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Why do several candidates here prefer non-preplounge cases?

B School Case Books Casebooks Cases Practice cases preplounge Quality
Recent activity on Feb 03, 2019
3 Answers
2.8 k Views
S asked on Feb 02, 2019

Do the cases here on preplounge generally represent what somebody can expect during a real case interview? Or are cases from business school books closer to real interviews? Would it be better to practise with cases from a good business school casebook instead of preplounge cases?

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Sidi
Expert
replied on Feb 03, 2019
McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers

Hi!

I agree in the sense that the relevant element is not the case, but the quality of the person who gives the case! This is far far more important than the case as such. There are loads of people out there who get very damaging feedback from non- or ill-informed case partners, and this is how many damaging habits and practices become a "common feature" of whole generations of applicants.

In my view it is important that a candidate gets proper guidance/coaching from a competent person (consultant who does interviews/ ex consultant who was trained on interviewing / coach from preplounge) very early on in the process, as this will then make subsequent peer practice sessions much more helpful (where the candidate then already has some perspective and is aware of how cautious he needs to be with peer feedback).

Cheers, Sidi

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Guennael
Expert
updated an answer on Feb 02, 2019
Ex-MBB, Experienced Hire; I will teach you not only the how, but also the why of case interviews

Dont disagree with Vlad, but there's also a middle ground: in my opinion, any case is fine, as long as the one giving the case knows what he/she is doing. I will adjust my cases based on the candidates for example, and make it harder or easier based on your level and target company. I am sure every coach here does this as well.

(edited)

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Vlad
Expert
updated an answer on Feb 02, 2019
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

It's always better to prepare using the real cases from the company (or even the office) you are applying to.

Casebooks are the least trusted resource in terms of cases. The cases itself might be good, but the solutions that they propose are usually useless.

Preplounge, as you can see, is in the middle of the spectrum of your resources.

Best

(edited)

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