WAT-PI KIT

cONSULTING
Prepared by
THE sTRATEGY AND CONSULTING CLUB OF IIM ROHTAK
An Initiative by Public Relations Cell, IIM Rohtak
CONTENTS

Consulting ..................................................................................................................................................... 1
PI Preparation tips ........................................................................................................................................ 2
Category I: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 2
Category II: GUESSTIMATE QUESTIONS .................................................................................................... 2
Category III: GUESSTIMATE QUESTIONS ................................................................................................... 4
Category IV: FRAMEWORKS.................................................................................................................. 5
1. SWOT Analysis................................................................................................................................... 5
2. PESTLE Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 5
3. PORTER’S 5 FORCES .......................................................................................................................... 6
4. ANSOFF MATRIX ................................................................................................................................ 6
5. BALANCED SCORECARD .................................................................................................................... 7
6. THE BCG GROWTH-SHARE MATRIX................................................................................................... 7
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CONSULTING

“Any form of providing help on the content, process or structure of a task or a

series of task, Where the consultant is not actually responsible for doing the task
itself but is helping those who are”- Fritz Steele
In simple terms, Consulting is a job of fixing and improving the client’s business. A Consultant - Is an expert
in the field of business, he prepares strategies to overcome the existing problems of the company and to
improve business.
Consultants are provided with projects by clients to serve some specific purpose, broadly
1. Achieving organizational goals
2. Solving management and business problems
3. Identifying and seizing new opportunities
4. Enhancing learning
5. Implementing changes
Generally, consultants are two types,
a. Industry consultants
Consultants having more than ten years of experience in a given industry. They help
companies to make decisions based on their experience and knowledge of the industry.
b. Career consultants
Consulting experts are having a particular set of skills in research, analytics, presentations,
frameworks, etc.
They coach others to use this knowledge and expertise to solve the problems.
The scope of Consulting/ Job Profiles offered for a Consultant in management areas are diverse & some
of them are given below:
1. General and Strategic Management
2. Information Technology
3. Financial Management
4. Marketing and Distribution Management
5. E-business
6. Operations Management
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7. Human Resource Management

8. Knowledge Management
9. Company Transformation
10. Public Sector

PI PREPARATION TIPS

CATEGORY I: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Why consulting as a career?

2. Which are the Big 4 accounting firms? Which is your dream firm and why?
3. 3 strengths and weakness as identified by you?
4. How does your previous boss/ colleague describe you in a single word?
5. Describe your most recent job responsibilities briefly. What are the skills you acquired from that
experience?
6. Describe a situation in which you utilized your leadership skills.
7. Describe a situation in which you showcased your ability to work in a team.
8. What are your hobbies?
9. What suits you better & why, marketing or finance?

CATEGORY II: GUESSTIMATE QUESTIONS

It is an estimate based on a mixture of guesswork and calculation. Here, the interviewer is analyzing that
the candidate has gone through all the assumptions and is not arbitrarily using any numbers to estimate.
Although the numbers do not matter here, having a good sense of numbers used, is highly appreciable.
Generally, the Top-Down Approach or Bottom-Up Approach is used to solve the problems.
Some tips to solve such questions easily,
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1. After understanding the question thoroughly, scope it down to apply any one of the above
approaches.
2. Use simple numbers and round them off wisely to make your calculations easier.
3. Try to write down everything in a lucid and structured manner, so that interviewer can easily
follow your thought process.
4. While assuming a number, try to find some sense and ask the interviewer for any such
clarifications.

Following are some of the examples to prepare:

1. How many silver cars are there in New Delhi?
2. What is the number of smartphones in Rajasthan State?
3. How many people are there in Wonder la Amusement park Bengaluru, right now?
4. How many drinking water bottles (1 liter) are sold in Mumbai per day?
5. What is the number of Two-wheelers in Rohtak district of Haryana?
6. How many people of your village are using Dell laptops?
7. How many people in your district are wearing jeans on a particular day?
8. What is the number of AXE Deodorants sold in a day in Chennai?
9. Number of Pepsodent toothpaste sold in Delhi?
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CATEGORY III: GUESSTIMATE QUESTIONS

1. Company X wants to introduce a new innovative product into the market. The new product is
entirely different from the existing product line, and the company has no prior experience in the
sales/marketing of that product. The revenue and profit of the company have been growing at a
rate of 14% per annum for the last 8 years. Would you like to comment on the introduction of the
product? (hints: use appropriate matrices to analyze company)

2. You are appointed as a Consultant for a steel manufacturing company. The company is incurring
losses for consecutive last 5 years. You are supplied with all the necessary accounting statistics
and company backgrounds. Then what would be the Five Questions you would like to ask CEO of
the company in your first meeting? (hints: ask questions apart from given data)

3. At present situation, you are offered 2 types of businesses, a petrochemical company (to sell
petroleum chemical products derived from petroleum) and a Pulse company. Both the companies
have a potential to serve entire Maharashtra State. Which company would you select and why?
(Hints: growth rates, future expansion plan, government regulations, etc.)

4. You are a consultant hired to strategize new plans for Airtel Telecom. All the financial market
information & service data is accessible to you for the convenience of your analysis. You have
been given only 5 minutes to meet CEO of Bharti Airtel & any additional information required for
your consultation can be asked there, but only two questions. What questions or extra
information would you ask him/her?

5. You have to design strategy to recruit for openings from LGBT community. What steps would you
list down & consult the firm for quality employees?
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CATEGORY IV: FRAMEWORKS

Frameworks are structures/tools used for problem-solving in a coherent and holistic manner. Appropriate
use of frameworks helps the consultants to take care of every aspect of the organization.
Below are some of the frameworks:

1. SWOT ANALYSIS
The SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis) is a framework for
identifying and analyzing the internal and external factors that can have an impact on the viability of a
project, product, place or person.

2. PESTLE ANALYSIS
A PESTEL analysis is a framework or tool used by marketers to analyze and monitor the macro
environmental (external marketing environment) factors that have an impact on an organization.
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3. PORTER’S 5 FORCES
Porter's Five Forces is a model that identifies and analyzes five competitive forces that shape every
industry and helps determine an industry's weaknesses and strengths. Frequently used to identify an
industry's structure to determine corporate strategy, Porter's model can be applied to any segment of the
economy to search for profitability and attractiveness.

4. ANSOFF MATRIX
The Ansoff Matrix is a strategic planning tool that provides a framework to help executives, senior
managers, and marketers in devising strategies for future growth. The matrix suggests that a business’
attempts to grow to depend on whether it markets new or existing products in new or existing markets.
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5. BALANCED SCORECARD
The balanced scorecard is a management system aimed at translating an organization’s strategic goals
into a set of performance objectives that, in turn, are measured, monitored and changed if necessary to
ensure that the organization's strategic goals are met. The 4 perspectives of Balanced Scorecard are given
below:

6. THE BCG GROWTH-SHARE MATRIX

The BCG matrix is a chart that was created by Bruce D. Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group in
1970 to help corporations analyze their business units, that is, their product lines.

This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product
management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis.