Hi there,

Let me try and help out here:

1. Is risk always needed to be a bucket in the case structure? Nothing is generally needed, which makes case interviews so hard. If you're going to talk about risks, you may want to include them in each of the other branches or, as you suggest, in a separate bucket. You would do the latter if the risk factors are important and worth mentioning but don't align well to the other (sub-)buckets.
2. Is risk always needed to be a bullet point in the final recommendation? Once again, it very much depends. If the risk is major, you may want to lead with that and contextualize your recommendation accordingly. If the risk is minor but still worth mentioning, come up with a mitigation plan after going into your recommendation. If the risk is minor and not worth mentioning, then don't mention it.
3. What risk factors should I mention in the final recommendation? Both is fine. As for mentioning ‘new’ things; why would you not mention it, if you suddenly thought of something brilliant? Your questions tell me that you're running the risk of constraining yourself by looking for and applying ‘rules’ that simply don't exist.

If this is something that you continue to struggle with, please let me know and I'll be happy to help. For now, I hope this helps a bit.

Best of luck!

Moritz

Hello,

Being mechanical is not the right way to go about doing case interviews. You always want to be thinking about whether a given bucket, factor, or consideration is a good fit for the case at hand. So, with that in mind:

1. Is risk always needed to be a bucket in the case structure?

Absolutely not. Sometimes it makes sense to have a separate risks bucket (e.g., as a sub-bucket under operational considerations for a market entry), but this is far from always the case.

2. Is risk always needed to be a bullet point in the final recommendation? (e.g. recommendation > risk > next step)

No, it is not always needed. It's usually good to include either risks or next steps (or both), but this should largely be driven by your assessment of the case. Are there obvious risks that stand out to you that have not been mentioned yet?

3. What risk factors should I mention in the final recommendation? 

You can mention either of those risks as appropriate. For instance, if risks were discussed at length during the case, they should be incorporated into the main part of your recommendation. If there are additional risks that stand out to you that have not been discussed during the case, you can bring those up as an additional point after you've given the overall rec + a couple of reasons for why you recommended it.

Hi there,

Love your comment on “mechanical” here.

1. Is risk always needed to be a bucket in the case structure? 

To the contrary, risk should NEVER be a bucket in your framework.

Risks are inherent to every bucket. Does competition carry risk? Doesn't customer carry risk? Market? Company? External? Internal.

I personally advise against risks in a bucket…it's not how consultants run projects (i.e. framework in real life) and it's not how you should setup your case!

2. Is risk always needed to be a bullet point in the final recommendation? (e.g. recommendation > risk > next step)

Yes. I recommend you have 2 risks.

3. What risk factors should I mention in the final recommendation? 

Yes, something discussed…AND something directly related to the recommendation and not generic.

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

(edited)

Hi there,

1) Is risk always needed to be a bucket in the case structure? 

It is not necessary to cover risks separately if you cover them in other parts of your structure or if, based on the question, risks are irrelevant. 

For example, if they ask you “Tell me what you think are the effects of COVID on the Hong Kong economy” (variation of a real MBB question asked to one of the candidates I coached), risks are not relevant to the question.

2) Is risk always needed to be a bullet point in the final recommendation?

I would recommend covering them only if you see actual risks. Thus, if you cannot see any risk, I would not push the point as it would sound canned/unnatural. In most cases though there should naturally be risks related to your recommendation.

3) What risk factors should I mention in the final recommendation? Should it be something that has already been discussed during the case or can it be something that has not been discussed?

You can mention any relevant risk related to your recommendation. 

If a risk is relevant and you have not discussed it before, there are two possible options: (i) you did not think about it before or (ii) you did not have time to analyze it due to the evolution of the case. In both cases, you can mention it in your conclusion.

If a risk is irrelevant, then I would not recommend adding it to the conclusion.

You can find an example of how I would integrate risks in a recommendation below:

▶ How to Structure a Conclusion

Best,

Francesco

Hi Anon!

These are all great questions! Let me take them one by one. 

1. Is risk always needed to be a bucket in the case structure?

No, it shouldn't always be part of the structure. In fact, nothing should always be part of the structure. Only include risks if it makes sense for that particular assessment. Otherwise, keep them out. 

2. Is risk always needed to be a bullet point in the final recommendation? (e.g. recommendation > risk > next step)

Yes, if there's any ‘recipe’ for case structuring, I'd lean to say that it's the conclusion. Typically for the conclusion you should 1. restate the case mission > 2. provide the direct recommendation > 3. provide supporting evidence > 4. mention the core risk > 5. mention next steps (which are either about alleviating that risk or are procedural next steps for the engagement).

3. What risk factors should I mention in the final recommendation?

Typically the risk should be one that was already identified in the case. But don't feel limited by this. You should see each question in the case as an opportunity to refine your understanding of the client situation and to help you refine the hypothesis. So that means stay flexible enough to provide a new risk if this has emerged as being more important. 

Best,
Cristian

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