Hi all,
Interviewing for a firm next week. I was told that one of the interviews will be an 'excel case' in which I will be given a sheet, and will have to share it at the end of the call, and send to firm after. Any ideas this could look like, or what I should study up on for this?
Thanks!!
Hi,
Great question - Excel cases are becoming increasingly common, especially at firms that want to test your ability to work with real data under time pressure.
Here is what you can typically expect:
1. Data analysis & structuring: You will likely be given a messy dataset (often with multiple tabs) and asked to clean, organize, and extract insights. Think revenue data across regions, customer segments, or product lines. The key is demonstrating you can impose structure on chaos - just like on a real engagement!
2. Financial modelling: You might be asked to build a simple P&L, a break-even analysis, or a scenario model. Know your SUM, SUMIF, VLOOKUP/INDEX-MATCH, and pivot tables inside out. These are your bread and butter.
3. Chart & visualization: Often they want to see if you can translate numbers into a clear, executive-ready chart. Keep it clean - no 3D pie charts! A simple bar or waterfall chart with a clear takeaway message works wonders.
4. Synthesis & recommendation: The golden skill - can you look at the data and tell a story? They want to see you go from "here are the numbers" to "here is what this means and what we should do about it."
Top tips for preparation:
- Practice building pivot tables quickly - they are a lifesaver for organizing large datasets
- Get comfortable with keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+Shift+L for filters, Alt+= for AutoSum, etc.) - speed matters!
- Always label your work clearly and keep your sheet organized. Interviewers notice presentation quality
- Allocate the last 5-10 minutes to write a short summary / recommendation slide or note
Hope that helps. Happy to connect over a session if you would like to practice with real Excel case examples!
All the best!
This is a great sign—firms implementing an Excel Case are moving toward testing practical, on-the-job skills rather than just abstract math. Here is the reality of what this looks like and what they are actually grading.
The Excel case is fundamentally a stress test on your modeling intuition and structure. They are rarely looking for complex financial modeling or deep VBA knowledge. Instead, they want to see if you can quickly build a clear, audit-ready framework. Expect a prompt that requires market sizing, basic scenario analysis, or a simple cost/profit decomposition (e.g., "A client wants to launch Product X; build a 3-year P&L projection based on these 6 assumptions").
Your performance is graded on two levels. First, the logic: Did you answer the question accurately? Second, and arguably more critical for consultants, the transparency and organization of the file. When you send that sheet, the interviewer is checking for three things: 1) Are all inputs/assumptions clearly separated and highlighted? 2) Did you hardcode any numbers in the formulas? (A massive red flag—everything must link back to an assumption cell.) 3) Can they easily audit your calculations without needing you to explain them?
To prepare, spend less time learning obscure formulas and more time practicing keyboard shortcuts. Focus on rapid navigation, freezing panes, and using simple structural formulas (SUM, AVERAGE, basic IF statements). Above all, build your sheet so that the final output table answers the business question directly, and ensure that anyone opening the file can instantly understand your flow of logic and easily test different scenarios by changing the assumptions you clearly set out.
All the best with the interview.
Interesting case!
I would recommend ensuring you have the following:
-a really great set up when you're taking the interview (time matters! so make sure you're comfortable with your environment, it is quiet and you have all the tools/resources your fingertips)
-get super comfortable with excel short cuts (formulae, formatting, data validation etc) that can make you're work go faster as well as be presented more polished
-if in excel you're going to be working with lots of data, while solving, remember to take one step at a time, break data into small chunks so as not to get overwhelmed. In fact, use the methodology from live cases - establish and align your approach, establish data required, solve, and check
-ensure your excel is exceptionally organized and polished (since you will be sharing)
Good luck!
hey there :)
An Excel case usually tests how structured and efficient you are with data, not advanced modeling. Expect a dataset where you need to clean, analyze, and draw insights, often involving basic formulas like SUMIFS, VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, pivots, simple calculations, and maybe a quick sensitivity or scenario. Focus on being organized, labeling clearly, checking your math, and summarizing insights in a sharp recommendation at the end. Practicing timed mini analyses in Excel helps a lot. If you want, tell me the firm and I can tailor the prep a bit more.
best,
Alessa :)
You will likely get a dataset and a business question. Think something like analysing sales data to find trends, building a simple financial model, cleaning messy data and drawing conclusions, or evaluating performance across different segments. The output is usually a few key insights or a recommendation supported by your analysis.
They are testing two things. Can you actually work with data in Excel? And can you turn numbers into a clear business story?
Make sure you are comfortable with:
Here is how I would approach it
Don't dive straight into the data. Take a minute to understand the question first. What are they actually asking?
Then explore the data. What do you have? What is missing? Any obvious issues like blanks or weird values?
Structure your analysis around answering the question, not just playing with numbers. Every pivot table or formula should have a purpose.
Leave time at the end to tidy up your sheet and prepare your summary. They will look at what you send after.
Key tips
Feel free to reach out if you want a practice dataset to work through.
