Economic Consulting vs Management Consulting

economics
New answer on Dec 22, 2022
2 Answers
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Rob asked on Oct 20, 2017

Hi,

I have a interview coming up for an Economic Consulting firm and am starting to do some Case prep. However, most of my resources are for Management Consulting and I have gotten mixed reviews on if the cases/questions asked are different between these two branches of consulting. Does anyone have some insight into the Economic Consulting case set up and perhaps some resources that I can use? Thanks!

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Francesco
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updated an answer on Oct 23, 2017
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi Rob,

I interviewed with both economic and management consulting firms and can confirm that yes, interviews are pretty different.

In strategy consulting interviews:

  • The interview is mainly based on fit questions plus business cases and market sizing. Example: “Our client is interested in entering the Spanish market. Should he do so?”
  • Focus will be on analytical, communication and synthesis skills.
  • There is no requirement of specific technical knowledge during the interview, with the exception of research analyst positions.

--> To prepare you have mainly to work on (i) Initial fit questions; (ii) business cases; (iii) market sizing. You can find some details on how to prepare with possible resources at the link below:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mck-first-round-interview-340

In economic consulting interviews:

  • The interview is mainly based on fit questions plus questions on economic principles, competition policy or econometric/statistics questions. Example: “Would a merger be positive or negative for consumers? Why?
  • Focus will be mainly on your analytical skills and economics knowledge. You are expected to know well Microeconomics (in particular Game Theory and Competition Policy), Statistics and Econometrics.
  • You are expected to have knowledge of statistical software like Stata (they may test that during interviews, either with a live tests or theoretical questions).

--> To prepare you have mainly to work on (i) initial fit questions; (ii) theoretical economics knowledge (eg price elasticity, homoscedasticity, R-squared definition, competition policy concepts, etc); (iii) basic applied statistics/econometrics (say the equivalent of Econometrics 101).

Best,

Francesco

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Rob on Oct 20, 2017

Awesome. This was extremely helpful. Do you have any preferred resources for Economic Consulting prep? I am guessing I don't have to really practice these long management consulting cases (similar to those of Accenture and Deloitte) then?

Anonymous replied on Dec 22, 2022

I worked in economic consulting for 6 years and have interviewed more than 30 candidates. Cases are different to MBB ones.

Cases tend to focus on microeconomic concepts and industrial organisation. We look for problem-solving and structure, but we rarely ask candidates to come up with a structure themselves and walk us through it.

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Francesco

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