Asking MBB interviewers for data

Hi there. The interviewer will only hand you the data asked for. So it's crucial to amke sure you know exactly what you're doing before digging into the numbers.

When I do math question, a backward deduction has worked very well. I always follow below steps. Let's assume the interviewer asks you to calculate the profit the company will make next year.

Step 1: State your general logic - "In order to calculate the profit the client can make next year, we can use projected revenue deduct projected cost"

Step 2: Breakdown the big blocks - "So revenue can be calculate by mutiplying price and vol, while cost can be calculated through xxx plus xxx"

Step 3: Ask for data - "I'm wondering whether there is data for xxx, xxx, xxx available?"

Step 4: Do the math - work on the numbers given as fast and accurate as possible

Step 5: Sanity check

As you can see from above example, if you have your general logic sorted out before asking for any data, you can avoid 1). getting confused on which data to use if given a long list of numbers 2). missing any data

Hope this makes sense!

Hi Anonymous!

No, the interviewer will of course only hand you the data that you ask for. And just to be clear: asking for it is also not enough! You need to EXPLAIN what you actually want to find out, and how it will help you to address the question! And which information would be needed for that analysis. Precisely.

The absolutely worst possible phrasing when asking for data is "Do you have any data/information on [Profits/RevenuCosts/Demand development, etc.] You must be SPECIFIC, and you must contextualize your request for data against the case solving logic that you outlined in your structure. Otherwise, you will inevitably come across as both a weak conceptual thinker and also a weak communicator.

Cheers, Sidi

Hi there,

Most interviewers won’t provide information on price and volume if you ask for revenues only when they don’t have that information available. They will just tell you “We don’t have that information available”.

They may still hint there may be other data they have, but it will be up to you to ask.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

The general rule is you have to be asking within the realm of reason.

There's an important "trick" to asking for data, which essentially asks for "everything" while also being specific. So, the best way to ask in your example isn't saying "do you have product revenue data over the past x years", but rather "I'm looking to understand x. To do so, I really need to understand our historical and current revenues. As such, do you have any revenue data on hand? This could be historical, current, broken down by product, geography, or anything of that nature"

Hello!

Be as precise as possible when you are asking for data, and be sure to explain why you want it. If you ask about historical revenue, some interviews might be more charitable and give it to you, but others will expect you to be more precise, so it is always best to be specific.