Hi there,
I. is it ok to ask the interviewer to repeat the prompt if we missed several information while taking notes ?
Yes but no. It's not good if you're consistently having to do this. This not ok as general occurance/habit. It means you're not taking effective notes.
That said, if, on ocassion, you miss one piece of information, you can ask to clarify. It is not good to have missed multiple pieces of information.
When you do ask, make sure you're being "smooth" with your questioning. Re-articulate the prompt, and insert your questions within. E.g. "Ok, so our client is x is and they need help with y. They currently have, sorry, how much Revenue was it? Thanks. So they have x revenue and y costs and they also need us to consider z"
II. Should we summarize the prompt after the interviewer gives it (only main ideas) or repeat the prompt as it is with our words (this way we make sure that we didn’t miss something) ?
Please synthesize the prompt in your own words, flagging only the key information that matters.
III. Do you have ideas how to take notes of the prompt please ?
1) Write in shorthand!
I.e. If I say "Your client is Bills Bottles. They earn $800M in profits each year by manufacturing bottles to soda companies in the US and Europe. Over the past two years they've seen profits falling and have brought you in to investigate"
You should write:
- Bills Bottles
- Manufacture
- Client = soda comp
- 800M P
- P [down arrow] 2 yrs
- US + Europe
- Obj: Fix P
2) Have a place for things
Especially now that we are in a virtual world, you can prepare your sheet of paper beforehand. Write down the following as labels:
- Client:
- Product:
- Revenues:
- Profits:
- Costs:
- Objective: (Top of sheet)
- Etc.
You can find some additional helpful Q&As here
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/tips-on-capturing-key-points-of-a-case-prompt-during-a-case-interview-7033
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-take-good-notes-during-a-case-interview-7034
(editiert)