Are McKinsey's free practice cases (e.g. Electro Light, Diconsa, Beautify) accurate?

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, please keep in mind that McKinsey publishes these case studies not only to provide free practice material, but also for marketing purposes. They want to pique candidates' interest in case studies, ensure they actually practice case studies, and demonstrate that case studies are not that difficult.
• Moreover, therefore, I would strongly advise you to work with business school case books instead. The ones I like are: Columbia, Darden, Esade, Fuqua, Kellog, LBS, McCombs, Michigan, Ross, Sloan, and especially Yale.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming pre-interview assessments and/or interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi,

My experience says that the real interviews are only MARGINALLY harder than the online cases.

Infact my 2nd round interview had a case nearly exactly the same as the Electro Light case and I was so grateful that I had done it. 

Remember casing is also about:

• Being able to speak to an industry e.g. The Beautify case is about the beauty services industry and there aren't many other cases about this industry, so it's good to see how it operates.
• Work with different graphs e.g. the Electro Light has a interesting pie-chart within a pie-chart graph and it's good to be able to understand how different graphs work 

What these online cases help with:

• Experiences of different industries
• Different graphs
• Flow of interview 

McKinsey interviews are also quite simple - noone is there to trip you up or trick you. 

If you've done the CaseCoach cases - the medium is even too hard in my opinion. I wouldn't even bother with those. I'd just stick to easy

At the end of the day:

• Know your basic frameworks
• Know your basic maths: mutliplication, division, break-even analysis, growth rates etc.
• Know the flow of interviewing (this is when you need a coach - even one or two sessions will someone will help you determine how "on track" you are)

Good luck and happy to chat!

Many firms share sample/practice cases online.

These cases are meant to give you a taste / help candidates understand what is the case interview process and the indication of the skills/traits required. 

There are a few important dynamics to recognize:

1. Live practice is very different from doing cases alone
   1. When I first read cases online, I felt they were very easy as well and 'obvious', but the reality is that having someone sit across the table from you, while you are staring at a blank piece of paper, is entirely different.
2. Math is just one component of the case interview
   1. McK is typically more structured in ensuring each interviewee gets asked certain questions
   2. I have had coachees who have been asked 'simpler' or more 'difficult' math questions
3. You have no control over what question you will get
   1. What happens if you end up getting a question that is difficult? 

So, rather than reading online websites and trying to gauge your level of readiness for it or how 'easy' the case interview actually is, the best way to actually understand of performance and ability is to get quality feedback from someone who knows what interviewers are looking for.

(speaking from experience both having been an interviewee and an interviewer for 5 years at MBB).

Hi there, 

Based on the input I got from different candidates, most people find the cases on McKinsey's website easier than what they get in the interview. 

But not by a lot!

Some cases in MBA casebooks are overly complex and overly mathematical, and that's also often because they are written by students who want to get into these firms (but who do not yet have the insider perspective on the recruitment process). 

My recommendation would be to practice broadly, across various materials, to develop the necessary flexibility to approach each case.

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

Based on the different perspectives above, you can see that the cases CAN be similar in some circumstances and NOT at all in others.

Therefore, use casebooks to study. Even if they are more complex than the real case (that was not my case, for example), it is better to over prepare than to deliver a poor performance.

Best,

Mari

McKinsey cases are generally quite "simple" as a premise. What they are looking for is how structured, analytical and thought provoking your answers are. You will get the aforementioned skillsets by practising casebooks.

most candidates fail because they overthink or overcomplicate the prompt of the case

hi!

You’re right to notice a difference. I would say they are accurate in style, but they’re simplified to help you get used to the interview flow, not to reflect the full difficulty. In real interviews, especially for undergrad roles, the math can be trickier...still doable, but faster-paced and more pressure.

Ivy casebooks often go overboard on complexity, but they’re good for math drills. Best prep is to combine both and practice mental math under time pressure.

Let me know if you want help balancing both styles!

best,
Alessa :)

To answer directly (and from personal experience) - honestly, I think the cases available online are easier than the cases that you'll get in a McKinsey first or second round interview.