Hi coaches & community!
What would you recommend as the best resources to lay a SOLID (enough) foundation to tackle case interviews with for a non-business background person (industry hire)?
Especially when it comes to an overview of the relevant factors when analyzing different case types & identifying the key components with an eye to driving analysys.
Thank you!
(editiert)
Hey there,
I always say to my students that you don't need Tom be so worried about industry background, as they are really not what the interview processs is trying to assess you on.
If you think about the consulting industry, one big thing is you will be working in multiple industries and change topics very swiftly. This means they are not expecting you (and also your client won't expect consultants to) to be an expert of the industry in you case interview. In fact you can know nothing about it.
What you do need to demonstrate is your ability to:
I would recommend you to read some business books, potentially materials for MBA, or just some general business books, such as Profit from the Core, Repeatability etc.
If you want to learn about particular industries, I highly recommend you to just read through some industry reports MBB publishes, for example here is a link to Bain industry insights. https://www.bain.com/insights/industry-insights/
Feel free to PM me if you want to learn more!
Best,
Torrey
Hey,
Unless you are going for a specific experienced hire role in an industry/function, generally they dont expect you to have detailed prior knowledge of an industry & function. The idea is to test your structured problem solving in unknown scenarios. So dont worry about it. While reading and getting a generic overview of industries is good, focus on getting comfortable with solving cases. Dont get biased if you come across a familiar industry but really focus on being 100% comfortable with your systematic approach to solve the case.
Have a look at these threads for some more tips:
Thank you for the assuring answer, Adi. I get that in-depth industry knowledge is not expected, but I think foundational business concept/ terminology etc. is. My Q was more related to being able to quickly recognize type of cases & their key drivers. I will look into the links you provided (thank you!). If you have additional info that can help with business analyses and linking that to case types, that is welcome.
Hi there,
I have a template and 20 industry deep-dives, so feel free to reach out if interested!
Some key tips:
Definitely a good idea to partner with someone equal to you! You can each research an industry and present it to each other.
Good luck!
Hello Ian, thank you for the tips on developing general knowledge on different indsutries. I will also PM you re the deep-dive you spoke about!
Hi, what you should aim for is to solve 40-50 good cases with other candidates/consultants/coaches. This will make you fluent and confident with case solution, even with a non-business background
Best,
Antonello
Hi! First of all, you should realize that it’s a really time-taking process and you have to pass a few case interviews before getting an offer. So you definitely need professional books such as Victor Cheng’s Case Interview Secrets, for understanding this field from the inside. You also need a lot of practice before a real case interview, because even best resources won’t give you as much confidence and knowledge as solving other candidates’ cases.
I’m an ex-McKinsey myself, so me and my colleagues here on PL are happy to help you with case interview preparation
If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me.
Best, Gaurav
Read the WSJ (Business section) every day - even 1-2 articles that seem interesting to you will do. Try to cover different industries, that's the best way to understand the drivers in various industries. The Darden and Stern 2019 case books have a good overview of the different industries - try starting from there if you're pressed for time.
Hi Torrey, I really appreciate your insightful response, providing insight in what is required conceptually. My concerns was more business knowledge/ concepts rather than industry knowledge. Having an overview of all case types that could come, being able to quickly identify a type of case (e.g. market sizing, M&A, profitability) AND especially, quickly distilling the key components/ driver of that case. I notice that I can grow in the 'business structure' that I see some use, I may identify the same components at times, but don't put them straight away in clear business terminology 'buckets'. I want to sharpen that ability. Any tips there?