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?
I think anyone working in Entertainment/Media should know how technology has disrupted the film and music industries, i.e. TV -series now co-produced or produced by streaming media (Netflix).
Thanks for the tips guys
Corporate Strategy Analyst Interview @ a tech firm (Originally Posted: 03/06/2013)
Hi All,
I've been invited to interview for a strategy analyst position within the corp strategy/development group at a tech firm (think Oracle/Cisco type). Does anyone have any idea as to what the interview is like for corp strategy? Would it be similar to a MBB interview? (e.g., behavioral questions / walk through a case)
What should I do to prepare? I've already started reviewing Case In Point, and HBSCase Guide. Anything else I should look into? I have CS background so I should be ok on the tech aspect of the interview.
Thanks.
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.
Corporate Strategy interview advice? (Originally Posted: 10/09/2011)
Hi guys - I found a lot of info on BB/Equities strategy roles and interviews here and I realize its a bit off from the normal subject matter. But. Anyone have advice, or experience they are willing to share about corporate strategy interviews? Its for a lightly experienced hire role, Senior Analyst in Strategy/Finance.
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.
Corp. Strategy interview in one week (Originally Posted: 02/22/2014)
Hi everyone,
I have a 2nd round corp. strategy internship interview with a Global 100 company for their new strategy department (fewer than 10 people).
In the first round I had some questions about my previous experience and about "walk me through your CV". In addition, main focus was on the current company and what you would do if tomorrow you get to be CEO.
Just found out that I got into 2nd round and that I will be interviewing with the same person I interviewed in the 1st round (as I said, very small department).
What would you guys expect me to get in the interview and how would you best prepare?
Thank you for your help.
Cheers.
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.
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.
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,
Internal move to corp strat rotation program - what questions to expect? (Originally Posted: 04/22/2017)
Hi all,
I'll be meeting with one of the VP Corp Strat of my company next week for 30min to interview for a corp strat rotational program and need help what to prepare for!
I work at a F50 tech company in a revenue generating role (totally unrelated to strategy), but have a related M.S degree to corp strat and been preparing for CFA L1. The VP reached out to me asking if I'd be interested in talking about the corp strat rotational program and we scheduled time to speak. I think my resume was passed on to him after I started networking internally.
I started brushing up on my case interview skills and feel comfortable with finance questions thanks to CFA prep, so what kind of questions should I expect? And what can I talk about to have an edge over other candidates? My industry is running hot right now with M&A activity, so I've been doing deep dive into those transactions and my company's 5-10yr outlook in the market. This conversation I feel like will be more around why I'm interested and if I'll be a fit in their culture.. but you never know!
Thanks!
I would expect questions related to your company...not really case studies (fine to know the basic frameworks). Where do you see our biggest opportunity and threats? Where do you see the industry going and how do we defend our position against competitors?
Is your Corp Dev team separate from the strategy team?
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?
What to expect : Case interview @FS firm (Corporate Strategy Role) (Originally Posted: 02/11/2018)
Hi,
I have an interview scheduled with an FS firm for a corporate strategy role. The first round talks about Excel based case study- testing (Modelling / Analytical/ Problem solving / Structured thinking /Basic banking skills) followed by 2 more case interviews ( Problem Solving (ppt) & Fit interview.)
Since i have a consulting background but certainly not from Finance. What should i be expecting and what preparation path shall i take.
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