When to start case interview prep? I know the old saying is "now". But what if I don't have an interview in hand and am not sure if I would even get one? I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars and a ton of hours on case prep material (books, ManagementConsulted guides, videos, live case) and then realize I would not even get a chance to actually use it. On the other hand, I don't want to get a call from the recruiting asking me to go in next week for first round and have no clue how to work a case.
Thoughts?
You can find free case guides online (just google "filetype pdf ________ casebook" where _______ is a top business school, so you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars. I started sophomore year, but I've actually enjoyed the cases, so I don't see that as time wasted. (I am yet to go through recruiting, so I don't know if I will have a chance to use it or not)
The time between finding out you have an interview and the actual interview itself is usually pretty small (In my area at least. I was called one Thursday by McKinsey and BCG for first round interviews the following Monday. I was called by Bain on Friday for an interview on the following Wednesday), so waiting until you have an interview in hand is not ideal. I did this (waited until being invited for an interview), but in hindsight I realise that I should have started preparing a lot earlier. I still managed to get an offer for MBB, but I spent every single day from Thursday onwards just doing practice cases (alone and with friends) and ended up feeling rushed and not entirely confident.
If I was back in the same position, I probably would have started preparation ~2 months before the recruitment period, which I feel would have been sufficient to develop a good system for acing the case interviews. This would have allowed much more time for live interview practice, which for me was the most useful form of preparation. Of course there is the risk that you get no interviews, but it's a risk worth taking when such a significant part of your future depends on the outcome. The case preparation can be fun (especially with another person) and it helps develop a skill (structuring a problem) that is generally useful, so your time is not completely wasted if you receive no offers.
You can get tons of materials online for free. Time is another issue. I will practice over the summer.
Unless you're applying to just MBB and not looking into any other other firms, I don't think you should go in assuming you won't get even one interview... so I would still start practicing early
1.5-2 months before first rounds start. That's more than enough
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