Point B Associate Interview Questions
& Process

I sent in my resume for the job posting and got a quick confirmation. A few weeks later, I got an email to set up a phone interview with a recruiter. This call was mainly to see if I was a good fit for the role, covering things like salary and my past work. After that, I spoke with a senior HR person who went over some of the same stuff and told me I'd be having in-person interviews with the consulting team. The first in-person interview went great, focusing on my background and the projects I'd led and problems I'd solved. The second one, which got pushed back about two weeks because of a scheduling issue, was about hypothetical business scenarios, specifically how I'd consult a client on choosing new software. Even though I thought I handled it well, the interviewer made it clear I hadn't, pointing out I didn't separate 'requirements' and 'recommendation' documents as distinct outputs. I guess that interviewer didn't give me a good review, because I was later told I was no longer being considered. On top of that, the second interview made me realize that the consulting work might not be what I'm looking for.

The overall process is decent; the recruiting team keeps you updated and clearly outlines each step. The main issue is Point B's unclear identity: is it a management consulting firm or an IT-focused project leadership firm? Thinking like a management consultant might be a mistake because they're actually seeking project leaders. It's tough to get concrete examples of their work because they're not fully transparent about what they do. Interviewers were pleasant but not great at interviewing. Brace yourself for the writing sample – it's unclear if it assesses writing ability or your problem-solving approach, or if graphs and specific styles (management consulting vs. project leadership) are expected. Point B risks losing out on strong candidates by not clarifying their needs and refining their process. My interviewer, for instance, was unsure if I was suited for his team or if another team would be a better match, and I wasn't aware the interview was for a specific area, or I would have tailored my responses.

My first interview was a phone screen. I'd been recommended by someone within the company so my background was already somewhat understood. After passing the phone screen stage, the real interview process began. Interview 1 was very conversational and was conducted over a lovely lunch. We chatted through my resume, talked about my cultural preferences, and fielded a few questions. Interview 2 was much tougher - the interviewer asked many situational questions that really dug into my PM knowledge. Each interviewer left plenty of time for me to ask questions and gave open and honest responses. Between interview two and three, I was asked to prepare a case study. This was a 1 page response to a brief prompt. Interview 3 questions revolved around this writing sample. Because the prompt was so brief, any response required many assumptions. The interviewer would sometimes ask how I would have changed my response if a particular assumption was tweaked. Lastly, interview 4 focused more on culture and how I could fit into the company's bigger picture. Each interview was conducted by a different person in the market, the final interview being with point b leadership. Because there are so many steps to this process, it can take a while. However, each interviewer asked how far along I was in interviews with other firms. When I did start getting offers from other companies, point b was really flexible and was able to adjust their schedules to make sure I completed the interview process with them around the same time, allowing me to make the most informed decision possible.