Ace The Case Interview In 5 Steps!
Structure the problem, develop a hypothesis and make your recommendation.
A typical consulting interview consists of three main parts. You’ll start with a personal fit interview. During this part, you’ll have to discuss your CV, your cover letter and some topics about your personal track. Next come the case interview. You’ll be presented with a certain issue and you’ll have to find your way out. At the end of the interview comes some time for the wrap up and the Q&A session.
In this article, we cover the different steps of the case interview. However, keep in mind that the personal fit and the Q&A are as important as the case interview.
1. Structure the problem
In this first part, you should repeat the question, review whether there is anything else you should be aware of and clarify concepts you don’t know about.
Repeat the question and ask for other goals or issues you should be aware of.
The first thing one should do is to repeat the question that was given to you by the interviewer. Do not try to shorten the question as it “seem evident” to you. Often, the most important elements of the question are in the details. So, do not take any shortcut and just repeat the question as it was.
E.g. the interviewer tells you “Our client is a Mexican supermarket chain mainly active in Mexico City. They want to further expand their operations and become market leader in 5 years. What would you advise?”.
You should repeat the question in the following way: “Our client is a Mexican supermarket chain that is mainly active in Mexico City. They want to further expand their operations in order to become market leader in 5 years from now. They want our advice on this. Is there any other goal I should be aware of?”.
You should not summarize it in the following way: “Our client is a Mexican supermarket and they want to expand their operations”. In this case you lose lots of precious pieces of information.
Ask small clarifying questions
Get the facts right and ask some questions that can help you clarify the question. In our example, we do not know what “become market leader” means. Does it mean that they want the largest market share? The highest profitability? Customer awareness?
In case of doubt, ask for more information
For some cases, you will have to work on an industry you don’t know anything about. Take as an example the insurance sector. If your case goes as: “Our client is an insurance firm active in the United States. They need our help as they want to reduce the premium their customers have to pay”.
It is totally normal that you don’t know how the insurance business works. Make sure you ask the interviewer some explanations about the insurance business.
There is nothing wrong in admitting that you don’t know something. Rather, there is something wrong in pretending you know how it works, only for the interviewer to realize that you are clueless.
Ask for a minute and draw an issue tree
You shouldn’t hurry in order to build you tree. The interviewer generally expects you to take a minute or two to build your tree. Structure the tree with 3 to 4 major areas you want to look at. For each area, add 3 to 4 sub-elements you want to investigate.
Make sure you do not rely on an existing framework in order to build your tree. Rather, tailor your tree to the specific issues you suspect are most relevant.
Once you built your tree, show it to the interviewer. The tree should be MECE and clearly structured.
Make sure you work in a clean and proper way. A shoddy work won’t get you very far.
2. Develop a hypothesis
In this second step of the case interview, you’ll briefly discuss your structure with the interviewer. You’ll probe the elements of your tree and try to develop a first hypothesis on the potential solution for the case.
Show and explain your structure
Go over every branch and bullet point of your tree. This shouldn’t take much time and should only serve as an introduction to your structure.
While you discuss the different components of your tree, always ask whether the interviewer has some information and clues he could give you. You should thus probe every element of your tree and ask questions that might enable you to gather important insights.
Always carefully note down the additional information and insights the interviewer transmits. You should also make sure that you can easily retrieve all the information you get at this stage as lots of these insights will be extremely helpful during the whole case.
Organize the information
The information you get should be carefully noted down in your structure and be easily retrievable at each moment of the case. So, we really encourage you to methodically note down the information you get and even take some time in order to organize your thoughts.
You may simply add some information to your tree. However, larger chunks of information such as a cost analysis, value chain analysis, profit analysis, operations analysis should be clearly noted down on your sheet in separate areas.
Form a first hypothesis
By relying on the information you gathered, you should start forming a first hypothesis of a way to crack the case. However, if you think that you don’t have enough information in order to form a first hypothesis, you can always dig deeper in the elements of your tree and review additional elements that weren’t in your initial structure.
At this stage, you should be really open to the insights the interviewer gives you. Remember that she wants you to succeed and will thus try to give you additional data and insights that might be key to cracking the case.
So, if you feel that you don’t have enough data, feel free to ask for some time in order to add some elements to your tree and discuss these with the interviewer.
3. Deep dive
In this part of the case, you’ll discuss additional tables, graphs and other support material the interviewer will show you. You should carefully add this information to your structure and build on the insights you get presented.
Crack the math
Complete the maths problems you get presented with in order to unlock additional insights. Make sure you take your time in order to tackle these. Show your calculations to the interviewer and perform some checks in order to ensure that your numbers are plausible.
Link it all together
Do not look at each data point independently. Rather, try to connect the dots in your mind and start designing a solution for the client.
In case you need additional information, feel free to ask the interviewer for some time to calmly review your whole structure and case. Once you have a better idea of the information you require or the questions you still have, make sure you discuss these with the interviewer.
Discuss your assumptions
In case you made an assumption during the calculus, when you were building and refining your structure and when you link information together, make sure you discuss these assumptions during the case and explain the reason and logic behind them.
The assumptions do not have to be 100% correct. However, the logic behind the assumptions you make should reflect your business sense and logical skills.
Summarize the case
Take your time to go over all the different elements of the case and review the information you wrote down, the graphs and maths you performed and the various insights you took note of.
Summarize the case and hand over the key insights to the interviewer. Support your synthesis with key figures, facts and disclose the assumptions you made.
This is not the final recommendation. Rather, it is a mid-of-case summary in order to quickly synthesize your thoughts the the interviewer.
4. Develop a solution
After probing your structure and analysing the additional material the interviewer handed over, you should start developing a final recommendation for the case.
Organize the most important information and think out of the box
Gather all the most important information in order to build your final recommendation. This information should concern the elements that are most relevant and impactful for the clients. These should thus concern the levers and tools the firm can use in order to tackle its problems.
Be creative when designing your solutions. Make sure that the solutions you propose are practical, relevant and supported by facts.
Look for the “So What?”
The solution you propose shouldn’t be a simple summary of what you discussed during the case. Rather, it should offer a practical, insightful and impactful solution the client can implement.
Always ask yourself “So What?” when designing a solution. Think about what your solution means for the clients and how you could help them implement the solution you propose.
5. Recommendation
All cases end with a recommendation you make to the client. After reviewing all the elements of the case, you offer them a solution to their issues and support it with facts you gathered during the case.
Ask for a minute
In most cases, you will be able to take minute in order to review the whole case and make a draft of your recommendation.
In case you are not allowed to take a minute, say your recommendation out loud by starting with the one-liner that describes the final solution, then support your solution with key facts and figures and end by offering the next steps and risks associated with your solution.
Give a clear and brief solution
Your recommendation should start with a powerful sentence that summarizes the solution you propose. You should then give 2 to 3 elements (figures, numbers, facts) that support your solution.
As an example, you can say:
“The client should pick the United States as its next market and enter it by buying up a local groceries chain mainly active on the West Coast.”
Then mention some facts.
“This is supported by the fact that the United States is the most profitable markets as each customer spends on average $ 2.000 a year on food and the competitive landscape on the West Coast is less aggressive as the major grocery chains are not active in the region.”
You will just have a minute to write it down. So make sure you only note down the bullet points of your answers.
Consider the next steps, risks and mitigations
In your recommendation, you should also offer concrete solutions the client can implement as next steps and disclose the risks your solution presents. End by stating the ways the client can mitigate some of the risks.
As an example you can say:
“The clients should buy ABC Deli in California. This may be risky as competition might enter the market. However, the client can decrease this risk by also entering the New York market at the same time.”
In this case as well, only note down your answer in bullet points as you will have very little time to note your recommendation down.
Some tips on your recommendation
Start by stating the solution in a short and impactful sentence. Then quickly mention 2 or 3 facts that support your answer. Then disclose the next steps, risks and mitigations of your solution.
Make sure you take a convincing and self-assured voice and look at the interviewer deep into the eyes.
In your final recommendation, you should not focus on your methodology. You should focus on the solution and the facts that support your answer.
Credits
This article was built on great insights and articles from Kellogg Consulting Club, Wharton Consulting Club and Stanford GSB Preparation Guide, Make sure you check these out!
