What differentiates between a good and a great candidate?

Hi There,

A good candidate (on the fence on hiring) - basically not that bad, but just ok - is:

PEI

1. Sufficiently confident, I can put him/her in front of working-level clients
2. Good interpersonal skill, able to connect with people
3. Able to collaborate and can be flexible sometimes
4. A good drive to do something beyond but not really something that is inspiring

Problem Solving

1. Good structure, MECE but look like unnatural & forcing it hard to get there
2. Able to synthesize an insight, but may not as concise & effective.
3. Accurate math, but unable to say the impact out loud
4. Came up with just "okay" recommendation - not really creative

Meanwhile, a distinctive candidate will have either the PEI or PS or both of below:

PEI

1. Show a great confidant with a strong articulation ability - I am comfortable to put him/her in front of senior & top clients
2. Able to understand and read people
3. Able to lead and coordinate with minimum direction
4. Inspiring and willing to go extra mile

Problem-solving

1. Solid structure, MECE, and able to articulate the thought in a flowing conversation. He/She can easily point out complexities inside its structure
2. Very effective in synthesizing an insight - concise, clear and creative (able to point out rare insight)
3. Able to quickly tell the implication of a math calculation to the client's main objective, sometimes with the next steps
4. Came up with actionable and easy to understand recommendation with some creativities

Possessing distinctiveness in both PEI & PS is extremely rare, it was usually either one of those, even inside the firm. If the candidate has one of PEI/PS, I would definitely make sure to get him/her in my team.

Hope this helps

Hi Anonymous,

There are a many small details which form an impression, but let me focus on the most important differantiators:

• Self-conscious and interested, professional overall impression, positive tone
• Rigidly structured, logical thinking
• Rigidly structured, logical communication (!)
• Laser-sharp focus on key aspects
• Feels naturally comfortable with numbers
• Lightning-fast math
• Facts and quantification instead of opinions and ideas
• Strong structure at the beginning of the case
• Driving and structuring case discussion pro-actively in a driver-seat position
• Keeps overview of content, process and time
• Action-oriented, so-what is always clear
• Strong synthesis with top-down structure and clear recommendation and rationale

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind and give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

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(edited)

Hi,

Great candidates: Very systematic thinking, communicate with purpose, strong leadership potential, I will be comfortable to leave him / her with client, passion for the job

Good candidate: Weak performance in any one of the above characteristics

Hope this helps :)

Hi

I suggest you have a look at this thread

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-manage-expectation-and-wow-your-boss-6954

Best

Dear A,

Pretty often, the difference between great and average good candidate is not that big. But what really makes a difference is experience and preparation. So the more smart hours and approach you have used for the entire preparation, actually makes you paid off during the interview, because very great candidate would be able to interact actively with an interviewer, involving in the case solution, build it as a dialog and it will be very easy way to go for both of them. The perfect candidate will also hypothesis driven and will crack all the cases consistently and very easy. This is what we are looking for in the interviews while selecting the people.

Good luck,

and let me know if you want to be one of the few.

Best,
André

1) Takes analysis/insight to the next level (i.e. says something I really hadn't considered)

2) Is quick to adapt/adjust - take feedback well, and if they make a mistake or gets stuck, they pivot quickly

3) Is likeable! I.e. they're modest, not imposing, seem kind/want to learn, seem like they'll just figure things out, etc.