I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Mars & Co (Greenwich, CT) in Apr 2016
Interview
I met Mars & co. at the Columbia University career fair, applied online, and get an interview. The interview consists of a initial phone screen (fit) followed by 2 rounds. Mars responded very quickly (2 days after the 1st round, and offered me a position on the spot in the 2nd round). The interviewers were friendly and the cases were not too difficult (I have practiced about 75+ consulting cases so I'm a very experienced case solver).
Ultimately, I decided to turn the offer down for 5 reasons. 1) The company is a sole proprietorship which I believe is not a good ownership structure for a consulting firm. 2) Career options seem limited after working with Mars & co compared to BCG or McKinsey as they are a small firm that not many have heard of. 3) The compensation package is not that great. I was offered $110k base salary with a $10k signing bonus and no annual bonus. That's pretty low for the industry 4) PhDs (I'm a PhD) start a pay scale under MBAs. I don't think that's fair as I think PhDs have a better analytical skill set than an MBA and Mars markets them selvs as an analytic heavy consulting firm. 5) The daily 1 hour commute (on way) from manhattan to Greenwhich, CT seems kind of brutal. Greenwhich is not an attractive place to live for young people like myself.
I would be very hesitant to take a job at this firm.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The interviews are a combo of fit and case interviews. Study how to do market-sizing, answer brainteasers, and answer abstract questions.
The first-round interview was with someone who was friendly, asked fit questions, and gave me a market-sizing question. The second-round interviewer was hostile from the get-go. There was some chitchat, followed by a market-sizing question, then followed by a nonstandard consulting-interview question asking me how I would use a one-page document to answer a business question.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Estimate the size of the market for a common consumer product in the United States.
I applied online. The process took 8 weeks. I interviewed at Mars & Co (Greenwich, CT) in Oct 2016
Interview
Initial phone screen focused on my interest in consulting. First round interviews consisted of two 45 min interviews with junior consultants. I felt the interviewers were a bit unprofessional and untrained. The first gave me a riddle and brainteaser that are both known cliches of consulting interviews, and then spoke more about himself than listening to me. The second asked me to describe my background, and after nodding along for a minute asked me a completely irrelevant question about sports. We then did a market sizing question, but by that point I felt like walking out.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about yourself/why are you interested in consulting.