Hello
First & foremost, thank you for your interest in working at Prequate.
We know you have a lot of questions.
We would too, especially if we were considering the next phase of our career with a new organization.
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Hence, we put this together.
To help answer questions that you may have had in the past and the ones you are likely to have in the future.
To many of you, this could be the first dabble in management consulting. This primer should help you understand the process of applying to work at Prequate, some tips on how to prepare for the rounds and the most frequently asked and answered questions you are likely to have going forward.
Work @ Prequate
A whitepaper
We captured our learnings from over 2,000+ applications that have come in over the years and summarized them here.
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In this soon-to-be-released whitepaper, you will get answers to questions such as who are applying with me, what profiles are generally accepted and what the process looks like on the inside.
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Expected release date:
Mar 31, 2023
Incoming talent
In general, we try to make the process as easy as possible for you.
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Each step is designed to be the most efficient and as convenient while reducing back-and-forth between our Talent team and you, as you are both busy.
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Further, we believe in being as transparent as possible with our process. So you can easily know where you are in the process at all times.
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We also respond to every candidate who applies at any cost since trust is earned - whether yours or ours.
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Turnaround Time
Total process time from application submission to final offer is
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~2 weeks
Candidate time
For applicants, the total time taken in the talent process end-to-end is
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~7 hours
Selection rate
For applicants, the selection rate % from application submission to offer
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~2 in 1,000
Overall selection
For eligible applicants, the selection rate % from pre-interview to offer
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~2 in 50
Professional need to haves
Entrepreneurial Mindset
High attention to detail
Analytical reasoning skills
Presentation skills
Ability to deliver under pressure
Strong commitment to goals
High environmental awareness
Personal need to haves
Self-motivated
Self-starters
Great communication skills
High level of initiative
Interpersonal need to haves
Ability to write and present
Strong team buy-in
Commitment to group goals
RELEVANT TIPS
Case study round
The evaluator is trying to analyze your submission with a view to establish both conceptual and application knowledge. Here are a few things they would be measuring:
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Ability to understand the industry and do pre-liminary research to find an approach to solve the case
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Understand what Tegdiw and Widget mean for the company and its growth. For example an analogy that could help - Tegdiw is like the bread and Widget is like a sandwich
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Clarity while providing recommendation because there is no right or wrong answer - what is important is choosing one strategy and building enough conviction in the following slides towards it
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Application of financial knowledge based on the information provided
Here is what it is being graded on​:
Quality & relevance of content
Application of concepts
Communication quality
Depth in learning from public sources
Surprise element 1
Adherence to timelines
Ability to handle and acknowledge ambiguity
Live case round
The evaluator is trying to analyze your application of skills in a near to real-world simulation to understand your abilities to work on financial technicals. It is easy to get lost in data but the ones who do best are the ones who spend adequate time beforehand.
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Here is what it is being graded on​:
Technical application
Attention to detail
Case & brief understanding
Logical reasoning
Ability to eliminate noise
Flow of thought
Attitude at work
FAQ
We get asked various questions during the interview process.
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In our quest for ensuring that you have all the time and information available, we put together the most frequently asked questions.
If selected, what is my growth trajectory like?
Prequate has an extremely flat organization structure with only 3 levels where moving between levels can take from 2 years - 5 years. We aim to be highly meritocratic as a culture so the roles played can be significantly specific to the individual skill-sets. Further, we consider ourselves to be grooming grounds for CXO talent so we spend a lot of time on skill enrichment. The time spent at the firm is usually an opportunity to build highly complex skillsets while learning to wear multiple hats in multiple organizations simultaneously. But, there is a caveat. Sustaining in a highly motivated environment requires self-starters which is a rare trait.
So we look for highly motivated, adaptable quick learners and in return provide everyone an opportunity to lead transformations within organizations.
Does my role involve actively working within a team?
Prequate was formed with a hypothesis that the current impact-led consulting industry is broken due to its pyramid shaped structure. A rhombus shaped structure of high-performers can move mountains for highly dynamic organizations. Added to this is the ability to bring in lateral learnings in a T-shaped manner from combined learnings from across 100s of organizations.
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To put it in simpler words, you will form one leg of a team of between 2-3 people who will work on engagements and contribute your skillsets and develop from others'. An Engagement Partner/ Engagement Manager remains constant across the length of a relationship while the team keeps rotating dynamically to allow for the best utilization of sectoral expertise/ initiative expertise based on the current priorities and initiatives being worked on.
What would a day in the life of someone at Prequate in this role look like?
We highly recommend that you reach out to anyone in the firm (from LinkedIn) who has spent more than 6 months in order to understand this better.
It would be better explained by them as they have working knowledge of what we do and how a day would look.
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Further, considering how dynamic consulting can be, do make sure they are actively in Prequate when reaching out.
What industry sectors does Prequate dominantly serve?
For information about the work we do, we do recommend that you have a look at our website and our corporate profile. If you are aware of the consulting domain, this should give you a lot of information about the work we do.
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When it comes to the organizations we work with, Prequate has worked with 500+ businesses (ranging from award-winning start-ups to listed companies) across 20+ countries. Today, this includes the portfolio companies of Acumen, Accel, Artiman, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, DHL, Naspers, Next47, Omidyar, Sequoia, Tiger Global, among others to listed companies in India, Japan & US.
On average we work with between 30-50 clients across various engagements.
35% are early stage. 35% are growth stage. 30% are mature stage.
Does someone get to pick a vertical or does the team work across verticals?
A large part of the consulting work we do is on the intersection of finance and management - hence, our tagline > management ^ finance.
The same team works across verticals - but the skillsets they get to display changes from industry to industry and client to client.
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We believe in creating the super Generalist leaders and not a specific task based team. Hence, expect continuously needing to learn new skills and challenging yourself.
What is the team composition like?
Engagement team structure
An Engagement Partner/ Engagement Manager remains constant across the length of a relationship while the team keeps rotating dynamically to allow for the best utilization of sectoral expertise/ initiative expertise based on the current priorities and initiatives being worked on. A team has between 3-5 people per engagement.
Organizational structure
Prequate has an extremely flat organization structure with only 3 levels where moving between levels can take from 2 years - 5 years. We aim to be highly meritocratic as a culture so the roles played can be significantly specific to the individual skill-sets. Further, we consider ourselves to be grooming grounds for CXO talent so we spend a lot of time on skill enrichment. Many of our alumni are now startup founders themselves or CFOs of other startups.
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The time spent at the firm is usually an opportunity to build highly complex skillsets while learning to wear multiple hats in multiple organizations simultaneously. So be prepared to someday crave for operational leadership roles.