I applied through a recruiter. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at PwC (Florham Park, NJ) in Aug 2011
Interview
The process started with a PwC recruiter giving me a call, and asking me if I was interested in an opportunity at PwC. My resume was posted on Monster and Career builder, and tailored for a position completely irrelevant for what was being offered. The job sounded interesting though so I proceeded with the Interview process.
I came in one day and met with three people, one HR manager, one person who would have been my boss, and the partner of the group I would be involved with. The interviews went well taking about 1/2 hour each. At the end of the interviews I had a sense that the job may not be as interesting as I had first thought. I believe the interviewers felt the same way, but realized that I had a lot of technical knowledge that could be useful elsewhere.
I was called by the recruiter a few days after asking how the interviews went. I said they went well, and he mentioned that they might want to try me for a different position. We set up another interview for a few weeks later.
The next set of interviews were with 3 new people. One partner of the new group, and the two individuals I would be working with. This time I hit it off with everyone, and they thought I would be a great fit. I left on a high note, letting them know I looked forward to hearing from them.
A day later I received a call from the recruiter asking me if I wanted the job, then we started talking salary. I asked for a higher salary than they offered. The recruiter said he'd get back to me, either that day or a day later he accepted the amount I asked for and I started working with the company a few weeks later.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2+ months. I interviewed at PwC
Interview
I was referred to the company through a friend, initial contact was via e-mail by a HR Manager. Interview process consists of:
-Initial phone screen by HR Manager
-Phone interview with a senior associate
-2 face-to-face interview (1 at an external location due to interviewer's client engagement)
-Phone interview with a manager
-Phone interview with partner
Process took about 2.5-3 months total from first contact, the last few steps happened in a hurry, offer came a day after last interview. The interview themselves were all behavioral and about my experiences
HR Manager was in contact all through the interview process and was very helpful in coaching me every step of the way. Though initial communication was sparse, rest of the process was well guided.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why or how do you think your experiences apply to consulting?