I follow a three tiered approach to coach candidates for consulting interviews. These are based on my successful cracking of several consulting interviews and also being an interviewer myself
1. Defining the central question: Every consulting case has a key question that needs to be addressed. Quite often, candidates jump straight into asking clarifying questions without giving a thought. This negatively impacts their chances in the interview. I advise my candidates to think of the central question as the case is being handed out, get it confirmed with the interviewer and then ask relevant clarifying questions than to jump straight into clarifying questions that might not have much relevance
2. Problem structuring: Having defined the central question, it is very important to add a structure to arrive at the solution within a reasonable timeframe. I enable candidates to develop logically sound and MECE structures. Given my significant experience both as an interviewer and an interviewee, I can say with a great deal of certainity that nearly all successful candidates are very strong in problem structuring. I also ensure that candidates are not married to their structures by introducing twists in the case, which helps them to answer different questions and also absorb new pieces of information
3. Qualitative and quantitative assessment: In my case interview experience, I have discovered that interviewers prefer candidates who are good on both these aspects. They often tend to ask questions on either if the case is lopsided either quantitatively or qualitatively. Aside from the central case question(s), I ask candidates questions on qualitative analysis, making educated guesses and mental arithmetic
This three tiered approach covers all aspects, situations that a candidate can encounter in case interviews. Having been derived from real-case situations, these equip candidates to succesfully crack consulting cases interviews of any firm