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Pwc interviews: interviewer led or interviewee led?

consulting PwC
New answer on Mar 30, 2020
5 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Mar 29, 2020

Hi Community,

I hope you all are safe and healthy.

I am wondering if anyone knows whether PwC's case interviews for consultants are interviewee or interviewer led?

Any tips on how to prepare for an interviewee led as opposed to the interviewer led?

Also, if you have any insight on the differences between PwC consulting and Strategy &? What kind of projects/word do they do (looking at Middle East offices)? Which is more presitigious? Which has better compensation?

Sincerely,

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Anonymous replied on Mar 29, 2020

Hey A,

Following thoughts on your questions:

There is no specific difference in preparation process for interviewer or interviewee led cases. Interviewer led cases are used mostly by McKinsey. All other firms use rather interviewee led cases.

Strategy & is former Booz & Co, was acquired 7 years ago by PWC. It is still a "company in a company" with its own corporate culture. Previously MBB was actually MBBB - the top 4 strategic consulting companies also included Booz & Company, as it was a very prestigeous firm.

PWC has a different business model and kind of projects than Strategy &. It's typically an advisory work, while Strategy & does the classic strategy and operations project like McKinsey or BCG.

Strategy & is particularly historically strong in the Middle East. It's ranked 2nd after BCG. The compensation is accordingly way higher than in PWC.

Last months I helped 2 mentees of mine to get offers from Strategy & Dubai each 80k+

Drop me a line if you need help to get yours!

Cheers,

André

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Mar 30, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Prep for it regardless, since this interview-interviewer led can be more misleading than anything else.

As when preparing for MBB, once you are well-prepared and ready for one, you are prepared for all, and casing as much as you can is the best way to get ready.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Anonymous replied on Mar 29, 2020

Hi,

The Strategy& interviews are typical case interviews, similar to Mckinsey and BCG, usually interviewee led. Same in regard to the type of work - Strategy&'s work includes the typical strategy consulting projects (Growth strategy, Market entrance, cost-cutting..) while PwC consulting is comprised of different departments that can include (depends on the local office) valuations, operational efficiency, IT consulting, M&As, etc..

While there is a significant variance between countries, the Strategy& brand is considered more prestigious and the compensation follows accordingly.

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Daniel
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Mar 29, 2020
McKinsey / ex-Interviewer at McKinsey / I will coach you to rock those interviews

Hi! It's interviewee led, the preparation is the same though, agree with Andre on this point.

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Luca
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Mar 29, 2020
BCG |NASA | SDA Bocconi & Cattolica partner | GMAT expert 780/800 score | 200+ students coached

Hello,

I always suggest to not focus too much on the 2 typologies: it's a differentiation pushed by casebooks that is not so clean-cut in real interviews.
It's true that Interviewer-led cases were more common within McKinsey but I can assure you that most of interviews in McK are nowadays interviewee led and that you can find interviewere-led cases also in other companies.
The preparation for both is really similar and you need the same skills. The only difference is that in an interviewer-led case you will be asked to answer specific questions in a short time and you will be guided towards the solution. I have some samples if you want to practice.

Regarding the other questions, you can find here some useful information:
https://www.myconsultingcoach.com/news/the-differences-between-pwc-consulting-and-strategy

I have done myself the interviews for Strategy&, feel free to write me if you want further details.

Best,
Luca

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