pandit, Partner
Round and Interview
Number
Round 2 Interview 1
Personal Interview
Questions
The interview started on dramatic note as I came about 15min late.
Was asked the reason for coming late and promptly responded with the
truth.
Vivek was a little shocked but finally told me that he appreciated my
honesty integrity was as important as intellect in consulting

Again some questions on the resume especially the work I had with
Taiwanese client and the challenges I had faced while working with
them.
Since I had also worked with Indian clients was asked to compare
them with Asian clients.
Toughest position I had been in at a client and how I handled it
Where do I see myself in 10 years.
Why consulting
If not consulting then what

Haiti Crisis and why does a country like Japan respond well while
countries like India suffer. A little bit on Reliance and Lyondell deal and
what I thought were the risks for that.

Case question Problem with Airline industry in India
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Thankfully had read up on this.
Started out through the first principles supply of total seats and
the total demand.
Quickly established the various cost heads fuel, leasing planes,
facilities and staff
It really was a conversation and soon realized that Vivek didnt really
want me to solve it like a case but just discuss. So we started on the
analysis phase where we started discussing what is that Air India can
do.
Identified the places where Air India loses more money compared to
competition (both India and foreign).
Was able to use some points from Southwest and Singapore airlines
and did a great job in identifying the problems with hub and spoke model
of operation price competition on arterial routes and operational
efficiency.

What do you think
the interview?
Everything. Kept my composure at the start.
What do you think
went wrong in this
Nothing
200

interview
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Practicing cases is important but please dont neglect your PI and
general reading. An intelligent conversation backed by well researched
data can really help.

201

Name Aditya Kulkarni
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
First interview
Personal Interview
Questions
A lot of questions about Google and what it is like to work there. He was
very interested in how Google maintains market share.
He wanted to know how Google suggest works (It was on my CV that I
wrote Google suggest for India), and we discussed the scale and
infrastructure that Google has and how its gaining competitive
advantage from it.

I told him searching porn well is very important for a search engine
entering a new market, and from there we went into market entry
strategies for the search engines.
Case question The PI went on for 20-25 minutes, at which point he realized he had to
ask me a case. He asked me a really simple case which got over in 5
minutes. It was a case about a pineapple juice manufacturer. He wanted
me to calculate the capacity that would be required for the plant.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The case was very trivial. It was just multiplying a bunch of numbers
together. Less than 5 minutes.
What do you think
the interview?

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Went into the 2
rd
interview

202

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey
Name of the
interviewer
Noushir Kaka
Round and Interview
Number
Second interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Was very interested in my background at Google. We talked for over 20
minutes about the work that Id done. He asked about the projects I had
on my CV (Orkut, Gmail) and what impact they had and working at
Google.
Case question Wasnt really a case, but more of a discussion. What should Infosys do
today to move up the value chain?
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Noushir also works in IT, so he wanted to discuss what Infosys should
do next. We talked about their business model, about billing rates and
how they can leverage their assets.

I brought up the point of Centers of Excellence and how they dont
really work in IT services. He asked why, then asked me to come up with
alternatives to the model.

I talked a while about a skunk-works type project team that they should
set up. We discussed the future of the market etc
What do you think
the interview?
The interview was very conversational. No case really, more of a
discussion around what I thought of the IT industry and where I see the
future of the industry.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing much, really.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Went into the 3
rd
interview

203

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey
Name of the
interviewer
Rajat Gupta
Round and Interview
Number
Third interview
Personal Interview
Questions
This interview was about 20 minutes long, and it was all PI. He asked
about why I did an MBA, what I liked/disliked about working at a place
like Google.

This interview was very different from the traditional case interviews. He
asked me What would people on the campus say about Aditya
Kulkarni?, Why consulting when youre doing so well in Google? etc

I was very honest with my answers, and didnt use any of the canned
responses. I even said that Im quite lazy and dont like doing hard work.
We even discussed strategies to do well at exams without studying for
them.
Case question No Case.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
I was very honest and upfront about what I wanted from McKinsey. I
didnt use any of the prepped answers, and just told him what I
thought. I even told him that I was undecided about joining McKinsey (if
they made an offer), and he seemed OK with that.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome On offer was made at the end of the interview

204

Name Saurabh Vashishtha
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey and Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Engagement Manager
Round and Interview
Number
1
st
round 1
st
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell me about yourself?
Why ISB? Why MBA? Why consulting?

Case question A publishing firm has been seeing a fall in profits off late. Help them
diagnose and fix the problem.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
The case started on a very generic note and on the outset seemed like a
standard profitability case. I started with some clarifying questions such
as
- What does the company do? The company is into magazine
publishing (2
nd
highest selling weekly magazine, in addition to
few other magazines.
- Who are the competitors? There are a few other competitors. 2
other large competitors, 1 larger and another smaller than our
company and the segment is dominated by these 3. There are a
few other smaller players too.
- How long have they been facing the problem? Facing it for the
past few years.
- How are the competitors doing? Doing fine. Have been more
or less constant.
I started with structuring the problem in a standard profitability problem
(profit = revenue cost). He told me that the revenues have been fine
and they have actually seen an increase in revenue over the past few
years (he threw some numbers here such as % increase in revenue etc).
Then I told him that I would focus on the costs. In order to handle the
costs part, I created a value chain of the complete process from the time
of collection of news and articles (reporting) editing printing
distribution. Here he asked me to think if there could be something else
also in the value chain. I realized that after distribution there should be
something related to returns also. He was expecting the same answer.
Then I went through the various parts of the value chain to understand
the costs involved in each part and if something had changed or could
be improved there, but there were no major issues. Since he had asked
me specifically for the returns part, I asked him a little more about the
returns policy and what happens if the vendor/retailer has overstocked
the magazines. He told me that the company takes them back and the
value is practically zero for those magazines. (Throughout the
discussion he was giving me numbers on how much it costs per
magazine at each part of the value chain).). At this point, I asked him if
there had been an increase in the number of returns (overstocking at the
retailers end and he gave me some data which indicated that was the
case). I told him that at this point, we can evaluate the implications of
both under-stocking and overstocking at the vendors end and find if the
203

company is supplying the optimal quantity. This was basically an
application of the newsvendor problem we studied in the basic
operations course. Post this it was simple, I completed the calculations
and he looked satisfied.

What do you think
the interview?
Its very important to listen carefully during a case interview. Most
interviewers will give away hints and will try to help you solve a case.
Catching those hints and solving the case together with the interviewer
is the key.
Another thing that I think went right was the conversations before and
after the case interview. I was done with the interview in 12-15 minutes.
For the remaining time, I chatted with him about his experience
interviewing at ISB and how he found it different from interviewing at the
IIMs. And then we went on to talk about the different models that the
schools operate on and how the education sector in India has evolved
etc etc. All of this helped me strike a note with the interviewer.
Finally the fact that I could remember what the newsvendor problem was

What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing really went wrong.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Listening skills are very important.
Go through the core term concepts. The ability to apply concepts studied
in the various subjects to your case interviews give that wow factor.
Outcome Through to 2
nd
interview.

206

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey and Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Noshir Kaka (Partner & Director)
Round and Interview
Number
1
st
round 2
nd
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
A majority of this interview was PI. He asked me a lot of questions
about my work experience and about my company (Trilogy). He then
asked me about what I thought was the best way to encourage
innovation in a technology company. Although this was a PI, I tried to put
a structure to my answer. I basically divided the reforms into a few
buckets, like organizational changes (incentive structures), employee
focus, customer focus etc. And then elaborated under each of the sub-
headings. There were also other questions related to the biggest
challenges at work etc.

Case question Tata motors was producing Indica (which costs around 3 Lakhs), and
wanted to produce a 1 lakh car. How can they go about doing this?
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
This was a very small and simple case. He was primarily looking for
ways to not just reduce cost but how to approach a radically different
problem. I went through the standard set of cost reduction measures
throughout the value chain but told him that this would only achieve only
so much cost reduction. In order to create a one lakh car, they need to
look at something from the scratch. It needs to be a fresh design (not
just of the engine, but also design of how the various processes work
today, including where the assembly happens, how distribution works
etc).

What do you think
the interview?
Most of this interview was about my work experience (Software product
development and technology consulting), and my views on the
technology sector. It helped to have researched the various trends in the
sector and having an opinion on the various things.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing much, though it may have helped to go through the casebooks
from earlier years in detail, because this case was very similar to
something that was asked in one of the previous years, but I heard it for
the first time in the interview.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
- Be very thorough with your work experience related topics
- Do research on the trends etc in the relevant sector.
- Try and structure your responses even in a PI.
Outcome Shortlisted for 2
nd
round.

207

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
McKinsey and Co.
Name of the
interviewer
Shirish Sankhe (Partner & Director)
Round and Interview
Number
2
nd
round 1
st
interview
Personal Interview
Questions

Case question The Maharashtra government wants to build a plan for the Mumbai
metro project and wants it to be a completely self financed project. How
could this be achieved.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
This was again a small case, where Shirish did most of the talking. I
started with telling him that there would be two key aspects to this
project, the first being the financing (sources, procedures) and the
second being the revenue generation, and both of these together need
to contribute to a self financed metro project. I started with the revenue
part first. I approached this through an asset monetization approach
(basically analyze the various assets that the project would own and look
at ways to monetize each of them). Here I talked about the train, the
tracks, the land near the tracks and the stations etc and suggested ways
to monetize these. The most important thing that came out was the land
that is allocated to the metro project, and which is not used directly for
the project and can be developed as a commercial property to monetize
the project. Once we reached this stage, Shirish talked at length about
how this worked at the Mumbai metro project where he was involved
and how they were able to collect many times more revenue than the
amount needed for the project.
Then I talked about the financing part. Here I basically started with the
pecking order and suggested ways to finance. I told him that given that
government guarantees could be explored and this could lead to ways of
reducing the cost of financing. This turned more into a conversation,
where Shirish talked about the various kinds of securities that could be
used and how the government often provides sops in the form of tax
breaks etc.

What do you think
the interview?
Again, listening helped. He kept giving me hints and helped me
progress through the case. Also, during the case prep sessions, we had
touched upon the asset monetization strategy, which helped here.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing really. It would have been nice to know about the various
securities that Shirish mentioned could be used for financing such a
project
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Was made an offer

208

The
Parthenon
Group

209

Name Anip Sharma
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
The Parthenon Group
Name of the
interviewer
Karan Khemka (Partner and Mumbai Office Head)
Round and Interview
Number
1
st
round 1
st
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
None

Case question There is a company in UK which organizes outdoor trips for field
students. A private equity company wants to pick up a stake in the firm
and wants to assess the validity of the claims of company with respect to
the market share. The revenues of the company are given. How would
you go about solving it?
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

For a second I thought that the case of around assessing if the revenues
of the company were reported correctly. So I wrote the formula:
Revenues = No of students going of trips per year * Number of trips per
students

But after going astray for a min I realized that I have to estimate the total
market size. Then the usual line of questioning of what is the population
of UK 60 Mn (given by Karan) -> Assuming uniform distribution -> trips
organized for people in the age group 7yrs 15yrs (given) - > attenuate
further to estimate total number of people going for such trips - > further I
asked if I should attenuate on affordability but it was not required.

At this point I had forgot to question on the lines of number of trips per
person and Karan pointed this out. Thankfully, I had written it earlier in
front of him and he was ok.

We briefly chatted about my restaurant business and then Karan asked
if I had any questions. I asked how did he see Parthenon evolving and
he explained that he still expected the office to be small but doing
meaningful work.
What do you think
the interview?
Writing the formula early on helped not goof up.
Didnt get mired in a lot of detail
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Could have remembered the other parameter
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
The simplicity of this case is actually what throws people off track. The
case was simply about estimating the total market size of the outdoor
trips industry and then assessing if the market share claimed = actual
market share. So just be grounded in basics.
Outcome Moved to second interview, 1
st
round

210

Name Anip Sharma
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
The Parthenon Group
Name of the
interviewer
Abhinav Mittal
Round and Interview
Number
1
st
round 2
nd
interview
Personal Interview
Questions
None

Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
We just discussed about my restaurant business. What went well and
why did it not work. Then moving on to the viability of organized food
services business but really no case. Just conversation.
What do you think
the interview?
I tried to point out to key business insights in a structured fashion. I
disagreed a lot but was polite.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview

Outcome Moved to second round

211

Name Anip Sharma
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
The Parthenon Group
Name of the
interviewer
Entire interview panel
Round and Interview
Number
2
nd
round
Personal Interview
Questions
None

Case question This round is specific to Parthenon. I was given a 25-30 pager document
on a real client situation with a LOT of numbers and I had to come up
with a project proposal. I was left alone for 30 minutes with a calculator
and was expected to present using a whiteboard.

The case was about a laminate manufacturers who was continuously
losing market share in a maturing industry as new products were coming
up.
Case Type -
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
After I was ready all the members of the interview panel came into the
room and I started presenting. They agreed with the overall though
process but the discussion ultimately hinged on why the production
process is not cost effective. I pointed out to the economies of scale
issue but was shot down. I pointed out to operational inefficiencies but
was shot down. We were going round and round on this and it was really
late in the night. But I forced myself to think from a fresh perspective
after taking a break of one min. I realized that there is an issue of
learning curve here (Economics of strategy, competitive strategy
competitive advantage of Intel) which I presented. The discussion
abruptly ended there as Karan was specifically looking for this insight
and I was made an offer on the spot.
What do you think
the interview?
I think I did a fairly good job of extracting key business insights and
didnt get lost in numbers. I used the board effectively and laid out a
storyboard for the presentation.

What also helped was that when pushed to come up with more ideas, I
did not give up, did not lose my cool and was continuously thinking on
my feet
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview


212

ZS
Associates

213

214

Name Gautam Pande
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Sandeep
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
Personal Interview was mostly conversational. Asked about experiences
from work. For instance, examples of experiences where you led a team
or motivated a team. What issues you faced. How did you resolve them.
Personally, coming from an Infosys background, my discussion went into
the Onsite-Offshore model and the motivational/leadership challenges
that come with it.
Case question Multiple
Case Type It was a sort of a mini case (details below)
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Basically the interviewer had a (printed out) slide deck about a pharma
company. Each slide had some graphs and charts and you are
supposed to draw inferences from them. For example, spot
increasing/decreasing trends or abnormal behavior and then the
interviewer would dig deeper and ask for possible reasons for such
trends/behaviors. Once he was satisfied that you have spotted the right
trends and the possible explanations he would move on to the next slide.
Towards the end there were some calculations involved as well. For
example, market sizing estimate figures were to be calculated based on
market segment estimates. Calculations were fairly straightforward and
logical (no real mba fundae were needed).
Overall, I got the impression that they were basically trying to test if you
are comfortable with numbers and are analytically inclined, thats all.
What do you think
the interview?
I think my PI part of the interview went pretty well. I kind of connected
with the interviewer on my motivational leadership example coz it was
based on the onsite offshore model (somewhat similar to what ZS has
now) and spoke about issues that the interviewer himself had faced at
ZS.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Not too much. Except that the case/analytical part of the interview could
have gone smoother. I was a little slow initially and so towards the end
didnt have enough time to complete the calculations for the last
question. Although, the interviewer seemed satisfied with me just
showing him the working (and not actually calculating the exact figure)
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
There is not too much that can be done in terms of preparation for the
Case. Id just suggest that you go in with a fresh mind. The questions
are pretty straightforward you just need to be confident and also need to
show your thinking (perhaps thinking out loud could be a good idea to do
this).

As for the PI. The usual PI questions should be prepared. For example,
leadership/motivation/team work/innovation examples from work etc.
Nothing out of the expected here.
Outcome Went through to 2
nd
round
213

Name Gautam Pande
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Niara & another person (not sure of the names)
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
None. Case based interview.
Case question Multiple
Case Type It was more of a Case Study than a typical case interview where we
were given about 30-40 pages of information and were supposed to read
through it and present on it in 40 mins time (details below)
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Case involved an ice cream retailing company that was feeling the heat
financially. The case was about what options/alternatives the company
had going forwardshould it expand/cut down on its outlets, acquire
new retailers etc.

The case itself is not so important as the format. We were given a total
of 40 mins where we had to read through LOTS of information and
prepare a 10-15 minute presentation of the case (on flip charts). The
information was in various formats and was jumbled. For example, there
was a complete annual report of the company, there was a newspaper
article about real estate rents going down (hence the possibility of
renting out new retail shops and thus the connection with the case),
letters from the bank to the company about not meeting their financial
obligations, stock trends for the company, information about competitors
and possible acquisition options etc. etc.
What do you think
the interview?
I think I was fairly confident with my presentationthat helped a lot.
Although I didnt read through the entire material word for word (that was
not humanly possible given the time frame) I managed to get a feel of
what was happening overall and put it all together in a story.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Not too much. I was asked one question on my presentation that I could
not answer coz I had missed out that piece of information. But I dont
think it mattered too much overall.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Its very important to understand that its not humanly possible to read
through the entire material in the given time frame. What is expected is
for you to capture the main essence of each article/piece of information
provided. A good idea maybe to start off with the heading of the article
and read just the first and last sentences of the paragraphs (basically,
speed reading whichever way it works for you).

Secondly, its critical to split up the 40 mins between reading the material
and making the presentation. I think what I did was I kept 25 mins for the
reading part, and 15mins for drawing out the presentation (on the flip
charts).
Once again, when making the presentation, it is a good idea to probably
draw out four/six (whichever works) slides on the chart (coz typically you
wouldnt have enough meat to fill up the entire chart with just one slide).
And then start off with giving headings to each slide so you can build
216

your story overall mentally and then start filling in the details (so even if
you run short of time at least you have the overall story intact in terms of
headings and you can still present).

Once again, no hardcore mba concepts tested as such. Just some
sensible business understanding/thinking, good time management and
smart presentation skills is what theyre looking for.
Outcome Went through to 3
rd
round

217

Name Gautam Pande
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Dont remember!
Round and Interview
Number
Third
Personal Interview
Questions
Personal Interview was mostly conversational and very similar to the first
round PI. Asked about experiences from work as in the first round,
strengths, weaknesses, why ZS etc.
Case question None
Case Type N/A
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
There was no case as such but they did ask a couple of analytical
questions once again similar to the first round. Basically the questions
were more like logical thinking puzzles rather than business case
questions
What do you think
the interview?
Once again, PI part went pretty well and I could connect with the
interviewer.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Not too much. I couldve answered some of the puzzle questions better
but I did well enough I guess.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Once again, very little that can be done in terms of preparation. Work on
your PI well (the usual PI questions) and come with a fresh mind for the
puzzles.
Theyre not tough at all and all they want to test is if you can think
logically. So show them your thinking even if you cant solve the entire
problem
Outcome Was made an offer I couldnt refuse

218

Name Srinivas Sainaga Chilukuri
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Panel of two members
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
Basically 4~5 questions (and follow-ups on responses) based on
resume & EoI
1. Why were you promoted twice before the actual tenure? Can you
give some specific reasons?
2. Why did you quit TCS? Would you join TCS back if you were
made an offer? Why/Why Not?
3. What is one thing that you felt you did not handle well in your
work experience? What would you do different now?
4. Do you have any questions?
Case question
Case Type Data Interpretation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Its a data and graphs based case covering all the fundamental concepts
of marketing viz., market sizing, sales force sizing, etc.
What do you think
the interview?
- Wherever there was ambiguity in the case, I asked questions and got
clarity on what exactly is expected as the answer?
- I have worked out every step of the calculations for quantitative
questions thus involving the interviewers through the problem-solving
process
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
For one of the questions, I missed the foot notes given in the slide and
asked a question that would have otherwise not arisen.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be clear with the marketing fundamentals (courses 101 & 102) and be
ready to do some calculations (simple though) and data interpretation
The case and questions are relatively simple and quite solvable on the
spot. So, just keep your cool and focus

219

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Panel of two members
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions

Case question
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
I was given around 15 documents (~45 pages) related to an ice cream
company and 40 mins to understand those documents and come up with
a presentation on flip charts for two of the board of directors of the ice
cream company. There were detailed questions from the two panelists
during the presentation on the understanding and the recommendations
What do you think
the interview?
- I have followed the 4c-4p framework approach for solving the case
and thus could systematically take the panelists through the
presentation
- I could remember some important details in the documents and cited
the appropriate numbers while explaining my problem analysis and
defending my recommendations
- One of the panelists looked disinterested after listening to the
presentation which gave an impression that my case understanding
is wrong but I tried to stay focused and positive about my case
analysis
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
- I could not manage my time on the case preparation really well and
came up with minimal details on the flip charts. I was mostly
explaining the numbers while talking through the presentation
- I could not answer some of the questions asked by the panelists
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
- Distribute your time wisely for case analysis and presentation, you
have to be prepared to get on to the case really quickly
- The amount of data in the given time frame is overwhelming. So, it is
important to stay cool and focused
- The interviewing panel is very pa

220

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Maneesh Chandra, Managing Principal
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
- Tell me your 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses
- Why do you want to join ZS? Give 3 reasons
- Why should ZS hire you? Give 3 reasons
- Would you join TCS back in case you are made an offer? Why/Why
Not?
Case question Was given a sales force optimization problem where I had to distribute X
no. of available sales reps for selling two refrigerator brands. The
diminishing rate of the marginal benefit with increase in sales force size
of each brand is different.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
Was consistent in my answers for PI questions right from Round 1
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
In my opinion, there are no right/wrong answers in this round. This is
basically a psychometric assessment to check the team fit. If you made it
here, you are mostly in
Outcome

221

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Sriram, Managing Principal
Round and Interview
Number
Personal Interview
Questions
- Tell me your 3 weaknesses. How do you overcome your
weaknesses?
- Have you encountered any difficult team member? How did you
handle the situation?
- You seem to be a very soft spoken person? How do you handle
arguments/disagreements during meetings or how do you make your
voice heard in tough situations?
Case question
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
Was consistent in my answers for PI questions right from Round 1
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview

Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
In my opinion, there are no right/wrong answers in this round. This is
basically a psychometric assessment to check the team fit. If you made it
here, you are mostly in
Outcome

Name Rohit Suhas Bhagwat
222

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
1, 2, 3
Personal Interview
Questions
Round one in the process consisted of a mini caselet, mixed with some
preliminary motivational questions. The panel mostly wanted to know
your past background and how consulting fit in with your career goals.
Would suggest preparation of specific examples from
professional/personal experiences to support your answers. The final
round especially requires concrete experience-based answers.

Case question The caselet was easy and tested mainly the candidates ability to
interpret graphical and numerical data by identifying trends and possible
causes. There was some reference to market entry strategies and risks,
but this was not delved into in detail. Suggest future applicants look at
Sales response functions in detail.

The second round was case-based. There were around 40 pages of
information including background, industry research, newspaper articles,
annual reports and miscellaneous data. The candidate was expected to
identify the issue and make recommendations. Calculations were
minimal. The main challenge was to finish the reading and evolve a
cohesive and comprehensive strategy to solve the problem at hand. The
findings were then to be transferred to chart paper and presented to the
panel. One can expect a fair bit of cross-questioning if the coverage of
the case has not been complete. Innovative insights and the ability to
fend off questions help.

Case Type Nothing unusual. Standard 3C, 4P approach to solve the issue at hand.
More driven by approach and strategy than numbers and frameworks.
Be sure to cover or think of all flaws and angles.

Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Bound by a confidentiality clause. But suffice to say that it was in line
with the case books available on the consulting club portal.
What do you think
the interview?
The first round was strictly OK. I got the data crunching right but felt I
could have done better on suggesting the causes behind the data trends
in the caselets. The second round was much much better. The key was
to read quickly without getting bogged down by the sheer volume of the
data and material. I had minimal cross-questioning and felt that I hit most
of the salient points of the case. Problem assessment is the key. The
final interview was just to gauge the candidates fit with a small econ 101
question on MR/MC. If youve made it this far, theyre probably serious
about your chances.

What do you think
went wrong in this
Could have been more prepared for pharma/healthcare practices
223

interview
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Its all about presentation skills and how you can handle large chunks of
data. In that manner, it is slightly different from the other case interviews.
Outcome Offer accepted

h
224

Name Vinit Garg
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Dont Remember
Round and Interview
Number
First
Personal Interview
Questions
D) Walk me through your Resume
E) Discussion on my ELP Project (It was on setting up of back office
for a Pharma company): How did we add value, what was my
role in the team, further technical questions on the ELP Project
F) Discussion on my Project Management Experience: Issues while
leading team and how I handled those
G) Example of an inefficient management from my work experience
and how I will handle such situations now
H) What do you know about ZS? What do you think worked for you
in the ZS Case Competition (I was on winning team of ZS
Competition)
I) Any Questions for ZS?
Case question There was a series of mini cases, around 4-5 based on a company
launching a new product in the market. The caselets were as follows:
C) Graphs of the company and its competitors products. I was
asked to interpret the graphs
D) Survey results about the product perceptions. Again read and
interpret
E) Calculation based questions Some data was provided but I
have to interpret the same and conduct the calculations
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
The PI went well providing good start. Understanding the way ZS works
by talking to Alums helped in framing the responses better.
While solving the case, along with solving individual cases I was able to
connect previous cases together to provide better recommendations.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing I can think of
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
B) Do get into calculations while solving individual cases e.g. during
your recommendations rather than just saying market share is
increasing, try to speak market share increased by X%
C) Try to throw as many different recommendations or suggestions.
Also, dont forget to speak about your assumptions.
D) In terms of preparation, the closest I could think of is refer to
MKTR1 & 2 as well as MADM numerical from Core Terms

223

Name Vinit Garg
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Jude Konzelmann (Partner) & One more senior person
Round and Interview
Number
Second
Personal Interview
Questions
None
Case question I was provided a packet that consisted of Shareholders report, CEO
messages, Market Survey Reports, Newspaper Cuttings and other such
documents. The whole thing was loosely organized. In 40 minutes, I was
tasked to go through the material and prepare a presentation for What
is wrong with the company. What are your suggestions to improve the
situation?

I organized the presentation as follows:
A) Assessment of Current Situation
B) Key Issues
C) Opportunities and Constraints
D) Recommendations

After this, I was scheduled to make the presentation on white paper with
a marker. There was a lot of cross questioning on everything I
mentioned on the prezo. Also, some additional data was thrown at
during the presentation and I had to provide alternative suggestions
based on the same. Since there were a lot of moving variables, I kept
referring to the case during the Q & A.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
I was able to provide multifunctional recommendations applying
concepts from Corporate Finance, Marketing Services & Competitive
Strategy etc.
Some witty comments during Q & A also helped to lighten the
environment.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I forgot to use marker and wrote just with my pen on the white paper.
They had real hard time figuring out what I had written
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
C) Be as integrative as possible. Dont just think of the case as a
just a Marketing / Strategy / Finance case. Try to bring out as
many elements as possible in 40 minutes. Build on those, during
the presentations
D) Just Relax and enjoy the process. Nobody can make a perfect
presentation.
Outcome Shortlisted for Final round
226

Name Vinit Garg
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Manish (Partner)
Round and Interview
Number
Third
Personal Interview
Questions
This is a fit interview and ZS plays a lot of emphasis on fit. The
questions were same as expected:
A) Why ZS? What do you know about ZS?
B) Why should we hire you?
C) How will your past experience be relevant?
D) Any questions you have for me?
Each element of my response was digged one to two steps deeper. I
was asked to quantify each and every strength I mentioned.
Case question There was a numerical type questions. It was about allocation of
resources to different activities based on graphical interpretation of
payoffs. I was required to determine the exact division.
Case Type
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible

What do you think
the interview?
I think I did well in the PI. I mentioned few things about ZS that Manish
was very impressed with and repeated quite a few times.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I solved the numerical in a stop-gap sort of form and took a lot of time
and clues from Manish to form the mathematical equation. However, I
dont think lot of emphasis
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
As I mentioned, ZS Plays a lot of emphasis on the fit. The fit related
questions are similar for almost all. Think through your responses and
be prepared to discuss the elements you mention 1-2 steps deeper.

227

Name Megha Khatri
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Jude Konzelmann/Nitin
Round and Interview
Number
1
Personal Interview
Questions
Tell us about yourself, What has been your biggest achievement, What
were your job responsibilities at previous company, what were the
challenges you faced at job, Why ZS, What other firms did you interview
with etc.
Case question A slide deck of graphs/ charts/ tables was shown and was asked to
interpret each slide assimilating information from previous slides, if
needed.
Case Type Numbers/Graphical Interpretation
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
There were about 12 slides about a drug company and I was asked to
go one by one interpreting each slide. They were mostly on sales
response, regression data interpretation, some survey data
interpretation, and profitability analysis ( MKDM course was very helpful
for the whole case). I was able to interpret each slide and gave plausible
reasons for why that may be the phenomenon. The reasons included
concepts on carry-over effect, optimal level of resource allocation etc.,
and what parameters to use while marketing the drug (based on survey
data and regression results). I was not able to explain one pattern but
was then hinted by interviewer to use earlier graphs data and then I was
able to explain. The interview went for about an hour.
What do you think
the interview?
I was calm and it was the first interview so I think the interviewers were
also very interested. Both the interviewers were very helpful. I was able
to complete the 12 slides.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Be calm , composed, and if you get stuck take hints from interviewer
Outcome Second round

Name Megha Khatri
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Group of interviewers ( Maneesh Chandra, Eric, one more Principal)
Round and Interview
Number
2
228

Personal Interview
Questions
Just introduction(1 min)
Case question I was given a 40 page case and was asked to come up with business
solution in 35-40 mins. This was to be presented to management using
Slide deck.
Case Type Interpretation ( qualitative and quantitative)
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
There were 40 pages about a company in US that had multiple problems
( you could identify operations, marketing, finance angle). I read the
case in 15- 20 minutes, jotted all issues, and made presentation in 10
minutes. Basic issue was revenue and profit growth. I had some data to
interpret which regions to focus, what products to focus, what channels
to focus, what customers to focus etc..so I came up with a strategy to
increase profits by reducing costs, and increasing revenue. The listed
down ways to reduce cost and increase revenues in current and new
markets. Suggested way forward and also gave what studies need to be
conducted for developing a product. It was a case where you could pick
several issues and work around several solution ( pure Strategy case).
What do you think
the interview?
I was able to clearly identify all issues and was very structured in
approach. I used both qualitative and quantitative ways to defend my
case ( which was liked by Maneesh)
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Could have been calm during presentation but my anxiety while solving
case continued while presenting.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Ensure you allow interviewers to ask question and have discussion.
They really like that format.
Outcome Third round

Name Megha Khatri
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Jude Konzelmann
Round and Interview
Number
3
Personal Interview
Questions
I met him earlier so he joked around it and said so we meet here again
and said I will not trouble you again, this is the last round. I answered
back saying no I would like to be troubled and would want to meet you
again.
He knew my background so didnt ask for that. Most questions were
behavioral about previous jobs. He kept asking me situations and what I
did. Then he asked me what I know about ZS and why is it interesting for
me. He asked me if I know someone in ZS and I said yes. So he asked
me what have I been told about ZS. He then asked me a very particular
question. He asked if I have noticed the trend that all ZS shortlists are
from IT background except me and asked me to explain why that could
be the case. I told him that the job needed modeling and technological
skills. He explained me in detail why that was so. All I gathered was that
you need to work with software teams sometimes to develop the
229

software for a model to be implemented for a client. He asked me if I will
be able t do that given that I have not worked in analytics or IT fields. I
gave him some gyaan on why I will be able to itThen he gave a case.
He asked me to wait outside
Case question Short case on resource allocation based on a response function.
Case Type Graphical
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
There were two types of products for a company and a response
function was given. I was asked to allocate 100 sales people to each of
the products. He asked me the algorithm I followed.
What do you think
the interview?
My contacts at ZS.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
I took time to solve a mini-case and was also not able to explain why IT
people and why me (without IT)
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Having your own contacts and speaking with them prior to interview
helps
Outcome Offer made

230

Name Nitya Thandavan
Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
First Round (Half an hour of PI + Half an hour of case)
Personal Interview
Questions
Generic questions (E.g.: why consulting)
Resume based questions (E.g.: how did your PMP certification help you
in your work)
Situational Questions (E.g.: Give an example of a highly complex
assignment that you handled.)
Case question Why a drug was suddenly not doing well when compared to its
competitors? Three calculations on sales force optimization.
Case Type Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis including precise calculations.
Some amount of Data Interpretation.
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Non Disclosure Signed with ZS
What do you think
the interview?
The fact that I was able to maintain my cool and answer confidently and
logically clearly showing the problem flow and calculation details. I was
able to come up with more than one logical answer for the questions that
were asked which impressed them. Ability to talk in mathematical as well
as business terms.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Kind of blanked out on the first slide. The interviewer had to guide me.
But there were a lot of other slides to follow and the PI, where I was able
to make up for the initial glitch.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Maintain your calm and be confident and optimistic. For this round, dont
narrow your thoughts down by a framework as it tends to limit your
thinking. In rounds where precise answers are required case
frameworks will not take you too far.
Outcome Shortlisted for second round.

231

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer

Round and Interview
Number
Second Case Analysis
Personal Interview
Questions
NA
Case question How to turn an ice cream chain profitable?
What should be the acquisition strategy for this chain?
At what locations should new parlors be opened?
Case Type We were given a case (approx 45 pages) with lots of data and text. We
were given 40 minutes to go through the case, analyze it and put our
thoughts and recommendations on the flip chart followed by a 15 minute
presentation of the case. There was a lot of cross questioning during the
presentation.
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
Non Disclosure Signed with ZS
What do you think
the interview?
I was able to go through the whole case and get a sense of what
sections were important and what were not. Was able to structure my
analysis into four buckets - financial, marketing, strategic and others,
before coming up with the recommendations. Did not change my stance
under pressure during the presentation kept on providing answers to
support my view.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Could not do as much quant as I wanted to.
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
Time management is the key. Set aside 20 minutes for reading the
case, 10 minutes for analyzing it and going through the important
parts again and 10 minutes for thinking about a structure and putting
it on the flip chart.
Read the entire case. That way you would be able to make out which
parts are important and focus on them for analysis. Reading the
entire case would also enable you to tackle all the questions that are
asked during the presentation.
In this round, use of case frameworks helps to ensure that you have
covered all aspects of the problem at hand.
Structure you presentation. Most important!!
Answer all the questions confidently interviewers will try to change
your thoughts intentionally dont give up and keep on providing
logical answers to support your view.
Outcome Shortlisted for final round.

232

Interviewing with
(consulting firm)
ZS Associates
Name of the
interviewer
Jude Konzelmann
Round and Interview
Number
Third Round PI with the Principal (went on for an hour!!)
Personal Interview
Questions
General Questions
Resume Based Questions (lots of these)
Situational Questions (lots of these)
Industry Questions
Some attitude questions (like your ideas on work life balance)
Case question NA
Case Type NA
Narration of the
case, as
descriptively as
possible
NA
What do you think
the interview?
I had gone through my resume thoroughly a day before and thought of
key things to say under each of the heads. Was a great help in
answering the situational questions.
Was able to demonstrate my suitability and passion for the role by giving
thoughtful but spontaneous answers.
What do you think
went wrong in this
interview
Nothing that I can think of. Interview went extremely well!!
Any tips for the
future batch based
in this interview
A day before the interview, go through your resume. Think of at least
three things to say about each of the points mentioned in your
resume.
Be confident, spontaneous and genuine.
Show passion in the opinions/views that you express.
Outcome Job Offer.
233

Appendix Master List of Consulting Offers (As of March, 2010)

1. Accenture
a) Jasmeet Singh Marwah
b) Shweta Tiwari
c) Abhishek Gupta
d) Abhishek Bhatia
e) Vinayaka Padmanabha
f) Shabber Hussain Badshah
g) Deepak Sinha
h) Sowmya C

2. Arthur D Little
a) Samrat Bose
b) Adnan Kadar Merhaba

3. AT Kearney
a) Abhineet Sawa
b) Sudipta Ray
c) Barathi S
d) Akash Jain

4. Booz and Co.
Somesh Satnalika

5. Boston Consulting Group
a) Pallavi Malani
b) Deepak Deshmukh
c) Siddharth Negandhi
d) Parag Dhanuka
e) Mouneesh Sinha

6. Deloitte
a) Apoorv Gautam
b) Deepshikha Ganjoo
c) Laxmikant Vyas
d) Chitra Unnikrishnan
e) Sonali Chhabra
f) Tarun Maheshwari
g) Mrudula V.
h) Yash Mahendra
i) Vinitha Vishwanath
j) Prayank Swaroop
k) Aditya Shrivastava
234

l) Punya Sandhu
m) Sushmita K

7. Diamond Consultants
Rakesh Ranjan

8. Feedback Ventures
a) Puneet Kataria
b) Anant Tripathi
c) Nitin Vishwas

9. Global eProcure
a) Anshu Vazirani
b) Mohit Gupta
c) Zorawar Singh
d) Abhishek Narayan Singh
e) Sarvagya Sharma
f) Shweta Shankar
g) Prashant Ram

10. McKinsey and Co.
a) Ankur Vaish
b) Suyog Kalyanji Kotecha
c) Kirti Varun Avarasala
d) Vivek Arora
e) Gaurav Punia
f) Saurabh Vashishtha
g) Maninder Gulati
h) Ankit Tandon
i) Kartik Rajendran

11. Parthenon Group
a) Anip Sharma

12. ZS Associates
a) Gautam Pande
b) Srinivas Sainaga Chilukuri
c) Rohit Bhagwat
d) Vinit Garg
e) Megha Khatri
f) Nitya Thandavan
g) Sukesh Sogani
h) Kaveri Misra
i) Deepak Srikumar
j) Tarun Gupta
233

k) Gaurav Chopra

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