descibe a time when you have a difficult and new task and how you accomplished or got thru it
Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 452,000 Peers!
Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!
i need an answer please help me
Overview of answers
Upvotes
Best answer
Just to clarify: you would like to know how to answer this question? If you have specific questions regarding it, feel free to reach out. Typically this is a common question and tests self-awareness, problem solving as well as a few other points.
Select from several options of your past experience and then describe what you did to resolve this. Also try to come across as sufficiently balanced when doing this. I can give you an example from my own interviews, since I am not sure what your options would be. For example challenges were:
- Very knowledgeable client who paid attention to every detail and asked our team to complete much more work than was agreed. Complication: complicated M&A deal, client truly could not do this on their own and we decided to help as the deal had to close smoothly- someone had to take care of those details. Solution: A lot of additional coaching and problem solving with the client ad hoc|increasing our team size with additional junior consultants and interns to manage workload|bringing in partners differently than before|prioritizing very much but ensuring all that still had to get done was completed| etc…..
It is highly recommended you mention real examples (not invented ones) and it is a great opportunity for you to show that you can solve problems. Structure your response and maybe use it also to show strengths.
(edited)
Was this answer helpful?
Hi there,
just to clarify what the consulting firm looks for: communication skills, ability to influence others, leadership, ability to make an impact… Considering this you should go to the past and reflect on the difficult situations you lived and overcame. It can be work, study or personal situation.
You should explain such a situation in form of a short story (ensure you give a quick context, explain what the impact was by overcoming such situation, "the impact was…."etc.) demonstrating some of the key capabilities mentioned above.
If you would need help with that, feel free to reach out directly.
Good luck!
Lucie
Was this answer helpful?
Was this answer helpful?
Hi there,
You need to help yourself here…
You need to go through your past experiences and pull out the most powerful one that relates to this question.
This could be a work task, a personal task etc. Ideally it's a job you had to do at work that you had not done before or that was challenging. If you have to, you can leverage a school experience or an extracurricular activity. Ultimately, professional is preferred.
Feel free to reach out to one of us coaches to help you come up with a good story and work through how to articulate it - that's what we're here for after all!
Here are some extra tips for your behavioral interviews: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question
(edited)
Was this answer helpful?
I once had to prepare to an interview and there was this question I didn't really know how to answer. So instead of doing some good research on google and also thinking about my own experience, I went to a forum and asked some coaches to answer the question for me, even though it would not be applicable to my specific situation.
Sorry for the sarcasm, but to succeed in consulting you will have to be much more resourceful than that. That mindset is just the exact opposite of what consulting firms are looking for.
Was this answer helpful?
Empathic coach, former McKinsey Engagement Manager |Secure offers from top consulting firms
59
Meetings
1,393
Q&A Upvotes
9
Awards
21 Reviews