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1、V Guide to Consulting Case Interviews 169Why the case?Your impressive resume may get you an interview with a consulting firm, but it wont get you the job. Consultants know that a resume, at its very best, is only a two-dimensional representation of a multi-faceted, dynamic person. And because consul
2、ting firms depend on employing those multi-faceted, dynamic people, the firms rely heavily on the case interview to screen candidates. The interview process is especially pertinent in the consulting industry since consulting professionals spend the lions share of their business day interacting with
3、clients and colleagues, and must themselves constantly interview client employees and executives. Furthermore, consultants must have a select set of personality and leadership traits in order to be successful. A consultant?s work environment is extremely turbulent. There are nonstop engagement team
4、changes, hostile client environments, countless political influences, and near-perpetual travel. These factors dictate that an individual be cool under pressure, be influential without being condescending, be highly analytical, have the ability to understand the granular aspects of a problem while s
5、imultaneously aggregating them to see the big picture, and have the ability to self-police a balance between personal and professional lifestyle. Consultants are often staffed in small groups in far-flung areas. As a result, the individual must be able to function, and function well, without many of
6、 the traditional workplace standards: a permanent working space, the ability to return home each night, easily accessed services such as administrative assistance, faxing, and photocopying, and the camaraderie that develops among co-workers assigned to the same business unit. All these factors neces
7、sitate a unique interview structure focused on assessing a candidate?s ability to manage these particular circumstances with professionalism and excellence. The case interview has evolved as a method for evaluating these characteristics. What is a case?Simply put, a case interview is the analysis of
8、 a business question. Unlike most other interview questions, it is an interactive process. Your interviewer will present you with a business problem and ask you for your opinion. Your job is to ask the interviewer logical questions that will permit you to make a detailed recommendation. The majority
9、 of case interviewers dont have a specific answer that you, the candidate, are expected to give. What the interviewer is looking for is a thought process that is at once analytical and creative (what consultants love to call out-of-the-box thinking). Specific knowledge of the industry in question is
10、 a bonus but not necessary. Business school students and candidates with significant business world experience receive case questions that require a deeper understanding of business models and processes. The interview with a consulting company normally lasts about half an hour. Of this time, about 1
11、0 to 20 minutes is taken up with preliminary chat and behavioral questions and five minutes of your asking questions about the company. This leaves 5 to 15 minutes for your case interview question or questions. Make them count! Types of case interviewsWhat case interviews are not designed to do is t
12、o explore educational, professional, or experiential qualifications. If youve reached the case interview stage, take a deep breath - the consulting firm has already weighed your background, GPA, and experience and found you worthy of a deeper skill assessment. This means that the case interview is y
13、ours to lose. Triumph over your case interviews and chances are that a slot at the firm will open for you. Case interviews vary widely, but in general they fall into three groups: business cases, guesstimates, and brainteasers. These questions are designed to assess a particular set of candidate cha
14、racteristics that an individual would be required to possess as part of the tactical and/or lifestyle aspects of being a consultant. Case interviewsCase interviews vary somewhat in their format. The classic and most common type of case interview is the business case, in which youre presented with a
15、business scenario and asked to analyze it and make recommendations. Most cases are presented in oral form, though some involve handouts, and a few (like Monitor Companys) are entirely written. (That is, the interviewer will not contribute any other information besides whats on the handout.) Another
16、variation on the case interview that is becoming more popular is the group case interview, where three to six candidates are grouped together and told to solve a case cooperatively. Consultants from the firm watch as silent observers. Though you should certainly be prepared for these variations on case interviews, you are most likely to come across the traditional, mano-a-mano case interview. GuesstimatesWhether free-standing or as part of
