Oliver Wyman case interviews are the most difficult part of the interview process. Oliver Wyman interviews consist of case interviews, written case interviews, and behavioral interviews. You will need to pass every single one of your Oliver Wyman case interviews in order to land a job offer.

If you have an upcoming Oliver Wyman interview, we have you covered.

 

In this comprehensive article, we’ll cover:
 

• Oliver Wyman interview process

• What is an Oliver Wyman case interview?

• What does the Oliver Wyman case interview assess?

• How to solve Oliver Wyman case interviews

• Oliver Wyman case interview examples

• Oliver Wyman case interview tips

• How to prepare for Oliver Wyman case interviews

 

• How to solve Oliver Wyman written case interviews

 

• Oliver Wyman behavioral and fit interview questions

• Recommended Oliver Wyman case interview resources

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course. These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

Oliver Wyman Interview Process

To get an offer from Oliver Wyman, you’ll typically need to go through two rounds of interviews.

 

Oliver Wyman first round interviews: conducted either in-person or through phone. You should expect two 30 to 40 minute interviews. One will be a case interview while the other will be a conversational interview, comprised of behavioral or fit interview questions. Your interviewers will most likely be associates or engagement managers.

 

Oliver Wyman second round interviews: conducted in-person at the Oliver Wyman office that you are interviewing for. You’ll be interviewing with more senior people, such as principals or partners. Candidates will typically have three back-to-back interviews comprised of a case interview, a written case interview, and a conversational interview.

There are three important distinctions between your first round Oliver Wyman interview and your final round Oliver Wyman interview.

 

One, your interviewers will likely be more senior people at Oliver Wyman. This means that the case interviews you receive may be a bit less structured and more qualitative in nature. The case interview may feel more like a discussion where you and the interviewer are discussing your opinions and ideas on a business problem.

 

Two, there will be more of an emphasis on assessing your fit with the firm. The first round interview is primarily used as a screener to determine whether or not you can solve case interviews effectively and whether or not you have the potential to be a great consultant.

 

Final round interviews will also continue to assess this, but interviewers will also be determining whether or not you would be a great fit with the office. Are you coachable and easy to work with? Are you collaborative? These are a few of the qualities that interviewers want to see.

 

Three, your interviewers may read the notes that your interviewers wrote during your Oliver Wyman first round interview. If there was a particular area of the case interview that you struggled with, interviewers may want to test you again on it to make sure that it is not a significant weakness.

What is an Oliver Wyman Case Interview?

An Oliver Wyman case interview, also known as a “case” for short, is a 30 to 60-minute exercise in which you and the interviewer work together to develop a recommendation or answer to a business problem.

 

These business problems can be anything that real companies face:

 

• How can Amazon increase its profitability?

 

• What can Apple do to increase customer retention?

 

• How should Tesla price its new electric vehicle?

 

• Where should Disney open another Disneyland theme park?

 

Oliver Wyman case interviews simulate what the consulting job will be like by placing you in a hypothetical business situation. Cases simulate real business problems that consulting firms solve for their clients. Many Oliver Wyman case interviews are based on actual projects that interviewers have worked on.

 

While consulting projects typically last between 3 to 9 months, case interviews condense solving the business problem into just 30 to 45 minutes.

 

Oliver Wyman case interviews can cover any industry, including retail, consumer packaged goods, financial services, energy, education, healthcare, government, and technology.

 

They can also cover a wide range of business situations, including entering a new market, launching a new product, acquiring a company, improving profitability, and growing revenues.

 

Although Oliver Wyman case interviews cover a wide range of industries and business situations, no technical or specialized knowledge is needed.

 

Unless you are interviewing for a consulting firm that specializes in a particular industry or function, cases are designed to be solved by someone that has general business knowledge.

 

Nailing your Oliver Wyman case interviews is critical to get a job at Oliver Wyman. There is no way to get a Oliver Wyman job offer without passing your case interviews.

What Does an Oliver Wyman Case Interview Assess?

On Oliver Wyman's interview preparation website, Oliver Wyman says they look for the following when assessing candidates during case interviews.

• How do you approach unstructured challenges?

 

• Can you think outside the box?

 

• Can you ask the right questions?

 

• Can you evaluate data and use it in your analysis?

 

• Can you apply common sense to complex business problems?

 

• Can you communicate your ideas?

We can distill these bullets into five qualities that Oliver Wyman case interviews assess.

 

1. Logical and structured thinking: Consultants need to be organized and methodical in order to work efficiently.

 

• Can you structure complex problems in a clear, simple way?

 

• Can you take tremendous amounts of information and data and identify the most important points?

 

• Can you use logic and reason to make appropriate conclusions?

 

2. Analytical problem solving: Consultants work with a tremendous amount of data and information in order to develop recommendations to complex problems.

 

• Can you read and interpret data well?

 

• Can you perform math computations smoothly and accurately?

 

• Can you conduct the right analyses to draw the right conclusions?

 

3. Business acumen: A strong business instinct helps consultants make the right decisions and develop the right recommendations.

 

• Do you have a basic understanding of fundamental business concepts?

 

• Do your conclusions and recommendations make sense from a business perspective?

 

4. Communication skills: Consultants need strong communication skills to collaborate with teammates and clients effectively.

 

• Can you communicate in a clear, concise way?

 

• Are you articulate in what you are saying?

 

5. Personality and cultural fit: Consultants spend a lot of time working closely in small teams. Having a personality and attitude that fits with the team makes the whole team work better together.

 

• Are you coachable and easy to work with?

 

• Are you pleasant to be around?

 

All of these five qualities can be assessed in just a 30 to 60-minute Oliver Wyman case interview. This is what makes case interviews so effective in assessing consulting candidates.

 

How to Solve Oliver Wyman Case Interviews

 

Case interviews simulate the consulting job by placing you in a hypothetical business situation. You’ll have 30 to 40 minutes to work with the interviewer to develop a recommendation to solve a business problem.

Oliver Wyman case interviews are all candidate-led. This means that you will be expected to drive the direction of the case. You will suggest what areas to explore, what analyses to do, and what the next step should be.

 

 

Follow these six steps to solve any Oliver Wyman case interview.

 

1. Understand the case

 

The case will begin with the interviewer giving you the case information. While the interviewer is speaking, make sure that you are taking meticulous notes on the most important pieces of information. Focus on understanding the context of the situation, the company, and the objective of the case.

 

2. Verify the objective

 

Understanding the business problem and objective of the case is the most important part of the case interview. Not addressing the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

 

Make sure that you ask clarifying questions to better understand the business situation and problem. Then, confirm that you understand the case objective with the interviewer. This ensures that you start the case on the right track.

 

3. Create a framework

 

Develop a framework to help you tackle the business problem. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. With a framework, you’ll be brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

 

Afterwards, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback to you.

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks.

 

4. Develop a hypothesis

 

After creating a framework, you should develop a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess on the answer based on the data and information that you have so far.

 

Your hypothesis does not need to be correct. You’ll be continuously testing and refining your hypothesis throughout the case. The purpose of having a hypothesis is to guide your analysis and ensure that you are spending your time answering the right questions.

 

5. Test your hypothesis

 

The majority of the case will be spent testing your hypothesis.

 

After stating your hypothesis, it is up to you to lead the direction of the case. Depending on the context of the case, you may want to ask for data to do some analysis. You may also want to explore qualitative questions that you have. As you uncover more information, your hypothesis will likely have to change. 

 

Sometimes, your hypothesis will be completely wrong and you’ll need to develop a completely new hypothesis to test. Other times, your hypothesis may be on the right track, but you’ll need to refine or narrow it down further.

 

Throughout the rest of the case, you’ll be answering a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. Make sure that after each question, you explain how your answer impacts your hypothesis or answer to the case.

 

6. Deliver a recommendation

 

In the last step of the case interview, you’ll present your recommendation and provide the major reasons that support it. You do not need to recap everything that you have done in the case, so focus on summarizing only the facts that are most important.

 

It is also good practice to include potential next steps that you would take if you had more time or data. These can be areas of your framework that you did not have time to explore yet or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.

 

Oliver Wyman Case Interview Examples

 

Oliver Wyman provides two practice cases that you can work on by yourself to get a better idea of what to expect in a case interview. Each of these practice cases should take about 30 minutes to complete.

• Wumbleworld practice case: This is a profitability case focused on helping a theme park operator in China improve profitability. This case provides great practice for interpreting charts and graphs.

 

• Aqualine practice case: This is a revenue case focused on helping a small powerboat manufacturer identify sales growth opportunities. This case provides great practice for case math.

Additional examples of the types of case interview questions you could get asked are listed below.

Example #1: A retail chain is considering expanding its product offerings into a new category. Evaluate the potential benefits and risks of diversifying into this new market. Develop a growth strategy for the client and outline the steps they should take to enter the new market successfully.

Example #2: A transportation company is facing challenges with on-time deliveries and increasing fuel costs. Identify the main operational inefficiencies in their logistics processes and propose solutions to improve overall efficiency and reduce costs.

Example #3: A beverage company wants to introduce a new health drink to the market. Define the target market for this product and develop a marketing strategy to effectively reach and engage the identified audience.

Example #4: A struggling retail store chain has seen a decline in sales and foot traffic. Analyze the root causes of their declining performance and propose a comprehensive turnaround plan to help the company recover and regain profitability.

Example #5: A software-as-a-service (SaaS) company is contemplating changing its pricing model. Evaluate the current pricing strategy, analyze customer behavior, and recommend an optimized pricing model that maximizes revenue while maintaining customer satisfaction.

For more practice, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases.

Oliver Wyman Case Interview Tips

Below are our top ten tips for preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews.

 

1. Start preparing early

 

Mastering Oliver Wyman case interviews takes time. Many of the skills and techniques needed to solve cases can’t be learned in just a day or in a week. Ideally, start preparing for your case interviews at least a month or two in advance to give yourself enough time to learn and practice.

 

2. Be consistent with what strategies you use

 

Whichever strategies you decide on using for Oliver Wyman case interviews, make sure that you are consistent in using them. The more you use the same strategies, the better and more comfortable you will get using them. On interview day, you’ll have confidence that these strategies will help you nail your case interviews.

 

3. Practice with a case partner

 

Practicing Oliver Wyman case interviews with a partner is the best way to simulate a real case interview. There are many aspects of cases that you won’t be able to work on if you are doing mock cases by yourself. Casing with a partner lets you practice your communication, presentation, and collaboration skills.

 

4. Keep a list of feedback from each case

 

You should keep a journal or log of all of the different pieces of feedback you get from your case interview partner during practice. This way, you’ll be able to identify trends and prioritize what improvement areas to focus on. For example, if you consistently receive feedback in each practice case that you need to structure your answers, that should be your top area to focus on.

 

5. Focus on improving one thing at a time

 

After doing some practice Oliver Wyman case interviews, you’ll likely have a long list of feedback and improvement areas. Try to focus on improving one thing at a time. Before each practice case, decide on the one thing that you really want to focus on and nail. This will be much more effective than trying to improve everything at once.

 

6. Make sure you understand the business problem and objective

 

The quickest way to fail an Oliver Wyman case interview is to answer or address the wrong business problem. Therefore, when the interviewer starts the case by reading the case background information, it is imperative that you identify what is the business problem and what is the primary question you are trying to answer. You should always verify the objective of the case with the interviewer.

 

7. Ask clarifying questions if needed

 

Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions. You will not be penalized for this. If there is a term that you are unfamiliar with, ask for the definition. If you don’t understand the objective of the case, ask questions to clarify this. If there is important information that you were not able to write down, ask the interviewer to repeat specific pieces of information.

 

All of these questions will help strengthen your understanding of the case situation and make it easier for you to solve the case.

 

8. Structure your approach before doing any math calculations

 

Before doing any math calculations, lay out an upfront approach or structure to walk the interviewer through what you are about to do. Developing a structure will help you avoid making unnecessary calculations or reaching a dead-end. If the interviewer approves of your approach, then the rest of the math problem is simple arithmetic.

 

9. Talk through your calculations out loud

 

Talking through your calculations out loud provides two benefits. One, it decreases the likelihood that you’ll make a mistake. Two, it makes it easier for the interviewer to follow what you are doing. If you happen to get stuck or make a mistake, the interviewer can jump in to offer suggestions or guidance. The interviewer cannot do this if you are not communicating exactly what you are doing.

 

10. Answer “so what?” after every question

 

When the interviewer asks you a quantitative or qualitative question during your Oliver Wyman case interview, don’t just answer it and stop there. After answering the question, ask yourself: “so what?” How does your answer help you solve the overall business problem? What implications does your answer have for your potential recommendation? You should be tying each answer that you give back to the case objective.

How to Prepare for Oliver Wyman Case Interviews

There are seven steps to preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews.

 

1. Understand what a case interview is

 

The first step in preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews is to understand exactly what case interviews are.

 

When you are familiar with what case interviews are, it is important to know what a great Oliver Wyman case interview performance looks like.

 

Knowing what a great Oliver Wyman case interview performance looks like will facilitate how quickly you learn case interview strategies in the next step.

 

Before continuing onto the next step, you should be familiar with:

 

• The overall objective of a case interview

 

• The structure and flow of a case interview

 

• The types of questions you could get asked

 

• What a great case interview performance looks like

 

2. Learn the right strategies

 

Now that you have sufficient background knowledge, the next step in preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews is to learn the right strategies to build good case interview habits.

 

It is much more effective to learn the right case strategies the first time than to learn poor strategies and try to correct them later.

 

The quickest, most efficient way to learn these strategies is to go through our Comprehensive Case Interview Course.

 

If you prefer reading case interview prep books instead, the three I recommend are:

 

• Hacking the Case Interview

 

• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook

 

• Case Interview Secrets

 

Hacking the Case Interview provides strategies on exactly what to do and what to say in every step of the case interview. It is a concise and straight to the point guide. I recommend this book as the first book to read for beginners.

 

Case Interview Secrets teaches core concepts such as the issue tree, drill-down analysis, and a hypothesis driven approach. It illustrates these concepts through stories and anecdotes. If you have read Hacking the Case Interview, I recommend also reading this book to get perspectives from a second author. Check out our full review of Case Interview Secrets.

 

Case in Point provides a ton of specific and complex frameworks. However, you likely won’t be using many of these in an actual case interview because many of them are overly complex and specific. If you have time, it may be useful to skim through this book. Check out our full review of Case in Point.

 

At the bare minimum, read either the first or second book. If you have the time, read the first two books so that you can get strategies from two different authors.

 

Make sure to spend sufficient time learning the right strategies before starting to practice cases. It is ineffective to practice cases if you have no idea what strategies to practice and refine.

 

Before moving onto the next step, you should at least have strategies for the following parts of a case interview:

 

• Developing unique and tailored frameworks

 

• Solving quantitative problems

 

• Answering qualitative questions

 

• Delivering a recommendation

 

3. Practice 3-5 cases by yourself

 

Once you have learned the right strategies, the next step in Oliver Wyman case interview prep is to practice.

 

When practicing case interviews, it is usually better to practice with a case interview partner than to practice by yourself. Casing with a partner better simulates the real case interview experience.

 

However, when you are just starting to practice, I recommend doing the first 3 – 5 cases by yourself.

 

There are three reasons for this:

 

• You can get the hang of the case interview structure and format much more quickly working by yourself rather than having to wait to schedule a time with a partner

 

• There are many aspects of case interviews that you can practice without a partner, such as structuring a framework and solving quantitative problems. You can get much more practice working through these parts by yourself

 

• You may have difficulty finding a case interview partner if you are a complete beginner. Without having done any cases, you likely won’t know how to properly give a case or provide good feedback

 

4. Practice 5-10 cases with a partner

 

The next step in preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews is to case with a partner.

 

Casing with a partner is the best way to simulate a real case interview. There are many aspects of case interviews that you won’t be able to improve on unless you practice live with a partner.

 

When practicing cases with a partner, ensure you are spending enough time after cases to deliver feedback.

 

For a case that takes around 30 – 40 minutes, spend at least 15 – 20 minutes for feedback. Much of your learning and improvement will come from these feedback sessions.

 

Do not move onto the next step until you have done at least 5 – 10 cases and are beginning to feel comfortable with case interviews.

 

5. Practice with a former or current consultant

 

At this point, I highly recommend asking former or current consultants to give you a practice case. This will significantly help you prepare for case interviews.

 

Doing a mock case with a former or current consultant is highly advantageous because they know exactly how to run cases and give feedback. You’ll receive incredibly helpful feedback that your previous case partners likely missed.

 

If you feel that you are plateauing with your case partner, that is a sign you should do a mock case interview with a former or current consultant.

 

You can find former or current consultants among:

 

• Friends

 

• Classmates

 

• Colleagues

 

• People you met during the consulting recruiting process

 

• Your broader LinkedIn network

 

I would not ask a consultant that is involved with the consulting recruiting process for a case too prematurely. Although these practice cases are not evaluative, some firms will actually make note of how well you perform during the practice case.

 

At this point, you will have accumulated a long list of improvement areas from all of the different people you have cased with.

 

6. Work on your improvement areas

 

In this step of preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews, you will work on strengthening and fine-tuning your improvement areas. Examples of common improvement areas include:

 

• Creating a more complete and mutually exclusive framework

 

• Performing math calculations quicker or more smoothly

 

• Providing more structure to your qualitative answers

 

• Leading the case more proactively

 

• Delivering a more succinct recommendation

 

Try to focus on improving one thing at a time. This is much more effective than trying to improve everything at once.

 

For some areas, such as math, it will be better to work independently. For other areas, such as learning to proactively lead the case, it will be better to work with a case partner.

 

If you are looking for more cases, look at the resources listed in step four. If you are looking for specific drills or practice problems for a particular part of a case interview, check out The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook.

 

Do not move onto the next step until you have finished working on all of your improvement areas.

 

7. Stay sharp

 

If you have progressed this far, congratulations! You have almost finished preparing for Oliver Wyman case interviews.

 

Once you feel that you have no more improvement areas to work on, the key is to not burn yourself out by doing too many unnecessary cases.

 

While each case that you do makes you slightly better, there is a point when doing too many cases can create case fatigue right before your interview. Case fatigue can negatively impact your interview performance.

 

On the other hand, you also don’t want to go weeks without having done a case. You may end up forgetting strategies or become rusty and slow.

 

Once you have achieved case mastery, I recommend doing no more than 2 cases per week in the weeks leading up to your interview. This ensures that you remain sharp for case interviews, but don’t have case fatigue.

 

How to Solve Oliver Wyman Written Case Interviews

 

Some candidates may be given a written case interview at some point during the Oliver Wyman interview process. Written case interviews are quite different from traditional case interviews. Oliver Wyman uses them to assess more of your synthesis and presentation skills.

 

Here’s what to expect:
 

• You’ll receive a packet of information with the case background information and various tables, charts, and articles

 

• You’ll have 30 minutes to review the materials and prepare a presentation

 

• You’ll spend 30 minutes presenting to your interviewer and answering their follow up questions

 

To solve your Oliver Wyman written case interview, follow these eight steps.

 

1. Understand the business problem and objective

 

The first step in completing a written case interview is to understand what the objective is. What is the primary business question you are trying to answer with the data and information provided?

 

2. Read the list of major questions

 

Some written case interviews will provide you with a list of 3 – 4 key questions that you will be expected to address or answer. Read through these questions first since these will be the questions that you will want to prioritize.

 

If the written case interview is more open-ended and does not provide you with a list of key questions, skip this step and move onto the next step.  

 

3. Skim the materials

 

Next, flip through the information packet that is provided to see what information is available. Identify what data you have and what data you do not have.

 

The goal in this step is not to read and analyze every slide. That would take too much time. Instead, by seeing what information exists, you will be able to better prioritize what you spend your time reading and analyzing.

 

4. Create a framework

 

Before you begin reading and analyzing the information in the slides in more detail, you should create a basic framework to help guide your analysis. If you are provided with a list of key questions or pre-filled slide templates, then this will likely be the foundation of your framework.

 

Otherwise, based on what information exists in the information packet, identify the three to four key questions you need to answer or investigate.

 

5. Read and analyze the material 

 

Afterwards, read and analyze the information that is relevant to each area of your framework. As you begin answering questions and drawing insights, make sure to write a one or two sentence summary. This will make it easier to decide on a recommendation later.

 

6. Decide on a recommendation

 

Review the list of key takeaways that you have summarized from answering all of the major questions in your framework. Decide on what recommendation these findings collectively support.

 

Remember that there is typically no right or wrong recommendation. As long as your recommendation is supported by data and evidence, you will be in great shape.

 

7. Create your slides

 

Once you have a recommendation, it is time to start filling in your slides. You should use the following structure when creating your slides:

• Slide 1: Present your recommendation and the three reasons that support it

 

• Slide 2: Present your first reason and the data that supports it

 

• Slide 3: Present your second reason and the data that supports it

 

• Slide 4: Present your third reason and the data that supports it

 

• Slide 5: Summarize everything that you’ve covered so far

 

• Slide 6: Propose potential next steps
  
  

 

8. Prepare for potential questions

 

If you have any time remaining, brainstorm potential questions the interviewer may ask you during your presentation. They may want to know how you performed your analysis or how you reached your conclusions.

 

Preparing for these potential questions will help your presentation go much more smoothly. You will also feel much more confident while presenting.

For a full guide on written case interviews, check out our consulting written case interview step-by-step guide.

 

Oliver Wyman Behavioral and Fit Interview Questions

 

Oliver Wyman uses conversational interviews to assess and understand your interest in business and your career goals for the future. These conversational interviews are comprised of behavioral or fit interview questions. 

Conversational interviews are an opportunity for your interviewers to get to know you better.

 

You’ll be expected to hold a conversation with the interviewer, who will ask you questions about your accomplishments, experiences, interests, and career objectives. These questions are similar to the traditional behavioral or fit interview questions asked by other consulting firms. In addition, you’ll have the opportunity to ask the interviewer questions you have about consulting or the firm.

 

To do well in conversational interviews, you should know the type of people that Oliver Wyman looks for.

 

Oliver Wyman looks to hire candidates that are driven, collaborative, and innovative. Their employees are known for their passion, work ethic, and teamwork. Oliver Wyman is known to work closely with their clients side-by-side to deliver a greater impact.

 

When answering behavioral or fit interview questions, keep these values in mind. There are ten questions that are most commonly asked.

 

1. Why are you interested in working at Oliver Wyman?

 

How to answer: Have at least three reasons why you’re interested in working at Oliver Wyman. You could mention that you loved the people that you have met from the company so far. You can talk about Oliver Wyman’s expertise in financial services, health and life sciences, and consumer and industrial services. You can speak to the opportunity to work on international projects at Oliver Wyman.

 

2. Why do you want to work in consulting?

 

How to answer: Again, have three reasons why you’re interested in consulting. You could mention the fast career growth opportunity, the opportunity to develop soft and hard skills, or the level of impact that you can make by working with large companies on their most challenging issues.

 

3. Walk me through your resume

 

How to answer: Provide a concise summary of your work experience, starting with the most recent. Focus on emphasizing your most impressive and unique accomplishments. At the end, tie your experiences to why you are interested in consulting.

 

4. What is your proudest achievement?

 

How to answer: Choose your most impressive, unique, or memorable accomplishment. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work.

 

5. What is something that you are proud of that is not on your resume?

 

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to highlight an accomplishment that is not related to your professional work experience. Perhaps there is a non-profit that you volunteer at, a side project or business that you work on, or a hobby that you have won awards or recognition for. Choose something that is impressive and interesting.

 

6. Tell me about a time when you led a team.

 

How to answer: If possible, choose a time when you directly managed a person or a team. For this question and the following questions, make sure that you structure your answer. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work. This is known as the STAR method and is commonly used to answer behavioral or fit interview questions.

 

7. Give an example of a time when you faced conflict or a disagreement.

 

How to answer: When answering this question, focus on emphasizing the steps you took to resolve the conflict or disagreement. Speak to the interpersonal skills you had to use in order to mediate the situation. Interviewers want to know that you are a great mediator and that you can handle conflict in a constructive way.

 

8. Tell me about a time when you had to persuade someone.

 

How to answer: Choose a time when you were able to change someone’s mind. Focus on emphasizing the steps that you took to persuade that person and what impact and results this had. Interviewers want to know that you are a great communicator and a good people person.

 

9. Describe a time when you failed.

 

How to answer: Choose a time when you failed to meet a deadline or did not meet expectations. Focus on emphasizing what you learned from the experience and how you used that experience to deliver even better results in the next opportunity that you got. Interviewers want to see that you don’t get discouraged from failure and that you treat those experiences as learning opportunities.

 

10. What questions do you have for me?

 

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to get to know the interviewer on a more personal level. Ask them questions about their experience in consulting or their career. Express genuine interest in what they have to share and ask follow-up questions. The more you can get the interviewer talking about themself, the more likely they will have a positive impression of you.

For a step-by-step guide on how to best answer all of these questions and more, check out our complete guide on consulting behavioral interview questions.

 

Recommended Oliver Wyman Interview Resources

 

Here are the resources we recommend to land an Oliver Wyman consulting offer:

 

For help landing consulting interviews

 

• Resume Review & Editing: Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

 

For help passing case interviews

 

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.

 

• Case Interview Coaching: Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.

 

• Hacking the Case Interview Book (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.

 

• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

 

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

 

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course: Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.