How important is it to finish the case interview 100% ?

Question

Dear Experts,

i just had first round case interview with MBB this week, and would like to know your opinion :

I had the math correct, although not on first attempt, but i managed to answered the math correct. on the brainstorming session, as well i was able to answered analytics questions.

due to strict 30 minutes limitation, i did not finish the whole case 100%. the interviewer however asked me to make conclussion including what would be the next step forward to finish the case. so in my conclussion i put in the next steps i will do if there is more time given.

Questions:

1. after my conclussion, the interviewer said "very good"......does this signaling something good ? or it means nothing in consultancy world ?

2. How important is it to finish the case 100% ? if not, will i still have chance to pass ?

many thanks,

007

Answer 1

Hi Anonymous,

Finishing the case is a good sign generally speaking, because if you derive at a solid conclusion (and most interview cases are designed like that!) it means you eliminated the irrelevant parts and focused on the correct ones in your analysis. Naturally when you arrive at a (mostly) data-driven solution, this is good.

However, not finishing the case 100% does not automatically mean the opposite. It might be the case that your structure was not appropriate in the first case and you spent time doing useless analysis and therefore not finishing the case.

BUT: As an interviewer (mostly in final rounds), I don't really mind that much finishing the case. If I can choose between having a very insightful and engaging discussion with a candidate which might not have been part of the case originally in that level of detail, I will always go for that as opposed to just finishing the case for the sake of it (how would the latter help me that much in evaluating your performance? I can always easily push candidates to finish, it does not mean a lot for the candidate).

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Answer 2

Hi Anonymous,

to your two questions:

(a) The itnerviewer saying "very good" unfortunately, doesn't mean anything at the end of the interview. You'll need to wait until they call you.

(b) It's really impossible to give a definite answer on this as every case is different. Some consultants have developed a linear case that is straight forward and you'll have to finish the entire case. Others have cases that have multiple lenses to it and go down a specific route with you based on your initial choice. And of course there are multiple variations in between, e.g. linear caess with a "bonus" topic that the candidate can explore if they rush through the regular case really fast.

A good practice is to read the room and pay attention to the interviewers reactions. If they are appear to be getting nervous and you have the feeling that you spend a lot of time explaining, it could be helpful to just reconfirm whether they want that level of explanation of prefer you to just execute.

And of course be aware of time: the structure they give you should tell you how much time you have for the interview. Managing the time to fit within these constraints are a crucial skill that you need to practice, especially in the candidate-driven case interview that Bain uses.

Answer 3

Hi there,

It's much easier said than done, but you need to move on/forward! Don't worry about the past. The results will be the result and any time you spend thinking about it right now is time wasted. Worry about things you can control, such as preparing for round 2 and your other interviews!

That being said:

This "signal" means nothing. We can't say whether it's good or bad. They may say this to everyone. They may not. Any other answer is just conjecture...you can't read into this!
Less important than you think. Yes, if you did well, you did well, regardless of finishing 100%.
Honestly, within 5-10 minutes of a case the interviewer has already made up their mind! The rest of the case is really to just test you a bit further, poke around, essentially do due diligence.

I would worry much more about the quality of your casing/performance than how quickly you run through things.

If you've done half, but done it extremely well, that's so much better than finishing a case sloppily/wrongly.

Answer 4

1. I guess it depends on the interviewer's general choice of words and prior tone but I would not relate it as feedback. As an interviewer, I often chose to be more encouraging to allow the candidate to feel more comfortable and bring their best self.

2. Whether you finished each section of the case exhaustively (which is difficult to determine) often has little to do with your performance.

Based on what you've shared, it seems like you had a good interview - I would just relax and start thinking about some of the tangible things you want to work on for your next interview round!

Answer 5

Hi A!

Normally it's ok if you're not finishing all 100 percent of the cases, but you're showing good traction within the case and you are having the right approach.

If the interviewer mentioned to you that this vas very good, then it means that it was indeed a good performance from your side. But one thing you need to bear in mind is basically the competitive pressure, so if during your interview day there was another candidate, who performed all rounds of the interview better than you, then the company would probably go for him if the number of spots is limited.

Hope it brings you some clarity, and I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Best,

André

Answer 6

Hi there,

It is impossible to evaluate your performance just based on a “very good” from the interviewer – could mean anything
If by “finish the case 100%” you mean covering every typical part of the case – it is not always required. The conclusion for example is not always present. However, you should complete the case in a reasonable timeframe

Best,

Francesco

Answer 7

Hi there,

as it has been said before, the interviewer saying "very good" doesn't mean much in this case. It can be a simple encouraging strategy.

However, if you were able to provide a structure of how you would have proceeded with the case and it was solid and reasonable, I don't think it will be counted as a mistake.

GB

Answer 8

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