Associate consultant Interview Questions
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Associate Consultant interview questions shared by candidates
Estimate how many windows are in New York
35 Answers↳
Since Bain is a consulting firm, this question seems to be used as a way to probe applicant's approach to engagement problems. First ask questions to clarify the goal. Is New York the city, the state, or another municipality that happens to also be called New York, such as New York, Texas. Are we talking about windows on a building, or will it also include car windows, store shelf windows, or maybe even MS Windows licenses. After the information is clarified, it's time to analyze. Estimating the population and estimate an average number of windows per person is one approach, but it may seem too general. Another approach can be divide and conquer. Estimate the number of residential houses, estimate the number of offices, and number of vehicles, etc, and multiply by an average number for each type of structure. Round the number to the nearest million or tenth of million to make it easy to remember for the client. Less
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Should the answer include opportunities and operating systems?
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Define "New York".
How many passengers leave JFK airport on a given day.
19 Answers↳
This question tests how you think critically. In this example, you could start with estimating that JFK has about 100 gates, and that a plane leaves from a gate every 3 hours, totaling 800 flights per day. Guessing that the average plane holds 200 passengers, you arrive at 160,000 per day departing. The interviewer is not as interested that you get the right, or even close, answer, but rather the thought process you go through to figure it out. For those that are interested, the real number is about 131,000 per day based on statistics from 2007. Less
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The answer is the thought process, as above. Personally, I'd have started with the number of flights: flight frequency per runway * runways * open hours. Assume half are leaving, then guess the number of passengers per plane. I might also point out that the number of assumptions multiplied together in that calc is such that you're unlikely to be within an order of magnitude of the right answer... Less
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all of them
What is the exact angle formed by the hands on a clock when the time reads 9:30?
13 Answers↳
105 degrees
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105 degrees: if the hour hand is right at 9, and the minute had was right at 30 then it would be 90 degrees. but since we're 30 minutes into the hr, the hour hand will be (theoretically) half waybetween 9 and 10pm. so you need to calculate that additional variation. If have the arms 3 hrs apart makes a perfect 90 degrees, then each hr would equal 30 degrees -> thus a half hr would result in a 15 degrees. 90+15= 105 degrees Less
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Right
How many people can you fit into texas?
6 Answers↳
Added to the previous comment: if with the population density of NYC.
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Depends on how much cubic feet of space each person requires; then requires analysis of total people in world/usa, and total space they require. Then compare with total space in Texas. Less
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If they are just occupying the space and there is no need to live there, the entire population of the world could theoretically be in Texas at the same time. Less
Number Series : 1 6 12 13 19 _
4 Answers↳
31 difference of any instant two (right minus left) is kept in the alternate left place. so 31 (?) 19 =12 Less
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31
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31
How do u handle an abusive client?
4 Answers↳
I will apply the procedure LAST. L- LISTEN the client carefully, to understand wt his/her problem is? A- APOLOGIES ,then i apologies him for the difficulties which he had faced with our services S- SATISFACTION, then i will make him/her satisfy by providing the solution of the problem T- THANKS, at the end will say thanks to client for giving me a chance to serve himself Less
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simple process said in long or operational way... but nice one... but what to say still depends on client... Less
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Hi, can you please post all of your interview questions??? Thanks...
A snail moves up a 5m long tree as follows: 1) he goes up 3m in the morning and 2) he goes down 2m at night. How long will it take him to reach the top of the 5m tree?
5 Answers↳
@ Homer Simpson, The technical interview was simply them asking me to explain a "technical" process on the whiteboard. There was no programming, though I used a programming example in answering this question. The overall interview process requires little preparation, with the exception of the panel interview since I'm assuming you got the question before hand. Again they want to see the following: 1) Logical thought flow 2) Ability to present/explain on a white-board 3) Can assimulate concepts (including programming) quickly Less
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Thanks Boss for the quick reply! I just came back and I think it went well. How much time did they take to reply back to you? Less
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http://brainteaserbible.com/interview-brainteaser-snail-drainpipe-climbs-falls-at-night-how-long-reach-top Less
What is a stack?
5 Answers↳
Meant *java. For them Java and SQL is important
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It took about a week or 2. But was for 55k because I needed learn have and they'll have to put in a 3 month course in NJ while also training. So for moving to NJ and getting paid that salary, I didn't think it was enough but some might think it's reasonable. Less
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oh ok thank you
Say you're on a circular racetrack that's one mile circumference. You want to do two laps with an average speed of 60 mph. Let's say you do the first lap at 30 mph. How fast do you have to do the second lap to make sure your average mph is 60 at the end of two laps?
4 Answers↳
correct me if I'm wrong, but the keyword here is "average speed" so: 30mph/1lap + 90mph/1lap=120mph/2laps=60mph/lap AVG Less
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it's impossible. speed is : distance/time 1lap/30+1/x=2laps/60 x=infinity
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let speed for next lap = x Avg Speed= total distance/total time 60=2/(1/30 + 1/x) x=infinity Less
Two hospitals decide to merge into a single location to reduce increasing costs and consolidate all of its providers. After the transition to a single location, the hospital suffered significant revenue reduction - whereas the two hospitals did well at their separate locations. What do you think contributed to the revenue loss?
3 Answers↳
There are a couple of factors to look at. If Hospital A and Hosipital B merged into the single location of Hospital A, how does this impact the customers for Hospital B. Is it worht for them to drive the extra distance,or is there another medical facility still closer then Hospital A. Also, there is a trust relationship a customer base builds with a healthcare provider. Does the merger of the two hospitals impact the the image and trust of it's customers and does this need to be a focus of a marketing campaign? Less
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Customer base
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people got more healthy