Case Structure/Framework Timing

Question

In regards with drafting down the structure/framework for tackling case studies, how long should it take, for both interviewer/interviewee led cases.

In MBB interviews, do interviewer actually allocate you specific amount of time i,e, okay boy, you have 30 seconds to give me a structure !!!

Answer 1

Hi Anonymous,

this is a very typical concern that candidates have when building their case skills. However, it is extremely important that you understand that putting yourself under time pressure while practicing is absolutely counterproductive! You first have to learn the right way of approaching and structuring cases, and time is the last concern you should have here! It is like learning an instrument - you first HAVE TO play much MUCH SLOWER than regular in order to be able to properly learn. Speed will come by itself after some time! If you try to force speed too early, you become sloppy and will never really master it!

Moreover, I can promise you that as long as you come up with a rigorous and compelling approach, focusing on the logic according to which you will answer the precise case question (as opposed to just listing buckets you want to look into), the interviewer will immediately forget about any perception of "slowness" he might have had a minute before!

In the tradeoff rigor vs. speed, prioritize rigor! Speed follows automatically. And as I said, even if you take 3 or 4 minutes to come up with a rock solid approach, this is much better than taking 30 seconds and then only having a half baked and shaky roadmap.

Cheers, Sidi

Answer 2

Hi Anonymous,

I would recommend as standard time to write down your structure one minute, and as standard time to present one minute and a half. This should be just a benchmark – the interviewer won’t care much if you go a bit longer so far that you have a good approach.

Sometimes the interviewer will indeed give you a time constraint - this is done on purpose to see how you react under pressure. Although you should be ready to provide a faster structure in such a situation, I would not say it is the norm.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Answer 3

Hi anonymous,

I would typically ask the interviewer for 1-2mins to structure my approach.

In my experience some interviewers will say "take as long as you like" whilst others will want you to be quick. I wouldn't say "can you give me 30secs" and then take longer.

With more and more case practice you'll see you'll get quicker at structuring a case and it will almost become "intuitive" to structure your approach as a market entry case, M&A, etc..

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Hi,

Here are some guidelines:

1-2 min for initial structure. But the faster the better
Up to 1 minute for the conclusion. Again, the faster the better. But always take the time! Your conclusion should be very well structured and your arguments should include supporting numbers and you need time to collect them
30 sec - 1 min for questions on creativity. It's really hard to be creative "On-the-go"

It's a bit more tricky with taking time during the case:

It's not OK to take 30 seconds and then come up with just 1 or 2 ideas. And then if the ideas are not correct to keep the science again. This is called "Guessing"
It's OK to take 30 seconds, draw a new structure (or continuation of your previous structure) and come up with a structured way to approach the problem further.

Best,

Vlad

Answer 5

Anything over 90 seconds is probably too long, but I will forgive a long wait time if your initial structure is amazing.

As Sidi said, you will also get faster with practice. Just like the mental math, focus on doing well first, then doing well fast - NOT the other way around

Answer 6

Dear A,

I would recommend you take 1 min for framework and 1 min for presenting it. Interviewer alswys can give you little less time just to see you acting under the time pressure. But you can also try to ask 30 sek more.

For you practice at the very beginning I would strongly recommend you to solve the cases right than fast. With practice you can gain the speed, but first build the right logic.

Wish you good luck,

Best,

André

Answer 7

Dear A,

in general a good structure can be evaluated by a certain depth and breadth. The “depth” should be at least 3-4 levels while the “breadth” should cover the entire solution space. You can cross-check this with the MECE principles (For details see respective article on Preplounge), but the CE (collectively exhaustive) part is basically defining your breadth.

Finally, make sure to check for inter-linkages in your structure and point them out.

Simon

Answer 8

I would probably say the McKinsey M & A framework as it gives you a breakdown of all the buckets you would probably c... (read entire answer)

I would probably say the McKinsey M & A framework as it gives you a breakdown of all the buckets you would probably choose anyway but with a bit more math when it comes to finan... (read entire answer)