I met Mars & co. at the Columbia University career fair, applied online, and get an interview. The interview consists of a initial phone screen (fit) followed by 2 rounds. Mars responded very quickly (2 days after the 1st round, and offered me a position on the spot in the 2nd round). The interviewers were friendly and the cases were not too difficult (I have practiced about 75+ consulting cases so I'm a very experienced case solver). Ultimately, I decided to turn the offer down for 5 reasons. 1) The company is a sole proprietorship which I believe is not a good ownership structure for a consulting firm. 2) Career options seem limited after working with Mars & co compared to BCG or McKinsey as they are a small firm that not many have heard of. 3) The compensation package is not that great. I was offered $110k base salary with a $10k signing bonus and no annual bonus. That's pretty low for the industry 4) PhDs (I'm a PhD) start a pay scale under MBAs. I don't think that's fair as I think PhDs have a better analytical skill set than an MBA and Mars markets them selvs as an analytic heavy consulting firm. 5) The daily 1 hour commute (on way) from manhattan to Greenwhich, CT seems kind of brutal. Greenwhich is not an attractive place to live for young people like myself. I would be very hesitant to take a job at this firm.

The first-round interview was with someone who was friendly, asked fit questions, and gave me a market-sizing question. The second-round interviewer was hostile from the get-go. There was some chitchat, followed by a market-sizing question, then followed by a nonstandard consulting-interview question asking me how I would use a one-page document to answer a business question.