I applied for an Associate Consulting role as an APD hire (advanced professional degree) and continued through the second round of interviews (out of 3) before being knocked out of the loop (or as my interviewer put it, "we decided not to pass you on"). As most applicants know, the first round consisted of an intelligence test followed by two case interviews conducted in a group setting. The second interview consisted of two one-on-one cases with two separate consultants. My advice: practice, practice, practice, especially for the second round. I didn't, and it showed. I'm pretty certain that if I had put in at least a week of full-time prep, I would have passed the second round. Many applicants put in more than this; some put in less. I put in about a day (indicating insufficient commitment on my part) and got points knocked off for not fully addressing all potential factors that applied to the cases in question. Interviewers were friendly, if a bit stiff. One strange aspect is that many of the consultants are in their twenties, even those with APDs. These people may have smarts, but they also may lack routine interpersonal skills that simply come with age. That said, if you're younger than your interviewers, they may be more skilled in this department than you, so it's not an issue. But if you're older, the interviewer-interviewee interpersonal dynamic can be odd - at least it was in my case, as I felt more socially comfortable than my interviewers while at the same time more dependent, given our respective roles.

Rigorous but fair questions - mostly case based. Two sets of interviews x 2 rounds. You only get invited back for the afternoon if you pass the morning round. They expect a high degree of mental math and creativity. Worth prepping for standard case interview style questions, using frameworks but able to adapt them.