How much time are candidates allowed to take for thinking?

HI,

For the initial structure, taking ~1–2 minutes is perfectly fine. After that, you should generally be quicker—around 30 seconds to 1 minute for brainstorms or exhibit takeaways.

What matters more than the exact timing is how it feels: if the silence gets long, just manage it. A simple “thanks for waiting, just a few more seconds” keeps things smooth and shows control.

Bottom line: take the time you need, but show momentum and keep the interaction alive.

Regards,
Franco

Good question — and I’d be careful not to think of this as a hard rule, because there isn’t one.

It depends on the question and the context. Interviewers are not sitting there with a stopwatch.

For the initial structure, yes, 1–2 minutes is often a reasonable benchmark. For a broader prompt, a bit more can be perfectly fine. I’d much rather see a candidate take 20 extra seconds and produce a strong structure than rush into something messy.

For brainstorming questions, usually less:

• maybe 20–30 seconds for simpler ones
• up to ~1 minute for broader prompts

But again, it depends. “How could a telecom operator upsell customers?” is different from “What risks would you consider in a nuclear power acquisition?”

For exhibits, it depends even more on complexity:

• simple chart: maybe ~30 seconds
• dense exhibit: 1–2 minutes can be completely reasonable

I often encourage candidates to take the time they need to properly read an exhibit rather than jump too fast.

A practical way to think about it:

• take enough time to be structured
• not so much that energy drops or it feels like you’re stuck

That balance matters more than exact seconds.

Also, don’t be afraid to signal it:
“Let me take a moment to structure my thoughts.”

That makes the pause feel intentional.

So if I had to give rough ranges:

• Initial structure: ~1–2 min
• Brainstorms: ~20 sec to 1 min
• Exhibits: ~30 sec to 2 min depending on complexity

But really, use judgment, not a formula. In real interviews there’s no fixed rule.

hey! 

For the initial structure, 1–2 minutes of silent thinking time is standard. For brainstorm questions, you usually get around 30–60 seconds to gather your thoughts before speaking. For exhibits, you’re expected to start talking sooner, but it’s completely fine to take 20–30 seconds to read, process, and outline how you’ll approach the data. The key is to stay calm, think in a structured way, and signal your approach clearly.

Alessa

Hey,

There's no set time, but it definitely varies among sections, so the short answer to your question is "No!".  

Apart from the initial structure, the rest of the case should be much more of a conversation. The idea is that you try to brainstorm as much as you can with your interviewer, treating them as your colleague/peer, rather than as your maths high school teacher :)

In any case, my suggestions for my coachees are the following:

• Structure: max 90-100 seconds
• Exhibit: aim for 30 seconds, max 50
• Qualitative questions: you have to read the room and understand whether the interviewer wants a deep answer (in that case, you can take max 60-75 seconds) or just a quick perspective. If you are unsure, ask!
• Setting up a market sizing: the gold standard is treating this as a conversation and not, again, as a high school maths exercise. I propose an approach where you bite-size the exercise in three steps, rather than taking 2 minutes to solve it on your own (which is definitely not considered a good execution!)
  • Step 1: Alignment on the unit economics (you discuss qualitatively how you are structuring this, think like a CFO Elevator Pitch) -- no numbers, just variables and labels. 30 seconds
  • Step 2: Setting up the equation (going one level deeper) -- again, no numbers but just variables
  • Step 3: Plugging in numbers and executing
    --> see an example below

No worries: you won't be automatically disqualified if you always take time to think and structure your answers. However, your rating will for sure be lower than that of a candidate who is able to handle the case as a thoughtful conversation :)

Hope this helps!

Tom

_________

Market Sizing example (with times)

Context and data

Context: you have to size the market for penguin food in zoos and aquariums in Europe and North America
Data to share with candidate (if asked): Population is 1.2Bn, there is 1 zoo or aquarium for every 10mn inhabitants, there are 10 penguins per zoo/aquarium

Solution (conversational)

Step 1 - Aligning on the logic (20-30 seconds to think, then 20 to share)

To calculate the total annual revenue, I naturally want to start with a Price and a Quantity formula. Price is the price for kg and Quantity is the number of kg consumed by all these penguins every year -- and I will have to size the number of penguins bottom-up, starting from the number of zoos and aquariums. Does this make sense?

Interviewer: "Yes!".

Step 2 - Defining the equation (10-15 seconds to think, then 20 to share)

I know I have a P*Q. Price is easy. For quantity I need more elements. If I take a bottom-up approach, I need to take: 

• Q = [total number of zoos and aquariums] * [number of penguins per facility] * [kgs each penguin consumes annually]
• Where [total number of zoos and aquariums] = [population] / [zoo or aquarium density]

If this approach works for you, I would move on to the numbers

Interviewer: "The approach is correct. Go ahead with the calculations."

Step 3 - Calculating the quantity (public maths, you want to solve this while keeping the conversation going)

Calculating the Quantity of Penguins (Total Zoos/Aquariums and Penguins)

• First, the total population of our target geography is 750 million (Europe) + 450 million (North America) = 1.2 billion people.
• With a density of 1 zoo and aquarium per 10 million people, we have: 1,200 million / 10 million = 120 zoos and aquariums in total.
• You mentioned there are 10 penguins per facility. That gives us a total addressable market of 1,200 penguins (120 × 10).

Annual Consumption per Penguin

• I will assume a penguin eats about 2 kg of food per day. Over a year, that's 730 kg, which I will round to ~700 kg for simplicity.
• Total volume needed: 1,200 penguins × 700 kg = 840,000 kg of feed eaten by all penguins in all zoos and aquariums annually.

Calculating Revenues

• Total Revenue = Total Volume × Price per kg
• 840,000 kg × $12/kg = $10,080,000 (or ~$10.1 million).

The Total Addressable Market (TAM) for Europe and North America is valued at approximately $10.1 million annually

Hi there,

For the initial structure, ~1–2 minutes is the right benchmark. You can stretch to ~2.5 minutes if you clearly communicate that you’re taking a moment to structure.

For the rest of the case, the expectations are slightly different:

• Brainstorming questions: ~30–60 seconds is usually enough. You don’t need a perfect list — better to give a few strong, well-structured ideas than pause too long
• Exhibits / calculations: ~1–2 minutes is fine, especially if it’s complex. If needed, you can take a bit longer, but keep the interviewer engaged (e.g. “I’ll take a moment to go through this”)

The key principle is:
Short, deliberate pauses are good — long silent thinking is not.

Strong candidates don’t rush, but they also don’t disappear into their notes. They:

• Signal when they’re thinking
• Come back with structured answers
• Keep momentum in the conversation

If you’re ever unsure, it’s completely fine to say:
“Let me take ~30 seconds to think this through.”

That actually comes across as more structured and confident.

So overall:

• Structure: ~1–2 min
• Brainstorms: ~30–60 sec
• Exhibits: ~1–2 min

Focus more on clarity after the pause than the pause itself — that’s what really matters.

Best
Evelina