Cracking the Consulting

Interview
A Guide to Navigating Consulting Preparation
& Interviews

By Swetha Srinivasan

 Table of Contents

Preface 3

Is Consulting is the Right Fit? 4

The Resume Shortlisting 6

Getting Started with Case Preparation 8

A List of Resources 10

Tips and Tricks for Case Solving 11

Structuring Examples 15

Level 1 (Pro tability): Airlines Revenue Structure 15

Level 2 (Pro tability): Airlines Cost Structure 15
Level 3 (Unconventional): How to Reduce Tra c on a Road? 16
Level 4 (Unconventional): Training and Creating the World’s Best Keyboard Player 16
Pro tability Case Examples 17

Level 1 (Simple): Pro tability of a Tea Stall 17

Level 2 (Complex): Pro tability of a Movie Theatre 18
Personal Interview Preparation 19

Interview Day 21
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 Preface

Hi there! Welcome to this guide on cracking your consulting interviews. A lot of us, while starting
out on our consult prep journeys, are a bit confused as to where to begin, what to do and how to
approach cases and guesstimates. Is there a dearth of content out there? On the contrary, there’s
a lot of stu available online and o ine. That poses a di erent kind of problem, an issue of not
knowing where to look and being bogged down by the plethora of content. This book is an
attempt to serve as a one-stop navigation guide for all of you interested in starting your consult
preparation. Here, I share my personal experiences, the resources I used, the techniques I
employed as well as some tips and tricks I gathered throughout my preparation. In addition, I’ve
also shared some exercises in structuring and casing that you can look at in order to build on your
skills. Please note that this is intended to be a starter and navigation guide alone, not a full-
edged case book. I hope that you refer to the resources here as well as others that you may
encounter in order to practice cases and guesstimates.

Regards,

Swetha Srinivasan

About Me

I graduated from IIT Madras in 2021 with a B.Tech in Engineering Physics, joining McKinsey and
Company as a Business Analyst post graduation. I enjoy reading, playing music, running, and
debating. Passionate about business, nance, and technology, I write articles on various topics in
the above spaces.

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 Is Consulting is the Right Fit?
As a student without ample industry experience, how to glean if consulting is the right t for you
during your placement process?

So, this is a tough one. By the time we enter our placement year, most of us would have done a
few internships and projects at di erent rms, institutes and startups. They wouldn’t all belong to
one industry either. So, how should you decide if you should enter consult preparation or not?

Now, I’m neither an industry expert nor a management consulting veteran with decades of
experience under my belt. But, as someone who’s been through the process of consult
preparation, I believe that sharing my experience would help at least a few of you out there who
might be confused regarding this. So, let’s dive right in.

My Story

While I have a background in engineering and physics, I was drawn to nance at the beginning of
my third year at IIT Madras. I began with a few online courses, some courses on campus and then
worked on a project with the Department of Management Studies on campus. I found that I really
enjoyed exploring this area.

I interned with the corporate strategy team at an investment bank later on in the year. This gave
me good exposure to strategy consulting and the projects I worked on irked my interest.

I was also working with startups and NGOs as a part of the 180 Degrees Consulting IIT Madras
chapter, rst as a consultant and then as a Project Lead. This o ered me a taste of consulting and
I immediately took to it.

Just before beginning my resume writing process, I spoke to a senior who had entered the
management consulting space. His description of what the work would entail, the necessary
skills, his experience, the perks and the drawbacks as well really resonated with me. That
conversation sealed the deal and I plunged into case preparation.

I had a lot of fun while solving cases with friends, consultants from the companies and seniors. I
loved the idea of nding solutions to complex, real-life problems in a structured manner. I
emulated this in various case contests as well.

So yeah, this is essentially how I worked out my t with consulting during the placements stage
(and I might’ve used one or more points here while answering questions like “Why consulting?” in
my interviews).

Personal Highlights of Consulting

Through all these experiences, here are some of the aspects of consulting that I found irresistible:

• I would get to explore di erent industries and functional areas through multiple projects
before guring out a speci c area I want to specialize in.

• I would have the opportunity to learn about a variety of things and that excited me, a
knowledge enthusiast.

• A lot of people I looked up to on campus had entered the eld of management consulting.

• My personal experiences through projects and internships showed me that this would be
something I’d enjoy.

• I am a people person and thoroughly loved the fact that through consulting I’d get to
interact with top decision-makers from di erent elds.

• I’d get to see tangible impact and can contribute to real positive change.

Tips and Recommendations

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So, for those of you out there who are confused, here are some tips and factors to think about
while exploring consulting preparation:

• Internships and Projects: Explore consulting or related elds through internships and/or

projects. Student consulting organizations, business analyst internships at startups, and
strategy consulting internships at companies are good options. I’m sure your seniors and
mentors will be able to o er granular advice on the same. If you like these internships,
great, you might like consulting as well.

• Interactions: Talk to people — seniors, friends, mentors, professors, family members etc.

who have direct experience or have deep knowledge of the industry. Understand the pros
and cons (this is also very important), the skills and requirements and what the day-to-day
job entails. If that excites you, then you might enjoy the eld as well.

• Analysing Other Options:  Like with any project valuation in nance, it’s important to
compare the project under analysis with other options. Explore other areas like investment
banking, product management, core jobs, research etc. and see which ts you the best.

• Case Preparation:  There was this popular saying while my batch was undergoing case
preparation,  ‘You’ll know if you’ll like being a consultant based on how much you enjoy
case prep.’  And, I do believe this is true to some extent at least. While the job would
involve so much more than what one experiences in a 30-minute case, it’s likely that if you
hate case solving, you might not enjoy the job as well.

• Skill Set Fit:  Again, while I’m not an expert at this, I did learn a lot from seniors and
buddies at the three rms (McKinsey, BCG and Bain) regarding what a consultant would
have to encounter. Interacting with clients and other stakeholders, drilling down a broad
problem statement to nd out the root causes, a lot of travelling (sigh, the good ol’ pre-
pandemic days), quickly learning and absorbing information are some of the things one
must think about.

• Case Prep as a Valuable Skill: I personally learnt a lot during the 4 months of case prep
— gained industry knowledge, built structuring skills, honed my communication abilities
and built a wonderful network. I believe that these skills and gains will be of immense help
wherever you go. Whether you’re sitting for investment banking interviews, participating in
case competitions, writing a term paper for a course, or just giving fundaes to juniors, it
never hurts to be structured and MECE :)

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 The Resume Shortlisting
How to craft a good resume? What are resume peaks?

I cannot over-stress the importance of a good resume. This is what gets you the opportunity to
interview for a consulting rm. Hence, you must focus considerably on your resume. Now, as with
every article of this series, I’d like to begin by clarifying that I’m no resume reviewer nor a career
guidance expert. But, as someone who’s been through the process and gained a lot of insights
from the people I’ve interacted with, I feel that this platform is a good way to broadcast those
ideas and my personal learnings. So, let’s begin.

So, what’s a resume? It’s essentially a snapshot of your professional life and personal
achievements so far. While it’s important to gain experience through internships, competitions,
pursue hobbies etc., it’s equally if not more important to convey them in a manner that will best
re ect all the e ort you’ve put in. So, both the core content and design of your resume matter.

For those of you who are hard-pressed for time, two words you should remember are as
follows: Prioritize, Strategize

Here are some detailed tips for building a good resume that I’ve learnt over the past year:

1. Tips on Overall Structure and Design

• Keep it to one page:  This is very important. Restrict it to one A4 page. Also, don’t
confuse a resume with a CV.

• Segment your resume smartly:  All the resumes I’ve seen have the following basic
structure — personal details, educational quali cation, projects, internships and work
experience, positions of responsibility (head of the oratory club, music club etc.),
extracurricular and co-curricular activities. This is a good structure and helps with the easy
identi cation of peaks (I’ll elaborate on this in a bit). But, if you’ve done a lot of work in the
public policy space, then you can go ahead with adding a section titled ‘Public Policy’ and
add all relevant content there. This will help you stand out but, you must also exercise
caution. Adopt this strategy if you’re con dent that you have strong content for it. Further,
if any rm you’re applying to has strict guidelines regarding a resume, stick to that
strongly.

• Use bullet points, not paragraphs:  Say you want to write about your internship at a
startup. Don’t write it as a paragraph but use bullets. It’s pleasing to the eye and
quanti able as x number of bullets. It also allows you to segment your description point-
wise.

• Don’t let sentences exceed one line:  This may be my personal opinion, but I strongly
believe that one bullet point shouldn’t exceed one line. Try to ensure each sentence
reaches the end of the page or the table (if you’re using one). Don’t let words run into a
second line. This ensures uniformity, easy readability and the resume looks good overall.

• Highlight your peaks: Now, consulting rms usually look for ‘peaks’ in a resume (based
on my experience). A CGPA over 9, being an institute secretary, doing a really cool intern,
getting into an exclusive research program, e ecting huge positive change at a startup are
some examples of peaks. These peaks aren’t codi ed and aren’t set in stone. It depends
on a lot of factors. So just focus on giving your best at each stage, looking for good
opportunities, and presenting them well on the resume. Remember that a reviewer would
spend only around 30 seconds looking through your resume. You want him/her to learn as
much about you as possible in that short timeframe. So, highlight brand names and follow
a uniform format for the same. I tend to highlight company names and place this
information in cells (of a table) to the left across my resume, so a reviewer can understand
what I’ve done just by glancing over the left portion.

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 • Use colours wisely:  Unless there are speci c restrictions, I don’t think using colours
would hurt. Keep a black & white version (black, white and greys for highlights) and a
colour version. Needless to say, you’re not applying to Coachella, so keep the colours mild
and pleasing. Please, no uorescent colours or bright reds! Muted, pastel shades are okay.
Another pro tip is to print out the colour version in black & white and see how the resume
looks. In case companies are printing out the resume, you don’t want them scratching
their heads to discern the content.

• Use segmentation tools: Tables, lines…Go to town to ensure that your resume looks nice
and readable.

• Manage real estate strategically: Have wonderful extracurricular achievements that you

really want the interviewer to notice? Then o er it the appropriate amount of space and a
prominent enough position in your resume. Don’t have a very strong projects section?
Consider removing it entirely or relegate it to a less prominent location.

• Take a call on footnotes:  Some prefer to have it, others don’t. If you choose to use
footnotes, use them only when necessary. People don’t have the time nor the patience to
cross-reference in 30 seconds. Try to be clear enough through your main content itself.

2. Tips Regarding Wording

• Retain only useful lines: Every line on your resume must convey something useful. Else,
remove it without remorse. Don’t utilize too much space to describe the history or
background of the company or institution you worked with. Focus purely on what you did
and the outcome or impact.

• Impact, Action, Context:  Ensure that as many lines as possible convey impact and
action. Buttress it with context as and when needed. Don’t just write out your job
description but convey the impact of your work. Here’s a good example
sentence:  Achieved  18% cost reduction  by establishing partnerships with new
vendors.  Here, I’ve highlighted the impact and then conveyed the action I took. As an
experienced consultant once told me, “Focus on the outcome, not the process.”

• Removing the ‘I’:  I personally prefer using a bullet point that says “Achieved  18% cost
reduction  by establishing partnerships with new vendors”  rather than one that says  “I
achieved 18%…” I believe this looks professional and formal.

• Reduce verbosity: This is something I struggled with initially. It’s very hard, I understand.
But, try your best to keep things concise. You’ll get better at it with practice. Here are
some golden rules from the consultant mentioned above:  Each bullet <10 words, each
point = 3 bullets.

• Don’t get too technical: Did a very fancy deep learning internship? Great. Don’t populate
your resume with too much jargon. Distil down excess tech terms and processes and
convey the outcome and essential processes. Again, I’m not asking you to not use fancy
words. Use it with caution and don’t overdo it. You want to project intelligence but in a
manner that the reader can grasp as well.

• Try to provide a reference point for comparison:  Say you won rst place in a case
contest. Was it an intra-college event? Inter-college? State-level? National-level?
International-level? How many teams participated? So you see, just mentioning that you
won isn’t of any relevance unless we know the context. So, try to include that. Good
examples are as follows:  Placed 2nd  out of  400  teams;  National runner-up; Won  1st
place in the inter-college oratory contest out of 300 students from 20 city colleges. Again,
highlight key numbers.

Now, this isn’t the exhaustive list of resume tips, one can always nd scope for improvement. But,
I can say that these include all the tips that came in handy personally and all my learnings over
the past year. If this seems a bit overwhelming to you, don’t fret. Tackle it one step at a time and
you’ll be good to go. 

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 Getting Started with Case Preparation
What’s case prep? What resources should I use? Who should I practice with? What are the types
of cases?

Once you’ve gotten yourself an interview with a rm, case prep is the key to converting it into an
o er. Of course, there are also other aspects like personal interview questions, but that’s for
another article.

What is a Case Solving Interview?

You’ll nd many explanations online. But, I personally view it as a  “collaboration between the
interviewer and the interviewee to arrive at a structured solution to a problem.” (Pretty good
de nition eh XD I hope)

The Case Team!

You might’ve heard the phrase “Case Team” many times in the context of case prep. A case team
refers to a group of people who solve cases together and collaborate on their consulting interview
prep journey. Ideally, a case team can have 3 people. But 2 or more than 3 works too, as long as
you’re comfortable with the structure. During the course of your preparation journey, you will and
should practice cases with di erent people (outside of your case team as well). But, your case
team would be a stable set of people to whom you can come to periodically for case practice,
with whom you share all your learnings, exchange resources, ideas and moral support. I formed a
wonderful case group with two batchmates and solved cases with them exclusively for 2 months
before I diversi ed to others. But I still maintained my periodic case-solving routine with my case
group.

Case Prep Resources

There are many resources out there for case prep. But, essentially all you need are a good set of
cases that you can use for practice. Here are the resources that I used and some suggested
resources as well:

Books:

• Case Interviews Cracked

• Day 1.0

• FMS Casebook

• IIMA Casebook

Videos:
• Cracking the Consulting Interview’s Youtube Channel  (Link): Video walkthroughs of
pro tability, market entry, and unconventional cases, guesstimates as well as tips on
securing o -campus jobs. Do take a look and show some support, it would mean a lot!

• Victor Cheng (to get an idea about case-solving)

• Case Interviews Cracked Youtube Channel

Apart from this, I solved numerous cases with seniors, buddies from the companies and other
aspirants. They brought to the table cases I’ve never heard of. That really buttressed my case
arsenal.You might come across more resources as well, feel free to incorporate them in your
preparation as you see t.

Types of Cases

Case classi cations can be done in sundry ways. The most common approach is based on the
type of the case statement and is as follows:

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 • Pro tability Cases:  “Your client is company ABC. They’ve seen a decline in their pro ts
over the last 2 years. Find out what’s going on and o er solutions.”

• Market Entry Cases: “Your client is an Indian company ABC. They’re into manufacturing
kitchen equipment in the country. They want to explore entering the Sri Lanka market with
their agship product — a toaster. Should they go ahead with this or not? If so, how should
they do it?”

• Pricing Strategy Cases: “Your client is a pharma company that’s invented a new drug that
completely cures acne. They want to know at what price they should market this. Help
them out.”

• Growth Strategy Cases:  “Your client owns tire stores across the US. They’ve seen
stagnation in their revenues over the last 5 years. They want you to help them grow their
revenues.”

• M&A Cases:  “Your client is an e-commerce company in India. They’re into electronics
sales exclusively. They’re considering merging with a fashion apparel e-commerce entity in
the country that also has a minor footprint in Singapore. Should they go ahead with this
deal?”

• Unconventional Cases: The most fun type of cases (personal opinion). “Your client is an

alien who wants a strategy to invade Earth. How should it go about this?”

Very interesting right? If some of these look complex and scary to you, don’t worry. With practice,
you’ll be able to crack all these questions and more within 30 minutes of structured problem-
solving.

So, What Exactly Should I do Right Now?

This article focuses solely on getting started, so let’s chart out a plan for you to do just that.

• Find yourself a case team.  Talk to people in your batch and institute who’re aiming for
the same thing, look at fora on social media platforms (LinkedIn especially). Connect with
others who are interested in the same pages as you (like  Cracking the Consulting
Interview :) ) and who attend similar events.

• Get yourself a repository of cases (at least 15).  This will prevent you from spending
excessive time searching for cases just before you solve one. Refer to the resources above
and ask your friends and seniors to share cases as well. Try to have a good mix of di erent
case types.

• Familiarize yourself with case solving. As a rst-time case solver, it’s hard to know what
to do and how to approach a case. Watching videos, attending case demo sessions
(Cracking the Consulting Interview is organizing sessions in the summer of 2021 to demo
pro tability, market entry and unconventional cases), observing experienced case solvers
attempt a case are all useful. I’d recommend you spend a few days just getting the hang of
how to approach cases before diving into actual case solving. The preface and
introduction sections of various books o er good starting structures that you can use to
solve cases.

• Learn how to be an interviewer.  People tend to underestimate the importance of an

interviewer in a case prep session. They prefer receiving a case rather than giving one.
But, it’s important to internalize the fact that you learn as much as an interviewer as an
interviewee. You get to observe someone’s case-solving skills, guide them towards a
solution, understand mistakes and how certain things come across to an interviewer.
Again, I’d recommend you go through certain resources for a few days initially to
understand how you’re supposed to drive a case and how you should o er useful
feedback to your interviewee.

• Set a cadence for case solving.  Call me obsessed, I don’t mind. I can’t overstate how
much this helped me. Our case team maintained an excel sheet with the date, the case
number (from a particular book), type of case and who among our case team would be the
interviewer and the interviewee (a month in advance!). After each case, we coloured the
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 respective cells green and, at the end of the month, we got a very good sense of our
progress and could plan better. I emulated this for all my cases with aspirants outside of
my case group as well. But I know many people who chose to go with the ow. Anything
works really, it just depends on your comfort.

• Guesstimates.  Ah, the familiar component :). Now, I haven’t mentioned anything about
guesstimates so far, but don’t forget to include them in your case prep. I had three
interview rounds with BCG of which two were guesstimates. Of my three interview round
at McKinsey, one was a guesstimate, and it was a pretty long one too. Now, this is just
how things panned out for me. Please don’t assume that 67% of statements from BCG
and 33% from McKinsey would be guesstimates, I know many people who got zero
guesstimates. Regardless, guesstimates prepare you directly for interview guesstimate
questions, market sizing, other guesstimates within cases and they help improve your
structuring. So, keep that in mind.

• Get your stationery right.  This might seem a trivial matter, but gure out whether you
want to store your cases in a notebook, use papers, a notepad or a scroll (XD). Ideally,
practice on the medium that you’ll have to use for your interview as well. That’ll help you
manage real estate better (It’s important, trust me. I’ve lost track of numbers more than
once in the initial weeks of case prep due to unstructured note making on the paper.)

So yeah, I believe that with this you’ll be set to start your case prep journey. Again, there may be
other factors you might have to gure out, but these points include the things I focused on and
certain things I wished I had focused on earlier.

A List of Resources
For Cases and Guesstimates

Books:

• Case Interviews Cracked

• Day 1.0

• FMS Casebook

• IIMA Casebook

Videos:
• Cracking the Consulting Interview’s Youtube Channel  (Link): Video walkthroughs of
pro tability, market entry, and unconventional cases, guesstimates as well as tips on
securing o -campus jobs. Do take a look and show some support, it would mean a lot!

• Victor Cheng (to get an idea about case-solving)

• Case Interviews Cracked Youtube Channel

For Business Acumen

• Newsletters (The Ken; Deciphering BFT+, for weekly articles on business, nance,
technology etc.)

• Informational videos

• Blogs

• Newspapers

• Online news websites

• Podcasts

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 Tips and Tricks for Case Solving
What are the various sections of a typical case? How should you tackle each one? How can you
earn brownie points? How can you stand out in your case interview? 

Here, I’ll cover the various sections of a typical case and run you through what you should do
from the moment you receive a case statement. These tips comprise my personal learnings with
the bene t of hindsight and the tips I received from  McKinsey, BCG and Bain consultants.
Further, if you’re new to case-solving or are looking to take your skills to the next level, do check
out the video series of Cracking the Consulting Interview where I walk you through cases end-to-
end in a structured manner (I’d greatly appreciate the support!). So, let’s begin.

The interviewer has given you the case statement. What do you do now?

Step 1: Reiterate the Case Statement

Remember that a lot of the time interviewers give you cases that they themselves worked on in
the rm. So, it needn’t be as short as  “ABC saw a 50% decline in pro ts last year. Help them
out.”  It would have an additional backstory, facts and data. Don’t repeat every word that the
interviewer uttered, instead summarize what the interviewer told you and check if your
understanding of the statement is correct. Just to reiterate,  don’t repeat the statement
verbatim.

Step 2: Preliminary Questions

So you’ve checked whether you’ve noted stu down properly. Good. The next step is to ask
preliminary questions. In case the case statement is complex or it’s an unconventional case, you
can ask for a few moments to come up with a set of questions. I’ve personally done that, it
trumps asking haphazard questions that won’t help you much. Here are some tips for this section:

• Structure the preliminary questions.  I personally adopt this strategy as much as

possible. For example, my preliminary questions for pro tability cases were structured as
(a) Questions about the quantum of change in pro ts/revenues/costs and the time period
(b) Clari cation of objective (c)Questions about the company (d) Questions about the
products and processes (e) Questions about the industry and competitors. With practice,
you’ll nd it easy to do this even for unconventional cases. It helps you get more
information from a lesser number of questions.

• Clarify the objective. This is important. Your case statement may end with “Help out your
client.” This, however, could range from the client wanting you to just nd identify a
problem to reviving a particular metric to a speci c value. You need to clarify that in the
very beginning.

• Don’t ask unnecessary questions.  Usually, after solving a few cases, people tend to
collect their preliminary questions and use them for future cases. I did this too and highly
recommend it. But, there’s absolutely no need to pose every single question from your
arsenal to the interviewer in each case. In a 30-minute case interview, you don’t want to
spend 10 minutes just on preliminary questions.

• Don’t ask generic questions. This is also important. Tailor your questions to the case and
the industry. If your case deals with the pro tability of a tea stall, rather than posing
questions like “Is this an industry-wide issue or a client-speci c issue?”, reframe it as “Are
other tea stalls a ected as well or is our client the only one impacted?”

• Be innovative and employ business acumen. This is a great way to grab brownie points
early on. There are certain things you should ask for in cases dealing with certain
industries. For example, if your case is about a pharma player’s new drug and their market
entry strategy, you should ask whether the drug is a prescription drug or OTC and what
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 side e ects it has. Pay attention to the case statement and incorporate this practice early
on so that it comes naturally to you.

• Don’t start solving the case at this stage itself. Sometimes we tend to get carried away
and ask way too many questions that the line between the preliminary questions section
and the actual case gets blurred. For example, in a pro tability case, questions like “Is the
decline in pro tability due to a change in revenues, costs or both?” should come later, not
in the rst section. Keep track of where you stand and pivot accordingly.

• Provide the rationale for questions as and when needed. I usually follow this practice.
Don’t just ask questions but validate them with appropriate justi cations. For example, you
can state that “I’d like to know about the revenue streams of the company. This will help in
analysing if there’s an issue in any particular one or across all revenue streams.”  This is
better than a blunt question. However, don’t overdo this. The rationale for certain
questions are obvious and you needn’t discuss that. I typically employ this for one or two
preliminary questions.

Step 3: Preliminary Structuring

This is quite important, as it sets the stage for your entire case. But, it’s alright if the initial
structuring isn’t favoured by the interviewer, you can ask to change it if the interviewer is up for it.
Focus on the following:

• Be MECE.  You’re probably tired of this word, but it’s important. It’s harder for
unconventional cases, but try to be as MECE as you can.

• Use a relatively broad structure and then drill down. If pro ts have declined, employ a
simple framework of revenues and costs. Don’t directly list out all the costs and the
formula for the revenue. That comes after you clarify which metric (revenues or costs or
both) needs to be looked at.

Step 4: The Drill Down

Now, once you’ve got your preliminary structure set, it’s time to drill down the branches of the
structure. This will be based on the direction the interviewer prescribes and how you feel the case
ought to go. Here are some tips:

• Keep segmenting to eliminate possibilities. This can be done based on product group/

geography/distributor/retailer/customer segment. For instance, the revenue of a toaster
manufacturer may be down, but this might be happening only in South India. If you can
clarify this early on (potentially before or right after you split revenue as price * volume),
you’ll be one step closer to identifying the problem.

• Employ the 80–20 rule. Consultants love this and you’ve got to use it. Consider an FMCG
client with a focus on biscuits, personal hygiene products and stationery in the ratio 70%,
20% and 10%. Revenues in each segment have fallen by 50%, 30% and 20%
respectively. You should realize that by solving the problem with biscuits, a signi cant
revival can be a ected and thus, you should prioritize that segment. To help you with this,
when you’re segmenting in terms of product group/geography/distributor/retailer/customer
segment, always ask for percentage contribution to the metric under consideration and
prioritize.

• Be structured.  Try to be structured at each stage of a drill-down. There might be times

when that’s hard, but always attempt to make a valid structure. This helps you analyse all
that needs to be looked at and also shows the interviewer that you’re good at structuring.

• Keep track of time.  A typical case interview usually lasts between 20 and 30 minutes.
This is not set in stone though, I personally had cases lasting 45–50 minutes during a few
of my interviews. But, 20–30 minutes is what you’ll hear a lot. So, while you shouldn’t rush
the drill-down and do a shoddy job, do realize that you’re operating under some time
constraints and enforce that during practice. You’ll learn to speed up your problem-solving
ability without compromising on quality and comprehensiveness over time.

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 • Don’t be a framework robot. As you keep solving a lot of cases, you’ll come across many
frameworks. What you’re supposed to do is understand how to come up with innovative
frameworks on your own and employ them in situations. What you’re de nitely not
supposed to do is mug up frameworks and deploy them as is in cases. Using generic
words like attraction, value proposition and retention is a dead giveaway and you’ll appear
like a framework bot. Adapt to the industry and case provided and be innovative.
Frameworks like the above are very useful as a foundation. Build on it and create your
custom frameworks.

• Share your thought process and o er a rationale while asking questions.  This is
similar to preliminary questions.

• Collaborate with the interviewer. Remember, you’re not doing this alone. The interviewer
is not your enemy. He/she is as much interested in guring out the solution as you are and
is rooting for you. So, collaborate and have fruitful discussions. Ask the interviewer for his/
her opinion on a conclusion of yours, ask him/her if your approach seems alright or if a
di erent approach must be taken. They are super experienced professionals and you’ll
learn so much from them through each case. Make use of this opportunity well.

• Mini synthesis.  This is really helpful in case the problem is quite convoluted and you’ve
had to cover a lot of bases. At certain points in the case, just take a step back and, in a
line or two, quickly summarize all that's been covered till that point and what you intend to
do next. This would ensure that you and the interviewer are on the same page and, thus,
enhances clarity.

Step 5: Recommendations

Once you’ve nished the drill-down and the analysis part of the case, it’s time for
recommendations. In many cases, the drill-down consumes a lot of time and there’s not enough
left for recommendations. But, if you do have time, then keep the following things in mind:

• Structure the recommendations. I tend to do this as it allows me to be comprehensive.

In case it’s di cult to come up with innovative recommendations, structuring helps in
getting ideas for the same.

• Prioritize them.  Some recommendations are just better than the others in terms of
feasibility and impact. While conveying the solutions, prioritize such recommendations
over less feasible, more expensive and low-impact ones.

• Don’t bring out a laundry list. 3 to 4 solid recommendations are good. Don’t narrate a
laundry list of 7 to 8 recommendations. The interviewer, and in fact anyone, will zone out
and not pay full attention.

• Have innovative recommendations but not outlandish ones.  While it’s good to be
creative with recommendations (this is the portion where you can let your creativity shine,
really), think about the feasibility of what you’re proposing. If an auto driver’s pro ts have
declined due to the high cost of petrol emanating from a production cut by OPEC, your
recommendation cannot be to prod the auto driver to negotiate with OPEC!

• Leverage your business acumen.  While proposing recommendations, do try to infuse

real-life examples and cases. You might come across di erent strategies employed by
di erent companies in newspapers and videos. Use them for inspiration and mention them
as and when feasible.

Step 6: Synthesis

I believe that synthesis is very important to achieve a sense of closure to a case-solving session.
So, even when the interviewer tells me that time’s up, I tend to ask him/her if I can take a few
moments to quickly synthesize what we’ve looked at till then. Mostly, they agree. Here are some
golden rules for a synthesis:

• Keep it short and crisp.  Remember, this is a synthesis, not a monologue. Don’t
summarize case facts and the process. Focus on the outcome. Limit it to 30–40 seconds.
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 Essentially, think that the CEO has asked you to tell him what to do and he has to rush to
another meeting. You have only 30 seconds to make your case. Here’s a sample synthesis
for a case where a to ee maker is witnessing a decline in pro ts:  “We’ve seen that a
change in the container shape had made it hard for shopkeepers to access our
to ee, thus resulting in a revenue fall. We can alleviate this through (a) modi ed
packaging (smaller wrappers, running packets), (b) o ering packing tips and
(c)capturing customer attention to our to ees.”  One line about the problem
identi cation, one line mentioning the recommendations (notice the point-wise approach).

• Be prepared for sudden synthesis. The interviewer may abruptly interrupt the case due
to time constraints or because he/she feels that the covered content is enough. At that
point, you might have to rapidly synthesize the case without taking out a few moments.
Make sure that your writing is legible and neat so that you can access the important
numbers and gures to make your synthesis.

So there, that’s all my tips on the actual case solving process. I hope you nd this useful and
bene t from incorporating it in your casing process.

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Structuring Examples
Level 1 (Pro tability): Airlines Revenue Structure

Level 2 (Pro tability): Airlines Cost Structure



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Level 3 (Unconventional): How to Reduce Tra c on a Road?

Level 4 (Unconventional): Training and Creating the World’s

Best Keyboard Player

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 Pro tability Case Examples
Level 1 (Simple): Pro tability of a Tea Stall

Your client is a tea stall owner whose pro ts have fallen in the last one month. Help
him out.

A garment store has started nearby and they’ve put up huge billboards that’s hogging up parking
space. 2-wheeler customers are no more able to park and come to the store.

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Level 2 (Complex): Pro tability of a Movie Theatre

Your client is a movie franchise owner whose revenues have fallen in the last two
months. Help her out.

The mall has a new rule to prevent loitering in the premises after 10PM. Only those with tickets are
being allowed to enter.

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 Personal Interview Preparation
How to tackle the “Tell me about yourself” and other PI questions?

A lot of people tend to save personal interview prep for the very end. The last week or two maybe,
even lesser. They spend all their time and energy on case solving. But, personal interview (PI)
questions are also important for interviews. McKinsey’s website emphasises the signi cance of
the personal interview component of their interviews.

When Should You Begin Personal Interview Prep?

It is really a function of the total time you have till the interview and your comfort level with such
preparation. I had a total of 4 months to prepare and began personal interview preparation a little
over a month before the interview day. I didn’t drop casing altogether then but worked
simultaneously on both aspects. Pick a time that suits your requirements. But don’t ever push it to
the very end unless you want to be embroiled in an existential dread situation.

How Should You Go About It?

To each their own technique, but I’ll share my technique here.

• I rst listed out all the things I’d done in college (and some events from school) till then —
competitions, internships, projects, notable courses etc. Even the tiniest of achievements
or events of signi cance featured on this sheet. This was to help jog my memory.

• I then recollected 7 to 8 “stories” and jotted them down. And by recollected I mean really,
really drilled into my brain to understand what I did, why I did what I did etc. Now, each of
these stories would cover one or more of the entries in the list of stu I did in college. One
or two stories also covered my school days. These stories served as references for PI.

• I then categorized them under various headings such as “Teamwork”, “Leadership”,

“Crisis Aversion”, “People Skills” etc. One story can cater to multiple such headings, and
that’s a good thing. You’ll be able to reuse your stories in that manner.

• I then went through some standard questions and looked at how I could utilize the 7 to 8
key stories to answer each question.

• Finally, I went through my resume in detail and was well prepared to answer any question
about any internship or project I’d worked on and o er quick and structured descriptions
of my experiences.

Tell Me About Yourself

This is something you most de nitely have to be prepared for. This seemingly simple question
requires a considerable amount of thought, structuring and introspection in order to present an
interesting, concise and crisp answer. Here are some tips that I learnt along the way:

• Don’t exceed 90 seconds. Try having a short and a long version and deploy the
appropriate version basis time and interviewer expectation.

• Ensure it has a nice ow.

• Rehearse it to get a handle on the points and the timing but ensure that while you don’t
appear robotic while you speak.

• Be genuine. I cannot overstate the importance of this.

• Follow a structure (Eg: chronological order, academics-professional experiences-

extracurriculars etc.)

• Have an underlying theme (mine was on how my various experiences led to me identifying
consulting as the right t.)

• End with a hook that’ll make you appear memorable.

• Don’t just narrate your resume.

• Don’t feel the need to mention every single event in your life, thus cramming in everything.

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 • Highlight events that you want the interviewer to latch on to, so add hooks there as well.

Some General Tips for Your Overall PI Prep

• e honest and genuine with your answers.

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• Don’t over-rehearse anything. Remember, you’re just talking about yourself and all that
you’ve done.

• If you feel that you don’t remember the exact details of events, contact your friends and
colleagues who were present at that time and extract details.

• Restrict answers anywhere between 30 seconds and 1 minute, depending on the question
and interviewer interest. The “Tell me About Yourself” question would go on for longer.

• Employ the STAR format — Situation, Task, Action, Result for answering questions. Don’t
ramble.

• Be prepared to talk about any and every point on your resume. Thus, go through your
project and internship reports to recollect the work you’ve done so that you can have a
fruitful conversation on the topic if the need arises in the interview.

• Have mock PI sessions with seniors and friends. They’ll be able to inform you of errors and
blindspots and this would be really useful. But, don’t overdo it. At the end of the day,
remember that you need to be genuine and so take a call on which suggestions you want
to incorporate and which ones you want to skip.

• Don’t give generic answers to questions like “Why consulting?” and “Why rm A over B or
C?”. After a certain period of case preparation and interactions with seniors, you should
have answers to the above questions. There must have been some reason why you chose
to enter case preparation, right? Introspect and identify how your core interests,
experiences and aspirations t in with consulting and your target rm.

• Finally, on interview day, converse with the interviewer. Rope the interviewer in for
thoughts and comments now and then instead of plainly reciting prepared answers. Don’t
force this though, if you’re uncomfortable with it, that’s absolutely okay. Again, just be
yourself.

Now, the above points were what I focused on during my PI prep. It’s impossible to list out a
completely exhaustive list of points as it’s very dependent on the candidate and his/her answers
and expectations. Hence, use the above points as a guide and build on your PI answers.

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 Interview Day
What should you do a week before the interview? A day before? What should you keep in mind to
ensure good performance on interview day?

While your preparation may last anywhere from a few weeks to some months, it all boils down to
the interview day. It’s those few hours that have been accorded to you for showcasing all that
you’ve worked on until that moment, so it’s important to put your best foot forward. I’ve attended
both o ine and online interviews throughout my internship and placement processes and this
article is a small attempt to share some of my key learnings and tips on how to tackle the
interview. So, let’s get started.

What Comprises a Case Interview?

Three sections usually appear in management consulting interviews:

• The Case/Guesstimate:  This section typically lasts 15–25 minutes, though it can
de nitely go above or below this range. I personally had two interviews where my cases
went on for 40–50 minutes. The interviewer gives you the problem statement and you
collaborate with the interviewer to solve it in a structured manner. If you’d like to know
more about this segment, read this article and check out the case demonstrations from my
YouTube channel here.

• Personal Interview Questions: Commonly called the HR section, this can last anywhere
from 5–15 minutes typically. Sometimes, your entire interview can revolve around this
aspect and other times you may not be asked any question on this front as well. This
section encompasses questions like  “Tell me about yourself”  (TMAY),  “Why
consulting?” etc. If you want to know more about what this section is and how to prepare
for the same, do take a look at this article.

• General Awareness: Now, I’m adding this as a separate section as I’ve encountered this
in two of my interviews. You may be asked to talk about a speci c industry, about
something happening around you, general trends and scenes. For example, I was asked to
discuss the implications of Covid-19 on India Inc. and the conversation lasted 15–20
minutes. Further, the topic of discussion may stem from a speci c internship/project you
did, an area you mentioned you enjoyed in your TMAY etc. So, you’d have had ample time
to research the eld in the months before your interview. Further, since this is an item for
which preparation cannot be done overnight, keep yourself updated on what’s happening
around you. You can also check out my newsletter ‘Deciphering BFT+’ for periodic
articles on business, nance and technology.

These three sections need not make an appearance in every single one of your interview rounds.
But they encompass, to a good extent, what you can expect.

The Week Before the Interview Day

I, personally, am not a fan of last-minute preparation. The week before my interview day, I focused
on the following:

• Case and PI Preparation: I engaged in a light revision of cases I’d solved in the past and
did quick run-throughs of personal interview questions. I also continued the practice of
keeping abreast of current a airs and updates.

• Logistics:  This is very important. As my MBB interviews happened virtually due to the
pandemic, I xed up my internet, checked various devices, acquired backup options for
both connectivity and devices, cleared my workspace, set my stationery and attire. I
engaged in some video calls with seniors from the rm to ensure my camera positioning,
acoustics, lighting and backgrounds looked alright.

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 • Relaxation:  I personally value this a lot before the interview, the importance of having a
clear head. Listen to music, watch something you like (Don’t opt for a complete binge
though!), talk to family, tell yourself that you’ve prepared well and are ready for the
interview. Further, ensure that you take care of your body by eating healthy.

Interview Day — General Tips

• on’t rush at the last moment to get ready. You don’t want to be a nervous wreck.

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• Ensure neat and formal attire and appearance.

• Keep adequate papers and stationery at hand, you never know when you’ll have to do a
very long case.

• Keep a few copies of your resume with you.

• Remain calm and collaborate with the interviewer. Remember that he/she is present to
guide you through tricky spots in a case.

• Con dence is key.

• Regarding food and drink, follow what’s comfortable for you.

Interview Day — Tips for Online Interviews

• I n case you’re interviewing online, keep the resume easily accessible so that you can send
it to the interviewer or share your screen if necessary.

• For online interviews, ensure a clear desktop homepage and don’t open unnecessary tabs.

• Sit in a quiet venue and avoid distractions as much as possible.

• Position your camera appropriately. Make sure the interviewer can see and hear you
clearly.

• While talking to the interviewer, do look at the camera now and then and try to make eye
contact.

• If you nd your own video distracting, feel free to cover the tile with a sticky note.

• Don’t panic in the event of internet disruption. Keep a contact (HR, buddy from the rm
etc.) handy and inform them immediately. They will understand and arrange for an
alternate mode to continue the interview.

• An online interview takes away your ability to easily show the structures that you draw for
case solving. If you are used to writing on a tab with a stylus, you can consider sharing
your screen. For the pen and paper mode, you can use darker and thicker pens and show
your structure to the interviewer via the camera if the interviewer for it. Sometimes, you
might be asked to send images of your working sheets after the interview, so ensure
neatness while writing.

• Communication becomes even more important during virtual interviews. Articulate your
thoughts clearly, convey your structures comprehensively and pause now and then to
ensure that the interviewer has heard you and there’s no internet disruption.

• Try not to enter meeting rooms which you’re not supposed to enter. This might happen
due to errors in nding the right links and stress, but do be vigilant.

• Listen to music, read a book, and relax between interviews. Don’t waste time and energy
dissecting your past performance. Just focus on what’s next.

These are some of the tips that helped me and that I picked up following my personal experience
with MBB interviews. Now, while this is in no way a comprehensive list, I do hope that this helps
you in some form to tackle the interviews better. If you’re feeling jittery before your interview, don’t
worry. That’s normal and common. And I can attest to the fact that despite hearing numerous
variants of the “Be calm” phrase from well-wishers, the nerves and the excitement don’t vanish
completely. That’s okay too, it does keep you on your toes. Just don’t let it get in the way of you
doing your best :)

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All the Best!