Consultant interview training

Important to remember

  • Remember that an interview is reciprocal. On the one hand, the customer must want to hire the consultant, but at least as important is that you as a consultant want the assignment. Therefore, during the interview, ensure that the customer has a good working climate. Such as good ergonomics, air and nice premises together with healthy values ​​and a good atmosphere. Dare to ask questions and dare to say no if it does not feel good.
  • Read more about the customer. Google and check the website in 5 minutes.
  • Read through the assignment. Which techniques are important.
  • Dress code. Ironed, tucked and long-sleeved shirt for men and elegant attire for women. In banking and finance, as well as certain other industries, the prevailing dress code is a jacket or suit. Make sure which dress code applies to the current customer.
  • Try to show interest in assignments and companies, but do not say that you would like to learn more about xxx. This is said with advantage in a job interview but not in a consultant interview as the customer usually wants to buy skills and has no interest in training a consultant.

Normal flow for an interview

  • Presentation of participants at the meeting, do not get caught up in any details. Rather say, “I am the consultant who is there to help you. It will be great fun to hear what it is you need help with ”.
  • Roll the question over to the customer, make sure they tell about the assignment and their needs.
  • Questions from the customer to the consultant.
  • Finish. Always say how fun the assignment feels and there is a lot where the consultant feels that it can contribute. Here, the accompanying person can help with a concluding question, for example: “how do you feel, does this feel like something you want to do?”

Frequently Asked Questions & Answers

  • The most common question that is almost always asked is something like “can you tell us a little more about yourself”
    • I suggest you say something short in private. Then you tell in chronological order what you have done since your education. If you have had a long career, you should summarize the understood years quite briefly and not go into detail there.
  • What did you do in your last assignment?
    • Make sure to always be prepared for this question with things like: how many worked in the assignment, what tasks did the consultant himself have, how far was the assignment, what was the purpose of the assignment and exactly what was built.
  • Have you done anything similar to this mission?
    • Always have a good reference case loaded in the memory.
  • Are you good at xxx? Or can you xxx?
    • Never say a scale of 1-10. Instead, list all the assignments where you worked in the field.
    • If you did not work with what is requested, try if possible to relate to things similar to what is requested.
  • How to fix the problem xxx.
  • For questions about competence, try to deduce a project when a similar problem has occurred, how the problem was solved and what your role was in the whole.
  • Courses, certifications, clear profile of what is in demand.
  • Have you worked in organizations like this?
  • Do you have any strengths / weaknesses?
  • Describe a difficult problem you have been through
  • How good are you at working independently, in teams and how do you work with others
  • Have you ended up in a difficult situation with other employees and how did you handle it

Good questions to ask the customer

  • Working method
  • Is the project assembled or spread out
  • How big is the project, how many project members
  • What tools are used
  • There is a clear product ownership
  • What is the purpose of the project, what value does the customer want to achieve?
  • Who are the users of the system to be built
  • Are the end users active in the project