Hi,

congrats on securing such a call. The PA might have just labeled the meeting as such since the partner is talking to a potential candidate - it doesn't mean that HR has to be involved at this stage. 

However, I would expect that the partner will try to gauge your suitability for the position during the call. He will probably not give you a case since it is outside of the formal recruiting process but I would think that he is going to ask a lot of questions regarding your track record and skill set required for the role (as well as your ambitions going forward). So just be prepared for that and also make a list of questions you want to ask. 

Since it is a senior partner, you should not ask any process or tactical questions that any recruiter (or the company website) could answer for you. Meet him at the strategic/vision level, learn about the key success factors for the role and ask for his thoughts on where the company (and the specific industry/functional segment) is heading. If the conversation goes well, you hopefully get a referral out of it.

Best of luck

Hi there, 

Interesting situation. 

This is how I interpret it - it's meant to be an intro discussion to get to know you better. From the Senior Partner's perspective, ultimately this is a job interview. 

If it goes well, it's not like you'll get hired on the spot, but he'll progress your application further in the funnel. 

If it doesn't go well, you just won't hear from them further. 

I wouldn't ask his PA about it. They probably have no clue what is the content or objective of the discussion (which is why the title is vague in the first place).

A few tips on how to conduct such senior discussions:

1. Expect less structure. Senior interviewers already have the confidence that you are a decent candidate, your skills having been already vetted by their younger colleagues. They are rather more interested in you as a person and your way of thinking. So they might present you with an unusual case, or one that is created on the spot or no case altogether. Expect anything.
2. Focus on excellent communication. Senior interviewers care a lot about how clearly you communicate and how you manage to forge a connection with the interviewer. It's important to be top-down and concise as much as possible with your answers, while allowing the conversation to flow in a natural way.
3. Put yourself in their shoes. The one question senior interviewers are asking themselves throughout the interview is what will happen when they'll put you in front of a client they've groomed for years? Make sure that even based on this first impression you seem somebody who can be trusted and who can work with any client regardless of how difficult they might be.

You can also use the following guide for more tips on coffee chat-type interviews:

• Your Guide to Consulting Coffee Chats

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

Q: Any guidance on how should I approach this?

Most likely it will be a call for your questions and possibly some fit questions from his side. However, I would be ready for a quick case interview just in case.

I don't think you need to message the PA unless you have specific questions.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hello,

Congratulations on some successful networking! My guess is that this is most likely to be a screening call, especially if you have not gone through the full application process for Roland Berger yet. I think it's ok to ask the PA about the details of this interview, though they may well not know the details either. I would prepare to talk about anything on your resume, an intro pitch about yourself, and a couple of interesting questions to ask the partner about their experiences in consulting. If you want to cover all your bases, you could also run through a few cases and more targeted fit interview questions too.

1. No harm in asking the PA about details of the call. Perhaps it is just an introductory call while the PA assumed it as an interview. If not responsive, you might as well venture to ask the Partner on what he has in mind.
2. Consulting companies don't want you to fail. They want you to succeed. And consulting companies like people who ask questions in the beginning rather than make mistakes later.
3. 30-minutes would typically indicate a non-case getting-to-know-you session. So absolutely keep your personal and FIT answers ready at hand.

Hi there,

Fantastic networking!

This is not an interview. View this more as a screening call. If the Partner is impressed with you, he will likely bring you in to interview.

I woudn't message the PA.

Rather, be prepared with all behavioral components (speaking about who you are, your experiences, questions around consulting etc)

You need to double check with the PA.

In any case, while it may be a screening call, you should prepare as you would for an interview. Although in this situation I would not significantly worry about “case interview”, but a lot about knowing what is going on in the business world, in financial markets, in the partner's industry, etc. And, of course, be ready to answer questions around your motivations, your experience. Finally, do your research on the firm.