Case Interview Coaching vs Mock Interview

Hi,

Completely agree with that. The mock interview is good in several cases:

• When you need to assess your current level and understand where you are standing. I've seen the candidates even with 100+ cases who didn't get the offers and required a dedicated interview coaching. Thus the number of cases is not the best predictor of your level.
• When you are already good with cases and need to polish the skill right before the interview
• When you want to improve the FIT part. In that case, I recommend dedicating the full session to the Fit interview. You can get a tremendous improvement in just one session

If you need to prepare from a scratch (which happens even after 50+ cases) you need a program and a dedicated interview coaching.

Best,

Hi Anonymous A,

thanks for asking your question in our Consulting Q&A!

In a former thread, a similar topic has already been discussed.

Vlad stated the following:

I believe YOU NEED BOTH good partners and coaches to increase your odds of success. Partners give you quantity and build your muscle memory.Coaches specifically:

• Can save you tens if not hundreds of hours. I know many candidates who have done 100+ cases with the poor partners and got no offer.
• May have a program covering all possible types of the cases (pls check in my profile)
• Can assess you using the real case interview criteria
• Can work on your fit interview since they heard hundreds of stories and know how to make them perfect
• Give you a professional feedback since they have seen hundreds of candidates and can calibrate your performance
• [...]

For the full Q&A, check the following link: What are the benefits of coaching compared to having a good partner to practice?

We believe that case coaching is very helpful and will be worth your investment. Experienced coaches usually know exactly what interviewers want and can turn you into the perfect candidate. Plus, after having landed the job, the amount you have spent on the coaching sessions won't seem like much to you anymore ;)

In case you decide to give case coaching a shot, you might want to check out our Prep4Success coaching package. This is a bundle of 3, 5 or 10 coaching sessions that gives you an overall discount and includes additional benefits like a one-year premium membership, an individually tailored training plan, a McKinsey Practice PST and all the prep material you need.

If you have any further question, don't hesitate to contact us.

Hope this helps and best of luck for your case prep and upcoming case interviews!

Astrid

PrepLounge Community Management

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Hi,

I am not sure weither you mean Mock interview practiced with a coach or another candidate.

In any cases, teaching case resolution requires of course more than a mock interview. But keep in mind the mock interview is really usefull for you to experience the real situation pressure and level of expectation.

I case your initial messag was asking about difference betwen practicing mock with coach vs. pair candidates :

- Practicing with pairs is a good way to cover a high volume of cases. Unfortunately, the idea is not to cover the max number of case, but to understand how it works with real expecation.

- One of the limitation of practicing candidates, is that the other candidates may not have the real experience neither, so this will be difficult to create realistic condition of pressure and level of expectation : candidates tends to be to soft with each others

- In addition to real situation, a coach will bring detailed feedback on the dimensions that he knows are evalueted during the interview. This will be critical info for your to keep working on your prep.

Hope this helps

Best

Benjamin