Hello!

First of all, don´t worry, since it´s not evaluative.

Hence, take it as a real chance to meet consultants and get good insights about the job. A good hint is always asking questions about what they like, which industries they chose to work in and why, etc.

In a nutshell, trying to emphasize with them as you would with a colleague is the best approach.

Cheers,

Clara

Hi Kay,

relevant questions are a great way to show your interest in the company. Ideally, your questions should respect the following criteria:

• Should not be related to something you could easily find online.
• Should not be related to the firm per se (eg how is XYZ in Bain), but to the experience of the consultant (How did you find XYZ in your experience as a consultant? Which challenges did it bring to you?). Ideally, you want the other person to feel important and/or share a positive experience. This is the easiest way to leave a final positive impression.
• Should help you to understand the core values of the company; this will help to understand if that company is a good fit for you and evaluate your options in case you have multiple offers (if you don't have fit with the company, your growth there will be a lot more difficult).

In the first reply in the following thread, you can find some more information and some examples of questions:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/open-house-at-bcg-311

Best,

Francesco

Be enthusiastic about the firm, tell about the experiences of your friends now there, show that you are very interested in joining the company and ask for personal questions to engage the consultants and get a perspective about the environment inside.

Best,
Antonello

Hello Kay,

Do not worry so much about that, coffee chat is usually not part of the evaluation. Prepare just some smart and interesting talking points to enhance the discussion and to make the chat pleasant for everyone. Avoid to ask general information that you can find online, try to leverage the experience of the principal to have some insights. Be just natural and nice and everything will go well.
Try to see it also as an important chance for you to know some people of the company outside the time of the interview and a strictly professional environment.

Best,
Luca

(edited)