So, you’ve made it past the stages of perfecting our CV and writing up your cover letter and maybe you’ve already had a look at some case study basics (quick tip- we have a pretty good article on frameworks available). But whether you’re still at the very beginning of your journey towards consulting, your you’ve already been invited to interviews, you might be left with one question- where and how to actually start preparing for case studies? Well, worry not, for this article will dive exactly into that and provide you with some advice on how to get set for impressing your interviewers. So, buckle up and read on!
1) Research and develop a personalised preparation plan
The very first action you should take when preparing for any interview is research what you’re actually in for. Develop an understanding of what case studies and case interviews are, what different firms look for in candidates and how you can approach different problems. While this article won’t go into all the details on how to solve case studies (we would have to give you 20+ pages of content), here are some of the best resources to get started with:
Have a read through them and make sure you really understand what firms are looking for, what you are already good at and what you might need to work on. For instance, your mental maths (an important part of any case interview) might be brilliant because you studied Mathematics at university. However, you might struggle with understanding economic markets or coming up with innovative solutions for problems. The way to shine at case interviews isn’t to be a perfect machine that can answer questions at the snap of a finger, but is unable to properly communicate, explain your answer or develop new ideas. (Just think about it, consulting firms hire you to speak to high-level clients and solve their problems, so you need to be a presentable person people trust and like to work and travel with). So, it’s important to develop your own personalised approach at creating a well-rounded, confident and innovative profile that excels at communication and understanding criticism were applicable.
The first step to this is conducting sound research and understanding the nature of case interviews. Also bear in mind that no source is perfect- just as you shouldn’t blindly apply a framework to a case during an interview, don’t blindly follow any of the above-mentioned resources. Rather, notice where they differ from one another, take the most helpful and applicable parts of each one and use them to create your individual preparation plan.
2) Practise makes perfect
It goes without saying that the more you practice case interviews, the better and more confident you will get at them. So, look up some case study books (we will link some by top business schools at the end of point 2), grab yourself a friend, family member, etc. and practise with them. Have the other person take up the role of the interviewer and try to solve the case with them. Most good case books include clear instructions for the interviewer (e.g. “Make sure the interviewee mentions this” “If the interview says this, ask them this” “Provide the interview with this graph once they’ve mentioned…”, etc.) so whoever practises with you doesn’t have to understand consulting or economic concepts to help you. If you can, join a consulting club at your university and work with likeminded people who are going through the same preparation process as yourself.
However, it’s really important to understand that practising smart is always better than practising hard. I.e., just because you practised 80 cases without ever looking at your strategy or mistakes, just memorising frameworks and approaches instead, this doesn’t mean you’re a perfect candidate. In fact, “over-practising”, can increase the risk of just blindly internalising and reapplying solutions. Instead, in order to achieve the innovative approach firms are looking for, analyse your performance in interviews, study what you did wrong and could have done better and learn to use different components of solutions and frameworks individually, for more tailored approaches. This will ultimately prepare you so that, in case you’re completely stumped by the case in your actual interview, you can take a deep breath and come up with a brave new approach that is still based on your industry knowledge and sense.
Here are case books by Wharton and Stern School to get you started:
As mentioned before, Mental Maths is an important part of any case study as you should be comfortable with quick, not too overly complicated calculations that could be used in real-life scenarios, i.e. in front of clients. So, make sure to get comfortable with numbers and practise solving additions, subtractions, multiplications, divisions, percentages and ratios in your head. Also practise some short-cuts and tricks along the way so you can comfortably calculate larger numbers and be confident in a stressful situation like an interview.
3) Develop Commercial Awareness and learn business terms
Tying in with the previous points, make sure you study recent news, economic developments, and market trends prior to your interview. Don’t worry if you’re not an econ grad- firms are looking for candidates from diverse backgrounds and won’t expect you to have a PhD-level understanding of Macroeconomics. However, it wouldn’t look good on your end if you walked in, were presented with a question such as “We are trying to help out a struggling airline in Covid-19 circumstances, how do you think we can approach this and help?” and you replied with “What do you mean ‘struggling’? I thought the economy and airline sectors were booming at the moment?”.
In essence, develop a common sense of current news and business developments so firms are confident you wouldn’t embarrass them in front of a client.
However, it’s important to note that some case studies are regarded outside of current times/in different economic circumstances or even in vacuums created with fictional market standings for the case, so make sure to clarify this before presenting your solution.
Just like with Mental Maths, while you don’t need a degree in economics to excel as a consultant, you need to understand basic business terms and calculations, such as COGS, ROI, Profit Margins, Break-Even-Points, etc. You might have to calculate some of them during your case study, so make sure to understand the formulas behind them.
See the below article for a good starting point on the most important business terms-
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-insights-ideas/resources/basic-business-terms
4) Research the firm and network with employees
Researching a firm is especially vital if you have already been invited to an interview, while networking with employees is always a good step forward.
Make sure you understand what skillsets each individual firm is looking for, so that you can present them well during an interview. Also make sure you understand individual interviewing processes- e.g. McKinsey conducts interviewer-led cases in which you answer a set of questions, while Bain and BCG hold interviewee-led cases which require you to drive the conversation and ask questions if necessary. In contrast to this, the Big 4 hold group interviews where you solve problems in collaboration with different candidates.
To do well in these different kinds of interviews, it’s important to understand what they are actually asking of you.
In terms of networking, lots of firms have currently moved events online, so even if they would have normally not come to your university’s career fair, you can now attend and network with consultants. Make sure to check out the career’s section of firms’ websites and sign up for different events to learn more about their values, skills they are looking for and projects they currently work on. After events, make sure you connect with consultants on LinkedIn and send them a message, or even an email if you have their details, to thank them for attending, meeting with you and providing an insight into their work. While consultants are notoriously busy, they are also people who excel at communication and working with others, so they are likely to give you some tips for interviews or valuable insights into their everyday work if you approach them nicely.
So, these are our top tips for preparing for case studies, make sure to keep an eye out for further publications, e.g. about the “Personal Fit” part of interviews, which is just as important as the case study one.
For now, get ready to prep and keep on working smart!