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What's the difference between a structured and an unstructured case?

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on Nov 11, 2018
Ex-MBB, Experienced Hire; I will teach you not only the how, but also the why of case interviews

The interviewer is implicitly trying to figure out if you could help him/her look good in front of the client and get promoted/elected to the next level. How do you do that? By showing you can follow a structured, repeatable and MECE approach to solving a problem, and draw the logical insights.

If you crack the case because you came with a battery of questions seemingly at random and lucked out, you do not advance. If however you follow a MECE framework and run out of time, you still stand a chance of moving on to the next round.

Ben is exactly right: unstructured case means going home; structured case is a must, no 2 ways around it.

on Nov 09, 2018
ex-Manager - Natural and challenging teacher - Taylor case solving, no framework

going or not going to next round...

More concretelly, lack of structure will conduct to listing randomly multiple ideas, that individually could be good but without structure will bring to a complicate thinking and discussion.
Using an adapted structure will facilitate the discussion, make sure from the beginning you have a clear plan on how to tackle the topic and guide your progression in the case once you start.
Best
Benjamin

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