Wood Mackenzie Research Associate Interview Questions
& Process

So I've interviewed twice for different roles, and got rejected for one and accepted for the other. The process really depends on who's interviewing you. For the first one, with the Indian management, there was one video interview, then an Excel test, and then the main interview. They asked more data-focused questions, less research. The second time, with the non-Indian management, I got selected. It was straight four interview rounds, covering data, research, and a bit of market knowledge. They also made sure I was comfortable first.

The interview process had 4 stages: a recruiter call, a call with the hiring manager, a panel interview where I had to present a PPT, and an interview with a senior analyst. The presentation involved researching a specific commodity, focusing on its value chain's emission sources and decarbonization topics. This part was the most challenging and time-consuming. After a lengthy process where I invested a lot of time and effort, the recruiter ghosted me.

HR reached out first for an assessment by SHL. It's a quick 30-minute thing with 18 questions, they have samples online. About a week later, I had an interview at the Houston office, which was an all-day event starting at 8:30 am. First, I did some basic Excel questions involving pivot tables. Then, I had to present on one of two case studies, mine was about American Gas Supply Costs. After that, there was an HR interview, asking things like, "Tell me about one instance where you were forced to collaborate with someone you had a problem with." They want STAR answers. The final part was writing two essays, one on "Why do you want to be an analyst" and another on "Upstream Issues." I also had a technical interview where they asked about my knowledge of SQL and other upstream technical topics.