Public Consulting Group Consultant Interview Questions
& Process

Applied late June, didn't hear back until mid-August. First, a 30-minute recruiter phone interview. Soon after, they scheduled an in-person interview. This consisted of 3 one-on-one meetings. I was told to wait three weeks for news, but it took four weeks for another interview. This second round had two one-on-one meetings. About a week later, HR requested references (4 were needed). The references had to complete an online skills assessment survey. A week after that, I got a generic, automated email saying I didn't get the job and they'd keep my resume on file. After three rounds, gathering references, and having them do the survey, I was insulted by the impersonal rejection email, especially without a phone call or personal explanation. The whole thing took almost three months from application, with the interview portion lasting 1.5 months. I'd expect a more personal rejection with some feedback. The interviews themselves were nice, people were friendly, smart, interesting, and worked hard. I probably would have accepted an offer. The questions weren't too hard, mostly about my background and how I'd handle situations. Lots of questions on stress management came up though. Maybe it's good I didn't get the job, given what I've read about work/life balance there. The job itself seemed challenging and interesting though. Consultants manage people, clients, and projects. It might have been worth the stress for a few years to get the experience.

The first round was a long chat with HR, mostly about behavior and if I'd fit in. They said I'd move on and even told me who I'd meet next. But then it took like a whole month of me emailing them back and forth to even set up the second round. The second interview was just a quick 30-minute behavioral chat with the hiring manager. I followed up a bunch after that asking about my application, but they just never got back to me. The communication was all over the place and kinda unprofessional. The actual interviews were fine and respectful, but the super long waits and then getting ghosted totally sucked and made it a frustrating experience.

I had an in-person interview where the people were really nice and professional. It was a lot of one-on-one interviews. They explained the job, talked about my experience, gave an overview of the company culture, and clearly outlined what they expected. The job didn't end up happening because the funding fell through, but I'd interview with them again and recommend them to others.