Ok, ok, so you want to be a Bainie? Here are my tips and tricks. First, depending on your background, you will want to read Case in Point. I didn’t especially like that book. I think it is really complicated and makes things much harder than they are. However, it covers basically every scenario of what can go wrong with a business. It’s more of an encyclopedia than an actual book you’d ever want to use as a way to go through your interviews. You can Google “business framework” or “business matrix.” This will give you some ideas in terms of something called a framework. A framework is like a lens. Often in a chart format along two to three dimensions, you evaluate a bunch of things and can identify which are most important.
My favorite case frameworks are from Victor Cheng. He has a website called www.caseinterview.com that I found very helpful, both because he simplified what seems like hundreds of frameworks from Case in Point down into basically two frameworks, and because you actually get to hear the cadence of a typical interview. The importance of the interview dynamic, aside from any content issues, can’t be understated. You need to know to have your paper out and pen ready, to write down the main question at the top of your paper. You need to know to write down the opening details, to clarify the main question a second time for any hidden points, and to re-state the details back to the interviewer. You need to know you are allowed to pause for 1-2 minutes to frame the question’s answer, i.e., to write down the framework you are going to use.
I typically drew four big blocks on my page that said “Company”, “Customer”, “Competitors,” and “Profits”. I’d add a smaller block in the bottom right of the page that said “Risks.” I’d look up, again restate the main goal/question of the case, “so we are trying to understand why company X’s profits are falling, and I think we can do this by looking at four key areas: the company – what are they doing well, what’s their brand, what are their operations like; the customer – who are they, are they growing declining, do we have any segmentation information; competitors – who are they, how many are they, how strong are they, any big changes there lately strategically; and lastly, the profits of the company, which are a function of revenues and costs.” That whole intro should take about 1 minute to say. Then you can say “I’m going to start with profits, because my hypothesis is the issue might be there.” You can pick any bucket to start with really – usually good insights are in each bucket. In general, if there is no strong bucket to lead with, I say go in the order I listed above, company first.
Now, people have different methods, but my tips for the rest of the interview are:
- Use separate sheets of paper for each part of the interview
- Only use graph paper if you have bad handwriting
- Write large and in your best hand
- Show your work to the interviewer as if you were writing on a whiteboard
- Keep your calculations separate on a separate sheet
- Wrap up your conclusion less as a “this is what we just did list” and more as “here are the key things we discovered” list.
Other basics: Practice your mental math: take a percentage of a number and using zeros, i.e., multiplying out things by one million, one trillion, one billion, and dividing by 500 thousand, etc. Practice number things when you talk out loud: “I have three points: First, second, third.” For that matter, practice thinking in threes. Three is enough for you and the interviewer to remember. Practice saying “my hypothesis is” instead of “I think.” Practice writing clearly in large handwriting. Use boxes to group ideas and stars to indicate important ideas. The stars are helpful for you, too – especially when you go back for your conclusion.
Finally, remember, your interview is to show that you can be a doctor, too. Focus on the key issues, not understanding everything equally. Focus on showing your personality. Bring questions. Look professional. Make your resume a series of “results” more than a series of actions. And remember, you can do it!
Thanks all and look forward to writing again soon.
Filed under: Interview tips Tagged: Bain, Bain & Co, Business, case interview, consulting, Google, Interview, interview advice, interview tips, Mental calculation, Paper, Software framework, With-profits policy, Write-off Image may be NSFW.
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