Grant Thornton Associate Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Need to be confident while soft skills are important.

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - The ones I interviewed ask about your old process and about the latest news

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: BCG   Direct shortlisting based on resume. Decent CPI, some exposure to organizational leadership, a good skill set represented through extra-curriculars/sports is one way to get shortlisted. Writing the resume well without underplaying achievements or exaggerating them is essential.   Prepared case studies for the BCG interview. Was given 2 cases primarily business cases by 2 interviewers.One was about growth prospects of a company manufacturing valves.Was quite a disaster since I was nervous and intimidated by the interviewer.Felt like a stress interview even though BCG did not believe in the concept.(In contrast,was very cool- headed in Grail interviews and it sure helped)   The second case was about a tractor manufacturer losing market share in Maharashtra but doing well in other arts of India. The interviewer was friendly and i had calmed down. So quickly figured out that the soil conditions were different and hence required   tractors of a higher horsepower.But then elaborated more on this,becoming complacent overall and not probing other possible reasons.Was then asked to do a role-play as a consultant convincing the manufacturer to adopt a new strategy.Did it well,but could have been more open-minded to all issues.

College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Resume Shortlist
Tips: 1. Ensure that your resume does NOT have any random points - it's alright if it isn't completely packed, as long as the points that you have mentioned are authentic and have genuine impact.
2. Standard resume tips like, using the right action verbs, text formatting, etc. apply.
3. Try to think of your different experiences from a consulting perspective - I spun my FMCG internship as a pseudo consulting internship - since it involved working with a factory team that I didn't know before, and I had to pitch a change proposal to the factory management. Similarly, I thought of the various teams that I worked in, and tried to think of it in terms of the changes that I brought at an organizational level.
4. Numbers. While it is good to quantify - be cautious with them, and do not try to quantify something that is not concretely measurable. This again gives the impression that you're trying to bluff.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: The interviewer was very friendly and focused on my thought process alone. He gave me a case on FMCG since I had interned with one.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This was a gruelling round where the interviewer tested me at different levels by making me constantly shift to different thinking styles. I drew almost 4 different trees for the same problem. Again, he looked mainly for my ability to think on the feet, and to present my views without becoming defensive.

While I felt that the interview didn't go well, he was satisfied with my structuring, and that was what worked well, I guess. :)

General Tips: 1. Do solid math prep - CAT, speed math on Elevate, etc. Fast math definitely carries brownie points.
2. Work on your vocabulary in advance. Taking the GMAT definitely helped me structure my sentences better and use the right words in the right places.
3. Make sure your resume is watertight. You should know it thoroughly, and you should be able to walk people through the thought process that went behind each point of yours.
Skill Tips: 1. Don't freak out about the number of cases that you could have done. Take time to dissect each case. Eventually, it's about trying to train your mind to think along a structured path. One tip that was given to me by my buddy, was to try to analyze each issue outside, and try segmenting it. This helped me a lot in thinking on the feet.
2. Be calm throughout the interview - smile and don't worry about the outcome. That's not in your hands anyway.
Skills: Flexibility, Analytical Skills, Drive, Leadership Skills, Top-Down Communication
College Name: IIT Madras
Motivation: People. The people here seemed genuinely hardworking and fun to hang out with, and I have observed them over the three years I was part of the placement team. Additionally, the company has some really nice policies to help you learn and grow

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Resume shortlist for consulting companies is perhaps the most competitive among all firms and therefore, in the interest of meaningful utilization of time, it's best to start case study preparation only after the shortlist is out. There's typically little more than a month between then and placement day, which is more than enough to prepare for any interview.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: To prepare for case study interview, all shortlisted candidates will form prep-groups.
It's good to have 2-3 students per group, but not more. 
It's a good idea to practice solving cases (a case, very crudely, is nothing but a business problem which some firm is facing and you are approached for guidance and suggestions) with different “interviewers”. This helps in getting feedback from different perspectives. 
I solved cases with my BCG (someone from within the firm assigned to help you in preparation), within my prep-group and also with few other shortlisted fellow students. I worked out maybe 10-12 cases in interview setting. This number varies from person to person.
Tips: The idea is to practice till you gain confidence.
I used cases from Case In Point for the preparation. 
Other good sources include case study material of foreign business schools such as Wharton. But then again, time is a precious resource during placement semester. So, I didn't bother going through any source apart from Case In Point. Also, despite whatever people might say, 
solving cases requires nothing but logical thinking and some innovative thought at times. 
It is not required to mug up the frameworks (you will learn about this irritating word at a later point) and you also do not require any business knowledge to crack the interview.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The personal interview part is not something to fret over. It is just meant to see whether you are an amicable person (read: someone who will be able to interact with the clients). 
As for preparation, just go over everything that you have written on your resume. You should be comfortable with talking for five minutes on any point in your resume. 
And, of course, think on the standard HR questions: 
Why consulting? 
Why this firm? 
What are your strength / weaknesses? And so on and so forth.

General Tips: Application process to company starts typically with a resume shortlist and therefore it is of utmost importance to write a good, impressive resume. 
A lot of people with great credentials fail to make this initial mark because their resume is poorly organized. It's good to have resume points, but it's equally important, if not more, to write them properly. Writing a perfect resume is an art that needs to be learnt.

Resume-writing is an iterative and time consuming process. 
So, best start a fortnight before deadline. Remember that it's a one-time effort. Once a good resume is ready, it can be used throughout the placement season with minor modifications. 
Do it once and do it correct. It took me about four or five iterations to end up with my final resume. It's a good idea to show the resume to lots of colleagues and seniors and challenge them to tear it down word-by-word.
College Name: IIT-Madras

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Shortlist of candidates made on basis of resumeThere was no test or GD
Tips: Concentrate on making a good resume highlighting your interns etc.Highlight your extracurricular activities and interests and also credentials

Round: Interview
Experience: Personal Interview- 4 rounds comprising of case studies and a bit of HR.The discussion on resume and HR questions will take only 5-10 mins. More importance will be given to caseSample cases- insurance companies, cement companies opening a new market in a new country etc.Similar pattern for all 4 rounds
Tips: General awareness about business is a must, since the selection depends solely on how well you perform in the case interviewsThe BCG website helps a lot to get an insight into how the interview works and what the company expects from the applicantsRefer to the “Interview Tips” section in the BCG websiteThe case study materials available on LAN and internet are highly useful preparation materialsDo not ignore the HR aspect of the interview. The interviewer actually uses it to gauge you and tailors the interview according to the way you answer HR questionsThe interviewer expects you to ask questions to them in order to gain more knowledge about the cases they present. They will not put all the data in front of you in black and white initially. The candidate is expected to ask for and get data from the interviewerIn the case interview, always communicate your line of thought. Give reasons for and validate your decisions regarding the case solutionsDraw conclusions from your analysis about the case

College Name: IIT Madras

Round: resume shortlisting
Tips: The resume should represent what you stand for. The resume must be aesthetic, well written and impressive. They look for experience in pressure situations. When asked about yourself, just state some 2 or 3 important aspects and do NOT recite your resume. The resume should ideally be only a page long. The person reading the resume should know about you in 30s. Use power words. Tabular Format. Categorize your PoR’s into various categories. Start making a rough draft of your resume in the summer itself Make different resumes for different sectors Read your resume a 100 times over!  Be ready with the final draft of your resume by October.

Round: Interview
Experience: The interview was for 20 mins.
Tips: The main motive of these cases is to see how you’ll perform in the work environment that is there in their office.  Be original in the cases you solve and don’t follow frameworks. Solve a maximum of 10-15 cases. Practice with people who have already got placed in consult. Go through interactive cases from consulting firms like, Bain, Mckinsey, BCG. Remember that the interviewers like innovative answers

Round: Interview
Experience: The HR interview was for 5 mins.
Tips: Try and relate the HR questions to your life . Know what distinguishes you from the others. Prepare an answer for “Why consulting?”. Be prepared to answer questions about your internship. Throughout the interview, focus on “Why me?” not “How awesome I am”.

Skill Tips: ""Improve your awareness about the state of affairs in the country/world. Be opinionated and ready to take a stance on a particular event. All companies also look for a story that defines you. Prove that you stand out.""
Skills: Problem Solving, Practical Approach
College Name: IIT Madras

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: They looked for peaks. Acads, Internships, CGPA, extra andco -curricular, POR's.
I had an all rounded resume.
I started resume preparation by August
Tips: Should start resume preparation by June.

Round: Group Activity
Experience: 1. A case Interview preparation workshop. They explained what exactly we could expect as case interviews. Also, they conducted one on one case interviews with us.
2. A BCG dinner was organized for the 22 shortlisted candidates. This gave us an insight of what the company does. We could all interact with about 10-12 employees at BCG at different levels. This was non- evaluatory.
3. Buddy interaction programme. We were all allotted buddies who were like our mentors. They were extremely personal and helped us both with case interviews and the personal interviews and about matters pertaining to the company in general. This was non- evaluatory.
Tips: na

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Each interviewer had his style. None of them were particularly stress interviews. But its good to be prepared with your resume. I was asked a case in which my intern was my case and I had to re-do it with different constraints given by the interviewer.
Tips: Be thorough with your resume.

General Tips: Start preparing your resume at the earliest .
Skill Tips: Case study preparation in groups maximum of 3 people.
One can youtube the videos of victor cheng.
Skills: Case study
College Name: IIT MADRAS
Motivation: I had concrete reasons of getting into a consultancy and had a clear cut ling term goal which was aligned to a consultancy.