LEK Case Interview R1/Consultant

Hi there,

First of all, good luck!

Second, from what I'm reading, you need more time. If you can ask them to delay your interview that would be much advised.

Here's some case reading: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

Here's some Fit/Behavioral Reading: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

1) How is Strategy & Quant case different? Is one focus on more qualitative aspect as compared to quantitative?

Strategy tends to be the “strategic thinking” side of things (frameworking, business acumen, etc.) and quant tends to be taking numbers (from tables, charts/exhibits, or verbally provided) and drawing insights and/or doing calculations.

2) Does quant only refer to Heavy Market Sizing or can it be a Financial Analysis as well?

Um, neither. It can be “regular” market sizing, financial analysis, and about a dozen other things! You need to know your key formulas (NPV, Breakeven, etc.) and know how to create equations on your own based on information provided.

3) As I have less time on my hand, which type of cases should I focus on mostly? Should it be PE, M&A, New Product Launch or Profitability? Can someone share their experience with me?

I'm sorry but you need to focus on “all” and “none”. Learn how to be flexible and adaptable. Look at what a candidate just messaged me about one of their recent interviews:

4) Should I focus more time on Healthcare/Pharma/Life Sciences cases as compared to other industries? (I applied for the generalist role and not specialist)

No. See point #3. Be flexible and adaptable to any industry, function, question etc. You're trying to memorize answers. That is not going to work!

5) If you are a coach that has a bank of real-life LEK Questions asked for US offices or have a high success rate with LEK recruiting please mention it here and I will contact you via dm.

You are approaching this the wrong way. Memorizing a bank is not going to help you. Learning how to think about cases/frameworks is really the only way to succeed in such a short amount of time. I have a 95% success rate with my candidates (but that does assume a certain # of sessions, prep time, etc.)

6) Does the interviewer also ask fit questions in R1? It says "Quant 1" & "Strategy 1" but don't mention fit anywhere.

You need to be ready for this. I've provided something to get you started out.

 6) What does LEK put more weight on? Is it the structure/approach, poise/communication, etc.?

Everything. You need to be presentable and they need to feel that they could both work with you and put you in front of the client. IQ and EQ matters.

Hi there, 

thanks for these detailed questions - happy to share my thoughts.

1. How is strat case different from quant? The first will focus more on conceptual thinking and developing recommendations for a given business problem. Quant cases, especially with LEK, tend to be very sizing-heavy. Both on the supply- and on the demand side. 

2. Does quant only refer to sizing or also financial analysis? While, as mentioned, LEK is quite heavy on sizings, you can definitely expect questions on Financial Analysis too. Even quant. brain teasers are nothing uncommon at LEK. 

3. With little time, what to focus on? Firstly, I'd suggest you move the interview, if you don't feel ready yet. If you want to target your prep, play the probabilities - focus on types of cases the firm is known for - e.g. P&L-based questions, sizings, PE- related work in this case. That said, you should always be open to any type of question.

4. Should I focus more time on Healthcare/Pharma/Life Sciences cases as compared to other industries? Given LEK's strong footprint, It definitely helps to familiarize yourself with these industries (news & macro-developments trends, cost structures etc) to come across as mature with good common sense, well-read. That said, rest assured that cases can come from any industry, also at LEK.

5. If you are a coach that has a bank of real-life LEK Questions asked for US offices or have a high success rate with LEK recruiting please mention it here and I will contact you via dm. Please feel free to reach out. I scored a full-time offer from LEK myself, have many real case examples, and maybe most importantly, coached a quite significant number of candidates to LEK offers in the US (and other regions). In short, I'll be able to help!

6. Does the interviewer also ask fit questions in R1? In most cases yes, absolutely - note that the depth of the fit part varies by interviewer though.

7. What does LEK put more weight on? Honestly, there's a minimum threshold you have to meet for all of them. Depending on which role you are applying for, the weight / focus between raw problem solving & structuring ability vs. comms & business judgement will shift, i.e. the more senior the role, the more it tilts towards the latter.

Hope this helps - as mentioned, please feel free reach out for further info! 

Cheers, Andi

Hello!

You may be overthinking it, and it´s totally normal! We all have done it in a context like this, where we care a lot and the stakes are high. 

What they are telling you is that you will have a part in which you will need to structure a problem, and then some math follow up. In a nutshell: the classics. 

Don´t try to guess what you will get, but do cases in a wide range of industries and typologies. 

The classics, if you want some guidance on where to start, are:

1. Profitability cases- basic profitability framework.

2. Idea generation cases: for any specif issue

3. Growth cases: market penetration, new product launch, product mix change, etc.

4. Pricing cases

5. M&A cases

6. Valuation cases

7. Value chain cases

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara