Can you tell us about a time you had to support an unpopular company policy?

"All too often, any policy that seems mysterious or vague is by default unpopular, especially when the company neglects to communicate why the policy needed to be implemented. Without fail, I incessantly ask the kinds of questions that give me an understanding of why an unpopular policy is implemented or enforced. So, yes, there have been many occasions I've found myself supporting an unpopular company policy. This is why when on the job, I coach leaders to educate their employees on the whys of such things."

They want to know how you've personally coped with the kind of changes you'd implement for their clients. Having experienced this on a personal level will lend empathy and nuance to your approach. This question seeks to understand how you personally dealt with and adapted to change and how you'd lend your experience towards fostering growth and change for their clients.

Provide an example of a situation in which you faced such a challenge. Explain how your course of action created positive insights towards the bigger picture and the end goal. You want to come across as a supporting influence for positive change.

Avoid describing situations in which the change negatively affected your outlook. You should not sound like you were sowing dissent in the workplace or contributing to upheaval.

"At my first job, our entire department was laid off. There was obviously a lot of dissent as a result. There's nothing worse than facing financial insecurity. But the severance packages we all received were more than fair. So I supported the decision as best as I could, shook hands with senior management, and thanked them for their generosity. It was the right thing to do. Not sure if my attitude had anything to do with being one of the few who were hired back on a few months later. Regardless, I consider myself one of the lucky ones."

How do you like to spend your free time?

"I enjoy sitting in my recliner, listening to classical music, and reading a good book."

The interviewer needs a more casual insight into your personality, interests, and motivators. It's important for employees to keep their stress levels down and their productivity up while at work. All work and no play will present as a red flag.

Feel free to share the hobbies and interests which make you seem interesting and affable. Find relatable points of common interest. Having interests in common with your clients can go a long way in establishing work/client relationships. The less guarded you are about your personal life, the more it shows you'll be able to foster interpersonal work relationships. Your interviewer will take this into consideration when they are evaluating your fit into the team.

Stay away from anything that might present a conflict. If you have a golf tournament that requires you to take a lot of time off work, or side business you are trying to build, avoid discussing those.

"Truth be told, I love to go out dancing every chance I get. I find there is no better way to blow off steam than to hit the dance floor and put it all out there."

How do you encourage ideas in others?

"Everyone wants to contribute but is often reluctant to risk rejection. I do what I can to reward every contributing effort, not just success. I acknowledge the merits of each and every idea. I make sure it's a safe space, where everyone feels acknowledged and rewarded for whatever they have to offer."

Your answer to this question will offer the interviewer a glimpse of your coaching style. They want to know how you'll foster the growth of their client's teams.

Think about your coaching style and the benefits you feel it offers. Perhaps you follow up with praise and ensure their efforts are recognized by all. Maybe you notice through incentives in a competitive format. Morale is a great determiner of productivity. The ability to promote a team's strengths is integral to effective coaching.

This is a golden opportunity to share your accomplishments. Seize any and every opportunity to present yourself at the front of the pack.

"I try to customize my approach to an individual level, even when in a group environment. If someone offers a suggestion that won't work, I'll always praise their innovation, acknowledge where they were on the right track, and inform them where a little more digging was required to get them closer to the mark. Too many people subconsciously feel like the first step towards failure is trying. I work hard to correct that misperception."

Korn Ferry puts a lot of focus on corporate responsibility, acting ethically, and becoming more radically human. What do you know about our company values, and how do they align with your personal values?

"The fact that Korn Ferry is a champion for human rights, combats human trafficking, is an advocate for the environment, and supports working mothers is one of the things that attracted me to this position."

The interviewer is assessing the extent to which you researched their company. It is crucial to understand the core values they embrace which guide the representation of their brand.

It is very important to research Korn Ferry in great detail before your interview. Research the company, its core values, and the keywords they use on their website. Incorporate those components in your answer. Discuss your values and how they align with the values at Korn Ferry.

Be prepared to discuss their global efforts currently underway and research any local charity efforts that Korn Ferry supports. Discuss these points with enthusiasm. Demonstrate a desire to be a part of those efforts, while embracing their values as your own.

"I'm extremely impressed by the awards and recognition Korn Ferry has received for its global impact. Top company for female professionals, silver medal for your sustainable rating, a perfect score of 100 on your corporate equality index, and the list goes on. Very impressive!"

Because Korn Ferry is geographically widespread, are you open to international travel? Is there anything that would restrict you from traveling for work?

"I'm flexible. How much travel would this position demand?"

Every interview process is exhaustive. To find the best candidates for any position and where they'd fit into their team, the interviewers need to evaluate how well the needs of their company and the needs of their employees align. Quite often travel is a necessary part of this job, but not always. Answer this question honestly but with tact. If you're not willing to travel for work consistently, don't say that you are. Phrase your answer in a way that shows you're a team player.

If you're willing to travel for work or have in the past, volunteer it. If you're not open to traveling, don't say no. If you weren't aware travel was a prerequisite for the position, ask if it is. Tell them you're interested in the position and that you'd be open to discussing it further, but your understanding of constant business travel doesn't fit into your current lifestyle. Ask more questions about the position, be flexible, and be open to negotiation. There may be room for advancement from within, for which a willingness to travel may be a prerequisite.

Research the role for which you are applying thoroughly, so you're not caught off guard by this question if the answer is to be found. If you can't find out online whether travel is a prerequisite, exhibit flexibility, and probe deeper.

"I am aware that there are often serious commutes involved with performing this kind of work. I've read several blog posts regarding how to alleviate commuter stress. I found the blog on Korn Ferry's website to be particularly insightful. Beyond long commutes, what kind of travel would this position require, and what would it entail?"

Have you ever been employed by a company that suffered production cuts resulting in mass layoffs? If so, tell me about your experience.

"I worked for a company right out of college that had a brief period of growth. The leaders of that company grew overly ambitious and over-expanded. When their profits slowed, they found themselves in a precarious situation burdened with the debt which resulted in mass layoffs. That's part of why I love this field. These things happened, but a trained eye can identify these risks early on and potentially curb the potential of such cutbacks."

Your interviewer wants to understand your attitude towards changes in a corporate environment, on a personal level. When your work history includes employment with large companies and/or conglomerate corporations, there is a high chance that you have experienced something of this sort. Talk to the interviewer about your experience.

Offer your experience objectively. Omit emotional details. Describe the situation, what unfolded, and your understanding of why. If you haven't experienced this, offer your understanding of why they'd ask this question. This is an opportunity for you to tell them why you chose this field.

Perhaps you have been laid off through a process such as this. Maintain a positive attitude. Avoid speaking negatively about previous employers. Change is a part of life, and exhibiting a mature understanding of this goes a long way.

"Never. But from an early age, I've made a practice of imagining myself walking around in other people's shoes. So with this lens, I consistently bring with me the kind of empathy required for effectively performing this role."

What do you perceive as your greatest strengths?

"In all honesty, coaching and training others is my greatest strength. I love fostering positive growth in others, and creating an enthusiastic learning environment."

How you perceive yourself may differ from how others perceive you. Throughout the interview process, make sure your answers remain consistent. The interviewer wants to see that you take pride in your work.

Provide the personal strengths you feel make you excellent at your job. Strengths can be skills or qualities which allow you to overcome difficult circumstances or overcome challenges. Your strengths help you understand a client's needs, and apply what you have learned to your training. Talk to the interviewer about a couple of your strengths and attribute those to your success.

Keep your examples varied but consistent. Your consistency in how you present yourself will indicate to the interviewer that you will be consistent in your work performance should they choose to hire you.

"My positivity and honesty. I believe transparency is integral to gaining the trust of others. People can sense whether you're being forthright with them. Also, positivity is contagious, and attitude is everything."

Would you say that you are a goal-oriented person on the job? If so, tell us why.

"If hired for this position, one of the first things that you'll learn about me is that I am very driven to succeed in all that I do on the job. For me, personal drive definitely centers around goals and my desire to achieve them. I have the focus to set goals myself and to work towards goals that are set by my organization, my leaders, or my customers and I would bring this ability with each client that I work with here at Korn Ferry."

Success in business consulting is measured through the achievement of a client's goals. The interviewer is trying to assess if you are goal-driven, and what motivates you to motivate others.

Provide examples where you worked towards a goal guiding team effort. Explain your part in the achievement of those goals, and how you, and those you coached, stayed focused on the goal to the end.

Provide examples where you fostered a positive goal-driven environment. Using the STAR method, detail the situation, the task at hand, the action you took, and the positive result.

"I would definitely say that I am goal-oriented in the work that I do on a daily basis. In project management, I work off of both time-related goals and production-related goals and these really drive my daily tasks and my delegation of responsibilities to other team members. If given the opportunity to come work for Korn Ferry, my clients would greatly benefit from my ability to both set and achieve goals with them."

When a problem arises, what's your first reaction?

"When a major problem arises, my first instinct is to take a step back and absorb what just happened before proceeding forward."

The interviewer wants to know if your reactions to obstacles reflect emotional maturity and professionalism. Understanding how well you work under pressure or in stressful situations will help assess your fit into the Korn Ferry team. The consulting representatives of Korn Ferry exude professionalism of the highest caliber. To pass this test, embrace that.

Rather than reacting impulsively, demonstrate your logical reactions and resourceful responses to problem-solving when things haven't gone your way. Relay your knack for staying calm under pressure. It should be second nature.

Perhaps your computer crashes, and you realize you lost your hard work. Or maybe, limited on time, a deadline is rapidly approaching. Presenting yourself as level-headed in times like these, a quick thinker, and a problem-solver who responds logically rather than reacting emotionally is the ultimate goal.

"I have taught myself to become much calmer with my first reactions when problems arise. Now, I will step back and review my options for solving the problem rather than allow myself to become frustrated."

At Korn Ferry, we look to hire those who will be a long-term fit. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

"Ideally, five years from now, I would love to see myself growing into a more prominent leadership role within your organization. My career interests align very nicely with your company's goals which helps me to see a great long-term fit here."

By ascertaining what your career goals are, the interviewer hopes to gauge the level of commitment you'd have to the company. It's their job to ensure whomever they considering hiring is a proper fit.

It's impossible to know where you'll be in five years. Regardless of life's unknowns, assure the interviewer you could see yourself aspiring to be a senior employee at Korn Ferry if graced with the opportunity.

Prior to the interview, create a five-year career plan. If you wrote one a while ago, update it, evaluating where you've come from, where you are going, and where you currently stand in the framework of your plan. Then plan five years out from there. Evaluate where Korn Ferry fits into that plan. Doing so will assist you in delivering the perfect answer to this question.

"Five years from now, I would like to supervise or manage a team of my own with Korn Ferry. I feel like I am progressing in my career at a rate that will make this a possibility."

In what ways would our clients here at Korn Ferry benefit from your knowledge and services?

"As you can see from my resume, I have extensive experience in risk management in the healthcare industry. Having worked with some major players in the industry, your healthcare clients would benefit the most from the experience and solutions I could help provide them. Not to leave other industries out, I think my experience in the healthcare realm will also translate nicely to your clients in other areas of the private sector."

Korn Ferry's consultants are essentially ambassadors of their brand. The interviewer is trying to gauge how your philosophy and methodology align with their brand, as well as what unique skills and knowledge you'd offer.

Research the core values and mission statement of Korn Ferry. Their guiding principles are preparation, determination, opportunity, and inclusion. They label their approach as "We deliver sustainable growth by solving your biggest people challenges." Perform deep research on their website and the company, and align your answer with your findings accordingly.

It's one thing to advertise your merits and what you have to offer. But that will only get you so far. Your model of success needs to be tailored to Korn Ferry's model of success. As the face of Korn Ferry, elaborate on how you'd complement their model of success with their clients.

"Having worked in accounting and tax law in a few different industries during my career to this point, I also have the unique experience of creating new organizational policies and procedures in my current role. In hearing more about this role, I think this experience would be very beneficial for your clients as I would be helping advise them in their practices, and creating new policy would be crucial in that process."

At Korn Ferry, an important part of receiving buy-in from clients is attained through business diagrams and charts. What experience do you have in creating and presenting business diagrams and charts?

"In my current role, I regularly create and present process flowcharts and activity diagrams to our staff. I recently created an activity diagram that outlined a production process in our facility. I am very proficient in using Visio to create these and my presentation was very eye-opening to the staff that I presented to. In the hour-long presentation and meeting, many key areas of focus were brought to the attention of leadership to focus on future improvement. If hired for this role, I'd be very comfortable in working with clients on effective charting and presentation to them in this area."

Consulting analysts are required to translate data and information into layman's terms to employees from all different levels of the organization through the use of business diagrams and charts. Your interviewer is curious about what experience you have in diagramming and charting.

Discuss your experience with things like flowcharts and activity diagrams. Explain why you feel visuals are important tools when distilling complex information.

Even though you know that the interviewer knows the answer to these questions, their clients may not. Use every opportunity to frame your answers with, "What I try to convey to our clients..." to relay how effective you are at your job.

"With a background in quality, I am very familiar with swimlane flowcharting and I've used this many times with my current organization to highlight where different departments interact and crossover in processes. While I've most often relied on the administrative assistant in my department in the creation of these, I am very comfortable in learning how to create them with my solid technical skills. My forte definitely lies with presenting and explaining processes to stakeholders."

What do you feel are the keys to being an effective trainer?

"Whenever I have the opportunity to provide training to groups, the first focus of my design is to promote interaction from the people I am training. Active participation promotes motivation and I do this through role-playing, asking questions, and even having people come up front with me to give real-world examples to the group so they can hear the perspective of a peer versus me as the trainer. Another key thing that I try to bring to training sessions is energy. I bring high energy to a room and try to promote it among the staff. I recently learned from a colleague an ice-breaking game to start an all-day training session. It involves blindfolding all participants in the room and assigning each person an animal. There are two people in each session with matching animals and the participants have to make the sound their animal makes and they have to find and meet up with their matching animal. The two times I've used this have been a big hit and had the group laughing and having fun from the start."

The interviewer is assessing your comfort level with public speaking, an essential part of training a client's staff. They are also gauging the level of passion you have in coaching and educating others.

Demonstrate your ability to thrive in such situations by talking about any experiences you have in making training both fun and interactive. Detail what you find rewarding about the work, offering some real-life experiences.

Remember to offer your unique perspective. Steer clear from generic answers. They want to know what sets you apart from the rest of the herd. In your interview, you want to go above and beyond. Generic answers offer the bare minimum. It's not a lottery. They aren't going to choose a candidate by pulling their name out of a hat. They want the best of the best.

"For me personally, the first key to being an effective and efficient trainer is knowing my topic inside and out. As the trainer, I will be asked questions and be expected to be the subject matter expert on what I'm presenting. If needed, I study and prepare diligently prior to facilitating my training sessions. Another key for me is creating the right atmosphere to promote learning. This starts with small things like providing beverages and snacks and ensuring the temperature of the room is appropriate. It extends to much bigger things like ensuring training materials are well-prepped and motivating all of the learners to participate in the program. If hired here at Korn Ferry, you can be sure that I'd bring this same approach to your clients."

A difficult part of working for Korn Ferry is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. What enables you to handle this aspect of the job with ease?

"During my career to this point, I've been very fortunate to say that I've worked for one employer for over ten years and the experience that I've gained with them is a huge asset to me personally. But even though all of my relevant work experience is with the same employer, I've worked under six different department managers during my time there and each person had their own unique management style and expectations of me. As well, my organization has undergone three mergers in my time there and each merger brought a new and bigger organization to light with new values and culture. Whether it was a manager change or an organizational change, I always prioritized openness and asking questions to get to know new processes better. I would bring this approach with each and every new client that I would work with within this role."

Consultants work with clients with different motivators, from varying backgrounds, leadership styles, cultures, and industries. This requires them to possess a chameleon-like ability to adapt to another company's culture. The interviewer is looking for insights into the soft skills you possess, and you're capability of immersing yourself into another brand's culture.

Describe your philosophy and approach to gaining the trust of another company's teams. Break down how you establish genuine relationships in an ever-revolving workplace, from one work culture to another.

Elaborate on whether you find it difficult uprooting on a consistent basis, or if you thrive in an ever-changing environment. Either scenario should be framed in a way that leads to your model of success.

"I would liken this role as a client manager to working with my customers in my current job. I approach each new customer with an open-slated mind while getting to know their motivations, their needs, and their expectations of me to help me get a better understanding of how I can best suit them. If hired for this position working with your clients here at Korn Ferry, this approach would be vital because of the variety of businesses and industries that I would be working with."

Change management is an important aspect of consulting our clients here at Korn Ferry. Have you taken part in a change management process during your career?

"In my leadership role with my current organization, I have been part of an ongoing change process to optimize our staffing ratio to meet production needs. After being part of a careful analysis process and researching industry standards, we implemented a plan to heavily reduce our administrative staff while bolstering production staff and this was a huge change for our organization. My role in the implementation of the process was to gather data and put together a presentation for our Board and Senior Leadership. As well, I helped prepare both internal and external communications that went out regarding our upcoming changes. As things stand today, we have been in continuous review of new processes and things are going great! This involvement has helped prepare me for helping others manage significant change in their business processes."

The interviewer is assessing your ability to lead their clients through change management. In many ways, change managers are the cheerleaders of a project. They craft their messaging and communicate it to their employees. Additionally, they work with stakeholders to help them understand how those changes may impact different departments, and how to effectively proceed.

Touch on the five steps of the change management process. Preparing an organization for change, crafting a vision and plan for change, implementing change, embedding changes with the client's company's culture and practices, reviewing their progress, and analyzing their results.

Effective communication is a crucial element to successful change management. Effectively delivering strong messaging for implementing change will aid in quelling anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion. It diffuses hostility and quells any resistance to change.

At Korn Ferry, you'll work with high-level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in this regard?

"In my current role, I work directly under our chief financial officer and sit on a couple of different committees that our chief executive officer is on. Under the direction of my CFO, we have a great working relationship. I am comfortable approaching him at any moment with questions or to bring forward new ideas. He is aware of my strengths and respects my opinions on matters in my wheelhouse, so he never hesitates to come to me with important things. I think the keys to our strong relationship are the respect we show for each other and our open lines of communication."

For this question, your interviewer must assess whether you have the experience and confidence necessary to command other leaders. They must determine if this falls within your comfort zone.

As a business advisory and consulting firm, the representatives of Korn Ferry work closely with managers, directors, CEOs, CFOs, CAOs, and various other high-level leaderships. In the examples, you provide detail on how you go about effectively performing leadership guidance.

Demonstrating that you're not easily intimidated by those in positions of power can go a long way. Emphasize that you're a people person, comfortable dealing with all sorts of personality types. Whether they are department managers or CEOs, you see them as clients, regular people relying on your expertise to help them deliver their desired results.

"Throughout my career, I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with employees at all levels of the organizations that I've worked with. To me, working effectively with anyone requires a personal touch and a respectful approach. Whether I work with front-line sales staff or members of the C-Suite, I take the time to get to know the person, their job, and how I can best be of help to them in my role. This approach really helped me build a relationship with a sales executive that a few of my colleagues had struck out within recent interactions."

"I have worked with Senior Management for the last seven years. I present reports, PowerPoints, and analyses on the budget and give projections for future spending. I feel comfortable with talking and working with all levels of management."

Do you have any experience in succession planning? If so, in what areas do you have specific experience?

"With my current organization, I was directly involved in the creation of the succession planning processes for many of our key positions and this process really opened my eyes for how to be successful in the future planning. The first key item to undertake was identifying the key positions that we wanted to have succession plans for. We identified these roles by determining which roles were vital to the success of the organization and which roles would deter future growth if left unfilled. Once key roles were identified, I worked with leaders of and incumbents in those roles to build the key competencies for those positions. With these inventories of competencies now in hand, I worked with our HR staff to build plans for the internal succession of selected employees and I helped build succession training programs for specific individuals. With this role at Korn Ferry, I think my experience would work well with your clients in many different industries."

They're gauging your experience level in identifying the challenges their clients face, the vital positions required to support their client's businesses, and the qualifications critical to the success of those in those positions. The key components of succession planning are integral for leadership development.

If you have experience, highlight what role you played. If you don't have direct experience in succession planning, do your research to ensure you'll be able to speak on the key components of the process.

Don't go into this question blind. Be thorough in your research to convey you have a firm grasp of all the facets of the job.

"My experience in succession planning falls in working with specific roles that I supervised and helping to identify great candidates to begin working with human resources staff on training and planning for future roles. During these processes, I used both quantitative performance data and personal experiences with my employees in identifying the best candidates. In planning to prepare for a leadership consulting role, I feel like I would bring great experience and ability to other key aspects of the succession planning process for your clients because I have extensive knowledge of different management roles and their importance in the overall success of businesses."

As a human resources professional, what niches are you most interested in providing consultative services in?

"As you can see from my resume, I have many years of experience as an HR Generalist and Manager where I developed a very broad spectrum of experience across payroll, hiring, performance, and HR administration. In the recent four years, I have had a majority of focus on recruitment and retention for management-level positions. If I were lucky enough to join the team here at Korn Ferry, my best areas to work with your clients on would be recruitment and retention of staff. On top of those areas, I still have a great interest in performance management and I bring a great deal of experience in that realm."

The interviewer is looking to gauge your field experience. They also are curious about where your personal interests lie. Your response will help them ponder if you're a good fit in their company.

As a consulting organization, providing human resource services, spanning multiple industries, Korn Ferry is ever building a diverse pool of consultants. Speak openly about how you fit the needs of their company and those of their clients.

Working as an HR consultant in this field carries its own sets of challenges. Frame your niche interests to complement the services they offer. This will offer confidence that you'd be a sustainable candidate.

"Having been an HR professional for over ten years, I feel like I would bring a great amount of experience and knowledge to your clients here at Korn Ferry. My preferred niche to work in is total rewards, including comp and benefits. I have a multitude of experiences in the administration of benefit plans, payroll systems, and new compensation policy implementation. I think that this experience would pay off well for clients that are in need of a reset in these areas."

Our clients rely on real-world analytical data versus assumptions and guesswork. What analytical skills would you bring to our clients?

"Working as a financial manager over the past 10 years, I have become very experienced and thorough in my use of KPI's to demonstrate key areas like gross profit margin, liquidity ratio, and days in accounts receivables. For the clients I'd be working with here at Korn Ferry, I'd be able to use real data from their organization to help provide solutions that are customized to their needs. On top of KPI analyses, I'm very willing and open to using any other unique tools of the trade that the team here at Korn Ferry uses."

Being overly confident in your ability to identify solutions based on gut feelings, might represent a liability for the company. Their clients entrust Korn Ferry to analyze their business and help improve their practices based on quantifiable data, not gut feelings. The interviewer needs every confidence you understand before considering you as a hire.

As a consultant at Korn Ferry, your critical analysis skill will be used to help identify the missed opportunities and growth potentials of a client's business. Prior to your interview, think about your translatable experiences in data collection, analysis, and communication.

Avoid answers where you relied on your instincts or anything that would translate as vague or open to interpretation. Provide specifics to back up your claims.

"Coming from a software background, being analytical about implementing new systems and processes was vital to receive buy-in from other departments that I worked with and my analytical skills in my current world would translate nicely into the consulting world. I have always had a creative mind in demonstrating how new and improved systems can impact workflow and production. I am very proficient in creating and presenting wireframing models, which are extremely analytical and important in this world here at Korn Ferry."

In this role, you'll be asked to work with unfamiliar businesses across different industries. How would you assess their training needs?

"In this role, my first goal with any new client would be identifying the business need for them. I would do this utilizing many different channels and resources, such as conversations with leaders and current staff. This process would help me learn about the business in general and what overall thoughts are towards training needs. Following that, I would perform a gap analysis to see firsthand if reality is the perception of the staff and leadership of the organization. At that point, I can fully determine what training needs, if any, exist and start my recommendations from there."

Your interviewer knows you'll face new challenges with this job, regardless of experience level or training. After assessing a client's needs, they're curious what unique systematic approach you'd use to develop a training program for their staff.

Illustrate your expertise by describing your approach, and the personal touch you'd lend to working with each client. Instruct them on your methodology to create a systematic approach. Offer an example where you've applied this and it resulted in a positive outcome.

The goal here is to illustrate your broad comfort zone. Provide the interviewer with confidence that you feel comfortable in new environments and are apt at navigating difficult terrain.

"I think a lot of the skills in assessing training needs for the large healthcare organization I've worked with for the last six years will translate nicely to this role. My current methods of assessing are conducting one-on-one interviews with staff, holding focus groups, sending out surveys, and conducting job observations are all effective in the right situation and I have a lot of great experience using these in needs assessments. Working with new businesses in different industries, a key component to my assessments will also involve me learning new jobs and I will do this through research of job descriptions and talking to leaders and staff with the clients I would work with."

What insights would you bring to the area of performance evaluation and development when coaching the leaders of our clients?

"During my career, I have been involved in the creation of two different performance management system creations and both have provided a ton of insight to me looking to move into this role. I have been a part of creating effective evaluation tools that are used to drill down to the KSAs required for a particular job. This process entailed detailed job evaluations to help in identifying key performance measures for each job. The tool-creating process also offered me the chance to design and create some great feedback guidelines that hiring managers were trained on. I think this experience will pay off very well for your clients that are in need of creating or revamping their current performance management systems."

The interviewer is gauging your experience level in performance management. Coaching leaders on how to educate their staff on the big picture elements of performance optimization is considered an integral part of the job.

Break down your approach to training. Detail the tricks of the trade you've picked up along the way which you attribute to your success. Demonstrate the soft people skills you apply to effectively coach leaders while getting them to adapt their styles to yours.

In your examples place emphasis on the true worth of your coaching by quantifying the effectiveness of the skills and methods you impart. Whether those you coached were optimistic or skeptical going in, is not nearly as important as how they came around in the end.

"In my current role, I have worked with our management and leadership staff on education and training for a new performance management system that my organization began using two years ago. While the technical side of learning the electronic evaluation program was very important, our leaders found the background knowledge around the evaluation process even more helpful. During that training, we talked about the importance that effective performance management played in reducing turnover and boosting employee satisfaction and gave our leaders great tips and tricks to use with their staff. I'd love to bring these things here to work with the clients of Hay Group."

What knowledge do you have of differing leadership styles and how would you work effectively with each in this role?

"I have received training on working with the most common leadership styles in the sales industry: transformational leadership, transactional leadership, autocratic leadership, bureaucratic leadership, and democratic leadership. I also fully understand the important characteristics and personality traits that leaders in each style display. I have some personal experience training an autocratic leader very closely on promoting teamwork within his department due to low morale. For this leader, it was important for me to personalize my approach by teaching him about his leadership style and what the pros and cons both were. From there, my focus remained outward towards his team and their performance and how his approach could help impact that positively. Moving forward from our training, his team definitely felt a positive uptick in their morale and production."

How you answer this question will help them evaluate the scope of your soft people skills. It will also help them ascertain how familiar you are with navigating the five main leadership types; authoritarian, participative, delegative, transactional, and transformational, as well as your approach towards and identification of each type.

Discuss your ability to identify the differing leadership styles of those in high-level positions. Speak on the importance of customizing and personalizing your approach to each. Detail specific instances you've effectively worked with, and train each style or personality type.

Even if you're familiar with this topic, brush up on the appropriate terminologies. Acknowledge alternative approaches, so you can contrast your approach to those. This will present you as well informed as possible in your field.

"Having worked with leaders all across my current organization, I quickly came to realize that every leader works in and is motivated by their own unique set of circumstances. And because of those facts, it is important for me to take a personalized approach to train. I've worked with leaders that had a hard time delegating work and ruled with more of an iron fist than most others. For these leaders, a direct approach from myself as the trainer was required and a focus on the importance of teamwork and recognition were important. I've also worked with leaders on the opposite end of that spectrum that approached leadership from a very hands-off perspective and were successful more on the administrative side of their roles. With these leaders, I had success in approaching training with an emphasis on establishing standards and procedures for their department and promoting their involvement with their team. I think my versatility in working with every leadership style would be an advantage here at Korn Ferry."

Talk about a time you successfully educated another individual or group in your area of expertise. What made your educational experience effective?

"Probably the aspect that I love the most about my current job is being the lead for training new hires into our department. Because of my years of experience and my innate ability to effectively orientate new employees, my director asked me to take this duty about four years ago. My approach with any new hire is to customize their training based on their knowledge and experience so the training is effective for them. What works for one person may not work for another and I always need to be fluid with this. I also prioritize the need to make orientation and training a hands-on experience for the new hire because classroom learning can only take a person so far in the learning process."

They're gauging how comfortably you coach others. The more comfortable you are, the more confident you'll be. It should seem like second nature in how you communicate it. They're also trying to ascertain what talents or perspectives you have, if any, which make you uniquely qualified for this position. Talking the talk and walking the walk.

In the example you provide, offer some of the secrets you use that make your model of business education successful, like plan development and establishing goals, respecting differing viewpoints and opinions, making it hands-on, and providing a fun experience.

An effective coach successfully motivates a team to put their all in. How you motivate those you coach is as important as what you're teaching them.

"As you can see from my resume, I've spent the last seven years working in the corporate tax field. While in this job, I worked very independently for a private organization, so I've been out of the training and education side for a while now. During my first job out of college as a CPA though, I was very adept at providing education to the clients that I worked with on a daily basis. What I learned in that experience was the importance of putting material out there in a manner that the person being trained understood. As well, talking to clients and understanding my client's wants and needs were very important for me to be able to best educate them. I really believe that these skills would enable me to hit the ground running with Korn Ferry and your clients would benefit greatly."

When working with groups of high-level leaders on team development, what do you see as a potential hurdle to overcome?

"In talking to another employee here, I understand that this role will have me working across a pretty broad spectrum of industries and I honestly see this as the only hurdle I will have to overcome from the start. As you can see from my experience, my professional experience has strictly been in the retail industry and this role will really push me to learn healthcare, manufacturing, sales, and other industries so I can speak knowledgeably to the businesses of my potential clients. I have great research skills and would utilize this skill to get to know my clients and their businesses very well if hired for this position."

They're trying to gauge your interpersonal skill level and your approach to different personality types. How you answer this question will also offer insights as to what you find challenging when dealing with individuals in positions of authority and power.

Focus your answer on the common hurdles you've faced and how you relate to and establish relationships with those in positions of high-level leadership. Detail the methods you employ upon entry and how you navigate each situation on an individual interpersonal level.

Not everyone will be receptive to someone coming in from outside their organization. Especially when they're there to critique or dismantle the systems and cultures they've invested in or built. This is sure to manifest defensive bias against you, even before they've met you.

Rate your communication skills from 1 to 10 with proper examples backing your given rating.

"I rate my communication skills as a 9/10 as I will, on occasion, have times when I am not as clear as I would like to be. My supervisor and co-workers will attest to my clear and concise communication skills. Because I am an open leader, my team will let me know if I need to clarify anything."

Communication is integral to the smooth operations of any business. While coaching Korn Ferry's clients, your communication skills must be above and beyond. How you frame your answer will offer your interviewer insights into how effective you are at communication. The answer to this question is in how you answer it.

Offer a self-evaluation of your communication skills. Provide your definition of effective communication. Detail how your communication skills stand apart and what you'd contribute. Share relevant anecdotes as a testament to your skills.

Avoid speech crutches ( um, like, you know, etc.) and try to speak as clearly and concisely as possible while delivering your well-formulated answer. Also, exude confidence, not arrogance. No matter how great you think you are, it's always worth acknowledging that there's always room for improvement and always more to learn.

"I will rate myself an 8.5 because I consider myself a strong communicator. It is the foundation of all success in business. I am always striving to be a better communicator, so I leave the rest of the scale as an aspirational measure."

"I rate myself an 8.5 out of 10. I feel I am a strong communicator and my co-workers and customers understand me clearly."

Do you have any experience with 1:1 coaching of business leaders? As a consultant, what skills would you bring to the table?

"After obtaining my MBA, I embarked on a career path that involved organizational development and corporate training in the healthcare and manufacturing fields. During my time in the healthcare industry, I was an integral part of coaching high-level leaders and did get the opportunity to do so on an individual basis. In my training and experience, I believe that the key component of individualized leadership training is that it is customized to each individual to suit their needs. I have extensive experience in evaluating skill sets and developing individualized training to work on critical leadership skills. Last year, I developed an individualized training for my organization's new Chief Nursing Officer that was centered around having difficult conversations with staff. The new leader was highly equipped with all of the great skills for the position, but lacked the ability and confidence in this necessary aspect of the job."

They're gauging your experience working with and coaching high-level leaders in the business world. They are also assessing how you professionally overcome the bias towards those in positions of power. Ascertaining this will assist them in determining your fit for the role.

Talk openly about your experiences, highlighting the unique skills you'd bring to the table. Share any relevant experiences you've had helping individuals in positions of power while exuding confidence in your ability to educate.

Korn Ferry may be considering candidates from many diverse backgrounds. Whether yours is a background in business consultation or you possess excellent coaching skills from a related field that makes you a good fit for this role, try to make your experience as translatable as possible. Exude confidence.

"During my experience working with and training leaders in the manufacturing industry, I think I have a great knack for working with Type A personalities and really reaching them and their needs. I am skilled at creating desired challenges for them to help develop and hone their skills as I did a few years ago with a newly hired chief operating officer that struggled with interpersonal skills. My key with him was setting challenging goals in between our meetings and the plan worked to perfection. If hired for this role here at Korn Ferry, this ability would be key with the leaders I would be working 1:1 with."

If hired for this role, what team-building skills and techniques would you be able to offer our clients here at Korn Ferry?

"Throughout my career, I've always held the belief that more can be done in a team-based atmosphere. Even when working with bullheaded leaders that want to do things on their own versus working with others, I think I bring a great deal of experience in convincing these leaders to be part of a greater team. For me, great teams that I've been a part of knew each other well and knew each other's strengths and weaknesses well. Because of this, I like to use fun ice breakers and activities to promote laughter and conversation at the start of meetings about new projects. As well, I always promote and discuss the importance of open lines of communication and I always stress that team members pick up the phone or send an email to always be in communication on progress made or questions that need to be asked."

Teamwork is an important aspect of this role. This question is designed to gauge how aligned your approach and philosophy are with that of Korn Ferry.

Korn Ferry works with clients spanning multiple industries. They all have a need for effective teamwork. The consultants of Korn Ferry are expected to enhance team-building. Speak to your ability in working with high-level leaders, creating, and promoting a cohesive, high-functioning team environment.

Focus on the collaboration involved in teamwork. The old adage, "There is no 'I' in team," should be driven home in your answer. Treating the members of their client's teams with dignity, respect, and recognizing and rewarding their efforts is paramount.

"If hired for this position here at Korn Ferry, my team-building techniques that I would bring to the table for your clients would center around respect and trust as I've found these to be the biggest detriments of teams. Step one would be to promote an environment where every team member has a voice and the ability to be part of the decision-making processes. Step two would be to create an environment where team members are honest and walk the talk towards greater goals. Once these things are accomplished, a team can function to the highest of its ability."

Tell us when you applied conflict resolution in a business setting. How did you positively influence the outcome?

"In my current role, I was asked to work with two sales managers that were not seeing eye to eye in future planning processes and I was asked to step in and intervene on the situation. My approach to this situation was to first meet with each manager individually to get their perspective on the situation and, lo and behold, both managers felt disrespected by the other. With that in mind, my approach to coaching their relationship focused on empathy and the ability to see things from each other's side. I held an open forum where each could talk about times they felt disrespected by the other and I think it was really eye-opening for each. At the end of that single conversation, both realized that they were in competition with each other and both agreed to work hand in hand for the betterment of the organization in the future."

This behavioral question will offer a meaningful glimpse into your personality. Its aim is to evaluate your mediation and negotiation skills. The interviewer needs to know how adept and effective you are at diplomacy and working swiftly towards a communal end goal.

Korn Ferry's consultants often function as mediators between a client's employees who don't see eye to eye. This requires conflict resolution skills. Highlight yours in your example, assuring them you can be trusted with their clients.

When an interviewer asks how you approach conflict, especially when viewed as an outsider, focus your example on the situation and never focus on any one person as the source of the conflict. Taking a thoughtful approach by listening to the opinions of everyone involved before responding is always a good place to start!

"To me, conflict in the workplace is best settled when both parties understand and acknowledge the perspective of others and come to a mutual agreement to plan for differences. It is foolish to think that every relationship within a business setting is going to be 100% perfect, so these agreements are necessary. I did this recently with two nurses that were working side by side in an emergency department setting. From the start of them working on the same shift together, conflict began immediately and hard feelings only festered from there. As a facilitator between them, I promoted open and respectful dialogue between them about what bothered each person in their relationship. It became clear that each had their own unique upbringing in the healthcare world and differing perspectives on ideal care for patients, even when each of their philosophies fell under the expectations of the department. By promoting this, I was amazed to hear the two nurses work out a plan for handling each other's differences without being prompted by me."

How would you define, promote, and educate our clients on the key qualities of a great business leader?

"Through my years of working with high-level executives and CEOs and through all of the great publications I have read, I truly believe that vision is one of the key components of any great leader. Where many great managers know what it takes to get the job done and do an excellent job of conveying that message, a true leader has a vision for the future to drive business to new levels while also having the foresight to put that vision into action. While being a believer that having a true business vision comes naturally to the right people, I have worked with leaders on reflecting on their visions and giving them the tools to help project their vision into words with their staff. I'd love to bring these ideas to the leadership development programs here at Korn Ferry."

How you answer this question will help them evaluate your ability to identify different personality types. It will also offer insights into your ability to distinguish the benefits and drawbacks of each of the five main leadership styles, and how you integrate that into your coaching and team building.

Prior to your interview, put some thought into the qualities great leaders possess. Rather than rattling them all off, speak passionately about which you feel are important leadership qualities, and how you'd promote them to your clients if hired for the position.

Each work environment and each team can vary. Offer examples from different settings. Avoid any blanket answers, and define your evaluative approach.

"In my experience working closely with high-level leaders at the organization I've worked with during my career, I'm a believer that the promotion of teamwork and cohesiveness is one of the key qualities of successful leaders. I've witnessed many teams and businesses fail because a leader was too stubborn to delegate work and trust others around them to help get a job done. For me, I've always stressed the importance of teamwork by promoting a trusting environment for my leaders and showing them the importance of not being the watch over your shoulder type of leader. I have many great examples of great leaders who delegated work and entrusted their staff around them to work cohesively as a team."

A key component to our success is building relationship with our clients. How would you effectively lay the groundwork for a long-lasting relationship?

"I am a firm believer that success in any role I've played in my career was due in part to the relationships that I've built in those roles. Whenever I have the chance to work with a new colleague or a new customer, my approach is to create an initial connection with them to build trust. After that point, my interpersonal skills take over through active listening. I use my listening skills to learn about the motivating factors and needs of the person that I will be working with and this helps mold that respect and trust between us even more. I think this approach would be very critical in working with new clients on a regular basis here at Korn Ferry and I'd love the opportunity to bring these skills to the table for you."

As the representative of Korn Ferry's brand, you'll be the face their clients see, day in and day out. Being able to successfully foster long-lasting relationships is one of the most important functions of the position, outside of performing the bare necessities of the job. The interviewer is trying to assess how well you'd be able to represent the reputation they've built for themselves.

The little things in one's initial interactions go a long way toward building long-lasting working relationships. Describe how you gain and build trust with new people, and how you use those skills to build relationship after relationship with all the clients that you'll potentially work with.

Exhibit your qualifications through your passion and enthusiasm for the job. Relay how rewarding you find the work, and how your enthusiasm spills over and translates to an effective client experience.

Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What's your approach to learning the ins and outs of a new client's business?

"As you can see from my resume, I've been in corporate training and education for over ten years. In my current role, I have to use similar techniques working with different departments to try and tailor programs that meet their specific needs. I feel that my current approach of hosting an intake meeting with leaders would be effective in a consulting role with external customers. The current intake meetings that I lead are an opportunity for me to ask questions and learn as much as I can about my customers. In turn, it is an opportunity for me to lay the groundwork for the project and set expectations. Do you see this as an effective approach for this role?"

They need to assess your selling points. They're guaging what sets you apart from the other applicants. They're curious what unique skills or approach you offer that might make you worth hiring.

Demonstrate your ability to learn the finer details of each business you'd work with. Detail the approach you'd take to apply your knowledge. Describe your ability to analyze and coach them accordingly.

This is a great opportunity to use terms that convey insider knowledge. Talk the talk. Give the interviewer the confidence you can successfully navigate this aspect of the job.

"Having worked in quality roles for most of my career in both the private and public sectors, I think my career experiences have shaped me well for this role. Transitioning to a consultative role would definitely be a transition for me and the biggest transition will be this need to work in many different industries. For me, researching clients, their business, and their industry will be the first step to my approach in learning about them. I want to make a great first impression when I am face to face with a new client and that first impression starts with my knowledge. Then, my openness and ability to communicate would take over when I am working directly with clients. I know the right questions to ask for laying out quality initiative projects and I know the right things to educate clients on."

You're working with a client-facing production cuts to limit market risks. What steps you would you take to help them analyze their situation?

"From a 10,000-foot overview, I would first seek to understand if the client has done their homework in market research to find out the supply and demand for their product. Knowing that production is based on demand, I'd offer a helping hand as their consultant wherever I could. If it was determined that production would need to be cut, the next step would be to help walk them through the process of determining labor needs in their production facility, and determine what future projections would look like. I feel that my role would be to coordinate all of the key decision-makers in the organization during this process."

As with any job, you always get a little of the bad with the good. The interviewer has a firm grasp of the less favorable aspects of this position. They are trying to assess your scope of this part of the job, and your attitude towards it.

Respond to this question with wisdom and objectivity. Emphasize how when analyzing a client's business and their systems, you explore every avenue before suggesting production cuts, especially when it comes to cutting jobs. Remember, you're only there to help and are not responsible for your client's situation. You're responsible for putting your all into helping them get out of it.

They're aiming to assess how quickly you think on your feet and how well you cope with stress. It's a character test, remain calm, cool, and collected.

Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult person. How did you handle it?

"In my current role, I have a customer that flies off the handle very easily if things don't happen just right. I learned this from my first interactions with him. In seeing this happen from the start, I have always maintained a calm demeanor when he was upset and showed empathy by asking questions about his expectations and how to fix situations for him. To this day, I expect difficulty from him when we work together and the years we've had a working relationship together have better prepared me for more clients like him in the future."

This behavioral question will offer a meaningful glimpse into your personality. It will reveal how capability you navigate the bias geared against your role when entering a new work environment. Its aim is to reveal how well you deal with those in subordinate positions, and how well you work with the client's teams. The interviewer needs to know if you respond defensively to situational conflict, or approach such instances diplomatically, working swiftly towards a communal end goal. They want to know whether you're part of the problem or part of the solution.

When an interviewer asks you how you deal with conflict, focus your example on the solution rather than the problem. Always focus your example on the situation and never steer your focus to any one person.

Rather than detailing why the person in your example was difficult, offer insights into how you handled the situation, and what you did to foster relationships. Focus on empathy, tolerance, understanding, and great communication skills when delivering your examples.

"A couple of years ago, a close colleague of mine had a very abrupt turnaround in her attitude and performance on the job. She was very curt and abrasive in conversations when she was normally very talkative and friendly on the job. After noticing some concerns in her work, I approached her with an open mind and asked her what was going on to cause these things to change. I showed concern and approached her as a friend and this approach prompted her to tell me about some issues happening in her personal life. By taking this approach, rather than getting upset or even made with her, I showed her that I cared and valued her as a person and my approach helped her open up and turn her life at work back around to the positive side."

Have you ever experienced a time when a person or group were disruptive during a training session? If so, how did you handle that situation?

"Coming from the manufacturing industry in a leadership position, I've led team meetings, company town hall meetings, and conducted training for my staff. During all of these things, I have witnessed people not paying attention, talking to others or just plain being disrespectful to me and to others. Recently, in a training for my team, one of my employees kept asking why the company was wasting money on paying for people to sit through a training that wasn't going to benefit anybody. After brushing him off twice, I took the liberty of calling him out on the third time he questioned the training. To the entire team, I asked who saw the training as being beneficial and every person in the room beside the man raised their hands. I then explained why the organization, myself as their leader, and the other employees saw it as important. I casually moved along with the training and not another word was said."

It's incumbent upon the consultants of Korn Ferry to foster an environment of growth and positive change. Diffusing adversity and resistance to change before building a more collaborative team environment is part of the job. Your interviewer needs to establish how skilled you are at overcoming such challenges. The examples you offer will help them determine how well-suited you are for this role.

Describe a situation where you implemented tools to help move training along while engaging those who were disinterested, obstinate, or disruptive. Detail how you handled it, what the outcome was, and your takeaways. If you haven't dealt with this situation directly, put thought into how you'd handle it.

Avoid examples that might come across as negative in any regard. In most instances, such adversity comes from a place of fear. Strategy, empathy, and objectivity are what you should aim to convey.

"During my time of providing education to staff and speaking in front of groups, I've encountered situations where people start side conversations or sit on their phone and don't pay attention. One great tip that I was given was to move around the room as the presenter to force people to adjust their focus to me. I've noticed that this helps a person or group not paying attention to recenter on me. Another tactic I use to prevent outside distraction is varying methods of presentation through video, audio or guest speakers whenever possible."

Working with our clients here at Korn Ferry often involves some initial conflict with our clients. How would you rate your ability to handle conflict or disagreements in the workplace?

"In my role as a project manager with a large private organization, one of my first steps on any new project is setting a budget. Last year, I was leading the effort on a project focused on waste reduction in our manufacturing facilities. In the initial meetings for new projects, our CFO is always involved so she has a high-level overview of what the project will entail. In the meeting, she immediately berated me for the initial budget that I was proposing and vehemently insisted that the amount just wasn't correct or feasible. Rather than taking offense to her thoughts, I wanted to make sure that she, and the rest of the group, had a solid understanding of all that was taken into consideration for setting the budget. After I explained and showed line by line what the proposed budget broke down to, she was very thankful and didn't realize that team member labor was part of that equation. I think that my ability to understand why she was conflicted and my ability to keep a calm, cool head in that situation were vital and a perfect reason for me rating myself high on my conflict resolution skills."

When a consultant comes into an organization to help better an aspect of their business, they'll initially face inevitable conflict with the inflated egos fearful of change. Your interviewer is trying to assess your experience level and ability to handle such conflict on the job.

Detail your conflict resolution skills and how you cope with stress. Offer examples where you handled such challenges on the job with confidence and ease.

Steer clear of trying to commiserate with your interviewer on the more negative aspects of the job. It may be tempting to talk the talk in the ways which you've commiserated with your peers. They are evaluating how effective you'll be in reflecting the culture of their brand. Negativity and trash-talking their clients are not among their core values.

"From my call center days, I think I developed great conflict resolution skills where I would rate myself an 8 out of 10. Handling customers who were upset about a product or service they received required a calm tone, an educational approach, and the ability to not take things too personally. If hired for this position, I would be able to bring this same approach to the clients of Korn Ferry."

Korn Ferry Interview Questions

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1. Can you tell us about a time you had to support an unpopular company policy?
2. How do you like to spend your free time?
3. How do you encourage ideas in others?
4. Korn Ferry puts a lot of focus on corporate responsibility, acting ethically, and becoming more radically human. What do you know about our company values, and how do they align with your personal values?
5. Because Korn Ferry is geographically widespread, are you open to international travel? Is there anything that would restrict you from traveling for work?
6. Have you ever been employed by a company that suffered production cuts resulting in mass layoffs? If so, tell me about your experience.
7. What do you perceive as your greatest strengths?
8. Would you say that you are a goal-oriented person on the job? If so, tell us why.
9. When a problem arises, what's your first reaction?
10. At Korn Ferry, we look to hire those who will be a long-term fit. Where do you see yourself five years from now?
11. In what ways would our clients here at Korn Ferry benefit from your knowledge and services?
12. At Korn Ferry, an important part of receiving buy-in from clients is attained through business diagrams and charts. What experience do you have in creating and presenting business diagrams and charts?
13. What do you feel are the keys to being an effective trainer?
14. A difficult part of working for Korn Ferry is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. What enables you to handle this aspect of the job with ease?
15. Change management is an important aspect of consulting our clients here at Korn Ferry. Have you taken part in a change management process during your career?
16. At Korn Ferry, you'll work with high-level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in this regard?
17. Do you have any experience in succession planning? If so, in what areas do you have specific experience?
18. As a human resources professional, what niches are you most interested in providing consultative services in?
19. Our clients rely on real-world analytical data versus assumptions and guesswork. What analytical skills would you bring to our clients?
20. In this role, you'll be asked to work with unfamiliar businesses across different industries. How would you assess their training needs?
21. What insights would you bring to the area of performance evaluation and development when coaching the leaders of our clients?
22. What knowledge do you have of differing leadership styles and how would you work effectively with each in this role?
23. Talk about a time you successfully educated another individual or group in your area of expertise. What made your educational experience effective?
24. When working with groups of high-level leaders on team development, what do you see as a potential hurdle to overcome?
25. Rate your communication skills from 1 to 10 with proper examples backing your given rating.
26. Do you have any experience with 1:1 coaching of business leaders? As a consultant, what skills would you bring to the table?
27. If hired for this role, what team-building skills and techniques would you be able to offer our clients here at Korn Ferry?
28. Tell us when you applied conflict resolution in a business setting. How did you positively influence the outcome?
29. How would you define, promote, and educate our clients on the key qualities of a great business leader?
30. A key component to our success is building relationship with our clients. How would you effectively lay the groundwork for a long-lasting relationship?
31. Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What's your approach to learning the ins and outs of a new client's business?
32. You're working with a client-facing production cuts to limit market risks. What steps you would you take to help them analyze their situation?
33. Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult person. How did you handle it?
34. Have you ever experienced a time when a person or group were disruptive during a training session? If so, how did you handle that situation?
35. Working with our clients here at Korn Ferry often involves some initial conflict with our clients. How would you rate your ability to handle conflict or disagreements in the workplace?

Korn Ferry Interview Questions

1. Can you tell us about a time you had to support an unpopular company policy?

2. How do you like to spend your free time?

3. How do you encourage ideas in others?

4. Korn Ferry puts a lot of focus on corporate responsibility, acting ethically, and becoming more radically human. What do you know about our company values, and how do they align with your personal values?

5. Because Korn Ferry is geographically widespread, are you open to international travel? Is there anything that would restrict you from traveling for work?

6. Have you ever been employed by a company that suffered production cuts resulting in mass layoffs? If so, tell me about your experience.

7. What do you perceive as your greatest strengths?

8. Would you say that you are a goal-oriented person on the job? If so, tell us why.

9. When a problem arises, what's your first reaction?

10. At Korn Ferry, we look to hire those who will be a long-term fit. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

11. In what ways would our clients here at Korn Ferry benefit from your knowledge and services?

12. At Korn Ferry, an important part of receiving buy-in from clients is attained through business diagrams and charts. What experience do you have in creating and presenting business diagrams and charts?

13. What do you feel are the keys to being an effective trainer?

14. A difficult part of working for Korn Ferry is the need to be fluent and adaptable to the cultures of our clients. What enables you to handle this aspect of the job with ease?

15. Change management is an important aspect of consulting our clients here at Korn Ferry. Have you taken part in a change management process during your career?

16. At Korn Ferry, you'll work with high-level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in this regard?

17. Do you have any experience in succession planning? If so, in what areas do you have specific experience?

18. As a human resources professional, what niches are you most interested in providing consultative services in?

19. Our clients rely on real-world analytical data versus assumptions and guesswork. What analytical skills would you bring to our clients?

20. In this role, you'll be asked to work with unfamiliar businesses across different industries. How would you assess their training needs?

21. What insights would you bring to the area of performance evaluation and development when coaching the leaders of our clients?

22. What knowledge do you have of differing leadership styles and how would you work effectively with each in this role?

23. Talk about a time you successfully educated another individual or group in your area of expertise. What made your educational experience effective?

24. When working with groups of high-level leaders on team development, what do you see as a potential hurdle to overcome?

25. Rate your communication skills from 1 to 10 with proper examples backing your given rating.

26. Do you have any experience with 1:1 coaching of business leaders? As a consultant, what skills would you bring to the table?

27. If hired for this role, what team-building skills and techniques would you be able to offer our clients here at Korn Ferry?

28. Tell us when you applied conflict resolution in a business setting. How did you positively influence the outcome?

29. How would you define, promote, and educate our clients on the key qualities of a great business leader?

30. A key component to our success is building relationship with our clients. How would you effectively lay the groundwork for a long-lasting relationship?

31. Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What's your approach to learning the ins and outs of a new client's business?

32. You're working with a client-facing production cuts to limit market risks. What steps you would you take to help them analyze their situation?

33. Describe a situation where you had to work with a difficult person. How did you handle it?

34. Have you ever experienced a time when a person or group were disruptive during a training session? If so, how did you handle that situation?

35. Working with our clients here at Korn Ferry often involves some initial conflict with our clients. How would you rate your ability to handle conflict or disagreements in the workplace?