Case Interviews
Question:
What is the best way to prepare for case interviews for management consulting jobs?
My Response:
There are a few things that make case interviews different than a traditional job interview. Obviously there is the case itself which is more much problem-solving and interactive than a traditional job interview.
The case interview doesn't just want to determine if you can do the job, they want to SEE, HEAR, and EXPERIENCE you doing one aspect of the job in real-time, right in front of them.
I would suggest preparing in the following way:
- Familiarize yourself with the case interview format. This helps you get a feel for how the time flows in an interview and what needs to be accomplished in the first 5 minutes, 15 minutes and by the end of a 30 or 40 minute interview
- You want to develop your case interviewing skills. My free online case interview videos tutorial program is definitely a helpful resources in this regard.
- You'll want to familiarize yourself with case interview frameworks – think of it as the equivalent of an airplane pilot's pre-flight checklist. It's a list of topics you may want to consider covering in a particular type of case.