The failure to provide takeaways and anecdotes in your responses is absolutely the worst thing you can do.

If you do not give unique answers that impart a bit of your personality, the interviewer will simply think you are the kind of person who is not willing to put forth an effort.

To begin with, let’s talk about anecdotes. If you are not a very good consulting interviewer, you will not give anecdotes. Look at this example:

What interests you about management consulting?

I enjoy an intellectual challenge, and I like to work with smart ambitious people solving hard business problems.

That is a very flat response. There is nothing special or personal about it. Where is the story? Where is the anecdote?

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Do you understand the problem with this answer?

If you tell a little story or an anecdote about why you want to be a management consultant, it will stick out in the interviewer’s mind. If you just give a run of the mill, plain answer, it will just blend in with all the other run of the mill plain answers. You won’t get a job offer, and neither will anyone else who answered that way.

When a the consultants finish interviewing, they usually have a discussion group about the applicants. If an applicant leaves a strong impression with interesting, personalized responses, the interviewers will have something to talk about with the hiring committee. The answers in the example don’t give the interviewer much to talk about.

So what would that answer look like with an anecdote?

An anecdote would tell a story and draw a conclusion. It would tell the interviewer about something you have done and something you learned from it.

In the answer that was given, there was no takeaway. No conclusion was given.

Here is what that answer would look like with an anecdote. Remember, when you personalize your answers, they become stronger. They convey an experience and draw a conclusion. And they make your interviewer remember you.

What is it about management consulting that interests you the most?

I really like the intellectual challenge of the work. I am especially keen on having the ability to work in close proximity with ambitious, intelligent people solving difficult business problems. When I was an asset management intern, I really respected my colleagues abilities. However, I did not feel challenged in my everyday work. If I can get into consulting, I feel it will provide me with challenge and give me the opportunity to work with some really impressive people. I want to rise to the forefront of the business world. I know that the best way to get there is to join the smartest team and face the hardest challenges.

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