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:

• I would not necessarily say so, and I agree that your sample size is not representative.
• For craftsmanship skills such as written arithmetic, senior hires are expected to be at about the same level for obvious reasons - above a certain level, there is hardly any room for improvement, and this would not matter either way.
• However, for key skills that are required when being part of firm leadership, such as client readiness, strategic thinking, and leadership skills, senior hires are expected to perform well above the level of graduates.

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 there,

Yes, there are certainly some differences in the expectations.

For more senior/ experienced hires it's very important to show the understanding of how the business works in real life. What would be a good performance for an entry level grad candidate (good structure, good maths, etc.) might not be sufficient for an e.g. EL role. The same works the other way around: for more experienced candidates minor math errors etc are more forgivable if they do an excellent job on solving the case and demonstrating their business acumen.

Similarly for the behavioural interviews, for more experienced candidates who had already been in consulting for years the expectations are higher around having god examples in dealing with all sorts of situations you usually encounter as a consultant/ team lead.

Remember that for EL and other more senior roles the past experience of the candidates' is one of the key criteria when assessing their application vs for entry level roles the education/ prior experience is much less important and case performance is carries higher weight.

Best,

Lilit 

Hi there,

You're about right! The bar is very much higher, but at the same time different things are “expected” and they're looking for different things.

For example, if you're fresh out of undergrad, they don't really expect you to “know” much. Nor do they need that. They're seeing if they can train you.

For a senior person, it's very very bad if they can't talk about their field in a knowlegeable way.

^just an example

Hi there,

Florian has a great answer already. I'd like to add a few more things:

• Sometimes as a PL/EM, you might be asked questions that test more the managerial side of your skills and that treat the case prompt as an ‘actual case’ versus a ‘theoretical case’ - e.g. how would you structure the module allocation and project timeline for this, what client resources would you bring onboard?
• For PL/EM, while there is of course a need to test problem solving/industry expertise, there is really a bigger worry around being able to manage a team and successfully deliver a project - so Fit/Case questions will tend to reflect that as well

Agree with other coaches here!

Best,

Rushabh