What Is A Case Study Interview?
Case study interviews Case study interviews are common in recruitment for management consulting roles but can be used in other industries as well. They’re different to standard ‘question and answer’ interviews, as case study interviews involve working through a business problem or scenario with the interviewer to reach a logical conclusion.
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Contents
Are case study interviews hard?
Why are case interviews hard? – Case interviews are difficult partly because they test a wide range of skills : ability to solve cases structurally and analytically, as well as social skills to convince the interviewer to assist in the problem-solving process; these skills are essential for consulting work. 
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What is the difference between case study and interview?
Forage puts students first. Our blog articles are written independently by our editorial team. They have not been paid for or sponsored by our partners. See our full editorial guidelines, A case study interview isn’t your average interview. While most interviews ask you to give examples of how you use your skills on the job, in a case study interview, you’ll use those skills in front of the interviewer to solve a real-life problem.
What Is a Case Study? What Is a Case Study Interview? How to Prep for a Case Study Interview Case Study Interview Example Questions During the Case Study Interview
How long should a case study interview be?
Anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour is how long your case interview can last and it will depend on the complexity of the question that you’re being asked, as well as the tasks and the deliverable that you’re being asked for.
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How many hours should you study for a case interview?
How to Prepare for Case Interviews in a Week – If you have one week to prepare for case interviews, try to free up as much time as possible on your calendar. We’ll assume that you have about four hours each day to dedicate to preparing for case interviews.
- We recommend using the Hacking the Case Interview Course to expedite your learning process.
- It has 15 – 25 hours of content that you can complete over the course of the week.
- We will also recommend other resources to use if you choose not to use the course.
- Day 1: Learn case interview strategies and schedule practice cases Go through Module 1 – 3 in the Hacking the Case Interview Course, which covers an introduction to case interviews, understanding the case background and objective, and structuring a framework.
These modules include practice problems which you should complete as well. If you are not using the Hacking the Case Interview Course, read the first seven chapters of the Hacking the Case Interview book, Once you finish, you should know exactly how to:
Synthesize case background information clearly and concisely
Ask appropriate clarifying questions
Create structured frameworks
Kick off the case
On Day 1, you should also spend time scheduling practice cases with a case partner for Days 3 – 7. You should try to schedule 1 – 2 cases on each of these five days. Day 2: Finish learning case interview strategies Go through Module 4 – 6 in the Hacking the Case Interview Course, which covers solving quantitative problems, answering qualitative questions, and delivering a recommendation.
Solve market sizing questions
Solve profitability or breakeven questions
Interpret charts and graphs
Answer brainstorming questions
Answer business judgment questions
Deliver a clear, concise recommendation
If you haven’t successfully scheduled practice cases with a case partner for Days 3 – 7, try to finalize the scheduling today. Day 3: Begin practicing cases and identify your weaknesses From Days 3 – 7, you will do a total of 4 practice cases each day, which includes cases that you do by yourself and cases that you do with a partner.
- So, if you have one case scheduled with a partner, do another 3 practice cases by yourself that day.
- If you have two cases scheduled with a partner, do another two.
- If you have no cases scheduled with a partner, you will need to do all 4 cases by yourself.
- By the end of the week, you will have done 20 practice cases.
The Hacking the Case Interview Course has 20 full-length practice cases that you can use. You will likely not need any more than these 20 cases given that you have one week to prepare for your interviews. If you have not enrolled in the course, you can use this list of practice cases provided by consulting firms,
However, know that not all of these practice cases will be high-quality. We recommend doing the practice cases from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Deloitte. After completing your four practice cases for the day, reflect and look back on these cases. You need to pull together a comprehensive, detailed list of all of your improvement opportunities.
If you did practice cases with a partner, they should be able to provide you with feedback that helps you identify your improvement areas. Else, you will need to be introspective on your case interview performance. Day 4: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your frameworks On Day 4, you’ll do another 4 practice cases.
Does your framework have at least 3 – 4 major elements?
Are all of the elements of your framework relevant to the case?
Does your framework cover all of the important areas needed to solve the case?
Are your framework elements mutually exclusive from each other?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your framework structuring skills. Day 5: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your case math On Day 5, you’ll do another 4 practice cases. For these cases, focus on improving your case math. Use the following rubric to assess your case math:
Are you structuring your approach before doing math calculations?
Is your approach clear and efficient?
Are you performing math calculations smoothly and efficiently?
Are you correctly interpreting graphs, charts, and tables?
Are you tying your answers to quantitative questions back to the case objective?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your case math skills. Day 6: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your answers to qualitative questions On Day 6, you’ll do another 4 practice cases. For these cases, focus on improving your answers to qualitative questions. Use the following rubric to assess your qualitative skills:
Are you structuring your answers to qualitative questions?
Is your structure mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive?
Are you brainstorming a sufficient number of ideas?
Are you brainstorming ideas that are high-quality or creative?
Are your answers reasonable from a business perspective?
Are you tying your answers to qualitative questions back to the case objective?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your qualitative case skills. Day 7: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your case conclusion. Prepare for other consulting interview questions On Day 7, you’ll do another 4 practice cases. For these cases, focus on improving your final case conclusion. Use the following rubric to assess your case conclusion:
Does your conclusion start with a firm recommendation?
Is your conclusion structured and clear?
Do you provide sufficient support for your recommendation?
Do you include potential next steps?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your case synthesis and recommendation skills. Finally, you’ll spend time preparing answers to three other consulting interview questions you are likely to get asked:
The “why are you interested in consulting?” question
The “why are you interested in this firm?” question
Behavioral or fit interview questions
Why is it called case study?
Case Study A case study is a qualitative research approach where multiple methods of data collection are used for a detailed examination of a single ‘case’. A case is a single unit in a study. It can be a person or an organisation, like a clinic, police force, factory or a hospital.
- A case can also be a community or groups of people.
- Television series have also been used as case studies of how television programmes are produced.
- Sometimes researchers undertake more than one case study for purposes of comparison, e.g.
- Private versus public hospitals.
- In medicine, there has been a tradition of using a singular person to give a detailed medical history or description of an unusual health condition.
In social sciences, sometimes a life history is considered a case study as it is a detailed analysis of a single case. Case studies focus on the complexity, dynamics and circumstances of a single case (sometimes called a phenomenon). Multiple research methods are used.
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What are the 4 Cs of case interviews?
The 4C Framework 4C Framework The 4C Framework is composed of four elements : Customer, Competition, Cost, and Capabilities. The structure is useful to get a better understanding of the client and important during your, While the former 2 provide information on external market conditions, the last 2 provide internal information about the company.
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How many questions are in a case interview?
How many questions per case interview? I wonder how many questions there are in 1 case interviews at McKinsey? Is the standard 3 or 4? Thank you! Hey there, There is no real standard, The goal of the interviewers is to get enough data points about your performance on a number of different question types:
- Structuring/idea generation
- Exhibit interpretation
- Math
If you provide high-quality answers to each of those questions, the interview might end after 3 questions, however, you would have taken quite some time to communicate your exhaustive insights and potentially would have reached the time limit already anyway.
- What does this mean for you?
- Focus all your attention on the quality of your answers, speed is secondary. Let us look at a concrete example, the structuring portion of the McKinsey case:
- At the core, McKinsey wants to see creative ideas communicated in a structured manner, the more exhaustive the better.
- Your goal should be to come up with a tailored and creative answer that fits the question. The framework should – broadly speaking – follow these three characteristics:
- You would need to go into detail and qualify your answer with practical examples and more details.
To come up with the framework you have 1-2 minutes (2 minutes is kind of a soft limit). Then, in a McKinsey interview, you can take up to 6-8 minutes to present your structure, your qualification, and hypotheses. This is due to the interviewer-led format that McK employs. The interviewer will only ask ‘what else’ if you
- haven’t gone broad or deep enough
- did not explain your ideas well enough for them to stand out (again, you have time here)
The firm wants to see exhaustive and creative approaches to specific problems, which more often than not do not fit into the classic case interview frameworks that were en vogue 10 years ago. Again, this only applies if everything you say
- adds value to the problem analysis
- is MECE
- is well qualified
- includes a detailed discussion of your hypotheses at the end
It could be that just for your initial structure question 8 to 10 minutes of the interview have already passed (+ some minutes for the case introduction and follow-up), which then leaves you with only 15 to 20 minutes for other questions. If you do the structure right, that would be not an issue.
- Hope it is clear now! 🙂
- Have a look at this article for more information on the McKinsey case interview:
- All the best,
- Florian
Was this answer helpful?
- Hi there,
- So technically you should “expect” around 3-4, but please also try to avoid expecting things!
- You could have far more or far fewer. Go in flexibly and be adaptable to whatever happens 🙂
Was this answer helpful? Hi there, Indeed, the average is 3-4 questions, but the number doesn’t actually matter. What matter is progressing through the case as quickly as you can but only by providing high-quality answers. Quality is significantly more important than quantity.
- Best, Cristian Was this answer helpful? It can be 4 to 6.
- But to be honest, this information is absolutely irrelevant.
- Was this answer helpful? Hello, There really is no standard number: cases vary a lot in question length and depth, which to some extent will be guided by the length of the interview and how quickly you are answering each question.
It is quite common to get McKinsey cases with 3 or 4 questions, but don’t set yourself up for this necessarily, and don’t worry if you end up getting more or fewer. Was this answer helpful? Hi there, Good question! In theory, cases have up to 7-8 questions.
- You could perform great answering 4/7 questions with high quality
- You could perform very poorly with 7/7 questions answered but rushed with low quality
You job is to answer every question best possible and follow the interviewer’s lead. Hope this helps a bit! Best of luck! Was this answer helpful? No answers
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Does the case interview have to be perfect?
How perfect does your case interview performance need to be? Hello, regarding MBB Case Interviews in Germany (or in general), how perfect does your case performance in all 3 Cases need to be both in terms of the number of cases with sub perfect performance and the amount of dimensions that can be sub perfect? E.g.
- Hey,
- Hopefully this information helps:
- From my understanding, Candidates are assessed across 5 or 6 areas – FIT/Structure/Comms/Quant/Creativity/Problem Solving etc.
- You must perform ‘at the bar’ for each and every level.
- You must ‘spike’ in at least one area.
- Hope this helps!
Was this answer helpful? Originally answered question:
- Hi,
- If the two other partners give you great feedbacks and you were pretty good in the first round – you will get an offer.
- However, they should have the arguments to defend you in the borderline situation. Thus I always recommend the candidates to demonstrate not just mediocre but an extreme performance:
- Being super structured
- Demonstrating very solid business judgment
- Demonstrating great and memorable achievements in the stories
- Asking smart questions and having a great conversation at the end
Best (edited) Was this answer helpful? Originally answered question: Hi, usually one single less than perfect interview does not mean that you do not get an offer, even if this interview is the last one (i.e. with a senior partner). If you’ve done a good job in the previous interviews, this will be seen just as an accident, unless the last interview was not a complete disaster (which does not seem the case).
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What does a case interview look like?
Interviewer-led scenarios – In interviewer-led case interviews, these interviews have a preset format where the interviewer directs the focus, tempo, and sequence of the problem-solving process, with candidates solving the case from beginning to end.
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How long does it take to prepare for a case interview?
How to Prepare for Case Interviews in a Week – If you have one week to prepare for case interviews, try to free up as much time as possible on your calendar. We’ll assume that you have about four hours each day to dedicate to preparing for case interviews.
- We recommend using the Hacking the Case Interview Course to expedite your learning process.
- It has 15 – 25 hours of content that you can complete over the course of the week.
- We will also recommend other resources to use if you choose not to use the course.
- Day 1: Learn case interview strategies and schedule practice cases Go through Module 1 – 3 in the Hacking the Case Interview Course, which covers an introduction to case interviews, understanding the case background and objective, and structuring a framework.
These modules include practice problems which you should complete as well. If you are not using the Hacking the Case Interview Course, read the first seven chapters of the Hacking the Case Interview book, Once you finish, you should know exactly how to:
Synthesize case background information clearly and concisely
Ask appropriate clarifying questions
Create structured frameworks
Kick off the case
On Day 1, you should also spend time scheduling practice cases with a case partner for Days 3 – 7. You should try to schedule 1 – 2 cases on each of these five days. Day 2: Finish learning case interview strategies Go through Module 4 – 6 in the Hacking the Case Interview Course, which covers solving quantitative problems, answering qualitative questions, and delivering a recommendation.
Solve market sizing questions
Solve profitability or breakeven questions
Interpret charts and graphs
Answer brainstorming questions
Answer business judgment questions
Deliver a clear, concise recommendation
If you haven’t successfully scheduled practice cases with a case partner for Days 3 – 7, try to finalize the scheduling today. Day 3: Begin practicing cases and identify your weaknesses From Days 3 – 7, you will do a total of 4 practice cases each day, which includes cases that you do by yourself and cases that you do with a partner.
- So, if you have one case scheduled with a partner, do another 3 practice cases by yourself that day.
- If you have two cases scheduled with a partner, do another two.
- If you have no cases scheduled with a partner, you will need to do all 4 cases by yourself.
- By the end of the week, you will have done 20 practice cases.
The Hacking the Case Interview Course has 20 full-length practice cases that you can use. You will likely not need any more than these 20 cases given that you have one week to prepare for your interviews. If you have not enrolled in the course, you can use this list of practice cases provided by consulting firms,
- However, know that not all of these practice cases will be high-quality.
- We recommend doing the practice cases from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Deloitte.
- After completing your four practice cases for the day, reflect and look back on these cases.
- You need to pull together a comprehensive, detailed list of all of your improvement opportunities.
If you did practice cases with a partner, they should be able to provide you with feedback that helps you identify your improvement areas. Else, you will need to be introspective on your case interview performance. Day 4: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your frameworks On Day 4, you’ll do another 4 practice cases.
Does your framework have at least 3 – 4 major elements?
Are all of the elements of your framework relevant to the case?
Does your framework cover all of the important areas needed to solve the case?
Are your framework elements mutually exclusive from each other?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your framework structuring skills. Day 5: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your case math On Day 5, you’ll do another 4 practice cases. For these cases, focus on improving your case math. Use the following rubric to assess your case math:
Are you structuring your approach before doing math calculations?
Is your approach clear and efficient?
Are you performing math calculations smoothly and efficiently?
Are you correctly interpreting graphs, charts, and tables?
Are you tying your answers to quantitative questions back to the case objective?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your case math skills. Day 6: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your answers to qualitative questions On Day 6, you’ll do another 4 practice cases. For these cases, focus on improving your answers to qualitative questions. Use the following rubric to assess your qualitative skills:
Are you structuring your answers to qualitative questions?
Is your structure mutually exclusive and completely exhaustive?
Are you brainstorming a sufficient number of ideas?
Are you brainstorming ideas that are high-quality or creative?
Are your answers reasonable from a business perspective?
Are you tying your answers to qualitative questions back to the case objective?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your qualitative case skills. Day 7: Continue practicing cases, focusing on improving your case conclusion. Prepare for other consulting interview questions On Day 7, you’ll do another 4 practice cases. For these cases, focus on improving your final case conclusion. Use the following rubric to assess your case conclusion:
Does your conclusion start with a firm recommendation?
Is your conclusion structured and clear?
Do you provide sufficient support for your recommendation?
Do you include potential next steps?
The goal for the day is to finish developing and refining your case synthesis and recommendation skills. Finally, you’ll spend time preparing answers to three other consulting interview questions you are likely to get asked:
The “why are you interested in consulting?” question
The “why are you interested in this firm?” question
Behavioral or fit interview questions
