How to review a case effectively / efficiently?

Your process seems good - it's thorough and methodical.

I suspect the real issue is that you may not understand very well what good looks like. Without that, you may be optimizing for the wrong thing.

I've seen this very frequently - candidates trying to memorize every option and alternative… instead of working on their ability to quickly structure in an objective driven way and practice their judgement on what's more likely vs. less likely. Or on understanding what sets one industry apart from all the other.

I remember when I was an MBA student, for some “strange” reason (not that strange, actually) it were the candidates that used the simple approaches that would get the offers. Why? They were not memorizing, but were able to quickly breakdown any problem into its 2-3 key components…. while the other were using “Case in Point” type of approach creating huge laundry lists that they didn't know how to navigate…

To aggravate the problem, usually case books are developed by 2nd year MBA candidates - half of them don't really understand how they got the offer… and the other half didn't even get the offer. This means that suggested answers are not like in GMAT or in a study book… they are not necessarily best in class, and in some cases can even be quite mediocre.

You need coaching to understand what good looks like. After you know what good looks like, you can spend your time in a more targeted way.

Hi there,

Adding on to the good advice the other coaches already gave. Overall, you seem to have a good-enough system in place to go improve gradually.  It's usually worthwhile to spend dedicated 15min after every mock case you practice to 

• Reproduce structure - Review AND redraw the structure, based on sample solution
• Reflect on the feedback - write down 3-4 points of what went well vs main feedback areas. Capture them in your tracker and spot focus area patterns to work on 
• Solidify experience from the case - jot down main ideas (e.g. from brainstorming) and industry insights you learn from the case. Create dedicated cheat-sheets so that you can recycle these learnings for future cases.

In general, if you feel like you're STILL not progressing as well as expected, this might stem from various factors, such as.. 

• low robustness of your general case process 
• attention to detail not being sufficient to improve the nuances  
• listening too selective
• Etc

Hard to gauge where exactly the pain points are, without seeing you perform though. You might want to consider working with a coach to diagnose specifically, fine-tune your approach and development plan to lift your performance ceiling accordingly.

Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out.

Regards, Andi

Hi,

I'd like to ask a key clarifying question first - why do you say your practice has not been effective so far?

I think the answer to that would greatly drive the potential solutions to your situation. 

Often, it is not -really- the process that is the answer/issue → case in point is the interview itself. People typically know the process flow of a case interview, but very few actually end up passing.

Ineffective practice/review could be due to various reasons which are sometimes hard to isolate, and this is often very specific to an individual's context, so hard to give an accurate diagnosis without more context.

Hi there,

If you're stuck at 50 cases and still not improving (saw in comments), then you honestly should seriously consider coaching.

You're a professional Quarterball in the NFL and you're trying to train yourself….this is hard…we as humans are generally bad at spotting our own weaknesses and also bad at figuring out what is needed to get out of those bad habits.

I don't know why you're stuck. I haven't cased you nor seen how you think, so it's hard to help you here.

One thing I can say, is that 2-3 hours reviewing each case isn't working…if it's not working you should try something else!

Here are some general tips to help:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

Hello!

You might be overcomplicating this. 

Basically, I'd suggest you do the following:

1. See each case like a building block. That means that it seriously, predent it's a real interview, give it your best shot and simulate as much as possible interview conditions (including the amount of time you want to take). 
2. Check the solution in the case book. Don't take it as ‘the truth’ but rather ask yourself how that solution could improve yours. i.e., what can you learn from the proposed solution to make your answer better
3. After you finished the case, take 15 minutes with a blank piece of paper and list out :
   1. What went well
   2. What didn't
   3. Why
   4. And are you going to do about it next time.

It's this last 3rd step that makes the biggest difference - the reflection exercise. 

It's what allows for knowledge to sediment and for learning to actually happen. 

Then move on to the next building block.

Best,
Cristian

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Practicing for interviews? Check out my latest case based on a first-round MBB interview >>> SoyTechnologies  

Hello,

This seems like a very thorough process! Everyone approaches reviews differently: I’ve worked with candidates who like sitting down for an hour to review, and also candidates who need about 15 minutes. I would say that 2-3 hours is definitely on the long side. I see you’ve done a lot of cases already, so if you feel like this approach isn’t working, I would try to change things up. 

I like Cristian’s advice for the 15 min review: figure out what didn’t go well, why it didn’t go well, and what you can do differently next time. I would also ask yourself the following: are there any patterns you are seeing with your case reviews? If the same issues crop up over and over again, do some drills focusing on them. If there are specific areas you want to get better at, do drills focusing on them. I would also consider shifting away from spending so much time reviewing individual cases to spending time drilling particular concepts (e.g., case math, frameworks, etc.) that you want to target.