在《透析外企面试》系列文章中,笔者曾简单介绍过案例面试。本期笔者将以咨询公司为例,对案例面试进行更充分的阐释。首先来介绍一下咨询公司。咨询公司的主要业务是按照客户的要求,运用专门的知识和经验,向客户提供咨询服务或解决问题的方案。咨询公司的特殊工作性质要求其工作人员在为客户提供咨询服务时,能够在压力之下保持冷静,快速、全面地理解客户的问题所在,然后运用较强的逻辑分析能力解决问题。要想招聘到具备以上素质的理想员工,许多咨询公司都会采用案例面试的形式,这主要是因为案例面试互动性强,与实际工作联系紧密。下面我们就来了解一下案例面试的形式和目的、案例面试的内容以及案例面试的应对策略。
案例面试的形式和目的
咨询公司的案例面试是一对一进行的互动过程,一般持续30～35分钟。在案例面试中,主考官通常会向应聘者提出一个商业问题,要求应聘者作出分析,并给出意见。在分析之前,应聘者针对该商业问题向主考官提出一些自己的疑问,等对该商业问题有了全面、细致的了解后,再开始构思并系统地分析问题,进而提出解决问题的方案或建议。一般而言,这类案例面试问题没有绝对正确的答案。面试官看重的也不是答案,而是在整个面试过程中应聘者所表现出来的分析能力、陈述能力与抗压能力。
在案例面试中,主考官首先考察的是应聘者的分析和推理能力,因为咨询工作的核心就是分析;其次考察应聘者的表达和陈述能力,因为在咨询人员对客户的问题进行了缜密分析并得出对策之后,还必须把整个对策展现给客户;此外还考察应聘者的抗压能力,主考官有时会刻意营造一种紧张的面试氛围,来考察应聘者在面对压力时是否具备冷静思考问题的能力。
案例面试的内容
常见的案例面试题涉及利润下降(profit decline)、市场进入(market entry)、行业分析(industry analysis)等商业问题。在这类案例面试题中,主考官会给出一个案例背景,然后问应聘者应如何分析和解决这个问题。主考官一般不会提供很具体的信息,应聘者需要不断地提出有针对性的问题来获取更多的有用信息。以下列举一些常见的案例面试题:
1. 利润下降
① You are consulting for an international power tool company which has been losing money for a couple of months. What could be causing this?
② Your client is a major pharmacy (药房) chain. Every year they make more sales, and every year they lose more money. They are considering closing some of their pharmacies. Should they implement this strategy?
③ An airline finds that, while its revenues are high, the company is still operating at a loss. What is going on?
2. 市场进入
① You are consulting for a company whose major business is in Western Europe. They are considering an expansion into China. What is your advice?
② You are consulting for a major distributor of canned beans in North America. They are considering an expansion into the Southeast Asian market. What would you recommend?
③ The company is facing a situation in which there is a need for a product change—dropping the product or selling it to a completely different market. You are required to analyze the case.
3. 行业分析
① You are consulting for a small manufacturer of motorcycles. They are well reputed for having the best quality products on the market. A large multinational competitor has announced that it will begin selling top-end (高端) motorcycles incorporating the latest engine technology. What should your client do?
② You are consulting for one of the largest supermarket chains in the country. This chain is considering opening its own bank branches in its supermarket locations. What is your advice?
③ Your client is a small regional bank in the U.S. They are considering closing more and more of their branch locations, and diverting their resources to telephone and internet banking facilities. Should they implement this strategy?
除以上列举的常见商业问题外,主考官有时还可能要求应聘者回答一些非常规的案例面试题,包括猜测题(guesstimates)和智力题(brainteasers)。
猜测题
猜测题常常用来测试应聘者是否具备良好的市场评估能力、逻辑思维能力和创造性思维能力。在回答这类面试问题时,应聘者无须也无法在短时间内提供准确答案。以下列举一些常见的猜测题(具体的应答思路可参考本刊2009年11月号):
① How many washing machines were sold in China last year?
② How many newsstands are there in New York City?
③ How many new apartment buildings were built in Singapore last year?
智力题
智力题多为“脑筋急转弯”或数学题,主要考察应聘者是否具备创造性思维能力、分析能力、计算能力和解决问题的能力。面对这类问题,应聘者只能在保持冷静的情况下,充分调动每一个脑细胞,认真思考,必要时还需借助笔和纸画示意图、做演算等。以下列举一些智力题,以供读者自行练习回答(参考答案请见本文的结尾处):
① Peter’s mother has three children. One is named April, and the second is named May. What is the third one named?
② What seven-letter word has hundreds of letters in it?
③ Two men apply for a job. They are identical. They have the same mother, father and birthday. The interviewer asks, “Are you twins?” They honestly reply, “No.” Why?
④ You are given eight coins and told that one of them is counterfeit (赝品). The counterfeit one is slightly heavier than the other seven. Otherwise, the coins look identical. Can you determine which coin is counterfeit by using a balance scale only twice?
⑤ I am the owner of a pet store. If I put in one canary (金丝雀) per cage, I have one bird too many. If I put in two canaries per cage, I have one cage too many. How many cages and canaries do I have?
⑥ By moving one of the following digits, make the equation correct: 62 – 63 = 1. Which digit should you move?
案例面试的应对策略
笔者以上介绍的案例面试题中,猜测题和智力题属于案例面试的辅助问题,回答起来不太难;而常见的商业案例题一般较难应付,应引起应聘者的足够重视。遇到商业案例题时,应聘者可参考如下的应对策略。
1. 认真倾听并剖析案例
当主考官阐述案例时,应聘者一定要认真倾听,并在纸上记录相关信息,尤其要记录关键的背景资料和数据。如果没有听懂问题,应聘者应当礼貌地请求主考官重述问题。此外,应聘者还应向主考官有针对性地提出一些问题,问题要讲究逻辑性,等应聘者全面、细致地了解该问题后再开始分析这一案例。
2. 采用分析工具构建答题思路
在构思的过程中,应聘者可以采用一些常用的分析工具或框架来为自己提供一个分析问题的基本思路。应聘者可以采用营销学中的4Ps (Product、Price、Promotion、Place)理论来分析为什么产品销量会下降或增长;也可以从收益(Revenues)和成本(Costs)的角度来分析利润增长或下降的原因,以及某产品是否可以进入某个市场;还可以从3Cs (Competitor、Customer、Channel)的角度进行行业分析。以下面这个商务案例面试问题为例:“You are consulting for an international power tool company which has been losing money for a couple of months. What could be causing this?”应聘者可以采取如下的思路进行分析:①从收益和成本的角度分析,了解利润下降是销售额下降造成的,还是成本上升造成的。②如果是销售额下降造成的,可以从4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, Place)的角度进行分析:是产品质量有问题,还是价格过高?是促销有问题,还是分销渠道有问题?③如果是成本上升造成的,要分析是固定成本还是可变成本过高:如果是固定成本过高,可以考虑关闭一些生产线、厂房等;如果是可变成本过高,则要分析是原材料的价格过高还是员工的工资过高等因素造成的。
3. 转换自己的角色
应聘者在案例面试中要敢于把自己看成是一位专业的咨询人员,这样不仅能更好地和主考官进行交流和互动,而且也能给主考官留下更深的印象。应聘者可以多使用一些咨询师和客户沟通时常用的语句,例如:“After evaluating the case, I think we could approach it using the following structure.”或“After analyzing the case, I think the reasons are A, B and C, and I think we could examine them using the following framework.”
4. 和主考官互动
在完成基本构思后,应聘者首先应把整个思路和分析框架写在纸上,然后向主考官说明自己的分析思路。应聘者甚至还可以一边思考,一边把自己的分析角度、方法和原因告诉主考官。这样便于主考官了解应聘者是否能够快速、准确并有逻辑性地思考和解决问题。如果应聘者分析的方向有误,主考官往往会提醒应聘者换位思考。例如,主考官可能会说:“Do you think it’s necessary to consider this reason? Are there any other reasons?”听到这些提醒时,应聘者应考虑调整分析的方向。此外,在整个面试中,应聘者应当不断地向主考官提问以获取更多的信息。应聘者不要害怕“麻烦”主考官,不要害怕问错问题,也不要担心多提问题会给主考官留下知识贫乏的印象。总之,在整个面试过程中,包括构建答题的思路和框架、逐个分析框架中的每个因素、提供解决问题的方案等,应聘者都应该和主考官充分互动讨论来完成整个面试。
5. 总结汇报
由于咨询师在作完分析后,常常要把他们的分析结论和建议总结出来汇报给客户,因此在案例面试结束时,主考官也常常会要求应聘者对自己的分析进行总结。此时,应聘者应借助自己的分析框架和其他笔记,把自己的分析思路和结果按照逻辑顺序进行总结陈词。
智力题参考答案:
① Peter② mailbox
③ Because they were triplets (三胞胎).
④ First weigh three coins against three others. If the weights are equal, weigh the remaining two against each other. The heavier one is the counterfeit. If one of the groups of three is heavier, weigh two of those coins against each other. If one is heavier, it’s the counterfeit. If they have equal weight, the third coin is the counterfeit.
⑤ Let b be the number of birds and c be the number of cages. The problem gives us two equations, which we can merge together to solve for c: b=c+1; c=b/2+1. Now we discover that b equals 4. So there are four canaries and three cages.
⑥ 26 – 63 = 1 (In other words, 26 = 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2, which equals 64.)