60 (Practice) Cases Deep: Mastering the Technicalities of the Case Interview
Hey Monkeys,
As the title reads, I've done ~60 cases with various partners over the past couple of months. My analysis has improved significantly improved over the past couple of months, and I feel like I'm 70% of the way there.
This means (in my opinion) a couple of things: I'm attaining the key insights, hitting on the right discussion points, and my recommendations are - more often than not - in line with the solution's. However, there are a few things which I haven't yet mastered, and they've really been bugging me. These are the more soft side of the interview, relating to flow, articulation etc.
1. I've heard numerous times that its 'OK' to ask the interviewer for guidance if you're ever stuck. Is this true? Will the interviewer take points away because of this? This may be a naive/obvious question, but I can't help but feel that an interviewer will favour a candidate who did not ask for guidance, versus the one who did. If this is the case, then asking for guidance can in fact hurt you. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much. Can someone experienced with the process chime in, please?
2.How often should one take some time to think or "frame their thoughts?" Its the norm in the very beginning of the case when the candidate is laying out his/her structure, but is it suitable to do it during other points in the case as well? For example, if the interviewer asks the question: How do you expect the purchase behaviour to differ between these three segments? Is it appropriate to take a moment to think about it and then answer? I find if I take some time I can keep the answer concise yet comprehensive and structured whereas talking about the answers right away may cause me to talk a run-on. This is a good segue into my next question.
3. If I do take 10 seconds to think about the interviewer's questions, won't it disrupt flow of the interviewer? The interview is supposed to be conversational, and I fear taking 10 seconds for questions posed in the interview might break the flow of the interaction.
4. In your experience (if you have interviewed before), how often does the interviewer lead cases at firms other than McKinsey? I feel like I must have not been getting the case if the interviewer leads the case... Is this fear justified or is it common for the interviewer to ask questions and take the case in a particular direction (in firms other thank McK)?
5. How much information should one ask in their questions? For example, let's say I want to determine the profitability of the company for the previous year. There are two ways of doing this: 1) What were profits last year? 2) I'd like to determine profits for the previous year. To do this, I'd like to analyze the components of profits, which are revenues and costs. Do we know what revenues were last year? (and then revenues would be segmented and we'd talk about price, volume etc...) Asking for profits right away is much more convenient, but I don't want to look lazy... What do you think? How do you find the balance in asking the right questions and then asking a for a fair/appropriate amount of information in each question? How open-ended should my questions be?
6. How do you keep everything organized? Often, you will get more information than you can fit into your previously drawn structures. In such a case, you have to write down the information quickly but effectively so you can refer to it in the future. Structures need to be pragmatic; how do you organize your information quickly yet efficiently so you know where to look and so it all looks in place? This is a big challenge of mine. Whenever I'm given more information than I have space for, I end up writing it down under random titles on a different piece of paper, and it does not look as organized and structured as the initial part. ESPECIALLY when there are exhibits/tables/graphs involved.
Are the above concerns justified, or am I thinking too much? Admittedly, when I started practicing, I thought following through the structure and getting the right answer was the biggest hurdle. But once that's over with, I find there are many small details which make a big difference, hence this (long) post. Would really appreciate some advice on any or all of the above!
One final request: If there are any monkeys who have gone through the process and succeeded, I would greatly appreciate it if we could practice a case over Skype. I can take you out for drinks if/when I get an offer haha
I am entering my second year at a top bschool and interned in strategy consulting over the summer. I didn't get into MBB but hoping to this fall. My free advice, which may be worth less than its price, is most of your concerns are to the level that each interviewer is going to have their own style and you won't see much benefit from stressing over them.
Once you reach a certain level in your prep you will start to hear completely contradictory opinions on how you should execute the case. I've been told never to stop to build a summary recommendation slide at the end and I've been told to always do it - by two different BCG folks. It is similar to how you can have a partner on a project that will be up to 2am staring at one word on your deck vs the other partner who gives it a 10 minute look through to make sure there is nothing glaringly wrong. There isn't a hard rule for most of your questions, you'd just be best to try to read your interviewer. I've had interviewers that throw me softballs to keep me on track and others that will not blink to let you crash and burn once stuck. There is a fair amount of luck involved in the process in my opinion. With that here is my take on your questions:
Better to ask for help than sit in silence while your interviewer starts thinking about lunch. Obv a candidate that crushes the case without getting stuck looks better, but someone who knows when ask for help looks better than a person who is awkwardly quiet or just spins their wheels verbally.
Again it depends on the interviewer. I've heard more than 60-90 secs to setup the framework is bad but that a slow to develop yet solid framework is always better than a speedy approach that neglects key considerations.
Its better to be slow than wrong. Thoughtful consideration of a questions shows maturity. If the silence begins to feel overly long but you are still thinking, walk the interviewer through your thought process and that allows them to see how you think and even possibly steer you in the right direction.
Varies. In my experience you leave the case knowing if you performed well or not based on the insights you drove, not the interviewer's style.
Answer first, explain your thoughts. "I'm interested in understanding the firm's profitability over time to see what may be driving the recent changes. In order to do that we could breakdown their revenue and cost structure. Do we have any information on the firm's revenue last year?" Is better than "Do we know the profitability last year?" or "Do we have revenue information for last year". Tell them why you want the information and they may just give you it without having to work on breaking it all down.
I have a fact sheet that is relatively sloppy to allow for quick note taking, but then make sure to perform all analysis in tables or structured formats that are well labeled to allow the interviewer to follow.
My 2 cents, good luck.
Great response
Silver Banana worthy :-) +1
Thanks for the detailed reply, you definitely added some perspective. I agree that one may need to change their style depending on the interviewer's style and the nuances of the case itself.
Do you think the nature of the case/conversation changes from round 1 or round 2? What's it like interviewing with Managers/Partners vs. Associates?
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