I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 months. I interviewed at Optum (Boston, MA) in Sep 2024
Interview
I am a former employee who was referred by a current VP-level employee within the company. A recruiter in the Optum Advisory Strategy & Growth practice reached out to me within 72 hours to arrange a connect. Because I was a former employee (not gone for more than 12 months), they wanted to bring me back based on my previous performance. Interviews consisted of three rounds:
1) Behavior - Typical behavior based interview with questions around my work history, project delivery experience, and approaches. The interviewer knew of me from previous work so this was a fairly casual conversation.
2) Culture—This one was more focused on what I could deliver for the team's culture. I talked about my support for affinity groups, previous sponsorships as a Director, and what I could contribute to the team—plugging in gaps where they had gaps. Unlike the behavior interview, this one went over by 30 minutes to 1 hour.
3) Case - I was told the case interview would be a standard case interview, but the interviewer instead opted for a math problem, which was unpleasant for me, but we got through it. I prepared for a more traditional case interview, which was a bit painful. However, the emphasis was to show them how I thought and asked questions.
After all three interviews, the team met and opted to extend an offer but wanted me to meet with the SVP for a "vibe check." Per the recruiter, this is more of a formality, as 90% of the individuals who go to the SVP get a formal offer. It's more of a formality, I guess.
I met them about 7-10 days later and conversed well. After this, several folks were out on PTO, which caused a significant delay in the recruiter's ability to get an update and extend an offer. This lasted about 30 days longer than usual, but the recruiter was approachable and understanding.
Interview questions [6]
Question 1
What part of the Strategy & Growth team are you most interested in?