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Demystifying the written case – tips from a Bain consultant

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Hi readers! My name is Rhiannon and I am a Consultant in Bain’s Boston office. In addition to the time I spend working on cases, I also serve as the on-campus representative (OCR) for MIT Sloan. As an OCR, I often get asked questions from students on what it’s like to work here at Bain, what the application process is like, and – especially – how to prepare for interviews.

I’ve always been a believer that practice makes perfect. When I was in my first year at MIT Sloan preparing for the Summer Associate interview, I felt confident about the verbal cases because I had practiced them (and practiced them, and practiced them…). The written case, however, seemed like a big, mysterious black box. There was no practice written case, and so I had to hope that what I had been doing to prepare for the verbal cases would be enough.

For the most part, that’s true: preparing for the verbal case interview will prepare you for the written case. It’s the same logic, the same frameworks, and the same math. But, there are also some nuanced differences. I found the tips I had collected from classmates who had successfully gone through the interview process were exceptionally helpful, and so I would like to share those tips with you.

  1. Manage your time. You’ll have 55 minutes to prepare, and while it’s enough, it’s not a lot. In those 55 minutes you need to get through about 30 slides, come up with a recommendation, and support that recommendation. It’s easy to get lost in the sea of data, so my advice is to walk into the case with a schedule in mind. Review the data slides quickly, and set aside the ones that you don’t feel are important. Come up with a recommendation in the first ~20 minutes, and spend the majority of your time supporting your answer.
  2. Quantify your recommendation. Just like in a verbal case interview, you’ll want to back up your recommendation with more than logic and good business judgment. Make sure to put numbers behind what you’re suggesting. Just as important, make sure you’re able to talk your interviewer through the methodology you used, including any assumptions you had to make.
  3. Anticipate the risks. There are likely multiple answers to the case, so you’ll want to think about what some of the risks are to your recommendation. Your interviewer might provide you with new information, or ask you why you didn’t go down another path. Know the strengths and weaknesses of your recommendation going into the conversation, so you can have a good conversation about why you chose the path you chose, and what would need to be true to change your mind.
  4. Answer first. The Bain approach to solving cases is to start with a hypothesis; we call this Answer First. When you present your findings to your interviewer, start with your recommendation. Then, you can walk through your reasoning, the risks, and any alternatives you considered.
  5. Make it a conversation. The written case isn’t meant to be a formal presentation! It should be a fun, two-way dialogue. Be willing to modify your calculations on the fly, discuss your assumptions, and brainstorm alternatives. Most importantly, listen. If your interviewer is giving you feedback, incorporate it as you would in a “real” work setting.

Lastly, relax and have fun! The written case is very similar to what you would do on a day-to-day basis here at Bain, so while I understand that the interview part can be stressful, I hope that the case part is enjoyable.

For more day-of tips for the written case, check out this blog post from Dave, another Bain consultant: http://blog.joinbain.com/2013/11/18/the-written-case-interview-some-advice-from-a-recent-mba-graduate-at-bain/.


Filed under: Interview tips Tagged: Bain & Company, case interview prep, consulting, Interview, summer associate

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