Key Messages
How To Ace A Job Interview At Management Consulting Firms: An Overview
Getting invited to a consultancy interview is an accomplishment in itself and should be celebrated, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax.
You still need to pass the case interview if you want to get the job!
So how do you get ready for this all-important moment? The Case Interview Secrets book by Victor Cheng contains sections which provide an overview of different types of questions you’re likely to encounter during your case interview, as well as tips on how best to answer them so that you can get the job offer.
You’ll learn key strategies for doing complex arithmetic calculations quickly and accurately, the benefits of using proxies when answering questions, and the importance of being prepared for a “somewhat aggressive” interviewer.
With this valuable information from Case Interview Secrets, you can be confident that you have what it takes to nail your upcoming case interview.
The Key To Mastering Quantitative Interview Questions: Practice, Automation, And Staying Up-To-Date
No matter how talented you are, if you’ve ever gone for a major consulting firm interview, it’ll require more than just your qualifications – it will involve solving hands-on business cases known as “case interviews”.
These feature quantitative questions of two types: math questions and computational-level estimates.
Math questions such as “if the total innovation capital of company A is X and it were to grow at five percent per year, which of the following is the minimum annual growth of human capital necessary for the firm to represent more than half of total innovation capital within ten years?” take a lot of practice to answer quickly and accurately.
Even those with PhDs or superior math grades can fail if they don’t execute that practice.
To ace these questions, one must hone their skills every day through drills that sharpen speed and confidence.
Finding old test questions from firms such as McKinsey or the Boston Consulting Group is a great way to automate reasoning.
That said, you’ll need to keep yourself up-to-date by accessing the most recent tests; these are always changing so be sure to stay ahead!
At the end of the day, even if you are Mathlete world champion, it’s still necessary to practice hard for any major consulting firm interview.
Your success in them depends on preparing regularly and consistently with drilled speed and accurate reasoning.
A Quick Trick For Answering Complex Computational Questions: Precise Estimates Through Clever Rounding
Case Interview Secrets teaches that complicated problems can be solved quickly by breaking them down into smaller parts and using rounding.
In any computational question, it is important to use precise arithmetic with large numbers in order to come up with an accurate answer.
That being said, there’s no need to spend extra time trying to arrive at an exact number – instead, simply round the numbers and reach a rough estimate.
This can save you time when you are working with complex mathematical equations.
For example, if you need to solve a problem involving 42 million customers, 12.7 percent market share and $200 revenue per customer, try breaking down the problem by first rounding 42 million buyers down to 40 million, and then rounding 12.7 percent up to 15 percent in order offset the rounding of the buyers.
Finally, add all of the relevant figures together for a close approximation of your answer – for this question that would be $1.2 billion in revenue as opposed to the precise answer of $1.07 billion!
Using Proxies To Estimate Market Size: A Step-By-Step Guide
When it comes to making big-picture estimates in a case interview, finding a proxy is key.
A proxy is another factor that can help you arrive at an estimate or solution.
For example, if you come across a question asking how many hamburgers a drive-thru sells per day, your initial proxies will be the number of cars visiting the establishment daily and the average number of burgers each car orders.
These proxies can provide guidance so you don’t have to start from scratch.
But it’s important to keep in mind their limits; after all, what you’re dealing with is an estimate not necessarily the exact answer.
Say for instance, during peak hours sales may be limited by the number of burgers the staff can make – this further requires you figure out additional proxies like the number of counters and how long it typically takes an order to finish.
Accounting for these details allows you to get a more accurate picture of sales volume during peak and off-peak times.
In conclusion, when making big-picture estimates in a case interview remember to identify appropriate proxies that help guide your prediction but also consider their limits and incorporate potential imperfections into your assumption to account for them too.
How To Approach A Case Interview: Show Confidence, Leverage Interpersonal Skills, And Think Like A Professional Consultant
At a case interview, it is important to remember that you are effectively test-running for your future role as a consultant.
The interviewer is simulating real-world scenarios that a client could ask you in the field, and asking obscure estimations to do so.
That is why it is vital to treat the interview like a real consulting job – think of the interviewer as a potential client and yourself as the professional consultant.
The best way to approach any question at an interview is to answer it with confidence and laser precision, demonstrating your analytical skills and providing sound recommendations.
You should also make sure to exude a level of calmness and professionalism when responding; clients often won’t take seriously advice from someone who appears visibly anxious or uncomfortable.
Nobody knows how stressful interviews can be better than someone who has already gone through their own case interview!
But by remembering this key moment – effectively treating your interviewer like a client – you will go far in achieving success in your case interview, boosting both your personal confidence and reputation on the market!
Utilizing Frameworks To Tackle Business Questions Effectively
Case Interview Secrets book teaches readers how to use different frameworks to answer qualitative questions.
To tackle quantitative questions, you can use the profitability framework which breaks profit into two groups based on its components: revenue and cost.
This helps you do mathematical operations one at a time to find the core of the problem.
For instance, if you are asked “why is the company losing money?” you can find out that the variable costs are too high and causing an increase in total cost decreasing profit.
If your interviewer throws some general business questions your way, then you can use the business situation framework to analyze a client’s business, industry and market.
It breaks down these qualitative facets by uncovering information on four sub-segments of business: customers, product, company and competition.
By applying this framework, it helps you discover why certain things happen such as why your client’s firm has high costs due to a complicated package design or any other issue that potentially wastes lots of material and money.
Learning how to properly utilize different frameworks will help you answer interview questions more effectively while allowing you to identify potential problems in businesses so they’re better prepared for success.
Wrap Up
The book “Case Interview Secrets” offers an invaluable insight into the world of consulting.
When it comes to interviews, there are two main types of questions: quantitative and cases.
In this book, you’ll learn all the tricks and strategies needed to navigate these questions successfully and land a job at your desired consulting firm.
At the end of this book, you can take away these key concepts: keep a few simple tricks in mind for tackling quantitative and case interview questions; practice doing mock interviews so you feel prepared going into your actual interview; and have confidence in yourself that you are ready to do your best.
With these key concepts, you’re sure to ultimately get the job at the consultancy of your dreams.
