Questions to Ask During Consulting Interview
Questions for a consulting interview, covering how projects are staffed, travel, engagement length, promotion and review, time between projects, hours in a busy week, and where people go afterward.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How are consultants staffed onto projects: do you choose, or are you assigned?
Why ask it
This is the single biggest difference between firms and it shapes your first two years. A pure assignment model means your industry exposure is decided by whoever needs a body that Monday.
What kinds of clients and problems has this office worked on in the past year?
Why ask it
Firm-wide case studies say little about the office you would join. Recent local work tells you what you would actually be sold into and which industries you would end up knowing.
How much travel is normal here, and what does a week on a client site look like?
Why ask it
Ask for days per week and nights away, not a percentage. The difference between flying out Monday morning and driving to a local client is the difference between two lifestyles.
What would I be doing in the first three months: research, modeling, or client-facing work?
Why ask it
Junior work varies widely by firm, from running analysis behind the scenes to sitting in client workshops from week two. Ask what the last person at this level was doing in month two.
How long is a typical engagement, and how many would I be on at once?
Why ask it
Long single engagements build depth and can become repetitive. Several short ones at once mean constant context switching and multiple people evaluating you at the same time.
How does promotion work here, and how long do people typically spend at each level?
Why ask it
Ask for the actual median time at level, not the minimum. Firms often quote the fastest possible path, and the gap between that and the median tells you how competitive it is.
Is there an up or out expectation, and what happens to someone who stays longer at a level?
Why ask it
Some firms manage people out on a schedule and others do not. Asking directly is normal in consulting, and an evasive answer usually means the practice exists without being written down.
How are performance reviews done, who writes them, and how much rests on a single project lead?
Why ask it
When one project lead's rating drives the cycle, your outcome depends heavily on the staffing lottery. Ask whether there is a counselor or mentor structure that aggregates feedback across engagements.
What does time between projects look like, and does it count against you?
Why ask it
Firms differ on whether unstaffed time is treated as normal or as a warning sign. Ask what people do during it and whether utilization figures into a review.
What formal training happens in the first year, and how many days is it?
Why ask it
A number of days plus what it covers is a real answer. Training described as mostly on the job means you will learn by being under-supported on a live client engagement.
How do people build a specialty here: by choice, or by whatever staffing needed?
Why ask it
Specialization determines your market value when you leave. Firms where it emerges from whatever projects came up produce careers that are harder to explain later.
Who mentors people at my level, and is that a formal assignment?
Why ask it
A named person with an actual responsibility behaves differently from an informal culture of asking around. Ask how often the pairing meets and whether the mentor is involved in reviews.
What hours are normal in a busy week, and what happens the weekend before a major deliverable?
Why ask it
Everyone acknowledges consulting is demanding. The useful question is what happens at the peak, since that is where the real expectation lives and where people decide to leave.
How does the firm handle an engagement where the client relationship goes badly?
Why ask it
This happens on every project team eventually. Whether the partner absorbs it, the client is challenged, or the junior team absorbs the pressure tells you a lot about the firm.
What is expected of someone at my level around business development?
Why ask it
At some firms selling begins early and affects promotion; at others it starts several levels up. Getting this wrong means being measured on something you did not know was measured.
How much of the work is with the client's own team, and how much is analysis on your own?
Why ask it
This determines what skills you actually build and whether the job suits you. Ask what proportion of the day the last analyst spent in client rooms.
What has changed in this practice over the past two years?
Why ask it
The answer reveals whether the group is growing, rebuilding after departures, or repositioning. It also tells you whether the person interviewing you thinks about the business rather than only the staffing.
What separates someone rated top here from someone rated solid?
Why ask it
Firms have specific and often unwritten criteria: client presence, ownership of a workstream, quality of the first draft. Hearing them named is more useful than any competency framework.
Where do people go when they leave, and does the firm stay in touch with them?
Why ask it
Exit paths are part of what you are buying, and firms know theirs precisely. An active alumni network is also a signal that people leave on good terms rather than burning out.
What are the next steps, and what should I prepare for the case rounds?
Why ask it
Interviewers often tell you the format, the number of cases and the style, if asked. That is genuinely useful preparation information and asking for it is expected.
Interviewing at a consulting firm
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What actually differs between firms
- The staffing model: choice, assignment, or something in between. This decides your exposure and your control.
- Office and practice, not the firm name. Two offices of the same firm can have different travel, culture and client mix.
- Review structure: whether one project lead's rating carries the cycle, or feedback is aggregated by a counselor.
- Whether time between projects is normal or held against you.
- How early business development starts to count toward promotion.
- Typical exit paths, which differ sharply between strategy, implementation and specialist practices.
How to ask without sounding like you want an easy job
Ask about the peak, not the average
Asking whether the hours are reasonable invites a defensive answer. Asking what a week looks like before a steering committee meeting gets a specific one, and nobody reads it as reluctance to work.
Ask the interviewer about their own path
How they were staffed, what they specialized in and whether that was chosen or assigned produces concrete information and is easy for them to answer. It is also the fastest way to learn how the staffing model works in practice.
Match the question to the level you are talking to
Analysts and associates give accurate answers about daily work, hours and staffing. Partners give better answers about the practice's direction, clients and where the firm is investing. Asking a partner about weekly hours usually gets a polished non-answer.
Mistakes candidates make in this round
- Asking questions answered on the firm's website, which reads as not having prepared.
- Asking nothing about the work itself and only about progression and pay.
- Accepting a general reassurance about travel or hours without asking for a number.
- Not asking which office and practice the offer would be for, which is the detail that determines the actual job.
- Skipping the question about next steps and case format, which interviewers usually answer freely.