Interview preparation plan

Question

I will have an interview with an MBB firm in ~1 month.

Can I clarify if my plan below sounds good? Any suggestions for improvement?

I have done like 10-20 cases and my resources are Victor Cheng's book, Case in Point and MBA case books. I would love to engage a coach, but the high fee of many coaches is really out of my budget for now.

1. Read Victor Cheng and/or Case in point + watch some YT videos about basics and live cases (estimate ~2-3 days @8 hours).

2. Practice live cases with peers everyday as both interviewer and interviewee (20 days @2 hours).

3. Practice fit questions (20 days @2 hours).

4. Read The Economist & WSJ (20 days @2 hours).

Answer 1

Hey there,

Overall it sounds good. However, a few things to watch out for.

Focus on quality over quantity. Doing 50+ cases does not mean much if you are not applying the right habits to score high and do a detailed debrief after every case to improve. You want to move from bad to good for your weaknesses and good to great for your strengths --> use the feedback from your previous experience and tailor your prep accordingly
Consider booking at least an initial coaching session to get a detailed and objective evaluation of your performance + learn the right habits for every case regardless of context and framework + get a tailored preparation plan out of the session that will set you up for an effective and efficient prep. By just reading Case in Point and Victor Cheng, you do not cover the full range of more creative cases that are common nowadays in MBB. Approach > Framework
Practice drills alone (structure, chart, math) and practice full cases with other excellent candidates that know the right habits and approach. It is crucial that you are practicing with really good peers, otherwise, it's a waste of time. Practicing drills on your own is a huge effectivity and efficiency booster since you can go over many more questions in a shorter amount of time compared to practicing with peers. Do both in parallel!
For your prep, tailor the cases to the firm you are applying to. McKinsey cases for instance are quite different from BCG and Bain
Invest extra time into case math. I have not seen this in your plan. Math is the common most reason why candidates fail. I'd focus 1-2h a day on a. setting up the math logic and b. conducting number drills
I believe 40 hours of practice for fit questions seems a bit too much. Prepare answers for all the typical fit questions and PEI stories (3-5 hours) and rehearse them a couple of times (5 hours)

All the best with your prep!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 2

I would add a few things:

Practice fast math (preplounge math, mathdrills, etc)
Practice chart/exhibit reading (preplounge, rocketblocks, etc)
Do industry deepdives (setup an outline and research the major industries)
Also read BCG Insights and McKinsey Insights
Practice market sizing

Answer 3

If you can do all of that, you would be in a good position.
If you had to prioritise your time, focus on 2) and 3) - as you say, try to practice as much as possible in a live situation.

1) is optional - if it helps you improve your ability to crack the case, then great do it

4) is optional - you can probably get away with light touch reading a week before the interview just to stay on top of what is going on. I would not say it is make or break. The ability to crack the case is make or break.