FTI Consulting Assessment Day anyone?

If anyone has any information on this assessment centre i would really appreciate it as well. I have been invited to attend the assessment centre (Numerical and group excercise) but i have no idea what sort of questions they might ask!

Any help will be greatly apprecaited.

Duno if you've already been to the assessment centre, but its quite simple. The maths and englsih test are the GMAT tests, if you practice online through the link they send you, you'll be fine. You only have two group exercises, they quite time pressured so you'll have to work quick, but they doable.

Hi shoaibrauf87

I too received an email for the 1st stage - GMAT tests and group exercise.

Did u have 2 group extercises? in the mail i received, it says one group exercise..

Our group exercise was about how to introduce a new state lottery to a country that has never had one before. They split us into two groups where we had to act as advisers to the government and suggest what characteristics the government should look for in deciding the lottery operator. They then mixed the teams up into three separate teams, with each team being assigned to the role of a lottery operator in which we had to prepare a presentation for the assessors, who acted as the government, as to why we should be chosen, be prepared to be able to answer any questions after the presentation. After this everyone had to discuss the merits of each lottery operator before deciding as a group which one we would suggest to the government.

Hope that helps

There's quite a few different practise questions on the GMAT website (e.g. problem solving, sentence correction, critical reasoning, reading comprehension). Would you mind clarifying which were most useful as preparation?

Hi guys,

I have been invited for the assessment as well. Can anyone please tell me how to prepare for the group exercise? This is going to be my first case study. Also, which section of the GMAT tests would be best to practise for the numerical questions?

Would greatly appreciate any advice !

It is kind of all the GMAT tests as they use little bits of each. My memory's not perfect, but there's for the literacy test there's definitely the underline sections where you chose the gramatically correct sentence, and the finding conclusions/ arguments that would weaken/ strengthen etc from a passage type. Also for the maths a fair mix; although none of the really hard probabilities given on the practise site and only a couple of the "is this necessary and/ sufficient to describe...." type questions.

For the group exercise, unfortunately there's not much you can do to prepare. When you're there try to guide the group so that you answer everything that is asked of you, use the material infront of you- it will be relevant and have good communication skills: not too quiet nor overbearing, use people's names, speak clearly and loudly etc

Good luck!

Many thanks for the insight ! I appreciate your help :)

Hi I have been invited to an interview with them. Does anyone remember what interview questions they asked?

Thanks

Hey guys,

Has anyone heard back from them and does anyone know how many graduates they are hiring?

Thanks

lotuspb. Do you remember what they asked you in the interviews? Thanks

hey,

Actually my assessment center is on monday when is yours?

Hey. I haven't got to the assessment centre yet, they just invited me for an interview due to a mix up with their application e-mail account. My interview should be in the next 2 weeks or so. I hope your assessment goes well. Fingers crossed.

Hey all, thought I'd share my experiences regarding the FTI recruitment process. I have so far successfully passed the 1st and 2nd rounds; I am to attend the 3rd and final round on 8th Feb. I am applying for Economic and Financial Consulting, September 2012 start.

Stage 1 (13th December): 1st round assessment centre. As already said, this consisted of:

(a) Two GMAT style tests; one maths based and one focused on verbal comprehension and interpretation. These were, to be honest, fairly challenging, especially compared to the standard numerical/verbal psychometric tests which IB's and accountancy firms generally require you to take.

(b) Group exercise, all about communication and analysis. The task was, as shoaibrauf87 says, about a proposed lottery scheme to raise funds for an imaginary governments regional development scheme. In the first part, we were split into small groups (3 people) and had to prepare and present a 5-minute pitch as if we were one of the lottery operators competing to win the government contract to run the lottery. And yes, we were quizzed by the assessors (who were consultants) at the end of our pitch. In the second part, we all came together as a big group and we had to decide (as if we were the government), based on the pitches everyone had given, which lottery operator should be awarded the contract.

Stage 2 (18th January) involved:

(a) Case study (1hr 30min). This was easily the hardest aspect of the recruitment process (so far!). We were given lots of information, some of which was certainly irrelevant, and three questions to answer. The context was that a (presumably imaginary) private client of FTI was looking into suing a contractor whom they had hired renovate (for the purposes of sale) three buildings owned by the client. The contractor was late in finishing work (hence the sale was delayed) on one of the buildings and there was a substantial cost overrun. The first question was to use house price data, RPI data and nominal GDP data to convey (a) why the late sale of the building (due to the contractors being late in finishing it) may have been detrimental to the client and (b) illustrate the effect of inflation on real house prices. The second question was to approximate the total damages the client ought to sue for, based on information such as cost figures and sale prices for the buildings. The third question was described as "optional" and involved giving the client an informed opinion on the direction of the housing market, looking forward. The main information source for completing this was two papers - one of which was relatively simple and focussed on trends in the rental and real estate markets (in the UK). The other was a full-on academic paper and addressed a similar issue but provided some insight by means of an economic model. I can't remember much about this paper - it was very long and 1hr 30mins would not have been enough time to read and analyse just this paper, let alone do any of the other questions.

(b) Consultant interview (approx 40 mins):

"Value this hotel" (the hotel visible across the road from the interview room)

This is the main question I remember, we discussed valuation methods. Other than that, the interview involved general discussion of my CV and some issues in economics and finance (theoretical and practical). It was relaxed and interesting and the guy who interviewed me came across as the king of genuine, friendly, intelligent person I would like to work with. There was also some discussion about FTI, during which I was asked what I understood about FTI and its work.

(c) Director Interview (approx 30 mins):

I talked to a CFA, can't remember his name. Again we talked (though this time in more depth) about valuation as it's a huge part of the work they do there (especially in Economic and Financial Consulting). There was more discussion about FTI and I asked a couple of questions which spurred further discussion too.

I am going to attend a final interview (approx 45 mins) on 8th Feb with a Senior MD. I'm pretty nervous as everything I have learned so far in the recruitment process has made me want to work at FTI even more! On top of the interesting work and diverse, colorful (to put it lightly) clients, there is the awesome location (Covent Garden, on the doorstep on the West End). Plus the firms approach to further qualifications is great and they're generally willing to help you do ACA, CFA, MBA, MSc, FIA; whatever floats your boat. Their philosophy seems to be that the returns on such education (for the firm) are immediate!

Hey all, thought I'd share my experiences regarding the FTI recruitment process. I have so far successfully passed the 1st and 2nd rounds; I am to attend the 3rd and final round on 8th Feb. I am applying for Economic and Financial Consulting, September 2012 start.

Stage 1 (13th December): 1st round assessment centre. As already said, this consisted of:

(a) Two GMAT style tests; one maths based and one focused on verbal comprehension and interpretation. These were, to be honest, fairly challenging, especially compared to the standard numerical/verbal psychometric tests which IB's and accountancy firms generally require you to take.

(b) Group exercise, all about communication and analysis. The task was, as shoaibrauf87 says, about a proposed lottery scheme to raise funds for an imaginary governments regional development scheme. In the first part, we were split into small groups (3 people) and had to prepare and present a 5-minute pitch as if we were one of the lottery operators competing to win the government contract to run the lottery. And yes, we were quizzed by the assessors (who were consultants) at the end of our pitch. In the second part, we all came together as a big group and we had to decide (as if we were the government), based on the pitches everyone had given, which lottery operator should be awarded the contract.

Stage 2 (18th January) involved:

(a) Case study (1hr 30min). This was easily the hardest aspect of the recruitment process (so far!). We were given lots of information, some of which was certainly irrelevant, and three questions to answer. The context was that a (presumably imaginary) private client of FTI was looking into suing a contractor whom they had hired renovate (for the purposes of sale) three buildings owned by the client. The contractor was late in finishing work (hence the sale was delayed) on one of the buildings and there was a substantial cost overrun. The first question was to use house price data, RPI data and nominal GDP data to convey (a) why the late sale of the building (due to the contractors being late in finishing it) may have been detrimental to the client and (b) illustrate the effect of inflation on real house prices. The second question was to approximate the total damages the client ought to sue for, based on information such as cost figures and sale prices for the buildings. The third question was described as "optional" and involved giving the client an informed opinion on the direction of the housing market, looking forward. The main information source for completing this was two papers - one of which was relatively simple and focussed on trends in the rental and real estate markets (in the UK). The other was a full-on academic paper and addressed a similar issue but provided some insight by means of an economic model. I can't remember much about this paper - it was very long and 1hr 30mins would not have been enough time to read and analyse just this paper, let alone do any of the other questions.

(b) Consultant interview (approx 40 mins):

"Value this hotel" (the hotel visible across the road from the interview room)

This is the main question I remember, we discussed valuation methods. Other than that, the interview involved general discussion of my CV and some issues in economics and finance (theoretical and practical). It was relaxed and interesting and the guy who interviewed me came across as the king of genuine, friendly, intelligent person I would like to work with. There was also some discussion about FTI, during which I was asked what I understood about FTI and its work.

(c) Director Interview (approx 30 mins):

I talked to a CFA, can't remember his name. Again we talked (though this time in more depth) about valuation as it's a huge part of the work they do there (especially in Economic and Financial Consulting). There was more discussion about FTI and I asked a couple of questions which spurred further discussion too.

I am going to attend a final interview (approx 45 mins) on 8th Feb with a Senior MD. I'm pretty nervous as everything I have learned so far in the recruitment process has made me want to work at FTI even more! On top of the interesting work and diverse, colorful (to put it lightly) clients, there is the awesome location (Covent Garden, on the doorstep on the West End). Plus the firms approach to further qualifications is great and they're generally willing to help you do ACA, CFA, MBA, MSc, FIA; whatever floats your boat. Their philosophy seems to be that the returns on such education (for the firm) are immediate!

.