The wait after final OW interview

Question

Hi everyone,

I have been interviewing at OW over the past two months for a core consultant position. It has taken two months as I have been doing the interviews via zoom, one at a time.

After each interview I received a call from HR to let me know that I have moved through to the next round. This call usually took place no more than two days after the interview.

My first three interviews took place within a calendar week. My fourth interview was ten days after my third, and my fifth (and final) interview was a full month after my fourth. The reason given for this was that they wanted a specific person to interview me in the fifth interview.

I had my final interview yesterday and today received an email from HR to let me know that they are consolidating my interview feedback and will let me know the result in the coming days. They asked me to send over copies of my passports in the mean time. Before my final interview they also had me authorize a third party background check and provide references which they have already contacted.

I have some anxiety though:

From previous HR calls with OW it was made known to me that I would not make it to the next interview if my previous interview performance was not satisfactory. Why then are they looking over all my interview performances again? Logically I can understand why they would do this but I was under the impression that if I ace my final interview I'll be made an offer. I have been in the process for two months and would be a bit annoyed if an interview I had more than a month ago ends up being my downfall when I could have known it then.

What is somewhat reassuring is that they want copies of my passports while I wait, have reached out to references between my fourth and final interview, and have completed my background check. Is this good news or is this standard? Also, when I started the interview process I was told that there would be five or six interviews in total depending on my performance. Seeing that my fifth interview was also my final I could assume that my performance has been strong?

I would welcome and appreciate your thoughts on this and what you make of it all.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi - congratulations on getting this far. Happy to give my perspective as an OW alumni who has been on the other side of this process many times.

The short answer is - you shouldn't really interpret much from the delay.

For grad recruiting there are normally very set timelines and everyone's calendar is booked in advance and things run smoothly. For off-cycle recruiting (which it sounds like is the case here) it is a bit more ad-hoc. The bottleneck is usually partner or principal diaries, and sometimes it can just take a bit of time for HR to book a slot with them.

Before making you an offer they would typically gather together the group of people who interviewed you. This is not necessarily to go over any mistakes from earlier interviews, but to ensure the group consensus is that you are the right candidate who can be successful at Oliver Wyman. They will discuss not only whether or not to give you an offer, but also the level you would come in at (e.g. consultant vs. senior consultant etc.). Its unfortunate, but sometimes it can literally just take a bit of time to get all 5 people together on a call.

If you are in a rush - you should feel free to give HR a call and have an open discussion with them (e.g. you may share that you have another offer that expires shortly) about what some potential solutions are. If required they will then try to push harder to get everything sorted out in time. Otherwise, it may just take some time to hear back

Answer 2

Hello,

First congratulations on getting this far.

I believe you shouldn't worry too much about the delay; this is something very normal for off-cycle recruiting.

The good sign is that the data collection, references, and background check are already done which typically means an offer might be coming (although nothing is guaranteed) and the administrative hurdles are out of the way.

Before any consulting firm gives you an offer they typically gather all the feedback from previous interviewers and might even ask the interviewers to discuss the interview outcome, ensure offer consensus, and discuss the level the candidate would come in at. This process can take quite a lot of time to align meeting times that work for all interviewers involved (as you might have seen in the interview process it might take a couple of weeks just to get a single interviewer available for a 1h call).

I would try not to speculate and worry too much; you did your best and now you just have to wait for a final answer (hopefully in the form of an offer). If there is a major urgency from your end, politely reach out to the recruiter, let her know about the situation, and ask for an estimated response time and quicker response.

Fingers crossed and best of luck!

Answer 3

Dont speculate and worry too much. You did your bit and now just relax. If there is an urgency at your end, call HR and politely request for a quicker response.

Based on the details you have provided, everything looks good from my perspective!

Fingers crossed and all the best.

Answer 4

Hi there,

So I see here two points.

One, it makes sense for them to look at your performance across the interviews on not give you the offer based on the last one alone. The stages are not siloed and interviewers usually aggregate the feedback from all the parties that saw you before they make a call on your situation. This tends to happen with many firms.

Second, background checks are totally normal and it's rather a good sign if they're asking you for this info. This suggests that you are definitely considered for the offer. Otherwise they wouldn't go through the trouble and cost of running a background check on you.

Good luck!

Best,

Cristian

Answer 5

Hello,

If they have started the background check process they must be strongly considering you for the offer. The firm will not pay a third party to conduct background check if they are not sure about the candidate.

However, in OW, depending on the geography and position , often there are multiple senior level approvals required for a new hire , getting these chain of approvals may take some time ( the approver may be on leave or he has asked for further rationale for additional headcount hire) . While the approvals are getting processed , HR will initiate the background check, they cannot confirm the offer to you unless they have the approval in writing.

Hope this helps and relax while you wait for the offer :)

Answer 6

Hi there,

This honestly sounds fairly promising. The fact that they're asking for all of this information and performing background checks means that an offer is likely.

Stay calm and focus on other things as best you can - good news is likely coming (not guaranteed, but likely)!

Answer 7

Hi there,

1) Why then are they looking over all my interview performances again?

I would not read between the lines for this. If it is the last interview, it makes sense that the person wants to get in touch with previous interviewers as well regardless of your performance in the final interview

2) Whey want copies of my passports while I wait. Is this good news or is this standard?

That’s a good sign although not yet a guarantee for an offer.

Fingers crossed for you!

Francesco