"Why do you want to work in consulting?"
Asked in every consulting interview. Firms want candidates who genuinely understand and want the consulting lifestyle, not those using it as a stepping stone.
Show understanding of what consultants actually do day-to-day.
Connect your interests and skills to consulting.
Be specific about what excites you — variety, problem-solving, impact.
Mention the specific firm if applicable.
Three aspects of consulting align perfectly with how I work best. First, variety — I thrive when facing new problems in new industries. In my current role, I restructured our operations team using frameworks I learned analyzing our supply chain, and that cross-pollination of ideas is exactly what consulting enables at scale. Second, structured problem-solving — I love breaking ambiguous problems into testable hypotheses. Third, impact acceleration — consulting lets me work on problems that matter to CEOs in my first few years, rather than waiting a decade to reach that level of strategic exposure. I am drawn to your firm specifically because of your focus on implementation alongside strategy.
Avoid generic answers: "I like problem-solving" is not enough — be specific.
Research the firm culture and mention differentiators.
Show you understand the trade-offs: travel, hours, project-based work.
Briefly, as part of career development. But your primary enthusiasm should be for consulting itself, not what comes after.
McKinsey: structured, prestige-focused. BCG: entrepreneurial, analytical. Bain: collaborative, results-oriented. Research each firm and have genuine reasons for your preference.
Focus on transferable experiences: project-based work, cross-functional collaboration, data analysis, client-facing roles. Frame past experiences using consulting language.
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