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Market sizing and estimation is a crucial skill in the consulting world, and is also something that is conveniently easy to test for in interviews. In fact, every single firm in the top 10-and a clear majority of the firms we survey every year-ask candidates to estimate the size of something, whether it's ice cream cones sold in Beijing in a day, or the potential market for electric cars in the United States. Regardless of what you're asked to figure out, you should always start by explaining your assumptions-population size, percentage of the population likely to use said product (and why you've settled on that percentage), and any other factors that are likely to have a significant effect on the estimate. Indeed, showing that you can logically approach the problem is far more important than whatever number you might eventually arrive at, so be sure to do the bulk of your reasoning out loud, and make the process a conversation with the interviewer, so that they can follow your thought process.

Here are some sample market sizing questions from this year's survey:

► "How many airplanes leave from Boston's Logan Airport on Monday?"
► "How many lightbulbs are there in Manhattan?"
► "What is the market size for a cancer diagnostic technology in the U.S.?"
► "How many passengers fly through LAX in a calendar year?"