Hi everyone,
I recently got rejected at two MBB interviews. One time in a first round interview and the other in a second round. I am still motivated to continue, and have a couple of first round interviews scheduled in the near future.
I have practiced about +- 35 live cases to date.
The feedback I got was mainly related to the mathematical part of the case; I underperform when I get a conceptual math problem. I seem to lock up and cannot get to formulating a proper approach to solve a relatively easy problem. The arithmetic part itself is not an issue, it is mainly coming up with a specific formula or approach to solve conceptual problems.
With the more common business cases such as market entry, revenue/profitability etc. I feel like I am at a high level. The structuring and brainstorming elements of cases are also going pretty well.
The main questions I struggle with all have the same structure: With not so many context, I get a lot of data (or have to ask for it), and I get a pretty basic questions about the data, after which I have to structure and come up with an approach to the question.
For instance in the second round interview I got a question similar like this; A lion lives on an island and only eats cows: how many cows must there be on the island for the lion not to die of hunger?
I knew that I had to ask for the following elements:
- how many cows does a lion need to eat each year
- how long does a cow live
- how many calves does a cow pair get every year. And at what age can they produce calves.
It is the next step, where I have to lay-out a formula or structure where I just lock/choke and have no clue how to continue.
Does anyone have any tips on how I can practice this crucial element?
Thanks in advance.