How much time should I take when it comes to a brainstorming question?

Hi there,

It depends on the question, but in general I would keep the following as a benchmark to write down a structure / brainstorm:

• Initial structure: 1-2 minutes
• Brainstorming during the case: 30 seconds - 1 minute

This is not a strict rule. If you spend more time, you won’t lose any points. However, the interviewer may put pressure and ask if you are ready to start.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there,

It completely depends.

The short answer is: Spend as little time as you can while providing a strong structure + answer. If you're going to give a bad answer right away, you have no choice but to take your time!

Ultimately, this is a bit of a judgement call and you do need to take different amounts of time based on the intensity of the question and the interviewers demeanor.

Additional Info from a previous Q&A:

You do want to try to answer off the cuff, but still maintain structured thinking + communication. If you can't answer well without taking time, the simple answer is that you need to take time.

However, if you do this too much in a case that can get tiresome - you need to figure out when the question warrants time and when it doesn't. There are questions/situations where it would be silly to take time ("why do you think this" “what are some other ideas” “do you think this is a good number”) and others where it doesn't. It's nuanced and ultimately you need to be the judge here.

If they say the CEO just walked into the room, what do you think? Of course you don't get the time! The CEO just walked in.

Feel free to shoot me a message - I've recorded some live cases so you can see what optimal looks like for yourself!

Hi there,

30 seconds makes sense in terms of timing guidelines.

However, it's important to know a few things:

• If you need more time, you should always take it.  I continuously repeat this to everyone that asks.  Of course it's better to be quick, but it's most important to be right.  
• When practicing, try to worry about getting it right and after you are comfortable, you should worry about your speed.  Just like in sports, get the technique right before learning to do it quickly.

Bottom line, speed is not an important criterion for a good case interview.  There is a clock, and you need to finish, but please don't focus on how fast you are, especially when starting your preparation.

Hope this helps,

Allen

There's no set time but anything in the range of 30s to 1 minute is ok.

If anything, I'd advise you to take too much time rather than too little. 

Almost no candidates get rejected because they are slow but lots of them are rejected becausee their answers are wrong or not deep enough. 

Adding here another resource on brainstorming techniques:

• Expert Guide: Mastering Structuring & Brainstorming

Best,

Cristian

Hello!

You mean the issue tree? Something between 1 and 3 mins. 

In case you are asking for the math, it totally depends on the question and its complexity. My advise there is never being fully silent for more than a minute, rather problem solve it out loud and making the interviewer participant. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi there, usually more than 30s would be frowned upon. However, from the interviewer's perspective, it's not a deal-breaker if you take a bit more (say 10s) and give a very good answer. If you take more than 1 min then it's definitely not gonna help you unless your answer is amazing (amazing to the extent that the interviewer goes “wow, why haven't I thought of this". This happens very rarely so I don't suggest you take this risk :p)

Nevertheless, again, from the interviewer's perspective, I'd rather the candidate take a bit more time and give good answer, than someone take very short time and give bad answer.

Coming up with good answer in 30s is definitely doable with practice. All the best :)

Hope this helps!

Hi there, check out this recent post with lots of good responses:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/is-it-okay-to-ask-for-time-in-the-interview-12605

Brainstorming questions are usually about concrete ideas. Here you often end up with 2-3 buckets and ideally 3-5 items each (I am obviously very much generalizing). 

This is not the time to overthink as you might in the initial framework. Let your creativity loose!

As an interviewer, I would expect you to have a solid response after 30-60 seconds (depending on complexity). If you need a bit more time, you’ll get it but it needs to be worth the wait :)

Dont go by any such timing numbers. Create your own style and your own timing. Obviously, common sense says this should neither be too long nor too abrupt.

So, practice this and see what's best for you. Adapt this to the interviewers and their style. Important thing is that your brainstorming is effective & impactful for the interviewer.

You shouldn't take longer than one minute. To be honest, you should be enough prepared for these kind of questions that you don't need to take more than 20 seconds to consider the initial structure (unless is something really out ot of the ordinary).

This is not about devising a very complete, detailed structure. It's about defining a high level and simple breakdown of the problem, and then you have to think out loud the options in each branch. At this point it's more about ability to think on the spot than a long structuring exercise. 

Ideally you should have some mental maps ready so you don't need to overthink about this.