SIMPLY THE CASE | A simple guide to consulting case interviews

TAG | Case Interview

Jan/10

27

Know Each Company’s Interview Style

3 Comments · Posted by James in Case Interview

Oftentimes, people lump all consulting interviews into the “case interview.” Although all consulting firms use the case method to some extent, each company has a distinctive style of conducting their interviews.

A few examples…

McKinsey

Command and control. Your structure up from doesn’t have to be that elaborate – after all, the case interviewer is going to be asking you all the questions. Be prepared for a lot of “Anything else?” McKinsey loves to see a ton of brainstorming and creativity.

(A side note: I heard McKinsey loves buzzwords. I didn’t hear this until after my interview and still got an offer, but it may be worth it to investigate this a bit more).

Bain

Bain generally has shorter interviews. You can almost always expect a market sizing question (or two!) in your first round. A lot of interviews are based off of the interviewer’s experiences, rather than a set interview materials.

BCG

You can always expect diagrams and slides to work off of. This means that there is always roughly a ‘right’ answer. This could be great or frustrating, depending on your personal preferences.

These are just a few brief tips on the Big 3. Spending a good 15 minutes or so to find out the style of each company you interview will really boost the productivity of your preparation. Good luck!

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Jan/10

24

3 Key Charts For Case Interviews

7 Comments · Posted by Robert in Case Interview

Many people wonder how they can go above and beyond in an interview to stick in an interviewer’s mind. Knowing how to do a case interview merely puts you on the same level as everyone else. However, enhancing your communication through the use of diagrams and charts can put you over the top. Most interviewers’ eyes will immediately light up when they see you use the charts discussed below because this is the way consultants think and even how they communicate points to clients!

Market Share Pie Chart (Gaining Share vs. Growing The Pie)

This is probably the simplest, and most commonly applicable chart, but rarely anyone uses it! It’s low hanging fruit you can take advantage of. It’s great for demonstrating the various strategies available for:

  • Increasing sales (steal share or grow the total market?)
  • New product launch strategy (take a small slice of a big pie or a big slice of a small pie?)
  • Pretty much anything involving changing the levers on the percentage of the market you own or influencing the size of the total market.

market share pie chart

The chart is super easy to draw. The hardest part is recognizing the opportunity to use it. (more…)

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Jan/10

16

Understanding The Case Interview

1 Comment · Posted by Robert in Case Interview, Overviews

If you are just starting the case interview process, you probably have a million questions in your head about what exactly is a case interview and how is it run. You have probably heard about how you should take time to “write down your structure” and are wondering what the hell does that exactly mean? This quick overview guide answers those questions and lets you understand how all these pieces fit together. I elaborate on all the sections in the order they come up in the real interview so you can get a good image of how it all plays out. Note that each firm does things slightly differently and has its own style.

(more…)

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