Case Fatigue

Hi Anonymous,

here are a couple of tips I found useful to keep general motivation.

1. Define clear goals for your preparation. You should have goals with specific numbers (eg I want to get at least 70 cases done / 3 consulting invitations / 2 offers) and with a specific timeline (eg I want to achieve such target by March 31). You should write down the goal, not just imagine them.
2. Review daily you goals, ideally in the morning
3. Create a visual representation of your goals.
4. Keep a diary with your progression towards the goals that you put
5. If you miss an objective/deadline, go back in your diary and try to understand what you did wrong and why you did not achieve such objective

In terms of cases specifically, you should create a routine to maintain practice. Keeping a routine could be based on the following:

• Commit in writing to dedicate x minutes every day to case practice, no matter what, and allocate the time in your calendar
• Create social pressure to help you to keep commitment – eg schedule interviews with other people so that you are forced to show up
• Invest in the preparation – either via Premium memberships, coaching sessions, material etc. Studies shows that if you invest in something you are brought to keep your commitment, at least not to lose the investment you have made

Hope this helps,

Francesco

I agree with all points Francesco stressed!

In addition, it might be worthwhile to create a new stimulus here and there.

• This could be getting specific coaching on some aspects from a seasoned consultant/expert who has not coached you before.
• Depending on your country, you could also be applying to one or two firms that are low priority for you to "test the waters" in terms of your case skills. Doing real interviews with these firms can provide a strong additional stimulus before and after the interviews!

Cheers, Sidi

Hi,

I recommend doing several things on a regular basis:

1) Every 10 cases revisit the previous cases and think how you would structure them differently now having the new experience and having solved the new types of cases

2) Build business judgment. Read about different industries and functions. I strongly recommend practice drawing structures for each industry - profitability, value chain, etc . Then I will switch to getting functional knowledge and key concepts in Marketing (Brand and trade marketing tools, etc), Supply chain (Ops metrics like cycle time and throughput time, distribution and delivery specifics, etc), Finance (Basic Accounting and Valuation). Good sources might be:

• Books - one good book about airlines with numbers and industry analysis can give you all needed industry knowledge 
• Company reports, equity reports, etc - usually have a good overview of company and industries.One of the best sources to prepare
• HBS cases - quite useful, but not sure if lot's of them available publically. Probably worth buying

Again, every 10 cases revisit the previous cases and think how you would structure them differently now having the new knowledge

3) Practice fast math

• Learn how to multiply double digit numbers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ndkkPZYJHo)
• Learn the division table up to 1/11 (i.e. 5/6 = 83.3)
• Learn how to work with zeros (Hint: 4000000 = 4*10ˆ6)
• Use math tools (Mimir math for iOS), Math tool on Viktor Cheng website to practice

4) Read Viktor Cheng Book and listen to LOMS. I recommend to reread the book and listen to LOMS every 15 cases. Every time, having more experience, you’ll be finding something new.

! Important: don't forget about the FIT interview part. Crafting you stories and backups stories will require a couple of weeks!

Best!