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1、Crack ing the Case: A Con suit ing In terview Primer光華人Page 1 of 3Web Exclusive You don't have to be Sherlock Holmesto ace the cases in a con sult in g-firm in terview. I n fact, a littlepreparation can make solving them seem,well, eleme ntary.Remember your seventh- grade algebra teacher ' s

2、 three favorite words? "Show your work." At the time, it seemed silly: Why not just show the right an swer ? Now that you ' re older and wiser, however, you know that in many cases how you get to the right answer is more importa nt tha n simply knowing the an swer itself.The same goes

3、for the case questi ons that con sult ing recruiters lob at you. Con sult ing is a dema nding job with few "correct" an swers; this method of in terview ing gauges how well you man agethe process of gettingto an answer and how you perform undersimulated clie nt-e ngageme nt con diti ons.We

4、 talked to con sulta nt-hu nters at several firms to glea n their advice on crack ing the case in terview.Here's what the recruiters revealed and how you can best prepare.Why the Case In terview?Case in terviews have long bee n used by recruiters to see a can didate's thought processes in mo

5、ti on. Can you dec on struct and an alyze complex, ope n-en ded bus in essproblems? Do you stay calm, or will you sweat bullets un der pressure at a clie nt site?At the most basic level, a case in terview is about ask ing the right questi ons, develop ing a logical way of worki ng through the releva

6、 nt issues, and arrivi ng at a recomme ndatio n. Your structure may be a packaged framework or it may be various frameworks strung together; you mayeven choose not to use frameworks at all. What's importa nt is that you dem on stratesomedefi ned structure.光華人“ Case studies are an imperfect scie

7、nee, con cedes MichaelGibn ey,projectman ageratPricewaterhouse Coopers,“ but are easilyimplementable in the 30 to 45 minutes we have for each in terview. Since they measure your an alytical skills, they're an improvement over simple "fit" or "resum e "in terviews.In most case

8、 in terviews, the recruiter gives you an example of a real-life clie nt problem. Some typical categories in clude:Compa ny Strategy:“ My clie nt is thi nki ng ofmaking an acquisiti on, and Brain Games: “ How many tennis balls are in theUni ted States?Operations Improvement:“Why is my client' sfa

9、ctory running beh ind? Market Size:“ How big is the global aircon diti oner market? Although each requires a slightlydifferentapproach,all are meant mai nly to evaluate the process you use, not the an swer you come up with.Practice Makes PerfectYou absolutely, positively must prepare in advanee for

10、case in terviews.“ It becomespretty clear pretty fastwho hasand who has not practiced, says Gibney.“ I know there is a basic sort of bus in ess acume nthat may not be able to be practiced, but can didates must have an un dersta ndable approach to sol ving problems.That' s what our clie nts dema

11、nd of us. If we can' trelate solutions to the client, it' s a problem. Don t assumethat atte nding a case-orie nted bus in ess school will give you an upper hand. Joh n Flato, CapGemi ni Ernst & Young' s n ati onaldirector ofuni versity recruit ing, says these can didates don' ts

12、eem to do any better or worse tha n can didates from non-case schools.Study different kinds ofcase questions. Just becauseyour buddy in terviewedbefore you and gave you aheads-up on the questions doesn' t meanyou have a legup. Recruiters have tons of case questi ons in theirrepertoire, and the c

13、ha nces of their using the samequestion multiple times on one campus visit are slimto none.光華人Get a classmate or frie nd to role-play the in terviewwith you, and use any resources (such as a casebook)that your school'sconsulting club provides. The moremock cases you sink your teeth in to, the mo

14、re likelyyou are to be relaxed and poised for the real thi ng.Sometimes you learn more by presenting a case questionto some on etha n you do whe n sol ving the case yourself.Deliberately pick industriesyou're not familiar withso as to test your analytical skills, not memorizedfacts; for in sta n

15、ee, if your pre-B-school experie neeis mostly in media and en terta inment, ask your casebuddy to ask you about steel product ion or medicaldevice marketi ng. That said, do con sider brush ing upon the basics in several in dustries for in sta nee,know the product developme nt cycle in pharmaceutical

16、research, and un dersta nd curre nt trends in tech no logy.(For more information on various fields, check outour.) Although each case is different, with practiceyou will improve your analytical reasoningskills andsolution method.Think Through the ProcessWhen it comes to strategy or product marketing

17、 questions, the interviewer will often give you only the bare bones of a case and will wait for you to request further details: Howmanycompetitors does the company have? What are the major cost and revenue drivers? Who are the major clients? And don't forget to ask for the firm's mission if

18、you don't know what a company's goals are, you might come up with a valid but misguided solution. Use some basic frameworks to drive your questions the four P's and the three C's, for instance.A sample question Gibney used recently involved a manufacturer/distributor/retailer of comp

19、uter products. This client has traditionally gone directly to the consumer and has developed a solid brand image. The client now wants an assessment as to the issues relating to the core business, as well as the opportunities for the companyto get into the services side, which it views as a high-mar

20、gin/high-growth-rate business. The candidate now needs to provide an approach or evaluative framework for analyzing each of the two different problems.As long as it's permitted, work your answers out on paper. Pen cils and pens, plus a no tebook or legal pad should be sta ndard equipme nt in any

21、 in terview. “ It ' s amazing how many people show up without a pen and paper, marvels Kamenna Rindova, a senior associate at Mercer ManagementConsulting. Thinking through all the facts is a must, and you' re not going to do it all in your head.Page 2 of 3Web Exclusive You don't have to

22、be Sherlock Holmesto ace the cases in a con sult in g-firm in terview. I nfact, a littlepreparation can make solving them seem,well, eleme ntary.May the Five Forces (Not) Be with YouSome recruiters are turned off whe n pote ntial hires draw on a packaged an alytical framework (such as the five force

23、s) to solve a problem. Others, however, are impressed. To be on the safe side, if you use a framework, don ' t stray too far from the issue.If you do use one, choose wisely. If the case is about a bus in ess that's con sideri ng entry into an in dustry, Porter's five forces may in deed b

24、e your best bet. If you're talk ing about how products get from suppliers to end consumers, consider the value chain. Companies that arefalli ngshort on sales could use aprofitability or cost vs. reve nue an alysis.If you'remarketi ng a new pharmaceutical product, think about the 4 P's a

25、nd the 3 C's."Is That Your Fi nal A nswer?"Don t be afraid of pausing. Take the time to draw upnotes and sketch out the problem. Don t blurt anything out unnecessarily to end a period of silenee. You' renot on a game show; you' re interviewingto be aeon sulta nt,which is a bus

26、in ess as muehabout thinkingas it is about com muni eati ng. Above all, be calm.If you do respond to a question too quickly, beforeunderstanding all the facts, you may end up con tradict ingyourself halfway through yourresp onse which could be disastrous. “ In our environment and our industry, says

27、Sean Huurman,national recruitingdirector of KPMGConsulting,“weneed to make sure we ' re saying the right thing the first time. After all the an alysis, however, don't forget to cometo somekind of conclusion as to what the companyshould do. Consider presenting a decision rule that the imagina

28、ry organization could use to figure out what the best option is e.g., if revenues outstrip costs, then do x.Follow the LeaderMany firms use a group exercise in their sec ond or subsequent rounds to see howwell you work with others. If you ' re assigned a role other than team leader, don' t f

29、ret. It doesn' t matter what your role is inthe exercise just do it well. If you and the team membersare told to settle between yourselves who gets to do what, don ' t fight over who gets to make the presentationor lead the group. Likewise, don ' t playthe shri nking violet. Remember, th

30、e recruiter is watch ing.Whatever you do, show con fide nee, not arroga nee. A display of ego before Joh n Flato at Cap Gem ini Ernst & Young is a certa in red flag.“ Obviously, those whogo to bus in ess schools are bright and tale nted theywouldn' t be there otherwise, Flato remarks.“Wehire

31、 bright and talented people, but only those who can work well with team members and not display arroga nee.Page 3 of 3Web Exclusive You don't have to be Sherlock Holmesto ace the cases in a con suit in g-firm in terview. I nfact, a littlepreparation can make solving them seem,well, eleme ntary.R

32、eady for some compa ny-specific advice? Here's what five recruiters told us about in terviewi ng at their firms.The Questions:Words of Wisdom:Coveney points out that she doesn't have a preference regarding how a candidate initially reacts to the case interview question.“Some people take some

33、 time toformulate their thoughts, other people ask a few questions, and other people jump right in, Coveneysays. “Relax and take your time, focus on the specific issues of the case, remember there is no one right answer to the case, and don't use too manyframeworks. Don't throw in the kitche

34、n sink, like Porter's fiveforces, etc. Just be confident, and relaxit willreally help with the interview.Recruiter No. 2: Kamenna Rindova, senior associate, Mercer Management ConsultingThe Questions:MMCasks most candidatesone-on-one questionsanddoesn't oftendo group exercises.Reflecting thei

35、ssues, with occasional market sizing questions thrown in. The purpose of the interview for MMC is to see the candidate's ability to structure and think through a problem as they would on the job.Words of Wisdom:Rindova says practice and familiarity with cases is essential, and stresses that an i

36、nterview can go south if the candidate loses sight of the structure he or she is building. Lastly, beating a clear path to any response is more important than getting it righ t. “You can give (a recruiter) a wrong answer, but if you thought out loud through the process, you could still have a stella

37、r interview, Rindova concludes.Recruiter No. 3: Scott Berney, head of U.S. recruiting operations, Monitor GroupThe Questions:Determining a person 's analytical skills, comfort with manipulating numbers, and ability to integrate different pieces of data is the purpose of the case interview for Mo

38、nitor Group. For the first round of interviews, case questions are usually written and are two to three pages in length. In the final round, a group event is used.Words of Wisdom:Recruiter No. 4: Sean Huurman, national recruiting director, KPMG ConsultingThe Questions:“The case question helps get to

39、 a thinking process and vari ous characteristics of a candidate you don't necessarily get in an ordinary interview, says Huurman. “When we use cases, we are really focusing on things that tie into the client. The typical KPMG consultant hunter wants to know how a candidate can communicate with t

40、he team, their leadership, and the client.Huurman favors group interviews, and knows a lot of candidates can be prepped in advance, but he notes that there 's "no amount of coaching" that can prepare you光華人for a group project.Words of Wisdom:“ Too many people jump right into the case s

41、tudy and don' t put any thought into it, says Huurman. “Iwant the interviewees tothink thingsthrough. KPMGrecruiters are always told to let the can didate have some time to think through the case, but Huurman in dicates that very few can didates take adva ntage of it.Huurman admits that few recruiters would ask int