[Ed. Note: As prior Cal students who have survived the recruiting season, Eunice Lee and Lucy Chen are current Analysts at Accenture in Consulting and Strategy, respectively. The following tips have been compiled based on their combined experiences and observations across various recruitment seasons, leadership roles, and work experiences from the past four years. Please note that while we both currently work at Accenture and represent Accenture at recruiting events, this article is not in any way a reflection of Accenture’s or Accenture Recruiting’s views.]

We’ve all been through that dreaded question — “Tell me about yourself”. Traditionally, this and other questions in the behavior interview were designed to help assess an applicant’s soft skills (e.g. public speaking) as well as cultural fit. Among consulting recruits, prepping for the case interview often takes the spotlight, but I honestly believe that the behavioral interview is just as, if not more important.

Whether you’re a fresh college grad or an experience hire, you’ll most likely be working with clients, so consulting firms are looking for people that they would feel comfortable putting in front of a client. Firms tend to call this “client readiness” which can be a little hard to define. To me, it’s about striking the balance between confidence and arrogance, reading and taking cues from the person you’re talking to, and — most importantly — communicating your ideas in a simple and concise manner.

Client readiness boils down to one crucial thing — communicating without alienating your client.

So now that you know why behavioral is important, you might want to know how to improve as a candidate! The following is a collection of tips and tricks we’ve collected through our personal experience interviewing for consulting roles as well as working as an interviewer for consulting organizations. Whether you’re just starting out on your consulting journey or a seasoned recruiting veteran, read on for a few “best practices” to step up your interview game.

We’ve all heard the question, “Tell me about a time when…” While most applicants are great at coming up with stories, telling ones that are complete, engaging and succinct can be harder.

The best way to hit all of these goals is using the STAR Approach. STAR stands for Situation/Task, Action/Approach, and Result. For every experience you’ve had, I recommend creating a short bulletpointed list for each of those letters. Begin with the situation or task at hand, then discuss how you addressed the problem, and end with the positive resolution or takeaway. Keep it brief and prepare these stories ahead of time so that when you walk through the door, you’ll have a ready arsenal of experiences to pull from.

*Sidebar: Why complete, engaging and succinct? In consulting, interviewers are looking to see what kind of impact you’ve made in your prior roles. So in telling these experiences, you should be able to answer the following questions: did you see the problem? What did you do about it? What was the impact of what you did? If you can answer all of those, then your story is complete.

At the same time though, you can’t talk on for years on end — a standard behavioral interview is typically around 30–45 minutes. You want to be able to talk about a variety of experiences and at the same time, you don’t want to bore your interviewer. Keeping your story succinct, but also complete is a great way to answer the current question and then move on to the next one.

Engaging is pretty self explanatory.

This tip isn’t just for recruiting, but can be applied to your individual professional path. For every milestone, take some time to think through WHO you are, WHERE you come from, WHY you’re here. Find a way to communicate each of these aspects into a 30-second spiel. This is your personal brand story.

At every recruiting event, use your personal brand story to very clearly define yourself to whomever you’re speaking with. Company representatives aren’t going to remember names; they’re going to remember experiences, stories, even catchphrases. Introducing yourself as “I’m Eunice and I’m a problem-solver” (while cheesy) is much more memorable than “I’m Eunice and I’m a junior at UC Berkeley majoring in MCB.” Defining your personal brand from the very start will help you stand apart and set the tone for the rest of your interview and every recruiting experience thereafter.

One of the most common mistakes in an interview is responding to “What is your greatest weakness?” with a strength disguised as a weakness. Do not do this. Weaknesses are actually a good thing — nobody is perfect, not even interviewers. Preparing an honest assessment of your weaknesses can demonstrate to the interviewer that you are self-aware and comfortable with yourself. Of course, don’t forget to follow up with what you’re actively doing to turn these weaknesses into strengths. This shows that you, while you acknowledge your genuine weaknesses, you are trying to improve yourself. It’s also a great way to end this tough question on a positive note.

It’s one of the basic tenets of pre-interview prep — do your basic research. Look at the firm’s website, see what’s been going on in the news, and most importantly, if there’s any area at all that you’re interested in, check out what the company is doing in that area. At the same time, attend recruitment events and talk to as many company representatives as you can. These reps can often serve as a sounding board for your questions. It’s also a stress-free way of testing out questions or just gathering some basic information about the firm.

By the time you’re in the interview, your follow-up questions should be more nuanced. Your interviewer expects you to know about the firm and the role, so your final questions should be intelligent and demonstrate genuine curiosity about the firm. It’s true, sometimes the interviewer won’t always be able to answer your question, but at the very least, it shows that you’re actually thinking seriously about the job and about the firm. Not asking questions at all sends the impression that you’re only there for the interview and not necessarily interested in the firm or role itself.

Stumped about questions to ask? Here’s a list of potential topics to give you a head start on researching the firm and brainstorming questions.

· Company culture

· Typical career path

· MBA sponsorship

· Vertical & lateral mobility within firm

· Travel opportunities

· Educational opportunities & programs

· Next steps in recruitment process

Behavioral interviewing might seem easy compared to cases, but they’re a pretty crucial part of the process. These one-on-one sessions are the only time that an interviewer will get to see your personality and character, so it’s important to be able to present your best self.

Again, it almost always comes down to one question — “Am I comfortable putting this person in front of a client today?” In other words, are you as an applicant, client ready?

So before you get to your interview, remember the four tips to help you stand apart:

1. Tell a story, but keep it simple.
Stories stick, but unless your story is succinct, engaging and comprehensive, it won’t be memorable.

2. Create a 30-second personal brand story.
There’s nothing interviewers like more than a strong point-of-view. Establish your own and you won’t be forgotten.

3. Be honest about your weaknesses.
Part of being a professional is learning to be self-aware. Don’t disguise your strengths as weaknesses; talk about how you’re working to improve yourself.

4. Ask meaningful questions.
By the end of the day, your interviewer will have seen 20–30 applicants. Make sure you’ve really thought through the questions you’re asking and why they’re important to you.

And with that, we’ll wrap up the first in our recruitment refresher series. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below. Good luck!