PREPARATION

MANUAL
POLINA RASSKAZOVA
Recruiting Manager
BCG Caspian Region Office

“Welcome to BCG's case interview preparation manual. It has been

prepared by our recruiting and consulting teams. Getting to know you, with
your unique experience and capabilities, is a very exciting process for us.
Of course we are not expecting a “perfect ready-made” consultant. We
are looking for people with the potential to grow, strong analytical skills,
and the intellectual curiosity and drive to solve our clientsʼ most challenging
problems. This booklet provides you with the relevant guidance to test and
train your skills. Going step by step, we will dive into the soft skills, like the
art of self-presentation, and the hard skills, like structural thinking. This
manual is a hand-picked collection of training tips, hints from our
interviewers, and other valuable resources. Shall we begin?”

In this file, we have collected tips and materi-

als that will help you structure your prepara-
tion and practice. Please note that the materi-
als we provide are examples and you should
not limit your preparation to them. We
advise you to structure your preparation ac-
cording to your personal needs, starting with
a personal audit. There is no set number of
interview cases or hours of practice that will
land every candidate an offer. However,
there are skills we are looking for and a
structure we use to assess the candidates.

Preparing for work in consulting is like pre-

paring for a marathon, where each topic is a
separate workout aimed at a particular set of
muscles. You may be sore at first, you may
not succeed, but by building up your stamina
each time, you will get better and better until
you reach that ultimate goal — the offer of a
job at BCG.
 INTRODUCTION
LET US START WITH A CLOSER LOOK AT THE
CASE INTERVIEW STRUCTURE

1 STEP 1: What is a Case Interview?

BCG INTERVIEWS INCLUDE PERSONAL/

CASE DISCUSSIONS AND Q&A

Personal discussion ~15–20 minutes Experience (based on CV)

Interests
Motivations

Case discussion ~25–30 minutes Set up the case

Describe structure
Discuss approach/analysis
Summarize and recommend

Q&A ~5–10 minutes Q&A led by candidate

~45–60 minutes
per interview

2
STEP 2: What skills are assessed during the case interview?

CANDIDATES ASSESSED ALONG THREE KEY DIMENSIONS

Effectiveness and impact Problem solving and Communication

insight and presence

Know your story and show Structure the problem Be precise and to the point
your motivation
Show business judgment Actively listen
Prioritize Build a relationship of trust
with your interviewer
Show good public math
Be creative

PERSONAL DISCUSSION CASE DISCUSSION FULL INTERVIEW

PREPARATION MANUAL | 01
 3 STEP 3: Effective preparation begins with a clear plan and your
personal audit.

Based on the components of the interview and your individual strengths and
areas for development, it is expected that you develop your personal
approach to equip yourself for the selection process.

A CHECKLIST WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHICH AREA OF YOUR

PERFORMANCE NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. YOU MAY NEED A TOOL TO
MAKE SURE YOU DO YOUR WORKOUTS ON A REGULAR BASIS.
YOU CAN USE THE WORKOUT PLAN PROVIDED, OR YOU CAN TAILOR
THIS PLAN FOR YOURSELF.

02 | PREPARATION MANUAL
 FIT PART
The fit interview plays an important role in the selection process at BCG and can be a
make-or-break factor. Make sure you are focused, tell your career story succinctly shar-
ing the key experiences you are the proudest of, and relate them to the job to demon-
strate your achievements and motivation. Be prepared to introduce yourself briefly (3-5
min) by highlighting the most important milestones of your professional life.

MOTIVATION
The most important thing for us to understand
is your motivation, in other words, whether
you are really driven to join the consulting
industry and whether you managed to
convince the interviewer you are the right
person for BCG. Your goal here is to show a
decided and convincing rationale behind the
career move.

TIPS
Be prepared to talk about your motivation
and decision to move into consulting and to
BCG in particular, considering the choices you
have made in your career journey so far. Do not
come up with general responses — for example: “I
want to work for one of the Big-3 firms” — that any
other candidate might give. You should provide the
reasons that drive you specificly.

Your story does not have to be complicated, but it

should highlight what makes you stand out. Talk about
what you are good at and the things you have done, thus
demonstrating your strengths and abilities.

*If you have a particular example about our company or our people
related to your story, it will work in your favor during the interview.

Describe clearly how consulting will let you do more

of what you have enjoyed in your previous
and current roles.

PREPARATION MANUAL | 03
SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
? Why did you start considering management consulting as your next career step?

? What do you think are the most important characteristics to have to succeed at
BCG? Can you share examples from your experience where you demonstrated
these characteristics and why you think they will help you succeed at BCG?

? Tell us about the most challenging project or a new responsibility you have had to
face. What was your motivation?

START BY OUTLINING WHAT MOTIVATED YOU EARLIER IN YOUR CAREER DECI-

SION-MAKING PROCESS. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE ENJOYED THE MOST.
TRY TO FIND LINKS BETWEEN YOUR PAST CAREER EXPERIENCE AND YOUR PRES-
ENT MOTIVATION. BEFORE THE INTERVIEW, YOU SHOULD COME UP WITH COM-
PELLING ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS: WHY CONSULTING? WHY BCG? WHY
NOW? WHY THIS OFFICE?

04 | PREPARATION MANUAL
 OUR IDEAL PROFILE:
What are we looking for in a candidate?
We expect you to demonstrate that you are a self-motivated and tenacious
person who could drive projects/be the owner of your own stream. We will
be evaluating on wheter you are self-motivated and have the personal drive
1
to achieve your goals and face adversities.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
? Tell us about a situation in which you had to take responsibility for a task. How did
you deal with that?

? Tell us about a time when you had to deal with a completely new task/project.
How did you deal with it? How did you approach it initially?

TALK ABOUT A PROJECT/TASK YOU HAVE

TIPS
Don’t spend time explaining
the entire business context
and details behind the scenes,
focus on your self-reflection
of the challenges faced and
actions taken
Try not to come up with ex-
amples where others failed
and you, eventually, had to
take additional responsibility
— those situations are more
about highlighting flaws in
the business context and spe-
cific circumstances than your
own initiative or independ-
ence
COMPLETED AND HOW IT DEMON-
STRATES YOUR INITIATIVE AND YOUR
ABILITY TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR
THE RESULT WITHOUT ONGOING SUPER-
VISION. WHAT WAS THE PROJECT/INITIA-
TIVE ABOUT? WHEN SOMETHING WENT
WELL, WHY? AND WHAT DID YOU
CONTRIBUTE TO MAKE THE
OUTCOME A SUCCESS? WHEN
IT DID NOT GO SO WELL, HOW
DID YOU HANDLE THAT AND
WHAT HAPPENED? AT THE
INTERVIEW, YOU SHOULD
GIVE A COMPELLING,
SPECIFIC EXAMPLE WITH
FACTS AND FIGURES
TO BACK IT UP

PREPARATION MANUAL | 05
 The people we seek are curious, ready to self-develop and learn, agile and
2 eager to embrace change, and able to take on a new challenge easily. The
feedback culture is built in at BCG and we are happy to share our experience
with others. These particular qualities help you in your projects and make you
a success at BCG.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
? Tell us about Project N on your resume. What did you learn from that experience?
How could you use those learnings working at BCG?

? Do you remember any feedback on your work that you didn't agree with? Why did
you disagree?

? Describe a situation where you felt you failed to meet your goals/objectives?

TIPS
Don’t hesitate to describe
situations where your
performance was not stellar from
day one. What is more important
is how you overcome challenges
and develop new skills, and approach
new opportunities to grow

Reflect on situations when you had to

learn something new: sports, musical in-
struments, business areas – how did you
approach that? This skill is crucial for
success in management consulting

06 | PREPARATION MANUAL
As a company in general, and as individual employees, in particular we are
focused on results, with the success of any project depending on each and
every one of us. The reward is often linked to the specific deliverables/per-
3
formance metrics achieved, etc.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
? Tell us about your achievements with your most recent employer. What impact did
you have there?

? Tell us about your most complex and analytically challenging project and your
findings/results.

? Give us an example of a successful project/activity. How did you define and meas-
ure success? Provide examples. What was your role?

PREPARATION MANUAL | 07
 4
Consulting is about working in a team on a project with clear deadlines. For
that reason, it is crucial for us to hire good team players.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS:
? Tell us about the best team you had/worked with in terms of roles, leadership man-
agement, communication, tasks management, etc.

? What was your influence on your team members? How did you help others? Pro-
vide examples.

? What was your role on the team? How did you manage communication with your
team?

IF YOU ARE INTERVIEWED FOR

CONSULTANT POSITION (OR HIGHER),
WE WILL ALSO LOOK FOR WHETHER TIPS
YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT TEAM
When providing examples about
MANAGEMENTS SKILLS, teaming experience, focus on
AND THE ABILITY TO your contribution and teamwork
ENGAGE AND MOTIVATE process, don’t spend time on long
OTHERS AND ENGAGE explanations of project context,
YOUR TEAM TO DELIVER team composition, challenges
HIGH-QUALITY you faced, etc.
RESULTS.
Not every team project is successful, be
prepared to reflect on and demonstrate
what you learned or what could have
been done better on a less than success-
ful or even failed team project

08 | PREPARATION MANUAL
 CONCLUSION

T
reat the interview as an opportunity It is important that the interviewer has a
to tell your personal story and share whole picture of you. Illustrate the story
facts you are proud of. Precision how about yourself with facts/figures, life/ca-
you structure your story, and how clearly reer examples. Your statements should be
and unambiguously you express yourself corroborated by recounting real-life situa-
are qualities that affect how well you will tions, how you behaved during them, etc.
fare. We take note of these things when we
are talking about the resume and through- The interviewer will ask more detailed
out the case part. questions to "dig deeper", to understand
the meaning of your role in the project,
Being a good listener is important too. how you work in a team, etc., so be pre-
Show an interest in the interviewer, demon- pared for a thorough dialog.
strate that you are listening to and hear
what he/she is saying, answer the question Before the actual interview, we recom-
posed. Do not go off on a tangent. If you mend that you practice out loud. You may
do not understand the question, ask to want to record a video of your fit part, then
have it repeated. This will help you both watch, analyze your performance and
when talking about the resume and in the work on your presentation. To improve
course of solving the case. In particular, your confidence, prepare several exam-
make sure you pick up clues or leading ples (experience, career journey, motiva-
questions from the interviewer, who may tion, etc.) to support all your answers
try to steer you if you are going in the according to the competencies referred to.
wrong direction. Think about the general impression you
make. Pay attention to how you dress, ges-
Building a trust-based relationship with the tures, facial expressions, body language,
interviewer helps a lot during the interview. inflection, pace of speech. It is important
Before the interview, you will be provided for us to understand if you are ready to
with information about your interviewer: work with a customer; if you can partici-
use that information to build a rapport. pate in external meetings. The interview
After the conversation with you, the inter- process is a test in a sense, and it is impor-
viewer will decide whether he/she is ready tant for us to see how confidently you pass
to get you on board with his/her project it and how you prove yourself.
and go to the client with you. Be honest
and open to dialogue. Your positive atti-
tude, attentiveness, communication style,
and ability to connect with the interlocutor
will make a good impression.

PREPARATION MANUAL | 09
CASE PART
As we said earlier, several dimensions are being tested in the case part. We will focus
on the ones, which, in our opinion, require a more detailed look.

A GOOD CASE INTERVIEW LOOKS LIKE THIS:

1 You should understand the situation and the question

- Organize the facts

- Ask questions

2 Structure how you want to think about the case

- Take some time to think

- Use what makes sense to you — look beyond standard frameworks

- Develop a working hypothesis

- Prioritize

3 Investigate the case

- Focus on the question

- Provide internal summaries and questions

4 Summarize your findings and recommendations

- Suggest ideas for further investigation — be creative

- Consider how your recommendation will work in the real world

Letʼs take a closer look at each of the steps.

10 | PREPARATION MANUAL

Y
our interviewer will explain the
clientʼs situation. Listen carefully and
take time to organize your thinking.
Ask questions and tell the interviewer how
youʼre going to approach the problem.
During the discussion, the interviewer will
work with you to help you organize your
thoughts and steer you toward a solution.
Do not be afraid to ask questions to con-
firm that you have everything right. Take a
moment to think about the case and care-
fully define the problem at hand. Establish
a relevant framework and identify the kinds
of analyses you may want to perform to
reach a solution.
TIP
You don’t have to stick to the
initial structure. If you dis-
cover that your initial struc-
ture doesn’t work anymore, be
ready to step back and
change it
WORKOUT 1: STRUCTURE
The ability to structure shows you under-
stand the problem.
A good structure is key to your success in
solving the case, so you need to under-
stand the possible ways of structuring
cases and studying frameworks. Building a
structure starts with breaking down a ques-
tion into more manageable sub-questions.
Below you can find our recommendations
and some sources, but they are not the
only ones out there.
When you start solving a case, you should
remember what the problem is and what
the main question that needs to be
answered is(this is very important). This will
help you build the right structure and
follow it.
PREPARATION MANUAL | 11
 1 STEP 1: FIND THE ISSUE TREE AND HYPOTHESIS

The issue tree is the basis for your structure. It can help you break down the problem to
be solved into its component parts. From this tree, you can see the main issues that you
should focus on. You can also use a hypothesis here.

Make suggestions on how to solve the key issues you have identified. The interviewer
will look for the same things a BCG client would expect when working with
us—game-changing innovation that can create significant and lasting value.

POSSIBLE RESOURCES:
1 The Definitive Guide to Issue Trees

2 An issue tree is a customized framework used to analyze the root causes of prob-
lems in a case

3 Templates for drawing great Issue Trees

4 V. Cheng, Case Interview Secrets — Chapter 8 (The Hypothesis) and Chapter 9

(The Issue Tree)

TIP
Practice makes
perfect. Try to build as
many issue trees for
different business prob-
lems as possible. You
can design your own
business situations or
use case books, e.g.
ACE YOUR CASE® IV:
BUSINESS STRATEGY
QUESTIONS

12 | PREPARATION MANUAL
STEP 2: LEARN ABOUT “MECE”
2
MECE is a method of segmentation into sub-elements that are mutually exclusive and col-
lectively exhaustive. MECE will help you to build effective dependencies between the
branches of your tree.

POSSIBLE RESOURCES:
1 How To Be MECE In Case Inter-
TIP
views (6 videos) Make sure all elements on each
case-relevant business problem
2 Case Interview MECE do not intersect with each other
(same issues with different
words), don’t have logical
3 MECE – A Guide to the conflicts
MECE Principle With Applied
Examples

3
STEP 3: LEARN HOW TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN
THE TYPES OF BUSINESS CASES

Identify Your Case Type

TIP
Put yourself in the client’s shoes and
try to figure out what type of problem we
are trying to solve in this case: minimize
investment risks, maximize profits, improve
productivity, or remove bottlenecks in a pro-
cess. Keep that in mind throughout solving the
case, to prioritize your decisions,
judgments, suggestions

PREPARATION MANUAL | 13
 4 STEP 4: STUDY THE POSSIBLE CASE INTERVIEW FRAMEWORKS

Frameworks could be a source of inspiration in creating your own structure.

Each case has its own unique problem and question. Therefore, a unique and custom-
ized approach should be adopted for each case. Frameworks can serve as examples,
but you should not be tied to them. Standard frameworks you have learned in preparing
for your interview may appear relevant, but they may not hold up after closer considera-
tion.

Below you can find the most common ones that we have encountered:

- Profitability framework
- Business growth
- Cost reduction
TIP
- Market entry Be creative, but don’t
- Product launch overengineer your struc-
- Pricing framework ture. It should be simple,
- Merger and acquisition framework practical, and relevant to
the case context. Sometimes
- Investment framework
a value chain or a mathe-
- Competition framework matical formula as a
- Process optimization structure could work better
than the most detailed and
complicated issue tree

POSSIBLE RESOURCES:
1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8KuM67lEw

2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTo3N_afZW0

3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7hyiIOihyQ

There are also academic frameworks such as supply and demand in a market; 4Cs
framework; 4Ps framework ; Porter's 5 forces

14 | PREPARATION MANUAL
 WORKOUT 2: MATHEMATICS

A
t some point during the case, you
will need to make some simple cal-
culations. Rather than testing your
computational skills, this is meant to see if
you can use numbers to form opinions and
guide decisions.
If math is your area for development, we
advise that you practice it throughout
your preparation (at least 10-20 minutes
per day. You can do it in on your way to
work/ home).

Your calculations should be accurate and Several sources that may

integrated into what you have discovered help you to practice:
so far. You cannot use a calculator during
the interview, and if you are uncomforta-
ble with math, you should invest time get- 1 Consulting math
ting familiar with it. Our advice: do not
complicate the calculations: try to find sim- 2 Math skills
pler ways of counting, we are not going to
force you to count logarithms. 3 FASTMATH Interview Math

4 Preparing for the Quantitative Com-

ponent of Management Consult-
ing-style Case Interviews
TIP
Remember, this is not a math- 5 Math strategies
ematical contest. If you feel
stuck and calculations 6 You can also download apps
become more and more com- to your phone to practice math
plicated, most probably you (some examples: MentalMath,
are headed the wrong way.
Math in a case interview is
Elevate, Math Tricks, etc.)
meant to test your logic, and
your ability to find shortcuts,
select the right metrics, and
do simple math operations
quickly and without errors

PREPARATION MANUAL | 15
WORKOUT 3: JUDGMENT

Since there is limited information available, the interviewer will ask you leading ques-
tions about your comments, hypotheses, or conclusions to test your ability to apply your
business judgment.

1 STEP 1: LEARN COMMON BUSINESS TERMS

POSSIBLE RESOURCES:
TIP
1 The Most Important Business and Finance Terms Read more business
articles or business
2 Common Terms of Business news. Even if you have
no business back-
ground you should
know what EBITDA
stands for
2
STEP 2: BUILD YOUR
BUSINESS KNOWLEDGE

You donʼt have to be an expert in every field, but

you still need to have a basic knowledge of the indus-
try and its drivers. You can study industries, the key
players, and how their businesses work. Eventually,
it gets easier to solve the case.
TIP
RECOMMENDATIONS: Think of different
companies from a
1 Read business news (CNBC, Financial Times, CEO’s perspective:
etc.) on a regular basis. what are your key
revenue sources, cost
2 Learn thoroughly about BCG, BCG practices, buckets, challenges
and future prospects?
BCG reviews (industries, publications) How does a grocery
store make a profit?
3 Follow our official social media channels What are the key cost
where you can find the latest information: drivers for a ton of
Facebook, Instagram steel? What are the
challenges in
the banking
4 Expand your business horizons through sector?
TED, YouTube, Telegram business
channels, etc.

16 | PREPARATION MANUAL
STEP 3: CHARTS
3
In addition, be prepared in case there are charts in the case and you need to be able
to read them to solve it. Learn what types of charts are used in case interviews most
often.

HOMEWORK
Study the tricky
charts and try to
decipher them. Do
you know anything
about waterfall,
mekko, and
bubble charts?

PREPARATION MANUAL | 17
WORKOUT 4: SYNTHESIS

Effectively synthesizing your thoughts

shows your ability to develop conclusions. TIP
At the end of the interview, you should First, focus on the out-
summarize the key hypotheses and comes and implications
for the client’s business,
options you have developed. Then, con- secondly, define the next
clude with your recommended solution to steps and finally, provide
the clientʼs problem. additional detailed in-
sights. The worst summa-
Strong recommendations and conclusion ries start with: “We ana-
are also an important factor for success in lyzed this and that” — a
CEO would give that
the case. 10-20 seconds of atten-
tion in a real-life setting.
After your case, you will probably be So be concise and suc-
asked to give an executive summary (for cinct, catchy and actiona-
example, for 30 seconds or three sentenc- ble with your wording,
es). tell them about the solu-
tions available to them,
not how much effort you
Synthesizing it is not only about coming to put into the analysis
conclusions, but also about how you
assemble information while solving the
case. We recommend that you take an
intermediate pause and do a small sum-
mary.

ALWAYS …
1 … lead the case › You are a consult-
ant to your interviewer, and your
interviewer is your client
4 … in preparing a summary, use the
following points:
Repeat the question asked /task set earlier

2 … use the following steps: set your
approach -> conduct your analysis
-> state your findings -> suggest next
steps. Use a step-by-step approach.
Make a summary of your approach/answer that
you arrived at in the course of solving
When making a summary, break your answer into
points, substantiate them with supporting findings
(your calculations, findings)

3 … make intermediate conclusions in Determine the next steps that the company needs
the process to take

18 | PREPARATION MANUAL
 CASE PART SUMMARY

1 Listen to the interviewer and ask questions

2 Donʼt rush into the analysis without developing an understanding of the problem
3 Structure the problem and develop a framework
4 Focus on high-impact issues
5 Think before speaking
6 Generate a hypothesis and explore options creatively
7 Do not stick to an artificial framework
8 Demonstrate business judgment
9 Make quick and accurate calculations
10 Synthesize your thoughts and draw conclusions from your analysis
11 Donʼt panic if the answer is not apparent
12 Donʼt defend your solution at all costs
13 Be transparent about your thought process
14 Engage with your interviewer
15 Communicate naturally

You can find more detailed information in the Case Interview Tips

SUMMARY OF USEFUL MATERIALS AND SOME TIPS FROM US TO PREPARE

FOR THE CASE-PART:

POSSIBLE CASE INTERVIEW GUIDES: CASE LIBRARY EXAMPLES:

- Case in Point (M.Cosentino) - BCG Interactive Case Library
- Crack the Case (D.Ohrvall) - PrepLounge Case Library
- Case Interview Secrets (V.Cheng) - Management Consulting Case
Interviews
- Case Cracking - PrepLounge
- Fless (available on YouTube)
- CraftingCases
- Management Consulting Prep: Case interview Part

PREPARATION MANUAL | 19
NOTES

20 | PREPARATION MANUAL