Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Associate Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details – I hired in as a Senior Consultant and at the time the progression went from Researcher, Consultant, Sr Consultant, Associate, Sr Associate, Principal, Parter (Senior VP). Now the progress is Consultant, Sr Consultant, Associate, Lead Associate, Sr Associate, Principal, Vice President, Partner (SVP/EVP).

I was placed in a room and several people rotated in to interview me. They asked both situational and skills based questions, but not a case interview.

Negotiation Details – I had three offers on the table and I stated that my highest offer was 15% higher than what they were offering. They came back with a raised offer and a signing bonus, which put me slightly lower than my highest offer. I took the lower offer because of the future opportunities.

Interview Details – I was referred by a current BAH employee. I was then called 3 times for "preliminary" information and interviews. These were by HR folks who were more looking for personnal information and asked generic questions. Then a month later I was asked to come to a "speed dating" group interview format. I sat at the same table in a large room with 15 other candidates, and I had 3 Booze employees rotate to talk to me for 30 minutes each. They were very nice and asked about my background and why I wanted to work for Booze. They did ask about any challenging work experiences I might have had. Then I waited for 2 months before I heard anything from HR. I called several times to ask for updates, and was told they would contact me soon. When I got a job offer from another company I told the employee who referred me, but HR still didnt contact me for another 1.5 months. By then I had accepted another job.

Reason for Declining – I had already accepted a job at another company by the time they offered.

Interview Details – Very long and drawn out process. Six months from when I first met the recruiter to when I received an offer letter. Had to meet people who were my colleagues, worked in the same market and then a partner. Booz Allen ascribes to the 4-domain interview process: consulting skills, leadership, business development, technical skills. Each interviewer is given one of the four domains to cover. Make sure you have good stories for each domain. They value energy, measurable indicators for success and a spirit of collaboration.

Interview Details – Very pleasant interview process. Their HR office was polite and responsive. I was interviewed by 5 individuals who not only asked me about my relevant skills, but spoke in a very honest fashion of their own daily work demands and company benefits. The questions were technical and behavioral.

Interview Details – I applied for a Senior Associate position on the Decision Analytics team (government side not commercial) at Booz Allen at their McLean Headquarters. The process started in September 2012, and recently concluded in December of 2012, after 4 interviews, and several months of waiting and misinformation, I did not get the offer.

My skills may have not been a match for the job, and I completely accept their decision. But I'm writing this review so that potential candidate know what they're up against when interviewing, and to highlight the unprofessional practices of their HR department.

The process involved 2 phone interviews and 2 in person interviews. But here's the big catch with Booz Allen - when they interview you, they're not really interviewing you for a particular position (though they don't tell you that) they're interviewing you to understand what you skills are to figure out what team you might or might not be a fit for. So obtaining a subsequent interview does not mean you're progressing or advancing and getting closer to an offer, it just means HR hasn't communicated with the people doing the interviewing, and they're simply shuffling you around, and having different groups talk to you.

Each round at Booz Allen is a black box - no one will tell you how many rounds there are in the process, and each interveiw was basically about "let's go over your resume". There were very few other questions, case interviews etc. By the final round, one interviewer talked about how they needed a Microsoft SQL expert, yet I never claimed to have any profficiency in SQL. But it took months of preparing and multiple interview to get to that point, only to be told that that's the skill they need right now.

 Finally, a particular HR associate also "forgot" to tell me that I was being called in for a final interview. She cancelled on me with less than 24 hours notice, said they were rescheduling the interview and then disappeared. When I finally called to ask if I was being considered for the final interview her response was "didn't anyone tell you?" I still didn't know that meant. So I had to speak two other HR people who claimed that I was being considered and invited me to the final interview event. After being asked about SQL repeatedly, even though it wasn't a skill on my resume, I was rejected. But here's the BEST PART of this review. Even though I was rejected for the Senior Associate position, no email was sent. So after waiting another month, i emailed the same HR associate from the beginning to figure out what my status was and she said that she I had been rejected weeks ago and she had sent me an email weeks ago. This was also untrue, as I never received an email from anyone, not to my spam or anywhere, I had succuessfully recieved all emails from Booz Allen in the past. This statement came from the same person who "forgot" to email me to tell me about the final interview.

All in all, buyer beware, the process is a black box, tons of miscommunication and your interests as a candidate come dead last. Please be respectful towards your candidates, you're setting a bad precedent.

Interview Details – Phone interview with HR point of contact that was overly general and elementary and reinforced the fact that the person had not read my CV - nor did they understand first hand what the skill set was for the role that I was applying for. Second touch point was a timed writing assessment for which I never heard any feedback on, so I'm not sure why that was a requirement. Third step was filling out an e-application for which they had incorrectly logged my email into the system and therefore we had continuous issues with getting the app accepted. Fourth step was a group interview session which was interesting, if you like interviewing (which I do). However - it wasn't really explained well in terms of the logic behind it to the group and a lot of other candidates that were there were clearly confused. Two weeks after that step - I received a call from the HR person to check in to get my feedback and to say that they would be back in touch with me within a week. Three weeks pass with me doing a lot of calling and status checks. I then had another group interview (with a smaller set of people) where I was informally told that I was good to go/in - but then nothing. I finally get a call back after leaving many follow-up voicemails/emails from HR who said that they were showing my resume around to other groups, as well as going to check in with the group that I had originally applied to and would call within a day or so. Another week passes - more emails from my side - and finally I get a call back from the same HR person who said that "after careful consideration - my skill set did not match what they had available at that time, but that I should feel free to apply to other positions there that I might be interested in... " Huh?

Interview Details – I approached BAH at a job fair, and sent several resumes to apply for job openings. The job fair encounter finally led to an interview (two actually, over the phone). I was then invited to a group interview - one day, met with four differnt individuals in increasing levels of management. It was, as others have posted, a very behavioral interview experience, drifting from job related, or career related questions, to more general life experience questions. Very thorough and pleasantly challenging, if unexpected (by me). It was a very professional, confident atmosphere, but not threatening or pretensious. They were good about providing detailed answers about their needs, the role to fill, and the culture.

Negotiation Details – I negotiated starting salary, a bit. They were close to my needs but at the low end. They worked with me and brought it up about where I needed it to be (on the low end).

Interview Details – Too many individuals who knew little about the positon.

Negotiation Details – Can not move on salary so negotiate on sign on package

Interview Details – Very extensive interview process, over the course of 6 weeks I met with 10 different members of the leadership team (Senior Associate, Principal level and VPs). Interviews were both "interviews' but also chances for the team to meet/get to know. Got a very positive impression that collaboration and 'the team' is a big part of the culture. Core values are a big deal. In addition, and this may be only for cleared positions, there was a online background check form to fill out that was in effect, a mini SF-86. (10 years of employment history, residential history, similar set of background questions). Things I learned along the way that were surprising to me - BAH has no sales group, all staff are responsible for 'sales' instead. There is also no proposal group. At a senior associate level they are looking for staff who are well rounded and who can do develop business, manage teams, and execute on project work. Coming from a small firm I had extensive experience in juggling all three already, but this was certainly much different than a lot of other large firms in the area who have staff that specialize. was impressed that the offer letter was very specific and effectively lays out your performance goals for your first year.

Reason for Declining – I am happy with my current job and opportunities for growth with my current firm - I was recruited by them directly, but the base salary they offered was not enough to make me jump. I have some reservations about jumping in at a fairly senior level of leadership and a general reluctance to join such a large firm. Negotiations are not final however, so I may yet reconsider.