Table of contents

About the Authors

Acknowledgements

10

Preface

11

Chapter 1: READ THIS FIRST

13

Chapter 2: Prerequisites and other resources

14

Chapter 3: The consulting recruitment process

15

How do you know consulting is for you?

15

Why is consulting considered a good career option?

16

What do consultants complain the most about their job?

16

An overview of the consulting recruitment process

17

What is the shortlisting criteria for consulting firms?

17

How do I write a good statement of purpose (SOP)?

18

How do I write a great cover letter? (for non-campus recruitment)

20

What is good case prep?

21

How should an interviewer give a case?

22

How should one decide the timeline of case prep?

How do I make best use of case groups?
What is the right way to approach buddy interactions?
Presentation guidelines
How does an actual case interview flow?
Do I need industry-specific knowledge about
finance / accounting for my case interviews?

How do I decide my preference order

amongst different consulting firms?

How do I plan for the Interview Day

(in the case of multiple interviews occurring on the same day)?

Chapter 4: Skills development

Asking Preliminary Questions

Clarifying the objectives
Understanding Client's Company
(Applies to all types of cases)

Spidey-Sense info (Applies to all types of cases)

22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
31
31
32
34
34

 Having and Conveying an Overall Approach

Overall Approach
Problem Isolation Tools
Segmentation
Company Specific or Industry Wide issue
Hypothesis driven approach
Improving Drill Speed
Using the 80/20 rule
Competitor benchmarking
Business insight
Synthesis
5

(Using conventional approach)

Sample Case 2: Chicken Nutrients

36
36
39
40
41
41
41
42
43
46
46
48
51
54
54
57
62

(Using evolved approach)

67

Chapter 6: Cases

Guesstimates
Case 3: Guesstimate 1 |
Case 4: Guesstimate 2 |
Case 5: Guesstimate 3 |
Case 6: Guesstimate 4 |
Case 7: Guesstimate 5 |
Profitability cases
Case 8: Logging Company |
Case 9: Drug mafia |
Case 10: Mumbai Hotel |

= Easy

35

46

Chapter 5: Conventional vs Evolved approaches

Profitability Cases
Conventional Vs. Evolved Approach
Sample Case 1: Sweets (Conventional approach)
Sample Case 1: Sweets (Evolved approach)
Market Entry
Conventional Vs. Evolved Approach
Sample Case 2: Chicken Nutrients

35

= Medium

67
67
72
75
79
84
88
88
92
95

= Hard

99

Case 11: Fruit juice manufacturer |

Case 12: Vodka manufacturer |

105

Case 13: Private Equity Firm |

110

Case 14: Electronics Manufacturer |

116

Case 15: Petrol Pump Owner |

121

Case 16: Delhi Darbar |

124

Case 17: Theatre House |

Case 18: Thailand Hotel Chain |
Case 19: Book Retailer |
Case 20: Petrol Supplier |
Case 21: Canada Discount Retailer |
Case 22: Fashion Magazine |

132
137
142
146
150
156

Market Entry cases

Case 23: Home Security Equipment |
Case 24: Washing Machine |
Case 25: Anti-smoking pill |
Case 26: Solar Lantern |
Pricing cases
Case 27: Anti-balding Pill |

162
162
166
171
177
183

For more cases on pricing, refer to

Cases: 10, 22, 25, 30 and 40 as shown below

Unconventional cases
Case 28: Consulting Firm to IITB |
Case 29: Yash Raj Films |
Case 30: Godzilla |
Case 31: Plot of land |
Case 32: Sales force |
New Edition Cases
Case 33: Guesstimate 6 |
Case 34: App-based cab company |
Case 35: Newspaper |
Case 36: Mango Fruit Drink |
Case 37: Mutual Funds |

= Easy

= Medium

183
188
188
191
194
198
203
208
208
210
216
219
223

= Hard

Case 38: Steel Company Admin Cost |

227

Case 39: Public Healthcare |

232

Case 40: Ship Building Company |

237

Case 41: 4G Telecom Company |

241

Case 42: IT BPO Firm |

Case 43: Student Credit Market |
Case 44: Telecom infrastructure |
Case 45 Tesla Motors |

247
252
258
264
270

Chapter 7: Appendix

Frameworks
Data Sheet
Case Evaluation Metrics

= Easy

270
271
273

= Medium

= Hard

Chapter 1: READ THIS FIRST

1. Follow a logical chronology to increase effectiveness of your learning
Begin with the free introductory videos (caseinterviewscracked.com/primaryprep/).
Follow this up with the theory in this book and then get cracking at the cases
(guesstimates, profitability and then, market entry)
2. Treat this book as your personal guide
Every person has a unique prep style. We encourage you to use this book to
record your performance (refer to Chapter 7.3 for case evaluation metrics),
takeaways and other case details so that you have one place to refer to. We have
allotted space after each case for your logs and insist that you use pencils, pens,
highlighters etc. to maximise the efficiency of your prep.
3. Practice cases rather than reading them from the book
You can simply read this book up to Chapter 5 since it explains concepts, skills
and approaches. Chapter 6 has cases which are best practiced in case groups
rather than read to derive maximum value. Once the case has been practiced,
apart from the feedback given by the interviewer, you can refer the solved
solution in this book to identify areas of improvement.
4. Focus on getting few skills right with every practiced case
Trying to improve many skills at a time can be a frustrating and time consuming
with nothing to show eventually. We recommend on concentrating on any two
skills. Make sure you get them right before moving to other skills.
5. Scrutinize mistakes and incorporate lessons
This is perhaps the most important part of the case interview preparation. Poring
over mistakes helps you incorporate lessons and refine your future case solving.
6. Refer to the general formatting legend below for every case
Normal: Candidate speech
Italicised: Interviewer speech
Bolded: Discussion between author and reader
Normal underlined: New subsection in a case
Weve tried to adhere to the above as much as possible.
7. Dont get bogged down by the length and difficulty of cases
Some of the cases are longer than what you might encounter because youll solve
multiple cases on the interview day and that requires substantial mental stamina
which longer cases help build. Some of the cases are also more difficult that what
you might be tested on since your preparation should be much more rigorous
than what you encounter on the final day. In any case, case-solving
fundamentals stay the same regardless of the length or difficulty of the cases.
8. Use the data sheet in Chapter 7.2 for data you might be expected to
know/use while solving the cases like guesstimates

13

Case Interviews Cracked