o9 Solutions Associate Consultant Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Interview
Experience: 1st round: Panel of two. Asked questions about the projects which were mentioned in the resume. A few questions were asked about the core intern which I did. Asked about the family background.10 got selected in the next round of interviews.
I think for the second round of interviews they selected on basis of CG.
No case studies were asked Just my opinion was asked in certain topics in the second interview which was taken by the partner of the firm. He asked my opinion about construction in India.
I did well in the interview and they liked my story about my projects.
Tips: I think for the second round of interviews they selected on basis of CG.
I started preparing in Mid-November. I think placement is more about yourself. Starting earlier doesn't help.

General Tips: 2nd years: Decide where your interest lies. Have a decent CG at least above 8.
3rd years: Know your interest. Have mock PIs and GDs. 

Be genuine. If you don’t know something just tell them, do not act to be over-smart.Just revise your basic level courses. Revise Contracts, IPM, Construction Management.
Skill Tips: Just revise your basic level courses.Revise Contracts, IPM, Construction Management.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Interview
Experience: 2 round of interview
First round- technical (basic infra stuff)Second round- HR skills- just a brush up of civil infra courses like Infrastructure Planning and Management(IPM), ECM.HR preparation – slight basic
First round- they took people with CG>=7.5
They asked me how would you determine toll for the Jamuna Expressway.
Tips: I started in September. Obviously early bird catches the fish.

Round: Interview
Experience: HR preparation – slight basic. My HR was very good. Moreover, my intern was in Mumbai Metro Rail, which helped me push in for infra. Also my PORs gave me an edge over others.
Tips: CFA played a crucial role for my friends.

General Tips: Basically puzzles, as they are helpful in almost every company. It provides you a direction for thinking.
www.brainden.com was a good site.
300,400 puzzles book was very good. (Available in DC++)
Have your resume ready early in the semester.Have mock GDs in your group.Have basic fundamentals about what’s going in the country and world. Don’t RG and prepare in groups.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Fundae session by seniors and a resume workshop by some company. Also, sent resume to some seniors for their opinions and I think this was an important part of it.
Tips: I suggest Pre-placement talks, are a must. What is more important is not to believe the PPTs completely and ask seniors about the level of fundaes (finance/tech/otherwise) and preparation required to crack the company. There is a lot of good material on ATKEARNEY and other website. Other than that I used the material available for years.

Round: Interview
Experience: Final offers in my division were 12. There were two levels of case interviews. The first interview was to judge if I would be suitable for the Strategy and Operations profile or for the Technology and Integration profile. There were two interviewers. They explained to me both the profiles and asked me what I wanted to choose and why. Then asked me some general HR questions like why consulting, why you etc. Then started off with an informal case study. It was about a new company which wanted to start a new low cost airline and had no experience in this market till now. It has two options: either to acquire an existing company or to build up all processes on their own. I was first asked to qualitatively mention what all aspects I would consider. After that they asked me what new things could this company do. They were pretty satisfied with my answers and I was confident of getting listed in the next round. In the next round there was single interviewer who was looking quite senior. Asked some HR questions. One case study about a consumer durables dealer which was again qualitative. Asked some HR questions that's it.

General Tips: Lack of interaction with seniors throughout IIT stay was one thing for which I had to pay. I had no seniors in my wing and I had no fundae of the amount of preparation required.
So make sure that you have certain information.
College Name: IIT-Bombay

General Tips: HR round should be approached with ease, basic HR questions and CV should be prepared thoroughly. The interviewer would see your approach in the case round, try and provide a structured approach to the case and ask intelligent questions
Skills: Case analysis, Economics
College Name: NA

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Guided the interview process into my comfort zone in both the rounds.I maintained my calm and answered all questions confidently. Took time before answering difficult question. Showed passion for consulting and Deloitte.

Skills: Case Analysis, Behavioural
College Name: NA

Round: Guesstimate Interview
Experience: I was greeted really well by the interviewer into the interview room. First couple of moments (first 2-3 mins) were about introducing each other and all possible efforts were aimed at making me feel comfortable. Right after the introduction from both sides (interviewer and myself), the gentleman started off with a guesstimate question. I was asked to project the daily sales revenue of a renowned restaurant in the nearby city area. I approached the question in a structured way and explained him the steps and assumptions followed in a very lucid manner. He seemed to be quite impressed with it and I actually arrived at an approx figure of 2 lakhs (which was in reality 95-100% accurate). I took almost 7/8 mins to arrive at the figure and immediately after that, he said “thanks” and my first round got over. So overall it was 10/12 mins and went on really well and smooth.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Well a significant chunk of people were eliminated from the guesstimate round. This round as was told before was the make or break round. I was the first one to be called for the case round in my panel. After I entered the room,  I was right away given the case. I was given a pen and a paper and they kept on introducing the case to me. I was taking down important notes as they kept on going. The case was a US based medical equipment company with expertise in manufacturing specialized healthcare equipment . After the growth saturated in the US market, they were looking east and considered India & China as one of the two possible destinations for new market entry. The second part of the question was the kind of segment they should go for in their chosen market , mass or premium. And third was all about the kind of entry strategy they should ideally go for, make or buy/acquire.After I started answering part-1 about the choice of the market, I was in need of more data other than the ones provided by them during case briefing. That time, I was given a handout containing detailed information about major economic indicators of both the countries, major healthcare indices, segment related data and make & buy related data. I went on explaining them step by step , but at one of my arguments , they were not fully convinced. But, I still kept my calm and went ahead with my point in a polite way and answered the first part.
After answering the first part, the second part was relatively easy to arrive at. It involved a lot of calculations and numbers and fortunately I actually arrived at the correct ” Profitability” figures for both the segments. After they checked the numbers and found those matching to theirs’, I was sparred from solving part-3 and they discussed some concepts of disruptive innovation with me and some graphs related to it. The interview went on till 20/25 mins.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: I cleared round 2 and was called on for the partner round. It was entirely CV based and some generic HR questions. It lasted for about 8/10 mins. No guesstimate or case based questions were asked.
Tips: Parts of the Interview I did well at :Round 1 – I was very methodical in my approach and confident while explaining the rationale behind each and every assumptionRound 2 – Introduced a new concept or metric solely based on logic, which they seemed to be quite satisfied with (got to know about the same later on after the interview) and the ability to arrive at the exact profitability figures for part-2 of the questionRound 3 – Held on to my composure and calmness in front of a senior partner.Parts of the Interview I didn’t do well at :Round 1 and Round 3 were almost flawless. Round 2 , initially I was off guard when I had a tough time in convincing them my logic. Well, there seems to be NO right answer in these kind of questions, but yes for a brief span, my confidence was a bit down. But later on, I brought myself back on track.

General Tips: They really want people who always talk to the point and explain their point clearly. Round 2 happens to be the make or break round, as they say once you clear this round, the final round becomes relatively easier to convert. Overall, I was very satisfied with the selection process and felt elated to have made it to Deloitte USI S&O
Skills: case analysis, Economics
College Name: NA

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I attended the PPTs, they were helpful in knowing about the companies and helped me alot in preparing my resume.

Round: Test
Experience: After I was shortlisted, I was required to write an aptitude test.

Round: Interview
Experience: There was a general round of interview after the aptitude test.

General Tips: Be well dressed and confident.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: I consulted some of my batchmates and some seniors. Saw their resumes also and got a general idea of formatting, structure etc and general googling was always there.I attended almost all PPTs. Too much is not necessary, but Yes you should attend ppts of at least those companies whom you are interested in. it gives you the proper idea of kind of job profile and company and sometimes is decisive if you are not very sure for that company to sit for. I got some materials for case studies etc from my friends only. That material is very common in institute during placements. I also got some from my seniors. I prepared for psychometric test on internet. You can just google for some free psychometric test. Attaching a file which has some fundaes on HR and general interview preparation.
Tips: I would suggest to start writing resume around a week before so that one gets enough time to consult seniors also.

Round: Test
Experience: Procedure started with a general resume shortlist for written test. Written test was CAT based. Interviews were a mix of HR and guesstimates in 1st round followed by case studies in 2nd round

Round: Interview
Experience: This was followed by a shortlist for interview about 52. there were two round of interviews. Around 25 people went for 2nd round and finally 16 offers were made 12 in S&O division and 4 in TI division.
Tips: I believe preparing in groups is always beneficial as you will get to know at what point you are going wrong and for example while discussing case studies or guesstimates, you will get to know different approaches for the same problem. This would definitely help you if in case you get totally new situation during interview.

General Tips: Resume first of all. You never know which point of your resume is of interest of the interviewer. Secondly for a consultancy profile, Guesstimates and case studies are necessary. And general HR questions like about yourself, strengths weakness etc. Be confident. Never come in nbd. Stay cool. Try to keep eye to eye contact with the interview. General Tips Overall, any particular mistake that you committed during the whole process?
Don't under estimate yourself. Have patience.. dont go for any damn company just for the sake of getting a job. Be clear in which kind of companies you are going to sit for. Any key tips for interview-day, viz. dressing, etiquette. From my friends experience, reach on time for interview and switch off your cell phone.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY