INTERVIEW HELP: CASE QUESTIONS !!!!

So I was practicing for case interview and me and my practice partner got these questions: 1- What if the interviewee asks the interviewer for data/info that he/she does not have as part of the case: do you make it up or what to do in that case?

2- If you ask for data that does not align with the flow of the solution: Example: let's say the cost table should come later but the interviewee asks for it in the beginning however the data is contingent upon solving/analyzing another piece of the case first, what do you do as interviewer?

Thank you for the answers !!

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Not full-time yet, but I'm returning to BCG as an Associate after this past summer, and I've been giving cases to my friends/people in the year below me who are interested in consulting. My methods will probably differ from a FT person with actual interviewing training and experience, but here's what I usually do when I get these situations:

1) I just say we our client doesn't have that information - if you're the one doing the case, that should be a clue that whatever direction you were going down w/ that data request isn't the right one 2) I say we have that information, but we will look at that piece later, and have them try to come up with something else to ask for/look into, and hope that they ask for data related to the next piece of the case. Usually the order in which data is given is the logical order in which you would want to look at the case (e.g. if it's a new investment case and it focuses on the potential profitability of the product, it generally makes sense to do some market sizing and look at volume before turning to pricing and then costs)

 

I wouldn't give the data unless I had already tried to set them down the path of asking the right questions and they were still struggling. If they haven't found the right direction after a few minutes, I'd lead them to the area of focus and give them the data (case interviews shouldn't take more than 30 minutes in a 45-minute interview after all, not much time to waste)

 

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