When preparing for a case interview, especially under time constraints, working with an experienced coach can significantly enhance your chances of success.
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What Are the Key Advantages of Practicing With a Coach?
Personalized Feedback
One of the primary benefits of working with a case coach is receiving tailored feedback. Unlike general preparation methods, a coach can pinpoint your specific weaknesses and provide actionable advice to improve. This personalized approach ensures that your preparation is efficient and targeted, addressing your unique needs and challenges.
Realistic Simulation
Practicing with a coach allows you to experience a realistic interview setting. Coaches who have conducted numerous case interviews can replicate the pressure and dynamics of a real interview, helping you become more comfortable and confident. This experience is invaluable, as it prepares you to handle the stress and spontaneity of actual interviews.
Insider Knowledge
Experienced coaches often come from prestigious consulting backgrounds themselves. Their insider knowledge about what top firms are looking for can give you a significant edge. They can share insights about the interview process, common pitfalls, and the specific attributes that firms value, ensuring that you are well-prepared to meet these expectations.
Structured Approach
A coach can help you develop a structured approach to solving case problems. This structured thinking is crucial in case interviews, where clear, logical, and well-organized answers are highly valued. Coaches can teach you frameworks and methodologies that streamline your problem-solving process, making your responses more coherent and compelling.
Time Efficiency
For candidates with limited preparation time, coaching is a highly efficient way to get ready. Coaches can quickly identify areas that need improvement, helping you focus your efforts where they are most needed. This targeted preparation can save you time and help you progress faster than you would on your own.
Confidence Boost
Confidence plays a crucial role in interview performance. Regular practice with a coach can boost your confidence by familiarizing you with the interview format and helping you refine your answers. Knowing that you have prepared thoroughly with expert guidance can significantly reduce anxiety and improve your overall performance.
How PrepLounge Optimally Supports You With a Wide Range of Coaching Options
🚀 Flexibility and Convenience
PrepLounge offers a variety of coaching options to fit your needs and preferences. You can choose from individual sessions, CV reviews, or comprehensive coaching packages that include multiple sessions or focus on specific topics. Additionally, there are programs available that combine a premium membership with coaching credits, providing a cost-effective way to access top-notch coaching services.
📅 Workshops and Online Events
PrepLounge also regularly hosts workshops and online events led by experienced coaches. These sessions cover a range of topics and provide opportunities for interactive learning and direct feedback. Participating in these events can further enhance your preparation and keep you updated on the latest trends and techniques in case interviews.
How to Find the Perfect Coach to Suit Your Needs
To find the perfect coach for your case interview preparation, you can proceed in three steps within the coach overview:
Filtering: Begin by filtering the coaches based on your most important criteria, such as price per coaching session, or employer.
Selection: Choose up to 10 coaches whose profiles, ratings, Q&A contributions, and PrepLounge awards you wish to explore further.
Contacting: Reach out to 2-3 coaches to address any potential questions or concerns about their coaching approach. Feel free to ask if they offer a free intro call.
What Makes a Good Coach?
Good coaches are characterized by the following features:
Customization: they tailor the coaching to your specific needs.
Good rapport: They make you feel comfortable and work well with them.
Transparency: They offer you full transparency about the coaching process on PrepLounge.
Final Thoughts on Working With a Coach
Practicing with a coach is a strategic investment in your case interview preparation. The personalized feedback, realistic simulation, insider knowledge, and confidence boost that coaches provide can make a significant difference in your performance. With the expert guidance available on PrepLounge, you can ensure that you are thoroughly prepared and ready to excel in your case interviews.
By leveraging the expertise of experienced case coaches and taking advantage of the diverse coaching options and events available on PrepLounge, you can maximize your preparation efficiency, build your confidence, and increase your chances of securing a position at a top consulting firm.
What is the way out? Have I ruined my career already?
4 hrs
< 100
5
Best answer by
Alessandro
You didn't ruin anything. Market access is where pharma actually makes or loses money post-launch, and companies pay heavily to get it right. Your exits are straightforward. The pharma clients you advise will recruit you into their commercial strategy teams. Healthcare VC funds need people who can evaluate reimbursement risk on a pipeline drug, that's not a scientist role. MBB hires experienced life sciences consultants because their generalists can't do what you'll be able to do after two years. The boutique name is irrelevant. Pfizer and Novartis on your deck is Pfizer and Novartis on your resume. You haven't even started yet. Give it eighteen months. (chill a sec)
Yes, round 2 is realistic. Two weeks is enough if you stop treating this like a research project and start treating it like a skill sprint. On resources, one day on Case in Point to refresh vocabulary, then drop it. LOMS is your core, go through it actively, pause before each answer, give your own response out loud, then compare. Do that three times through minimum, not once. One coaching session with an ex-McKinsey person mid-week to get honest feedback on what's actually broken. That's it. No more resources. On case fundamentals, the thing most people get wrong at this stage is drilling volume without fixing mechanics. More cases won't help if you keep repeating the same mistakes. The priority order is this: Structure first. Every case starts with you building a framework out loud. Practice doing this from scratch, not from memory. Ask yourself what actually drives performance in this specific business, then build from there. If your structure could apply to any company, start over. Math second. McKinsey cases will test your comfort with numbers under pressure. Practice mental math daily, percentages, growth rates, back-of-envelope market sizing. Ten minutes a day is enough but it has to be every day. Synthesis third. After every case, practice saying the answer in one sentence before explaining it. Bottom line up front, every time. Most candidates bury the answer and interviewers mark them down for it. On the PEI, treat it as equal weight to the case. Write six to eight stories covering leadership, personal impact, and entrepreneurial drive. Each story needs to survive fifteen follow-up questions drilling into your specific decisions and reasoning. Write them out fully, then practice out loud until they feel natural, not rehearsed. The two week schedule is days one and two for Case in Point and drafting PEI stories, days three through ten for LOMS plus two cases daily with a partner plus refining stories, days eleven through thirteen for full mock interviews out loud under real conditions, day fourteen light review only. You got the invite for a reason. The room is a clean slate. What wins it is clear thinking and composure, both of which you can build in two weeks if you stay focused. ping me if you want more details on what i would do
Hi there, Do I include my contract and founding/advisory roles? - You include the roles that demonstrates transferrable skills Should my resume be one page or two page to highlight the experience? - One page I’ve also been promoted within a company multiple times - should I include all the roles or only the relevant ones? - If role has the same function and you've simply been promoted, you can state that you were promoted from XYZ role. If the role is a different function and you did something completely different, then it should be a separate section/row. Any advice on including certifications? - Include certifications that are relevant to the position.
Hi there, Genuinely, yes, you are allowed to use a blank sheet of paper. In fact, you should absolutely do so. In the Casey test, in a case interview, and in life on a consulting project... you should always be keeping track of what you're finding out and what your objective is. My advice is to take notes and keep an organized sheet of paper with you to track key insights and numbers as you go. This is critical because you'll need those numbers for the final recommendation at the end. Regarding your warm up, don't overthink it! A few quick math drills or a single structuring exercise is fine to get the brain moving, but don't burn yourself out right before the start. If you want to be truly ready, you need to practice with the real thing. I actually sell 10 real past BCG Casey tests with answer keys... if you want to get your hands on those to see exactly what to expect, just shoot me a message. If you find you are struggling with the overall case logic or how to parse the data quickly, you should look at my Ace the Case Interview Course. It’s the smartest way to build the fundamentals you need for both the chatbot and the live interviews. Good luck! Feel free to message me for support.
How long does BCG Italy recruiting usually take after application?
9 hrs
< 100
5
Best answer by
Cristian
Wait a bit longer. They can take up to a month. It moves at different speeds depending on the application cycle and what the firm is prioritising at that moment. And as always, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify as much as possible. You might find this guide useful: • • Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy Best,Cristian
Stop starting with a framework - Start with the business in mind. be curious as you were in a normal conversation with friends or at work. you re pattern-matching the prompt to a template instead of reasoning about the actual business. Wildcard cases expose this because the business model doesn't fit the template. The fix isn't a better template, it's training yourself to derive structure from first principles every time. 3 exercises: Blank page drill. Pick a niche company, write down how it makes money, what could go wrong, what drives performance. Three minutes, no frameworks. Do this daily, separate from your case practice. Retroactive restructuring. After every case, rebuild the structure from scratch using what you learned. Force it to look nothing like a standard template. A hospital case and a SaaS case should look completely different. Hypothesis-first. Before writing any bucket, state what you think the problem is. Then structure to test it, not to explore everything. This alone will make your structures feel sharper and more intentional. The benchmark: your structure should be specific enough that someone reading only the labels can tell what industry and business model the case is about. If it could apply to any company, it's not done yet.
IBM Associate Complex Project Management Consultant
11 hrs
< 100
4
Best answer by
Cristian
Since you just applied to the role and you got the reply in 10 mins, I would safely assume it's automated. I haven't done the assessment myself, so if in doubt, and especially if you have time before having to complete it, reach out to the recruiter and ask for more information about the assessment. This would enable you to prepare better. Best,Cristian
Upon clicking on the McKinsey Solve assessment link and accepting the Terms & Conditions, I’m prompted to click “Get Started.” Before clicking, I wanted to check whether this will take me through to the scheduling page (mentioned in email) or it will actually start the assessment
13 hrs
< 100
3
Best answer by
Ashwin
Clicking "Get Started" will take you into the actual assessment. It is not a scheduling page. Once you click, the timer starts and you are in it. Do not click until you are fully ready. Make sure you have a stable internet connection, a quiet space, and roughly 60 to 70 minutes of uninterrupted time. Use a laptop or desktop, not your phone. The Solve assessment typically has two games that test problem solving and critical thinking. You cannot pause midway or come back later. Once it starts, it starts. Take a breath, set yourself up properly, and go for it when you are ready.
8 firms is totally fine for an ADC with your profile. but 3 offices per firm is risky unless youre very selective about which ones. MBB treat applications as essentially global. if you apply to McK Australia and get rejected, youre probably locked out of McK Singapore for 12-24 months. same with BCG and Bain. so dont treat offices as "free shots" - your first application at each firm is your only shot for a while. what id actually do: start with singapore where you have work rights and can tell a real story. thats your wave 1: McK, BCG, Bain, plus maybe 2 of the life science shops (LEK, Simon Kucher, ZS, IQVIA). network hard here first. for wave 2_relocate markets, only pick offices where you have genuine ties. did you do research in london? family in sydney? studied in the US? otherwise youre just another generic applicant and the odds are worse. pick 1-2 max per firm for this wave, not 3. sequencing: dont blast all 24 applications at once. do 3-4 firms in wave 1, wait to see if you get interviews, learn from any feedback, then adjust your story before wave 2. networking should start 6-8 weeks before you hit submit. aim for 2 real conversations per office so your application isnt cold. ask about ADC hiring volume and whether your life science background actually matters there - at some offices it will, at others they just want generalists. the reapplication thing: pretty much every firm will see your prior application in their system. for MBB assume a rejection anywhere is a rejection everywhere for 1-2 years. for the others its murkier but safer to assume the same. dont "test" an office youre lukewarm on just to see what happens. bottom line: target 8 firms but probably 1-2 offices each, not 3. start singapore, move to relocate markets only if you have a real story for being there. network before you apply. and treat your first app at each firm as your only shot that year.
Questions about market size are frequently asked in case interviews in consulting because they require a blend of logic, mathematics, and common sense. They can be asked as standalone questions or as part of a larger case. Applicants who are familiar with market sizing questions can really perform here.
Market entry cases are one of the key issues in the consulting industry and present consultants and firms with unique challenges and opportunities. These cases require deep analysis and strategic planning to successfully enter new markets.
Brainteasers are a type of problem that focuses on a single issue rather than complex business cases. They require out-of-the-box thinking, logic or math skills and can take the form of riddles, word problems or visual puzzles. These tasks are designed to test your problem-solving skills, analytical thinking and ability to remain calm under pressure.Typical problems cover everyday life's topics and might even include unrealistic assumptions. All necessary information is usually included in the question so that further assumptions are not necessary. This article explains in more detail why brainteasers are useful in case interview preparation and how to solve them.