Ernst & Young Cyber Security Consultant Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: She had already marked points in my resume to ask questions on.
I asked couple of questions at the end.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: He didn't allow me to use the paper pad. I was a litte unnerved as I hadn't heard of the case before. He kept asking questions continuously and didn't seem to be too satisfied with the answers that I gave. Told me that the real life cases are much involved etc.
Asked me if I had any questions. I asked a few.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: We discussed numerous issues and he kept digressing to different topics. We stopped after 7 smaller sub cases.
I asked if this was the first case where the point in discussion changed along the case and does it happens normal in industry.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The final solution was to redesign the cup so that more can be stacked in the same height. I asked a few questions .
Was made an offer. Final offers to 4 people.

General Tips: RESUME: Start working on this early and keep making improvements by taking inputs from seniors/friends.
PREPARATION HELP:
1.Prepare typical HR questions.
2.Prepare your resume well.
3.Prepare cases. Brush up DI.
4.Do your groundwork on the firms interested in.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: A) I put a lot of thought into it. A LOT. I started top-down. In a sense, I always knew I was gonna target only 2 types of companies: Consulting and Banking. So made my 2 resumes accordingly. Basically I conveyed what needed to be conveyed. For this, I talked to a lot of people in Oct/Nov and researched a bit from previous editions of BePrepared. Being a DD helped. And then I spent a lot of time thinking how best to convey it. For example, I knew that my success in strategy competitions was crucial for Consulting Firms, hence I put those above my projects/extracurrics. 
b) Sent it to many people for feedback. Some of the points were accepted, some not. Its always our call in the end. But more often than not, external views make up the MOST important part of Resume Making.
Tips: Advice: Make a rough copy first and then start thinking. If you think without it, it will take up a lot of time. DON’T LIE IT WONT HELP YOU IN THE INTERVIEW. Be very serious in your resume. Avoid any kind of humor. Also don’t try to squeeze in too much.. you wont be coherent. Know what you want to convey and convey exactly that. At the end of it.. Look at your resume page by page. And see what it conveys at a VERY MACRO level. For ex: In my resume, Page 1 conveyed Decent Acads with Success in Strategy Competitions and Page 2 conveyed A lot of positions of responsibility with decent results and excellence in dramatics.

Round: Interview
Experience: BCG was 4 rounds, 30 people shortlisted initially out of which 14 were shortlisted after round 2. 4 offers were made.
BCG was very collegial in interviews. The partners were warm. In my first interview he asked me about my DDP andsummer internship. Then jumped on to a case wherein a cement manufacturer was losing profit. I had to dig around and realize that ultimately the costs of power were increasing due to the government’s load-shedding. I was also then asked to solve a basic LP optimization problem (the manufacturer had different plants at diff. locations. He wanted to know how much should he make at each plant). He told be a bit about BCG and the kind of work they did.

Round: Interview
Experience: I got 2 cases in this one. One was pertaining to a tractor manufacturer whose revenues in Maharashtra were very low. The key was to recognize that Maharashtrian soil is harder which causes the pin connecting the plough and tractor to break. The second case was about why amongst 2 refrigerator manufacturers in Pune, ones transportation costs were much better than the other. Again a LP problem was formed. He asked me if I had any questions. I asked a few. I got a case about a realty developer tying up with a bank for home loans in his project. The bank wanted to know how much should they pay him. I did finally solve this. I recalled the concept of Opportunity Cost right at the end. I kept blabbing a lot about risk/return/maturity in general. He steered me back on track every time. He spend 40 minutes trying to convince me about BCG. I was very tired by now. The case was about a retail chain who wanted to enter India. I had to advice on the potential. I analyzed the case. I tried to structure my thoughts and delve into different sections. He wanted precise, specific answers. I gave some of them. The interviewer appeared disinterested. Being tired myself, I think I kind of messed up this one. I was told that I would not be given an offer by BCG.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: HR Interview
Experience: 3 interviews, Went extremely well, better than McK as far as I was concerned. Resume questions, very curious about my technical projects.Why consulting? Future plans? Case. I am the director of a firm and am giving out an award for Best Salesman of the Year. How will I choose?

Round: Behavioural Interview
Experience: Something about yourself. We talked a lot about my background, family, etc. Case – don't remember, was simple. After 2 interviews they called me back and told me they were very interested and that I should hang around.

Round: Other Interview
Experience: Case – Asked for three independent solutions : I am a large firm and I am trying to decide whether or not to buy a smaller one (some details on the technology patented by the smaller firm were given). I laid out the bones for three evaluation strategies. He stopped me from going into details and encouraged me to ask questions about the firm. Finally I was asked - before we make you an offer, where do your priorities stand : McKinsey or BCG? Since I had given a written choice and preferred Mck, I did not lie. I tried to give a diplomatic answer but ended up being frank in the end. It was a risk.

General Tips: As per the limited feedback I have received, no particular mistake. I personally felt that i should have responded slower and surer to avoid the numerical mistakes in my third McK interview. Also, should have written more during case studies. One specific point – While solving case studies, make sure you listen carefully to the question. Do not present a recommendation unless asked for one. You might just be asked to list out the issues and not the solution. If you make a mistake here, it reflects extremely badly on your personality in general. Also, do not interrupt the interviewer. Ever. Don't shop alone or at the last minute. I don't think too many girls make this mistake, but guys!! Take help. Look the smartest and the best you can to build confidence.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Interview
Experience: I was not placed in this company but I would like to share my experience with you...!!!!
Asked resume based questions. I was a bit nervous as the interview began since this was the first one for the day, but the interviewer talked very casually and made me feel at ease.

CASE STUDY : An office furniture company, suffering from decrement in revenues. I was supposed to analyze the reasons behind it and suggest methods for improvement. I started with the regular profits = revenues-cost equation and analyzed all the aspects in the revenues side. After a while, I realized that I had forgotten about costs totally even though I had mentioned it earlier at the beginning of the case. So came back to cost analysis. The interviewer was helpful and provided all the needed information. The case went well and in the end on asking about the actual case he told me that my recommendation was close to what they had mentioned to the client.

HR QUESTIONS: Why not higher studies? Are you interested in doing an MBA?

Round: Interview
Experience: No details about the interviewer since the interview began as a stress interview but in the end did not turn out that way. Asked two resume based questions.

CASE STUDY: A wine company is experiencing decline in profitability for the past one year even though revenues have increased. They have hired you to provide ways to improve their profits. After analyzing this, the interviewer mentioned that she would want me to analyze the distribution channels. I started, but due to lack of knowledge I was not able to answer this part satisfactorily even though I enlisted different possibilities. In the she gave a couple of hints, but I was not able to grasp them. But I answered whatever I could understand of the situation. Then due to lack of time she asked me to wrap it up quickly and provide recommendations.

Round: Interview
Experience: CASE STUDY: An Indian manufacturer of heavy metal castings for turbines is looking to expand by doubling its production in one to two years. They hire you to suggest them a plan to carry out this expansion. The case went well. She agreed to most of my suggestions but there was a particular area she wanted me to analyze. So she kept asking me what else do you think can be done. At one point when I was stuck, I asked her that in what direction she wants me to think. When she told me, I took a minute to think about it and came up with the answer she was looking for to which she added more by herself. Then she told me to summarize and highlight my recommendations. Then she asked me why am I interested to join BCG in particular. Also during my campus stay what is the one thing I like the best and what I did not like so much and why? I was prepared for these questions so answered them comfortably.

Round: Interview
Experience: HR QUESTIONS: What do I want to do with my life eventually. Which activity on campus has allowed me to do it very closely. What is my most significant achievement till date and why.Asked about my family background. I was not prepared to answer this so I was speaking very randomly anything which was coming in my mind.

CASE STUDY: A small and simple bank has three products on the savings side, 1 year deposit, 2 year deposit and 5 year deposit with given x, y, z interest rates. Three products on the loan side similarly with different interest rates. Each product has 30 lakhs worth of circulation. The bank has to increase its profitability. How should it go about achieving higher profit?
During my preparations I realized that I am not good at finance and telecom sectors as compared to other sectors. So when this case of a bank came I became a little skeptical at the wrong point of time, still I started but whatever factors I mentioned the interviewer rejected them all at once. Then I took some more time to think but again
whatever factors I came up with he said no to them as well. Then he gave me a hint but I did not take time out to think on that. Instead came out with whatever was coming to me instantly. Then in my final recommendation, I suggested quite an impractical approach. I think this went against me significantly. But at that point, I did not realize what blunder I had made.

College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Interview
Experience: The interviewer was Rohit Vohra, Partner and Director.

Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study was a ‘Market Entry’ problem. An office-furniture company wanted to enter into home-furniture business. I had to evaluate whether it should do so or not. I asked for some time to structure my answer. He was very helpful during the entire case study and guided me whenever I went in a direction where I wasn’t supposed to go. I also asked a lot of questions. The entire interview lasted for about 40-45 minutes. The interviewer was very pleasant in his manner and the interview went off quite well. After about 10-15 minutes, I was sent for my second interview.

Round: Interview
Experience: This interview was taken by Shweta Bajpai, Project Leader who was also the Recruitment Head. She was an IIT K alumnus. This interview took around 35-40 minutes.

Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study was a ‘Growth Strategy’ question.
A metal casing manufacturer wants to double her revenues over the next 5 years. What should she do? I began by asking a few pertinent questions about the company’s product and customers. I then listed out a few growth strategies. She pointed out that she wanted more possible approaches. I pointed out a few but the general nature of our exchange was that the moment I would sum up a strategy, she would drop a hint for another. I would latch on to it and this process went on for about 2 or 3 times. She then asked me that in light of the initial question, which strategy would be best-suited for our client. I answered the same. I came out of the room thinking that I had messed up really badly because she had practically solved the entire case herself. I had a very strong inkling that that interview was my last with BCG. By this time, BCG people had started asking some of us to go if we had interviews with any other company which was a kind way of saying that you are not selected in BCG. I politely inquired one of the consultants whether I was supposed to stay or go. He checked with his colleagues and replied with a very warm smile that I was supposed to stay on.

Round: Interview
Experience: This interview was taken by Saurabh Tripathi, Partner and Director. He was also an IIT K alumnus, the President Gold Medalist of his batch. He was the one who had given us the PPT at Taj. Moreover, I also had the opportunity of having a long conversation with him because we were seated at the same table during dinner. He began the interview by pointing out the same. He then asked some very tricky and pointed PI questions:

Round: Interview
Experience: The Case Study that followed was again one of its kind, to say the least. It involved a hypothetical bank that had just 6 products: 3 kinds of fixed deposits (maturity period of 1 year, 2 years and 3 years) and 3 kinds of loans (again 1, 2 and 3 year maturity period). The rates of interests on the fixed deposits were 3, 4 and 5 % p.a. respectively and on loans were 5, 6 and 7 % p.a. respectively. The owner wanted to increase the bank’s profitability. What should she do?
I would be paltering with the truth if I don’t admit that I was a little taken aback by the question. I took some time and then asked him some questions to which he gave a very brief (though not curt at all) ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer. In fact, during the entire case, he was busy on his Blackberry paying no attention to what I was doing. One of the first things that I asked was whether the objective was to increase ‘profits’ or ‘profitability’ because the technical definition of the two was different. He smiled (I think in appreciation) and replied that he wanted me to focus on ‘profits’. After that, I gave a few recommendations. He complicated the case further by saying that the principal amount of 1-year products was same. This constraint was applicable for 2-year and 3-year products as well. That is, the principal amount of fixed deposit and loan of 1-year was same, and so on.

Again, I gave a few recommendations. After a while, he said that he was in a bit of a hurry and that that was all as far as the interview was concerned. I felt as if nothing concrete had come out as the solution to the case. I asked him how I had done in the case. As was his wont, he answered with a very brief - ‘‘Given the time available, you did fine’’.
I was a little confused after this interview. I had no idea about the last case study. However, I knew that the PI part went off well. After about 10 minutes, I was asked to go and meet Saurabh Tripathi again. I went into his interview room and he gave me a job offer!

General Tips: Between July 2007 (when I joined the institute) and May 2011, I had considered and pursued IAS, MBA and research as potential career options at various points of time. But in May ‘11, I decided that the safer thing to do would be to take up a job and think about the various existential questions later. As far as my personal preferences go, I liked what I read about consulting. But being from a department where core companies are non-existent for all practical purposes; I was aiming for most of the non-core companies. I
was conscious of one thing though, viz. I did not want to work for a company that was catering to overseas
clients or to its own overseas office. The idea was that I did not want to join a company which was employing me just because I was cheaper than the Westerners. So, although after BCG, the second best choice for me in the first slot was Opera, I was not excited about it at all.
My entire preparation, especially the part related to resume and interview was done under the guidance of
Ashwini Dikshit (career counsellor, IITK). I think what worked for me was that I was quite organized in my
preparation. At no stage was I hurried into mistakes. By September, I had prepared the final draft of my 1-page resume. If you think you have a good profile and you can get a shortlist, then you should devote a lot of time to your resume. I would suggest that resume preparation should be started in summers itself. It is also very important to take help and guidance because there is a certain way to make a resume which does not come naturally to most of us. I prepared for aptitude tests by solving the CAT previous years’ question papers. If you are preparing for non core companies, one of the things which you should do is preparing for CAT. Most companies other than consulting firms and core companies, take an aptitude test (including the analytics-consulting firms) and contrary to the common notion, most of them ask English questions as well. Moreover, a good score in CAT will only open up options. I did not prepare for GD because out of all the companies that I was aiming for, very few had GD as a part of their process.
For case study preparation, I was a part of the Case Study Club of SPO which met around thrice in September October period. Apart from that, I practised with my friends. Some good casebooks in decreasing order of their usefulness are Case in Point, Indian School of Business’s casebook and Kellogg’s casebook. It is highly advisable to get hold of various IIMs’ casebooks if you can. While practising a case, the emphasis should be on what new you learn from that particular case. So, more than the mock case study sessions themselves, the analysis that you do afterwards is important.
For the Personal Interview preparation, I had prepared the answers for most of the commonly asked questions and more importantly had given around 5 mock interviews before December. One should sit and right down the answers of the various commonly-asked questions and go through these answers again and again to hone them. If possible, get these answers checked by someone experienced in interview preparation. The idea is not to memorize the answers, but to have a fairly good idea about what points you are going to cover. As a thumb rule, all companies are looking for ‘high energy’ and ‘low maintenance’ guys. Make sure, you sound like one!
Apart from the above mentioned preparation, I read ‘The Indian Express’ and ‘Economic Times’ regularly
(wasn't able to do it daily though) to get a feel of current and business affairs. One final pointer as far as placement preparation is concerned, DO NOT WORRY and do not indulge in useless placement-related gossips. They only eat away your time and energy.
I think what worked well for me in all the interviews was that I was listening very attentively to what theinterviewers were saying or asking. That meant that I was always answering the right questions and was also responding to the hints and clues which the interviewers were giving. In all the interviews, I had a good discussion with the interviewer. A lot of people say that a good interview is the one which is more of adiscussion rather than a question-answer session. By that definition, my interviews went off well. As I hadmentioned earlier, some people claim that the case study workshop which was held on November 16th wasevaluative. If it was so, then I would have got some extra points since I was able to do well in the case that I was asked.
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Firstly they did resume-based shortlisting and I was selected.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I was little nervous and didn’t solve the case well. I even missed the workshop due to academic reasons which again proved a negative point in my case. Buddy interaction was good. My suggestions are show enthusiasm with your buddy (mentor) and take interest in everything. Their assessment starts right from the time they take you out for the dinner till your final interview.
Tips: 1. Show enthusiasm from the start.
2. Have good interaction with your buddy or even with seniors in BCG.
3. Show lots of interest.
4. Prepare well for the case studies.
5. They mainly ask strategy cases which are given in elaborate manner in "case in point". The best thing is to prepare in group 3-4ppl or in your wings on a regular basis.

College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Answer 1) No numbers were expected, no knowledge of broadband technology was expected either. The key here was not just an increase in users, but also an increase in the number of uses. None of the established frameworks really helped. The interviewer was very helpful and gave me cues when I was not making progress.

Answer 2) Again, no numbers, no data. I thought I really screwed up this one. I asked the interviewer if I had missed out some aspect, and he told me where I had gone wrong. Then we discussed this aspect for about a minute or so.

Answer 3) Always try to pick something with practical/industrial applications

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Answer 1) The interviewer told me exactly what he expected…he told me the four departments he wanted me to look at. I was to check for ‘synergies’ or the potential benefits of the acquisition for these departments. This case was a lot of fun. (Thanks to the interviewer mainly). Luckily for me, he was highly impressed and he told me that a third interview would not be necessary. 

Answer 2) He also pointed out that I seemed to have dabbled in a lot of things, and discussed this for a long time. It was a two-way discussion, and was a very comfortable conversation. By the middle of this interview, I knew I had to join this company.

General Tips: Sleep well, wear comfortable footwear (Girls, please stash away those high heels for post-job treats and NOT interviews, they almost killed me), don’t starve yourself. If you have back-to-back interviews, sit down for a minute between interviews and take deep breaths, it really helps. Now let’s cut the chase and get to preparation

PPT : Attend PPTs of all the companies that you are interested in. It will give you a good idea of the kind of people you’ll work with, apart from the work itself. Stick around after the PPT and talk to your seniors who are working with the company. Wait for the pizza, there’s always enough for everyone.

Resume : Don’t try and squeeze in too much into your resume. Going by the experiences of my batch, I think companies looked for well-rounded individuals and not necessarily DR1’s or managers and CGs. Needless to say, do not lie or exaggerate. It is disgusting, and in most cases, it will be obvious too.

Interviews: Please don’t prepare answers to the last word, but think about some common questions: strengths/weaknesses (a little introspection never does any harm) and of course, “Why consulting?” (or analytics, etc). Go through your resume and think about what you have learnt from each experience.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY
Motivation: A must for consultancies. Most seniors will have material on this. Don’t over-do this bit, but from personal experience, I can say that 3 days of case studies will do just fine. Do this in groups of 2 or 3. Don’t use any technical jargon/names of frameworks.

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I went through the resumes of some seniors, searched through the net for general tips on resume writing , looked upsites of companies in which I was interested and then posted my resume to seniors for proof reading. I attended the Pre-Placement talks of the companies I was interested in. They served the purpose of telling me more about the Companies Work Profile. But I thought they took too much time and also the main source of information about the company on our campus was and will be seniors in jobs. PPTs cant match up to that!
Tips: Read the case studies. That helps.

Round: Interview
Experience: BCG had two rounds of interviews, followed by a short-list and then another two rounds of interviews after which the final offers were made. Five people were made final offers out of an initial list of about 30. I was asked about what distinguished me as a person, some major achievements of mine and the main hurdles I had faced in my four years at IIT. I was also asked to elaborate on my primary failure here. They asked me about what made me different and what attracted me to Consulting. There were also a few light questions on my passions in life, my favourite music band etc..! Other than that were the case studies I was given to solve. In my first round I was asked about a case involving a bank selling housing lone, striking a deal with a contractor and determining the percentage to be paid to that contractor. I thought I messed this one up and the fact that I was really impressed by my interviewee&s profile didn't help ! :P
Tips: I got together with another friend of mine who had made it through BCGs short-list and we solved a few cases together from the Case Study Files sent by our seniors. These included Kellogs and Whartons Guides. I read up on what Case Studies typically are and how to tackle them from similar Case Books. In all I solved 5-6 cases on my own. As for HR questions I asked a few seniors about typical questions, went through Be Prepared and looked up the net a little for sample questions. I didn't prepare any ideal answers, just marked out for myself the points in my resume that I wanted to highlight. I prepared in a group of two people. I think Case Studies should typically be solved in groups of 2 or 3.

Round: Interview
Experience: Then I decided I had to cover up on the first interview and geared up for the next! The following round involved the study of a Cement company and a re hauling of its distribution chains. After much NBD and some slices of Pizza the shortish was out and I had made it to the next round! My third interview was very non bookish wherein they asked me about how a Consulting Firm would advertise itself. Frankly, I was quite stunned and blurted out whatever struck me. With some prompting and imagination I came up with decent answers finally!

Round: Interview
Experience: Then the last hurdle, I was asked a question apparently asked to Ghoda the year before (so you might actually get one of our questions for your interview :P!). It was about a Company manufacturing coffee cups wanting to increase its market share. After which I got my offer! :)

General Tips: I realized that a LOT amongst these interviews depends on the day you give them. So you need to be cool, confident and come across as a pleasant person. Do not over count on your preparation. I did not have any stress interviews,enjoyed all four of my interview rounds and probably that is what clicked. Also do not try and second guess the interviewee, you can never make out how well/badly its going. I still do not know why my company took me! In the HR rounds, be genuine and don't fabricate every answer, it shows. I don't think I made some major mistake, I just enjoyed myself throughout the case solving, was true in projecting before them the person that I am, told them that I had aped and was confused in life and they hired me ?
College Name: IIT BOMBAY