What's the best approach to prepare for asking those questions at the end of the interview?

Hey Andrés,

You don't find much information on how to structure the final questions to ask to the interviewer... because there's not supposed to be one at all.

Candidates are increasingly trying to approach that final part of the interview as an alternative opportunity to impress or ask very smart questions, but most of the consulting firms are clear on what they want with it: give an opportunity to candidates to ask about whatsoever is really important for them! So, the best questions are the ones about what you are really curious and interested to know and that you can't easily find online (through a 2min google search).

Best

Bruno

Hi Andrés,

relevant questions at the end are a great way to show your interest in the company and get additional points. Ideally your questions should respect the following points:

• Should not be related to something you could easily find online
• Should not be related to the firm per se (eg how is XYZ in Bain), but to the experience of the consultant (how did you find XYZ in your experience as a consultant? Which challenges did it bring to you?). Ideally, making him feeling important. This is the easiest way to leave a final positive impression.
• Should help you to understand better the core values of the company; this will help you to understand if that company is a good fit for you and evaluate your options. If that’s not the case, your growth there will be a lot more difficult. Good questions at the end can help you to understand better such point.

In the first reply at the following thread you can find some more information on the ideal type of questions to ask at the end:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/open-house-at-bcg-311

Best,

Francesco

Hey, I’ve recently had my interviews with Bain. At the beginning you are given cards with some info about the interviewers which is a mix of career info (education, industry specialization) and personal info (hobbies, what they did during their time off at Bain etc). 

I used these to find common topics of interest (work related) with the interviewers and it worked pretty well! You will also see it’s more of a conversation - e.g. if you ask about their MBA, they might tell you their story but also ask if this is what you would want to do and why. Watch out sometimes the questions to the interviewer can come at the beginning after they introduce themselves - they may offer you this option if it feels more comfortable.

Hi,

The main objective is to have a good conversation and highlight your intellectual capacity and curiosity. The last impression is always important. It's a free chance to demonstrate your smartness and curiosity to the partner of the company. It is also an opportunity to express your interests and mention extra-curricular activities beyond the fit interview topics.

It is ok to ask:

• Questions that cause positive emotions and highlight consulting pros (e.g. Mck people)
• Questions on the topics you are excited about (e.g. data science)
• Non-business questions (e.g. team retreats)

It's not ok to ask:

• Questions that can cause negative emotions (e.g. work hours)
• The information you should learn before the interview (e.g. typical career path)
• Questions that may show that you are unfamiliar with consulting work (Like are you specialized in strategy or operations?)

Be prepared and good luck!

In addition to suggestions from others, I would say it is important to keep the questions focused on the positives of the job and if curious about the challenges, always frame the question in a positive way (e.g. You have been in this firm for a long time, what strategies work best for you to balance between client commitments, family time and personal time? vs. How do you maintain personal time?)

Hope it helps,

Andrea