Publicis Sapient Management Consultant Interview Questions
& Process

I applied using the easy LinkedIn feature with just my resume and the recruiter contacted me right away. First, I had a general screening call with the recruiter where they asked me questions like telling them about myself, why I'm looking for new jobs, and what my salary expectations are. Next up was a phone case study that lasted about an hour. The interviewer presented the case study and asked some questions to see how I think. It was pretty standard, with missing info and no clear right or wrong answers. After passing that, I went in for an in-person interview. The recruiter prepped me for it, and it involved a 1-hour behavioral interview, 1 hour to work on a case study, and 1 hour for debriefing the case study, answering questions, and some general behavioral and business/market questions. The behavioral part had typical questions you can find anywhere and was with one staff member. I worked on the case study alone for an hour. They gave me a standard case study with a lot of extra and missing information and questions, and I had to create a PowerPoint presentation on a whiteboard to present to the next interviewer. If you've done enough consulting projects, the case study feels like any client engagement. The next interviewer came in after the hour was up to have me present, asked some clarifying questions, and then we just chatted. Sometimes, a second interviewer joins for the behavioral or case study part, but they're like an intern. My recruiter was great and always available. After a couple of months of checking in, it seems like they found a spot for me and I got an offer. Overall, I'd say it was more organized than other interviews, but not necessarily tougher.

Applied via Smartr. Got contacted by a recruiter two weeks later for a 30-minute phone screening about my interest in the firm and why I was pursuing this role. Then, I had 4 interviews the next week. The first was a case study about an Airline aiming to grow revenues by 2025 through a digital innovation store in an airport. Clarifying info given: Tier 1 metro area, services, and quality at capacity. The case involved brainstorming airport revenue streams, customer types, etc. Then, I was given graphs for a market sizing on annual travelers and target market segments for the store. The second interview was standard behavioral questions and assessing my fit and interest in the firm. Questions included: comfort with an entrepreneurial environment at a two-year-old firm? Experience with challenging bosses? Why Publicis? Understanding of the work we do? The third interview was another case study on the Powersports industry and IoT. Case question: Should Powersports Co. enter the connected vehicle space, and what factors to consider (Value propositions, people, process, tech, etc)? Then, a chart showing Powersports Co. ATV and Motorcycle customers vs. Industry in 2021 was presented. Using 2026 projections, I had to do a market sizing for viability in the connected vehicle space. The fourth interview was with a Managing Director, assessing competency, with some behavioral and mostly fit questions.

The process began with an online application, followed by an email from a recruiter and a subsequent call. We scheduled an interview for about 2.5 weeks out. I followed up a week later and was told the interview was on, and I'd hear from another recruiter soon. Three days before the scheduled interview, a new recruiter contacted me, saying the original date was a training day and asking if the following week worked. I agreed instantly. Three days before that new date, I emailed to confirm and got an out-of-office reply. Luckily, I had cc'ed the original recruiter, who provided another contact's email from their out-of-office message. I emailed that person and later received an email from a new HR person to schedule an interview time. With only 3 days' notice, I attended the on-site interview (I wasn't given the address beforehand). The interview had two parts: a domain interview and an attribute interview. The interview space was distracting, with staff working in the open. My second interviewer was dressed very casually. I thought it went well, but then experienced silence for over a week until I followed up again. By then, I had lost interest due to the drawn-out process and feeling ghosted. They ultimately didn't offer me a position because I lacked a specific type of experience they were looking for, but I was relieved the process was finally over.