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Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program

Road Map to the Case

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Road Map to The Case

Case Interview – End-to-End Secrets Program –

Road Map to the Case
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Congratulation! You have got yourself one of the best tools ever built to prepare and ace the
case. Thank you for the trust you put in us and also for the commitment you have in Case
Interviews. No matter how good of the job we do, it does not work without just one key factor
on your side: hard-work. But if you are willing to commit and with the help of this program, it is
a guarantee you will get the job offer. Ok, almost.

The volume of this program is quite massive and it is ok to get a little confused at the moment
of receiving a bunch of seemingly unrelated materials. In just a second everything will become
clear through this study guide.

This is hopefully an energetic jump start of your studying plan.

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Just like the name of it, this program is a comprehensive guide with demonstrations, examples,
exercises and many other materials developed to help aspiring management consultants
prepare for their Case Interview.

It was developed with a mindset of general application for all management consulting firms,
slightly focusing more on the big 3 of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. If your goal is to get into these
three, this program is spot-on. If it is to get into other firms, no problem. In general, most if not
all of the tips, tricks, and other insights derived from the real-life principles of management
consulting industry. Those are very universal. So even if the exact interview format of various
firms and offices varies, the core principle should be applied universally.

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Road Map to The Case

I developed this program with one core philosophy gathered from tons of hours coaching so
many different candidates from various backgrounds. It takes a lot to be good at case interview.
And many of those skills and knowledge are under the surface.

I probably know this too well. The free video series on our Youtube channel is a good example.
Day after day, I have to balance between providing what the audience NEED and what they
WANT. Some very crucial topics like the logical foundation of Case Interview, the mindset of
Case Interviewer, etc. usually does not get as many views as those other catchy topics like
Frameworks, Market-sizing, etc. It is not that framework or market-sizing are not important,
but a more balanced approach is better. Clearly, what the audience needs is NOT necessarily
what they want.

Now the same story can be told for a comprehensive End-to-End tool like this one. There are
some elements that do not look and sound appealing to you at the moment of purchase or
even now with the Program unlocked. But we are committed to standing on the side of
providing what you NEED.

So, what I ask of you is to take every single element, aspect, part of this comprehensive
program very seriously. Trust me that I have put so much thought into it and they are there for
good reasons.

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Of many candidates I have had the privilege to conduct cases with, I generally set them into just
two groups: The Intuitives and the Practicals.

The Intuitives are those often with a business background and some real world experience.
They know a lot of the business words, terminologies, concepts and most importantly, they
have a very good intuition about business. They can draw spot-on issue trees, quickly catch
important insights, and creatively think of approaches and solutions.

The Practicals, on the other hand, are those with a compromised business background, but
instead, master the methodology of the case interview. They know exactly what is expected of

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Road Map to The Case

them, what to do in each and every step, how to frame a pitch, how to deliver a message in the
best way possible, how to pull themselves out of undesirable situations, etc.

To be successful in Case Interview, you need to be both. So I have developed this program to
help you improve on both of these battlefields. There are three Parts of this program:

- The Business Intuition part: helps you become the Intuitive.

- The Tips & Techniques part: helps you become the Practical.

- And the third part about Math is an important complement to smoothen your transition to
becoming both of the above as there's a big chunk of the case content that involves math.

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I carefully chose the best format to best deliver the purpose of each Part.

The Tips & Tricks part needs a lot of demonstrations and interactive communication, so we
present it through actual cases along with feedbacks using visual aids.

The Intuition part, on the other hand, is something you will need to go at your own pace: to
read, to think, to ponder, to research, etc. So this is presented in a more traditional format:
exercises with fairly detailed explanations in PDF materials.

The Math part is a different aspect. As much of the Intuition part is about READ, the Math is all
about PRACTICE. Practice makes perfect. So I focus my effort on creating as much practice for
you as possible with decent and brief answer keys. Most of the time, you will have no problem
understanding the answer keys as the guideline in the math part is fairly straightforward. But
should you encounter one or a few hiccups, let our support team know.

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Now here comes the most important part, how do we best leverage this resource? There are a
few tips for you.

No.1: Watch all of my free videos on Youtube. Just because they are free doesn't mean they are
not good. Those videos really set a good foundation for you to learn more advanced skills and

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Road Map to The Case

concepts in this program. So please, go watch all of them and do so faithfully. There's a HUGE
difference between "watching all videos" and "studying, pondering, challenging,
comprehending every single insight in those videos".

No.2: Start NOW. As I said a moment ago, some really important aspects of a good case
interviewee would need some time to develop, especially the Business Intuition and the Math
side.

No.3: With respect to the Business Intuition and the Math part, develop a routine, a consistent
study and practice time slot with regularity for them. This is the way to make sure you do take
the time and more importantly, to create the best environment to help your brain develop
these skills. The exact time allocation depends on your time resources, here is an example I
followed years ago.

 Wake up at 7:00, read a consulting article from McKinsey, Bain, or BCG website on the
bed. I am a lazy person and tend not to get out of bed right away... I use it to maximize
the efficiency of my study.
 Do all of the personal stuff and eat breakfast until 7:45, then take 30 minutes to practice
some math before leaving for work which starts at 8:30.
 I eat lunch quite fast and save myself usually about 45 minutes each day to study the
Business Intuition.
 On my commute to work and from work, I always challenge myself to practice whatever
math problems I can think of. All in my head.
 At home, all showering and refreshing around 6:30pm, I take another 45 minutes to
study the Business Intuition.
 The whole evening is often spent on either practicing live cases with partners. For you,
the Tips & Techniques part is a good one to supplement this.
 Then about 20 minutes before going to bed, I take on more Math study again. For me,
this also helps me fall asleep easier.

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 On the weekend when I don't have work, I still keep the routine. Except that the regular
work hours are spent either on entertainments, sports, or simply putting in some side-
work such as researching about the company, the office, etc.

No.4: For the Tips and Techniques part, the best study strategy is to pause the video as often as
possible to think of the answer yourself. What would you do in that situation? Then listen to the
candidate version, take some notes, then pause again to see what good and bad you can spot
from that pitch, then let see if your thoughts match with mine. You will realize that you will
learn way more by doing this rather than just take a passive role listening to cases.

No.5: Track your progress by practicing actual cases with different partners. Make sure you
spend some good time afterward to self-reflect on your performance: what you did well, what
to improve on, why, and how to do it. Record yourself practicing is not a bad idea. Insert those
cases in between the study of this program.

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A lot of people have asked me to help them lay out a specific study plan with timeline and
milestones ... which to study first at what point of time, etc. To be honest, I am not really a big
fan of concretely-set study plan like that, simply because I believe there are so many different
ways to be right. Plus, designing a one-size-fits-all plan for every candidate is impossible. Each
person has different preferences, needs, and circumstances.

So, what I did is to lay out a sample. Remember, this is a sample; a study plan with the
assumption that you are mostly and equally new to all aspects of the cases. Feel free to break
away from my suggestions. But if you just start out and do not have a strong idea, this is a good
way to go.

Please refer to Appendix 1 "Sample Study Plan".

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After all, Case Interview is a tough challenge. Many times, you just feel like everything is against
you: the time, the weaknesses, the lack of knowledge or background, etc.

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Road Map to The Case

But if it is not tough, it is not as glorious and rewarding when you make it. So have a good spirit,
embrace the challenges and get over the top. If you follow all pieces of advice I just gave you,
study hard, keep up a good spirit through all those highs and lows; you will make it. When I was
in your shoes, I was not the smartest person; but with the strategic study plan, I made it. So you
can make it too.

I am here to wish you good luck. Yet beyond that, I wish you to have the belief and a strong
spirit. With them, you have the power to achieve any endeavors in life. That is my definition of
luck.

So, GOOD LUCK!

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APPENDIX
Appendix 1: Sample Study Plan
1. 3-Day Study Plan
2. 1-Week Study Plan
3. 4-Week Study Plan

Appendix 2: Study Sequence

1. Case Interview Tips & Techniques
2. Case Interview Intuition

Appendix 3: Commonly-used Scripts

Appendix 4: Near-Interview Drill

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Appendix 1

Sample Study Plan

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Road Map to The Case

3-Day Study Plan

10+ hours / day

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Watch the whole Case Interview Concept playlist on Pay attention to every

1 our Youtube channel detail, re-watch if

necessary to really
comprehend the content

 Watch 1 Tips & Techniques Case (1 case may have See Appendix 2 for
more than 1 performance video) prioritization
suggestions

 Do the 1st Mock Case* & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

important as the mock
case itself

 Watch half of all Tips & Techniques Performance Choose those with
Videos similar format with your
1st mock case

 Self-reflect on how would you do differently after

having watched those Tips & Techniques videos

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Half of Intuition exercises Try to mix up all types
together. Refer to
 Math drills (may prioritize the Plain & Short type) Appendix 2 for more
suggestions

*
We encourage you to do mock cases with different partners and record yourself to track your progress. Mock
Cases can be accessed freely on MBBs’ websites and other firms. You can also find different type of cases in
consulting case books from top schools such as Columbia, Wharton and London Business School.
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Road Map to The Case

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Do the 2nd Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

2 important as the mock

case itself

 Watch the rest of Tips & Techniques videos

 Self-reflect on how would you do differently after

having watched those Tips & Techniques videos

 Write your version of commonly-used scripts Follow my guidance and

suggestions in Appendix 3

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Half of Intuition exercises Try to mix up all types
together. Refer to
 Math drills (a few of every type) Appendix 2 for more
suggestions

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Practice as many Mock Cases as possible 3 cases is recommended

3  Do the "Near-Interview Drill" Appendix 4

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (may prioritize the Chart & Long type)

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Road Map to The Case

1-Week Study Plan

5+ hours / day

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Watch the whole Case Interview Concept playlist on Pay attention to every

1 our Youtube channel detail, re-watch if

necessary to really
comprehend the content

 Watch 1 Tips & Techniques Case (1 case may have See Appendix 2 for
more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

 Study 1 Intuition Topic See Appendix 2 for

prioritization suggestions

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (may prioritize the Plain & Short type)

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Watch all other Case Interview free videos on our The self-reflect part is as

2 Youtube channel important as the mock

case itself

 Do the 1st Mock case & self-reflect See Appendix 2 for

prioritization suggestions

 Watch the 2nd Tips & Techniques case (1 case may See Appendix 2 for
have more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

 Study the 2nd E2E Intuition Topic

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:
 Math drills (may prioritize the Plain & Short type)

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Road Map to The Case

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Do the 2nd Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

3 important as the mock

case itself

 Watch the 3rd Tips & Techniques case (1 case may See Appendix 2 for
have more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

 Study the 3rd E2E Intuition Topic See Appendix 2 for

prioritization suggestions

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (a few of every type)

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Do the 3rd Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

4 important as the mock

case itself

 Watch the 4th Tips & Techniques case (1 case may See Appendix 2 for
have more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

 Study the 4th E2E Intuition Topic See Appendix 2 for

prioritization suggestions
To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:
 Math drills (a few of every type)

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Road Map to The Case

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Do the 4th Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

5 important as the mock

case itself

 Watch the 5th Tips & Techniques case (1 case may See Appendix 2 for
have more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

 Study the 5th E2E Intuition Topic See Appendix 2 for

prioritization suggestions

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (may prioritize the Chart & Long type)

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Do the 5th Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

6 important as the mock

case itself
 Watch the rest of Tips & Techniques cases

 Study the rest of E2E Intuition Topics

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (may prioritize the Chart & Long type)

Do the following, ideally in that order:

Day
 Do the "Near-Interview Drill" Appendix 4

7  Self-evaluation on parts which need a little fine-

tuning and put some work on that

 Relax and perhaps some Mindfulness/ Yoga/

Meditation is a good way to go

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4-Week Study Plan

3+ hours / day

Week Do the following, ideally in that order:

 Pick up the habit of reading Consulting Publications e.g. McKinsey Insights,

1 everyday BCG Perspectives, Bain

Publications

 Learn all the Fundamentals of Case Interview: A nice supplement

- Watch all MCP's free videos on Youtube material is the "Case
Interview Secrets of
Victor Cheng"

 Do the 1st Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

important as the mock
case itself

 Watch 1 Tips & Techniques case (1 case may have See Appendix 2 for
more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Half of Intuition exercises Try to mix up all types
together. Refer to
 Math drills (may prioritize the Plain & Short type) Appendix 2 for more
suggestions

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Road Map to The Case

Week Do the following, ideally in that order:

 Go back to review Case Interview Fundamentals Pay attention to every

2 often detail, make sure you

know the fundamentals
inside out

 Maintain the habit of reading Consulting e.g. McKinsey Insights,

Publications everyday BCG Perspectives, Bain
Publications

 Do the 2nd Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

important as the mock
case itself

 Watch 2nd & 3rd Tips & Techniques cases (1 case See Appendix 2 for
may have more than 1 performance video) prioritization suggestions

 Write your version of commonly-used scripts Follow my guidance and

suggestions in Appendix 3

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 The rest of Intuition exercises

 Math drills (a few of every type)

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Week Do the following, ideally in that order:

 Go back to review Case Interview Fundamentals Every time going back,

3 often always pick new learning

and understanding from
a new perspective

 Maintain the habit of reading Consulting e.g. McKinsey Insights,

publications everyday BCG Perspectives, Bain
Publications

 Do the 3rd Mock case & self-reflect The self-reflect part is as

important as the mock
case itself

 Watch the rest of Tips & Techniques videos

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (a few of every type)

Week Do the following, ideally in that order:

 Practice as many Mock cases as possible One per day is

4 recommended

 Do the "Near-Interview Drill" The Appendix 4

To fill in whenever your study timeline allows:

 Math drills (may prioritize the Chart & Long type)

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Appendix 2

Study Sequence

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1. Case Interview Tips & Techniques

This is a complete list of all of our Case Interview Tips & Techniques Videos:
No Case Study Format Version Difficulty
1 IPH #1 Interviewer-led Natural 2
2 Austin Bike #1 Interviewer-led Natural 2
3 Austin Bike #2 Interviewer-led Natural 2
4 Pandora #1 Candidate-led Natural 4
5 Pandora #2 Candidate-led Natural 4
6 Jakarta #1 Mixed format Natural 3
7 Jakarta #2 Candidate-led Perfect 5
8 COMA #1 Candidate-led Natural 3
9 COMA #2 Candidate-led Perfect 5
10 Great Cinema Candidate-led Natural 3

Each person with specific situation and needs may need a different order of study. These
following recommendations are useful in helping you prioritize, design and sort your own study.
 Pick cases with format that match your target firm. McKinsey interviews are more
interviewer-led while Bain and BCG are more candidate-led.
 Listen to easier cases first then gradually move to more difficult ones.
 For each unique case, listen to the "Natural" version first, the "Perfect" version later.
2. Case Interview Intuition
Different people have different preferences on studying order of the E2E’s Intuition aspect.
Some choose to finish PDFs one by one while others prefer to mix them altogether.
My own preference is the latter. So each day, I do a few questions from each PDF.
However, there's nothing wrong with the other method. If you belong to that group, this is my
recommended order.
1. Framework 4. Chart Insights
2. Value Proposition 5. Solutions
3. Market-sizing 6. Brain Teaser (if having time)

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Appendix 3

Commonly-used Scripts

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Road Map to The Case

This guide aims at helping you prepare some of the most commonly-used phrases in a case
interview. By being capable of thoroughly and smoothly saying these phrases, you earn great
respect and gain a lot of confidence in cases. It also helps you conserve your brain power in
other parts. All of these together improve your performance in a big way.

In this guide, I give you my version of some of the most popular phrases. You may use my exact
scripts, but I recommend you to write your own versions, using your own wording. That allows
you to be able to say them naturally.

After having a great set of scripts, practice saying them over and over again, to the point you
can unconsciously do it.

Also, notice that the following scripts are not necessarily used in that order.

Good luck and let’s get started!

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SCRIPTS
Very opening: Good morning Mr. ABC. Thank you for the time. How are you doing?

Quite opening: This is a very interesting case. Thank you very much.

The first step in solving any problem is actually to make sure you
solve the right one. So before getting into my approach, I would like
to (a) make a recap of the case and (b) ask a few clarification
questions. Sound good to you?

So (a), to recap...

And (b), for clarification questions,

No.1: ...

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Road Map to The Case

No.2: ...

Getting into the Thank you for the clarification. So a systematic way to tackle this
content: problem, creating long-lasting impact, is to do it from the root. So my
approach is to search for the root-cause of the problem. To do that,
the most effective yet efficient way is to break the problem down into
smaller pieces in a MECE way. Once we find the root-causes, we will
discuss solutions to fix them. Is this approach ok to you?

Proposing an issue Great! So now let's draw out an issue tree to break the problem
tree/framework: down. A good issue tree is the one that is MECE and can help us
successfully isolate the problem. We may need to try more than one.
But at this point, because ... (the reason for your issue tree) ..., a
good way to start is to look at it through this angle ... (describe your
issue tree)… Do you have other thoughts?

Going into the first big Unless you think otherwise, let's hypothesize that the root-cause lies
branch: in ... (your first big branch)…

Testing hypotheses: To test this hypothesis, I would like to look at ... (your benchmarks,
tests, questions, etc.) ...”

This data is often available through ... (the typical sources of data) ...

When receiving a piece This is very interesting. … (make data recap or ask clarification
of data, chart or questions if necessary) …
exhibit: In the evaluation of this interesting data, here are a few insights I
notice. No.1 is ... No. 2 is ... (then state how these insights mean in
the particular case context)…

Confirming/disproving (Choose one of below)

the first big

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Road Map to The Case

hypothesis:  Ok so with that data, we know that the root-cause indeed lies in
this first big branch. Let's go down one level deeper to find out
where that is
 Ok so with that data, we know that the root-cause does NOT lie
in this first big branch. We can cross it out in our analysis. Let's
hypothesize that the root-cause lies in ... (name of your next big
branch).

After identifying root- Ok following rigorous analyses, we have identified …(a figure)… root-
causes: causes. No.1... (the first root-cause). No.2... (the second root-
cause).... The next step for us is to work out solutions for these
identified root-causes.

The "map habit": I would like to make a recap of where we are in the big picture...
(your recap)…

Next, I would like to ... (your next steps) ...

CEO Pitch: Mr. CEO, it has been my great pressure to be a part of this very
interesting project on ... (case problem). We have identified the
following root-causes: ...(state the root-causes in a numbered
fashion)

To solve those root-causes, we have laid out a set of actions: ... (state
the actions in a numbered fashion) ...

We would be more than happy to work with you on future projects,

implementing those initiatives. Thank you very much.

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Appendix 4

Near-interview Drill

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Near-Interview Drill
3 Days before  Get your body into a rhythm Allowing the most alert
moment at interview
(or as soon as the
timeslot
date & time are
confirmed)  Check your outfit Including suit, shoe,
etc.

The night  Go over the commonly-used scripts, practice

saying them in great manner
before
 Do some light math exercises

 Mindfulness/Yoga/ Meditation exercise

The day of  Warm up your voice Especially if the

interview is in the
interview morning

 Warm up your math A few simple & quick

exercises, should do the
trick

 Arrive at the interview site at least 30

minutes before interview time

We hope that this guide has been helpful in your preparation for the Case Interview.
Please help us better serve future candidates like you by dropping us a few notes on your
progress!
support@mconsultingprep.com

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