Questions to Ask Deloitte
Questions for candidates talking to Deloitte at a campus event, a recruiter screen, an interview loop, or an offer call, covering which part of the business you would sit in, how staffing works, travel and hours, promotion timelines, and what the first year actually involves.
20 questions, each with the reason to ask it · includes a conversation guide
The questions
Open any question to see why it works.
- 1
Which part of the business would I sit in, and how fixed is that?
The firm is large enough that two people with the same title can have almost nothing in common. Get the practice, the offering, and the office named out loud, because an offer that says only the firm name leaves your day-to-day work undefined.
- 2
What does the specific team I would join actually do for clients?
Ask for a description of a recent project rather than a capability statement. If the person cannot describe one concrete engagement, they are recruiting for a pool rather than a team, and you will find out where you landed after you start.
- 3
How do people get staffed onto projects here?
Staffing models range from a central scheduler assigning you to a manager picking you personally. The second kind rewards networking heavily, so knowing which one applies tells you what your first six months should be spent on.
- 4
What happens between projects when nothing is lined up?
Every consulting firm has unstaffed time and the useful question is what it is used for and how long it is tolerated. Answers about training and internal work sound different from answers that get uncomfortable, and the discomfort is the signal.
- 5
How long do engagements usually run, and how often would I change teams?
Six-week projects and two-year projects produce different careers: one gives you variety and constant re-proving, the other gives you depth and a single manager's opinion of you. Ask which pattern is normal for this group right now.
- 6
What does travel look like for this team at the moment?
Travel expectations shift by practice and by client, so ask about the last twelve months for people in the role rather than firm policy. Get specifics: nights away per week, whether it is the same city each time, and who decides.
- 7
What is a busy week here, and what is a normal week, in hours?
Asking for both numbers is what makes this answerable. A candidate who only asks about work-life balance gets a policy answer, while asking for two numbers usually produces a real range and a story about a deadline.
- 8
Who would my coach or counselor be, and what do they actually do for me?
Large firms assign a career adviser who is separate from your project manager, and the value varies enormously by person. Ask how often they meet, and whether they are the one arguing for you when ratings are decided.
- 9
How are performance ratings decided, and who is in the room?
The answer tells you whose opinion matters: your daily manager, a committee, or a partner who has seen you twice. It also tells you whether feedback from a short engagement follows you, which shapes how you treat every project.
- 10
What does the path from this level to the next look like, in time and in what changes?
Ask what the work itself becomes, not just the title. The step where you go from doing analysis to owning a workstream is the one people find hardest, and knowing when it arrives lets you judge whether the timeline is realistic.
- 11
What does a first-year do that a third-year does not?
This surfaces the unglamorous parts honestly, because the contrast makes them easy to admit. If the answer is that the work is identical, the levels are about billing rate rather than development.
- 12
Are there certifications or exams expected, and does the firm pay for study time?
Money for exam fees is common and paid study time is not. Ask specifically whether preparation happens on billable hours or on weekends, since that distinction decides what your first two years feel like.
- 13
How much say would I have over the industry or clients I work with?
Early on the honest answer is usually very little, and someone willing to say that is worth trusting on other things. Follow up on when preference starts to count and how people signal it.
- 14
Why do people leave this team in the first two years?
Phrasing it as why rather than whether makes the question answerable without disloyalty. Listen for whether the reasons are pull factors like graduate school and client offers, or push factors like travel and staffing.
- 15
Where do people go when they leave this group?
Exit destinations are a fair measure of what the experience is worth externally, and firms of this size track it informally. A team whose alumni move into industry roles you would want is training you for something real.
- 16
What has changed in this practice over the past year that a candidate would not know?
Reorganizations, a new leader, a lost or won client, or a shift in the type of work all change the job you are accepting. This question gives an interviewer permission to tell you something current instead of something rehearsed.
- 17
If someone is not a good fit for a client, what happens?
You are asking whether a mismatch is fixable or whether it damages your record. Firms differ sharply here, and the answer tells you how much risk is attached to being placed badly through no fault of your own.
- 18
How is someone evaluated if their project gets cut short?
Client-driven cancellations happen and the person on the bench did not cause them. Ask who writes the review in that case, because being judged on an engagement that ended in week three is a known way for good people to get a poor rating.
- 19
What are the start date and the process between offer and day one?
Background checks, independence and conflict-of-interest declarations, and onboarding can take longer than candidates expect at a firm this size. Independence rules can also affect personal investments, which is worth learning before you sign rather than after.
- 20
What separates the people who do well here from the ones who struggle?
Ask this last, and expect an answer about behavior rather than skill: asking for help, managing upward, tolerating ambiguity. Whatever they name is what the rating conversation is actually about.
Asking a large firm the right things
Practical guidance for the conversation itself.
Match the question to the person
Match the question to the person
Recruiters
They know process, timelines, levels, locations, and what is negotiable. They are the right people for start dates, offer mechanics, and how the interview loop is structured, and the wrong people for what a project feels like.
Analysts and consultants a year or two in
This is the most useful group and the least guarded. They can tell you about hours in a bad week, how staffing really works, and what nobody explained during onboarding. Find them at campus events and stay after the presentation ends.
Managers and senior managers
They decide who gets staffed and they write reviews, so ask them about performance, feedback, and what a strong first year looks like. They will also tell you plainly what parts of the job are tedious, because they have to sell it honestly to keep people.
Partners and directors
Ask about direction: where the practice is investing, which clients are growing, what the team looks like in two years. Asking a partner about vacation policy wastes the one conversation where strategy questions are welcome.
Questions worth holding until you have an offer
Questions worth holding until you have an offer
- Total compensation broken into base, bonus, and anything tied to a rating, plus when each is actually paid.
- How raises and bonuses have moved for this level over the last couple of years, asked as a range rather than a promise.
- What is negotiable: start date, office, signing amount, relocation support.
- Whether the office and practice named in the offer letter can change after you accept, and who decides.
- How long the offer is open and whether the deadline can move if you have another process running.
What to listen for
What to listen for
- Specifics beat enthusiasm. A named client, a real week, and an actual number are worth more than a description of culture.
- When two interviewers describe staffing differently, believe the more junior one, because they are describing what happens to them.
- Watch for the pause on questions about hours or attrition. The pause is data even when the answer is fine.
- If nobody can tell you what team you would join, treat the offer as an offer to be placed somewhere rather than to do a particular job.
- Take notes right after each conversation. In a long loop the specifics blur, and the specifics are the only part worth comparing later.