Case Interview preparation tips - Booz Allen

Preparing for Your Case Interview

MBAs and non-MBA candidates for the commercial business go through the same case based interview process at Booz Allen Hamilton. For both first and second round interviews, you should expect to meet with two interviewers for approximately 45 minutes each. At least some portion of each interview should involve analyzing a case. (First round interviews may be conducted on campus, in office or by telephone.)

The case interview provides the opportunity for you to showcase your analytical skills, the flexibility of your thinking and your ability to perform within time constraints. We strongly encourage you to practice for your case interviews.

Interview cases are typically drawn from the interviewers' experiences. Although cases may be approached using frameworks (discussed below), it is impossible to predict the cases you will be given, and most interviewees are best served by practice. Interviewers are prepared to volunteer a significant amount of information at your request to assist you in making assumptions to solve the case.

In addition to reviewing case studies, we also recommend that you prepare the following:

* Questions for the interviewer
* Analytical frameworks to help you structure your response to the case
* A concise 1-2 minute summary of why you want to be a Booz Allen consultant

Read on...

Consulting Companies

Here is a list of consulting companies...

Ace the case from Bain & Co

An interview case study consists of a business problem taken from a real-life business situation, or an example drawn from your resume. It focuses on your analytic approach to the problem, rather than specific business knowledge.

The objective of the interviewer is to take the candidate through a series of steps and see how he/she can tackle the various levels. The steps can range from identifying a critical issue, to breaking a problem into component parts, to finally identifying one or more solutions.

Case preparation
First and foremost, you can succeed in a case interview without specific industry experience. Don't panic if the case you are given is based on an industry with which you are unfamiliar. Remember, we are interested in how you analyze the problem, not how much you know about the industry.

Practicing for the case interview is helpful. Practice by constructing examples from your resume and walking through steps 1—5 below or try an online practice case.

For more tips on the case interview and example questions and answers for the five steps, download the "How to ace the case interview (PDF)." The answers mentioned in this brochure demonstrate only one way to respond to the case; there is no single standard, best answer.

Step 1: Big picture thinking
The interviewer lays out the facts and asks the candidate to articulate the critical issues facing the business. "Big picture thinking" requires a focus on the key issues and not a "laundry list" of every problem facing the business. The interviewer then asks why the candidate chose the answer he/she did.

Step 2: Problem-solving logic
The interviewer asks the candidate to lay out all the elements of the problem: What factors should be considered?

Step 3: Focus on value
The interviewer then lets the candidate choose which avenues to pursue, leaving the discussion open-ended: without suggesting focus, the interviewer determines if the candidate is instinctive about which path to choose and then asks why the candidate selected this path.

Step 4: Depth and breadth—business intuition
After getting the recruit to focus on a key area, the interviewer asks the candidate some probing questions about how he/she would analyze that area.

Step 5: Results orientation
The interviewer returns to a key area of discussion, asking the candidate how he/she would implement his/her solution. The interviewer could pose a tricky or hostile client situation and ask how the candidate would get results in a difficult environment.

Case Interview tips and examples from Bain & Co

A good case interview should be an enjoyable and thoughtful discussion of business issues and problem-solving techniques. We are not looking for a "right answer" or asking you to spit back memorized business terms, current events or well-known frameworks. Rather, we hope to see a good dose of problem-solving skills, creativity and common sense.

A good case interview should be an enjoyable and thoughtful discussion of business issues and problem-solving techniques. We are not looking for a "right answer" or asking you to spit back memorized business terms, current events or well-known frameworks. Rather, we hope to see a good dose of problem-solving skills, creativity and common sense. At Bain, we look for recommendations that are actions designed to generate results, not merely academic answers. A good interview will be fun and full of energy! To get go through the steps of a case, try the interactive cases below which are based on real cases. Cost-savings analysis for food services company Full potential profitability analysis in financial services Investment analysis for Asian packaging company

Case Interview tips from McKinsey

As part of the interview process, we will ask you to discuss a business problem. As you work through the business case with your interviewer, you will also become better informed about our firm and the kinds of problems we solve. Most candidates enjoy the cases and the business issues they raise. Your approach to the case and the insights you reach will give you an opportunity to demonstrate your problem solving abilities and help us get a sense of your potential. The following items are addressed in this section:

Read on...

Management Consulting - Wikipedia

Management consulting (sometimes also called strategy consulting) refers to both the practice of helping companies to improve performance through analysis of existing business problems and development of future plans, as well as to the firms that specialize in this sort of consulting. Management consulting may involve the identification and cross-fertilization of best practices, analytical techniques, change management and coaching skills, technology implementations, strategy development or even the simple advantage of an outsider's perspective. Management consultants generally bring formal frameworks or methodologies to identify problems or suggest more effective or efficient ways of performing business tasks.

Management Consulting is becoming more prevalent in non-business related fields as well. As the need for professional and specialized advice grows, other industries such as government, quasi-government and not-for-profit agencies are turning to the same managerial principles that have helped the private sector for years.

There is a relatively unclear line between management consulting and other consulting practices, such as Information technology consulting.

Read on...

UCLA Anderson - Consulting Specializations

These are the Consulting tracks/courses that are available in UCLA Anderson School of Management.

General Management
Students interested in General Management Consulting need a strong foundation in each of the basic disciplines, with heavy emphasis on courses in strategic thinking and analysis. In addition, it is important to understand how to review a client's financial statements and to assess the client's internal strengths and weaknesses. Students need to be familiar with strategic, marketing, and financial analysis tools.

Financial
The Financial Consulting career path might involve a student taking a position with a management consulting firm and focusing on the planning, budgeting, systems, etc. needs of a broad variety of firms. Other consulting careers might include a position with a consulting firm focusing on the needs of a specific industry such as banking, insurance, real estate, health care, energy, pharmaceuticals, or utilities. Other possibilities include consulting firms that focus on specific functional or regulatory needs such as risk management, pensions and benefits, compliance with environmental regulations, litigation support, economic analysis, and statistical and quantitative analysis.

Marketing
Consultants specializing in Marketing Consulting should be prepared to assist their clients on all aspects of the planning, organization, and implementation of the marketing mix. Clients will seek expertise and assistance in understanding their customers and markets, assessing competition, evaluating new products, setting pricing strategy, managing distribution and sales channels, and optimizing marketing communications activities. Strong analytical skills and a keen interest in bringing quantitative analysis to the solution of marketing problems is typically associated with success.

Operations
The Operations Consulting career path is designed for students interested in consulting to improve operations in a variety of firms in the services (entertainment/media, information and financial) and manufacturing (both conventional and high technology) sectors. The operations management function has become increasingly important as firms focus on cost, flexibility, quality, productivity, and responsiveness to changing market conditions in order to compete successfully in today's global markets. While consulting encompasses many specific tasks and requires broad functional knowledge, there is an increased need and appreciation of the usefulness of operations consulting. This career path provides the strategic and analytical skills needed to thrive in the operations consulting environment.