Hi there,
That is indeed an interesting situation which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users (especially young professionals), so I'm happy to give you my perspective on that:
Without knowing more details about your situation (e.g. at what company do you currently work and in what role? did you apply yourself or were you approached by an HR consulting company?), it is quite hard to diagnose how you ended up in this specific situation.
Still, given your brief description, my hypothesis would be that you didn't highlight enough the skills required to be perceived as a manager on the following dimensions:
- Problem solving: As a manager, you are ultimately operationally responsible for the whole project (i.e., e.g., structuring the whole project plan, providing procedural and content input across all work streams, achieving the results you defined with the client).
- Client interaction: Your client maps are significantly more senior (e.g. client project manager) and the type of interaction is more transformational than transactional.
- Team interaction: Your role as manager is to be the central go-to person for all team members, motivating and empowering them. Moreover, you are accustomed to having regular 1:1 interactions with senior leadership.
Besides this, I just answered to a similar thread with the title “How to answer a consulting project I have done?” (https://www.preplounge.com/de/consulting-forum/how-to-answer-a-consulting-project-i-have-done-11528). Please feel free to check my answer for the general approach on how to answer project-related questions.
In case you want a more detailed discussion on what is the best way to answer such behavioral/ fit questions to succeed in your interviews, please feel free to to contact me directly.
I hope this helps,
Hagen