Case Interview Workshop
October 12th, 1999
Today’s Agenda
 What is a Case Interview?
 Purpose
 Approach
 Preparation Advice
 Logistics and Ground Rules
for This Afternoon
 Questions & Answers
Before We Begin - 3 Things to Remember
 Focus on explicit logic and structure - it needs to
be clear what you are doing…
 Strive for the creative use of new and existing
frameworks - whatever is appropriate!!!
 Practice a lot and practice a wide variety of
cases...
What is a Case Interview?
Simply put, a question and answer session on a business situation.
 It is a way to see HOW you think and
analyze problems, situations, and/or
questions
 Oftentimes, it is prefaced with a brief fit
interview. If not, fit is concurrent with the
case...
 Typical roles
 Interviewers provide background,
answer questions, and guide the
discussion (if they’re nice)
 Interviewees listen carefully, think
through approach before starting down
one track, and then verbalize the
approach, analysis, etc...
What is a Case Interview?
Highly interactive… They typically look like this:
2-5 minutes:
5 minutes:
3-5 minutes:
15-25 minutes:
2-5 minutes:
Bye-bye
Quick Fit - “chit-chat”
Case Data Presented, Clarification Questions
Framework Development & Communication
Analysis, Question and Answer
Summary, Recommendations, Next Steps, etc.
Total Time = approx.. 30-45 minutes per interview...
Purpose of the Case Interview
Test beyond your knowledge of canned frameworks, work/life
experience, resume, and the latest b-school rankings...
 Can the candidate think on his/her feet?
 How well does the candidate organize the information?
 Does the candidate develop and utilize an appropriate
framework for the business situation?
 Is the candidate comfortable discussing strategy, operations,
organization, people, and technology?
 Is the candidate a good problem solver?
 Is the candidate insightful?
 Is the candidate creative?
Purpose of the Case Interview
Gauge candidate’s performance on a client engagement.
 Will the candidate establish trust and build confidence with
colleagues and clients?
 Is the candidate open minded and flexible?
 Does the candidate form reasonable hypotheses and answer
questions thoroughly?
 Does the candidate unafraid to tackle tough questions?
 Is the candidate a good listener?
 Is the candidate relaxed and confident?
 Does the candidate actively engage?
Approach to the Case Interview
All of your effort should focus on logical and
structured progress.
 Listen to the problem
 Clarify the problem
 Ask questions to identify and clarify the issues
 Restate the problem in your own words
 Develop a hypothesis - this may or may not be vocalized...
 Establish suitable analytical framework to analyze
problem
 Collect information and assess the problem
 Structure, refine and build hypothesis; synthesize
findings
 Make recommendations; plan next steps
Approach to the Case Interview
• The dreaded case…. Just break it down
Listen to
the
Problem
Clarify
the
Problem
Develop
Hypothesis
Establish
Framework
Gather
Data
• Backtrack if needed
• Stay organized and calm
• Provide a clear path till the end
Synthesize
Findings
Make Recs/
Next Steps
Approach to the Case Interview
Frameworks… What’s up with Frameworks?
 Avoid using a canned framework out of your bag of
business school tricks (unless it’s really obvious there’s only one
framework that is relevant)
 Be creative in combining elements of canned
frameworks and, most importantly, your own thought
processes
 Frameworks will help make sure you’ve covered most of
your bases and are great backups if you draw a blank
Use our Strategy Analysis Tools to make sense of all the
frameworks….
Preparation Advice
Practice, Practice, Practice!
Variety, Variety, Variety!
 Practice a lot, with a variety of people, and a variety of types of cases
 don’t just focus on high level strategy cases, PwC consultants do much more than strategy
 Work on cases that would originate from a variety of sources, such as
 departments or divisional areas within a company (I.e. marketing, hi-tech products )
 levels within the organization (I.e. The Board, middle management)
 consultant project team, project managers, etc.
 Leverage your own experiences to create cases that make sense to you,
where you know the content really well




past work experience (types of cases might include firm strategy or product development)
extracurricular activities (building a team, managing a project)
school (leading organizations, change management)
life in general (conflict resolution)
 When practicing, ALWAYS state assumptions along the way. WHY did
you say/do/recommend what you did?
Memory Test & Gift Giveaway
What were the 3 Things to Remember?
Logistics and Ground Rules
Logistics




30 minute interviews (including a quick fit & a case)
MCA has the schedule of who is in what room at what time
All interviews in the CMC
Timeframe: 25 minute interview + 5 minute evaluation
Ground Rules



Be present and on time, just like the real thing!
Don’t stress - we’ll throw our notes away when we’re done
Have fun!
Questions & Answers
Questions???