Prepping for Your Putnam Interview? Read This Overview

Putnam Associates Interview. Image shows 3 woman working together at a cafe.

Putnam Life Sciences Consulting Overview

Key Info:

Year formed:

Number of offices:

Firm values:

1988

4 – Boston (headquarters), San Francisco, New York, and London

Client-focused, meritocracy, rigorous problem-solving, accessible senior management, work/life balance. See this page for more details.

Putnam Areas of Specialization:

Capabilities:

Putnam consulting specializes in serving pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostic and medical device clients. They also work with private equity and venture capital companies.

Putnam Careers:

Recruiting Approach:

Putnam hires both Consultants and Life Science Consultants. While consultants have a more general business background, Life Science Consultants have deep knowledge of pharma or biotech.

 Who do they hire?

  • Summer Interns Yes. Resume, cover letter and transcript are required.
  • Undergrad Yes. Economics, Finance or Science majors preferred.
  • MBA Yes.
  • Masters/Ph.D. Yes. PhDs in Biomedical Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics or Engineering are most desirable for their Life Sciences Consultant role.
  • Experienced hires Yes. Experience in the Pharmaceutical or Biotechnology industries is most desirable.
  • See this page for more details.

IMPROVE YOUR ODDS!
Because Putnam specializes in serving pharmaceutical and biotech clients, working knowledge of one or both of those industries is a prerequisite for its consultants. Take relevant coursework and highlight this expertise in your resume and cover letter.

Putnam Life Sciences Consulting Roles:

    • Associate Consultant  – undergraduates. 
    • Consultant / MBA Consultant – MBAs, masters degree students, or experienced hires from the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries.
    • Life Sciences Consultant – Ph.D. program graduates within one year of graduation.
    • Senior Consultant
    • Manager
    • Principal
    • Partner

Putnam Consulting Offices:

Boston (headquarters), San Francisco, London and New York.

Putnam Salary:

See this page for information on Putnam Associates salaries.

Get the Putnam Consulting Interview

The Putnam Life Science Consulting Interview Process:

  • First round interviews at core schools are on campus. 
  • Applicants from non-core schools are pre-screened via phone interviews.
  • Final round interviews are at the Putnam Associates offices. They consist of 3 back-to-back interviews. 2 interviews are hybrid case + resume interviews; the 3rd is a resume + fit interview. After the interviews, candidates are invited to lunch with junior team members.
  • Typical questions include:
    • Case:
      • Estimate the market size for a new drug. 
      • Size the market-potential for a new drug given two potential regulatory outcomes.
      • What factors do you need to know to estimate the monthly cost of treating a patient with a certain disease with a given therapy?
    • Fit:
      • Why do you want to work at Putnam Associates?
      • What prior team experience do you have?
      • Why do you want to work in healthcare consulting?
  • Recruiting timeline: over 4 weeks.

What they look for:

  • In undergraduate recruits, Putman looks for analytic abilities, a rigorous quantitative background, and strong problem-solving skills.
  • In MBAs, Putnam looks for strong analytic abilities and prior work experience at consulting firms or in the pharma or biotech industries.
  • In Life Science Consultant recruits, Putnam looks for Ph.D. candidates a year from completion of their degree in Biomedical Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics or Engineering.

IMPROVE YOUR ODDS! 
Putnam Associates case questions frequently cover sizing the market for drug therapies. Practice answering this type of case before your interview.

Putnam Target Schools

CalTech, UCSF, McGill, Bowdoin, Boston University, UCLA, UC – Berkley, Yale, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Tufts, MIT, UPenn, Harvard, Cornell, Boston College, Dartmouth, Tufts.

Putnam Associates also recruits from non-target schools.

Land the Putnam Job

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