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Sounding unnatural?

Hi, 

I previously had a case interview that I did not pass. One of the feedbacks that I got was that it was good that it seemed like I prepared, but I sounded "stilted". Is a case interview supposed to sound conversational? Isn't it good that it was clear I had put in the work to prepare? How do I sound more natural even though a case has certain steps, e.g. clarifying questions, recap case, then lay out framework, etc...? 

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Top answer
Andreas
Coach
on Feb 28, 2017
Roland Berger Consultant I Tailored Training for your Success!

Hi there,

first of all: Congratulations for getting invited in the first place and of course it is good that you managed to lay out a clear structure for the problem at hand. However, you should always keep in mind that consulting is a people's business. Working on consulting projects, you will have to work with all kinds of personalities, and they want to be engaged and not be confronted with standard solutions. Every problem is different and hence, every solution is, too. Surely, I have not been there in person, but a possible explanation for this feedback may be, that you used the frameworks you learned too strictly.

Thus, I would recommend you to use your case knowledge to lay out a structure as a general guideline and don't fixate on it too much. I haven't come across a problem in real life so far that could easily fit into one or two particular frameworks. Being flexible, adjusting frameworks and issue trees on the go is thus a skill you might work on.

Best wishes,
Andreas
 

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