Q: Two prospective clients - which one to choose?

[Anaya]

Hi everyone,

I've seen this type of question pop up in a couple of vac scheme apps and was just wondering what peoples general thoughts were on the topic. Although the wording of the question varies between apps, the underlying question remains the same - taking Osborne Clarke as an example:

Q: You have been approached by two prospective clients to complete two discrete projects by the same deadline. It is not possible for you and your team to complete both projects due to the complexity of the work and the tight time frame. Outline FOUR key pieces of information that you need in order to decide which client’s work you should accept, along with a detailed rationale for each.

I would probably answer along the lines of:
1) Which client can you foresee a long-term relationship with, that you can do more work for in the future
2) Who the client is - small or large/national or international/reputation in the marketplace etc
3) Leading on from the second point, which project would be most profitable for the firm and generate the highest rate of income
4) More info on the project itself - does the firm have the sector knowledge and the best team in place to fulfil the demands of the client as best it can?

Just wondering how other people would answer this and if anyone has any further or differing points from the above.

Thanks

 

[Jaysen]

Hi everyone,

I've seen this type of question pop up in a couple of vac scheme apps and was just wondering what peoples general thoughts were on the topic. Although the wording of the question varies between apps, the underlying question remains the same - taking Osborne Clarke as an example:

Q: You have been approached by two prospective clients to complete two discrete projects by the same deadline. It is not possible for you and your team to complete both projects due to the complexity of the work and the tight time frame. Outline FOUR key pieces of information that you need in order to decide which client’s work you should accept, along with a detailed rationale for each.

I would probably answer along the lines of:
1) Which client can you foresee a long-term relationship with, that you can do more work for in the future
2) Who the client is - small or large/national or international/reputation in the marketplace etc
3) Leading on from the second point, which project would be most profitable for the firm and generate the highest rate of income
4) More info on the project itself - does the firm have the sector knowledge and the best team in place to fulfil the demands of the client as best it can?

Just wondering how other people would answer this and if anyone has any further or differing points from the above.

Thanks

I've reviewed many OC applications and quite a few fell down on this question because they either didn't read the question properly or they didn't clearly explain why a particular piece of information is important.

However, the points you've noted down are great and suggest you understand the question well. I'd just flag up your second point - be sure to explain why it's important to know who the client is.