Tell me about yourself for a consulting interview

Client, problem, your workstream, result. Consulting openers fail when they become a firm commercial.

Build your answer

Target role The job you are interviewing for. Years of experience Years in this kind of work. Use 0 for a first role or a career change. Current role or background A field, a path, or a short phrase.

Win 1 Include a number. Win 2 Optional. Win 3 Used in the long version.

Key strength One habit, not five adjectives. Why this company or role A reason that would be wrong for a different employer.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded.

30-second version

About 34 seconds · 85 words

A short cut for a recruiter screen.

Stop after one result. A short screen does not need the second story.

60-second version

About 61 seconds · 153 words

The default. Present, then past, then future.

If they lean in, drop the second result and spend the time on how the first one happened. Leave duties from the job description out.

90-second version

About 86 seconds · 215 words

A longer cut when they ask you to walk through it.

I'm looking for a strategy consultant role. For the past 3 years I've worked as a consultant staffed on operations and pricing work. Before that, the results are specific. I built the pricing model a client used to reset 200 SKUs. Another result was found a scheduling rule that cut overtime 12% in a pilot site. I then ran the workplan for a 5-person team that hit every steering date. Each of those has a before and an after I can defend. The way I work, when it counts, is getting to the number the client can decide on, not the slide they admire. What I want next is this strategy consultant seat, because this firm staffs generalists on operations problems, which is the work I want to keep. On the job I'd stay this concrete about strategy consultant, including what moved and what did not. The numbers in those results are ones I can defend, including what I owned. The decision under the first result is the part I know best. I checked the baseline before I called that result done. I would use the same judgment on the next strategy consultant problem. The work I want next is still strategy consultant work: a clear owner, a number, and a decision I can explain.

They can interrupt. Go present, then proof, then why this role. When they ask, go from the headline number to the decision you made.

When you can say the minute without the page, practice it live with Luna. It hears the question and helps you keep a line. 24 hours free.

How to answer it for this role

Name the kind of problem you have staffed, not the slogan of your firm. Operations, pricing, due diligence, implementation. Then one result a client would recognize. If you cannot name a number, name the decision the client made.

Be precise about your seat. An analyst who built the model should not sound like the partner who sold the work. Interviewers in this field are trained to hear inflated scope.

Why this firm should be about the work, the industry, or the staffing model. "You are top tier" is something every candidate can say from the brochure.

What to emphasize

Problem type and industry.
Your workstream, accurately.
A client decision or a measured result.

What to leave out

A ranking of firms.
Confidential client names and unreleased numbers.

Sample 60-second answer

This is the sample loaded into the builder above. About 61 seconds, 153 words. Replace every fact with yours before you practice it.

I'm looking for a strategy consultant role. For the past 3 years I've worked as a consultant staffed on operations and pricing work. Before that, the results are specific. I built the pricing model a client used to reset 200 SKUs. Another result was found a scheduling rule that cut overtime 12% in a pilot site. The way I work, when it counts, is getting to the number the client can decide on, not the slide they admire. What I want next is this strategy consultant seat, because this firm staffs generalists on operations problems, which is the work I want to keep. In the job I'd bring that strength to the team's current goal, and I'd report what moved. Those results are the kind of work I want to keep doing as a strategy consultant. I can explain the constraint behind the first result and the number I was willing to defend.

The 30-second cut is about 34 seconds. The longer cut is about 86 seconds. Both use the same facts in the same order. Read the longer structure guide if you want the timing rules in full: how long the answer should be.

Tips before you say it

Say the 60-second version out loud before you edit it. A sentence that looks fine on the page often runs long or sounds like a memo.
One number per win. “Improved the process” is a claim. “Cut hold time from 6 minutes to 2” is a result you can be questioned on.
Stay in order: present, past, future. If you start with where you grew up, the interviewer is waiting for you to arrive.
Leave a door open and then stop talking. The extra story you add in the silence is usually the one you did not prepare.
Keep your part separate from the team’s. “We launched” collapses the first follow-up. “I cut the scope, engineering shipped it” survives.

Other roles

Questions people ask

How polished should it sound?

Clean and short. Consulting interviews punish rambling, and they also punish a paragraph you clearly memorized and cannot exit. Know the beats.

What if I am exiting consulting?

Say the direction. Use one client result as proof, then why the industry role is the point. Do not spend the minute selling the firm you are leaving.

Do I include every case team?

No. Two projects at most, one if you only have a minute. The case interview needs the rest of the time.