I applied through college or university. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (San Francisco, CA) in Oct 2011
Interview
I got the interview through a Career Center listing for the company. They were interviewing a lot of people for the first round: 2 full days of on-campus interviews and 1 full day of in-office interviews. I don't know how they determined who they wanted to invite on-campus or in-office, but I was emailed about a week after the deadline and asked to come to the office. I wasn't reimbursed, but I figured going through the interview and maybe getting a job would be more worth it than deciding not to spend some money on travel.
The interview consisted of two 1:1 interviews. Each interview had some resume questions (just making sure you know what you've done and see where your interests really lie), but the biggest portion of each interview was the case. They were portions of actual cases they were working on or had completed. More like management consulting cases than economic consulting. Know what area you're interviewing for and brush up on your economics and business skills.
The interviewers were really friendly, and the San Francisco office is really nice. From what I have heard about it, Cornerstone is a really awesome place to work, and the people there are very happy.
A week after the interview, I got an email saying that I was not given an offer and that it was a difficult choice for them because of my strong qualifications (typical rejection letter wording). Anyways, it was still a good experience speaking with them and seeing the office. Maybe it'll be a potential place to work in the future(?)
Interview questions [3]
Question 1
Tell me about the research you did during your internship.
I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
First round is 2 back to back interview rounds with two different Cornerstone analysts/associates in the office you indicated. Pretty standard Econ consulting cases, not too difficult. Cases are adapted from Also some basic behavioral questions about yourself, interest in the field, research experience, etc.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe to me your research experience (with some specific questions about my research experience on my resume).
I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (Washington, DC)
Interview
First round 2 cases: Only cases questions.
Final round is onsite with 4 cases: They seem only care about cases, others are just fairly easy small talk. One securities, one valuation
I interviewed at Cornerstone Research (New York, NY)
Interview
Everyone was welcoming and the cases were interesting. The interviewers seem to be interested in seeing how you think as opposed to looking for a particular answer like you might find in a management consulting interview or a finance interview.
Analyst applicants have rated the interview process at Cornerstone Research with 3.3 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 69% positive. To compare, the company-average is 69.2% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Analyst roles take an average of 17 days to get hired, when considering 283 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Cornerstone Research overall takes an average of 17 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Cornerstone Research as a Analyst according to 283 Glassdoor interviews include:
One on one interview: 51%
Phone interview: 16%
Skills test: 13%
Personality test: 7%
Presentation: 5%
Background check: 3%
Other: 3%
IQ intelligence test: 1%
Group panel interview: 1%
Drug test: 0%
Here are the most commonly searched roles for interview reports -