Calaris Assess

Solutions for consulting firms

Bring your top consultants' eye for talent to high-volume hiring with AI

Calaris recreates the case-based conversational simulation that global consulting firms have long used. Assess in depth against standardized criteria at high volume, without tying up your most discerning consultants.

One standard, not individual experience

Transcript

  1. 02:14
    AI
    OpeningLet's start with your estimate. What annual revenue did you arrive at?
  2. 02:41
    About ¥300,000 a year per location: 50 users, 60% in the office, a 30% daily purchase rate, and ¥120 per item.
  3. 03:08
    AI
    Who's in the officeYour breakdown is clear. Why did you count only the people in the office?
  4. 03:35
    People who never pass the shelf can't buy, so I only counted those on site. I left out work-from-home days.

Top consultants' questioning and evaluation, recreated and extended by AI

Experienced consultants look past the answer to how candidates handle probing and how persistently they revise hypotheses. Calaris builds the logic behind that professional eye into the AI, for in-depth dialogue and evaluation at scale, independent of any one consultant's experience or mood.

DETAILED BREAKDOWN

Cognition

Structured thinking3.80Logical thinking3.80Hypothesis thinking3.60Issue focus3.80Quantitative reasoning3.60Critical thinking3.10Strategic thinking3.60Creative thinking3.30Issue setting2.70

Standard criteria shown. Dimensions and weights can be tailored to your company (varies by plan).

Shared criteria, the same standard whoever evaluates

Our own framework, informed by what consulting firms look for in hiring. The same criteria apply across offices, hiring rounds and interviewers, reducing scoring variation.

Cheating detection

AI
Candidate
RECRe-enter fullscreen
An external display was detected. Please avoid connecting external displays during the assessment.

Log

  • 12:04HighExternal display connection detected
  • 7:58HighTried to copy text

The dialogue itself deters cheating

Constant probing means prepared answers won't get a candidate through. Depending on your plan, dual-camera recording, session activity logs and AI cheating detection add further deterrence and support hiring integrity.

Conversational simulations for hiring

Alongside the problem-solving simulation that mirrors your case interview, assess how candidates build client relationships.

  1. 01

    Problem Solving

    How do they tackle problems with no set answer?

    Mainly evaluates Cognition through dialogue about a business's growth strategy, looking for core skills, like logical and hypothesis thinking, that stay essential as AI becomes the norm.

    Typical roles

    • Consulting
    • Corporate strategy & planning
    • Business strategy & planning
    • Investment & finance
    • Graduate generalists
    • Future executives

  2. 02

    Client Engagement

    How do they understand clients and move them to act?

    Evaluates the overall ability to understand, empathize with, and influence people in a client scene that recreates how candidates draw out a client's issues and shape a proposal.

    Typical roles

    • B2B sales
    • Consultative sales
    • Advisory
    • Customer success
    • Graduate generalists

Problem-solving simulation

A demanding problem-solving assessment, recreated in AI dialogue

The session follows the four stages experienced consultants watch for, from case prompt to discussion. In discussion, the AI probes the hypotheses and assumptions behind each answer, cycling back through clarification and hypothesis as the candidate's thinking deepens.

  1. Case prompt · AI: A furniture chain has 12 stores in the suburbs of a regional city. Customers often buy several pieces at once when they move, and sales have been flat for a few years. As the local population slowly shrinks and more furniture sells online, what should it prioritize in the medium to long term?
  2. Case prompt · AI: You have two minutes to think. For anything I haven't told you, make reasonable assumptions.
  3. Clarification · Candidate: Besides people who are moving, do customers come in to replace furniture?
  4. Clarification · AI: Yes, some do. I don't have figures on their share.
  5. Clarification · Candidate: How do customers rate delivery and assembly?
  6. Clarification · AI: Many customers say they appreciate leaving assembly to the store.
  7. Hypothesis · AI: Time's up. First, give me a broad outline of your direction and the thinking behind it.
  8. Hypothesis · Candidate: There'll be fewer moves, but people still replace furniture when it wears out or their lifestyle changes. Customers rate delivery and assembly highly, so if the chain also hauls away old furniture, they'll choose it for a reason online retailers don't offer.
  9. Discussion · AI: So you'd strengthen the offer for replacement customers by hauling away their old furniture. Why would that be the deciding factor for them?
  10. Discussion · Candidate: With large furniture, many find getting rid of the old one more hassle than buying new. It's a real burden, especially for older people and those without a car.
  11. Discussion · AI: How much could expanding haul-away change sales? A rough figure is fine. Walk me through your thinking.
  12. Discussion · Candidate: Say replacement customers are about 30% of sales now. If haul-away lifts replacement visits by 30%, total sales would rise roughly 10%.
  13. Discussion · AI: So you'd focus more on replacement purchases. How might that affect service for people who are moving?
  14. Discussion · Candidate: If haul-away jobs fill the delivery slots, people moving in spring, the peak season, could face delays. I'd limit spring haul-away bookings and shift them to other seasons.
  15. Discussion · AI: So you'd split bookings by season. If online retailers and big-box stores offered haul-away too, what would keep customers choosing the chain?
  16. Discussion · Candidate: As a local store, it can ask about the size and use of the room before helping customers choose. I'd also build on the reassurance of one person handling everything from measuring to assembly.
  17. Discussion · AI: Given all that, what's the one thing you'd start with?
  18. Discussion · Candidate: At two stores, I'd offer haul-away to replacement customers and track for six months whether visits and sales rise. If it works, I'd roll it out to the other stores.
  19. Discussion · AI: Thank you. That's clear: take on the hassle a local store is well placed to handle, win replacement purchases, and test before scaling.

Demo screen. In real sessions, candidates don't see the transcript.

Key features

Consulting-specific formats and criteria, dialogue like a seasoned consultant's, anti-cheating measures, and English and Japanese sessions. Select an item for details.

Assessment formats

Market sizing

Flow

  1. Assumptions
  2. Breakdown
  3. Calculation
  4. Validation

Main dimensions

Structured thinkingQuantitative reasoningLogical thinking

01Formats built for consulting firms

  • Fermi estimation tests how candidates set assumptions, break down the problem, calculate, handle numbers and check plausibility.

  • The candidate prepares and presents on a business problem, then the AI probes hypotheses and assumptions from several angles. See how they build a strategy and refine their thinking.

  • Probes past behavior for the traits your firm looks for, and whether they'd transfer to other situations.

Dialogue design

Focus points (case study)

  • Setting assumptions
  • Prioritizing actions
  • Weighing trade-offs
  • Backing claims with numbers

02Dialogue design tuned to your goals

  • Set what to look for and where to probe in each case, so the AI pursues your firm's priority issues.

  • Combine parts, such as market sizing + case study or case study + fit interview, around the skills you want to measure.

  • Set topic, data and probing difficulty by new graduate, experienced hire or job level; questions also adapt to answer quality.

Evaluation criteria

Problem solving

Cognition

StructuringLogicHypothesesIssue focusQuantitativeCritical thinkingStrategyCreativityIssue setting

Standard criteria shown. Dimensions and weights can be tailored to your company (varies by plan).

03Evaluation criteria built for problem solving

  • Our own 24 dimensions draw on what consulting firms look for. We evaluate problem solving on the nine Cognition dimensions, including structured thinking, hypothesis thinking and issue setting.

  • Beyond problem solving: how candidates listen to clients, earn trust and move them to act. Evaluated on seven Influence dimensions, such as active listening, trust building and empathy, negotiation, and presence.

  • On the Standard Plan and above, choose the dimensions that matter most and their weights, and adjust them for each process by checking correlation with interviewer ratings and post-hire performance.

Dialogue

AI

Speaking

Candidate

Listening

The AI responds when the candidate finishes

04Natural dialogue modeled on experienced consultants

  • No buttons. The AI responds when the candidate finishes, like talking with a person.

  • No fixed question list. The AI builds on each answer, probing on the spot whatever needs checking, like assumptions and reasoning.

  • The AI restates each answer's key point before moving on, so candidates aren't grilled and can share their thinking calmly.

Cheating detection

FaceMain camera
Smartphone filming the candidate's handsCandidateScreenHandsCamera 2
  • Fullscreen kept
  • Tab switching
  • Copying

05Layered measures to deter cheating

  • Detects when candidates leave fullscreen, switch tabs, or try to copy text. A smartphone used as a second camera shows their hands and surroundings.

  • Follow-ups build on each live answer, making it hard to rely on prepared answers or on reading out generative AI output.

  • Video and audio are recorded, and the AI flags moments to check, such as leaving the seat, off-screen glances, or other voices. Your recruiters review them in the recording before deciding.

Languages and regions

Where candidates can take sessions

Session languageJapaneseEnglish

06English and Japanese, with security to international standards

  • Sessions run online, so overseas candidates can join. They choose English or Japanese, and the criteria are the same in both.

  • Certified to ISO/IEC 27001, the international information security standard, with ongoing penetration tests by an external security firm.

  • Hiring decisions always stay with your team. The AI only scores against the criteria and summarizes the evidence. It doesn't evaluate facial expressions or tone of voice; video and audio are used only to record the session and check its integrity.

Calaris consultants co-design the formats, dialogue and criteria with you before launch. Features such as cheating detection and feedback reports vary by plan.

Getting started

1

Contact us

Use the form to share your hiring goals, expected candidates per year and timing. We'll be in touch.

2

Consultation and demo

We review your hiring process and challenges, show the real session screen and evaluation report, and propose a plan and quote for your expected volume and use.

3

Contract and design

After signing, we agree on your target profile and pick the simulations and criteria. On the Standard Plan and above, we also set dimension weights and build company-specific simulations.

4

Launch

Start inviting candidates when you're ready. On request, your team can first try a test session to check the difficulty of the questions and the evaluation criteria.

5

Post-launch review

We check session results against later hiring outcomes and post-hire evaluations, then refine criteria and questions.

Considering Calaris Assess? Let's talk

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