More and more consulting firms are now starting to introduce new and innovative ways to assess their applicants. We have extensively covered the launch of McKinsey’s Digital Assessment here and how to prepare for it here. For BCG, we have written about their BCG Online Case, but also about the BCG Pymetrics Test and the BCG one-way video interview.
Virtual job interviews are on the rise
Next in line is Accenture, which is launching a virtual reality (VR) assessment that accompanies candidates along each step of the application. Similar to McKinsey, the goal is to create a bias-free environment to test candidates using immersive technology and hire people with more diverse backgrounds.
To facilitate this, Accenture employs several different virtual reality and augmented reality games or scenarios that assess both the applicant’s behavior such as collaborative attitude as well as cognitive skills such as data interpretation and pace of cognition. Examples for the former include running staged conference calls with clients whereas for the latter one VR game has you understand and decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs to break out of a crypt.
In-game footage from Accenture’s virtual reality assessment
However, the traditional face-to-face interviews are not on the way out just yet. VR is an addition to the current interviewing process, increasing the number of data points on a candidate to better predict the performance on the job.
Additionally, Accenture is in the process of changing the way how consultants are screened before being invited to the interviews, using diversity recruitment software to find talent from different types of backgrounds as well as machine learning to predict a candidate’s performance over time. They eased the formal requirements and also take into account personal circumstances on the hunt for new talent.
We often get asked “how do I prepare for the Accenture interview?” or “what are Accenture interview questions?” Since the case interviews will still play an important role in the recruiting decision, you should prepare for them as you would do for any other consultancy. Contact us if you want to practice tailored 1-on-1 interviews with MBB interviewer backgrounds.
If you are curious about how to prepare for such new digital assessments, stay tuned for our guide on the McKinsey Digital Assessment, which helps you train exactly the skills needed. Meanwhile, you can read our initial teaser here.
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