📝 Resume + cover letter guides – Stand out on paper so you can land an interview.
💬 Fit/behavioral question bank – Get ready for the “Why consulting?” moment.
📊 Offer and salary data – Know your worth.
🗓️ Recruiting timeline tracker – Stay one step ahead of the rest.
📚 Casing drills – Math, exhibit analysis, frameworks.
Firm Overview: Oliver Wyman
Oliver Wyman is a global management consulting firm known for deep industry expertise in financial services, retail and consumer, health care, energy, transportation, and the public sector. The firm blends strategy, risk management, and implementation work and is recognized for analytic rigor and sector depth. Oliver Wyman has roughly 7,000 consultants across more than 70 cities worldwide and reported strong revenue growth in recent years.
Focus and specialties
• Strategy and transformation with a strong emphasis on financial services, risk, and operations.
• Deep sector practices that produce industry research and data driven insights for clients.
Geography and scale
• Offices in more than 70 cities across 30 countries, with major hubs in New York, London, and other financial centres.
Why candidates mention Oliver Wyman
• Reputation for technical rigor and industry depth, especially in financial services and risk.
• Project work that mixes strategy with implementation and data analytics.
Interview Process Overview
Undergraduate and entry level recruiting commonly uses two to three rounds. Experienced hire processes can have more steps. Some campus and regional assessment days compress rounds into a single full day with morning and afternoon sessions.
Step 1: Screening:
Online application and sometimes a timed online assessment focused on numerical and verbal reasoning. Several Glassdoor reports describe an initial online test.
Step 2: First round:
Roughly one hour with a mix of fit questions and a case. Interviewers are often junior consultants or project team members for first round interviews.
Step 3: Final round:
Two to four interviews with more senior staff including managers and partners. Many candidates report a written case or an on the spot Excel task plus one or two live cases. Final round candidates are evaluated for client readiness, communication, and judgment.
Behavioral Interview
Oliver Wyman greatly values fit with firm culture, teamwork, leadership, ability to influence without authority, and problem solving under pressure. Previous candidates report receiving many behavioral questions that focus on client impact and collaboration.
Previous questions reported by candidates:
• Why consulting and why Oliver Wyman.
• Tell me about a time you led without formal authority.
• Describe a time you changed someone s mind with data.
• Give an example of a failure and what you learned
How to answer for Oliver Wyman
Everyone has a different approach to behavioral interview questions, so a strategy that works for someone else might not work for you based on your interviewing style. That said, a few common strategies are listed below for your reference. In general, when answering behavioral questions, your goal should be to establish some connection with the interviewer and come across as a smart and likable person. Oliver Wyman typically gives several opportunities for candidates to express their personalities, but if you're interviewing at a more analytical or case-heavy firm, an appropriate amount of small talk at the start or end of the interview is a great way to find a connection — but don't overdo it!
• Use the START method (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Takeaway) and quantify impact when possible. Link the story to client results and explain what you would do differently next time. Emphasize clarity, professionalism, and evidence-based reasoning.
• Prepare six to eight versatile stories that map to teamwork, leadership, problem solving, and impact. Practice short versions for openings and deeper versions for follow ups.
• Parts of the behavioral interview should feel like a conversation where you might be engaging your interviewer at points. The best candidates are able to tell an interesting and cohesive story that demonstrates their skills while also engaging with the interviewer to find a connection or commonality.
Oliver Wyman Case Interview
Oliver Wyman cases are often candidate led and emphasize structuring, prioritization, and trade off analysis. In assessment day settings you may also face time pressured written cases or on the spot Excel tasks that test data handling. Interviewers evaluate structure, math accuracy, insight generation, and communication.
Common industries: Financial services, risk and regulation, operations and efficiency, growth and market entry, and integration. Financial services cases appear frequently and can require comfort with numerical models and regulatory context.
Length: Single interviews are commonly around 45 to 60 minutes. Assessment days may require two or three sessions back to back that include at least one written or Excel task plus one or two live cases. Candidate reports vary by region so check with your recruiter about format for your office.
Interviewer or Candidate Led: Both styles appear in Oliver Wyman interviews. Practice being able to lead a case conversation and to follow focused interviewer prompts. Be prepared to think aloud and to prioritize quickly.
Quants and Exhibits: Expect quick mental math, simple financial arithmetic, and exhibit interpretation. In some offices you will build or edit a short Excel model under time pressure. Practice mental math and exhibit drills to build speed and accuracy. Mental math is one of the most common pitfalls for candidates, eliminating a significant percentage of OW applicants between R1 and the final round. Everyone thinks they're prepared until they're asked a question (ex: $80,000 x $1,200,000) under time constraints. Try out a few free practice problems here.
Tips to Prepare
Landing an Oliver Wyman offer is tough. But with the right preparation, you can dramatically increase your odds. These tools were built for that exact purpose.
- Case Library – Real OW-style cases with guided answers and data exhibits.
- Case Math Drills – Targeted quantitative practice modeled after OW's difficulty.
- Exhibit Analysis Drills – Learn to extract insights quickly from charts and data tables.
- Brainstorming & Market Sizing Drills – Build structured creativity and estimation speed.
- Networking Hub – Find partners to practice cases and behavioral questions with, globally.
Firm Overview: Oliver Wyman
Oliver Wyman is a global management consulting firm known for deep industry expertise in financial services, retail and consumer, health care, energy, transportation, and the public sector. The firm blends strategy, risk management, and implementation work and is recognized for analytic rigor and sector depth. Oliver Wyman has roughly 7,000 consultants across more than 70 cities worldwide and reported strong revenue growth in recent years.
Focus and specialties
• Strategy and transformation with a strong emphasis on financial services, risk, and operations.
• Deep sector practices that produce industry research and data driven insights for clients.
Geography and scale
• Offices in more than 70 cities across 30 countries, with major hubs in New York, London, and other financial centres.
Why candidates mention Oliver Wyman
• Reputation for technical rigor and industry depth, especially in financial services and risk.
• Project work that mixes strategy with implementation and data analytics.
Interview Process Overview
Undergraduate and entry level recruiting commonly uses two to three rounds. Experienced hire processes can have more steps. Some campus and regional assessment days compress rounds into a single full day with morning and afternoon sessions.
Step 1: Screening:
Online application and sometimes a timed online assessment focused on numerical and verbal reasoning. Several Glassdoor reports describe an initial online test.
Step 2: First round:
Roughly one hour with a mix of fit questions and a case. Interviewers are often junior consultants or project team members for first round interviews.
Step 3: Final round:
Two to four interviews with more senior staff including managers and partners. Many candidates report a written case or an on the spot Excel task plus one or two live cases. Final round candidates are evaluated for client readiness, communication, and judgment.
Behavioral Interview
Oliver Wyman greatly values fit with firm culture, teamwork, leadership, ability to influence without authority, and problem solving under pressure. Previous candidates report receiving many behavioral questions that focus on client impact and collaboration.
Previous questions reported by candidates:
• Why consulting and why Oliver Wyman.
• Tell me about a time you led without formal authority.
• Describe a time you changed someone s mind with data.
• Give an example of a failure and what you learned
How to answer for Oliver Wyman
Everyone has a different approach to behavioral interview questions, so a strategy that works for someone else might not work for you based on your interviewing style. That said, a few common strategies are listed below for your reference. In general, when answering behavioral questions, your goal should be to establish some connection with the interviewer and come across as a smart and likable person. Oliver Wyman typically gives several opportunities for candidates to express their personalities, but if you're interviewing at a more analytical or case-heavy firm, an appropriate amount of small talk at the start or end of the interview is a great way to find a connection — but don't overdo it!
• Use the START method (Situation, Task, Action, Result, Takeaway) and quantify impact when possible. Link the story to client results and explain what you would do differently next time. Emphasize clarity, professionalism, and evidence-based reasoning.
• Prepare six to eight versatile stories that map to teamwork, leadership, problem solving, and impact. Practice short versions for openings and deeper versions for follow ups.
• Parts of the behavioral interview should feel like a conversation where you might be engaging your interviewer at points. The best candidates are able to tell an interesting and cohesive story that demonstrates their skills while also engaging with the interviewer to find a connection or commonality.
Oliver Wyman Case Interview
Oliver Wyman cases are often candidate led and emphasize structuring, prioritization, and trade off analysis. In assessment day settings you may also face time pressured written cases or on the spot Excel tasks that test data handling. Interviewers evaluate structure, math accuracy, insight generation, and communication.
Common industries: Financial services, risk and regulation, operations and efficiency, growth and market entry, and integration. Financial services cases appear frequently and can require comfort with numerical models and regulatory context.
Length: Single interviews are commonly around 45 to 60 minutes. Assessment days may require two or three sessions back to back that include at least one written or Excel task plus one or two live cases. Candidate reports vary by region so check with your recruiter about format for your office.
Interviewer or Candidate Led: Both styles appear in Oliver Wyman interviews. Practice being able to lead a case conversation and to follow focused interviewer prompts. Be prepared to think aloud and to prioritize quickly.
Quants and Exhibits: Expect quick mental math, simple financial arithmetic, and exhibit interpretation. In some offices you will build or edit a short Excel model under time pressure. Practice mental math and exhibit drills to build speed and accuracy. Mental math is one of the most common pitfalls for candidates, eliminating a significant percentage of OW applicants between R1 and the final round. Everyone thinks they're prepared until they're asked a question (ex: $80,000 x $1,200,000) under time constraints. Try out a few free practice problems here.
Tips to Prepare
Landing an Oliver Wyman offer is tough. But with the right preparation, you can dramatically increase your odds. These tools were built for that exact purpose.
- Case Library – Real McKinsey-style cases with guided answers and data exhibits.
- Case Math Drills – Targeted quantitative practice modeled after McKinsey’s difficulty.
- Exhibit Analysis Drills – Learn to extract insights quickly from charts and data tables.
- Brainstorming & Market Sizing Drills – Build structured creativity and estimation speed.
- Networking Hub – Find partners to practice cases and PEI questions with, globally.
📝 Resume + cover letter guides – Stand out on paper so you can land an interview.
💬 Fit/behavioral question bank – Get ready for the “Why consulting?” moment.
📊 Offer and salary data – Know your worth.
🗓️ Recruiting timeline tracker – Stay one step ahead of the rest.
📚 Casing drills – Math, exhibit analysis, frameworks.
