National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)
Mumbai, Maharashtra
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Filter interviews byNational Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE) Placement Interview Questions
Updated
8 Jan 2024
80 interviews found
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I applied via Campus Placement
3 Interview Rounds
1
Other Round (1 Question)
- Q1. Interview started with HR questions seeking clarity to what my career goals are, why I am choosing to return to Deloitte and why I am opting for consulting. I w...read more
2
Case Study Round
Interview started with HR questions, I was asked about the previous panelist and the kind of discussions I had with her. I was again asked why I want to join Deloitte and if I had ever thought of switching Deloitte before joining NITIE.
Asked clarifying questions and gave them all possible criteria that can help identify the right processes which can be automated. Was asked to reason every criterion identified by me. I was then given data points to calculate the cost of automated processes and the current cost of manual operations involved to execute the same processes. Decision based on these calculations were to be made to conclude about the feasibility of automation. I was then asked about any questions I had for them.
An Investment Banking firm, operational in 50 countries is looking to implement RPA. How will you identify the processes which can be automated?
(45 minutes)
3
Other Round (1 Question)
- Q1. I was asked about what my career goals are, was interrupted and counter questioned. Questions focused on strengths and weaknesses were asked. Why consulting and...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparation:
• Prep Methodology: Practiced one on one Case Studies with peers from a variety of casebooks covering all possible industries and categories. Focused on developing alternative strategies/solutions to the given problem statements.
Solved 1 guesstimate daily and stressed on different approaches to exhaustively cover all probable cases. Prepared CV defense intensively focusing on industry-experience based questions and latest technology trends. Crafted answers to HR questions stressing upon the WHY behind all the major events in career so far. Read latest news related to various business fields.
• Study Resources: Victor Cheng video series, CIP, NITIE Casebook, IIMA casebook, IIMC casebook, cases from company websites.
Suggestion for future batches:
1. Have clarity about why you are opting for the job role and how it is aligned with your personal goals.
2. Be clear and thorough about the WHYs behind the work you have done in the past.
3. Be structured when solving the cases.
4. Be very attentive to the clues/directions being given by interviewers.
• Prep Methodology: Practiced one on one Case Studies with peers from a variety of casebooks covering all possible industries and categories. Focused on developing alternative strategies/solutions to the given problem statements.
Solved 1 guesstimate daily and stressed on different approaches to exhaustively cover all probable cases. Prepared CV defense intensively focusing on industry-experience based questions and latest technology trends. Crafted answers to HR questions stressing upon the WHY behind all the major events in career so far. Read latest news related to various business fields.
• Study Resources: Victor Cheng video series, CIP, NITIE Casebook, IIMA casebook, IIMC casebook, cases from company websites.
Suggestion for future batches:
1. Have clarity about why you are opting for the job role and how it is aligned with your personal goals.
2. Be clear and thorough about the WHYs behind the work you have done in the past.
3. Be structured when solving the cases.
4. Be very attentive to the clues/directions being given by interviewers.
I applied via Campus Placement
3 Interview Rounds
1
Case Study Round
CV questions.
Question on profitability (Which is more profitable for Starbucks - selling a coffee @33% discount or selling extra coffee at the same price?
2
Case Study Round
10 min interview on CV.
A US based insurance company whose profits are declining. It provided insurance across 3 segments- auto, property and specialty. Initial discussion revolved around factors to be considered and why, the trends in overall industry and the data required to reach on to a conclusion. The data had 4 tables. Table 1 contained info about clients and average premium per client to analyse each segment. Table 2 contained info about risk calculation as per present scenario and brief info about the 5 systems used for risk evaluation. Table 3&4 had info of a new unified solution which could replace the current system and what could be the expected profit/loss. This had to be calculated using NPV. A brief summary was asked in the end.
3
Other Round (4 Questions)
- Q1. Brief about HAL and my role in it.
- Q2. Summarizing the Case of second round, Why consulting?
- Q3. Why the firm and where would I fit in?
- Q4. Towards the end, I had a 10-15-minute discussion on the CSR activities of the firm and what could be my contribution in this field.
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparations:
Methodology adopted for preparation- Read Case in Point thoroughly and the material provided by NSC2 and previous interns. Another area of focus was to improve my communication skills.
Workshop:
A case was discussed on overseas expansion strategy in India and China for a US based client (4Bn USD Revenue who has business in US and Europe. It deals mainly with disposable surgical tools. The major customers were Hospitals, Physicians and Insurers. A preliminary research was done and it was established that the competitors were local, fragmented and had strong distribution network. Their product quality was inferior but was in improvement phase. There were a lot of copyright infringement in both the countries. Discussion revolved around factors to be considered for entry, evaluating which country is more suitable for investment and giving a proper structure to the discussion. This was a judging criteria as one of the member of was constantly noting down some points on his laptop.
Methodology adopted for preparation- Read Case in Point thoroughly and the material provided by NSC2 and previous interns. Another area of focus was to improve my communication skills.
Workshop:
A case was discussed on overseas expansion strategy in India and China for a US based client (4Bn USD Revenue who has business in US and Europe. It deals mainly with disposable surgical tools. The major customers were Hospitals, Physicians and Insurers. A preliminary research was done and it was established that the competitors were local, fragmented and had strong distribution network. Their product quality was inferior but was in improvement phase. There were a lot of copyright infringement in both the countries. Discussion revolved around factors to be considered for entry, evaluating which country is more suitable for investment and giving a proper structure to the discussion. This was a judging criteria as one of the member of was constantly noting down some points on his laptop.
I applied via Campus Placement
1
Other Round (4 Questions)
- Q1. My first interview was with a Sr. Consultant of the firm (he was there for our group workshop and recognized me in the beginning). He welcomed me in the room an...read more
- Q2. Tell me about yourself, and work experience.
- Q3. Since your hobby is Table Tennis what are the top three factors you would consider starting an independent TT academy?
- Q4. What if you have unlimited budget but only two areas to spend on where will you spend?
2
Other Round (2 Questions)
- Q1. Round started with interviewers introducing themselves followed by the question tell me about yourself. Next, there were a couple of CV Questions. After that, t...read more
- Q2. A valve manufacturing company (safety valve) used primarily in Oil and Gas sector, a leader in North America wants to expand its presence in India. There were t...read more
3
Other Round (6 Questions)
- Q1. Introduce your work experience.
- Q2. Do SWOT analysis of your company.
- Q3. New technologies in the field of manufacturing.
- Q4. New technology in the field of semiconductor industry?
- Q5. Why consulting?
- Q6. Do you have any questions?
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - I primarily prepared for 4 things:
1. Formulation of CV and preparation for CV answers: All the interviews start with CV, so this section is of great importance. Frame a para on each CV point so as to anticipate the questions and the follow up questions that could be asked. All the numbers presented in CV should be backed by proper calculation for each data point.
2. HR Questions – Standard deck of HR Questions (39 Qs), circulated by Placement Committee was sufficient. An instance of all major questions was very important. I had written a para on each so as to anticipate the questions that could be asked.
3. Guesstimates: I prepared guestimates from my hobby and general topics in news like the number of Table tennis bats sold in Mumbai in a year. I used to practise it in groups to understand different approaches and formulate the best approach that would work for me. I maintained that in my case journal.
4. Cases: I primarily read Case in Point for preparation of cases. After having a decent idea of frameworks and having framed my own, I practiced some cases from IIM A case book also. I also practiced some mock case interview with my roommate.
Workshop - In workshop, the team was split in 4 groups of 15 students each, with 1 case given to each group. But before the case a guestimate was discussed- A new element added to workshop this year. Be prepared for surprises like this!
The guestimate was finding the revenue of Rio Olympics from tickets sold.
We were given 2 minutes to think and then had to volunteer to come to the board to explain the approach with calculation. A guy in desperation started in just 1 minute, to which they told him to be sure before speaking. He first started with an approach which was completely rejected by them. Then he came up with another approach which was.
Dividing the type of stadiums, like athletics, in doors, etc. Assuming occupancy percentage and then assuming the number and price of tickets sold. Details for my case are given below:
A case of M&A was given. A telecom company with its presence in North America was looking to enter Indian Market through an acquisition of an Indian firm.
Income statement of each firm was given and there were different slides (3) about:
• customer segmentation
• details of income statement and balance sheet
• Due diligence
• Some graphs (pie chart and bar chart) on customer segmentation and revenue distribution.
4 questions were asked on 4th slide:
1. Discuss the qualitative factors that needs to be considered before working on the intricacies of the deal.
2. Evaluate the amount of organic investment which the company needs to invest to achieve a similar revenue.
3. To go for the deal or not.
4. Finding the synergy dollar number (calculation required).
Important Tip : Though it may sound a cliché, it is absolutely okay to ask about a term or clarify about the question, no matter how simple it is. It’s better to be safe than be sorry in any consulting interview. We clarified about synergy dollar number, which was savings in terms of dollar value of:
1. Increase in revenue of the combined entity.
2. Decrease in cost.
In any group case workshop, it is imperative to follow the flow of the case and not say something completely new or unimportant. We as a group suggested many factors to be considered, like customer segmentation, using economies of scale and scope, products offered, using locational advantage of one in the other geographies, etc.
For 2nd we were provided with a slide pertaining to ROI with due diligence, we could arrive at the number with simple calculation and found out that it’s better to grow inorganically and not organically as we need to put in larger investment in the latter to achieve the same Revenues.
3rd answer was solved while discussion the second case itself.
4th again a slide of certain ratios and due diligence was provided to arrive at the Synergy dollar number. Solving this required a fundamental understanding of balance sheet and income statement as well.
As a group, we could solve the entire case in the stipulated time.
1. Formulation of CV and preparation for CV answers: All the interviews start with CV, so this section is of great importance. Frame a para on each CV point so as to anticipate the questions and the follow up questions that could be asked. All the numbers presented in CV should be backed by proper calculation for each data point.
2. HR Questions – Standard deck of HR Questions (39 Qs), circulated by Placement Committee was sufficient. An instance of all major questions was very important. I had written a para on each so as to anticipate the questions that could be asked.
3. Guesstimates: I prepared guestimates from my hobby and general topics in news like the number of Table tennis bats sold in Mumbai in a year. I used to practise it in groups to understand different approaches and formulate the best approach that would work for me. I maintained that in my case journal.
4. Cases: I primarily read Case in Point for preparation of cases. After having a decent idea of frameworks and having framed my own, I practiced some cases from IIM A case book also. I also practiced some mock case interview with my roommate.
Workshop - In workshop, the team was split in 4 groups of 15 students each, with 1 case given to each group. But before the case a guestimate was discussed- A new element added to workshop this year. Be prepared for surprises like this!
The guestimate was finding the revenue of Rio Olympics from tickets sold.
We were given 2 minutes to think and then had to volunteer to come to the board to explain the approach with calculation. A guy in desperation started in just 1 minute, to which they told him to be sure before speaking. He first started with an approach which was completely rejected by them. Then he came up with another approach which was.
Dividing the type of stadiums, like athletics, in doors, etc. Assuming occupancy percentage and then assuming the number and price of tickets sold. Details for my case are given below:
A case of M&A was given. A telecom company with its presence in North America was looking to enter Indian Market through an acquisition of an Indian firm.
Income statement of each firm was given and there were different slides (3) about:
• customer segmentation
• details of income statement and balance sheet
• Due diligence
• Some graphs (pie chart and bar chart) on customer segmentation and revenue distribution.
4 questions were asked on 4th slide:
1. Discuss the qualitative factors that needs to be considered before working on the intricacies of the deal.
2. Evaluate the amount of organic investment which the company needs to invest to achieve a similar revenue.
3. To go for the deal or not.
4. Finding the synergy dollar number (calculation required).
Important Tip : Though it may sound a cliché, it is absolutely okay to ask about a term or clarify about the question, no matter how simple it is. It’s better to be safe than be sorry in any consulting interview. We clarified about synergy dollar number, which was savings in terms of dollar value of:
1. Increase in revenue of the combined entity.
2. Decrease in cost.
In any group case workshop, it is imperative to follow the flow of the case and not say something completely new or unimportant. We as a group suggested many factors to be considered, like customer segmentation, using economies of scale and scope, products offered, using locational advantage of one in the other geographies, etc.
For 2nd we were provided with a slide pertaining to ROI with due diligence, we could arrive at the number with simple calculation and found out that it’s better to grow inorganically and not organically as we need to put in larger investment in the latter to achieve the same Revenues.
3rd answer was solved while discussion the second case itself.
4th again a slide of certain ratios and due diligence was provided to arrive at the Synergy dollar number. Solving this required a fundamental understanding of balance sheet and income statement as well.
As a group, we could solve the entire case in the stipulated time.
I applied via Campus Placement
3 Interview Rounds
1
Other Round (2 Questions)
- Q1. My first interview was with a senior consultant of the firm. He welcomed me in the room and introduced himself to me with a firm handshake. He made me very comf...read more
- Q2. Finally, the interviewer asked if I had any question for him.
2
Case Study Round
2nd round started with interviewers introducing themselves followed by the question tell me about yourself.
Next, there were a couple of CV Questions. After that, they straight away went to case.
A valve manufacturing company (safety valve) used primarily in Oil and Gas sector, a leader in North America wants to expand its presence in India. There were two questions
1. What factors should it consider,
2. Estimate the size of Indian market,
3. Using the previous calculations, estimate the size of other safety devises as well.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]
Not a very detailed case but relating to my mechanical back ground and work experience in core sector, I could relate it very well to the situation at hand. It was a case of market expansion.
C: I first summarized the case & then asked if there are any secondary objectives that we need to achieve.
I: No.
C: I would understand the economy of the country first. Looking at the present scenario, India looks to me as the only bright spot in this gloomy global economic scenario. Other factors that I would take into considerations are macroeconomic stability recent government’s reforms like GST legislation, ease of doing business rankings improvement, government stability, Pro business approach. Etc.
I: Looked satisfied and said other things apart from Economy.
C: Then I would look into the industry, the factors being:
• Performance of industry (trends),
• Market structure and number of players (both domestic and international if any) in the market and their market share,
• Ease of entry and exit,
• Public sector and private sector (public sector generally have a preference of MOUs with some government PSUs or MSMEs for purchasing while private sector is more focussed on cost).
I: I want you to figure it out my market size. Tell me the way to do it.
C: There would be two major segments: existing industries and expansion of the existing ones. Existing would already have these safety devises in place, so my preferred area would be upcoming plants. But there would be continuous requirement of valves even in the existing because of the life of a valve -It’s a safety feature and needs to be replaced at certain places based on the hours of its use or duration of its installation, whichever being earlier. To this the interviewer smiled and said You seems to know a lot!
I: Lets now look at new plants. How would u do a market sizing for me.
C: (After analysing the situation at hand) I would do some market research to find out the ratio of the price of these devises to the overall cost of the machinery. Different industry has different levels of safety consciousness and have according levels of quality of safety spares used. This ratio would help me to estimate the size of the expanding industry on the basis of their investment value.
I: That’s good. Provided me with the amount of investment of companies. And the ratio?
C: Figured it out and said the size.
I: Using this, Find out the size of other products in my portfolio, and decide what should be my priority. A table was presented with the ratio and the investment value of different sectors.
C: Figured it out on the basis of calculation and decided on the priority on the basis of market size.
I: CAGR of 3 industries were given (investment value), Now would your answer be the same?
C: Simple percentage calculation to arrive at the values.
Interviewer: That’s fairly decent!
After this, the case finished. He asked some more CV Questions and then asked if I have any question for him. I had discussed with my previous boss about the history of consulting firms association with SAIL, He narrated me a Mckinsey instance, wherein the changes suggested were not feasible and implementable. I asked them about differentiating factor in such a case, to which he explained me. I popped up a follow up question with approval, to which he answered in great details.
Overall a very smooth experience. At no point of time did I feel any stress. They made me really comfortable and guided in case I was either digressing or entering into greater depth than required (qualitative points).
3
Other Round (4 Questions)
- Q1. Can you summarise the case for me?
- Q2. Introduce your work experience.
- Q3. Why consulting?
- Q4. Follow up question about the incidence.
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparations:
I primarily prepared for 4 things:
1. Formulation of CV and preparation for CV answers: All the interviews start with CV, so this section is of great importance. Frame a para on each CV point so as to anticipate the questions and the follow up questions that could be asked. All the numbers presented in CV should be backed by proper calculation for each data point.
2. HR Questions – Standard deck of HR Questions (39 Qs), circulated by Placement Committee was sufficient. An instance of all major questions was very important. I had written a para on each so as to anticipate the questions that could be asked.
3. Guesstimates: I prepared guestimates from my hobby and general topics in news like the number of cold play tickets expected to be sold. I used to practise it in groups to understand different approaches and formulate the best approach that would work for me. I maintained that in my case journal.
4. Cases: I primarily read Case in Point for preparation of cases. After having a decent idea of frameworks and having framed my own, I practiced some cases from IIM A, Mckinsey 6th edition and Kellogg’s case books. I practiced the cases with my friends to have a real feel of case interview.
The roommate guide of Case in point was particularly helpful in this).
Workshop – In workshop, the team was split in 4 groups of 15 students each, with 1 case given to each group.
But before the case a guestimate was discussed - A new element added to workshop this year. Be prepared for surprises like this!
The guestimate was finding the number of school teachers in Mumbai.
We were given 2 minutes to think and then had to volunteer to come to the board to explain the approach with calculation. A guy in desperation started in just 1 minute, to which they told him to be sure before speaking. Then a student volunteered and approached the case with number of railway station as the base. He was asked to justify the logic behind his assumption, to which he could not. (A word of caution: Please be sure before speaking. It’s not a typical GD wherein you have to make an early entry to get noticed).
Then I volunteered and my approach was taking India’s demographic dividend into consideration, I assumed 65 % of the population was of the less than 35 years of age. But taking Mumbai’ s consideration of being the financial capital and State’s capital I took the number to be 70 (taking influx of students and professionals).
Then I assumed linear distribution of population across the age band, found out the number of people in the age group of 3 to 18 (Assuming a student spends 15 years in school), I arrived with the number of students.
Then I assumed equal students in government and private schools. Used student teacher ratio by using my personal experience of a private school and taking assumptions for government school to arrive at a number. The key factors in this discussion was suitable assumption backed up by proper logic and using student teacher ratio.
Details for my case are given below:
A case of M&A was given. A telecom company with its presence in North America was looking to enter Indian Market through an acquisition of an Indian firm. Income statement of each firm was given and there were different slides (3) about:
• customer segmentation,
• details of income statement and balance sheet
• Due diligence
• Some graphs (pie chart and bar chart) on customer segmentation and revenue distribution.
4 questions were asked on 4th slide
1. Discuss the qualitative factors that needs to be considered before working on the intricacies of the deal
2. Evaluate the amount of organic investment which the company needs to invest to achieve a similar revenue
3. To go for the deal or not
4. Finding the synergy dollar number (calculation required)
Important Tip : Though it may sound a cliché, it is absolutely okay to ask about a term or clarify about the question, no matter how simple it is. It’s better to be safe than be sorry in any consulting interview.
We clarified about synergy dollar number, which was savings in terms of dollar value of:
1. Increase in revenue of the combined entity
2. Decrease in cost
In any group case workshop, it is imperative to follow the flow of the case and not say something completely new or unimportant.
We as a group suggested many factors to be considered, like customer segmentation, using economies of scale and scope, products offered, using locational advantage of one in the other geographies, etc.
For 2nd we were provided with a slide pertaining to ROI with due diligence, we could arrive at the number with simple calculation and found out that it’s better to grow inorganically and not organically as we need to put in larger investment in the latter to achieve the same Revenues.
3rd answer was solved while discussing the second case itself.
4th again a slide of certain ratios and due diligence was provided to arrive at the Synergy dollar number.
Solving this required a fundamental understanding of balance sheet and income statement as well. As a group, we could solve the entire case in the stipulated time.
I primarily prepared for 4 things:
1. Formulation of CV and preparation for CV answers: All the interviews start with CV, so this section is of great importance. Frame a para on each CV point so as to anticipate the questions and the follow up questions that could be asked. All the numbers presented in CV should be backed by proper calculation for each data point.
2. HR Questions – Standard deck of HR Questions (39 Qs), circulated by Placement Committee was sufficient. An instance of all major questions was very important. I had written a para on each so as to anticipate the questions that could be asked.
3. Guesstimates: I prepared guestimates from my hobby and general topics in news like the number of cold play tickets expected to be sold. I used to practise it in groups to understand different approaches and formulate the best approach that would work for me. I maintained that in my case journal.
4. Cases: I primarily read Case in Point for preparation of cases. After having a decent idea of frameworks and having framed my own, I practiced some cases from IIM A, Mckinsey 6th edition and Kellogg’s case books. I practiced the cases with my friends to have a real feel of case interview.
The roommate guide of Case in point was particularly helpful in this).
Workshop – In workshop, the team was split in 4 groups of 15 students each, with 1 case given to each group.
But before the case a guestimate was discussed - A new element added to workshop this year. Be prepared for surprises like this!
The guestimate was finding the number of school teachers in Mumbai.
We were given 2 minutes to think and then had to volunteer to come to the board to explain the approach with calculation. A guy in desperation started in just 1 minute, to which they told him to be sure before speaking. Then a student volunteered and approached the case with number of railway station as the base. He was asked to justify the logic behind his assumption, to which he could not. (A word of caution: Please be sure before speaking. It’s not a typical GD wherein you have to make an early entry to get noticed).
Then I volunteered and my approach was taking India’s demographic dividend into consideration, I assumed 65 % of the population was of the less than 35 years of age. But taking Mumbai’ s consideration of being the financial capital and State’s capital I took the number to be 70 (taking influx of students and professionals).
Then I assumed linear distribution of population across the age band, found out the number of people in the age group of 3 to 18 (Assuming a student spends 15 years in school), I arrived with the number of students.
Then I assumed equal students in government and private schools. Used student teacher ratio by using my personal experience of a private school and taking assumptions for government school to arrive at a number. The key factors in this discussion was suitable assumption backed up by proper logic and using student teacher ratio.
Details for my case are given below:
A case of M&A was given. A telecom company with its presence in North America was looking to enter Indian Market through an acquisition of an Indian firm. Income statement of each firm was given and there were different slides (3) about:
• customer segmentation,
• details of income statement and balance sheet
• Due diligence
• Some graphs (pie chart and bar chart) on customer segmentation and revenue distribution.
4 questions were asked on 4th slide
1. Discuss the qualitative factors that needs to be considered before working on the intricacies of the deal
2. Evaluate the amount of organic investment which the company needs to invest to achieve a similar revenue
3. To go for the deal or not
4. Finding the synergy dollar number (calculation required)
Important Tip : Though it may sound a cliché, it is absolutely okay to ask about a term or clarify about the question, no matter how simple it is. It’s better to be safe than be sorry in any consulting interview.
We clarified about synergy dollar number, which was savings in terms of dollar value of:
1. Increase in revenue of the combined entity
2. Decrease in cost
In any group case workshop, it is imperative to follow the flow of the case and not say something completely new or unimportant.
We as a group suggested many factors to be considered, like customer segmentation, using economies of scale and scope, products offered, using locational advantage of one in the other geographies, etc.
For 2nd we were provided with a slide pertaining to ROI with due diligence, we could arrive at the number with simple calculation and found out that it’s better to grow inorganically and not organically as we need to put in larger investment in the latter to achieve the same Revenues.
3rd answer was solved while discussing the second case itself.
4th again a slide of certain ratios and due diligence was provided to arrive at the Synergy dollar number.
Solving this required a fundamental understanding of balance sheet and income statement as well. As a group, we could solve the entire case in the stipulated time.
I applied via Campus Placement
2 Interview Rounds
1
Group Discussion Round
Topic: “China, the second largest economy faced a political coup which resulted in the blockage of trade with all other countries. What will be the effect of this scenario globally?”
Points highlighted:
• China being the second largest economy, blockage of trade means a financial crisis.
• Devaluation of Chinese currency, Yuan and its effects on US dollar.
• Stock market crash across the world due to abrupt selling of shares by investors.
• India, the biggest trade partner of china will become the worst affected.
• Chinese organizations shifting operations to other countries which benefits emerging economies like India in the long run.
• Unemployment in china as well as other countries due to market crash.
Note: GD was the primary selection criterion. Bulk of the elimination was from GD.
2
HR Round (2 Questions)
- Q1. This was a Personal Interview. It was very short. I felt like they had already done the selection process based on the Group Discussion. They just wanted to che...read more
- Q2. What is your biggest strength? How would your strengths align with our interests?
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparations:
1. Cases & Guesstimates – Due to the lack of any significant work experience, I was not preparing much for consulting profiles. I was mainly looking for FMCGs and prepared mostly on Supply chain fundamentals from Heizer and HR questions. Having said that, once I got the shortlist, I went through Case in Point thoroughly.
2. Resume: CV is the second most important preparation area after HR questions. Most of the questions asked in interviews revolved around my CV points.
3. Group Discussions: I followed a preparation schedule which also focused on developing content for group discussions by going through a newspaper daily.
Suggestions:
1. Do not lose your energy even if you are appearing for 3-4 interviews in less than 2 hours. Always be cheerful and don’t lose confidence.
2. In case of preparation, fresher’s and low work experienced people should focus on Group discussions and HR questions.
3. Build enough content to speak than practicing to get more airtime. The quality of what you speak will be the determinant, not the airtime.
1. Cases & Guesstimates – Due to the lack of any significant work experience, I was not preparing much for consulting profiles. I was mainly looking for FMCGs and prepared mostly on Supply chain fundamentals from Heizer and HR questions. Having said that, once I got the shortlist, I went through Case in Point thoroughly.
2. Resume: CV is the second most important preparation area after HR questions. Most of the questions asked in interviews revolved around my CV points.
3. Group Discussions: I followed a preparation schedule which also focused on developing content for group discussions by going through a newspaper daily.
Suggestions:
1. Do not lose your energy even if you are appearing for 3-4 interviews in less than 2 hours. Always be cheerful and don’t lose confidence.
2. In case of preparation, fresher’s and low work experienced people should focus on Group discussions and HR questions.
3. Build enough content to speak than practicing to get more airtime. The quality of what you speak will be the determinant, not the airtime.
I applied via Campus Placement
1
Other Round (2 Questions)
- Q1. (Duration – 15-20 mins) My first interview was with a senior consultant of the firm. He welcomed me in the room, and made me feel very comfortable straight away...read more
- Q2. Estimate the number of stalled Real Estate Projects in Mumbai.
2
Other Round (2 Questions)
- Q1. (Duration – 45 mins) 2nd round started with interviewers introducing themselves followed by the question tell me about yourself. Next, there were a couple of CV...read more
- Q2. A valve manufacturing company (safety valve) used primarily in Oil and Gas sector, a leader in North America wants to expand its presence in India. There were t...read more
3
Other Round (1 Question)
- Q1. Current scenario in the Construction and Infrastructure Industry.
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparations:
• Preparation of CV and HR Questions: The CV is the basis on which companies prepare their primary shortlists, hence a thorough exercise to appropriately prepare the CV was undertaken, including multiple iterations and verifications by seniors with similar profiles. Thereafter probable questions from every CV point were anticipated, and answers including data and figures were prepared for every question.
Next preparation of the deck of HR questions circulated by Placement Committee was undertaken. The answers were prepared keeping in sync with my background and profile, in order to create a seam-less connect between my past profile/domain and future aspirations.
• Guesstimates and Cases: The primary aspect was to learn to apply approaches to any kind of guesstimate. After discussions with friends and seniors, I segregated guesstimates into certain categories where approaches like demographic, numerical, geographical (area based) should be taken. Thereafter random guesstimates were practiced with friends, to get the fluency and flow whilst solving.
For cases, I relied on Case In Point, IIMA casebook, and consulting101.com. I primarily focused on familiarizing myself with the frameworks, identifying and segregating a case as per available frameworks, and thereafter adjust and proceed as per the case conditions. Few Mock Case interviews are a must in order to get familiar with Case Interview situations.
• Preparation of CV and HR Questions: The CV is the basis on which companies prepare their primary shortlists, hence a thorough exercise to appropriately prepare the CV was undertaken, including multiple iterations and verifications by seniors with similar profiles. Thereafter probable questions from every CV point were anticipated, and answers including data and figures were prepared for every question.
Next preparation of the deck of HR questions circulated by Placement Committee was undertaken. The answers were prepared keeping in sync with my background and profile, in order to create a seam-less connect between my past profile/domain and future aspirations.
• Guesstimates and Cases: The primary aspect was to learn to apply approaches to any kind of guesstimate. After discussions with friends and seniors, I segregated guesstimates into certain categories where approaches like demographic, numerical, geographical (area based) should be taken. Thereafter random guesstimates were practiced with friends, to get the fluency and flow whilst solving.
For cases, I relied on Case In Point, IIMA casebook, and consulting101.com. I primarily focused on familiarizing myself with the frameworks, identifying and segregating a case as per available frameworks, and thereafter adjust and proceed as per the case conditions. Few Mock Case interviews are a must in order to get familiar with Case Interview situations.
I applied via Campus Placement
2 Interview Rounds
1
HR Round (4 Questions)
- Q1. Basic HR questions on Introduction.
- Q2. Why consulting?
- Q3. What do you know about the firm?
- Q4. Case on profitability (declining revenues) of a bike manufacturer in US. It was related to product mix change. Within the case, a guesstimate on market sizing w...read more
2
Case Study Round
Basic HR questions on introduction.
Why MBA?
Why NITIE?
Why consulting?
What do you know about the firm?
Something about you that’s not written in CV.
A case on Market entry: A hair product company wants to enter food products market. You have first meeting with CEO. List down all the questions that you will need to ask him to come to a recommendation. Explain the rationale behind every question.
Suppose you write a novel on your biking experiences 10 years down the line, estimate the market for your novel then.
A case on pricing: How will you price your novel?
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparations:
Case Preparation: Prepared all the type of cases from Case in Point. Apart from that covered all the cases from AT Kearney casebook & IIM-A casebook.
HR Questions: prepared for consulting specific HR questions given in Case in Point, apart from that HR questions given by placement committee.
Workshop: Case was given on profitability. An automotive manufacturer AutoCo is dependent on numerous suppliers. One of those suppliers supplies many critical parts (& 90% of its supply goes to AutoCo). It is threatening to close down due to significant losses. The focus of workshop was on finding key issues, key factors for stabilizing product supply, finding long term & short term solutions, doing profitability analysis & analyzing a lot of data.
Case Preparation: Prepared all the type of cases from Case in Point. Apart from that covered all the cases from AT Kearney casebook & IIM-A casebook.
HR Questions: prepared for consulting specific HR questions given in Case in Point, apart from that HR questions given by placement committee.
Workshop: Case was given on profitability. An automotive manufacturer AutoCo is dependent on numerous suppliers. One of those suppliers supplies many critical parts (& 90% of its supply goes to AutoCo). It is threatening to close down due to significant losses. The focus of workshop was on finding key issues, key factors for stabilizing product supply, finding long term & short term solutions, doing profitability analysis & analyzing a lot of data.
I applied via Campus Placement
3 Interview Rounds
1
Case Study Round
Brief about the interview including interview questions.
A quick intro.
How has NITIE been so far?
Did you like the presentation? what would you suggest making that better?
Case - A food preservatives company is seeing losses but the market share is increasing.
I was asked to find out the reasons for losses and make the recommendations.
Since, it is a standard profitability problem. I started by dividing the factors into external and internal ones. Tricky bit was that market share was increasing and the competitors were leaving the market. Apart from this, procurement costs also increased due to some R&D at supplier’s end.
Asked to conclude the case at this point.
Suggestions included:
1. To have a check on the industry health.
2. Negotiating with the supplier and find out if rend cost was just one-time cost. Also, analyze if there are going to be any benefits of the rnd.
3. To acquire the competitors who are leaving the market.
2
Case Study Round
Quick Intro.
Case - Magnum has released its world-famous bar in India. Their sales for the first 6 months are given below:
60000, 55000, 55000, 25000, 20000, 15000.
Consider yourself as the sales rep and figure out the approach to find out the issue. You have 3 months to resolve the issue.
With such problem, initially I came under huge pressure because I never saw any such problem and it was not possible to apply a framework to the issue.
After taking 2 minutes to formulate the strategy, I inquired about factors such as industry as a whole, Product info, marketing strategy, seasonality. They turned out to be not important here.
Then he guided me to consider the survey strategy at customer end where I was to formulate 4 questions related to the product and ask these to the customer.
My questions with interviewer’s answer are given below in the exact order:
-Do you like the taste of magnum?
Customer response: Yes, it is very good.
-What do you think will make the ice cream better?
Customer response: It melts very fast.
-How frequently do you buy it? (This was probably not relevant).
Customer response: twice in a week.
-Do you think it is expensive?
Customer response: it is apt to the brand and taste.
After concluding the problem of ice-cream melting too early we considered various option of correcting that issue.
Finally, the data given was that normal ice cream is maintained at -6C for freezing, while magnum needs to be frozen at -8C for better experience.
We closed the case by considering the feasibility of putting dedicated freezers for magnum at all the stores. This involved looking at each type cost incurred by company, their profits and break-even point.
3
Case Study Round
Quick Intro.
We started the round with the guesstimate:
Indigo wants to start its flight between Mumbai and Chandigarh. So far only one air carrier operates on this route. Find out the fleet strength, indigo should start with.
After finding out the potential client base, I arrived at the fleet strength needed.
Now the guesstimate was converted to a case and the problem statement was that indigo is not seeing the expected revenue on this route, hence I was asked to find out the issue.
I started with the external factors (industry and economy).
Later, I moved on to all the sources of revenue and cost. This got a bit difficult when the interviewer asked me just to list out each revenue and cost associated with the airline industry.
Once the listing out of all the revenue and cost avenues was done, I was asked to conclude the case.
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Interview Experience: I went through 3 rounds of interviews. Each had just one panel member.
Generally, people go through at least one HR round, but for me, all three rounds of interviews were focused on Either just case discussions or both cases and guesstimates.
Preparations:
Study resources: Case in point (Great for developing the basics and know about the various frameworks used).
Prep Methodology: Started by going through Case in point by myself. At a later stage, Did some case discussions in group. In the end, what helped me gaining confidence was going through mock case interviews with seniors. Relevant subjects: Only basics of accounting and supply chain were needed.
Suggestions:
1. You will definitely get stuck at places, but don’t panic and simply ask them.
2. Case frameworks are just the tools to give you a structured thinking process, they are not applicable everywhere.
3. Objective of the case can change at times, don’t lose the track and change your approach in between.
4. You can ask for a minute or two to think, at any point of time in the interview. This is much better than asking non relevant questions.
5. I do believe that the case practice is important, but what is also important is to think on your feet because every case or problem comes with new challenges.
6. In the end, be cool, interactive and confident.
Generally, people go through at least one HR round, but for me, all three rounds of interviews were focused on Either just case discussions or both cases and guesstimates.
Preparations:
Study resources: Case in point (Great for developing the basics and know about the various frameworks used).
Prep Methodology: Started by going through Case in point by myself. At a later stage, Did some case discussions in group. In the end, what helped me gaining confidence was going through mock case interviews with seniors. Relevant subjects: Only basics of accounting and supply chain were needed.
Suggestions:
1. You will definitely get stuck at places, but don’t panic and simply ask them.
2. Case frameworks are just the tools to give you a structured thinking process, they are not applicable everywhere.
3. Objective of the case can change at times, don’t lose the track and change your approach in between.
4. You can ask for a minute or two to think, at any point of time in the interview. This is much better than asking non relevant questions.
5. I do believe that the case practice is important, but what is also important is to think on your feet because every case or problem comes with new challenges.
6. In the end, be cool, interactive and confident.
I applied via Campus Placement
3 Interview Rounds
1
Case Study Round
Find out the number of pencil cells sold in India every day.
Broke the problem into 3 heads.
Batteries used in A.C. Remotes.
Batteries used in T.V. remotes.
Batteries used in other applications (Toys, Torch, etc.).
Then did 3 guesstimates for different heads and added up.
Used population approaches. Interviewer asked me don’t you think that people with higher income group will be having more than 1 AC at their home.
Me: For the sake of ease of calculation I have considered linear distribution I will later add an error allowance of 10%. There will be offices buildings etc. where we have more number of AC and TV etc.
2
Case Study Round
TESLA company have made a Teleporting Machine, and they want to sell it to a company A. You have been hired as a consultant for tesla to suggest them a price that to be quoted to A.
[Please note that I stands for Interviewer and C stands for Candidate]
C: What does this teleporting machine do? Is it the only self-sufficient machine or it requires some regular accessories updates etc.
I: It’s a one-time install, it transports a person from one place to other in a blink of an eye. The person should stand on the machine and type the name of the drop location and he will reach there after pressing the GO button.
C: How does he come back?
I: He has a remote and after pressing the return button he comes back to original location.
C: Is there any other company working on the same project? Do we have anything of this kind in news or can we expect similar product by other companies soon?
I: No, it’s an innovative product. First of its kind in the industry. As far as the innovations are concerned all companies are working on innovations but as of now only TESLA has developed such products.
C: Well, that sounds interesting, give me some times to collect my thoughts.
I: Sure, (and he walked out of the room for 3~4 minutes).
C: Since this is a case where no other price for reference is available in the market and this is first time pricing for the company and no such product is available is the market so the company should go for price based costing, i.e. the price that customer is willing to pay.
I: Yes, you got it right. Now go ahead.
C: Now I will find out the monetary saving by A by using this machine in their daily purpose. And after adding some profit margin I will reach on to some amount to be quoted.
Before going further, I want to ask few questions about the investment cost.
I: Negligible.
C: Fine, Since A is a consulting company and consultants are always on the move so the company, by using teleporting, will be able to save travelling expenses and the consultant-hours (Time).
I: That right, how would you go ahead now?
C: At this point, to show them that I have studied about the company, I told him that A has XXXX number of employees and out of these I assume 40% are travelling.
I: Do not assume data, always ask.
C: Sorry, can you please tell me the number of employees in A?
I: So, there are 200 employees in U.S.A and 300 in India.
C: And how many of them travel and how often. Any further details about their travel?
I: U.S. office employees travel regularly every week to the domestic clients that is to the local U.S based clients only, and the India office employees travel to U.S. office once in every 6 months on an average.
C: Okay so I will first consider the U.S. employees travel domestically to local clients. Tell me something more about their travel. When they leave, how they travel, client’s location from the airport etc.
I: A consultant leaves on Monday and comes back on Thursday. He uses taxi to move from office to airport. Then takes a flight and takes a rental car after reaching at client’s location airport.
C: So, can you tell me, what are the charges of the taxi, for the air travel and for the rental car that he takes?
I: The taxi charges are negligible as compared to air tickets. The flight costs $1600 to and fro. The rental car that he takes with him costs $100 per day.
C: Okay so the total saving in the Mon-Thu stay will be 1600+(100x4) = 2000.
I: You are missing something. What you do when you go to a place take a rental car, what else?
C: I will stay in a hotel. Okay so what are the hotel expenses?
I: $300 per day.
C: So now the figure goes to 2000+(300x4) = $3200.
Apart from this, the consultant will also save time. So, I would like to know about the utilization of consultant during the travel time. Does he work in the flight or taxi?
I: No, during travel nobody likes to work. And here employees also do the same.
C: So, what is the per hour salary of consultant and how many hours he saves?
I: per hour salary is $40 per hour and in the to and fro flight and taxi, he saves 8 hours.
C: So, he additionally saves $320.
So, total money saved on one consultant per week is 3200+320 = $3520 Per year saving on one consultant= 50 weeks x 3520 = $17600. (I have considered that there will be holidays, X-mas, Easter etc. so number of weeks rounded off to 50) Total saving on USA consultants = 200 consultants x 17600 =3520000 Interviewer: so, for the sake of ease you can round it off to $3.5 Million.
C: Now I will work on the same approach for Indian employees (in the same way, asked questions for India and calculated for 6 months and 300 employees it came out to be $1 Million so the annual expenses $2 Million).
C: Total saving per year is $3.5 Million+ $2 Million = $5.5 million.
After this I asked multiple questions enquiring about any further charges that the TESLA company will be charging for. I asked for Licensing type (open, single user, transferrable/ non-transferrable). I asked for utility support charges (Maintenance, upgrade etc.). I asked for resale value.
Finally, he made me to consider only $5.5 Million.
C: What is the life of the equipment?
I: 10 years.
C: So, the net worth will be $ 5.5 Million x 10 = $55 Million.
I: That’s good you have reached out to a final figure. Now Tesla can sell it on this price only or with some margin. Thanks, you have followed a proper approach and reached on to the conclusion.
3
Other Round (1 Question)
- Q1. In this round, by a different interviewer I was asked to summarize the TESLA case solved in previous round. After that a general discussion on Point to Point an...read more
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Prepare to answer case interview questions by practicing your problem-solving skills. Read case studies and practice analyzing complex business problems and identifying potential solutions.
I applied via Campus Placement
4 Interview Rounds
1
Case Study Round
Estimate the market size in US of Premium foldable phone Iron Man Limited edition. Also give recommendation weather to make new facility in US or outsource to China and why.
(20 minutes)
2
Case Study Round
2 Pharma companies have merged, with facilities and market all over the world, one is specialized cancer drug making company and other is making generic OTC drugs. Establish operational synergies, cut costs in supply chain and give 30 second elevator pitch to the CEO on your recommendations (lot of data for analysis was given to find area of improvement).
(30 minutes)
3
HR Round (2 Questions)
- Q1. Biggest impact made.
- Q2. Why consulting?
4
Other Round (3 Questions)
- Q1. Why Deloitte?
- Q2. One weakness and what you did to overcome it?
- Q3. What will you bring to Deloitte?
Interview Preparation Tips
Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Preparation : Solving cases with study group members (one-on-one), studying topics of procurement, sourcing, facility location and supply chain management.
Study Resources: Case in point, FMS casebook, Heizer, Chopra Meindl.
What went right?
I believe that my calm attitude towards their questions and the fact that I stood my ground on the answer given by me in case study. I remained confident throughout my interview.
Suggestions:
1) While attempting a case in an interview, listen carefully to the interviewer as they will guide you to the correct solution and in the process, give loads of insights in order to help you with the case.
2) Instead of cramming up the structures given in various casebooks, try and understand the reason behind the problem in a top-down approach.
3) Solve cases and guesstimates with your friends to gain a wider perspective.
Study Resources: Case in point, FMS casebook, Heizer, Chopra Meindl.
What went right?
I believe that my calm attitude towards their questions and the fact that I stood my ground on the answer given by me in case study. I remained confident throughout my interview.
Suggestions:
1) While attempting a case in an interview, listen carefully to the interviewer as they will guide you to the correct solution and in the process, give loads of insights in order to help you with the case.
2) Instead of cramming up the structures given in various casebooks, try and understand the reason behind the problem in a top-down approach.
3) Solve cases and guesstimates with your friends to gain a wider perspective.
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