I am preparing for a written case interview at the BCG. It is expected to prepare 5 slides within 2 hours and to make a 15 min oral presentation of the results (to a client). What are the requirements for a consulting presentation to a client? Could you advise, please? Thank you!
Hi,
Here I've uploaded some written case samples (incl BCG)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zor4m49eyx5qxal/AABeUN6mtiGkWhEklRjszX2Oa?dl=0
The best way to prepare is the following:
Good luck!
Hi,
I had a written interview at BCG in the decision round just a couple of weeks back.
They put you into a room and give you a memo along with a bundle of papers. The memo is an e-mail from your senior colleague, basically saying that a new client has appeared who wants data presented tomorrow. The senior colleague is a bit too busy and needs you to summarise the data and send it to him/her asap.
The bundle is a body of around 30 slides that has a lot of info about the client. Some useful, some not.
Your goal is to distil what is important from all of this and use it to formulate an executive summary.
You won't have to 'present' in front of an audience but will discuss it with the Partner/Principal along with your rationale.
Look out for quant - if you're not calculating, you're doing something wrong.
My advice would be to begin writing the executive summary first, and fill it out as you find relevant data. WRITE DOWN YOUR RATIONALE cos under pressure you won't remember it.
Out of the 30 slides, only around 10 of mine were useful. The Principal then scrutinised my decision-making process and rationale.
It won't be easy so be sure to budget your time and keep an eye on the clock!
Good luck.
Hi there,
in addition to all the comments and explanations, find below an exemplary case that can be used to practice such a presentation interview format.
Best
Hi Elena,
First of all, congratulations for reaching this stage!
Second, there is a common presentation structure that can help you delivering the messages and also guide your thought process:
Hope this can help you and wish you all the best in your interview!
Best
Guilherme
Hi Elena,
I agree with Guilherme; as for how to approach the written case I would suggest the following steps:
Step 1: allocate the time
The first thing you should do in a presentation case is to define a plan and allocate in the best possible way your time. With 2h for the analysis, a good approach would include:
You should then practice to stick to the time allocated, in order to maximize your final performance.
Step 2: structure your slides
There are three basic components for slides:
Many people structure the title as the mere description of what the chart is telling. A great title, instead tells the implication of the graph. Eg say the graph is showing a cost structure for a division. A bad title would be: Cost structure from 2005 to 2015. A good title would be: Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable”. A great title would be Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable due to ABC, assuming you have insides on the cause. The rule of thumb for the title is that if you read all the titles of the slides together you should get a clear idea of what is going on.
Step 3: present the slides
When you present, I would suggest the following steps for each slide:
Below you can find additional tips to prepare on the presentation:
Hope this helps,
Francesco
Hi Anonymous,
answering to your question number 2, quoting a previous answer, this is what I would suggest for a written case:
Step 1: allocate the time
The first thing you should do in a presentation case is to define a plan and allocate in the best possible way your time. With 2h for the analysis, a good approach would include:
You should then practice to stick to the time allocated, in order to maximize your final performance.
Step 2: structure the slides
There are three basic components for slides:
Many people structure the title as the mere description of what the chart is telling. A great title, instead tells the implication of the graph. Eg say the graph is showing a cost structure for a division. A bad title would be: Cost structure from 2005 to 2015. A good title would be: Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable”. A great title would be Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable due to ABC, assuming you have insides on the cause. The rule of thumb for the title is that if you read all the titles of the slides together you should get a clear idea of what is going on.
Step 3: present the slides
When you present, I would suggest the following steps for each slide:
Below you can find additional tips to prepare on the presentation:
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hi-guys-who-has-experience-with-doing-a-bcg-written-case-any-ideas-on-how-to-prepare-for-this-suggestionskey-takeawaysexamples-are-more-than-welcome-thanks-a-lot-for-your-help-569#a1136
Hope this helps,
Francesco
Hello!
Written case interviews are indeed becoming very fashionable nowadays as a way to interview!
Remember that the skillset tested is the same than in the "usual" cases, hence, all the practice you may have done totally plays in your favor.
One important point to add is the need to be very 80-20, structured and to the point, since the prep time is very short, so we need discipline with the analysis to have enaugh time to prep the communication strategy.
To your particular question, one key thing to presenting these cases is to be very to-the-point. For that, adding action titles will be very helpful for sure, as well as creating clean and simple slides with the key data and only text for key insights
There are many many entries in thsi same Q&A regarding written cases, hence, I would recommend you to look with the keywords "written case"
Hope it helps!
Cheers,
Clara
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