Help in Quantitative parts

Question

Hey guys,

I've been struggling with quantitative parts during cases, and I would appreciate your guidance.

I'm an engineer, so dealing with numbers / performing calculations is not new nor hard to me. When I'm doing cases alone (reading the data on the screen) I usually get to the solution with no effort.

However, in a case scenario, particularly when a lot of data is given to me "outloud", I'm struggling to understand the approach to solve the problem. I feel it is also related to the way I'm taking notes, which might be lacking the organization required. Do you have any tips on how I can improve the quantitative part in a case scenario?

Thank you!

Answer 1

Hi! This is a common challenge but here are a few ways to navigate:

1) Just like the initial case prompt, make a note of all key information and play it back to the interviewer to ensure you have all key numbers noted correctly

2) You can take a moment to process the information before progressing. The goal for this moment will be for you to set up your main equation i.e. in order to solve the question at hand, listing an equation that tells you what variables you need

3) Some of these variables might have been shared with you in the quant prompt, and some others you might need to ask for. Sometimes, there is no further information available, in which case you can make assumptions but only after agreeing with the interviewer that it is okay to do so

4) The goal for quant questions is casing is not just to get to the right answer but to communicate with clarity - state your equations, which variables you are working with, and what is missing clearly

5) Finally, state what the answer means for the main question you are solving for

Even when you practice alone, it might help to approach it in the same way. You can record yourself and play it back to see where there is room to improve. Good luck!

Answer 2

Yes. It would help, though, to see you doing a calculation live to tailor the recommendations.

But, high level, it sounds like it might help to break down the calculations into steps

1. Start by playing back the numbers that you've heard and validating them. Make sure that you also understood the question correctly.

2. Focus only on developing the approach / logic of solving the calculation question and do so on your own. Then discuss it and align it with the interviewer.

3. Only after that, get to the numbers. You can also perform the computations on your own and then take the interviewer through them.

4. Interpret and contextualise the result.

You might also find this resource helpful:

Cheatsheet: The Must-Know Consulting Terms for Interviews

Feel free to reach out directly if you have any questions I can help answer.

Best,
Cristian