Consulting Associate applicants have rated the interview process at Charles River Associates with 3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 78% positive. To compare, the company-average is 62.8% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Consulting Associate roles take an average of 25 days to get hired, when considering 9 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Charles River Associates overall takes an average of 30 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Charles River Associates as a Consulting Associate according to 9 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 29%
Presentation: 24%
Background check: 24%
Group panel interview: 12%
Phone interview: 12%
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I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Charles River Associates in Mar 2021
Interview
The role I interviewed for was with the life sciences team. Got my interview through a referral. They had a 2 round interview process:
Round 1: Spoke to a Senior Associate from the office the position was located to be at. It was a 30 min Zoom call. Pretty standard case. Got shown a 3-4 slides deck, with a small case problem and graphs and was asked to interpret and suggest solutions. Felt it was easy!
Haven't heard back for a month after that. So, I wrote an e-mail that I have other interviews in Final rounds going on. Then they were gracious enough to conduct a second interview. They asked me to prepare a presentation ahead on a topic of my own which demonstrates my analytical thought process and recommendations.
The second round had 4 back to back interviews:
1. A casual interaction with another senior associate about my interest for the role, background and future career ambitions.
2. It was followed by a behavioral round with a Principal I guess. Standard questions Eg: What was a mistake that you have done and how did you handle it?
3. Had to deliver the presentation prepared ahead, to a couple more senior associates. Both of them didn't quite look into the screen. I was not sure, if they were working on something else or they had a second screen. It distracted me, which I didn't like.
4. Case interview with a Assc principal and Sr Associate. Gave a pdf deck with graphs in it and a excel sheet with data. Had to analyze data for the questions and update the relevant graphs. This was on a remote computer whose access they gave me. But it was super slow to maneuver between screens. Then 15 to 20 min of explaining the graphs and support recommendations. I felt it went well.
Ultimately, I didn't get the offer, though I felt I did well. I felt they wanted to look at more candidates.
Otherwise, the experience was smooth!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why CRA, Consulting
Any primary market research experience?
How do you rate your data skills?
I interviewed at Charles River Associates (Brussels)
Interview
Interviews based on case studies covering competition theory and damages estimation. Had 3 different interviews, first with juniors and 2 with seniors, and one written test. Basic game theory and econometrics required
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you estimate damages in a cartel setting?
I applied online. I interviewed at Charles River Associates (London, England)
Interview
3 stages:
1. Simple test with maths/ comprehension
2. 1 hour 30 interview. 30 minutes reading information / slides on a case. 10 minutes presenting then the rest of the 50 minutes discussing the case/ general questions.
3. 1 hour interview with more senior staff. Mostly case-based.
I applied in-person. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Charles River Associates (London, England) in Nov 2023
Interview
3 rounds, including a 2 hours in the office interview. Finally did not get the job in the final round. But overall the interview process is not very complicated and very insightful, I recommend.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you organise a research if you needed to assess the gene therapy challenges ?