Issues structuring my thoughts clearly and in a clean way...

hey there :)

this is a very common issue and you are already thinking about it the right way. you are right that part of it comes from exposure to strong structures and mental models, but a big part is also slowing down your thinking and forcing yourself to be explicit. the best solo way to improve is to practice structuring without solving, meaning take random prompts like why profits are down or whether to enter a market and only spend time writing a clean issue tree out loud, then compare it to strong sample structures and rewrite it. also narrate your thinking out loud as if to an interviewer and record yourself, you will quickly notice where things become fuzzy or unstructured. doing this regularly helps articulation a lot and builds the muscle even without live casing. happy to challenge your thinking on this anytime and you can always reach out if you want to go deeper.

best,
Alessa :)

Hi there,

You’re right that clean structuring comes from both pattern recognition and analytical articulation, and both can be trained. You can improve this on your own, but it needs to be very deliberate.

One effective exercise is to practice structuring without solving. Take a business question, spend five minutes building a clear top down structure, then stop and compare it to a sample solution to see what you missed or overcomplicated. This isolates structuring from analysis. Another high ROI habit is synthesis practice, for example summarizing a business article in 60 seconds by stating the problem, key drivers, and takeaway. Recording yourself helps improve clarity and articulation.

That said, structuring is one of the areas where external feedback speeds up progress the most. Even a small number of targeted coaching sessions can help you build the right mental models and avoid bad habits, making solo practice much more effective.

Happy to help you on your journey to secure a role - feel free to reach out

Best,
Evelina

Hello!

Experience from casing does help, but there are also ways to build up how to structure problems. 2-step suggestion from what I found helpful:

1. I find doing market sizing questions a good way to build a foundation to structuring problems - these are like mini-structuring exercises, it helps you think through the key components and the further breakdown needed to answer the problem. I would come up with market sizing questions and time time myself to complete it within 2-3 mins each, then say out loud as if how I'd answer it in a case interview to practice articulation. (you can also do this with a partner, by doing the sizing individually and then share answers with each other, to practice articulation, and also to hear what other approach is possible); This drill helps with structure, articulation, sense checking, and mental math.

2. Once you're comfortable with that, I'd focus on doing drills on just structuring problems i.e., read the case prompt and time yourself to structure the case within 2-3 mins (ideally you want to be able to do it comfortably within 2 - 2.5 mins), no need to solve the case. Once you're done, you can look at the sample answer as a reference only - there can be many ways to structure a case as long as it is MECE and covers the key issues of the problem. 

One last note, understand that you're not keen to do it with others yet, however I do find working with a partner would be more effective, as you can hear how your partner might approach it differently - to speed up the learning.

Hope this helps! All the best!