VISTRA INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION Junior Associate Interview Questions and Answers

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Client is a philanthropic foundation with a corpus of $ X million. It wants to invest in India with a view to help curb AIDS spreading (Patient Care was ruled out). Help it decide: HOW + WHERE + HOW MUCH

Facts provided when asked:
- Estimate of population afflicted on a Pan India basis
- Main Source of infection was STD and hence for the purpose of the case I was to concentrate on this alone
- Estimate of segment sizes ( Sex Workers, Wives and Migrant Labor/Clients of Sex Workers) and the percentage afflicted
- Which Indian states is it concentrated in?
- What is the cost of a detection test?

Analysis
Stuck to the structure provided by the question of How, Where and How Much?

It was more of a discussion where I suggested different plans for 2 of the segments (Sex Workers and the Clients, Wives ignored as it was agreed that using protection after marriage was not acceptable by most men in this strata).

Testing in the ‘Sex Workers’ was to be shelved for the first part of the plan as the incremental benefits were small given that they had a very high percentage of affliction.

Suggested that the plan be rolled out 5 states to begin with and in areas having brothels near construction sites (migrant labor) and highways (truck drivers were a major part of the clientele)
How much?

To be tackled by setting milestones that the foundation set to achieve in terms of ‘slowing down spreading of AIDS’ in terms of spread after program introduced vs. spread with natural rate) using some publically available estimates of expenditure involved in such programs.
Tips: Take your time. Don't rush.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Client is a PSU Bank; savings account opening takes 60 mins.
(Entire Chain of Activities was given as an Exhibit with time and sequence involved) Reduce this to 15 mins.
It was a 10 mins case.

Analysis
1. Identify Critical Path
2. See which activities can be moved off/performed simultaneously/ performed by customer (perhaps at home)/performed beforehand (printing of cheque books)/performed by others (outsourced)
3. See which activities can be simplified, e.g. Form filling took 15 mins (It was a 15 page form, so simplify and shorten form)

NA: Why do we need the teller? Why can’t the officer do the work for the teller? (This would mean slashing off 6 mins of the process as the officer would not need to verify again)
Tips: Be honest in all your PI answers, as the inconsistencies are very apparent on the other side of the table even if you have rehearsed
your answers to perfection.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Client is a bank looking to set up a 100 ATM network or operate it on a contract. What would be your advice to the CEO?

Additional facts provided when asked: Real Estate + Machine + IT Network + Utility Costs on a monthly basis when owned and run by the bank as well as the annual management contract fee when outsourced.

Analysis
To study the differences in Costs between ‘Owned and run’ and
‘Outsourced’ (Owned and then leased out to different banks was not an option)
It was just a numbers case after the basic costs were identified, from the costs angle alone ‘Owned and Run’ was a better option.
Interviewer: Other than the compelling numbers, what might be the advantage of ‘owned and run’ over ‘outsourced’
Me: Maintenance and service levels can be controlled more effectively.
Interviewer: For what reasons would you favor outsourcing over owned and run?
Me:
a. Fact that cost estimates are current and these could be revised downwards as the outsourcing vendor acquires scale
b. Not a core function/the usual outsourcing arguments.
Tips: Take your time. Don't rush.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Estimate Gasoline Consumption of Cars in Mumbai in one year.

Estimation involved:
- Population of Mumbai
- Average Income
- Number of Cars ( This was estimated using an ‘affordability ratio’ –-> using the average price of a car, average life of a car and fuel and service expense required, an average operating expenditure p.a. on a vehicle was found. And this operating expenditure would be less than 20% of Household Income, hence assuming a normal distribution of Income, an estimate of number of cars was found)
- Average Distance Traveled per vehicle
- Average Mileage

Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Bargaining power, occupancy ratios, original ticket costs for standalone routes-Range for Lufthansa is INR (15,000-30,000) & Range for United Airways is INR(35,000-45,000). My questions resulted in me getting details about the occupancy ratios of the two airlines, competitor airlines, routes travelled by both the airlines, preference of passengers etc. The right questions and numbers helped me clarify relevant points & discuss some economics concepts which the interviewer wanted to see.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: No clear-cut answer in this case. Was tested on general understanding and ability to tap as many levers as possible. I was not given any data or prior information and hence had to make assumptions and clarify my logic at each stage. Started with 3 scenarios-worst, expected & good. Went on to explain why demand in this industry would always grow & hence supply should be the focus. Delved into India’s dependence on imports, bureaucracy issues, treaties with other nations-India-Afghanistan pipeline, political scenario of OPEC countries & other oil rich nations like Iran, geologists & their ability to tap the right oil fields, Risk Analysis-Probability & Severity of finding oil in India (this point fetched me great review) & of course, not to forget the regulatory environment in India & Public-private players in the Industry.Some substantial arguments were discussed and I came up with some other parameters & a conclusion.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Again, case involved numbers and exploring several factors. I don’t remember the exact answer but the revenues came to approximately 5 crores annually, not too sure. In order to understand the case, I questioned about the revenue levers and what I think was the business model-different shows-main v/s others, footfall, income through business besides shows, peak season etc.
Tips: -Do not give up at any point in time during any case. Sometimes the case may not be your comfort area but you need to drive yourself till the end & that matters
-When numbers are thrown at you, keep your cool and work it out without being under any pressure. It’s better to get the right answer than mess up simple math
-Practice cases and be clear about HR answers. Nothing should precede the other, give equal importance to both

Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis, Problem Solving Abilties
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case was on a joint replacement product. As mentioned, it was without pen and paper so focus was all the more important.Not being familiar with healthcare at all, I think what worked was taking time to understand the product and the market. Also, the case became more like a conversation which helped me solve the case well. The guesstimate was tricky to do only in the head but in the end he was looking only for the approach and not the actual market size figure.

Skills: Guesstimate Skills, Case Solving Ability
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case Narration
Client is planning a new city on the outskirts of an existing city in the Middle East and planning the water utilities is one aspect of this plan. 1.What are the different aspects you would need to consider while deciding whether to have the water utilities as a private/public/partnership? 2. Estimate the demand for the water utilities if we know that 10 years from now there will be 70000 jobs in the city. 3. If the utilities owner has the option to charge a fixed monthly bill or a variable bill based on usage plus a fixed services bill, how much would the variable rate be? 4. What are the advantages/disadvantages of the above options?

Overall, I felt I had performed barely OK. But I suppose Rahul felt otherwise. He was very encouraging and preferred that I engage him in the analysis. He was looking for more of a discussion rather than an answer and that I believe is true for consulting interviews in general. Be ready to engage the interviewer even when you are tired and are ready to give up. Secondly, I dint use any specific framework as such. Not to discourage you from using one, but it is better to use the structure u learn from FW rather than the actual FW itself. At the end of the day, if a particular interviewer interviews, say, 5-6 candidates with the same/similar case, I guarantee you would be better off by using a custom structure than a typical ISB casebook FW.
Tips: DOs: Use your experience to personalise the discussion. That is the only way the interviewer is going to remember you at the end of the day. It could be during the case, initial questions or Q&A. Make sure you stamp your identity somewhere.

DONT: Do not have memorised answers for the standard questions. You need to have the structure thought out but it needs to flow spontaneously

Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)