© 2012 Career Catalyst.
Posted by at 29th October, 2009
You have prepared for traditional and behavioral interviews. You have accomplishment stories that demonstrate you are a problem solver who can increase revenue and/or decrease cost. Now let’s imagine that a potential interviewer wants to learn more about your problem solving abilities. Likewise, the interviewer gives you a case interview. Are you prepared to ace it?
A case interview consists of the interviewer presenting a problem and asking the interviewee to come up with a solution. It is typically a real life business situation an interviewer encountered. Most importantly, case interviews are used to measure a candidate’s business acumen, executive presence, and ability to think quickly under pressure. They are also utilized to measure a candidate’s problem solving, analytical, communication, and listening skills.
If you are ever presented with a case interview, below are tactics you can use to maximize your performance.
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1. Verify the information you received - you will be given an initial set of facts including the situation and the problem you need to solve. For example, “Our client is a global industrial engineering firm that manufactures wind turbines. Revenue is increasing while profit is declining. Our client wants to improve profit. What do you suggest the company do?” Afterwards, verbally paraphrase this information to ensure you understand the problem you need to solve.
2. Structure your thoughts - next you should take up to 60 seconds to structure your thoughts. This entails breaking down the problem into components and subcomponents. For this case interview, your components could be revenue, cost, and competition. The revenue and cost subcomponents would be price and volume and fixed and variable cost, respectively. The subcomponents for competition could be competitor benchmarks, actions, and so on.
3. Share the path you are going to take - verbally share your structure with the interviewer. To ensure you are going down the right path, state “Unless you suggest otherwise, I am going to start with revenue.” Likewise, the interviewer can point you in the right direction just in case revenue is not the main issue.
4. Next ask probing questions - you should ask thoughtful questions to acquire the information you need to ultimately crack the case. You should also ask questions in a structured fashion. For example, gather all the information you need for revenue before asking questions to acquire cost data. Then obtain all of the facts you need for cost before moving on to competition.
5. Perform calculations out loud - you will be given facts, figures, and/or charts to use to perform calculations. It is vital that you perform these calculations out loud so the interviewer can correct you if you make a mistake. If you perform your calculations silently and the final results are incorrect, the interviewer will have no idea where you made a mistake.
6. Structure your recommendations - once you have all of the information you need, take up to 60 seconds to structure your recommendations. This will also give you time to prioritize the supporting details for your solutions and identify potential risks and implications.
7. Deliver your solutions - finally present your solutions or recommendations with confidence and list the supporting details. Next mention the potential risks and implications and/or discuss potential next steps.
I strongly suggest you listen to Ford Myer’s “How to Get the Job You Want – Even When No One’s Hiring” which was a Featured show or one of BlogTalkRadio (BTR) Today’s Picks. This show was very good.
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© 2012 Career Catalyst.