Application Process & Interviews at Nous Group

I had three interviews. First, a 20 minute interview with a person from recruitment to build rapport and gain information on the next steps. Second, a longer interview with a manager where they asked you more detailed questions about your experience and why you want to work for Nous. There was also a problem solving case study where you were required to make qualitative and quantitative judgements for a hypothetical. And third, a final interview with a principal that had the same process as the second interview. There was only a week or two turnaround between each interview, and the process probably took a month in total.

The interview process was enjoyable and reflective. I genuinely enjoyed the cases I got given to work on - they were engaging and in areas I am passionate about (health and aged care, organisational performance and leadership). It was also highly reflective - the final interview included questions about what I'd learned about myself through the interview process.

I actually interviewed as an intern, which I think was a slightly different experience to the grad interview. I appreciated that there was no group interview, but there was a case study which I think actually signposted my ability to work in consulting well.

I went through a phone interview, video interview, case study and a couple virtual assessments (quantitative data and a psychometric assessment from memory)

Resume screening, Online testing, Interview with HR/People Team, Case study, Interview with senior management (not undertaken, skipped to offer), Offer.

Interviewers were all very warm and made me feel comfortable in a usually stressful environment. The assessments actually felt relevant which is rare for a grad role.

Screening interview and then case study

There are three stages, initially with a people teams person, then a case study with another consultant, and then a third round case study with principal.

Cases, writing assessment.

Online Application/Cover Lette, Online Test, 15 min HR Interview , 1.5 hr Director interview with case study and written task and 1 hr Director interview

I completed an online assessment, initial interview with HR and then two case study interviews before being offered the job.

The interview process was very thorough and time consuming. First, I applied online via the company website. There were three rounds of interviews. First with someone from HR to discuss my previous work etc. Second, with a manager where we went through standard interview questions and a management consulting case study. Last, I had an interview with a principal where we did a second case study and also discussed my interests outside of work.

In a Nous Group interview, you'll be asked about your past work and what you can offer the team. They will want to know what you understand about Nous Group and which industries you're interested in working in. You will also go through an exercise where you look at a case study, think about the issues, and come up with clear solutions.

I recall that I was asked what book I was reading at the time and what is was about. I recall I was asked what I value in work and how I operate in a fast-paced environment. I was asked how I would approach creating a survey as one of my case studies, and how I'd think about leadership performance in an organisation. I was also asked what I learned about myself throughout the interview process and what I thought were important parts of being a consultant (the big one was building rapport quickly).

too long ago to remember properly

Why do I want to work at Nous? What book am I reading at the moment? Can you tell me about a time where you worked in a team? Am I applying elsewhere? These are Nous' reasons for being, what do you think of them? What is your greatest accomplishment? What has been your biggest learning?

The majority of questions were technical. This included the interview with the HR/People Team. I was asked to volunteer an issue I've noticed in society and then apply a structured problem solving method to develop high-level solutions and measures of success. The case study was a structured set of problems and questions. It involved a micro-consulting challenge - with both qualitative elements and quantitative.

A case study on the four day work week. I got to choose the case study and had enough time to work my way through and explain answers. I see it being a challenge though to people with little interview experience.

Why consulting? What draws you to this company? What are your interests? What do you do outside of your professional life?

Why Nous? If there was something to recommend me to read what would it be?

We were asked a lot of the typical questions around 'tell me a time when xyz' as well as two interesting case studies to solve a problem for a client.

Some questions I remember from my interviews were: - If you could work on any project, what would you work on? - How do you navigate a difficult person, using an example from a uni project or previous work? - What is your past experience? - What are your strengths? - How to you balance work and other commitments (e.g. regular exercise, hobbies, friendships etc). - Can you describe a challenge you've overcome in a uni assignment or previous work? - Who are your role models?

Understand your strengths and how they augment Nous' mission; build rapport with the interviewers by doing a bit of background research on their career; have a can do attitude; and do practice scenarios beforehand.

Be relaxed and be yourself - I think it is obvious if you are saying something that isn't true. Ask questions in your case study - don't be afraid to clarify or ask, in my experience it was more like a discussion bouncing ideas off one another than me doing it solo. Also, always have two questions prepared for your interviewer. Nous really values asking questions and leaning in, so a good one might be 'why did you decide working at Nous' or 'how does Nous' emphasis on positive influence manifest in your work' etc.

Just be yourself. Nous wants to know you are genuine, and have genuine interest in the work that they do.

I think its important to work out why you want to work for Nous. After interviewing at a few consulting firms, Nous definitely stood out to me as one that cared about the projects they do and the people they hire. I would read through the website and case studies on the website and do some self-reflection on your strengths and weaknesses (and how to turn these into strengths).

I encourage candidates to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. The point of these interviews aren't to confirm that you can answer each question correctly, rather, to verify that you take the right approach when confronted with ambiguity. Consulting is about problem solving. Industry doesn't hire consultants because they know the answer, but because they know how to get to the answer.

Its hard to prepare for this interview outside of having a real clear understanding of your own values and whats important to you in a working environment. Cultural understanding, both in, and outside of Nous, seemed to be important when i was being interviewed.

Best prepare by researching the companies values and make sure your values align too. Ensure that you can communicate this to the interviewer. Next go through some practice case studies and understand the thinking and logic needed to work through it.

Do cases

I would recommend preparing for the case study interviews through plenty of practice.

Be true to yourself. I recently heard a coworker comment 'The company hires the person before the skillset' whilst I'm not sure if this is our formal hiring strategy, but resonated very strongly with me. My reading of this comment is that Nous is looking for people who are well-rounded and interested in the world, with a belief that if we can hire people with the right attitude, we can teach them the technical skills on the job.

Prep on mental maths Be yourself we very much do value diversity Just prep general interview questions

I'd recommend practicing management consulting case studies, however, don't become overwhelmed or think you need to know everything. The exercise is really to see if you can think in a structured way about a problem, not that you get everything right. Also, the examples online are great practice but not all case studies are similar to the work that Nous does, the case studies Nous goes through in interviews are past Nous work, so no "how many people in New York wear red in a day" kind of questions (if you know you know). I'd recommend reading examples on the website of some of Nous's completed projects and thinking about how you'd go about solving those problems. Also, it's worth noting the interview process is very long, with lots of time between each round of interviews, so be patient.