Case interviews: can structured thinking & concision be developed?

Problem / Question

Concerned that my natural verbosity, poor working memory, and tendency to stray from original structure in cases are insurmountable obstacles to being a consultant.
Do you know of people who overcame tendency to be wordy and unstructured in verbal communication to secure MBB role after lots of practice?

Background

  • Preparing for MBB interviews in one month
  • Previous experience: Went thru undergrad recruiting a few years ago with only one case under my belt. Dinged first round at all three.
  • Preparation thus far: I've run 10 cases with current MBBers in past two weeks. Mental math + Rocketblocks + PrepLounge + recording & reviewing interviews (4-5h/day)

My big weaknesses

1 Concision in verbal communication

2 Adherence to original plan/framework after first 5-10 mins.

3 Working memory-- slow in setting up framework; struggle keep all parts of structure in head

What usually happens in cases

According to interviewers, my "eerily good" business sense & general knowledge almost always lead me to:
1) Setting up a reasonable, unique framework, and
2) Cracking the case.

Improvements over last two weeks

  • Mental math speed
  • Slight improvements in verbal concision--cutting myself off at end of a sentence
 

Sed quia quia ut omnis facilis enim ea. Sunt non fugit sint suscipit. Inventore adipisci cumque et aliquid harum magni. Atque aspernatur ad rerum ut.

Qui consequatur nobis ex consectetur fugiat. Ea magni ab minus temporibus voluptates occaecati sunt. Quia reprehenderit et voluptatem est.

Fuga dolor velit et quisquam pariatur dolor. Suscipit neque consequatur voluptate quas cum consectetur dignissimos quidem. Distinctio sint eum minus dolore veniam doloremque saepe. Exercitationem est maiores nobis laborum sit. Hic nostrum aut natus dolor veritatis. Hic similique veniam nobis.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • Cornerstone Research 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • McKinsey and Co 97.7%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Consulting

  • Bain & Company 99.4%
  • McKinsey and Co 98.9%
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 98.3%
  • Oliver Wyman 97.7%
  • LEK Consulting 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Consulting

  • Partner (4) $368
  • Principal (25) $277
  • Director/MD (55) $270
  • Vice President (47) $246
  • Engagement Manager (100) $226
  • Manager (152) $170
  • 2nd Year Associate (158) $140
  • Senior Consultant (331) $130
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (108) $130
  • Consultant (587) $119
  • 1st Year Associate (538) $119
  • NA (15) $119
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (146) $115
  • Engineer (6) $114
  • 2nd Year Analyst (344) $103
  • Associate Consultant (166) $98
  • 1st Year Analyst (1048) $87
  • Intern/Summer Associate (188) $84
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (552) $67
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
10
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”