I have an interview at Horn & Company for the DACH offices, for the Consultant in Industry & Retail Center. Does any one have tips for the same.

Congrats for getting an interview!

I’m somewhat familiar with Horn’s recruiting process in their Zurich office — just to flag that my perspective is specific to Zurich and may differ across other DACH locations. The Zurich team is particularly focused on financial services / banking, so many conversations and case topics are often aligned with this industry.

In terms of interview format, Horn follows a structure fairly similar to MBB, typically including:

1. Personal fit / motivations
2. A case interview
3. Time for your questions (Q&A)

A key difference, however, is that interviews are often conducted directly by partners, which makes the conversations more personal, senior, and experience-driven. In my experience, personal fit carries even more weight than at MBB. They are very attentive to whether candidates match their values, communication style, and collaborative approach.

I also always had the impression that Horn invests heavily in their culture (at least in Zurich for what it is worth).

Hi there,

Horn & Company’s interviews for the DACH region are quite similar to Tier-2 consulting firms but with a stronger emphasis on operational excellence, transformation and hands-on problem solving, especially in the Industry & Retail practice. Here’s what to focus on:

1. Expect very structured, practical cases

• Retail pricing and margin improvement
• Supply chain and logistics optimization
• Store performance, assortment optimization and cost reduction
• Industry cases around manufacturing efficiency, OEE, production bottlenecks

Their cases are less “strategy only” and more about drivers, levers and concrete actions. Be ready to quantify impact.

2. Strong fit/behavioral focus
DACH firms value clarity, precision and down-to-earth communication. Show that you can:

• Work with clients on the ground
• Handle stakeholders in operational environments
• Stay calm and structured under pressure

3. Brush up on key technical themes
Especially for Industry & Retail:

• Cost structure of retail (COGS, shrinkage, store labor, logistics costs)
• Basic supply chain math (utilization, throughput, inventory turns)
• Manufacturing KPIs (cycle time, scrap rate, capacity)

4. German-style communication matters
Be direct, top-down and very clear in your logic. Always end with the “so what.”

If you want to run through a retail or industry-style case, I’m happy to help you prep.

Happy to help you prep – feel free to reach out.

Best,
Evelina

Kunal, 

First of all, reach out to the recruiter to understand the format of the interview and then let us know what they say. I will be able to give you more tailored advice then. 

Also, make sure you find out whether the cases will be from retail only or also from other industries.

Best,
Cristian