Consulting Case Interview Resources

401-863-3326 s 167 Angell Street, Hemisphere Building, Providence, RI s brown.edu/careerlab

OVERVIEW What is a case interview? A case interview is a job interview in which the applicant is given a question, situation, problem or challenge and asked to resolve the situation. The case is often a business situation or a business case that the interviewer has worked on in real life. The applicant will often be required to do some basic calculations (without a calculator) and ask appropriate questions to the interviewer in order to gather the data necessary to “solve” the case. Interviewers are often looking to see if the candidate has structured, logical, and creative ideas, rather than a single right answer to the case.

HOWTOPREPAREFORCASEINTERVIEWS 1. On the CareerLAB website, go to Explore Career Fieldsà Business, Banking, Finance, and ConsultingàConsulting

• This website has all of CareerLAB’s consulting resources. Your first step should be to watch Victor Cheng’s 12-part case interview workshop (link to YouTube playlist is provided here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8b_fmdDHHyCznYmSeWJrdrJN4UJhUrsh). All slides and handouts for this workshop are available for free at www.caseinterview.com. It can be very helpful to sign up for Victor Cheng’s email list to receive daily articles to help you prepare for interviews.

• Next step is to watch Marc Cosentino’s video workshop (link is on the Consulting page of Explore Career Fields, password is CaseoftheBrownBear).

• Victor Cheng is known to have more flexible and adaptable “frameworks” to solve a case, whereas Marc Cosentino has more specific and detailed frameworks.

2. Find a practice partner! • You can find a sign-up sheet on the Explore Career Fields page

(https://docs.google.com/a/brown.edu/spreadsheets/d/1378Gt1Jd80DTMKTtnst5Klixg4c4u1vmLKUv6V1ICIA/edit?usp=sharing), or find a partner at another school through www.casequestions.com.

• A common source for practice cases is the book “Case in Point” by Marc Cosentino. • You can also find practice cases by Googling “[random business school] consulting club,” for example

this one from Michigan (http://sites.duke.edu/dukeapdconsulting/files/2010/08/Michigan_Guide2006.pdf).

• Firm websites will also have practice cases available. 3. Consider premium options

• It’s fairly expensive, but the Look Over My Shoulder program by Victor Cheng is very useful for practicing by yourself. It contains over 20 hours of audio cases, including bad, acceptable, and best practice examples of case interviews to help illustrate the difference between good and great interview skills. Please consult with a CareerLAB Counselor or Peer Career Advisor if cost is an issue.

There are many other resources out there (Glassdoor, Vault, ManagementConsulted, etc.), so use whichever resources are most helpful for you!