In our world here at West Monroe Partners, our clients rely on real world analytical data versus assumptions and guesswork. What analytical skills would you bring to the table here for 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 West Monroe Partners, 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 West Monroe Partners uses."

In the business consulting world, an organization like West Monroe Partners is contracted to come in and help a business where they have usually failed in the past. With past failures comes the need for critical analysis of a business and/or process and your job will be to help facilitate this process. Prior to your interview, think about your experiences in data analysis you've had so far up to this point in your career and translate those experiences to helping the clients of West Monroe Partners. Be sure to talk about the importance of different programs you have used to assist in data analysis and talk about the importance of communication in the data collection process.

"Coming from a software background, being analytical about implementing new systems and processes was vital to receive buy-in from other department 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 West Monroe Partners."

What impact do you feel that the digital revolution has had in the mergers & acquisitions field?

"The internet and other digital avenues has surely increased acquisitions in the fields I've been working in over the past ten years. In retail, internet sales from companies like Amazon has certainly put smaller retailers at risk. I recently worked with a large clothing retailer in acquiring several small companies to bolster their product line. The acquisitions were a win-win situation for both buyer and seller and the selling company was able to sell their business prior to having to close down shop or even filing for bankruptcy."

Any way you slice it, the digital revolution across the world has significantly increased both the needs and the abilities for organizations to acquire others. From your point of view, talk to your interview about where you've seen digital and online formats impact different mergers and acquisitions and make it clear to your interviewer that you will be able to work effectively with their clients in making this a part of their plan.

"The digital revolution has impacted both organizational mergers and acquisitions in many ways. What is happening now that didn't happen years ago is companies purchasing tech companies that they can help use to grow their own business in a unique way. As an advisor to your clients here at West Monroe Partners, these type of growth opportunities would always be at the top of my mind."

Where have you seen common failures or breakdowns in customer service and how would you address these issues with the clients here at West Monroe Partners?

"In today's digital age where people are looking for results and looking for them now, time is a huge hindrance in providing excellent service to customers and I've personally witnessed timing issues and helped diagnose them for my employers. Most important is setting realistic time expectations with customers that you are able to deliver on every time. In some instances, this has been easily remedied with simple education between departments. In other instances, it has been solved through the creation and implementation of timing policies for customers."

When a consulting company like West Monroe Partners is called, it is likely that that organization has seen some failure in the service that they have been providing to customers. In this role as a consultant, you will be asked to help diagnose the issues and help fix them for your clients. For this question, your interviewer is first seeking to see what you have seen in your career as common failures in customer service. Second, and most importantly, your interviewer is looking to hear how you would go about solving the issue with clients. Make sure to be as detailed as possible in this aspect of your answer.

"Having consulted now for five years and having worked across many industries, the most common failures in customer service stem from staff that are poorly trained and/or poorly equipped to do their job. Assessing the competency of employees is my first step when consulting a new business and based off my assessments, I can make recommendations for education and training for the staff. Often, general customer service training suffices. At times though, this training needs to be very industry or product specific and I've helped create several specific training programs for employers."

In the change management process, talk about the importance of providing a clear vision to staff of an organization. How do you think this is best done?

"As I've worked with organizations on their change management processes, I've always felt it was important that communications were clear from the start of a change process. When people are left in the dark, they naturally can't understand why changes are being implemented and they become defensive and resistant to change. Last year, I worked with a manufacturing company that was implementing new equipment that would reduce their staffing needs and change the jobs of many individuals. To roll this out to employees, I helped the leadership team prepare a detailed video and presentation that outlined the entire vision of the project. What really hit home with the staff was the dire need to take this direction based on competitors cost of goods and the fear of being driven out of the market."

The change management process is often most difficult for front-line staff at an organization. A big reason for resistance to change is that people aren't seeing the big picture, or reasons, for the change and what positive outcomes will happen with the change. Explain to your interviewer why you feel that providing a vision is important and talk about the need for it to come from leadership within the organization. Then, give any examples of providing a vision that you've been a part of during your career.

"Humans are curious and change is only accepted when people understand why change is happening and what the end result will be with the change. For one particular employer that I spent time with, a good portion of five years was spent acquiring smaller businesses and expansion in both product line and region size was happening rapidly. Upon working with our senior leadership, I helped develop a vision document and accompanying slide show to show the future state of the organization ten years down the road. When staff saw the aggressive growth plans of the organization and the potential great things we all could accomplish, buy-in became much more clear from everyone."

Many organizations overlook some areas of their business that can benefit from a digital transformation. What is an overlooked area where you've seen a digital transformation make a huge impact during your career?

"In my current role, one unique thing that I accomplished was making our environmental services digital and online. This transformation had many moving pieces. One that I am proud of having a huge impact was automatic notification of supplies being low around restroom facilities. Not only did this save labor time of someone checking supplies, but it also kept both employees and customers extremely satisfied at our facilities."

Digital technology has the ability to impact any level of an organization, but oftentimes some levels get overlooked. For this question, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have the ability to look at these overlooked areas and find ways that a digital upgrade can impact them in a positive way. To be creative, don't leave any stone unturned in your answer.

"A couple of years ago, I was working with a large distributor on revolutionizing their technology usage all across the board. The one area that their management overlooked was with their delivery and fleet of trucks. With changes made to routing tracking/efficiency and vehicle maintenance diagnostics, this organization was able to save tens of thousands of dollars just in the first year of implementation."

What would you consider your strong suit in the digital transformation of organizations that you could bring to our clients here at West Monroe Partners?

"For your clients here at West Monroe Partners, my ability to project a vision into a transformational strategy will greatly benefit everyone that I work with. The key to any digital transformation is buy-in from senior level leadership as they impact how the rest of the organization accepts change and becomes a steward for change. Implementing technological changes cause disruption and chaos and leading projects with a clear vision and strategy is a key to success."

This question gives you the opportunity to showcase what you feel will be your best skills if hired for this position and your interviewer is ideally looking to hear what unique aspects you can bring to their clients. This question remains very open ended for you to talk about process items or industry specific items, so make sure that however you answer that you are able to speak knowledgeably and confidently. Again for this question, researching West Monroe Partners and their clients can pay off big for this question.

"Through the projects that I've worked on in technological transformations for business, I've always prioritized the final customer and their journey and how digitalization will impact them. Many times with organizations that I've worked with, the end customer or user gets lost in the thought process and I would be there for the clients of West Monroe Partners to ensure that their best needs are always taken care of."

Based on your work experience, where do you feel your strongest skills in supply chain management would benefit our clients here at West Monroe Partners?

"As you can see from my experience, my wealth of experience is supply chain management is strong and applies across many different industries. The one skill that I believe I could bring to the clients here at West Monroe Partners is my understanding and knowledge of the legal issues surrounding the management of large supplier contracts. I have witnessed things go sour too many times when legal issues weren't ironed out in the contracting process and I have taken it upon myself to learn this aspect of supply chain management in detail."

As a supply chain expert, your interviewer will be able to tell a lot about your knowledge, skills and abilities from your resume and your conversations during your interview. For this question, your interviewer is looking for you to set yourself apart from your competition for the job by talking about a unique skill or two that you bring to the table that others may not. In your answer, try to maintain focus on the consulting side of the business and explain how your skills will truly assist clients of West Monroe Partners.

"Having been in the field for almost 15 years, day to day operations of a successful supply chain operation are almost second nature to me at this point in my career. What keeps me in the field at this point in my career and is driving into the consulting side of the business is my knack for problem solving at a very high level. Last year, I developed a new routing plan for a materials distributor that ended up saving the organization close to $500,000 on yearly delivery and maintenance costs and my problem solving skills during that project were essential to receiving buy-in from senior leadership at the organization."

Rate your communication skills from 1-10 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."

On a scale of 1-10, how skilled are you in communication? Why did you choose that particular rating for yourself?

"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."

How would you solicit feedback from people during the change management process and why is obtaining feedback important?

"Front line employees are the catalysts for change with just about any organization and I make a point to seek their feedback during the implementation of change processes. Last year, I was working with a large regional retailer that was rolling out new branding and customer service processes. In the weeks following the rollout of the changes, I spend a few days on the road visiting stores and talking to customer service associates. I ensured that the conversations were confidential and frank, making sure that employees knew that any feedback was good feedback. With some of the things I learned, we were able to put forth a couple of important post-implementation change activities. If hired for this position, this would be an important follow-up step with any client that I work with."

Reinforcement is an important factor during the change management process that is often overlooked. Communication is key and while you as the champion of change need to communicate in an effective manner, your collection and analysis of feedback from others is also very important. Explain to your interview why obtaining feedback from others is important and discuss ways that you have done this in the past. Express that this would always be an important process as you work with the clients of West Monroe Partners.

"In my work consulting through change management processes, it is important to solicit feedback from employees both prior to starting a project and during implementation of a project. I have found that soliciting feedback through conversation and/or surveys helps lead to get employees to believe in and feel a part of change management processes. Front-line employees know the processes and how change will impact their processes."

Outside of work, what type of creative activities do you like to pursue?

"Outside of work I like to attend dance classes and I also attend the odd paint and sip wine nights at a local wine shop. I also enjoy reading as a way of nurturing my creative side."

A genuinely creative minded person will have outside activities aside from what's happening in the workplace. Tell the interviewer about the variety of ways in which you express your creativity.

"I think it's important to exercise creativity in a variety of ways. This reasoning is why I am involved in a variety of things such as team sports, reading, and art classes."

A common project we work on with clients here at West Monroe Partners is inventory optimization. In your mind, why is this such an important task to tackle with clients that are in need of a system revamp?

"The reason for the importance of inventory optimization is very easy to explain in theory to clients in the fact that it helps them save money by maintaining the correct inventory at all times. The difficult part is weighing in every factor and component of the supply chain process to balance the supply and demand of the business. If hired for this position, I will be a reliable consultant that works with every aspect of a business to find that delicate balance. My ability to work with and bring together different groups within an organization will strongly benefit the clients of West Monroe Partners."

In today's supply chain management and logistics world, inventory optimization is extremely important to organizations both large and small. While the reasons for it being important are plenty, the basics come down to an organization's need to balance costs of inventory with a demand from customers and finding that right balance. In your answer, be sure to talk about the fact the optimization of inventory isn't an exact science that fits all businesses and talk about your ability to diagnose the right fit with each organization that you could potentially be working with.

"From my years of experience in the industry, I've witnessed way too many organizations throwing wasteful money at inventories that were way too high in fear of missing out on production or sales that just weren't there. During my career, I've helped implement just in time inventory strategies to several manufacturers and the results of each project have been astounding when looking at labor and inventory costs."

Market research is very important to our clients here at West Monroe Partners. Talk about a time that you used market research to conduct an effective analysis.

"Earlier this year, I consulted with an online retailer that was looking to expand its product line into new health and beauty products that were all natural. To get as quick of a turnaround as possible on a limited budget, I started an online survey research campaign. After a meeting with leadership of the retailer, we targeted women in specific age categories and used specific social media and email channels to obtain survey responses. Within a month, the retailer had great data to work off of to launch products that would hit the market and take off quickly."

When a company is looking to launch a new product or dig into their consumers, market research is required and this position with West Monroe Partners will likely require you to be a market research expert with their clients. Your interviewer will be looking to hear that you understand when market research is a necessary step in the analysis process and that you know how run an effective research campaign. In your example, walk through the steps you took to gain insightful knowledge on consumers.

"During my time conducting market research, I have utilized many channels to conduct effective research. I've conducted focus group, utilized social media and have conducted phone surveys. One that comes to mind is a couple of years ago when I conducted focus groups for a new beverage that a large company wanted to release. I had a team of people finding people to participate in the groups. I started the focus group out with a blind taste testing to get initial feedback on the drink against its potential competition in the market. Then, I unveiled the product packaging and labeling to get feedback from the consumers. In the end, our client received great feedback that helped them tweak some things prior to the product launch."

To help determine your qualifications for this role here at West Monroe Partners, please dive into your background in customer service. Do you have any direct experience in training others in customer service?

"As you can see from my resume, my career in customer service started in college while working toward my undergraduate degree. Working for a large call center, I learned the importance of listening to customers and solving their issues creatively. Following college, I started in retail management with a large clothing store. Since being in that role for over 12 years, not only have I spent extensive hours training staff on customer experience, handling adversity and other subjects of the like, I've also helped create and implement successful training programs in these areas. My experience there could prove to be a big asset here at West Monroe Partners."

Consulting in customer services can vary greatly from industry to industry and organization to organization. This is no different than consulting for West Monroe Partners. To get a better feel for your resume and your experiences, your interviewer is looking to hear about your experiences first-hand during your interview. Most importantly, to gauge your direct experience that will translate well to a consultant role, talk about your experiences in training others in sound customer service techniques and policies.

"Having spent my career in the hospitality and tourism world, customer service has always been priority number one in ensuring the happiness, safety and return of every customer for another stay. Whether it was during my time working front desk or concierge of high profile hotels or in my current role as General Manager, customers have always been my top priority. Through Hilton, I've trained in the Hilton Hospitality & Service program and am now a certified trainer for new staff. I can take that training and apply it across many industries here at West Monroe Partners."

Sometimes with our clients here at West Monroe Partners, we have to think outside the box when helping them develop a strategic plan. Do you have an example of a time where you thought outside of the box in developing a strategic plan?

"As the leader of the strategic growth committee of my employer right out of college, I felt that it was important to solicit feedback from employees as we looked to create and implement our first ever strategic plan. I created an idea box where employees were prompted to write down any ideas anonymously for what they though would be helpful in creating an outward looking success strategy. I communicated to employees through email, team meetings and a company newsletter. After three months, our committee went through every suggestion in the box and brainstormed which ideas could be implemented into our strategy. In the end, we felt that we received many great thoughts and ideas that we likely wouldn't have come up with on our own."

In today's day and age, conventional thinking can only get organizations so far as they develop strategic plans for the future. With competition, demand and needs for success keeping people focused on day to day routine in their work, it is oftentimes necessary to think outside of the box when looking to develop a strategic plan. Talk about a time that you used a unique and unconventional tactic in the development of a strategic plan. Why do you consider that method thinking outside of the box?

"I personally believe that way too many organizations only look internally when developing a strategic plan when they should also be soliciting feedback from customers, stakeholders and/or the general public as well. Last year when working with a regional grocery retailer, I utilized public focus groups to really delve into the minds of consumers to aid in creating a strategic plan. While wanting to get as much relevant information as possible from the focus groups, a great deal of thought was put into the questions that were asked of the focus group."

What experience do you have working with artificial intelligence in the business world? Where have you seen it be successful?

"Having worked closely in the education field and implementing digital transformations in schools across the country, AI in the school setting is starting to take hold and the impacts of it are amazing. One such AI technology is personal tutors for students. In most setting, teachers can't provide 1:1 tutoring for students for longer than little bits of time. New AI in the education field can be customized to work with struggling students at their need level and at their pace."

Artificial intelligence is beginning to make its way into every industry across the globe and organizations that are hesitant to experiment with breaking technology in the field will fall behind their competition quickly. Talk openly about the experience you have working with artificial intelligence and expand on where you've seen it be successful. Make sure your interview walks away from your conversation knowing that you understand the importance of AI and where clients at West Monroe Partners can benefit from its use.

"Having specialized in digital transformation for HR departments spanning across many industries, the roll out of artificial intelligence in that field in recent years has been amazing. Last year, I helped a client implement a resume and application screening bot that saved recruiters a lot of time in pre-screening candidates and allowed them to focus their efforts on final candidates for high volume positions. I am very intrigued by AI applications and would love to help clients here at West Monroe Partners find AI solutions that improve their business."

What tools and programs are you comfortable and experienced working on that would help you in this role with West Monroe Partners?

"As a proficient user and fan of the Microsoft Office Suite, I am very proficient using all of the pieces of the suite. I rely on Outlook for email communications, calendar appointments and managing daily and weekly tasks. I regularly use the Visio tool for diagramming and Excel for tracking purposes. In preparation for this interview, I've been researching common requirements management tools like Rational Requisite Pro and I feel confident in my technical abilities to learn and utilize a new business analyst program."

As business technology has increased over time, the business analytics field has flourished with great tools becoming more easily available. Your interviewer is looking to get a sense of what programs you have familiarity working with and, on top of that, how fluent and efficient you are in using those tools. Be sure to touch on programs/tools that touch effective communication, project management and modelling/visualization and highlight the fact that you are proficient in and open to learning new programs if needed.

"As a trained IT professional looking to breakthrough into the analytics field, you can be assured that I have a wide breadth of experience working with many different programs and tools. On top of the normal Microsoft Office programs, I've worked on email programs like Zimbra and Mailbird for communications and am comfortable learning any new system. I think one unique aspect I can bring to West Monroe Partners is my experience working with SQL database management and queries."

What do you believe to be the number one quality that most influences the overall customer experience?

"As I've worked in customer service my entire career in retail sales and in dining, I truly believe that the best customer experience is provided by happy and engaged employees. If employees are satisfied with their work and believe in the product that they are selling, they are able to speak to customers intelligently and wisely about the product and they do it with a big smile on their face. This factor is what helps keep customers coming back time and time again."

As a consultant in the customer service arena, you will be considered to be an expert on customer experience and customer satisfaction to the clients that you work with. While this question is certainly open ended, your interviewer is looking to hear that you have passion and belief in your answer because there is indeed no right or wrong answer to this question. Be sure to prepare for your interview ahead of time and be able to speak openly and passionately about what you believe is the most important factor for a satisfied customer.

"I'm a firm believer that a positive customer experience, no matter the business or industry, comes from the basic human need of trust. Any customer of any business is inherently putting their trust in the company, the product and the associate that they are working with that the will receive a quality product and quality service. In projecting this out to those that provide customer service, there are many factors to building trust with customers. Being knowledgeable, being friendly and considering the needs of the customer are of utmost importance to gain trust. These factors are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to building that trust."

What sourcing experience would you bring to the clients here at West Monroe Partners? What role do you feel it plays in the overall success of a great supply chain management program?

"From what I've found in my time working in supply chain management, many organizations get very complacent in their sourcing. In my mind, a sound tactic is to research options and negotiate new contracts through a sourcing process on a yearly basis. Last year, I worked with a client that was doing all of their short line trucking in house. They were experiencing large amounts of fleet cost and employee turnover on the trucking side that was leading to halting operations. In short order, I helped them outsource their freight hauling between facilities and cut their total overall costs almost in half. What made me even happier was when I received a personal call from the CEO that production was increasing with the better service from the third party hauler."

The process of acquiring goods and services through sourcing varies from business to business and industry to industry, but the overall processes of sourcing are consistent throughout. Knowing that the clients of West Monroe Partners often need work in cost savings through sourcing strategies, make sure that you reiterate to your interview that it is important to consider for every client that you work with. Then, talk about the specific experiences you have and don't hesitate to point out a success story that you have from implementing a new sourcing strategy.

"While sourcing certainly has many realms within different industries, it is always important to consider different strategies to help increase bottom line revenue for an organization. Last year, I worked with a manufacturer that was getting priced out of their market and were at a point where lowering retail prices more would put the line out of business. After a meeting with the design and production leadership, I learned that the costs of the components they were utilizing were extremely high. I worked with both the design staff and the purchasing staff on finding new suppliers for almost every component. We tested the components for safety and quality and when it was determined that the components were indeed of the same quality, it ended being a win-win situation for the company."

At West Monroe Partners, how would you explain benchmark data to a client and its importance?

"In simple Layman's terms, I would explain benchmarking to clients by explaining that it is taking the best practice metrics from other peers within their industry using very quantitative measurements. In turn, I would explain that this benchmarking gives a starting point for their organization to set goals once internal metrics are obtained and compared to the benchmarked data."

Benchmarking data is often an overlooked piece of information for organizations to consider when factoring their performance against industry competition. In the end, businesses are in competition and to gain an edge over their rivals, proper benchmarking needs to be done to get a true comparison. As an expert consultant to their clients, the leadership team at West Monroe Partners and your interviewer will expect you to know the importance of benchmarking.

"Far too many times during my career have I witnessed organizations that were hesitant to even look at benchmarked data for their industry. I first do my best to sell leaders on the importance of comparing apples to apples within their industry to get a true gauge for how their company is performing. Then, once I receive buy-in to the process, I can then move forward with gathering information from a client on what best benchmarking measures would be. This is a tedious but necessary process with any data analytics project."

At West Monroe Partners, our clients are looking for us to come in and provide sound leadership in their strategic planning and growth planning processes. What leadership style would you bring to our clients?

"Having worked with and led large teams in the development of formal growth plans for organization, I see my role as a consultant and my leadership with clients as being team-based and collaborative. My job is to lead transformational change within the organization because we will ultimately be trying something new with them and implementing change into the future. From my style of leadership comes improvement through a team based effort and I really think the clients here at West Monroe Partners would benefit greatly from my style."

As a consultant at West Monroe Partners, an expectation from clients is for you to bring a sound leadership style to their team and a working knowledge of effective growth and strategic planning processes. While trying to avoid formal labels, talk about your leadership style as a consultant and explain why your style would most benefit clients. Try to focus on keywords that your leadership style brings, like collaboration and support.

"As a consultant, I'd definitely employ a very democratic approach with your clients. They will be looking for me to provide the blueprint and the road map for success for them and then I would look to delegate and leave responsibility for implementing on them. My approach would be educational, resourceful and would preach teamwork among the entire project team. When I've utilized this approach in the past, it was very well received and helped lead to the success of several large projects."

In what ways would our clients here at West Monroe Partners 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."

This question is your chance to talk about the unique skills and knowledge that you would bring to West Monroe Partners and that is exactly what your interviewer is looking to hear. In your answer, keep your focus centered on how clients of the organization will benefit from the things that you bring to their table because West Monroe Partners is client focused in all that they do. To be effective with this answer, be sure to do your research on the clients at West Monroe Partners and think about how your experience will be beneficial for them.

"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."

What positive impact have you seen digital transformation have on the customer service experience for an organization. Why is this aspect important for the clients here at West Monroe Partners to consider?

"Today's consumer, whether a young child or a retired person, is likely on a smart phone and able to function it with ease. Because of this, customer service for any business has a dire need to be digital or they will fall behind their competition in no time. Last year, I worked with a large line of auto dealerships on a digital transformation and an important piece of that move was the customer service end of things. While still wanting to handle things like service appointments and customer follow ups over the phone, the move to an app based and web based platform really saw their sales and service revenue increase in a short amount of time. They hadn't realized how far they were falling behind until someone from the outside pointed it out."

The digital revolution has certainly impacted the ways that organizations interact with their customers. At the touch of a button, customers have access to product reviews, costs and many other things. Couple that with the fact that today's customer wants information or answers to questions right now, organizations are in dire need to be on the forefront of technology. Talk about a positive impact you have witnessed in the customer service realm when it comes to becoming digital and reiterate to your interview that customer service should never be overlooked when it comes to becoming digital.

"Over the last five years of my career, I've been working with clients on beefing up their internet sales presence. Statistics don't lie and they show that consumers today are more apt to purchase things from home with delivery guaranteed in one to two days rather than taking a drive to a department store or shopping mall. Just last year, over one third of holiday purchases were made from a smartphone. Two years ago, I worked with a niche retailer on creating a website and the capability for online ordering and shipping. Within six months, the retailer boosted total sales numbers by over 25%!"

Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What would be your approach to help you learn the ins and outs of a new client?

"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?"

West Monroe Partners contracts with businesses in different industries for their services and it is likely that your job would require you to learn the fine details of each business that you would work with. Demonstrate your ability to be flexible by giving examples of times you've had to do this during your career. As well, describe the approach that you would take to get the know the businesses you would be working with so you can apply your knowledge and expertise toward helping them.

"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."

Our clients here at West Monroe Partners expect top notch work from our consultants. How do you ensure that your work is error free when conducting research and/or data analysis?

"For me, ensuring accurate data and error free work starts in the data collection process. I always make sure that they type of data collected is well defined to avoid unnecessary data in the analysis. Then, quality work comes down to organizing data in the best fashion possible and cleansing the data regularly. I know some analysts overlook these second two steps a lot of times, but the fact remains that these two steps are often the biggest hurdles to providing quality measurements to those that need it most."

While certainly an open ended question for you to talk about your detailed and thorough work, your interviewer is simply looking to hear that you have a plan for ensuring quality work each and every day you are on the job. Talk about the importance for providing accurate and reliable data and walk through any steps that you take to ensure that your work is error free. In the consulting world, the reputation of West Monroe Partners will rely on the accuracy of your work.

"Organization is the main key to ensuring accurate and mistake free data analysis. My organization starts with setting a data collection strategy and asking the right questions to ensure that the data I am collecting is the right data. Oftentimes, analysts live and die by the idea that executing and getting things done as quickly as possible is the only way of data analysis. This couldn't be farther from the truth and as the old saying goes, proper planning prevents poor performance."

Talk about a time that 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."

The role that you are interviewing for with West Monroe Partners will likely involve providing education to clients in your area of expertise. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are comfortable and effective in providing education by having you talk about a time that you have done so. In the example that you provide, try to point out some key items to making business education successful like developing a plan/goals, respecting differing viewpoints/opinions, making it hands on and making it fun.

"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 West Monroe Partners and your clients would benefit greatly."

For our clients here at West Monroe Partners that are working through a change management project, accountability is of utmost importance for the entire organization. How would you help ensure accountability from the leadership team?

"Having walked many organizations through some major change processes, one of my top priorities is always communication and transparency to staff. And you really hit the nail on the head with this question that both of these things lead to accountability for the organization. To help facilitate this process, my conversations with leadership would entail details on how to effectively communicate with staff and I'm a firm believer that this should happen from both the highest levels of leadership as well as from direct supervisors and managers of employees. I have experience developing communication strategies and actual presentations for leadership in this realm."

As a consultant to organizations in the midst of a change management process, accountability should be a priority for the leadership team and one of your tasks as the consultant is to help foster this with the entire staff. With accountability comes transparency, so be sure to focus on this aspect in your answer. Talk about why you feel that accountability and transparency are important and how you would make sure that the leaders you work with keep these things at the top of mind during their process.

"In my experience, accountability for an organization during a change process is a tricky line to walk. First, employees want to know what is happening and the reasoning behind it. Second, customers, stakeholder and the general public may desire information as well. Then, you have to factor in what information can be shared for legal and/or competitive reasons and walk the organization through best communicating the changes to everybody. I have a great deal of experience in walking through this process of holding an organization accountable and would love to help the clients of West Monroe Partners do just this."

At West Monroe Partners, you will have the opportunity to work with high level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in working with people at these levels?

"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."

As a business advisory and consulting firm, West Monroe Partners works with Managers, Directors, CEO's, CFO's, CAO's and leaders with other titles on all of our projects. Your role will likely involve working closely with these leaders. For this question, your interviewer will be looking to hear that you are comfortable in working with the leadership team of the organization's clients by having you talk about your experience. Make sure that the examples you provide include some details on how you worked effectively to get the job done with the leaders you worked with.

"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 with in recent interactions."

Have you ever developed an acquisition strategy for an organization? Why would this be important to our clients here at West Monroe Partners?

"In the last year, I have helped two organizations think out and write their acquisition strategies that they would use moving forward. For one regional grocery retailer, I worked with their CEO and CFO to learn that their desire to enter new markets was their overall goal. With that strategy in mind, we began to search and evaluate potential organizations in adjacent regions to where the retailer currently had a foothold. As of today, they have successfully acquired one struggling regional chain and opened six new stores that are flourishing."

For clients that are just beginning the potential acquisition process, an effective strategy is imperative to help them outline what they expect to gain from an acquisition. This strategy provides the basis for all other steps of the acquisition process by outlining what the end goal will be. As a consultant with West Monroe Partners, their clients will rely on your expertise in this area so be sure to speak about the experience you have and how that will help the clients that you work with.

"A well thought out acquisition strategy is crucial for an organization to have as they look to venture out in new markets and territories. I consider this planning process as one of my fortes that I'd be able to bring a wealth of expertise to with your clients. A couple of years ago, I consulted a mid-sized automotive dealership that had aggressive dreams of growing their number of dealership. In that industry, there just isn't much room for expansion so merging with or acquiring new dealerships was a priority. In my leading of the process for developing a strategy, the leadership team identified new brands as a top priority. With that as our starting point, our analysis of competition in the area showed struggling numbers at two competitors. Within a year, a deal was struck for my client to obtain the local Toyota/Lexus dealership."

West Monroe Partners Interview Questions

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1. In our world here at West Monroe Partners, our clients rely on real world analytical data versus assumptions and guesswork. What analytical skills would you bring to the table here for our clients?
2. What impact do you feel that the digital revolution has had in the mergers & acquisitions field?
3. Where have you seen common failures or breakdowns in customer service and how would you address these issues with the clients here at West Monroe Partners?
4. In the change management process, talk about the importance of providing a clear vision to staff of an organization. How do you think this is best done?
5. Many organizations overlook some areas of their business that can benefit from a digital transformation. What is an overlooked area where you've seen a digital transformation make a huge impact during your career?
6. What would you consider your strong suit in the digital transformation of organizations that you could bring to our clients here at West Monroe Partners?
7. Based on your work experience, where do you feel your strongest skills in supply chain management would benefit our clients here at West Monroe Partners?
8. Rate your communication skills from 1-10 with proper examples backing your given rating.
9. How would you solicit feedback from people during the change management process and why is obtaining feedback important?
10. Outside of work, what type of creative activities do you like to pursue?
11. A common project we work on with clients here at West Monroe Partners is inventory optimization. In your mind, why is this such an important task to tackle with clients that are in need of a system revamp?
12. Market research is very important to our clients here at West Monroe Partners. Talk about a time that you used market research to conduct an effective analysis.
13. To help determine your qualifications for this role here at West Monroe Partners, please dive into your background in customer service. Do you have any direct experience in training others in customer service?
14. Sometimes with our clients here at West Monroe Partners, we have to think outside the box when helping them develop a strategic plan. Do you have an example of a time where you thought outside of the box in developing a strategic plan?
15. What experience do you have working with artificial intelligence in the business world? Where have you seen it be successful?
16. What tools and programs are you comfortable and experienced working on that would help you in this role with West Monroe Partners?
17. What do you believe to be the number one quality that most influences the overall customer experience?
18. What sourcing experience would you bring to the clients here at West Monroe Partners? What role do you feel it plays in the overall success of a great supply chain management program?
19. At West Monroe Partners, how would you explain benchmark data to a client and its importance?
20. At West Monroe Partners, our clients are looking for us to come in and provide sound leadership in their strategic planning and growth planning processes. What leadership style would you bring to our clients?
21. In what ways would our clients here at West Monroe Partners benefit from your knowledge and services?
22. What positive impact have you seen digital transformation have on the customer service experience for an organization. Why is this aspect important for the clients here at West Monroe Partners to consider?
23. Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What would be your approach to help you learn the ins and outs of a new client?
24. Our clients here at West Monroe Partners expect top notch work from our consultants. How do you ensure that your work is error free when conducting research and/or data analysis?
25. Talk about a time that you successfully educated another individual or group in your area of expertise. What made your educational experience effective?
26. For our clients here at West Monroe Partners that are working through a change management project, accountability is of utmost importance for the entire organization. How would you help ensure accountability from the leadership team?
27. At West Monroe Partners, you will have the opportunity to work with high level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in working with people at these levels?
28. Have you ever developed an acquisition strategy for an organization? Why would this be important to our clients here at West Monroe Partners?

West Monroe Partners Interview Questions

1. In our world here at West Monroe Partners, our clients rely on real world analytical data versus assumptions and guesswork. What analytical skills would you bring to the table here for our clients?

2. What impact do you feel that the digital revolution has had in the mergers & acquisitions field?

3. Where have you seen common failures or breakdowns in customer service and how would you address these issues with the clients here at West Monroe Partners?

4. In the change management process, talk about the importance of providing a clear vision to staff of an organization. How do you think this is best done?

5. Many organizations overlook some areas of their business that can benefit from a digital transformation. What is an overlooked area where you've seen a digital transformation make a huge impact during your career?

6. What would you consider your strong suit in the digital transformation of organizations that you could bring to our clients here at West Monroe Partners?

7. Based on your work experience, where do you feel your strongest skills in supply chain management would benefit our clients here at West Monroe Partners?

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

9. How would you solicit feedback from people during the change management process and why is obtaining feedback important?

10. Outside of work, what type of creative activities do you like to pursue?

11. A common project we work on with clients here at West Monroe Partners is inventory optimization. In your mind, why is this such an important task to tackle with clients that are in need of a system revamp?

12. Market research is very important to our clients here at West Monroe Partners. Talk about a time that you used market research to conduct an effective analysis.

13. To help determine your qualifications for this role here at West Monroe Partners, please dive into your background in customer service. Do you have any direct experience in training others in customer service?

14. Sometimes with our clients here at West Monroe Partners, we have to think outside the box when helping them develop a strategic plan. Do you have an example of a time where you thought outside of the box in developing a strategic plan?

15. What experience do you have working with artificial intelligence in the business world? Where have you seen it be successful?

16. What tools and programs are you comfortable and experienced working on that would help you in this role with West Monroe Partners?

17. What do you believe to be the number one quality that most influences the overall customer experience?

18. What sourcing experience would you bring to the clients here at West Monroe Partners? What role do you feel it plays in the overall success of a great supply chain management program?

19. At West Monroe Partners, how would you explain benchmark data to a client and its importance?

20. At West Monroe Partners, our clients are looking for us to come in and provide sound leadership in their strategic planning and growth planning processes. What leadership style would you bring to our clients?

21. In what ways would our clients here at West Monroe Partners benefit from your knowledge and services?

22. What positive impact have you seen digital transformation have on the customer service experience for an organization. Why is this aspect important for the clients here at West Monroe Partners to consider?

23. Being successful in the consulting industry requires adaptability and the ability to learn a business fast. What would be your approach to help you learn the ins and outs of a new client?

24. Our clients here at West Monroe Partners expect top notch work from our consultants. How do you ensure that your work is error free when conducting research and/or data analysis?

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

26. For our clients here at West Monroe Partners that are working through a change management project, accountability is of utmost importance for the entire organization. How would you help ensure accountability from the leadership team?

27. At West Monroe Partners, you will have the opportunity to work with high level executives and leaders from the companies we contract with. What experience do you have in working with people at these levels?

28. Have you ever developed an acquisition strategy for an organization? Why would this be important to our clients here at West Monroe Partners?