Compass Lexecon Analyst Interview Questions
& Process
Real candidates share what happened, how many rounds they had,
and how the experience turned out.
Based on 164 interview experiences · FREE TO READ
Candidate interview experiences
First-hand accounts from people who interviewed at Compass Lexecon.
Compass Lexecon
Analyst
Senior Average Positive experience Accept offer 2 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Technical screen Onsite
Interview formats
Behavioral Technical Case
It was a pretty standard interview process, with two rounds in total. The first round was mainly about my research background, why I was interested in the company, and how I work in a team. The second round was a more intense 'super day' where I had to tackle a case question focused on data.
Confirmed questions5 questions
- Can you describe a research question you faced and walk me through how you tackled it, including your methods, the data you used, and the outcomes?
- Tell me about your experience with research.
- What makes you interested in our company?
Compass Lexecon
Analyst
Entry Difficult Negative experience No offer 3 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Phone screen Technical screen Onsite Background check Offer
Interview formats
Behavioral Case Technical
The interview process started with a straightforward round, asking about my CV and competition. This was followed by a case study on competition, which wasn't too difficult as the interviewers were really helpful. The final round involved questions about my past experience, dissertation, and competition. I'm very disappointed with Compass Lexecon's handling of this process. They repeatedly informed us about week-long delays, which kept happening. To this day, I've heard nothing back. They mentioned a call to provide an update, but it never happened.
Confirmed questions2 questions
- Can you discuss your dissertation?
- What motivates collusion?
Compass Lexecon
Analyst
Entry Difficult Positive experience No offer 4 rounds
Interview process
Recruiter call Take home Technical screen Presentation Background check Offer
Interview formats
Technical Case Presentation Behavioral
Started with some easy math and logic tests. Then, I had a quick chat with an economist about why I'm interested in competition economics and Compass. About two weeks later, I was invited to an assessment day. This included a case study that took about 2.5 hours. I had 55 minutes to read it, 30 minutes to discuss it with an economist, and then an hour to write a report. The case involved one shoe retailer buying another, and I had to figure out the competition authority's potential concerns and how to address them as a consultant, using basic calculations like UPP. The interviewer was helpful with structuring the report. After a break, I had two 1-hour technical interviews, which were quite tiring by the end.
Confirmed questions6 questions
- Imagine there's a cartel of track producers with 6 members and no other players in the market. What might lead to this cartel forming? What would market prices be like without the cartel? Which oligopolistic model best fits the pre-cartel price: Cournot or Bertrand, and why? How would you use real data to measure the harm caused by this cartel? What variables would you use in a regression? Why is including output as a control variable in a regression problematic? Which OLS assumption would be breached here? How could you resolve this issue?
- Regarding a merger between an upstream monopolist and a downstream monopolist, what concerns would a competition authority likely have?
- Could you explain your motivation for pursuing a career in competition economics?
Compass Lexecon Analyst Interview Questions
Quoted word for word from Compass Lexecon interview reports.
“If a cartel among upstream firms raises the marginal cost for downstream firms, would this lead to a price increase if the downstream firms operate as an oligopoly? What if the downstream firm is a monopoly?”
Read reports →“Regarding the marble jar problem, if you start with 1000 blue marbles in one jar and 1000 red marbles in another, move 20 marbles from blue to red, then 20 from red back to blue, and repeat this, which jar ends up with fewer marbles of the opposite color?”
Read reports →“Regarding a merger between an upstream monopolist and a downstream monopolist, what concerns would a competition authority likely have?”
Read reports →“Consider two market scenarios: one with 10 firms where the top two hold 20% and 30% market share respectively, and the rest share equally; the second with four firms where the top two hold 20% and 30% market share, and the remaining two share equally. Which scenario is more concerning?”
Read reports →“If two companies merge and hold 70% of the market, and there are three other firms with 10% each, or if two companies merge and hold 70% of the market, and there are ten other firms with 3% each, which situation is more concerning and why?”
Read report →“How much would you charge for your gas, given that you own a gas station, there's only one competitor, their variable cost is $1/gallon and yours is $0.90/gallon?”
Read report →“If the largest firm and the second largest firm in an industry were to merge, what concerns might arise?”
Read report →“Regarding duopolies using a Bertrand model, what do you anticipate the pricing strategies of companies will be when a price-matching policy is in effect?”
Read report →“Given a graph, how would you estimate the profits from a merger of companies A and B followed by a price increase?”
Read report →Formats, difficulty and experience
Across all 164 Compass Lexecon interview reports.