The OC&C interview process combines an online screening test with some of the most commercially grounded case interviews in strategy consulting. OC&C Strategy Consultants is one of the largest independent strategy boutiques of European origin, and its recruiting rewards a specific profile: candidates who are quick with numbers and comfortable forming a commercial opinion without hand-holding. This guide covers each stage and how to prepare for it.
OC&C at a Glance
Founded in 1987, OC&C is an independent partnership with offices across Europe, the United States, and Asia. The firm is best known for consumer goods, retail, media and technology, and private equity work: commercial due diligence for PE funds is a large share of the business in several offices.
That client mix shapes the interviews. Expect cases about brands, retailers, and deals rather than abstract operations problems, and expect your interviewer to care whether your answer would survive contact with a real investment committee.
Stage 1: The Online Tests
Candidates who pass the CV screen are typically invited to online assessments before any interview. Candidate reports consistently describe two components:
- Numerical reasoning, in the style of standard SHL-type aptitude tests: tables, charts, percentage and ratio work, and data extraction under a tight clock.
- Verbal reasoning: short passages with true, false, or cannot-say judgments.
The questions themselves are rarely advanced; the difficulty is the time pressure. Two habits carry the test. First, anchor every calculation to the right base figure before computing. Second, on verbal items, answer only from the passage, never from outside knowledge. The exact format can vary by office and intake, so read your invitation email carefully for the number of sections and the timing.
If your numbers are rusty, rebuild speed before test day: percentages, growth rates, and clean division without a calculator. The same skills are tested again, harder, in the cases.
Stage 2: First-Round Interviews
First rounds are usually run by consultants and managers. Candidate reports describe a mix of fit questions (why consulting, why OC&C) and one or two case interviews per round.
OC&C cases are predominantly candidate-led. After a short prompt, you are expected to structure the problem, ask for the data you need, drive the analysis, and land a recommendation, with far less steering than in an interviewer-led format. That autonomy is the point: the firm staffs small teams and gives juniors real ownership early, and the interview simulates it.
Typical case territory follows the client base: a retailer's like-for-like sales are declining, a consumer brand is deciding whether to launch a premium line, a PE fund wants to know whether a target's growth is durable. Market sizing appears regularly, so practise market sizing until the mechanics are automatic.
Stage 3: Final Round
Final rounds follow the same shape with more senior interviewers, typically partners and directors, and a higher bar on commercial judgment. The fit conversation carries more weight here: partners are deciding whether they would put you in front of a client. Prepare crisp, specific answers on why strategy work, why an independent firm, and why OC&C's sectors interest you, and be ready to defend any opinion you offer about a consumer market you claim to know.
What OC&C Rewards
Across stages, the same qualities keep coming up in candidate accounts and in how the firm describes its own work:
- Commercial instinct. A structure that starts from how the business actually makes money beats a memorised framework. Tailor every branch to the company in the prompt; our guide to case interview frameworks shows how.
- Fast, accurate arithmetic. Cases are numbers-heavy and calculators are absent. Slow math costs both time and credibility.
- A point of view. Candidate-led cases punish fence-sitting. State a hypothesis, test it, and commit to a recommendation with risks attached.
- Plain communication. Lead with the answer, then the evidence, in complete sentences a client could follow.
How to Prepare
A focused three to four week plan is enough for most candidates:
- Week 1: rebuild no-calculator math speed and sit timed numerical and verbal practice tests to calibrate pacing.
- Weeks 2 to 3: run full candidate-led cases with a bias toward consumer, retail, and due-diligence prompts. Practise driving the case yourself: your partner or simulator should not have to rescue you.
- Final week: polish fit stories and rehearse synthesis. End every practice case with a 60-second, client-ready recommendation.
A structured case interview preparation plan helps you sequence this, and realistic scored practice shows you which of the four qualities above is currently your weakest.
Sources & Further Reading
- OC&C Strategy Consultants, Official site: the firm's sectors, offices, and recruiting pages.
- Glassdoor, OC&C interview reports: candidate-reported interview experiences and formats.
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