Case Interviews

1
Case Interviews

• Used in law firms, consulting groups, and other
  organizations that place a premium on thought
  process
• Relatively recent in use, but are becoming more
  widespread
• Little or no legal precedent

2
Employers View

• Shows ability to reason on the spot
• Shows ones ability to deal with stress in
  unfamiliar situations
• Ensures best of the best are hired
• New supplement/alternative to resume interviews
• Possible legal repercussions as these become
  more popular

3
Applicants View

• Are these tools job-related?
• Could foster negative feelings, particularly due
  to shock value
• Too much room for bias?
• What is the right answer, and how do I know it
  wont change?
• Coaching advantage
• Many answers and approaches available on websites

4
Types of Cases

• Brainteasers and Riddles
• Short, unrelated, simple reason test
• Market Sizing
• Short to moderate in length, usually related to
  unfamiliar industry
• Project
• Long, great deal of information, oral or written
• Business World
• Asks for analysis regarding recent or landmark
  business news stories

5
Examples- Brainteasers

• You are in a room with three light switches, each
  of which controls one of three light bulbs in the
  next room. Your task is to determine which switch
  controls which bulb. All lights are off. Your
  constraints are you may flick only two switches
  and you may enter the room with the light bulbs
  only once. How would you set about determining
  which switch controls which bulb?

6
Examples- Market Sizing

• How many golf balls were lost in England this
  year?
• How many Air Canada Aeroplan miles are
  outstanding?
• How many new houses were built in Montreal last
  year?
• Rests on reasonable assumptions

7
Examples- Project

• You are consulting for a major distillery in
  Canada. They mainly produce a mid-priced vodka
  product and 2 different brands of mid-priced gin.
  Every year, their profits are shrinking. What
  could be causing this?
• Understanding of market influences (i.e.barriers
  to entry, pricing strategy)

8
Examples- Business World

• What do you think Eatons did wrong?
• What actions will Amazon.com have to take to
  maintain expected growth?
• Emphasis on interest in business world,
  up-to-date employees, but rarely used

9
Legal Issues

• Legally, there is no law approaching this
  subject, and little or no case law to follow.
  The caveat belongs to the company, as to whether
  the benefit is worth the possible risk of an
  angry employee seeking legal repair. It may be
  best to relate these problem-solving questions to
  potential work situations.

10
How to Survive?

• Emphasize your thought process- think out loud
• Maintain eye contact to engage the interviewer
• Use reasonable assumptions and relate to real
  world situations
• Practice cases and think creatively

11
Helpful Sites

• CampusAccess.com
• http//www.campusaccess.com/campus_web/career/c5jo
  b_incatc.htm
• Boston Consulting Group
• http//www.bcg.com/careers/interview_prep/intervie
  w_prep.asp