Hi there,

Thanks for the interesting question - definitely a situation I've seen in candidates and also friends before. 

The answer is ultimately subjective as this is a science. That being said, I think there are several considerations for you to determine how much practice you have to do.

1. The expected ‘deadline’ (e.g. when you expect to first have an interview)
2. Your amount of free time
3. Your level of motivation
   • This your mental state and is highly personal/subjective
   • If you are forcing yourself to do something, you are not going to get an effective outcome
4. Your current ‘baseline' and level of confidence in your skills
   • This is the most key
   • How far you actually are from the bar would significantly determine how much more improvement you need
   • The last nuance is that there are also skills that are more dependent on rote practice (e.g. math calculation), but the more important ones are frankly less rote dependent and more a way of thinking

End of the day, these 4 factors would determine how you should think about the frequency of practice. It's hard to put a number down without understanding your situation better.

Cristian has a really great answer, and makes a very important point on quality of quantity. This concept applies in many contexts → random nugget/snippet of info and an analogy from the weightlifting world, it's very much similar to what the latest research seems to be suggesting about the best way to build muscle/strength. In the past, conventional thinking said that doing more workouts and sets in the gym would be better for growth; however recent findings have shown that having focused quality exertion is the most optimal and that many people are doing additional workouts that do not contribute at all to muscle growth - i.e. “Junk” sets. 

I think the first step is to really have a clear sense of where you stand, that will set the tone for the rest of your thinking on this.

All the best!

Hello,

I think the answer to this is going to differ for each person, but I think your approach of designing your practice in a way that keeps you sharp but avoids burnout is exactly the right way to think about this.

A couple of thoughts on your specific situation:

• How far in the future do you anticipate to be interviewing? If it's more than 1-2 months from now, I would say there's not too much reason to do cases now, especially if you're getting bored by them and especially if you'll be able to commit to interview prep full-time once the time comes.
• Do you feel bored/burned out by casing on your current schedule of 2-3 cases a week? (It seems like yes, but not sure if you've changed something recently with scheduling here). That's a piece of information to pay attention to if so.

Again, frequency and quantity recs are going to vary by candidate, but in general most people get to their best casing potential with around 25-30 cases under their belt. 

Most people need to start prepping 1-2 months in advance of interviews (you'll need more time if you have a full-time job, less if you are recruiting full-time). 

In the earlier parts, I'd target 2-4 cases per week (and don't forget to prep for the behavioral interview too!). 2-3 weeks before interview is going to be the biggest push, I recommend 4-6 cases per week for most people - roughly 1 per day with some time to reflect on how it went, with a day or two break.

Again, please remember that these are general averages - you are the best judge of your energy! My best advice on this would be to start with a plan and tweak it as you go along. If you start feeling burned out, take a break. If you feel like interview dates are getting closer and you haven't done enough, devote some extra time to practice. There's no objectively right answer here.

Hi there!

Great question!

Whenever my enjoyment levels drop, it's usually because I don't feel challenged enough. That might also be the case with you. 

Maybe casing has become routine. And you don't see how you can improve at this point. 

My recommendation would be to do a coaching session with an expert OR (if this is not within your financial means) to get a friend from consulting (ideally with several years of interviewer experience) to give you a case. 

Then you'll be able to understand what is the gap that you still need to close and how. 

This clarity will give you fuel to move forward and to close this effort successfully. 

In terms of how many cases you should do, it really depends on your timeline for the applications and how much time you have at your disposal on a daily basis. 

Regardless however, I'd recommend you focus on quality over quantity. That means using every case as a stepping stone. Instead of logging a lot of cases, try to see what you can learn from each of them. List out the core learnings on a separate sheet - this way you're allowing for the knowledge to cement. 

Lastly, if you're struggling with getting interviews, have a look at the following guide on how to build an application strategy:

• Free Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

80-100 is way too much.

I really wish you had come to me sooner!

Take a break. Seriously. Like, take a month off. It's not like you will suddenly forget everything. The time off will let you pull back, reset, and look at things with fresh eyes (and fresh mind!) when you come back.

When you come back, hire a coach for 1 session to get fully assessed and figure out the plan of attack for what to improve.