- Knowing your case
- Being able to answer clarifying questions
- Being able to "make up" reasonable answers where none are written
- Being able to follow the candidate's math, and challenge where needed
- Being flexible in the case flow (based on what they ask in what order)
- Challenge their thinking
- "Guide" but don't lead
- Change the case to test aspects where needed
- Make the case "harder" when/where needed
- Providing thorough feedback at the end (by "section" of the case AND judgement criteria)
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What makes a good case interviewer?
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Top answer
Ian
on Oct 13, 2020
Coach
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success
0 comments
Robert
on Oct 13, 2020
Coach
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author
Hi Zach,
Beyound the obvious, an experienced (=good) interviewer has the following skills:
- Have the case running in any direction, without sticking to a pre-defined solution, depending on how the candidate sets up the structure and thinks about the question (it's not always right or wrong in a case interview - oftenly it depends on how you interpret some data, and I don't like to redirect candidates if they have solid argumentation into a specific direction).
- Challenging candidates' thought process and decision-making rationale, even if it's going into the right dimension. By that also making sure that it wasn't a lucky punch, but a clear solid thinking which led the candidate to some conclusion.
- Differentiating between not being comfortable with numbers and making a simple math calculation mistake. The big picture counts, obviously it's not good to make math mistakes, but I don't care if I see that you are doing well with numbers and have made somewhere a small mistake in a calculation (this topic is way to over-hyped..).
- Building high-pressure situations within the interview without being offensive towards the candidate. Yes, it's part of real-life situations that's why it's absolutely legitimate to test a candidate under pressure - but there is no point in being personally offensive towards a candidates.
Hope this helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!
Robert
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