Celonis Consultant Interview Questions
& Process

I applied online for a senior consulting role in late November. Within 3-4 days, I had a screening call, followed by a 30-minute interview with the hiring manager three days later. The next week, I had a 45-minute technical interview. About 10 days after that, I had the final VP call. The whole process felt smooth and efficient, with consistently positive feedback. Then it went quiet for a few weeks, including the Xmas holidays. After I followed up a few times via messages and emails, they told me I was being considered for other roles too, which explained the delay. More silence followed, and then I received a standard rejection email saying 'other candidates were more closely aligned with our requirements...'. They didn't offer a courtesy call or any personalized feedback, despite my polite requests. I wanted to give a heads-up, especially if your time is valuable: there were signs this job might not be a genuine hire, which I missed. The job had been open for over 8 months, was frequently reposted on LinkedIn, the job description was identical for multiple roles, the role itself lacked clarity, juniors were in interviews without a clear purpose, and the number of openings seemed disproportionate for a company of this size. I usually don't post negative feedback as I can't be sure of motives, but the pattern of disrespect for people's time, hopes, and life circumstances is becoming too common in the job market to ignore. So, I felt I had to warn you about potentially falling for theatrics or worse, joining an organization that doesn't respect you.

So the interview process here is pretty involved. It starts with a recruiter screening, like you'd expect. After that, you gotta pass a SQL eval before you can even get to the next stage, which is a behavioral interview with some of the current consultants. Then comes the big one, the 'challenge' – basically a sample project where you use their software and then present your findings. Finally, you'll have a round with a VP. They were upfront about it being a lengthy process, but heads up, if you're on the fence about this role, be aware it takes a good few days just to get familiar with their software to even start the challenge. Plus, you need to do data analysis for the presentation, and it's a 45-minute talk. Oh, and they use a custom version of SQL, which is worth noting.

So the whole thing took about 5 to 7 weeks, with each step happening weekly. First, an HR call to see if I was a good fit and talk about the job. Then, a basic SQL test to send back to HR. After that, a basic interview covering my background, past experiences, and some core concepts for the role. The next big step was the challenge round: a 20-minute presentation about a solution I built on the Celonis EMS platform, based on a given scenario, basically selling Celonis and my solution to the interviewer like a customer, followed by 10 mins of Q&A. Then, an executive interview to dive deeper into the solution from the last round and my experience with the platform. After that, a managerial interview to check my fit for the role and talk more about my past work. Finally, salary negotiations with HR. They roll out the offer after everything is accepted.