ZS associate interview

Question

Hi everyone,

I recently landed an interview with ZS (UK) for an entry-level associate position. I am coming from an unusual background (psychology) and wouldn't exactly say I am business smart. I am especially nervous about the case interviews, since I have never done anything of the sort before. I was wondering if anyone on here had a similar background or if anyone had thoughts on whether it is actually possible for me to get an offer?

I have to add - sorry for the cringe - that I have a PhD, and I am aware that is the reason why I cleared the HR screening. I realize I do have some pretty strong analytic skills but it's the business side of things I am most worried about.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi there,

First of all, no-one based on their background can't make it! It's all about capability (IQ+EQ+Hard work).

I can't tell you how many PhD students I have that crush it in interviews!

Here's the main thing you're actually going to want to focus on/fix: Being objective driven, applying the 80/20 rule and moving through a case quickly and effectively.

PhD candidates have a tendency to ask far too many questions and not drive through in a structured way (they want to analyze everythign to the 9th degree). Fix this + your business knowledge (through daily reading and research) and you have a great shot!

Let me know if you need anything - more than happy to support and apply the same tools/exercises to you that have worked for my past PhD candidates.

Good luck!

Answer 2

There are a lot of people with non-business (and non-quantitative) background working for consulting firms. So yes, it is possible for you to get an offer.

Regarding case interviews - nor you nor anyone with a business background had any sort of preparation for this type of interview. You will need, of course, need to spend a good ammount of time on preparation (just like any other good candidate does) and yes, you have a small handicap of needing to learn some basics about business - but this is something you can overcome, and it's not the major part of your preparation.

Answer 3

Hi there,

Q: I was wondering if anyone on here had a similar background or if anyone had thoughts on whether it is actually possible for me to get an offer?

For sure it is possible if you prepare properly. You can find some tips here (this is on McKinsey but the general steps are equivalent):

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-first-round-in-1-week-5092

If you need help please feel free to PM me, I helped candidates before for ZS London and know several real questions asked there.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 4

Hi there,

It's definitely possible to get an offer. They're not inviting you to the interview for your sake, rather it's for them. They want great employees and that's why they're spending their time interviewing you.

That being said, the pharma industry is more than the science behind it, so you definitely need to learn about how the business work and feel comfortable talking about it.

No reason for you be unconfident about it, everyone knows a PhD is much harder to get than an MBA! So you've done the hard part, you just have to learn about forecasting, market sizing, segmentation, sales force optimization. Much easier!

Finally, analytics is the biggest part of the interview. Learning how to read and interpret data and draw insights.

Happy to help more. I just helped someone a few months ago get and offer from there. And ZS was my first job during and after MBA!

Best,

Allen