I was recommended by a colleague from my old company -- a large consulting firm -- to his friend, a Senior Associate at Booz Allen. The friend invited me to lunch for an "informational interview," at which he and another were present. Both were alumni of the company from which I was looking to leave. The lunch lasted two hours and conversation topics ranged from the types of work and experiences I'd had, to the work-life balance and general observations about Booz Allen as a company. My assumption was that this was a "is-he-a-Booz-fit" assessment prior to determining whether to enter me into the recruiting process. It must have gone well. As I say, the lunch was friendly and informal, lasted 2 hours, and I was contacted not long after by a recruiter. If memory serves, I was brought in for two rounds of interviews. The first day, I met with a lead recruiter and two (possibly three) Principals (Level 5s -- equivalent to a BearingPoint Managing Director or a Director at Deloitte) from the Economic and Business Analysis team. Each interview was 30-45 minutes, and frankly, had the feel of a "pass and review" more so than an inquisition or grilling. There were no case studies or gotcha questions. I was asked about my consulting experience generally, and about my functional skills. I found the interviews to be conversational and pleasant. Again, I assume those went well, because I was brought in for another round, this time to meet with Principals and Level 4s (Senior Associates -- Senior Manager equivalents) to explore specific engagement areas. At the time, I took this as a hopeful sign that the initial interviews had gone well and was now being considered by for specific openings. Again, this was a series of three, one-on-one, 30 minute interviews. I noted with some interest the flexibility that seemed to exist at Booz Allen. I was interviewed by one Principal who thought I might be so well suited for a particular area, he asked if I could remain a bit longer, then took me to find his colleague who happened to be in her office, and interviewed me sight-unseen on the spot for 30 minutes. (At my previous company, candidates / new hires were typically the "property" of a particular Managing Director -- a source of potential revenue -- and not shared or traded around so willingly. I was impressed at the team spirit, and the willingness to alert colleagues to a resource that might benefit them.) Given the teams represented in this second round, it struck me they were working from my resume, as well as from interests I'd raised during my interview with the recruiter. Again, I took note of this. Interviewing at my previous company tended to be a little more selfish. I appreciated that Booz Allen seemed to be looking around for the best fit, both for them and for me.