Experience Interview Flashcards
What experience are you most proud of?
SAILING: day skipper qualification
- good preparation (despite self-taught theory)
- instructor push me further than qualification demanded
- good example to the crew
- overcame difficulties of second day
WORK: Op Model design
- really needed
- logical, functional structure to an organisation that was struggling to track its demand signal
- structure helped especially given the difficulties for the org in storing up institutional knowledge
- close engagement with people, 90% approval helped by showing we really understood what they do
- took time with the naysayers
What experience do you wish you could do over?
Project-wise: Op Model Design for Circle
- wish I had spent more time arguing that demand signal was crucial and worth looking into
- too aware I suspect that I was new to the team in the 2nd / 3rd phase of work, and that this had been ruled out already as ‘not possible’
Personal-wise: Management of George
- manager came back, very rude to me and a colleague
- for me, damaged the relationship quite badly
- kept working with him, but enjoyment was compromised
- should have arranged a chat with him
What is a time when you have shown initiative and leadership. How did you react when things went wrong?
Forecasting role within government programme:
- fast-growing programme with a whole new tranche of ‘design and build’ activity
- run operation unsure how to account for possible impact of new activity
- I agreed to take it on, owning two forecasts
- iterated many time due to uncertainty; held a weekly forum for feedback and knowledge sharing
- checked in with customers every month to ensure they were receiving what they required and understood my outputs
- Darren incident
What aspect of your consulting career have you really enjoyed?
- Positive client reactions - at the end of the day, we are trying to make their lives better by solving problems; when you do good work and have a good relationship, it feels really good
- Storyboarding, and working out how to land a message
- Excel analysis
- Public sector work
What aspects of your consulting career have you liked less?
- Unclear scope
2. Detached client relationships
What do you like doing in your free time?
- Sports, getting into sailing
- Reading
- Catching up with friends
What attributes would you bring to a case team?
- Hard worker
- Fresh perspective
- Good company on long shifts
Tell me one industry you are interested in right now - what are the threats, opportunities etc.
Policing Economic Crime in the UK. Opportunities to network together information held by financial institutions; potential to apply ML techniques to the datasets we already hold; increasing will to move on this issue. Threats - technological advancement among criminal gangs, use of encrypted messaging etc.
What is one situation you have been in where you had to manage upwards?
With a senior manager - had recently left the client, great connections and understood the issue. I was brought in to understand what the issue was and provide structure. Segmented problem using SIAM processes, and created 3 options
How would you deal with a team environment where you did not feel comfortable?
- Set expectations and ways of working when the team is created
- Have a check in after the first month to see how it is working out
- Solicit advice
- Meeting, explain the behaviours that are causing issues, propose solutions
Tell us a time when you had a conflict with your manager or peers - how did you resolve it?
The Darren moment. Play down the moment of conflict; consult with colleagues; organise a follow up meeting; in slower time, work out a solution
Describe the time where you were confronted with a failure or obstacle at your job, and how you handled it
Charlie C confrontation at workshop - his criticism became a clear indicator of the problems
