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How detailed should the case framework be? (Assuming we have 1 min to write it down)

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Vlad
Coach
on Jul 22, 2019
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

The general rule is the following:

  • If your structure consists of buckets and bullet points - 2 levels deep is enough
  • If your structure is more an issue tree type (e.g. profitability) - you can go 3-4 levels deep

The main thing to remember - your bullet points should be very specific. E.g. instead of asking WHO are the competitors or how many competitors we have (both questions are irrelevant) you should ask for market shares and growth rates of the competitors

Best

Ben
Coach
on Jul 22, 2019
Ex-McKinsey EM | Experienced interview coach (1,000+ sessions) | Discount on 1st session | LBS MBA

Hi there,

Completely agree with Vlad here, and I would also add the differentiation between an interviewer led case (McKinsey) and a candidate led one (BCG, Bain mostly).

In the former, you are expected to have a much more comprehensive framework, as you you won't have a chance to build it out further, since the interviewer is deciding down which branch you will go and will likely provide you with some relevant data.

In the candidate led case, you can develop your framework "as you go", and hence the initial one could be just a roadmap / process to solving the case.

Hope it helps.

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