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Case interview preparation

About case interview

During the case interview you will solve a case study which is an example of the real challenges that our clients face. Cases are usually based on real Strategy Labs projects and your interviewer's experience.

Solving these real life business problems will allow you to get a taste of the work we do every day and challenges we help our clients to overcome.

Typically your interviewer will present you a business situation and a challenge the client is facing. You will need to go through several steps such as understanding the situation and key question to answer, breaking down the problem into parts, solving them and making a final recommendation.

Case studies typically do not have right or wrong answers. Instead, we are interested to evaluate your analytical and creative thinking, problem structuring approach, business sense and communication skills.

Tips or a case interview

Case study interview is the most challenging part of the recruitment process and we strongly encourage you to prepare for it in advance. There are lots of valuable information, tips and sample case studies online. Practice before the interview is very important to succeed.

To help you get started we provide some tips for the case interview:

Listen. Carefully listen to the interviewer and take notes. Clarify objectives of the case and focus on answering the question you were asked.

Understand the situation. Focus on understanding the problem and don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions. Your interviewer may provide you some additional data and hints along the way, so be prepared to take notes. However, do not go too much to details that are not relevant to answer the question.

Structure the problem. Take a few moments to collect your thoughts, think through the problem and establish a relevant framework to reach a solution. It is okay to ask interviewers for a minute to think.

Do not force-fit frameworks. Do not stick to standard frameworks you have learned at school as they are not likely to be the best fit for this specific situation.

Think out loud. Tell the interviewer what you are thinking, explain your plan for solving the problem. Interviewers want to understand your logic and way of thinking, not to get a “correct answer”, which does not exist. Clear communication of your approach and tactics is a very important aspect of a case study. Explaining your approach early will let interviewer to know if you are on the right track so they could guide you if necessary.

Pay attention to the clues. If you get stuck, pay attention to the clues —your interviewer is trying to coach you.

Once you double-checked your work, be confident! Sometimes interviewers will ask you if you are “sure”. It is not always because you made a mistake.

Demonstrate your communication skills. Show your confidence, energy and interest, and demonstrate how you might interact with future clients and colleagues.

Common sense is the king. If you need to make an assumption, attempt to be both logical and simple.

Expect calculations. Be prepared that at some point, the interviewer will ask you to make some simple calculations.

Make insightful observations: go beyond just “doing the math”. Do not rush through math, double check your math and assumptions. Do they make sense from the business point of view? Understanding implications of numbers is crucial.

Relax. Be yourself and enjoy the case discussion!
 

Apply now and start working on real management issues.