Consultant Interview Preparation Guide

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Whether you are transitioning into consulting from a different industry or are heading there straight from the classroom, the interviewer is looking to see if you are really serious about this career move - that you have researched this industry, and will want to know why you chose this industry over where you have been and all of the other choices on your plate.

Firms know you'll probably leave - in 2-3 years, if you're normal - and they are comfortable with that payback cycle. However, the firm loses money on you in the first 6-12 months on the job - they invest heavily in training, and you are contributing very little. It's a risk to take someone on if they are not committed to the job - so when you answer the questions the interviewer should feel confident that you know about the industry and the company you are applying for.

It's important for you to stay on top of recent insights - but it's also important that you're always ready to engage in a business conversation with a client. This question is a proxy for both - are you genuinely interested in business? Are you client ready?

Be prepared to make business insight review a part of your daily schedule, if it is not already - starting today. Some suggestions are to start reading the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Fortune. You don't need to memorize each and every detail, but you do need to form opinions and have a basic understanding on what is happening and why that might be important. Start with focusing on some leading companies and business issues of that day.

"Tell me about a company you admire." Here's an example question - and when you're building the answer, remember: you are trying to convey passion for business and insights as well. You will want to structure your answer and give 2 or 3 well-developed topics. Don't ramble on-and-on - 1 minute max is sufficient - and be succinct and genuine. As a bonus, you might want to share some ideas on what will make the company stronger/more admired. This shows the interviewer that you're growth oriented and you believe you can do great things.

You can guarantee this question will be asked. The firm is trying to assess where else you are applying, where their firm fits in, and how much work you've done to prepare. You have 2 ways to handle this kind of question.

First, you can give them a few reasons - 3 reasons why you want to work for McKinsey, or 4 reasons why Deloitte is your first-choice firm. You need to explain each reason, and let them know at the beginning that you've thought about this question a lot - to reduce the risk of sounding totally memorized.

Second, you can tell a story. Stories are the best - they are believable, personal and very memorable. The story might sound like this: "I used to think investment banking was for me…and then I met this guy from McKinsey." Take insights from your networking conversations, and get specific.

No matter which option you choose here, make sure you address the question with enthusiasm - be excited about what the firm has to offer.

This is such a hated question, but it's not hard to answer. Don't do what so many try to do - share about a not very weak weakness, such as "I have an issue with coming up with too many great ideas." Ummm…yeah - lame!

Your interviewer is trying to see not "if" you have weaknesses, but "how" you handle them and what are you doing to manage a negative effect - so it's not THEIR problem. Do you have a plan in place whereby you are improving in your weak area? How do you receive constructive criticism? As a consultant, you'll receive excessive feedback - from peers, managers, those that report to you - and frequently (3-6 mini-reviews per year, 2 formal reviews). You should be eating weaknesses for lunch - not trying to hide them. After all, that's how you will grow.

The interviewer really wants to make sure you understand what a few of your strengths are and how to best apply them to all types of situations. Be prepared to share some examples of those amazing qualities, with brief explanations, but without sounding arrogant. Select strengths (you should have many) that demonstrate well-roundness - for example, one on data/analysis/problem solving, one on leadership/motivation/work ethic, one on communication/conflict resolution.

If you do not have business or economics background, take heed! Interviewers are searching out whether you are interested enough in the job to do your own research - and we're not talking web research here (although that's a good foundation). Do you understand what skills are required for success and do you honestly feel prepared to take those on?

Firms want to be assured you have a clear understanding of why you are entering into this industry and what you plan to accomplish during your time as a consultant. The interviewer is trying to find out what you have heard makes a good management consultant - from other management consultants, not some vague online article. Structure your response and make sure you include skills like analytical capabilities, hard work, and great communication skills.

► You have a lot on your CV. How do you manage your time?
► What can you do to improve the provision of children's services in the hospital?
► Do you have enough experience to cope with a young child's airway e.g. have you got experience of performing neonatal / paediatric tracheostomy?
► How would you improve our relationship with GPs?
► How would you improve our relationship with the PCT?
► The demand for outpatients has gone up by 50% in one month, but the conversion rate to inpatient admission has not changed. What do you think about this?
► How do you deal with criticism?
► Have you ever caused harm to a patient? How do you know you are safe?
► How does serving the individual conflict with serving the population?
► Tell me about your best publication?
► Tell me what your role would be in teaching?
► What is your best professional achievement?
► What are your plans for the department? Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?
► What do you think the challenges will be as a new consultant?
► How would you convince a patient you have never met that you are safe?
► How do you deal with a difficult patient?
► Tell me abou the feedback you have had from patients?

► Please describe your most important leadership experience and the impact that you had as a leader.
► Describe a problem that you would like to tackle at [this firm], why and how would you pursue it.
► If I were to speak to your colleagues from your most recent internship (or friends in school), what would they say about you? What are the strengths and weaknesses they would share?
► Describe a situation where you failed. What did you learn about yourself and how did you change as a result?
► Why our firm instead of your current firm? What do you know about us compared to your firm?
► Tell me about a project that didn't go well and why and what you would do differently next time?
► How do you quantify a lead?
► Can you describe your brand?
► How have you dealt with low team morale in the past? Provide an example of when you had to give a bad performance review.
► Describe a project which challenged you. Describe a client relationship which was challenging.

► Take me through your CV concentrating on the clinical aspects.
► What personal attributes do you have that make you suitable for this post?
► Which part of the service do you want to develop?
► What are the challenges facing Neonatology?
► How can we improve communication between Obstetrics & Neonatology?
► How can training for junior doctors be improved?
► How do research and audit fit into business planning?
► What are the challenges caused by EWTD?

► What kinds of projects do you typically work on? What has been the focus of the last four or five projects you have worked on?
► What do you see as the major issues facing this industry?
► What has been your average number of clients at a time?
► Do you tend to focus on one project, or do you handle a number of projects simultaneously?
► What steps do you take to ensure that you do not spread yourself too thin among your clients?
► How do you keep track of your progress during a project?
► We want to achieve savings of 20% in the next 12 months. How can you help us reach this goal?
► Walk me through the life cycle of a recent project you worked on from start to finish. What results/deliverables did you achieve? What went well and what did not go well?
► Tell me about a time when you faced an ethical dilemma, and how you managed it.
► What are some important ethical considerations for consultants?
► Describe how you typically conduct a sales meeting.
► What's your leadership style?
► Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a difficult client. What did you learn from the experience? What would you do differently?
► How would you explain a complex technical issue to a client?
► You are consulting a small firm that sells a well-reputed product. A large competitor starts selling a similar product incorporating the most recent technology. What should the small firm do in response?

► Tell us about your research experience.
► What is your understanding and experience of research governance?
► What did you gain from your research?
► Do you think that all trainees should do research?
► What is the role and importance of research for a junior trainee?
► How do you go about seeking ethical approval?
► What are NRECs?
► How would you go about seeking funding for your research?
► Why should a DGH care about research when there are more pressing issues such as service provision and profitability?
► Should all research be carried in tertiary centres or do DGHs have a role?

► Can you tell me how your training has prepared you for a post as a Consultant in Paediatric Anaesthesia?
► Panel requested more detail on a couple of audits
► This is not an academic post but how will you contribute to academic anaesthesia at this trust?
► In 5 years time, a post for a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Undergraduate training is advertised. Would you be interested?
► You are in theatre with a diaphragmatic hernia when another surgeon tells you he has a really sick neonate in NICU with NEC. How will you manage this?
► You are repairing a hernia thoracoscopically when you suddenly find the child's CO2 goes up. How will you manage this situation?
► Bearing in mind the HDU/ITU facilities in this hospital, how will manage a child who needs a Nissen's fundoplication who has suddenly aspirated while on the ward?
► How do you measure efficiency?
► What efficiency strategies would you like to introduce if you were appointed?
► Where do you see the role of Chelsea in North West London in the Paediatric Surgical Network?
► You will have read about CQUINS and QIPPS in preparation for your interview. What do you understand by the term innovation?
► What innovations will you introduce to the trust?
► You are in theatre with a trainee who isn't performing to the standards that you would expect. You question him during a long boring case and find out that about 2 weeks ago, he was with a senior colleague who shouted at him in front of the whole theatre team and he has been feeling very demotivated since. How do you handle this?
► He then tells you he could smell alcohol on your colleague's breath. How do you handle this?
► How do you deal with a senior underperforming trainee?
► How would you respond to a complaint letter?

► What is better for patients? General radiologists or specialised radiologists?
► What are the implications of moving to a paperless department and moving more service to the community?
► Do you think we should stop GPs having open access to imaging such as MRI?
► Do you think vetting the radiology request forms is a waste of money and time?
► What is the risk of employing a new consultant?
► What is the risk for you in taking up this job?
► What is the importance of management for clinicians?

☛ Talk me through your training milestones.
☛ Are you trained and competent for this job?
☛ The trust has recently merged and there are two people on the panel from the different sides of the city. Where does your allegiance lie?
☛ In your application form you said you were passionate about teaching; that's an unusually strong word. Explain.
☛ Tell me a bit about interviewing medical students. Why do we need to interview (some medical schools don't)? How is it best to approach the interviewing process?
☛ Would you like to become a mentor?
☛ Tell me about patient safety, giving radiology-based examples.
☛ How do you intend to improve the service. Be specific.
☛ The job description includes specialist sarcoma imaging. How much have you done?
☛ Are you happy and competent to do on call intervention work?
☛ The job includes padiatric intervention. What are you willing to take on?
☛ How would you deal with a problem colleague and can you give an example of one?
☛ How would you put together a business case to stop performing barium enemas?
☛ What do you think of CT colonography? Where is it going in the future?
☛ What research have you done? What are your future plans?
☛ What do you think about revalidation?
☛ How can we reduce healthcare associated infections?
☛ How can we improve the day-to-day safety of the department?
☛ What is your understanding and experience of clinical audit?
☛ Explain your understanding fo becoming a foundation trust. How should we go about it and what difference will it make?
☛ What do you understand by plurality and what effect does it have on radiology?
☛ What 3 words would you use to describr how you felt when you walked in here today?
☛ How do you think patients feel when they are about to see you? How do you feel when you are about to see a patient?
☛ Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?

► Describe your training to date.
► What are the barriers to undergraduate teaching?
► In a few sentences, compare and contrast this job with your ideal job.
► A patient sees you for benefits and divulges that he has had sex with a consultant colleague. How would you approach this?
► The move to our new location may potentially result in clinical demand which outstrips capacity. In what ways might we cope with this?
► This is a brand new clinical service in an area of high need that has never had a sexual health service before/ What opportunities do you see for the development of the service?
► What single change would you make to sexual health services which would have the biggest impact?
► How would you ensure that sexual health services remain a priority if there is no NSF?
► A 15-year old single mother is diagnosed HIV positive. What are the issues?
► What do you understand by Information Governance?

► Describe a time when you were faced with a stressful situation that demonstrated your coping skills.
► Give me a specific example of a time when you used good judgment and logic in solving a problem.
► Tell me about a time when you had to use your speaking and presentation skills to influence a groups opinion.
► Explain a situation when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty in order to get a job done.
► Have you ever had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks.
► Give me an example of a time when you had to make a split second decision.
► What is your typical way of dealing with conflict? Give me an example.
► Have you ever had to motivated others? Tell me about such an experience.
► Give me an example of a time when you used your fact-finding skills to solve a problem.
► What is the most important thing that you have learned in the past year?

☛ Take us through your CV.
☛ How would the public patient know that you deliver a quality GUM/HIV service?
☛ Rates of chlamydia remain high despite the screening programme. Can you explain this?
☛ Have you done a Myers Briggs evaluation? What type wre you and what insights did you gain? How would you use this for the consultant team?
☛ In future, GUM services may be split from HIV and moved to the community. How would you advise the Trust regarding the advantages and disadvantages of this model?
☛ If we gave you £150k for research, what would you do?
☛ What are the similarities and differences between this trust and where you work at the moment?
☛ What feedback do you get from patients?

► How many airplanes leave from Boston's Logan Airport on Monday?
► How many lightbulbs are there in Manhattan?
► What is the market size for a cancer diagnostic technology in the U.S.?
► How many passengers fly through LAX in a calendar year?

► Tell me how your training has prepared you for a job in paediatric anaesthesia with some adult practice.
► How has your training prepared you for dealing with the sick child in a hospital without PICU?
► The job is essentially a clinical job but we all have a good research record. How will you support the research activities in this post?
► You are going to teach a group of undergraduates on a topic of your choice next week for an afternoon. How will you go about doing this and what would be your aims and objectives for the session?
► What are the current issues in paediatric anaesthesia? What are the challenges in doing research in paediatric anaesthesia?
► You have a 12-year old child in the anaesthetic room listed for a gastroscopy (non-urgent) and he is refusing the anaesthetic. What would you do?
► Now you have a 14-year old child listed for an emergency operation also refusing the anaesthetic. What would you do?
► If I informed you that I was about to do one of the cases on the list using a new technique, what would be your response?
► In this hospital, we often repair TOFs thorascopically. What would you do if the neonate became difficult to manage and was hard to ventilate during the procedure?
► What does quality mean in terms of paediatric anaesthesia?
► What is the anaesthetist's role in child protection?
► How we can compare ourselves against other paediatric anaesthetic departments?
► What do you know about Information Governance?
► What do you think of the consultant appraisal process?
► Tell me why we should give you the job above the other candidates?
► Have you ever had a complaint made against you or seen a complaint handled? What happened?
► You have been a locum for nearly a year. What do you think could be improved in your current trust?
► You have never worked in London before. How do you feel about that andd isn't that full of large intimidating teaching hospitals?
► There is a spectrum of anaesthetists; some are very cautious and others are more cavalier. Where are you on the spectrum?
► Paediatric anaesthesia is a stressful job at times. How do you handle that?

► Why do you want to work in consulting? And why this firm?
► What do you believe a consultant does? What would you consider to be the three most important qualities of a successful consultant?
► How is our practice different from other consulting firms?
► If I was to review your performance after six months, what do you think my evaluation of you would be?
► Which firms are you interviewing with? How have you gone?
► If given an offer, how will you decide whether or not to accept it?
► What do you think are the differences between your current company and this firm?
► What do you think you'll add to this firm?

► Why have you applied to this particular trust?
► What qualities can you bring to this post?
► You mentioned that you are a good team player. What does that mean? And what are your main weaknesses?
► What do patients think of you?
► What do you do to de-stress?
► Tell what you understand by appraisal.
► What is the difference between assessment and appraisal?
► How would you react to your Royal College advocating objective assessments as part of revalidation?
► A recent audit in the department shows that you are not performing as well as the other consultants. How do you react to this?
► Your clinical director feels that the 10 hours of SPA time in your job plan are rather generous and would like you to do another 4 hours of direct clinical care. What would you do?
► Tell me about your radiology experience as a consultant.
► What do you think of open access to GPs for musculoskeletal ultrasound?
► What about radiographers doing musculoskeletal ultrasound?
► Talk me through your experience of musculoskeletal interventional procedures.
► Can you perform MR arthrograms competently?
► What is your opinion on open access to GPs for MRI? What do you think are the issues associated with this?
► What is your experience of CT colonography?
► What is your experience of cardiac CT.
► Tell me more about your most recent poster.
► What experience do you have of 3.0 Tesla MR imaging. Do you think there is a role for a 3.0 T MRI scanner in a DGH?
► Would you be happy to perform drainage of a deep pelvic abscess or a lung biopsy?
► You are on call and an FY1 has contacted you asking for an urgent MRI of the lumbar spine for cauda equine syndrome. What do you do next?
► What are the child protection issues in radiology?
► What is your experience of head and neck radiology?

► How would you describe your communication skills?
► What makes you a good communicator?
► What is more important: good communication or good clinical skills?
► Give an example of a situation where you failed to communicate appropriately.
► Give an example of a non-clinical situation where your communication skills made a difference to the outcome of a project.
► How can you show empathy through an interpreter?
► What makes you a good team player?
► Give an example of a situation where you made a difference to a team.
► Give an example of a dysfunctional team in which you worked. How did you deal with it and what did you learn from that experience?
► Tell us about your management experience.
► What is the difference between management & leadership?
► Can you learn management by going to management courses?
► Do doctors need management skills?
► What does leadership mean to you and when do you exercise it?
► What makes you a good leader?
► Give an example of a situation where you showed leadership.
► Are leaders born leaders or can you learn to become a leader?
► What type of leader are you?
► Are you a leader or a follower?
► What makes a good team?
► How do you deal with stress?
► Give an example of a situation where you showed initiative.
► If you get this post, what ideas would you like to develop?
► How do you implement change in a unit?
► How do you go about fighting resistance from others when you want to change something? Give an example.
► As a consultant, how will you make sure that your team is up to scratch?
► In what circumstances have you had to influence others and how did you achieve your objectives?
► How possible is it to motivate and develop junior doctors in the current climate?
► How will you make sure that your team is up to scratch?
► How do you motivate others?
► How would your boss motivate you?
► How do you go about resolving a conflict?
► When is the last time you argued with a colleague?
► Tell us about a conflict which you had with a colleague?
► Tell us about a time when you had to deal with a conflict within your team or an MDT?
► What skills have you got which make you a good consultant?
► Would you be happy being an average consultant?
► What skills do you feel you need to improve the most?
► What are your strengths?
► What is your main weakness?
► How would your colleagues describe you?
► How would your patients describe you?
► How do you know that your colleagues trust you?
► How do you respond to criticism?

► Talk me briefly through your CV.
► The Chief Executive has decided to give you a year off before your start your post. How would you spend that year, and how would that benefit the Trust?
► What do you think wil be the major changes within intensive care medicine during the next 5 years?
► The ICU in this trust is going to change considerably over the next 5 years. How can you assist in this process?
► How do you know that you get on well with people? How would you know if you were failing?
► What do you think is the role of the consultant in postgraduate medical education?
► What do you think is the role of the consultant in teaching outside of ICU?
► Sometimes in the ICU there is a difference of opinion between the parent medical or surgical team and the ICU team about the appropriate management of the patient, in particular with regards to end of life decisions. How would you go about managing such disputes?
► The post that you have applied for is essentially 2 jobs (ICU and anaesthetics). This can cause problems between the two departments with conflicts of loyalty. What do you think about this and how will you manage it?
► Tell me about your hobbies and how they are useful to this job.
► What do you think the contribution of the new consultant post will be to medical student education.
► What do you think of the role of the new consultant in clinical research?
► A report in the Annals of Medicine states that patients managed by intensivists have a worse outcome than those managed by non-intensivists. Would you like to comment?
► What is your greatest weakness?
► Is there anything that you are not telling us and that you think I, as the Chief Executive, ought to know? Why should I not give you the job?

► Tell us about yourself
► Take us through your CV
► Why do you want to join this Trust?
► What can you offer to this Trust?
► What can this Trust offer you?
► How does your training meet the needs of the post?
► What makes you think that you are fit to become a consultant?
► How do you know that you are fit to become a consultant?
► How did you acquire the maturity to become a consultant?
► Do you feel that it is right for trainees to become consultants straight after CCT?
► What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing locum consultants?
► Where do you see yourself in 5/10/20 years' time?
► How do you see your career develop over the next 10 years?
► Would you like to become a clinical director?
► Looking back at your training, what did you like the most and the least?
► If you had the chance, what would you change in your training/ portfolio?
► What experience do you have to manage <type of session> successfully?
► Why should we give you this job?
► Is there anything which I, as the Chief Executive, should know and that you are not telling me? Why should I not give you the job?
► What was your greatest professional challenge in the past 5 years?
► What are the medium term goals for this hospital and how could help?
► What do you like the most and the least about this specialty?
► How do you identify your weaknesses?
► What is the difference between being a senior SpR and a junior consultant?
► How would your seniors motivate you?
► What do you think will be your biggest challenge in this post?
► What experiences outside of medicine have you found useful for your medical career?
► As a new consultant, what use will you make of your SPAs?
► Do you think that consultants should be entitled to SPAs?
► How do you measure success?

► Tell us about how your experience abroad constrasts with your UK experience.
► Looking back at your training abroad and in the UK, what would you have done differently?
► What areas do you feel would have made your UK training more complete?
► Are you aware of anything which was written in the past 6 months on the issue of content?
► What risks are surgical patients exposed to?
► You are in theatre drawing up your drugs for your first case, with the patient in the anaesthetic room. A fellow consultant anaesthetist comes in to say that he is not comfortable anaesthetising the first patient on his list. What would you do?
► You have a novice SHO who knows nothing about epidural with you. How would you go about teaching him about epidural?
► When you think the SHO is ready to do his first epidural, would you tell the patient that it is the SHO's first epidural?
► Why should we recruit you as a consultant rather than employ someone else at staff grade level?
► You have applied for the obstetric anaesthetic post. If we offered you a generalist job instead, would you take it?
► In a University hospital, what is more important: teaching or research?
► What are your views about appraisals for consultants? How should it be done? Who should be in charge?
► Will you be applying for an employer-based merit award?
► What is the worst peri-operative outcome? Should it be included as a discussion point during appraisal?
► If all doctors were asked to comment on the appraisal process, what do you think the majority would say?
► If we offered you the job, would you accept it?
► Why do really REALLY want to work for us?