Hi there,

I generally recommend 30 seconds (give or take).

Remember: you should be carrying your recommendation with you through the case.

If you're using a good casing template, each sheet has a theme/takeaway and you've organized your supporting facts AND risks as you go…

You should be ready for ZERO seconds (as in, they may say "the CEO is entering the room now).

Here's some more reading to help:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case
 

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/dos-and-donts-in-a-case-interview
 

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/candidate-led-cases-what-to-expect-and-example-cases

(editiert)

Hi there!

Usually we come up with rules to simplify things. Simplifying things  makes things easier, but doesn't always make things better. 

So, yes, the simple rule is to aim for about 1 minute in terms of the conclusion. 

The better and more complex answer is that you should see the conclusion and the entire case as a conversation with the client. That means you should be reading the interviewer to see how they react to your conclusion, allow for interruption and requests to go deeper into certain areas and adjust live as needed. 

In short, a great conclusion could also go on for 3 minutes as long as you engaged the interviewer in the right way. 

Best,
Cristian

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Practicing for interviews? Check out my latest case based on a first-round MBB interview >>> SoyTechnologies  

Hi there,

Q: Appropriate time to present the final recommendation in a case. Would somewhere between 30 sec - 1 min be appropriate?

For the conclusion, 30 sec - 1 minute in most cases should be fine. However, I would recommend focusing on having the right structure for the conclusion rather than trying to stick to an exact time.

You can find some tips on how to structure conclusions below:

▶ How to Structure a Conclusion

Best,

Francesco

Hello,

30 sec - 1 min is generally about right. The key to keeping it concise yet insightful is to have a good structure. Something like:

• Main recommendation
  • Reason 1
  • Reason 2
  • Reason 3
• Risks / next steps

Hi,

It is definitely better to be concise and direct. The truth is that your recommendation needs to be as long as it takes in order to convey the answer/key insights of your case. 

Most of the time, a minute would suffice, but I wouldn't use the time as the key gauge in your practice. Rather, I'd focus on making sure your articulation is crisp, concise and to the point. That is always more important than the length itself.

All the best!

Well - there are no rules… But Yes! I can't think of any MBB case ever, for which a final answer would require more than 30-60 seconds. 

If candidates need more than 1 minute for a final case answer, then they are for sure either poorly structuring their answer, or their general articulation is just an unsharp salad of words with tons of redundancies. :)

Cheers, Sidi

_______________________

Dr. Sidi Koné 

(Former Senior Engagement Manager and Interviewer at McKinsey | Former Senior Consultant and Interviewer at BCG)

(editiert)

Hi there,

So let's bear in mind that not all cases even have a final recommendation, most importantly McKinsey cases that are interviewer-led simply stop without a warning (generally speaking).

If you're leading through the case, you should have a recommendation and it should be top-down, which is the key here:

• Main message: By communicating top-down, you can lead with the principal message, which can be as short as 5-10 seconds.
• Arguments: Follow up by supporting the decision with high level arguments (20-30 seconds). 
• Fluff: If the interviewer still looks like they want to hear more, fill each argument with detail (40-60 seconds).

If you get cut off after 10 seconds, which may well happen, you at least got your main message out. That's the beauty of top-down communication.

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

Moritz