Booz Allen Hamilton Associate Consultant Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – I originally got a call from a recruiter who had seen my resume online, who spent ~20 minutes screening me for the in-person round. The in-person interview was a bit of a 'cattle call' - there were ~10 other people interviewing the same day. They put each of us in separate interview rooms, and had 3 employees cycle in for 30 minute interviews. Most questions were "tell me about yourself / your experience" type questions. It was extremely efficient, but pretty impersonal because there was no guarantee that you were interviewing with people you would work actually work with.

Interview Details – I was recommended by a colleague from my old company -- a large consulting firm -- to his friend, a Senior Associate at Booz Allen. The friend invited me to lunch for an "informational interview," at which he and another were present. Both were alumni of the company from which I was looking to leave. The lunch lasted two hours and conversation topics ranged from the types of work and experiences I'd had, to the work-life balance and general observations about Booz Allen as a company. My assumption was that this was a "is-he-a-Booz-fit" assessment prior to determining whether to enter me into the recruiting process. It must have gone well. As I say, the lunch was friendly and informal, lasted 2 hours, and I was contacted not long after by a recruiter.

If memory serves, I was brought in for two rounds of interviews. The first day, I met with a lead recruiter and two (possibly three) Principals (Level 5s -- equivalent to a BearingPoint Managing Director or a Director at Deloitte) from the Economic and Business Analysis team. Each interview was 30-45 minutes, and frankly, had the feel of a "pass and review" more so than an inquisition or grilling. There were no case studies or gotcha questions. I was asked about my consulting experience generally, and about my functional skills. I found the interviews to be conversational and pleasant. Again, I assume those went well, because I was brought in for another round, this time to meet with Principals and Level 4s (Senior Associates -- Senior Manager equivalents) to explore specific engagement areas. At the time, I took this as a hopeful sign that the initial interviews had gone well and was now being considered by for specific openings. Again, this was a series of three, one-on-one, 30 minute interviews. I noted with some interest the flexibility that seemed to exist at Booz Allen. I was interviewed by one Principal who thought I might be so well suited for a particular area, he asked if I could remain a bit longer, then took me to find his colleague who happened to be in her office, and interviewed me sight-unseen on the spot for 30 minutes. (At my previous company, candidates / new hires were typically the "property" of a particular Managing Director -- a source of potential revenue -- and not shared or traded around so willingly. I was impressed at the team spirit, and the willingness to alert colleagues to a resource that might benefit them.) Given the teams represented in this second round, it struck me they were working from my resume, as well as from interests I'd raised during my interview with the recruiter. Again, I took note of this. Interviewing at my previous company tended to be a little more selfish. I appreciated that Booz Allen seemed to be looking around for the best fit, both for them and for me.

Negotiation Details – I was a Manager at a competing consulting firm, and my salary at the time was $110k. The recruiter made it clear that they were considering me as an Associate, or Level 3. (Sidebar: 60% of Booz Allen are Level 3s. For equivalence, A Booz level 3 span what BearingPoint or Deloitte would consider a newly-promoted Senior Consultant -- solid delivery and task leadership, but not much management, financials, or business development -- all the way to a seasoned Manager or even newly promoted Senior Manager. Lifelong SMEs with no desire to grow or manage a business are also often hired at Level 3). So as a Manager at a competing firm, coming in at the senior side of Associate represented a lateral move. This was before the economic downturn, and I had a secure job, so I felt comfortable swinging for the fences a bit. I asked for $125-$130. They offered $120, but arranged a $5k signing bonus, perhaps as a consolation prize. In all, I found the negotiation process to be straightforward and pleasant. I would have preferred a larger salary offer -- particularly because Associates are not in the Booz Allen bonus pool -- but they were offering me a near 10% raise and the opportunity to work with a venerable firm. I accepted the offer.

Interview Details – My initial contact was a thirty minute phone screen which went over the usual questions of background, why was i interested in the company, why I wanted a new opportunity, etc. A few days later, I received a call to set-up an interview. Most interviews are on Friday afternoon, in which you fly up in the morning and interview in the afternoon. My interview consisted of three 1:1, one which went over my technical skills, one that went over my consulting skills or capacity to do this type of work and ane to go over my "Fit." The interviews were behavioural types and pretty straight forward.
The interviewers are usually members of the various project teams so they are not professional HR people but pretty normal people and are interested in getting good people but I think personality types are a little variable. I really thought the interviews were pretty short in comparison to the marathon events that I have been through before.
About three days later, I received feedback regarding my interview and was given an offer verbally than a few days later I received an official letter in the mail.

Negotiation Details – In terms of an offer, I did not negotiate per se, when I was asked before my interview I believe during the phone screen, I gave my salary range and my offer was about 5K above the range. I'm not sure if I left money on the table or they went above in order not to have to worry about it. A friend of mine said he went back and forth a couple of times but that is their personality anyway so just make sure you are clear about what you want and not to be scared. If you ask for a low number and they give it to you but then your not happy, then whose fault is it.

Interview Details – Best chance of getting an interview is through a connection, not the website. Try to meet with a current employee or recruiter if interested in working for them. Great interview, was told I would hear back in two weeks, heard back three months later.

Interview Details – The interview was a series of 1-on-1 interviews with the Senior Consultants and HR. In total there were 4 separate discussions held with the last interview being with a potential co-worker. The job/position was not specifically defined as the task had not yet been described by the customer. The interview goal was to determine mutual interest and qualifications for this contingent position.