CQConsulTalks:-EY-Parthenon:Krutarth Dharmesh Shah

Krutarth Dharmesh Shah
Placed at EY-Parthenon

Interviewed By: Pradipti Thakur

Hello Krutarth, this is Pradipti from Communiqué, an I’d like to ask you a few questions for Communiqué’s initiative, CQ ConsulTalks.

Hello Pradipti, sure you may.

So, my first question is, what were the companies that you interviewed for?

There are a few off-campus companies that come for Consulting every year i.e, Parthenon EY, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), McKinsey and LEK Consulting (however, didn’t come the last year.) As far as on-campus placements are concerned, Auctus Advisors is the only company that comes for consulting. I was shortlisted for two companies, BCG and Parthenon EY.

What was nature of the interview process that you went through for both the companies?

The interview process for both the companies ie, BCG and Parthenon EY was almost the same. Firstly, there was a CV Shortlist round, where most companies look for a CGPA of around 8 or above, except for McKinsey which looks for a CGPA of 8.5 or above, I myself had a CG of 8.33 and therefore, I wasn’t shortlisted for McKinsey. Next, is a series of 3–4 telephonic interviews that you have to attend, followed by another round of shortlisting when you will be called to either Mumbai or Kolkata by the company for further rounds of interview. There another 4 interviews take place and after that, the results come out.

Could you please tell me about the kind of questions that were asked in the interview in various rounds? And how to prepare for these interviews?

All of these interviews were case interviews, where you basically had to solve a case. I think most people are aware of case interviews which need proper case preparation i.e, forming a group of four people, where one has to act as an interviewer and the others will act as interviewees and you need to practice cases. This is a very standard procedure that everyone has to follow. To prepare for Case interviews, there are two sets of books, and there are other seniors like myself, who can help and guide you; it is essential that you keep practising between different groups because the number of cases for practise are limited. There is also a Consult Case Prep FaceBook group which interested students can join to prepare better. There is also a drive link that has been shared on the group, which contains all the materials for the preparation of various number of cases. Also, it is important to start forming case groups in the summer itself and start the preparation with them right after coming to the campus, as there is only one or around one-and-a-half month before the companies start arriving at the campus, so there is not enough time for preparation.

What are the FAQs in most companies that you faced and think that students should definitely prepare for? Especially for HR rounds

Other questions apart from Case Questions are HR questions and your CV only. They can ask you questions about your CV, like the PORs you have, or the projects/interns you’ve mentioned. So, you should be able to answer them. HR questions are mostly the standard questions, and nothing very different for Consult.

What are the things students sitting for placements next year can do from now to December to maximize their chances of getting through a company in this sector?

Usually, for Consult, the placements do not go on till December. They are done by the month of September-October. And so, preparation should be started early, preferably in the summers itself, and case groups should be formed. Also, make sure your CV and cover-letter are strong and get them reviewed by various seniors to keep them updated.

How did your preparation for technical rounds evolve once you were shortlisted?

Matter-of-fact, there were no technical rounds, there were surely some calculative type cases but, there is nothing technical that comes in a consulting interview. So, there is no technical preparation required.

Anything else that you would like to tell/share with the students?

In general, all of us people at the consulting companies, we were planning to form a group to help out people interested in consulting, so, if you could make a database of people, we could do so, and help out people directly.

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