Accenture Summer Intern Interview Questions and Answers

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Know in and out about the resume

Round: Guesstimate Interview
Experience: Structure:
1.I assumed Lucknow’s area to be 20km by 20km.
2.I, then, divided the city into a matrix assuming it to be criss-crossed by #60 20 km roads running horizontally and vertically each.
3.Then estimated an approximate of 30% area to be under forest cover.
4.Divided the roads in the remaining 70% area into roads present in residential and non-residential (commercial + highways) areas. Took an estimate on number of street lights present per km in both these areas.
5.Finally came to a number on the number of street lights taking into account that some places will have 2 lamps on a single post while others will have just 1.
6.After that estimated the product + set-up cost for each street light.
7.Estimated the running charges (maintenance and electricity). Electricity charges would depend on the number of operation hours and watt-rating of the lamp. Maintenance charges and profit margin was estimated.
8.In the end a total estimate of profits was calculated.

Skills: Guesstimate Skills, Guesstimation Cases
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case analysis:
Initially we discussed if it was a normal trend in other parts of India or not. If there was any price increased by Nano or any changes with the design which might not have gone well with the consumers. We also spoke about impact of negative publicity like engine failure and instances of fire breaking out in Nano. Marketing strategies of handling negative publicity was also discussed.But the maximum discussion happened around 2 points:
1)As Nano was mainly for people with 2 wheelers, I wanted to understand where the real issue was. Whether consumers are moving to 2.5-3 lakhs priced car like Alto and Zen (few others also) or people with 2 wheelers were not able to buy Nano. I asked about any trend whether any data regarding people willingness to buy Nano (Through Test Drives taken, visits to showrooms etc.) but not actually buying was there or not. After few minute of discussion, I was told that the main issue was people with 2 wheelers are not buying Nano. So the main issue was affordability. I recommended zero % interest rate for EMI for first 2 years of purchase and very minimal ROI after that. We also discussed about the bank Nano should partner with and then he filtered the question to 1 bank only. I opted for SBI as it has branches in adjoining remote areas of Kolkata and people there have higher trust in Govt. banks.
2)We also spoke about the Demand-Supply constraint. If there was any channel conflict. Brief interaction revealed that Nano had only 7 distributors in that part of region and this was a major problem and it should increase by 3-4.
Tips: 1)Stay Cool because it will help you to interact freely and focus on various perspectives which is very important in the case
2)Display a lot of enthusiasm and don’t shy away from talking. Remember Consultant need to do a lot of talking. Just ensure you talk sense on that day. 3)Practise some cases before interviews.
4)Never think that you are out of race. Don’t judge yourself in the interview. Interviewer might give you chance to bounce back.
5)Higher Work Ex people particularly IT background can’ t get day zero short list is a myth.

Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I divided the decisions into HR , operations , finance and marketing related decisions. Since the venture was a new one I focussed on the organizational chart development and the role of director in selecting the right people for higher and middle management roles. I also talked about getting policies with regard to skill set of workers, policy on unions being in place. Talked about setting up a township and hiring a contractor for it as the location is likely to be in a remote area. Also focussed on retaining and hiring of talent.Marketing function decisions included pricing of product (based on cost estimates of sales force) and sales force for carrying out B2B activities. Discussion on operations was the most important one in this case. I talked about the role of director in hiring a contractor and overlooking the subcontractors used. I also talked about the timelines of the project and suggested a milestone based approach with penalties to ensure that the work gets done. In addition to contract related equipment i focused on the equipment specification to match to the capacity expectations. Aggregate planning with scaling up was also suggested to make the factory operational and to sort out initial issues. I focused on the supply chain related issues to transport the end product to customers.(Suggested pipeline)Talked about the role of cost accountant in determining the price of the end product and also focussed on selecting an external auditor to oversee the accounting standards.
Structure:
Divided the case as per verticals in an organization A guestimate on the number of street lights in Lucknow was asked (He asked me to be very short in description and wanted me to use numbers at every step)I approached this by assuming Lucknow to be close to a rectangle in shape the dimensions being 20 x 15 Km. Then i assumed the main streets to be passing though lines joining the mid points. I assumed that these roads to be two laned and had the highest density of lights. The next part was about the streets branching out of these streets and i assumed lower density of lights here. Thus i got a series and added them up to get the number of lights.Other questions Guesstimate the number of travellers to Antartica Guesstimate the number of cab drivers in Dehli.
Tips: Ask for clarifications to the interview if needed. Practice a lot of cases with your peers.Be clear about ‘Why ABC’?

Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis
College Name: IIM Lucknow