Corporate Strategy Interview Prep Advice

I have an upcoming FT interview with a corporate strategy group at a F500 Media & Entertainment company. I'm really excited about this opportunity, but I'm not too sure what kind of technical questions I should be expecting. I know corp strat interviews vary a lot from firm to firm, but I'd appreciate it if anyone that has been through the process for FT could share his/her insights.

 

Corp Strategy tends to be filled with a bunch of ex-management consultants so prepare in a similar manner to what you would for management consulting. Also, plan to be able to go deep on the economics and strategic growth areas for the relevant industry. What's going on in M&A? What's going on with biz models? What's going on with organic growth and investment from major players?

 

Use Linkedin to see the make up of the Corporate Strategy team. If it's all ex-MBB folks, then expect to go through the gauntlet case style with a tilt towards the company's Industry (ex: Cisco, how to grow networking segment in Asia market). Otherwise, it could be more fit/situational driven. Also, make sure to go through latest analyst transcript and news to get up to speed on the company.

 

I just had an interview with a CS team. A lot of fit questions and they want to see a genuine interest and passion for the field you are in. Be ready for a few of these from different members of the team. Also be prepared for case studies.

 

I imagine you'll get a case study. It's hard to say without knowing the company and with it being a new group.

I'd practice for MBB-type consulting jobs. Usually those positions closely mirror corpstrat jobs.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 
D M:

I imagine you'll get a case study. It's hard to say without knowing the company and with it being a new group.

I'd practice for MBB-type consulting jobs. Usually those positions closely mirror corpstrat jobs.

Interesting. My interviewer is indeed a former McKinsey partner but in the first round I did not really had a case, but more of a discussion.

So you might be right.

 
Best Response

I was in a f500 hybrid strat/finance role and I never received a case study. A majority of my questions were structured this way:

1) How would you analyze XYZ scenario?
2) If we were going to expand in XYZ market/geography, what are some things you would have to think about? 3) What type of effect do you think XYZ would have on our business? (eg competitor does something) 4) What kind of costs would be associated with doing XYZ?

You get the idea. Most of the questions were asked just to get a sense for how I think. I liked this kind of interview as opposed to a case study which may require a specific answer. Their questions usually turned into a back-and-forth conversation -- it was pretty interesting to get a perspective on how they think, even if I didn't end up working there.

Every company is different, however. You might get a more formal case study, you might not. Regardless, you should prep for a case study just in case.

 

Yea I think it's dependent on the company. I know a lot of companies that use CorpStrat as sort of internal consultants do case studies.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your input. I finished my interviews.

I actually interviewed for two companies (same position but different industries) and actually got offers from both so your advice has proved its worth :).

Most important was industry and company knowledge but also to have a structured approach in answering questions. As for cases, I only had one which was simpler than what you find in consulting.

Now I have a different issue: the company I chose to remain has a very small strategy team and they do not have entry-level positions. They said that after the internship, one usually gets very good expose to remain in other departments of the company, but I want to stay in corporate strategy.

How can I find a way for them to make an exception to keep me after my internship?

Thanks again for your help.

Cheers,

 

I would also prepare for questions that might be broad, such as if the CEO approaches the Corp Strat team and asks them to look into entering xyz market, what are the types of things you would consider? How would you put together the recommendation and summary deck for senior leadership?

 

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