First Xperience Case Interviewing

First comes the elation of finally getting an interview. And if you are applying for a role in consulting like I was both in college and in grad school, soon after follows the dread of having to face yet another grueling case interview. The first time I had a case interview was in my senior year in college and lucky for me, this was one of the rare occasions where I was actually prepared in advance. This was because during my junior year, one of my very good friends, a senior at the time, was preparing for case interviews and asked me to be his case interview prep buddy. If he hadn’t asked me, I would have been none the wiser and in the position that many students find themselves in when they score a consulting interview: they realize there is a whole other world of interviewing they never knew existed, and they usually have three to five days to master it!

So what is a case interview? I define it as a hypothetical business situation that is presented to a candidate during an interview to assess how the candidate structures their thoughts and approaches problem solving in real time. In my opinion, this is a better way to get to know a candidate beyond the usual experiences listed in resumes, cover letters and limited information one can glean from a behavioral interview. There are a number of resources you can find online and books that can help you prepare for case interviews, but it is usually an overwhelming process. My go to book is Case in Point by Marc Cosentino, and for visual learners, I’d point you to Victor Cheng’s Case Interview Workshop–a 12 video series on youtube that will get you well on yourway to acing your case interviews. I also hope this blog will help make the whole process less intimidating and provide specific tips on how to get started and become a pro. 

1. Understand the different types of case interviews. In general, I’d say there are four types of case interviews – interviewer led, interviewee led, combination, and case study. Unfortunately, the companies do not usually tell you which type of interview you will face ahead of time, but with some research from people that have applied for similar positions in the past, you can try to get some insider information on how the interviews are usually set up. To be completely prepared though, it is very important to know and be comfortable with all the variations in advance of your interviews, because often it is the first few moments that fluster an interviewee when they discover the direction the interview is going. Knowing the different shapes and forms a case interview can take allows you to quickly identify the type of interview when it begins – which makes you comfortable you are in familiar territory and allows you to relax and focus on acing the case.

• Interviewer-led case interviews are where the interviewer has a list of questions they ask you and you answer them sequentially. This type is structured and usually  straightforward since the interview guides you along.
• Interviewee-led case interviews are where the interviewer gives you one prompt in the beginning and it is your job to drive the interview by asking questions to gain more information from the interviewer and come up with a recommendation in the end.
• Combination would be a mix of both which is probably the trickiest since it is sometimes not clear when you need to wait for the interviewer to ask a question or if it is your turn to ask questions to drive the interview
• Case Study is where you are given a package of information and instructions on the questions you need to solve, and you are given some time to independently solve the questions without the interviewer’s help or intervention, then present your findings. This is less common in traditional consulting interviews but good to know if you are interviewing broadly.

Regardless of what type of interview you get, your responses should always follow a structured approach and some kind of logical framework.

2. Learn a few core frameworks. There are countless frameworks you can use to structure the response for your interview, and you can google them if you so wish. However, I think you can focus on four key frameworks, and if you master these, you will be well on your way to securing your dream consulting internship or job. The four are Profitability, Market Sizing, Market Study, and Mergers & Acquisitions. Profitability allows you to look at costs and revenues (and their components) to determine if a company or product is viable. Market Sizing helps you to determine the size of a particular market or to estimate a particular figure. You can google the “top down” and “bottom up” strategies on how to approach these. Market Study goes into details about a specific market and its viability (can use Porter’s Five Forces or SWOT Analysis thought process), and Mergers & Acquisitions brings everything together and you are usually asked if the market, profitability, and other factors are suitable for one company to buy another. Learn these four and you can pretty much apply these to all types of case interview questions.

3. Putting it all together: learning the structure of case interviews. The last and probably most important aspect of case interviews you need to know is the structure or usual “flow” of the interview. All interviews begin with a prompt, or business situation you will be solving. After the prompt you should always ask clarifying questions, and paraphrase the prompt to ensure you understand what is being asked. The middle portion will involve structuring a response, doing some calculations, and formulating an opinion on the question. Then the last part involves making a recommendation or “pulling everything together.” For this section, you should always lead with the recommendation statement, followed by 2 – 3 supporting points from the middle section, and end with either next steps or additional information you would need to further refine your recommendation.

4. Practice, practice, and practice some more. And get yourself a case interview prep buddy because live repetitions prepare you the best, and giving a case to someone else provides an important perspective that significantly elevates your case interviewing proficiency.

So there you have it, a few tips on how to get ready for case interviews. At First Xperience, we understand this might be an overwhelming process. As such, we are happy to offer you one free case interview practice session, where we’ll give you a live case interview and then provide feedback on what you did well, areas you can improve on, and tips on what you can do to elevate your casing game. Or if you are just getting started and need to use the session to ask any questions to help you get started we are open to that as well.  Feel free to reach out to us here or send us an email at [email protected] with the subject line: Free Practice Case Interview Session and we will reach out to you to schedule a session. Looking forward to connecting with you and helping you in your case interviewing journey!