Case study practice guides / books

Greetings,

I am preparing for interviews with Bain & Co (Post MBA - Consultant) and need tips on good reference guides / books that I can use to train for the case study interviews (Case Discussion & Written case). Please, could some of you point me in the right direction?

Thanks

 
Best Response

Here's some resources I found useful when going through recruiting.

Books: Case in Point by Marc Cosentino, Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng, Consulting Interview Case Preparation by Charles Rivers Editors

Guides: WSO Guide, Management Consulted Guide, Vault Guide

Websites: caseinterview.com (Victor Cheng), consultingcase101.com, firmsconsulting.com, managementconsulted.com

Casebooks: Wharton 2009, Dartmouth 2006, and Harvard 2004

I'd listen to the 6 hours of free lecture materials by Victor Cheng first and then start reading over Case In Point if interested. Eventually you will have to choose an approach you like best (lots of frameworks, such as Case in Point, versus fewer frameworks, such as Case in Point, versus bespoke). Then, go from there to practicing cases.

I have a lot of MBA casebooks and some other resources, so feel free to PM me if you have any trouble finding information.

 

@pfitzy- Many thanks for your advice. I was referred to 'Case in point(CIP)' and Victor Cheng's materials by some other sources and have started working on them. I have also referred to the WSO guide and found the former two sources of interest and value to me. Hence I intend to stick with them.

As you mentioned, I will have to choose my frameworks between 'CIP' and Victor's material. I have ordered CIP and the case interview book by Victor and would be reading them soon.

With regards to casebooks, I found the Wharton 2007-08 online and will search for the others you have mentioned. I sure will reach out to you for more information and I thank you once again.

Question: I intend to practice the cases very soon and look to reach out to any active groups/ individuals who are like minded. Would you have any suggestions around that?

Regards

AV
 

Hmmm...of course your school and alumni base are great places to start, but I'd assume you've looked there. I know I see a fair amount of "Case Partners Needed" type posts on this forum, and you can practice over Skype.

I've never used anything else, but I've seen http://www.consultingcase101.com/case-interview-partner-2012-2013/case-…. Also, this website (http://caseinterviewpartner.com/) should start up soon (albeit probably after you'd need it). I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

 

Do you know which companies X and Y will be in advance? Are they public? If so, I'd read some equity research on both companies. That will at least give you a "street" opinion at the very least. You can use that as a starting point to build your own view.

Next, maybe read up on the industry and try to find some key themes in the restaurant industry. Then look at the two companies and try to differentiate them. What are the key differences and which do you think is better positioned to succeed based on the trends you saw earlier.

Last check: make sure your analysis isn't already "priced in".

 

Read the Wall Street Journal and try to create frameworks for the business situations being faced. That's your best bet for real-life scenarios.

For case prep, MBA case books are the way to go. Google "[b-school name] case book" for the top-15 schools and see if you get lucky.

Standard disclaimer: 1. >80% of your interview prep time should be spent on live practice 2. Don't forget the behavioral part. It's more important than the case.

 

thanks guys.

when you say behavioral - as in being pleasant and assertive or as in getting my leadership experience etc stories straight?

"... then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."
 

I have a recommendation for something you should definitely not buy: jobtestprep.co.uk...I thought this would've helped me during my superdays at British banks but boy was I wrong. Waste of money.

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