Oliver Wyman How Long to Wait Until Apply Again

Oliver Wyman interviews are very rigorous. They're also different than what you'd encounter at a typical corporate firm. To evaluate candidates, Oliver Wyman uses a combination of case interviews, "conversational interviews", and case presentations.

This may sound overwhelming, but don't worry. With the right preparation, you can conquer your Oliver Wyman interviews and maximise your chances of getting a job offer.

Our team has first-hand experience with the Oliver Wyman interview process and has helped over 30,000 consulting applicants at the time of writing this article. So, let's review everything you need to know to land an offer from Oliver Wyman.

1. Oliver Wyman's parent company is bigger than the MBB

Oliver Wyman is a subsidiary of Marsh and McLennan Companies, which holds a portfolio of professional services businesses. Marsh and McLennan generated over $14bn in 2018 revenue, which is more thanMcKinsey ($10bn), BCG ($6bn) or Bain ($4bn).

Marsh and McLennan's consulting arm is called the Oliver Wyman Group, which contains Oliver Wyman itself, as well as a few other consulting subsidiaries. Although Oliver Wyman is associated with this larger conglomerate, it is still considered among the world's most prestigious consulting companies. In fact, Oliver Wyman is ranked #5 in the Vault Consulting 50 and is also 5th highest in revenue among strategy consulting firms.

Before it was purchased by Marsh and McLennan, Oliver Wyman's earliest predecessor was called "Oliver, Wyman & Company". It was originally formed in 1984, by Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman, who had both been partners at Booz Allen Hamilton (which is now known as Strategy&).

To understand Oliver Wyman consulting, and how it operates today, it helps to know the company's internal structure. Oliver Wyman is organised into 3 business verticals, which are as follows:

• Financial Services is the firm's largest focus, and their consulting specialty.
• Consumer, Industrial, and Services is essentially OW's "catch all" for consulting in sectors outside of financial services.
• Health and Life Sciences is very small compared to the other verticals, and focuses on consulting with clients in pharmaceuticals, healthcare, etc.

It's also worth mentioning OW Labs, which is one of Oliver Wyman's internal practices. OW Labs is the firm's digital technology division, and is one of their fastest growing businesses.

If you're interested in working for Oliver Wyman, then it's important to identify the specific area where you'd like to work. Being able to articulate your interests and future goals will contribute to your success in the application and interviews.

In the remaining sections below, we'll go into greater detail on each stage of the interview process at Oliver Wyman, and the steps you can take to get prepared.

2. Oliver Wyman interview process overview

Oliver Wyman has 4 steps in their application process.

1. Resume andcover letterscreening
2. Online assessment tests
3. First round interviews
4. Second round interviews

These steps outline the typical process. However, for consulting jobs the steps for interviews can vary based on location and role. It can be really helpful to ask your HR contact if they can provide more details on the specific steps for your interview track.

Generally,your first step will be nailing your resume and cover letter. The recruiter will be looking for specific things on your application, including problem solving and leadership skills. To optimise your documents, check out our articles for consultingresumesandcover letters.

After your application is processed, you'll likely be asked to take Oliver Wyman's online assessment tests. Typically, candidates will take a numerical test, and in some cases, candidates will also be asked to take a verbal reasoning test or a personality test. The numerical test usually has about 30 questions and a 20-30 minute time limit, you can find some sample questions here.

After the initial application, you'll move onto the interviews. In the first round, you'll typically face one resume/behavioural interview, and one case interview. Depending on the circumstances, the first round interviews may be conducted in-person, or over the phone.

Second round interviews are usually a "Super Day". Note that the term "Super Day" is used in the US, and the term "Assessment Centre" is more common in Europe. This is basically just an on-site office visit, where you perform a series of interviews.

Oliver Wyman Super Day overview:

1. Case interview
2. Behavioural / fit interview
3. Case presentation
4. Consultant Q&A

You'll probably just have one of each of these interviews during the second round, and not necessarily in that order. You'll also notice that the summary above includes a consultant Q&A.

Oliver Wyman sometimes provides an opportunity for an informal discussion with current consultants. This is technically not an interview, and probably will not be considered as a part of your offer decision. However, this is a great chance for you to learn more about the life of an OW consultant. Come prepared with a few thoughtful questions.

In the following sections, we'll provide more details on the recruitment steps for Oliver Wyman, including tips and resources for how to prepare.

3. Oliver Wyman case interviews

Case interviews at Oliver Wyman are candidate-led, which is the same style used in a BCG or a Bain case interview. This is different to firms like McKinsey or Capital One who use interviewer-led cases.

For a candidate-led case interview, there are 7 types of questions you need to prepare for:

• Situation
• Framework development
• Framework exploration
• Quant question – Data provided
• Quant question – No data provided
• Creativity question
• Recommendation

You can learn more about case interview questions, by reading our free case interview guide. Another great way to prepare, is by practicing with realistic cases. Oliver Wyman actually provides two samples on their website, that you can use to practice. You can find them at the links below:

• Wumbleworld (Oliver Wyman practice case)
• Aqualine (Oliver Wyman practice case)

You can also get a sense of what candidate-led case interviews are like, using the video below.As we mentioned, case interviews at Oliver Wyman are typically candidate-led and therefore use the same format as BCG and Bain.

4. Top behavioural interview questions asked at Oliver Wyman

Oliver Wyman does behavioural interviews a little differently than other top consulting firms like McKinsey. In McKinsey's behavioural interviews, the interviewer chooses a topic, and then they will evaluate you on only that one topic. Oliver Wyman's behavioural interviews are much broader. They call them "conversational interviews", and they cover a mix of resume, fit and PEI questions.

In addition to questions about your resume, you can expect to encounter two main categories of behavioural interview questions at Oliver Wyman:

1. Fit questions. These are generic questions such as "Why consulting?" or "Why OW?".
2. Personal Experience Interview (PEI) questions. These are questions such as "Tell me about a time when you led a team through a difficult situation." Or "Tell me about a time where you had to manage a team conflict"

We've written extensively about consulting fit / PEI questions in the past. But in summary here are the top 5 fit and PEI questions you should prepare for at Oliver Wyman.

Top 5 fit questions:

• Why Oliver Wyman?
• Why consulting?
• Walk me through your resume
• Tell me about something not on your resume
• Tell me about your greatest accomplishment

Top 5 PEI questions. Tell me about a time when ...

• You led a team through a difficult situation
• You worked in a team and had to manage a conflict
• You had a disagreement with a colleague / boss
• You had to change someone's / a group's mind
• You overcame a really difficult challenge

If you would like guidance on how to answer PEI questions, you can check our article on the topic here.

5. Oliver Wyman case presentation

The final type of interview used by Oliver Wyman is a case presentation.

Here's a quick overview of what to expect:

• Receive the case information (e.g. business scenario, questions, data)
• You'll have 30 minutes to analyse the materials and prepare a presentation
• Then you'll spend 30 minutes presenting and answering interviewer questions

A case presentation is MUCH different than a normal case interview, and you'll need to specifically prepare for the presentation format. In order to prepare, we recommend you study our in-depth written case interview guide.

That guide is written with BCG and Bain in mind, and there are some differences for an OW case presentation. For example, written case presentations at BCG and Bain are significantly longer in duration. However, the tips and preparation plan in sections 2 and 3, would be a great resource for your OW prep.

As you prepare, it will also be helpful to know that your interviewers may stop you to ask questions during your presentation. It may sound unusual, or even rude, to be interrupted during your presentation. However, as a consultant, you will need to be prepared to answer client questions that arise while you are presenting, and your OW interviewers may want to test how you would respond.

In sections 6-9 below, we're going to cover four important steps that you should take in order to prepare for your Oliver Wyman case interviews. Let's start with maths preparation.

6. Become really confident at maths

You don't have to have a perfect GPA or GMAT score to succeed at case interview maths. However, during your Oliver Wyman interview, you will be expected to quickly perform accurate mental maths.

With some time and intentional effort, you can develop impressive maths skills, and learn to confidently solve questions with a structured approach. In our experience, the most successful applicants begin their interview preparation by practicing maths skills.

If you want to learn more about the type of maths problems used in Oliver Wyman case interviews, check out our free guide to case interview maths.

7. Develop a consistent method to crack cases

One of the biggest challenges of interviewing with Oliver Wyman, is the case interviews. Not only can each case be difficult, but you could face 4-6+ cases before receiving an offer.

As a result, it's critical for you to have a consistent approach for solving cases. As we mentioned above, OW uses candidate-led case interviews, which can be broken down into the following 7 types of questions:

1. Situation
2. Framework development
3. Framework exploration
4. Quant question – Data provided
5. Quant question – No data provided
6. Creativity question
7. Recommendation

If you can crack each type of question (within a case), then you can crack the case.

When we prepared for our case interviews, one of the most frustrating things was the lack of a consistent approach for solving each of the case questions. That's exactly why we created the step-by-step method for solving cases that we teach in our case interview training programme.

8. Practice cases out loud

The analysis you bring to each case is important, but your interviewers will also be evaluating how you COMMUNICATE your answers. It's important to speak in a structured way that makes it easy to clearly understand your points.

One of the best ways to hone your communication skills is to practice with friends and former consultants. However, this isn't always possible.

A great alternative, is to simply practice by yourself (out loud). Play the role of both the candidate and the interviewer. That means you should ask questions and answer them, just like two people would in an interview. To help you with this process, here is a broadlistof consulting interview questions you can practice with.

This will probably seem strange at first. But trust us, in our experience candidates who use this approach are much more likely to get an offer.

9. Learn from every mistake you make

During case interview preparation, the quality of your preparation is just as important as the quantity of time that you dedicate. It's better to do 20 cases thoughtfully than to rush through 40 cases. We recommend that you keep a notebook where you record improvement opportunities and specific things you did well for each case.

The notebook and self-evaluation will help you be more strategic (and efficient) with your preparation. It's also a good idea to go back and re-do old cases. For example, after you have done case #20, you could go back to case #1, to make sure you are not repeating the same mistakes.

The minimum preparation time required to succeed in case interviews is probably around 30 hours. However, if you don't prepare thoughtfully, it may take much longer. So take notes, be strategic, and start practicing today!

Additional resources

If you would like to fast track your case interview preparation and maximise your chances of getting an offer at Oliver Wyman, come and train with us. More than 80% of the candidates training with our case interview programmes end up getting an offer at their target firm. We know this because we give half of their money back to people who don't.

You can find a link to our BCG & Bain Case Interview Training Programme below. As mentioned previously, Oliver Wyman uses the same type of case interviews as BCG and Bain. So you can therefore use that programme to prepare.

BCG & Bain Case Interview Training Programme

Any questions about Oliver Wyman case interviews?

If you have any questions about case interviews, do not hesitate to ask them below and we will be more than happy to answer them. All questions are good questions, so go ahead!

The IGotAnOffer team

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Source: https://igotanoffer.com/blogs/mckinsey-case-interview-blog/oliver-wyman-case-interview