Case Interview Guidelines – for Consulting Interviews

Case problems presented in these interviews are often representative of larger, more complex business problems. Consulting and finance firms often use case interviews as a method to gain insight into the way you think, solve problems, deal with uncertainty, and present solutions. In addition, cases are also used to gauge your presentation skills, client management skills, how you collaborate, and how you respond to critique.

The bottom line is: cases provide a window into how you communicate and collaborate.

There is no single “right” approach to answering the problems interviewers present. That being said, there are frameworks and principles that you can use to structure your response, think critically about potential solutions, and respond to follow-up questions.

Frameworks are quite helpful, but it’s easy to get hung up on selecting which one to use. What is more important than selecting a specific framework is capturing all the small parts of a solution in a simple, elegant way.

One effective approach to this is MECE (me-see), which stands for Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive. This means when you’re giving your answer, all of the information should be grouped into categories where there is no overlap between categories (mutually exclusive). In addition, all of the categories added together cover all possible options (collectively exhaustive). You’ll want your solutions to be MECE. Here are two examples:

Case interviews are just as much about showing employers your thought process and communication skills as they are about getting the right answer. It is important to listen well, ask questions, and check in with your interviewer to make sure that you’re on the right track. Here are some guidelines:

• Take notes throughout the exercise.
• Restate the question to ensure that you are solving the correct problem.
• Listen for keywords. For example, “evaluate” indicates the interviewer wants to hear pros and cons, whereas “committed” means your answer will be focused on “how” to accomplish a goal.
• Treat the interaction with your interviewer as a conversation. Interviewers will do what they can to help you; they aren’t there to trick you.
• Show and communicate your work as you go through the exercise. This includes both walking through how you arrived at conceptual conclusions, as well as demonstrating any necessary math. Always tell the interviewer why you’re taking a specific direction.
• When possible, state some assumptions that allow you to frame an answer where you can’t be wrong. (e.g. “For the purpose of addressing this problem, I am going to set the population at X.”) After stating this, pause to enable your interviewer to weigh in if you are going off course.
• Interviewers are looking for structured thinking. This means you should categorize different parts of the problem whenever possible, and you should sequence your steps in a logical order. 
• Explain how you arrived at your answer so that the interviewer understands your thought process. This includes explaining lines of thought you ultimately rejected.
• At the end, always give a concrete recommendation, propose any barriers or risks to your recommendation, and state what you have learned in this interview.

Over the course of the interview, you’ll gain more information about the specifics of the case. It is important to consider all available information.

1. What you know inherently: You will likely have a bit of background knowledge on the topic. State it so the interviewer knows where you are coming from, and think about how you can incorporate it into your answers.
2. What you have been told by the interviewer: Initially you will only be given the broad strokes of the problem. From this you need to develop a big-picture plan before diving into the specifics.
3. What you don’t know but need to know: Don’t hesitate to ask pointed clarifying questions to gain vital information. Many case interviews are structured to roll out new information in stages. Asking the right questions can yield information critical to solving the overall problem. When you ask for new information, make sure you explain why you need this information.

Here are a number of resources you can use to prepare for case interviews! And remember – as an undergraduate student, you get free access to Management Consulted through the Center for Career Design, for all of your case interview prep needs!

Once you’ve developed an understanding of the process, it’s important to practice case interviews. You can practice with friends, classmates, mentors, and a Career & Life Design Coach!