Cambridge Associates, LLC Management Consultant Interview Questions
& Process

I applied via email for this job at their new Beijing office. About three weeks later, I got a call to schedule a 30-minute phone interview. The first round call started on time with 'tell me something about yourself,' followed by a resume review and behavioral questions like 'what are your strengths?'. They also asked company research questions such as 'what are Cambridge Associates' competitors?' and 'why do you want a career in investment consulting?' to gauge my seriousness about investment consulting. This part lasted about 17 minutes. I was told a decision would take a week, but I heard back the next day about advancing to the second round. The second round involved a written test and a case study (different from management consulting cases). It included more in-depth behavioral questions. The written test was 20 minutes, with two topics offered: a reflection on recent finance news or steps for communicating with institutional clients. I chose the finance news topic. The case study was material-heavy, focusing on selecting stocks and managers for institutional clients using concepts like Sharpe ratio, diversification, and efficient portfolio frontier, with graphs provided. I felt this might be difficult without a finance major. Afterward, I met two other staff members for behavioral questions to assess fit and long-term interest in investment consulting. Again, I was told a decision would take a week, but got a call the next day about moving to the next round. By the third round, I figured it was down to 3 or 4 candidates and I needed to stand out. The first half was with a potential direct supervisor, with questions similar to the second round, plus some basic finance questions. The second half was with the director of the consulting group, again with deep behavioral questions like in round 2. The interviewers were pleasant and respectful, mostly focusing on aligning my goals with the company's.

I applied with a resume and cover letter through campus recruiting. The first interview was on-campus with a current Consulting Associate, and it was pretty informal. After that, I had a super-day at their Boston office. It was made up of five 30-45 minute interviews, followed by a casual lunch off-site with another Consulting associate. The interviews were: 1. Behavioral - focusing on my academic background. 2. Behavioral - focusing on my work experience. 3. A case study where I had to propose an investment strategy for a university client. 4. Analyzing and discussing an article about investment strategy changes at Harvard, Yale, and Stanford post-financial crisis. 5. A 30-minute chat about why I'm interested in Cambridge and my career aspirations.

It starts with a phone interview where they ask some basic stuff like your favorite classes and for you to explain your resume. They also want to know how you found out about Cambridge and ask general questions about working with people, your strengths and weaknesses. Then, there's a 3-hour session with a bunch of people: 2 consulting associates, an office manager, and 2 consultants. This part is long to make you more open. The first few interviewers will ask similar things about your Excel skills (like if you know vlookups, vbas, sumproducts) and your interest in investments. The last part is a case study with stuff about Sharpe ratios and efficient regions, where you have to pick the best portfolio out of four based on the provided data.