Case interviews can be a hurdle or stepping stone at the beginning of your consulting career. The difference lies in your preparation and ambition for a consulting career. The interview tests your problem solving ability, communication skills, composure and interpersonal skills. Many resources exist to prepare for the case interview, which can make it overwhelming, but rest assured that what follows in this article will make the preparation more manageable.
There is no magic number of cases one should do in preparation. There is some consensus that a minimum of 15 cases will provide a solid foundation to tackle the interview.
Start slow and increasingly match the time allocated to complete the practice cases to the time of the actual interview. Ensure you have the stamina for more than one case in a sitting.
It is unlikely that the case in the interview will be one that has been seen before, making it pointless to try to remember cases. Your focus should be on growing your critical thinking skills by filling in the gaps in your methodology, noticing relevant information you missed, and reviewing your mistakes and weaknesses. Vary cases by industry, and have a high level understanding of how each industry works. This includes understanding the key revenue drivers (e.g. products, pricing, distribution) and key cost drivers (e.g. salaries, rent, oil prices). Don’t dive deep, but instead aim to expand the scope of your thinking.
Business case frameworks are useful because they will help you to understand problems more quickly and to structure your analysis. Addressing problems in a structured way will allow the interviewer to follow your thinking. However, remember that there is no ‘right answer’. You should know the basic frameworks so that you can reliably structure your analysis, but more importantly you should know how to understand problems, explain your understanding, and communicate how you will solve the problem to the interviewer.
Adapt existing frameworks to make them your own so that you can use your own way of structuring and explaining the analysis. However, be flexible and make adjustments as needed to structure, explain and solve an unexpected problem. Adapting in real time requires experience, and practicing cases will help.
It is time consuming to cover all frameworks and more often than not none of them will fit perfectly to the case at hand. When you get to the interview, forget the textbook learned methods, it’s safer to depend on your experience and adjusted way of thinking.
Within the interview you need to act like a consultant. Build your experience, professionalism and communication skills by practicing cases with a knowledgeable friend, another aspiring consultant or, if possible, a consultant who works at the firm where you hope to work. If you don’t know anyone, get in touch via social media like LinkedIn and ask for a practice interview. You have nothing to lose.
During practice, try and mimic the interview environment. Be present minded, which means focusing on addressing the business problem and not stressing about the situation, the stakes involved, or how you’re presenting yourself. You should be yourself, this is important because consulting firms want to hire likeable people who are aren’t pretentious, and will work well with clients and project teams.
The other aspect of good communication is active listening, when the consultants prompt you, humbly accept the prompt even if you feel there is no need, then backtrack to what the consultants want you to focus on, and if you’re not sure how to proceed ask relevant questions. Be mindful of whether you are addressing the right concerns and communicate what you’re doing.
Regarding nerves, don’t worry if you stutter or aren’t as calm as you would like to be. What matters is that you communicate in a structured way and drive towards a solution.
Consultants are people too and they know that some things can be worked on. For the many missteps that could happen during the case, be open to comments, acknowledge and admit your mistakes, take a step back then correct them.
Staying relaxed is important. In order to reduce stress as much as possible, prepare thoroughly before the interview, have confidence in your practice, engage with staff before the interview in order to get comfortable, dress comfortably (this is underrated advice), and make written notes during the interview that have a clear layout so that you can remember key facts and walk the interviewer through your thinking. Finally, avoid stimulants like coffee so you’ll be more calm.
Be as intentional in your preparation for case interviews as you would be for an exam. The interviewers expect you to be as prepared as a consultant. Be proactive by preparing before your application has been successful to ensure you have enough time to be well equipped. To further show your commitment and intention to work for the firm, read up on it, spend time communicating with employees who work there, and find reasons why you are a good cultural fit.
In order to streamline your preparation efforts, create a timeline for yourself, include time to research the basics and practice the cases. To get you started, here is a link to some useful case interview material.
Ruce Ndlala is an accounting student at the University of Cape Town, and former President of the UCT Consulting Club.
Image: Pixabay
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