Hi Anonymous,

in terms of customizing the initial structure I would recommend the following

• Be sure to clarify the goals and revenue model of the client well before moving to the structure
• Use that information to personalize the initial structure. For example, don’t talk about price and volume for a bank providing loans, but rather number of loans and interest charged

In terms of understanding how to structure inside the case: it would be very useful if you could provide some examples of what you found challenging as otherwise one can only suggest a general approach.

In general, I would recommend the following steps to improve how to structure inside a case:

1. Recap the situation until that moment
2. Ask for one minute of time to structure your thoughts
3. Identify some key MECE areas. This is something you can do even if you have never seen that question before. If you go blank, you can use a structure as X vs Non-X. Potential divisions include: Long term vs short term; Current vs New; Financial vs Non-financial. The more you practice cases in the right way, the more you will be able to derive appropriate MECE areas fitting a case.
4. Brainstorm inside each of the areas. Your creativity in this area is directly correlated with the number of cases you have done. If you feel weak in one specific industry, the most effective strategy is to go through consulting MBA casebooks (there are many available for free online – although not all are good) and screen the list for the industries interesting for you. MBA casebooks are not good in terms of the structure of the case but can help to develop creativity.

I provided an example below.

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Interviewer: So, generally speaking, how would you decrease the cost of raw materials?

Step 1: Recap the situation

Interviewee: So, if I understood correctly, you would like now to move to the elements that could decrease this cost. If it is fine for you, I would like to do a small recap and then move through the key elements that can help to do so. In the beginning, you asked me what brought a decline in profits. We have identified the problem lays in Product A, and in particular in the cost area. We then found out that the main increase in cost was related to raw material.

Interviewer: That’s right.

(Note you may have gained 30 seconds of additional time summing up information to think)

Step 2: Ask for one minute of time to structure your thoughts

Interviewee: Do you mind if I take 1 minute to think about it?

Interviewer: Please take your time.

Step 3: Identify some key MECE areas

Interviewee: Thanks; I believe there are two key areas to decrease the cost of raw material; we may decrease the cost of each unit, or we may decrease the number of units we buy. I would like now to go a bit deeper into these two components.

(Note that even if you are brainstorming, you are first presenting a list of the MECE areas. This is fundamental to brainstorm correctly)

Step 4: Brainstorm inside each of the areas

Interviewee: Well, in order to decrease the cost per unit we may do a couple of things, keeping in mind we want to maintain revenues at the same level:

1. we may negotiate a lower price;
2. we may look for other suppliers.

In order to decrease the number of units, we may do the following:

1. we may start to use a more efficient technology for our raw material, so that we have less waste;
2. we may use a new kind of raw material for which there is less waste.

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Best,

Francesco

(edited)

Hi Anonymous,

what did you do besides VC and Case in Point? It is difficult to provide a feedback without more specific information.

In general, it is likely you are not receiving proper feedback on how to improve. As already mentioned, the best way to do so is to find great partners or experts, that can quickly tell you not only what you are doing wrong, but also how to improve.

If you want to share the feedback you got, or why you feel a complex case is intimidating, as part of a Q&A, that could also help to get more specific feedback.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

50 cases can be a lot if you've done them with great partners and feedback and can be nothing if done improperly

3 things to work on:

1. Doing more cases with very good partners
2. Building business acumen (industry and functional knowledge) (will explain further)
3. Revisiting all the cases that you've done before and rebuilding the structure with new and better approaches

Business Acumen is all about building proper industry and functional knowledge. Here is how you can do that:

1. Practice more cases with the other candidates. Try to start with the most common industries - Retail, Consumer Goods, Airlines, Banking
2. Study the annual reports of the public companies in each industry. They have a good overview of the company and the industry.
3. Get the industry information from relevant books, magazines, etc. We'll recommend some good reading in the next lessons.
4. Study MBA cases. They have a good industry overview. You can purchase HBS cases here: https://hbr.org/store/case-studies
5. Follow this course further and you'll learn a lot about different industries

For each industry, you should understand:

• Revenue streams
• Cost structure
• Average margins
• Key Performance Indicators
• Industry trends

Best

(edited)

Hi,

First of all - try to get the objective measurement of your performance. It may be the case that you think you have plateaued but in reality, you have lots of things to improve. The sources of the objective assessment and feedback might be:

• MBB Consultants giving you a mock session
• Coaches on prep lounge
• Very experienced candidates who have passed the 1st rounds

Ask them proactively for the hard cases.

Secondly - I will look at unusual cases and the cases that most of the candidates miss

I have answered this question here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hardest-cases-to-excel-in-1648

Finally - don't stop practicing, especially before the interview. Solving cases is a mechanical skill and it has a tendency to go away (same as muscles:)

Best!

Hi,

Based on the resources that you've mentioned, looks like you did not have any interviews with great partners.

1) The first way is to find the right partners. Your preparation is more about quality rather than quantity:

1. Don't count the cases you've done yourself
2. Don't count the cases you've done from the casebooks
3. Count the cases you've done with experienced candidates (50+ cases solved / passed the first round) who can give you a real case and a good feedback.

2) Another way is to have a good coach. If you take a good coach, you can make it in 20-35 cases. The coach will give you the right knowledge. Partners will help you integrate the skill. At the end of the day, it's just a skill that can be trained.

Why do you even need partners and coaches? When you are stressed during the case interview and out of energy having the 3rd case in a row, 90% of your questions and reactions should be fully automatic. Otherwise, it's extremely hard to solve the case, trying in find out what you've memorized from v.Cheng book.

Best!

Hi,

I recommend doing several things on a regular basis:

1) Every 10 cases revisit the previous cases and think how you would structure them differently now having the new experience and having solved the new types of cases

2) Build business judgment. Read about different industries and functions. I strongly recommend practice drawing structures for each industry - profitability, value chain, etc . Then I will switch to getting functional knowledge and key concepts in Marketing (Brand and trade marketing tools, etc), Supply chain (Ops metrics like cycle time and throughput time, distribution and delivery specifics, etc), Finance (Basic Accounting and Valuation). Good sources might be:

• Books - one good book about airlines with numbers and industry analysis can give you all needed industry knowledge
• Company reports, equity reports, etc - usually have a good overview of company and industries.One of the best sources to prepare
• HBS cases - quite useful, but not sure if lot's of them available publically. Probably worth buying

Again, every 10 cases revisit the previous cases and think how you would structure them differently now having the new knowledge

3) Practice fast math

• Learn how to multiply double digit numbers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ndkkPZYJHo)
• Learn the division table up to 1/11 (i.e. 5/6 = 83.3)
• Learn how to work with zeros (Hint: 4000000 = 4*10ˆ6)
• Use math tools (Mimir math for iOS), Math tool on Viktor Cheng website to practice

4) Read Viktor Cheng Book and listen to LOMS. I recommend to reread the book and listen to LOMS every 15 cases. Every time, having more experience, you’ll be finding something new.

! Important: don't forget about the FIT interview part. Crafting you stories and backups stories will require a couple of weeks!

Best!

Hi Anonymous,

I think a very similar question has been asked here, and the points raised are very good advice in my opinion: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/not-improving-at-case-interviews-447#a891

I believe a large part of the success in becoming a strong case solver comes down to the quality of the direct coaching that he/she is getting. A small network of 4 to 6 persons, including at least one real (ex-)consultant who has ample real interviewing experience for one of the big firms, will be worth much more than having dozens of practice sessions with random persons who are also inexperienced.

Cheers, Sidi

I agree with all points Francesco stressed!

In addition, it might be worthwhile to create a new stimulus here and there.

• This could be getting specific coaching on some aspects from a seasoned consultant/expert who has not coached you before.
• Depending on your country, you could also be applying to one or two firms that are low priority for you to "test the waters" in terms of your case skills. Doing real interviews with these firms can provide a strong additional stimulus before and after the interviews!

Cheers, Sidi