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Economic Consulting (NERA) - Interview process

Hi all,

Does anyone have any experience with the interview process of NERA Economic Consulting - or other economic consultancy firms?

I am invited for a first round interview with NERA in London next week and would be grateful for some information about the structure and type of questions in the interview.

I was told that the assessment will be focusing on Economics, Maths and Logic but I wonder if this will be tested by written analytical tests, case studies or by questions of the type "please explain model XY? If case studies, what kind of case studies can be expected, I assume they may differ from those asked in management consulting firms.

By how many people were you interviewed? What were they specifically focusing on? What would be the best preparation?

Please feel free to share any thoughts or suggestions.
Thank you very much in advance!
Reply 1
Avatar for splee
splee
I hope my answer does not come too late.

Just been to one last week. Their first round is technically not an 'interview'. There are three written tests and a talk with an HR person, and the discussion is mainly to explain the recruitment process and to clarify your CV, and is not part of the assessment itself. [the extra information on CV is, of course]

The three written tests are:
(1) a two-hour paper on maths, logic, economics and finance;
(2) an one-hour test on Excel and report-writing skills;
(3) a 45-minute test on generic writing skills.

I have no idea about the interview section (presumably the 2nd stage) so far.
Reply 2
Avatar for sofitel
sofitel
Original post by splee

Original post by splee
I hope my answer does not come too late.

Just been to one last week. Their first round is technically not an 'interview'. There are three written tests and a talk with an HR person, and the discussion is mainly to explain the recruitment process and to clarify your CV, and is not part of the assessment itself. [the extra information on CV is, of course]

The three written tests are:
(1) a two-hour paper on maths, logic, economics and finance;
(2) an one-hour test on Excel and report-writing skills;
(3) a 45-minute test on generic writing skills.

I have no idea about the interview section (presumably the 2nd stage) so far.


Hello splee,

Thank you so much for your useful information! Is it possible to clarify if tests (1) and (3) are multiple choice questions. Any tips you'd give on how to prepare for (2) and the rest?

Hope it went well for you!
Reply 3
Avatar for Sparda
Sparda
Hey,
This topic may be intesting, do you need a PhD in economics to apply ?
What do you do as an economic consultant ?
Thanks and sorry for hijacking your topic. :smile:
Reply 4
Avatar for JobSearchEcon
JobSearchEcon
OP
Hi splee,

thank you very much for your post!

Could you please clarify what the difference would be between the report-writing part in (2) and the generic writing skills test in (3)?

Does the Excel assessment indeed test your proficiency of Excel or your data analysis skills in a rather general way, e.g. how you handle and overview a bigger dataset?

Thanks so much for your insights and good luck!
Reply 5
Avatar for splee
splee
Original post by JobSearchEcon
Hi splee,

thank you very much for your post!

Could you please clarify what the difference would be between the report-writing part in (2) and the generic writing skills test in (3)?

Does the Excel assessment indeed test your proficiency of Excel or your data analysis skills in a rather general way, e.g. how you handle and overview a bigger dataset?

Thanks so much for your insights and good luck!


Sorry for not being in this forum for so long! The reporting-writing part in (2) requires you to summarize, in words, what you did in the excel. For example, you may be required to write a short brief that is to be forwarded to a client, explaining what you did with the data.

(3) is more about explaining the current affairs using economics you know in general. There will be 2 topics to choose from.

(1) consists of both multiple-choice type questions and short questions where you may be required to state the answer, sometimes with a little bit workings.

=====================================

If you get through the first round of assessment, 1-3 of NERA's 9 practices in London may be interested in you, and you will be interviewed on a 1-to-1 basis by Assistant Director(s) of those practices. Content of interview vary from person to person, but most would include some case study on the area that the interviewer specialises in. However, some may be more interested in discussing your writing example, or your 'most favourite field' in economics with you...

Of course, if you get interviewed by the Securities & Finance practice, you should expect your interview to be about financial theories.

=========================================

You do not need a PhD to get into Economic Consulting, but nearly half of the interviewers I met in this sector do have one, so it would be beneficial.

A Master's degree in Economics / Finance would be necessary. Some firms only accept final year undergraduates as summer internships. Others do accept them into their 'graduate' positions, but they would require you to do a Master's after one or two years of service, and that would be effectively necessary for career progression by then.

Since I did not get into NERA at the end, so I guess that's all I could provide here.

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