When applying to top consulting firms, one of the most crucial stages of the interview process is the case interview. This format is designed to assess your analytical competencies, problem-solving skills, and ability to think strategically under pressure. Let's take a look at what to expect.
A case interview is a 30-minute simulation of a typical business project that consultants may have worked on. Cases provide a real example of an on-the-job experience and the assumption is that if a candidate is successfully able to tackle a case interview, he or she is also more likely to be a successful management consultant.
Case studies are the most important and usually the longest part of consulting interviews. In addition to the case study, the interview typically includes introductory small talk, a personal fit interview, and closing questions (see the illustration below).
Many companies review and standardize their consulting cases prior to a real interview to ensure that the case is neither too difficult nor too easy. Companies also ensure that a variety of skills are tested during the interviews.
The Typical Flow of a Case Interview
The case interview typically follows a structured flow to ensure that both the interviewer and the candidate cover all necessary aspects of the business problem. It involves the following phases:
1. Case Presentation and Problem Understanding
To start off, the interviewer will present a specific business problem or scenario. This could range from market entry considerations, to profitability issues, or organizational changes. The problem is usually based on real-world business issues that the consulting firm dealt with in the past.
You are expected to listen carefully, take notes, and clarify any points that are not clear to fully understand the scope and context of the problem.
👉 To get a better feeling for possible case prompts, check out the following beginner cases.
You have been hired to support the owner of a bike-shop as a business consultant. The bike-shop has suffered a significant revenue decline during the last year, and now the owner would like you to assess the situation and options for the way forward.They want to know last year’s profit, i.e. how it was affected by the revenue decline, and what the priority actions are to survive the next year. (short term)In addition they would like to understand the strategic competitive position of the shop better and how to increase revenues again mid- to long-term.
Our client (FastFood Co) is a fast-food company that has > 20 restaurants in the city. Recently, the business has encountered significant challenges, with net profit drops to negative.The client wants us to help them turn around the business. How would you help them?
Ich denke darüber nach, in meinem Keller einen Weinkeller ein-zurichten. So wie ich das sehe, würde man die Regalfläche in zwei Bereiche aufteilen: (1) einen "Trink"-Bereich, in dem ich Flaschen für den Eigenverbrauch lagere, und (2) einen "Investitions"-Bereich, in dem ich Flaschen lagere, die ich mit Gewinn verkaufen möchte, nachdem sie in einigen Jahren an Wert gewonnen haben. Meine Idee ist es, mit dem "Investitions"-Bereich des Kellers genug Geld zu verdienen, um das, was ich im "Trink"-Bereich verbrauche, mit der Zeit zu finanzieren.
Natürlich bin ich durch mehrere Dinge ein-geschränkt: die Menge an Geld, die ich ausgeben kann, die Menge an Wein, die ich trinken kann (oder will), den verfügbaren Platz im Keller und so weiter.
Afterwards, you outline a structured approach or framework to tackle the problem. Common frameworks include the SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, or the 4P's, with which you can structure your information. This step demonstrates your ability to break down complex issues into manageable parts.
However, keep in mind that it is not enough to simply memorize the standard framework concepts. While standard frameworks are useful for a rudimentary outline of a case problem, they need to be optimized and adapted to the individual case. Don't worry, as this is a skill you can develop, but it definitely requires thorough preparation and practice.
Once you have crafted your structure, clearly explain your framework to the interviewer, ensuring he or she understands your thought process and logical flow.
3. Analysis and Problem Solving
Next, you dive into the analysis. During the interview, your interviewer may provide additional data, charts or exhibits. Analyze this information to support your framework and build your argument. Formulate hypotheses based on your analysis and test them against the data provided. If needed, adjust your approach based on your new findings.
During the quantitative analysis, perform the necessary calculations to support your findings. This could include market sizing estimations, profitability calculations or a cost analysis. Good mental math skills will definitely help in this phase.
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Once you have worked through your structure, provide clear, and actionable recommendations based on your analysis. Use the Pyramid Principle of communication, highlight your key findings and explain how they address the problem.
You should also be ready to justify your suggestions with evidence from your analysis (i. e. data) and discuss possible next steps or further areas of investigation that the client may wish to consider.
After all, the interviewer may question your conclusions or ask for further clarification. Be prepared to defend your recommendations and discuss alternative perspectives.
After, all the best way to prepare for your interview is practice. Explore our Case Library with real examples now!
Your client, large automotive OEM WyCar, has developed its first fully electric vehicle (EV) and introduced it as a pilot on the Austrian market last year. However, sales have been far below the expected numbers. The management has engaged you to support them in understanding the reasons and advise them on how to adjust the product offering.
FashionForward is a mid-sized, private-label fashion retailer headquartered in Europe with €600 million in annual revenue. Its product portfolio includes fast-fashion collections for men and women, sold in 220 stores across six countries, and online.The company currently sources approximately 85% of its total production volume from Bangladesh, heavily relying on just three key suppliers for over 70% of that volume. Their procurement strategy is highly cost-driven, and supplier relationships are transactional. FashionForward has now asked Inverto to develop a new sourcing strategy.Over the last 18 months, FashionForward has faced increasing procurement challenges:A drop in demand for trend-sensitive fashion categoriesLong lead times (up to 40 days), limiting reactivity to seasonal trendsRepeated shipping delays and FX volatility from BangladesOverstocking in basics and stockouts of fashion-forward itemsESG non-compliance flagged in two factories during an auditGrowing pressure from the board to increase agility and reduce dependency on Bangladesh
Your client is a global drug company producing and selling medicine (pills, powder, ointments, injections, etc.) for a variety of pets (dogs, cats, birds, fish etc.). In addition to organic growth, the company grew significantly over the past few years by acquiring several other pets medicine companies in different parts of the world. During this period, profitability of the company decreased significantly. The CEO is concerned with this decline and wants to put in place a plan to raise the profitability to at least 70%.
The new CEO of an optical fiber manufacturer, called FibOp, has come to you complaining that their revenues went down by 40% this year compared to last year.He wants you to help him figure out what they need to do in order to achieve the previous year’s revenues again.
Your client is the government of a region in southern Spain. Situated in this region are the country’s main tourist locations, mostly beaches.The government is not satisfied with the revenues of the tourism sector. They have contacted our company to find a solution for this problem.
Our client is a European venture capital firm. They are potentially interested in investing into a new restaurant franchise player from Austria, called “VegDigi”. VegDigi has just 3 corporate restaurants in Vienna and no franchisees, yet, but their business model is considered innovative for a restaurant industry, and is based on 3 pillars:Proprietary IT system – VegDigi’s team has developed their own IT system (which manages all restaurant processes – from cashier desk and employee schedules to inventory management and delivery).Innovative vegan menu – VegDigi offers fresh, whole-foods vegan menu, which differentiates itself from the rest of the fast food offering in taste and quality. VegDigi puts a lot of focus on its foods being healthy.Transparent business practices and processes – VegDigi prouds itself to be a transparent business, meaning they publish all their data and talk about their success and failures openly online.Our client has engaged us to help them to determine whether or not to make an investment into the VegDigi.
Our client, Superfix, is a mid-size chain of auto-service garages that has been doing well for the past ten years with 30 stores. However, since management felt that the business was saturating, they expanded with an additional 15 stores in other geographical areas. However, the expansion came with negative effects and falling profits. You're hired to figure out why the company is losing profit despite its 15-branch growth over the past few years.
Your client is the owner of UBS #42, a rally racing team. There are 36 races in a season. At the end of the season, the driver who has earned the most number of points will win the championship.Jeff Tarin, a well-known driver, races for UBS #42. He began racing in this tournament six years ago and is currently ranked fifth in a field of 40 drivers.The director of marketing at Jazz Sweets recently contacted your client to ask whether your client would like to start a second racing team that Jazz Sweets could sponsor. The director realizes that rally racing is the fastest-growing race sport segment among males aged 18-45. He has already asked a successful driver from a regional conventional racing circuit to be the new team’s first driver. Your client wants to know whether he should go ahead with this opportunity.
Valuing energy and natural resources companies is very different from other industries. Commodity price swings, capital intensity, and the role of reserves make traditional models harder to apply directly. In interviews, you’ll be expected to show that you can adapt standard finance tools to the specifics of oil & gas, midstream, and renewables. This set covers the most common technical questions so you can demonstrate both solid finance fundamentals and an understanding of sector nuances.
Your client is a leading retail coffee chain. They are present in several countries globally and are a popular brand in most of the markets that they operate in, with several thousands stores in operation.A key focus of the company currently is diversity & inclusion. In their biggest market which is the US, 1 in 4 people have some sort of disability. One realization the client has had is that their retail stores are not as inclusive to individuals with disabilities. McKinsey has been brought on to help them design more inclusive spaces in their retail stores.
Our client BeautyCo is a large European perfumery company with 500 shops across Europe. However, BeautyCo has been struggling with a decrease in profitability for some time and would like to work with us to understand what the causes and possible actions could be. Therefore, as a first step the client wants us to identify the cause of the profitability issues.
Die Global Plastics AG ist ein im M-DAX gelistetes Unternehmen mit weltweit 2.500 Mitarbeitenden und einer Gesamtleistung in Höhe von € 395,0 Mio. in 2021. Der Umsatz des Unternehmens ging 2020 nach dem Ausbruch der COVID-19-Pandemie stark zurück und soll im Jahr 2022 wieder an das Niveau vor COVID-19 anknüpfen.Neben Umsatzrückgängen hat die Global Plastics AG auch mit einer erhöhten Varianz in den OEM Call-Offs zu kämpfen, was zu Überkapazitäten in der Produktion führt. Zusätzlich befindet sich die Global Plastics AG in Kundenverhandlungen zu bestehenden und neuen Verträgen.Das Thema Nachhaltigkeit ist tief in der Unternehmensidentität verankert. Das Unternehmen investiert kontinuierlich in die Forschung und Entwicklung von neuen Technologien. Diese Investitionen dienen im Wesentlichen dazu ...... das bestehende Produktportfolio weiter zu verbessern und sich einen Wettbewerbsvorteil zu erarbeiten.... den zu erwartenden strengeren Vorschriften hinsichtlich CO2-Neutralität der Wert-schöpfungskette als auch einer steigenden Beimischungsquote von recyceltem Kunststoff und Alternativmaterialien in den nächsten Jahren gerecht zu werden.Das Unternehmen ist bei den Kunden für seine innovativen Technologien bekannt und für seine branchenweit Maßstäbe setzende, präzise und qualitativ hochwertige Fertigung geschätzt. Die Global Plastics AG produziert weltweit in fünf Werken (USA, BRA, HUN, CHN, DEU) Kunststoffbauteile für Fahrzeuginnenräume in den Anwendungsbereichen PKW (PT-Segment), LKW (CT-Segment) sowie Baumaschinen (CON-Segment). Global Plastics beliefert primär deutsche Premium-OEMs weltweit und gilt als Qualitätsführer im Interior-Markt. Der globale Interior-Markt ist zunehmend von einem durch asiatische Wettbewerber generierten Preisdruck geprägt, die den Qualitätsansprüchen europäischer Kunden immer besser entsprechen.Sie wurden durch den Vorstand der Global Plastics AG beauftragt, einen Transformationsplan zu entwickeln, der die langfristige Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des Unternehmens sicherstellt. Ziel Ihres Workstreams ist die Analyse des aktuellen Produktionsnetzwerks sowie die Erarbeitung neuer Hebel für Wachstum. Die Global Plastics AG hat Ihnen zur Analyse ihre GuV und Bilanz zur Verfügung gestellt. Dort sind die Ergebnisse der Geschäftsjahre 2019 bis 2021 sowie der Forecast für das Geschäftsjahr 2022 (drei Monate Ist + neun Monate Plan) enthalten. Bitte lösen Sie die beiden unten aufgeführten Aufgaben.
Do you remember that one friend in school that always asked you to help him out with homework? Well, things never change and as this friend learned that you are a consultant now, you receive a call. The friend’s grandfather, who was a captain, passed away and left an oil tanker behind. As your friend wants to be sure for tax reasons, exactly how much worth the tanker is, your help is needed – again!
Your client is BS Systems, a defence contractor situated in the US.They have contacted our company to advise them in the selection of the location for a new plant, producing Apache helicopters. Three sites are in consideration: Canada, UK and US.The profits for each plant location over the next 5 years should be calculated.
Your client is the Government of Indonesia, specifically a joint committee formed between a few key ministries including the Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Environment & Forestry. Indonesia is one of the largest developing countries in the world, with a population of about 285M people and an average monthly income of only USD 500. Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is actually a vast archipelago comprised of 17,000 islands, giving it one of the longest and most complex coastlines in the world. It is also part of the Coral Triangle, an area demarcated by scientists as the global epicenter of marine diversity. Your client tells you that Indonesia's once pristine coral reefs have seen a rapid decline over the past decade. They have come to you for help and want to figure out what is causing the problem.
You are part of the Strategy & Operations team at Revolut.Revolut has had significant growth over the past couple of years, with customer base growing 20-30% per year. Our apps have also been highly rated in the various app stores - be it GooglePlay or on the Apple store.Revolut's current customer strategy is to segment customers based on their subscription tiers/plans. Standard: FreePlus: $3.99/mthPremium: $7.99/mthMetal: $14.99/mthUltra: Ultra $55/mthKey differentiation between the plans are in the pricing and features. Namely, the more expensive tiers like Metal and Ultra have additional features such as personalized and premium card design, free access to lifestyle apps (e.g. Financial Times, Class Pass etc), better FX rates and priority customer support.It's great that Revolut has been expanding rapidly, but we are starting to see some stresses on our existing operations and processes. One key area of concern is in customer service, our satisfaction scores have started to trend down and call center headcounts and costs have been increasing in recent years, but we are struggling to handle the load of incoming requests and tickets.You have been tasked to lead a project to solve this problem without ballooning costs.
Our client is a Chinese publisher called AnimeCo who is looking to publish a new book based on the popular Anime series Little Panda. This series has been highly popular in China with millions of viewers every day and the publisher is looking to capitalize on this potentially.They have asked us to provide advice on whether this will be a good investment and if they should move forward with it. They want to know the total market size, potential revenue & potential profit.
Your client is a D2C (direct to customer) online fashion business in a developing country. It is a new brand, launched about 2 years ago and founded by ex-investment bankers. Their brand focuses on trendy, edgy design that is less main-stream (versus big brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Zara etc) for adult men. While they have been growing fast, they want to understand how they can further improve their sales.
Mastering the case interview is a crucial step in securing a consulting job. To perform well, you need to demonstrate structured thinking, analytical skills, and clear communication while solving a real-world business problem.
The interview typically follows a structured flow, starting with an introduction and resume discussion, followed by the case presentation, where you clarify the problem and outline a logical framework. From there, you analyze data, test hypotheses, and apply quantitative skills to arrive at well-supported recommendations. Finally, you summarize your findings and engage in a discussion to defend your approach.
Success in case interviews comes down to practice. Familiarizing yourself with common frameworks is useful, but true preparation involves adapting them to different cases, improving your problem-solving speed, and refining your communication. By structuring your thoughts clearly, staying flexible in your approach, and confidently presenting your findings, you’ll increase your chances of impressing your interviewer and landing an offer at a top consulting firm. 🚀
Let's Move On With the Next Articles:
The Personal Fit Interview
Basics of Case Interviews
The personal fit interview is a crucial part of the selection process in consulting. It’s often underestimated by candidates who tend to focus on the challenging case interviews only. But the personal fit interview is just as important! It’s all about determining if you’ll fit well within the team and align with the company culture. Read this article to find out why the personal fit interview matters so much and how to prepare effectively.
Consulting interviews are not just about your skills and knowledge — companies also want to see how well you align with their culture and values, often called "personal fit". This part of the interview is your chance to show you’re a natural addition to the team.Here’s a look at three common personal fit questions and some tips on how to answer them confidently and thoughtfully.
Every case interview has a certain structure. An important factor on how your case interview is going to proceed is if the interview is interviewer-led or candidate-led.We’d like to explain the two interview formats – candidate-led cases and interviewer-led cases – highlight their differences, and provide you with tips on how to excel in each of them.
