NCSU MBA Students,

My name is Tony O’Driscoll. I am looking forward to working with you next week to provide guidance and counsel as you prepare for Case-Based Interviews.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

During the Session, my goal is to provide you:

Tried and true approaches that help to break a case down
Lots of practice in doing Estimation Problems and Case Interviews
Providing time for a candid discussion on the pragmatics associated with engaging in the case based interview process.

WORKSHOP PRE WORK

To get started I ask that you spend some time preparing for our session so that we can make the most of our time together.

What to Expect
A great place to begin is to view this video that shows both sides of a case interview. How would you feel if you went through Samir’s Experience?

Perhaps viewing this video might motivate you to review this short overview by Bain and Company on “How to Ace the Case Interview.” Click on the cover to see the report.

CASE INTERVIEW COMPONENTS

Essentially there are two components in most Case-Based Interviews:

Estimation Problems
Case Analysis Interviews

Estimation Problems

How big is the market for haircuts? You heard me! What is your answer? And you only have five minutes to figure it out. GO!

Let see how one interviewee figures it out:

During our time together, we will be going through a number of these type activities during our time together so be sure you take the tips in this video to heart!

As an additional brain-teaser can anyone tell me why manholes are round?

Case Analysis Interviews

The case analysis is the second main component of the interview. Hopefully, following our workshop, your case interview will go better than Samir’s.

You can read a nice summary, developed by Boston Consulting Group on Case Interviewing that summarizes both Estimates and Case Analysis by clicking here.

Please be sure you have read through this document prior to coming to class. We will use the two cases presented in this document as a backdrop for our discussions during the session.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:

The following video, while a little lengthy at 18 minutes, provides a very good primer on what you can expect in a Case Based interview. I would urge you all to review it.

THE SECRET SAUCE!

During the workshop I will be sharing with you some of the key secrets associated with breaking down a case. Most of this approach is informed by the work of Barbara Minto. For those of you serious about a career in consulting, Barbara’s book, The Pyramid Principle is an absolute “must have.”

Every consulting firm I know has at the foundation of its methodological approach the basic pyramid principle. Shelley will be sending you an article separately via e-mail that covers the key components of how to leverage the Pyramid Principle to break down a case. Be sure to have read this article carefully before coming to class.

Best of Luck Preparing and See You Next Week!