13 Case Related Tips Only Great Candidates Know
Keep these key elements in mind during your case interview.
Focus on what matters
The whole case interview process usually lasts between 3 and 6 weeks. During this time, you’ll have several interview rounds at different consulting firms. What all these firms want to test, comes down to 5 simple elements: structure, communication, problem solving, leadership and quantitative skills. So, instead of trying to become an expert in finance or strategy in a short amount of time, we strongly encourage you to work on your core consulting skills.
1. Be structured
Consultants have to deal with a heavy workload. The only way to get things done is to work in a structured manner. As a candidate, you thus have to show that you have a:
- Structured thinking process
- Structured working process
During the case, show that you are structured in your thoughts, by clearly communicating your thought process to the interviewer. Explain that you assume “A” because “B” and “C” supports this. Furthermore, you should clearly disclose the assumptions and hypotheses you make.
In order to show that you are structured in your working process, we suggest you to write the whole case in a very structured manner on one sheet of paper. Turn the sheet of paper in landscape and draw a vertical line through the middle of it. As the case progresses, add new information in small boxes (kind of mini-slides). Make sure the interviewer can have a look at the sheet of paper so that he can see how structured you are.
Communicating your thoughts and showing your sheet will persuade the consultant that you work in a structured and efficient way.
2. Ask questions
You don’t need any industry-specific knowledge when cracking a case. Rather, you need to ask the right questions. When the case starts, you start by building a tree that consists of the 3 to 4 major components you want to analyze. Based on this, you can determine what questions you need to ask in order to gather the insights you need.
Stay curious during the whole case. Never take anything for granted and ask whether the assumptions you make are valid. We have seen so many good candidates fail because they assumed things without ever discussing these.
Ask anything you need and never assume that the interviewer knows what you are thinking of.
3. Take your time
An interview is not a race. You don’t have to rush through the case and come up with quick answers to the problem. What matters in a case is often not the final answer of the case. Rather, it is the structure you used, the questions you asked and the assumptions you made.
So, make sure you take your time to build a good tree at first, ask the right questions, discuss your assumptions and ask clarifying questions.
4. Check
As you shouldn’t rush during the interview process, you should also take some time to review your assumptions, calculus and overall structure. You can do this by summarizing your analysis to the interviewer and by using some quick math tricks in order to check your calculus.
Performing these checks will give you a real advantage during the case interviews and are highly appreciated.
5. Take hints and clues
First of all, keep in mind that the interviewer wants you to succeed. She will give you some clues and hints you can take advantage of. Be flexible and take these into consideration. Do not think that the interviewer wants to trick you.
However, keep in mind that in some rare cases, the interviewer might try to put you off track in order to see how you react. You will most probably notice right at the start of the interview that the interviewer is more distant and behaves in a cold manner.
6. Privilege silence
You should refrain from constantly speaking and bombarding the interviewer with all your questions, remarks and assumptions. Make sure you work out your structure, note down the issues you want to clarify in silence and then engage in a structured discussion with the interviewer.
When you are not sure about something, ask for some time to review your analysis and then come up with some structured insights or questions.
7. Make assumptions
As previously discussed, you should not know everything. However, you should ask the right questions in order to get an idea of how things could work.
You should thus make assumptions. Make sure you always check and discuss these assumptions with the interviewer.
8. Be flexible
Your initial approach might not always lead to the best solution at first. So, be flexible and prepared to adapt your analysis as new information surfaces or as you suspect that you are on the wrong path. In case this happens, pause, rethink the key issues and adjust your analysis.
9. Focus on the key issues
A case is a short version of a major problem. The interviewer thus doesn’t want you to come up with an analysis of every detail. Rather, you should be able to identify the main issues of the case and analyse these in depth.
The main issues are the ones that have the highest impact. These issues are the ones that can make a difference in the case and whose impact is relatively large. These are thus the levers the clients should action in order to solve his problems.
Make sure you explain the reasons behind your choice for focusing on these specific issues.
Feel free to ask the interviewer whether one specific issue is important for the case. In case of doubt, it is always better to ask than to lose more of your precious time.
10. Be creative
Cracking a case requires a good business sense while being able to imagine realistic solutions that can be supported by facts. In this sense, the interviewer wants you stay open to all kinds of possibilities.
Being creative and thinking out-of-the-box can surely help you come up with various solutions and scenarios that might help solve the case.
11. Develop a unique framework for each case
Resist the temptation to apply an existing framework to the cases you’ll get. The interviewer will quickly see it and may ask you to rethink the case. The interviewer is interested in your personal approach and wants to see the precise issues you want to analyse for each specific case.
Once the interviewer spelled out the main problem of the case, start building a tree on basis of the specific issues you have identified. Then, explain the logic behind it.
12. Synthesize your thoughts and draw conclusions
The case usually lasts for 30 to 45 minutes. It is of utmost importance to keep the big picture of the case in mind. A way that will help you do so is by synthesizing and summarizing your analysis as the case goes on.
The interviewer will greatly appreciate this as it shows that you dominate the case and know where you are going.
13. Practice as much as you can
The best way to master all the different types of cases is to train. Doing under 10 cases will give you a beginner level, doing between 10 and 20 cases will give you an intermediate level, doing between 20 and 30 cases will give you an advanced level. Doing over 30 cases will give you an expert level. There is no secret in consulting.
The ones who practice are the ones who succeed. So, make sure you leave no stone unturned and do over 30 cases.
Credits
This article was built on great insights and articles from Kellogg Consulting Club and Wharton Consulting Club. Make sure you check these out!
