I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at ZS Associates in Oct 2011
Interview
Got the interview through on-campus recruiting. First-round consisted of a half-hour fit interview and a half-hour case interview. Case was pretty standard- how to launch a new drug. ZS gives you the packet of information for the case so you can follow along and have the data in front of you.
Second round was a full day in the office. Day began (late) with a "demonstration" of the work. To me, the work did not seem super interesting. This was followed by a 45 minute case that was significantly harder than the one in the first round. I was totally off my game and could tell it did not go well. The interviewer was pretty quiet and gave minimal feedback. The case was followed by a fit interview with the manager of the office. The questions were expected. The final interview was another case, but they give you 30 minutes to sit by yourself with the case packet and then have 15 minutes to present your findings to the interviewer. I was also asked to take 10 minutes at the end of the interview to makes slides about the case. The day ended with lunch with a current BA who went to my school. The 1:1 lunch was pretty awkward.
Overall, the experience was pretty grueling. The people were not overly friendly and the office was strangely silent at all times. I didn't get a great vibe and was not shocked when I didn't receive an offer.
I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at ZS Associates (Philadelphia, PA) in Oct 2011
Interview
The first round was a phone interview of app. 1 hour, where we discussed the usual background info and analyzed a case of app. 30 min. Mostly about Sales Territory and sales force optimization. Very friendly and helpful during the case, dialogue situation.
The final round consisted of a total of 5 interactions, one background/personality fit interview with a Principal, one guided case interview with a Senior Consultant, a product introduction (Javaline, ZS' territory software) with a Business Associate, a lunch with a Business Associate as a direct dialogue and a final case study of 40 min. with a Manager.
All interaction was very friendly and the atmosphere was pleasant.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Why do you think it can be problematic to allocate sales rep territories across state boarders?
The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at ZS Associates in Oct 2010
Interview
1:1 interview on campus consisting of a 30 minute behavioral interview and a 30 minute case interview. All the information you needed was provided on paper (so read every line carefully). Call back in about a week.
Final round lasted about 5 hours. Lunch with an associate (~80 min), a behavioral interview (~40 min), a case interview (much like the first round ~40 min), a demo on one of their programs (some simple questions asked on what is shown ~ 40 min), and an analytical case work (~80 min). The analytical case work is similar to the case interview, but lasts twice as long. The first 40 minutes is for reading over the case and forming some thoughts/conclusions/recommendations, then you recap your thoughts/ask questions with the interview for about 25 minutes. The final 15 minutes is devoted to writing up mock power point slides by hand on what you found and would recommend.
All case questions were related to pharma/medical sales & marketing (particularly sales force sizing/factors affecting sales force distribution & numbers)
Good Luck!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time when the decision you made was wrong.