Is my MBB interview preparation enough?

Hi there,

Q: All of this has taken hundreds of hours. Will it likely be enough or should I aim for 50-60 live cases?

I don’t think anyone can answer properly as we don’t know your current level. In theory the number of cases and amount of prep could be enough, but it also depends on your starting point, the quality of the cases you practiced with and how much you absorbed the learnings.

If you are keeping track of your case performance and you see that there are no possible improvements anymore, you are probably ready for interviews. If you still see possible improvements despite the number of cases, you might need more prep.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

I have studied 100 hours for my biology exam. Have I done enough studying?

If you say yes, what if I told you I always studied between 1am and 5am while exhausted, and I can only remember 1/5th of my biology book?

Please stop taking a quantitative approach to this.

Here's a test for if you're ready (have to request access): https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Y5Xs2k7i6hc9P1hIHVB4yNlzYoc_M6b/view?usp=share_link

If you solve it properly, you're likely to be ready! If you don't, you need work.

Please also remember “reading” cases “doesn't count”. Live cases (the 30 that people have given you) counts.

The average number of cases to be ready is about 30.

I have seen people that are ready in 10 cases. I have seen others that are not ready even after 100 cases.

There's no “aiming” for a number of cases. You need to aim for excellence in:

• Frameworking
• Objective-driven thinking
• Insights
• Judgement
• Math
• Case leadership
• Communication
• etc.

The best way to know if you are ready, what is “lacking” and how much time/effort is needed to fix your resources, is…coaching!

Here's some reading that might 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

Bonus: Another Litmus Test To See If You Are Ready

Create a framework for this prompt:

"Our client owns a designer shoe-store that makes high end made to measure shoes for customers. • The high-quality product has gained popularity rapidly and the client wants to ramp up production, however, the highly-skilled labor that our client employs is hard to come by. • Our client wants us to help them figure out how to increase output without adversely affecting quality."

Here are 5 possible frameworks (if you get any, you're “ready”. If you don't, you need work)

Hi there, 

Congrats on all the hard work you put in!

High level, yes, that sounds enough. But as you might imagine, it's impossible to tell whether that's actually enough for you. 

My suggestion would be to get a full assessment from an expert to see if there are any blind spots you didn't consider or whether you are ready for the interview. 

Best,
Cristian

Wow that's very impressive! From a purely numbers perspective this is sufficient. The real question is how well you're performing in these sessions. If you have a good grasp of the questions, have gotten positive feedback  and are happy with your performance then you're ready for the interviews. 

Hi,

First of all, congratulation for your serious preparation.

From my point of view if today you feel confortable and you have good feedback with experienced interviewers, you don't need more session.

My only concern when I read you is that you seem to focus on case study. Do not forget to also prepare FIT/PEI questions which can count for 50% of the decision. When I was an interviewer at McKinsey I rejected more people because of PEI than Case Study. My advice on this part is to work with a coach at least 2 or 3 sessions.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Hi there,

just adding to the previous coaches - No theoretical answer can be given, without tests and proof. 

From a ROI perspective (money spent vs. potential future cash inflow from entering MBB), a pretty “cheap” way of finding out your level is to do a test w/ 2-3 coach that have

- Enough track record on the platform to “reassure you”

- Ideally worked for your target firm for a sufficient tenure

I would advice you to do so - will give you a lot of piece of mind and confidence IMO (it did for me at least :))

Hope it helps.

Best of luck for your interviews

Hi there,

my advice is do not overdo it. You will never be able to perfectly prepare for the actual interview day. After all you do not know which case you will get and which questions exactly you will be asked. As long as your performance on the practice cases you have done is great and there is no more ‘technical’ aspects you feel you can sharpen, you are good to go.

I think there is a danger of overpracticing leading to overconfidence/trying to press the actual case into an approach you have used in one of your past cases.

Also do not forget to prepare for PEI.

Cheers, 

Andreas

Hi there,

Some case pass the interview with <10 cases under their belt, others fail with >200. Hence, it's really impossible to tell.

I commend you for putting in the time and highly encourage you to work with a coach at this point. That's because candidates sometimes spend 10's of hours just to pick up the wrong habits… It's heart breaking to see when this happens and results in a failed interview. But that's exactly what us coaches are trying to prevent! 

Working with a coach will allow you to know when you're actually interview ready, which has massive impact on your nerves and confidence when the day comes.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help!

Best,
Moritz

Hi there,

First of all, it is great to see your persistence!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, while from a purely quantitative perspective, you might have prepared thoroughly, it is very hard to provide a meaningful answer without having seen your performance in a case interview. As such, in case you would like to know for certain, I would highly advise you to reach out to an experienced coach about it.
• Moreover, I would highly advise you to also prepare for any potential pre-interview assessments, and the personal fit part of the interviews. While preparing for the case study part might require more time, the personal fit part is equally important to succeed in the interviews.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

There is no set number of cases that you need to do, I did one live case before getting an offer, my friend did five. Other people do hundreds. You want to get comfortable with the format of casing and feel confident walking into the room. If you're there, then stop! If you're not then I'd ask yourself what would make you confident and go from there. 

Good luck!

The specific number of live cases doesn't really matter. One thing is to say that you MUST do some live cases, as you need to practice the interaction, communication and surprising (and nervousness) aspects of a live interview.

The other to say that you need to do it 10, 20 or 50 times. Doesn't really matter - you can start getting it right after just a handful, to be honest.

So the question is not how many, but HOW GOOD are you when doing those live interviews.