Do interviewers test your knowledge of current projects?

Hi there, 

No, they won't ask you about that because consulting firms maintain strict confidentiality rules as to who they work with. 

They never discuss clients and more often than not, they avoid providing client names even when speaking with each other. 

You should know instead about the firm and the role that you are applying for, and whether they happen to be focusing on any specific market. 

Best,
Cristian

It is unlikely that MBB would ask similar questions given that this information tends to be confidential for the most part.

Yes they do! It's called a case :P

Genuinely, cases are real projects.

But, in terms of current projects, no. These are all confidential and there is strict policy on not discussing these.

They are not interested in you knowing what projects are going on. Quite the opposite, clients are kept extremely confidential, as is the specific work that is being done for them.

While it can be helpful for you to know what industries the office works with, mostly so that you know if you'll be interested in the work, they are interested in the raw skills that you can demonstrate in the case study. 

Good luck!

Hi there,

Q: Do interviewers test your knowledge of current projects? How would you even know what projects they are handling in the office you are applying to?

Not for specific projects. The information related to that is normally confidential so you won't be able to know that anyway.

On the other hand, they might ask why you want to join a particular company and you could talk about the sectors they cover – that information is normally available.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, contrary to what other coaches have said, if you work as a consultant and interview with another strategy consulting company, you will, of course, be asked about past projects.
• While the interviewers might ask about it in a more general way and expect you to not disclose the client's name or any confidential information, they will still be interested in the types of projects you have been involved in the past and what your role and responsibilities were.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi,

questions or cases do usually not come from current projects. However, some interviewers derive their cases from real live projects they did in the past.

Hope this helps!

Andreas

Hi there,

agree with answers below - let me just remark something important

1) You should aim to have a knowledge of the practices “weigths” of your target office if possible (industry e.g. consumer goods is the strongest for this officevs. practice z). This can be a differentiator in the fit part shows the interviewer that you really did your homework in understanding the specific office, via talking to people working there. Thus interviewer will be prone to consider you a more “mature and credible” candidate.

Hope this helps.

This is more common for sector specific roles or for roles where it is important to know it beforehand. For a standard consultant role its not typically something they ask.