case interview

As the COVID-19 situation continues its grip on the nation, I was just thinking about how firms are going about conducting their case interviews. It seems that doing things virtually would make confidentiality of cases something harder than usual to protect. Anyone have insight on what different firms will be doing this year/cycle?

15 Sep 2020

Hey everyone! I am interviewing for a FDD intern position and there is a case interview portion, I was wondering if anyone had any good cases to practice/material they think is useful to help prep?

24 Feb 2021

i will be interviewing with Altman and wondering what their case style is. I don't have much time to prepare. i heard they are more quant. are they similar to McKinsey or more like Deloitte? are there particular problems they usually like to case? I know that they like to keep it within TMT sector but do they tend to skew go-to-market, etc?

23 Jan 2021

So I have a case interview with Accenture's CFO&EV practice. I wanted to know if someone has an idea on what type of case I can expect?

09 Dec 2020

Hello all - I have a final round coming up for an infrastructure fund focused on telecom, airports, roads. I have read a lot of posts on modeling type of case studies and am comfortable with those, but can someone provide tips or general idea of how more on-the-spot type of case questions would like? I'm currently guessing market sizing type of questions or modelling approach? I frankly have no project finance experience, just TMT experience for the most part, so any tips / pointers would be appreciated. Thank you!

06 Apr 2020

I have heard a lot of people say that as an interviewee, you should be the one to "drive the case". The exception being interviewer led cases of course. To my best knowledge, driving the case means using your framework to probe for more information that either confirms or denies your hypothesis. 1) Is this an accurate description? 2) What is the best way to actually get at the data using your framework? For example, I did a case (practice) where the interviewer had info on consumer behavior among other things. I was stuck asking for sales data, competitive breakdown, and others. Essentially

09 Aug 2020

Hola WSO. I am currently in the midst of searching for off-cycle consulting positions. I come from a non-target school, but I am doing a fellowship with a non-profit that is affiliated with several consulting firms. Would anyone be interested in partnering up to practice? My potential course of action would be to go through all the partner cases in Case in Point, and then work through the Wharton Casebook. If so, please reach out. Or, let me know if you need more background info. Thanks

12 Apr 2015

I just bought a year long subscription to Consulting Case 101 for $180. They run a huge 800+ database of a bunch of cases which are divided into sections by specific companies and types of questions. My peers have told me it helped a lot when preparing for case interviews. I'm looking for people to share the account and split the cost. Please check out the content at consultingcase101 dot com, and PM me if you're interested.

11 Feb 2015

I can't believe I am asking this question. Does "unstructured case interview" mean BCG/Bain type case or when interviewer flips few slides to show exhibits and ask candidate to draw insights and do calculations?

23 Mar 2014

Looking for a case interview buddy in Chicago area in preparation of the consulting recruitment for Summer 2018. Preferably had some experiences on case interview but do not have to be super skilled. Reply if you are interested!

09 May 2017

Hey everyone, I have an interview coming up with Monitor very soon, and I am trying to find some time to prepare for it. I have looked up some cases online and checked out the Victor Cheng materials. I even did some Deloitte interviews, but it seems like Monitor does theirs differently than Deloitte S&O. The thing is, after a few days of practice, I think I do well on the traditional cases. Nevertheless, I finally came across an old Monitor Case called footloose, and tried to do it in the 30 minute time frame. Unfortunately, I don't believe I performed as well as I could have. What I am kindly asking from you fellow monkeys is the following: Any Monitor cases that you could share with me?

06 May 2014

Hey, I'm just wondering who's down to work on this 1-2x/wk Best, -TB

09 Jul 2014

Just got a 3 month subscription for consultingcase101, they have a bunch of consulting case studies, interview questions, McK PST practice tests, fast math drills, case prep, which seem pretty helpful. PM if you want to share the costs.

08 Feb 2015

I have an interview with a large consulting firm in a week and have no idea how to start to prepare. I wasn't really expecting to get the interview, so I hadn't done much. Any resources you guys would recommend? I have Case in Point. learning how to do a case interview in one week? If you are learning how to do a case interview in a short period of time, it is important to have a plan. First, you should check the recruiting website of the firm you are interviewing with as many firms will provide a guide for how to approach the case interview. You should review this first. After you've reviewed

10 Oct 2012

Do you have a case interview coming up soon? Are you looking for case practice partners? Are you tired being practicing with the same partner? Do you want to check out case interview skills with someone completely new to you? Do you have a case interview coming up soon? Are you looking for case practice partners? Are you tired being practicing with the same partner? Do you want to check out case interview skills with someone completely new to you? If "yes" to any of these, "Case Interview Nuts" group on Skype will be an alternative for you. Join to practice with many other new partners via audio / video chat, and to share resources, experiences, and more. Benefits: 1) mock interviews with new partners to explore various interview styles

26 May 2011

I'm studying for case interviews and am using basically all the resources I've been able to get my hands on. One of them, of course, is CiP, which nearly everybody recommends. I've got a question for people who used it successfully, though: The practice cases/dialogues Consentino lays out in CiP seem to be a bit blunt. I'm contrasting this to, say, Victor Cheng's discussions where he keeps drilling down and asking relevant questions about a certain topic to test a hypothesis (looking for data on different relevant segments, etc. etc. before jumping in), so that his final approach is data-driven.

04 Oct 2011

So next week I have a case interview and was wondering if some people could help me find some examples. I've gone through victor chens stuff but I don't think they were the same examples. They are going to give me 20ish slides, give me 50 minutes then come back and ask me to analyze the slides and draw a conclusion. I was told most of these slides are charts. I assume they will be questioning my conclusions either way. Is there any website where I can see some sample charts and slides that are commonly used, I just want to have some practice.

13 Jun 2013

I just had first round with BCG. I believe that I did reasonably well, but for both cases, there was not enough time to summarize the case. The interviewers didn't ask me either. Is this a deal breaker?

25 Jan 2012

Hey guys, So I have an MBB first round interview coming up in the next two weeks. I scoured the forums and came to find that the two most often cited resources to use were Case In Point and caseinterview.com I personally started with the latter and found it quite useful. I know that many people have sworn by Case In Point and would say it may be the only material you need but while working through both I was stuck in what approach to take to cracking the cases. Specifically CIP has some 12 suggested frameworks while Victor Cheung only has 4, and in fact uses mainly 2 80% of the time.

30 Apr 2012

This topic has been addressed many, many times, but always in scattered places. And I also get differing stories. So, I thought it might be best to start a thread in order to discuss peoples' experiences / perceptions of the math questions in MBB-type consulting interviews in one place . Some people say the cases generally involve really straightforward math (calculate the margin, profit, etc.) -- arithmetic with large numbers, basically. I've heard other people say the math questions can be pretty complex. The only consulting interview I've had so far involved a pretty qualitative case interview, so I haven't had a real taste of data-based interviews. What are your experiences?

23 Jul 2010

I have a case interview with Harris Williams coming up soon. Has anyone experienced their interview process. Any advice would be appreciated.

29 Sep 2010

Had a first round phone interview with a consulting firm. As most first round interviews go, it consisted of mostly fit questions. However, the interviewer threw in one case question, probably just to see how I think on my feet and to make sure I wasn't a complete dumbass. The interview asked, "If you won the lottery and had the options of taking the winnings in one lump sum or ten equal payments over ten years, what factors would you base you decision on?". Without getting into too much detail, I said the following (in this order). 1. Tax implications 2. expected future inflation rates 3. expected future interest rates 4. personal spending decisions (i.e. blow it all at once, invest it, etc)

09 Jul 2010

I have heard the buzzword "case study" while researching MBA programs. I'm currently finishing an MS in Finance and was quite excited to hear that we are doing 3 case studies for the final class. After my initial research, this is my understanding. Tell me if I'm off-track in my thinking. 1. Find a company that made a strategic decision 2. Look at the problem it was trying to solve 3. Write about how the decision worked out 4. Come away with a lesson on what a strategic leader should do based on #2 and #3. Isn't this process heavily tainted by 20/20 hindsight and survivorship bias? I feel like

08 May 2015

I just finished undergrad in Europe and have a couple interviews lined up with top consulting firms this month. I've thoroughly read through CIP, watched Victor Cheng's online videos, and listened to LOMS extensively. I've practiced with 20+ cases from old HBS and Sloan casebooks (this includes examples of cases from all of MBB) and have done a couple cases via Prep Lounge. Also, I've given 20+ case interviews (as the interviewer) for a student-run consultancy. Send me a PM, or leave a comment if you'd be up for practicing via Skype.

11 Jun 2014

Hi, I am going through the first case interview in the "vault case interview practice guide 2." A copy of it is here: http://sites.duke.edu/dukeapdconsulting/files/2010/08/Vault_Guide2008.pdf Also attached. The case study is entitled "Amusement Park Case," and is pg. 19 through 24. I am having issues with the last page, pg. 24. Two issues: 1. I don't understand how the Revenue values are calculated (e.g., 12.775M, 10.9M, 10M), because the values reflected are different on the previous page. I also tried to include the revenue from non-ticket revenue, but I still didn't get the correct values. 2. I do not understand why the recommendation is C. From the final calculation, it seems that C is the least profitable.

17 Apr 2014

Hey, I had an interview Thursday with an MBB, something odd occurred: my first interviewer said I did well and ask me for my notes right after I was done my second interview did not say anything, and specifically said he did not need my notes. They said they will let me know if I will get an offer early next week. Is it odd that an interviewer does not take your notes? Does it mean it is a ding? Thanks!

14 May 2011

I'm interviewing for an experienced hire position at McKinsey and just had the one hour case prep over the phone. And I got fucking destroyed. A little background... I'm currently an engineer, graduated in 2008, and applied sometime in June. Heard back from a recruiter end of July and had a 30 minute phone screening. Passed that, and she had me schedule an hour case prep, which just happened. Never been through a case interview, and in the meantime, I bought case in point and watched all the Victor Chen videos. So I have a general idea of frameworks/etc but didn't have a chance to practice outloud with somebody. Any current consultants or those preping want to help me out? I'm willing to drive my ass down to the city and buy you dinner/whatever.

08 Aug 2010

Hey, I have a Bain interview coming up next week and I have been preparing for a while now. After running through some mock interviews with friends, I wanted to do some professional mock interviews with consultants or former consultants. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any paid services where you can live interview with a coach on Skype and get feedback after. I have tired using Victor Cheung's caseinterveiwcoach.com. Any other recommendations would be extremely helpful. And any specific recommendation of good coaches who specifically interview in the more open ended Bain style would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

10 Jun 2012

hey everyone. so i was able to land a second interview, this time with PwC!!! i have a couple questions that i hope someone can answer. the interview consists of 2 45min interviews and a senior session (Q&A panel). the position i applied for is advisory associate in health care. should i be expecting a case interview? i am nervous cause im having some problems with them (i am a non-business major, majored in hard sciences) . i went on glassdoor and all the advisory associate interview reviews say that they are pretty much exclusively behavioral, is that right? also, what the heck is a senior session? thanks eveyone!! my interview is at the end of the week

08 Nov 2010

This might be a stupid question, but how important is hand writing during case interviews? I'm at the beginning of case interview prep and I'm reading Case in Point...they recommend making a whole bunch of graphs and charts during the interview. I have atrocious handwriting, and I don't expect that to change by January...how much will this penalize me?

13 Jul 2014

Hi guys, My friend told me that this could be a good place for me to get some help. I'm looking for someone who can shoot me cases over skype or a phone. I can also play the part of an interviewer as well if its another student. I'm located in San Francisco, CA. Looking for some practice, but I don't know anyone in the industry, and other students who I know personally don't want to practice over break. It would also be great if you just want to shoot me one case and that's it. The harder the better. I need the practice. Thanks!

30 Dec 2010

02 Mar 2010

Hi, Who can tell me the differences between economic consulting cases and management/strategic consulting cases in terms of the problem and the approach? Thanks!!!

27 Oct 2009

I went through demo videos of the site and it seems to be nicely done. I didn't like its structuring too much but maybe because it was only a demo video. I tried finding reviews or information about the owner/creation of the content but can't. Just wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it

22 Jan 2013

Has anyone gone through a panel interview where you had to read the business case and prepare slides within 30 minutes or so and then answer questions that interviewers pose? If so, can you please provide some suggestions and advice that worked for you? Is there a particular order in how you created/presented the slides?

23 Mar 2014

I am looking for someone to practice and discuss case interviews with. I am in Tokyo so it might help if you are here or near my time zone. However, I am up to talking with anyone so please contact me. I am from the east coast and still talk to a lot of people there so I am usually on the computer. I have secured an interview with McKinsey and Millward Brown (Kantar Group). Hopefully will have some interviews with Booz and other firms once I submit the requested Japanese resume. I am still looking for firms to apply to. If you want to talk, please message me your skype name and I'll hit you up. Thanks!

24 Sep 2011

What's up legends. I'm a senior graduating in a few weeks and recently got hit up to complete a case (have 2 weeks to complete) and then present it to the team as the final round interview. Does anyone have experience with Guggenheim recruiting or this kind of case interview? Thanks for the help!

19 Apr 2019

So, I've been, I like to think a fairly helpful resource for young aspiring bankers in the two years that I've been working at a BB and I'm hoping that the WSO community will be willing to give back a little bit. I've been lucky enough to be have been granted a first round interview at B/B/M in upcoming weeks and am starting to get prepared now. I've done all the obvious things, talked to a few friends at the firm, read Case in Point, Ace the Case, done the online case etc - but now am hoping to find someone who might be willing to practice a few cases with me in person? I didn't go through them in college, so I'm pretty green, but I've heard from multiple sources that practicing in person is the key to doing well. If anyone with experience in strategy consulting interviewing (either undergrad or MBA) or actual experience at a firm would be willing to spend an hour with me (I'm located in NYC), I'd happily buy you dinner/a drink, or offer you help in anyway that I might be able to (I realize I'm setting myself up for a distasteful joke here).

28 May 2010

Hi guys, I'm currently doing a summer analyst stint at an investment bank and will likely choose to shop around in the fall for other IBs and consulting gigs. I'm way more interested in consulting but I did not perform well for summer internship interviews. I'm ending my internship in a week and am hoping to get some practice in. I've done about 20+ cases before, mainly in December, January and February. I'm looking for two kinds of people:

21 Jul 2011

Hi Guys, This might come across as a semi-dumb question but from the stories I see and hear it really seems like this Interview process is very challenging. I am going to be a Sophomore at a non-target, GPA of 3.8 and I am eager to start a career in Management Consulting. I guess my question is, for all of you that have successfully entered the Consulting life should I be worried that at my age/class I find the Case Interview itself pretty challenging? I mean I've read through Case Interview Secrets and Case In Point and when I read through the solutions it makes sense to me but I am having a hard time getting it going and really deciphering the problem. Is this something that gets better through practice or do I just not have the "it" factor haha? Btw I'm 19

01 Sep 2014

Hi all, just a quick question. A friend (engineer, master's deg.) has asked me to give him a practice case for his BCG interview. I myself am a recent post-graduate hire for one of the big consulting companies, but have not started yet. I know for example, how McK cases are like -- how should I modify the questions to be more like BCG? (I didn't get any interviews with them) For example, the McK interview usually goes something like: -- small talk, hellos, resume chat -- tell me about a time you had to use leadership skills to solve a difficult problem -- case portion, a company is thinking of adopting this new technology, what general issues can you identify to be examined?

05 Nov 2009

I'll preface this by saying it may sound silly, but it's the first time I'll be going to a strategy consulting interview. I've been practicing case studies and scribbling notes and frameworks in a notebook. When I go to the actual interview though, should I be using something other than a notebook to write down my thoughts, calculations, etc.? Few sheets of computer paper? Not sure, heh. I presume an interviewer won't care, but I just wanted to be sure. Thanks.

11 Apr 2012

Alot of case interview prep sites and books seems to tailor more towards MBA case interviews. For those coming out out of college, how should case interviews and interview prep be different (if at all)?

01 Aug 2010

Hi guys, I have been invited for a case interview at Fitch. They have asked me to complete the credit opinion of a company and have provided their rating criteria and have asked to prepare a power point which I will present to a team of analysts who will challenge my assumptions. Now my questions is am I supposed to come up with a rating grade by completing the entire process using financial model, etc or just provide an overview on the financial health of the company based on Fitch's criteria. Also, if someone has similar experience and can share what kind of questions there were asked that

31 Oct 2018

Is it better to start studying far in advance or do you all study several weeks before the interview? Are there any particular business classes that should be (or highly recommended to be) taken prior to studying for cases or is it all just they way you think? Thanks

09 Jan 2013

So I have managed to attain 2nd rounds with a decent sized shop about 70bn aum (avp level role I believe). During this 5-7 hour 2nd round at least an hour will contain a case. It will be focused on asset allocation since the role will deal with portfolio allocation. My background is in consulting and had my own fund (no mba). The last time I built a formal model was like 8 years ago in school. It was hinted to brush up on modeling and statistics. So I don't have to focus on an LBO or anything, they are aware I haven't done any of those professionally. Haven't even started to think about how

19 Aug 2015

So I'm a case interview virgin and will approach one relatively soon. I've been reading up on major consulting websites and their sample cases/tips, but I'm wondering if a real interview will ever end up that intensive? Are those good references for what a 30 minute case interview may be like? If not what kind of advice can you give? Thanks in advance.

12 May 2011

Hey monkeys! I am looking for a case study prep buddy for summer 2019 consulting internship! I am a stats major from a top 5 university, although I have limited consulting experience (some finance experience from my current trading internship), I (like many other people from my school) am good at talking about stuff we don't actually know about lol, and can (hopefully) bring some fun to the interview prep with my occasional humor :) Just starting to look into cases, would love to have a prep buddy to crack down cases this summer! PM me if you are interested!

08 Jun 2018

when interviewing for a specific industry group at a consulting firm should you expect cases that deal with that specific area? or will they typically give you a general assortment of cases?

24 Oct 2010

Anyone know how long it should take after the in-person case interview round for McK to get back to you? Been a few days longer than in previous rounds. How worried should I be?

20 Nov 2009