• What Is a Case Interview and...

What Is a Case Interview and How Do You Ace It? (+Examples)

6 min read · Updated on June 16, 2022

Lisa Tynan

With case interviews being used more frequently for general consulting roles, it is essential to know how they work.

Unless you've interviewed for a management consultant or investment banking job, chances are you haven't experienced a case interview. However, this rather unique interview process is slowly becoming the norm for a wider variety of management consulting roles.

That's why you should know what to expect and how to handle it professionally.

What is a case interview?

A case interview is defined as “a hypothetical business situation that is presented during the job interview process to determine how a candidate thinks about a particular problem and how they would solve it.”

Usually, this specific business problem or situation is one that a candidate would face if hired for the job in that specific company. For example, a candidate's prompt might be determining whether there's a market for home-use ultraviolet sterilizers. They could begin by asking about the target market, the cost of each unit, and how they'll be sold. As they get into it, they may offer ideas on how to create more markets, like making the units in different sizes or for specific items like phones.

The overall goal is to assess how the candidate as a consultant thinks about and arrives at particular solutions or answers for a specific business problem scenario. 

How is a case interview structure different from other interview formats?

As with a regular or competency-based interview format, the traditional case interview seeks to assess a candidate's skills coupled with how they operate in a specific hypothetical business situation. However, that is where most of the similarities end.

Rather than talking about how you handled something in a past or present job, a case interview presents a particular situation and asks you to work with it right there in the job interview.

Answers for case interview questions can be verbal or written and often include the creation of charts, graphs, or illustrations to make your point. What's more, case interview questions may also feature brain teasers or other analytical tasks that are not related to the company or the job. Also, unlike a regular interview, it's acceptable and expected that the candidate interacts with and asks questions of the interviewer as part of the problem-solving process.

But, perhaps the biggest difference is that there's no one “right” or correct answer to the questions or scenarios because there is often more than one acceptable way to handle the hypothetical situation. In fact, interviewers are looking for ingenuity and that “out-of-the-box” thinking strategy.

To sum up, it's just as much about the process as the solution.

Which businesses benefit from case interviews?

In general, case interviews work best for consulting firms, but most companies can benefit from determining whether or not a candidate can effectively size up and handle real-life business situations. Not only does it demonstrate a person's problem-solving skills and analytical abilities, but it also shows their willingness to get more information by asking questions.

Essentially, interviewers are watching as candidates figure out what they're looking for, what analysis they want to use, and what insights and theories they develop as they move toward a data-driven, quantifiable solution. These interviewers are also looking for strong interpersonal abilities and communication skills — management consultants must deal with people as well as data after all.

Are there specific case interview formats?

There are a few basic formats used in case interviews.

Candidate-led scenarios

In candidate led case interviews, the candidate is required to lead the discussion and development of the case. You'll be evaluated on developing and evaluating your theory while simultaneously formulating and answering the relevant questions needed.

You don't have to work from beginning to end but are able to move among and focus on different aspects of the case as you solve it.

Interviewer-led scenarios

In interviewer-led case interviews, these interviews have a preset format where the interviewer directs the focus, tempo, and sequence of the problem-solving process, with candidates solving the case from beginning to end. Each problem has predetermined questions, and you may or may not be given data to work with.

The approach and evaluation parameters are the same as the candidate-led interview.

Group scenarios

In a group case interview, here you work with a team of other candidates to analyze the case, collaborating to come up with solutions.

Presentation-only scenario

You have two hours by yourself to review data, create a premise, build an issue tree, and analyze your results. You then present this to the interviewer, who will question and challenge your data just like a client would to see how you defend your results.

Case interview sample questions

There really are no “typical” case interview questions; rather, you're presented with a situation or business problem and asked to handle it.

Here's a case interview question example.

“Our client is a five-million-dollar manufacturer of eye-glass frames whose sales have dropped markedly in the past 3 years. What should they do?”

If your interviewer utters the words “Our client…”, you know you're in a case interview.

How to prepare for a case interview

Case interview prep is the key to success. Luckily, there are only a few case interview “types” that are regularly used, and your job is to know and study them. They are:

New product development

Pricing strategies

Entering a new market space

Growth strategies

Starting a new business

Improving profitability/increasing sales/reducing costs

Acquiring a company

Create your own situations around these case interview examples, practicing your answers alone or with a buddy. You can also look up actual examples of these cases, review the analysis, and come up with your own unique solutions.

Preparation and practice will make the actual case interview much less daunting and allow you to feel more confident. The more you can actually relax and have fun in a case interview, the more likely you are to enjoy the actual work — and get hired to do it.

Don't have a friend to practice with? Need more of a push? Our interview coaches can help. 

Recommended Reading:

The Art of the Job Interview

What Is a Job Interview?

The Benefits of Professional Interview Coaching

Related Articles:

How to Prepare for a Software Engineering Job Interview

27 Financial Analyst Interview Questions (with Great Answers)

27 Supervisor Interview Questions (and Great Answers)

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  • Case Interview: A comprehensive guide
  • Pyramid Principle
  • Hypothesis driven structure
  • Fit Interview
  • Consulting math
  • The key to landing your consulting job
  • What is a case interview?
  • What do I need to learn to solve cases?
  • How do I practice for case interviews?
  • Fit interviews
  • Interview day - what to expect, with tips
  • How we can help

1. The key to landing your consulting job.

Case interviews - where you are asked to solve a business case study under scrutiny - are the core of the selection process right across McKinsey, Bain and BCG (the “MBB” firms). This interview format is also used pretty much universally across other high-end consultancies; including LEK, Kearney, Oliver Wyman and the consulting wings of the “Big Four”.

If you want to land a job at any of these firms, you will have to ace multiple case interviews.

It is increasingly likely that you will also have to solve online cases given by chatbots etc. You might need to pass these before making it to interview or be asked to sit them alongside first round interviews.

Importantly, case studies aren’t something you can just wing . Firms explicitly expect you to have thoroughly prepared and many of your competitors on interview day will have been prepping for months.

Don’t worry though - MCC is here to help!

This article will take you through a full overview of everything you’ll need to know to do well, linking to more detailed articles and resources at each stage to let you really drill down into the details.

As well as traditional case interviews, we’ll also attend to the new formats in which cases are being delivered and otherwise make sure you’re up to speed with recent trends in this overall part of consulting recruitment.

Before we can figure out how to prepare for a case interview, though, we will first have to properly understand in detail what exactly you are up against. What format does a standard consulting case interview take? What is expected of you? How will you be assessed?

Let's dive right in and find out!

Professional help

Before going further, if this sounds like a lot to get your head around on your own, don't worry - help is available!

Our Case Academy course gives you everything you need to know to crack cases like a pro:

Case Academy Course

To put what you learn into practice (and secure some savings in the process) you can add mock interview coaching sessions with expereinced MBB consultants:

Coaching options

And, if you just want an experienced consultant to take charge of the whole selection process for you, you can check out our comprehensive mentoring programmes:

Explore mentoring

Now, back to the article!

2. What is a case interview?

Before we can hope to tackle a case interview, we have to understand what one is.

In short, a case interview simulates real consulting work by having you solve a business case study in conversation with your interviewer.

This case study will be a business problem where you have to advise a client - that is, an imaginary business or similar organisation in need of guidance.

You must help this client solve a problem and/or make a decision. This requires you to analyse the information you are given about that client organisation and figure out a final recommendation for what they should do next.

Business problems in general obviously vary in difficulty. Some are quite straightforward and can be addressed with fairly standard solutions. However, consulting firms exist precisely to solve the tough issues that businesses have failed to deal with internally - and so consultants will typically work on complex, idiosyncratic problems requiring novel solutions.

Some examples of case study questions might be:

  • How much would you pay for a banking licence in Ghana?
  • Estimate the potential value of the electric vehicle market in Germany
  • How much gas storage capacity should a UK domestic energy supplier build?

Consulting firms need the brightest minds they can find to put to work on these important, difficult projects. You can expect the case studies you have to solve in interview, then, to echo the unique, complicated problems consultancies deal with every day. As we’ll explain here, this means that you need to be ready to think outside the box to figure out genuinely novel solutions.

2.1. What skills do case interviews assess?

Reliably impressing your interviewers means knowing what they are looking for. This means understanding the skills you are being assessed against in some detail.

Overall, it’s important always to remember that, with case studies, there are no strict right or wrong answers. What really matters is how you think problems through, how confident you are with your conclusions and how quick you are with the back of the envelope arithmetic.

The objective of this kind of interview isn’t to get to one particular solution, but to assess your skillset. This is even true of modern online cases, where sophisticated AI algorithms score how you work as well as the solutions you generate.

If you visit McKinsey , Bain and BCG web pages on case interviews, you will find that the three firms look for very similar traits, and the same will be true of other top consultancies.

Broadly speaking, your interviewer will be evaluating you across five key areas:

2.1.1.One: Probing mind

Showing intellectual curiosity by asking relevant and insightful questions that demonstrate critical thinking and a proactive nature. For instance, if we are told that revenues for a leading supermarket chain have been declining over the last ten years, a successful candidate would ask:

“ We know revenues have declined. This could be due to price or volume. Do we know how they changed over the same period? ”

This is as opposed to a laundry list of questions like:

  • Did customers change their preferences?
  • Which segment has shown the decline in volume?
  • Is there a price war in the industry?

2.1.2. Two: Structure

Structure in this context means structuring a problem. This, in turn, means creating a framework - that is, a series of clear, sequential steps in order to get to a solution.

As with the case interview in general, the focus with case study structures isn’t on reaching a solution, but on how you get there.

This is the trickiest part of the case interview and the single most common reason candidates fail.

We discuss how to properly structure a case in more detail in section three. In terms of what your interviewer is looking for at high level, though, key pieces of your structure should be:

  • Proper understanding of the objective of the case - Ask yourself: "What is the single crucial piece of advice that the client absolutely needs?"
  • Identification of the drivers - Ask yourself: "What are the key forces that play a role in defining the outcome?"

Our Problem Driven Structure method, discussed in section three, bakes this approach in at a fundamental level. This is as opposed to the framework-based approach you will find in older case-solving

Focus on going through memorised sequences of steps too-often means failing to develop a full understanding of the case and the real key drivers.

At this link, we run through a case to illustrate the difference between a standard framework-based approach and our Problem Driven Structure method.

2.1.3. Three: Problem Solving

You’ll be tested on your ability to identify problems and drivers, isolate causes and effects, demonstrate creativity and prioritise issues. In particular, the interviewer will look for the following skills:

  • Prioritisation - Can you distinguish relevant and irrelevant facts?
  • Connecting the dots - Can you connect new facts and evidence to the big picture?
  • Establishing conclusions - Can you establish correct conclusions without rushing to inferences not supported by evidence?

2.1.4. Four: Numerical Agility

In case interviews, you are expected to be quick and confident with both precise and approximated numbers. This translates to:

  • Performing simple calculations quickly - Essential to solve cases quickly and impress clients with quick estimates and preliminary conclusions.
  • Analysing data - Extract data from graphs and charts, elaborate and draw insightful conclusions.
  • Solving business problems - Translate a real world case to a mathematical problem and solve it.

Our article on consulting math is a great resource here, though the extensive math content in our MCC Academy is the best and most comprehensive material available.

2.1.5. Five: Communication

Real consulting work isn’t just about the raw analysis to come up with a recommendation - this then needs to be sold to the client as the right course of action.

Similarly, in a case interview, you must be able to turn your answer into a compelling recommendation. This is just as essential to impressing your interviewer as your structure and analysis.

Consultants already comment on how difficult it is to find candidates with the right communication skills. Add to this the current direction of travel, where AI will be able to automate more and more of the routine analytic side of consulting, and communication becomes a bigger and bigger part of what consultants are being paid for.

So, how do you make sure that your recommendations are relevant, smart, and engaging? The answer is to master what is known as CEO-level communication .

This art of speaking like a CEO can be quite challenging, as it often involves presenting information in effectively the opposite way to how you might normally.

To get it right, there are three key areas to focus on in your communications:

  • Top down : A CEO wants to hear the key message first. They will only ask for more details if they think that will actually be useful. Always consider what is absolutely critical for the CEO to know, and start with that. You can read more in our article on the Pyramid Principle .
  • Concise : This is not the time for "boiling the ocean" or listing an endless number possible solutions. CEOs, and thus consultants, want a structured, quick and concise recommendation for their business problem, that they can implement immediately.
  • Fact-based : Consultants share CEOs' hatred of opinions based on gut feel rather than facts. They want recommendations based on facts to make sure they are actually in control. Always go on to back up your conclusions with the relevant facts.

For more detail on all this, check out our full article on delivering recommendations .

Prep the right way

2.2. where are case interviews in the consulting selection process.

Not everyone who applies to a consulting firm will have a case interview - far from it!

In fact, case interviews are pretty expensive and inconvenient for firms to host, requiring them to take consultants off active projects and even fly them back to the office from location for in-person interviews. Ideally, firms want to cut costs and save time by narrowing down the candidate pool as much as possible before any live interviews.

As such, there are some hoops to jump through before you make it to interview rounds.

Firms will typically eliminate as much as 80% of the applicant pool before interviews start. For most firms, 50%+ of applicants might be cut based on resumes, before a similar cut is made on those remaining based on aptitude tests. McKinsey currently gives their Solve assessment to most applicants, but will use their resulting test scores alongside resumes to cut 70%+ of the candidate pool before interviews.

You'll need to be on top of your game to get as far as an interview with a top firm. Getting through the resume screen and any aptitude tests is an achievement in itself!

For readers not yet embroiled in the selection process themselves, let’s put case interviews in context and take a quick look at each stage in turn. Importantly, note that you might also be asked to solve case studies outside interviews as well…

2.2.1. Application screen

It’s sometimes easy to forget that such a large cut is made at the application stage. At larger firms, this will mean your resume and cover letter is looked at by some combination of AI tools, recruitment staff and junior consulting staff (often someone from your own university).

Only the best applications will be passed to later stages, so make sure to check out our free resume and cover letter guides, and potentially get help with editing , to give yourself the best chance possible.

2.2.2. Aptitude tests and online cases

This part of the selection process has been changing quickly in recent years and is increasingly beginning to blur into the traditionally separate case interview rounds.

In the past, GMAT or PST style tests were the norm. Firms then used increasingly sophisticated and often gamified aptitude tests, like the Pymetrics test currently used by several firms, including BCG and Bain, and the original version of McKinsey’s Solve assessment (then branded as the Problem Solving Game).

Now, though, there is a move towards delivering relatively sophisticated case studies online. For example, McKinsey has replaced half the old Solve assessment with an online case. BCG’s Casey chatbot case now directly replaces a live first round case interview, and in the new era of AI chatbots, we expect these online cases to quickly become more realistic and increasingly start to relieve firms of some of the costs of live interviews.

Our consultants collectively reckon that, over time, 50% of case interviews are likely to be replaced with these kinds of cases. We give some specific advice for online cases in section four. However, the important thing to note is that these are still just simulations of traditional case interviews - you still need to learn how to solve cases in precisely the same way, and your prep will largely remain the same.

2.2.3. Rounds of Interviews

Now, let’s not go overboard with talk of AI. Even in the long term, the client facing nature of consulting means that firms will have live case interviews for as long as they are hiring anyone. And in the immediate term, case interviews are still absolutely the core of consulting selection.

Before landing an offer at McKinsey, Bain, BCG or any similar firm, you won’t just have one case interview, but will have to complete four to six case interviews, usually divided into two rounds, with each interview lasting approximately 50-60 minutes .

Being invited to first round usually means two or three case interviews. As noted above, you might also be asked to complete an online case or similar alongside your first round interviews.

If you ace first round, you will be invited to second round to face the same again, but more gruelling. Only then - after up to six case interviews in total, can you hope to receive an offer.

2.3. Typical case interview format

Before we dive in to the nuts and bolts of case cracking, we should give you a bit more detail on what exactly you’ll be up against on interview day.

Case interviews come in very similar formats across the various consultancies where they are used.

The standard case interview can be thought of as splitting into two standalone sub-interviews. Thus “case interviews” can be divided into the case study itself and a “fit interview” section, where culture fit questions are asked.

This can lead to a bit of confusion, as the actual case interview component might take up as little as half of your scheduled “case interview”. You need to make sure you are ready for both aspects.

To illustrate, here is the typical case interview timeline:

  • First 15-30 minutes: Fit Interview - with questions assessing your motivation to be a consultant in that specific firm and your traits around leadership and teamwork. Learn more about the fit interview in our in-depth article here .
  • Next 30-40 minutes: Case Interview - solving a case study
  • Last 5 minutes: Fit Interview again - this time focussing on your questions for your interviewer.

Both the Case and Fit interviews play crucial roles in the finial hiring decision. There is no “average” taken between case and fit interviews: if your performance is not up to scratch in either of the two, you will not be able to move on to the next interview round or get an offer.

NB: No case without fit

Note that, even if you have only been told you are having a case interview or otherwise are just doing a case study, always be prepared to answer fit questions. At most firms, it is standard practice to include some fit questions in all case interviews, even if there are also separate explicit fit interviews, and interviewers will almost invariably include some of these questions around your case. This is perfectly natural - imagine how odd and artificial it would be to show up to an interview, simply do a case and leave again, without talking about anything else with the interviewer before or after.

2.4. Differences between first and second round interviews

Despite interviews in the first and second round following the same format, second/final round interviews will be significantly more intense. The seniority of the interviewer, time pressure (with up to three interviews back-to-back), and the sheer value of the job at stake will likely make a second round consulting case interview one of the most challenging moments of your professional life.

There are three key differences between the two rounds:

  • Time Pressure : Final round case interviews test your ability to perform under pressure, with as many as three interviews in a row and often only very small breaks between them.
  • Focus : Since second round interviewers tend to be more senior (usually partners with 12+ years experience) and will be more interested in your personality and ability to handle challenges independently. Some partners will drill down into your experiences and achievements to the extreme. They want to understand how you react to challenges and your ability to identify and learn from past mistakes.
  • Psychological Pressure: While case interviews in the first round are usually more focused on you simply cracking the case, second round interviewers often employ a "bad cop" strategy to test the way you react to challenges and uncertainty.

2.5. Differences between firms

For the most part, a case interview is a case interview. However, firms will have some differences in the particular ways they like to do things in terms of both the case study and the fit component.

As we’ll see, these differences aren’t hugely impactful in terms of how you prepare. That said, it's always good to know as much as possible about what you will be going up against.

2.5.1. Candidate led vs interviewer led case formats

Most consulting case interview questions test your ability to crack a broad problem, with a case prompt often going something like:

" How much would you pay to secure the rights to run a restaurant in the British Museum? "

You, as a candidate, are then expected to identify your path to solve the case (that is, provide a structure), leveraging your interviewer to collect the data and test your assumptions.

This is known as a “candidate-led” case interview and is used by Bain, BCG and other firms.

However, a McKinsey case interview - especially in the first round - is slightly different, with the interviewer controlling the pace and direction of the conversation much more than with other case interviews.

At McKinsey, your interviewer will ask you a set of pre-determined questions, regardless of your initial structure. For each question, you will have to understand the problem, come up with a mini structure, ask for additional data (if necessary) and come to the conclusion that answers the question.

McKinsey’s cases are thus referred to as “interviewer-led”. This more structured format of case also shows up in online cases by other firms - notably including BCG’s Casey chatbot (with the amusing result that practising McKinsey-style cases can be a great addition when prepping for BCG).

Essentially, these interviewer-led case studies are large cases made up of lots of mini-cases. You still use basically the same method as you would for standard (or candidate-led) cases - the main difference is simply that, instead of using that method to solve one big case, you are solving several mini-cases sequentially.

2.5.2. The McKinsey PEI

McKinsey brands its fit aspect of interviews as the Personal Experience Interview or PEI. Despite the different name, this is really much the same interview you will be going up against in Bain, BCG and any similar firms.

McKinsey does have a reputation for pushing candidates a little harder with fit or PEI questions, focusing on one story per interview and drilling down further into the specific details each time. We discuss this tendency more in our fit interview article. However, no top end firm is going to go easy on you and you should absolutely be ready for the same level of grilling at Bain, BCG and others. Thus any difference isn’t hugely salient in terms of prep.

2.6. How are things changing in 2023?

For the foreseeable future, you are going to have to go through multiple live case interviews to secure any decent consulting job. These might increasingly happen via Zoom rather than in person, but they should remain largely the same otherwise.

However, things are changing and the rise of AI in recent months seems pretty much guaranteed to accelerate existing trends.

Even before the explosive development of AI chatbots like ChatGPT we have seen in recent months, automation was already starting to change the recruitment process.

As we mentioned, case interviews are expensive and inconvenient for firms to run. Ideally, then, firms will try to reduce the number of interviews required for recruitment as far as possible. For many years, tests of various kinds served to cut down the applicant pool and thus the number of interviews. However, these tests had a limited capacity to assess candidates against the full consulting skillset in the way that case interviews do so well.

More recently, though, the development of online testing has allowed for more and more advanced assessments. Top consulting firms have been leveraging screening tests that better and better capture the same skillset as case interviews. Eventually this is converging on automated case studies. We see this very clearly with the addition of the Redrock case to McKinsey’s Solve assessment.

As these digital cases become closer to the real thing, the line between test and interview blurs. Online cases don’t just reduce the number of candidates to interview, but start directly replacing interviews.

Case in point here is BCG’s Casey chatbot . Previously, BCG had deployed less advanced online cases and similar tests to weed out some candidates before live case interviews began. Now, though, Casey actually replaces one first round case interview.

Casey, at time of writing, is still a relatively “dumb” chatbot, basically running through a pre-set script. The Whatsapp-like interface does a lot of work to make it feel like one is chatting to a “real person” - the chatbot itself, though, cannot provide feedback or nudges to candidates as would a human interviewer.

We fully expect that, as soon as BCG and other firms can train a truer AI, these online cases will become more widespread and start replacing more live interviews.

We discuss the likely impacts of advanced AI on consulting recruitment and the industry more broadly in our blog.

Here, though, the real message is that you should expect to run into digital cases as well as traditional case interviews.

Luckily, despite any changes in specific format, you will still need to master the same fundamental skills and prepare in much the same way.

We’ll cover a few ways to help prepare for chatbot cases in section four. Ultimately, though, firms are looking for the same problem solving ability and mindset as a real interviewer. Especially as chatbots get better at mimicking a real interviewer, candidates who are well prepared for case cracking in general should have no problem with AI administered cases.

2.6.1. Automated fit interviews

Analogous to online cases, in recent years there has been a trend towards automated, “one way” fit interviews, with these typically being administered for consultancies by specialist contractors like HireVue or SparkHire.

These are kind of like Zoom interviews, but if the interviewer didn’t show up. Instead you will be given fit questions to answer and must record your answer in your computer webcam. Your response will then go on to be assessed by an algorithm, scoring both what you say and how you say it.

Again, with advances in AI, it is easy to imagine these automated interviews going from fully scripted interactions, where all candidates are asked the same list of questions, to a more interactive experience. Thus, we might soon arrive at a point where you are being grilled on the details of your stories - McKinsey PEI style - but by a bot rather than a human.

We include some tips on this kind of “one way” fit interview in section six here.

3. What do I need to learn to solve cases?

If you’re new to case cracking. You might feel a bit hopeless when you see a difficult case question, not having any idea where to start.

In fact though, cracking cases is much like playing chess. The rules you need to know to get started are actually pretty simple. What will make you really proficient is time and practice.

In this section, we’ll run through a high level overview of everything you need to know, linking to more detailed resources at every step.

3.1. Business fundamentals

Obviously, you are going to need to be familiar with basic business concepts in order to understand the case studies you are given in the first instance.

If you are coming from a business undergrad, an MBA or are an experienced hire, you might well have this covered already.

However, many consultants will be entering from engineering or similar backgrounds and the major consulting firms are hiring more and more PhDs and non-MBA master's graduates from all subjects. These individuals will need to get up to speed on business fundamentals.

Luckily, you don’t need a degree-level understanding of business to crack interview cases, and a lot of the information you will pick up by osmosis as you read through articles like this and go through cases.

However, some things you will just need to sit down and learn. We cover everything you need to know in some detail in our Case Academy course. However, some examples here of things you need to learn are:

  • Basic accounting (particularly how to understand all the elements of a balance sheet)
  • Basic economics
  • Basic marketing
  • Basic strategy

Note, though, that learning the very basics of business is the beginning rather than the end of your journey.

Once you are able to “speak business” at a rudimentary level, you should try to “become fluent” and immerse yourself in reading/viewing/listening to as wide a variety of business material as possible, getting a feel for all kinds of companies and industries - and especially the kinds of problems that can come up in each context and how they are solved.

The material put out by the consulting firms themselves is a great place to start, but you should also follow the business news and find out about different companies and sectors as much as possible between now and interviews. Remember, if you’re going to be a consultant, this should be fun rather than a chore!

3.2. How to solve cases like a real consultant

This is the really important bit.

If you look around online for material on how to solve case studies, a lot of what you find will set out framework-based approaches. However, as we have mentioned, these frameworks tend to break down with more complex, unique cases - with these being exactly the kind of tough case studies you can expect to be given in your interviews.

To address this problem, the MyConsultingCoach team has developed a new, proprietary approach to case cracking that replicates how top management consultants approach actual engagements.

MyConsultingCoach’s Problem Driven Structure approach is a universal problem solving method that can be applied to any business problem , irrespective of its nature.

As opposed to just selecting a generic framework for each case, the Problem Driven Structure approach works by generating a bespoke structure for each individual question and is a simplified version of the roadmap McKinsey consultants use when working on engagements.

The canonical seven steps from McKinsey on real projects are simplified to four for case interview questions, as the analysis required for a six-month engagement is somewhat less than that needed for a 45-minute case study. However, the underlying flow is the same.

This video has more information on how frameworks can be unreliable and how we address this problem:

Otherwise, let's zoom in to see how our method actually works in more detail:

3.2.1. Identify the problem

Identifying the problem means properly understanding the prompt/question you are given, so you get to the actual point of the case.

This might sound simple, but cases are often very tricky, and many candidates irretrievably mess things up within the first few minutes of starting. Often, they won’t notice this has happened until they are getting to the end of their analysis. Then, they suddenly realise that they have misunderstood the case prompt - and have effectively been answering the wrong question all along!

With no time to go back and start again, there is nothing to do. Even if there were time, making such a silly mistake early on will make a terrible impression on their interviewer, who might well have written them off already. The interview is scuppered and all the candidate’s preparation has been for nothing.

This error is so galling as it is so readily avoidable.

Our method prevents this problem by placing huge emphasis on a full understanding of the case prompt. This lays the foundations for success as, once we have identified the fundamental, underlying problem our client is facing, we focus our whole analysis around finding solutions to this specific issue.

Now, some case interview prompts are easy to digest. For example, “Our client, a supermarket, has seen a decline in profits. How can we bring them up?”. However, many of the prompts given in interviews for top firms are much more difficult and might refer to unfamiliar business areas or industries. For example, “How much would you pay for a banking license in Ghana?” or “What would be your key areas of concern be when setting up an NGO?”

Don’t worry if you have no idea how you might go about tackling some of these prompts!

In our article on identifying the problem and in our full lesson on the subject in our MCC Academy course, we teach a systematic, four step approach to identifying the problem , as well as running through common errors to ensure you start off on the right foot every time!

This is summarised here:

Four Steps to Identify the Problem

Following this method lets you excel where your competitors mess up and get off to a great start in impressing your interviewer!

3.2.2. Build your problem driven structure

After you have properly understood the problem, the next step is to successfully crack a case is to draw up a bespoke structure that captures all the unique features of the case.

This is what will guide your analysis through the rest of the case study and is precisely the same method used by real consultants working on real engagements.

Of course, it might be easier here to simply roll out one an old-fashioned framework, and a lot of candidates will do so. This is likely to be faster at this stage and requires a lot less thought than our problem-driven structure approach.

However, whilst our problem driven structure approach requires more work from you, our method has the advantage of actually working in the kind of complex case studies where generic frameworks fail - that is exactly the kind of cases you can expect at an MBB interview .

Since we effectively start from first principles every time, we can tackle any case with the same overarching method. Simple or complex, every case is the same to you and you don’t have to gamble a job on whether a framework will actually work

In practice, structuring a problem with our method means drawing up either an issue tree or an hypothesis tree , depending on how you are trying to address the problem.

These trees break down the overall problem into a set of smaller problems that you can then solve individually. Representing this on a diagram also makes it easy for both you and your interviewer to keep track of your analysis.

To see how this is done, let’s look at the issue tree below breaking down the revenues of an airline:

Frame the Airline Case Study

These revenues can be segmented as the number of customers multiplied by the average ticket price. The number of customers can be further broken down into a number of flights multiplied by the number of seats, times average occupancy rate. The node corresponding to the average ticket price can then be segmented further.

It is worth noting that the same problem can be structured in multiple valid ways by choosing different means to segment the key issues.

That said, not all valid structures are equally useful in solving the underlying problem. A good structure fulfils several requirements - including MECE-ness , level consistency, materiality, simplicity, and actionability. It’s important to put in the time to master segmentation, so you can choose a scheme isn’t only valid, but actually useful in addressing the problem.

After taking the effort to identify the problem properly, an advantage of our method is that it will help ensure you stay focused on that same fundamental problem throughout. This might not sound like much, but many candidates end up getting lost in their own analysis, veering off on huge tangents and returning with an answer to a question they weren’t asked.

Another frequent issue - particularly with certain frameworks - is that candidates finish their analysis and, even if they have successfully stuck to the initial question, they have not actually reached a definite solution. Instead, they might simply have generated a laundry list of pros and cons, with no clear single recommendation for action.

Clients employ consultants for actionable answers, and this is what is expected in the case interview. The problem driven structure excels in ensuring that everything you do is clearly related back to the key question in a way that will generate a definitive answer. Thus, the problem driven structure builds in the hypothesis driven approach so characteristic of real consulting practice.

You can learn how to set out your own problem driven structures in our article here and in our full lesson in the MCC Academy course.

Join thousands of other candidates cracking cases like pros

3.2.3. lead the analysis.

A problem driven structure might ensure we reach a proper solution eventually, but how do we actually get there?

We call this step " leading the analysis ", and it is the process whereby you systematically navigate through your structure, identifying the key factors driving the issue you are addressing.

Generally, this will mean continuing to grow your tree diagram, further segmenting what you identify as the most salient end nodes and thus drilling down into the most crucial factors causing the client’s central problem.

Once you have gotten right down into the detail of what is actually causing the company’s issues, solutions can then be generated quite straightforwardly.

To see this process in action, we can return to our airline revenue example:

Lead the analysis for the Airline Case Study

Let’s say we discover the average ticket price to be a key issue in the airline’s problems. Looking closer at the drivers of average ticket price, we find that the problem lies with economy class ticket prices. We can then further segment that price into the base fare and additional items such as food.

Having broken down the issue to such a fine-grained level, solutions occur quite naturally. In this case, we can suggest incentivising the crew to increase onboard sales, improving assortment in the plane, or offering discounts for online purchases.

Our article on leading the analysis is a great primer on the subject, with our video lesson in the MCC Academy providing the most comprehensive guide available.

3.2.4. Provide recommendations

So you have a solution - but you aren’t finished yet!

Now, you need to deliver your solution as a final recommendation.

This should be done as if you are briefing a busy CEO and thus should be a one minute, top-down, concise, structured, clear, and fact-based account of your findings.

The brevity of the final recommendation belies its importance. In real life consulting, the recommendation is what the client has potentially paid millions for - from their point of view, it is the only thing that matters.

In an interview, your performance in this final summing up of your case is going to significantly colour your interviewer’s parting impression of you - and thus your chances of getting hired!

So, how do we do it right?

Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle elegantly sums up almost everything required for a perfect recommendation. The answer comes first , as this is what is most important. This is then supported by a few key arguments , which are in turn buttressed by supporting facts .

Across the whole recommendation, the goal isn’t to just summarise what you have done. Instead, you are aiming to synthesize your findings to extract the key "so what?" insight that is useful to the client going forward.

All this might seem like common sense, but it is actually the opposite of how we relay results in academia and other fields. There, we typically move from data, through arguments and eventually to conclusions. As such, making good recommendations is a skill that takes practice to master.

We can see the Pyramid Principle illustrated in the diagram below:

The Pyramid principle often used in consulting

To supplement the basic Pyramid Principle scheme, we suggest candidates add a few brief remarks on potential risks and suggested next steps . This helps demonstrate the ability for critical self-reflection and lets your interviewer see you going the extra mile.

The combination of logical rigour and communication skills that is so definitive of consulting is particularly on display in the final recommendation.

Despite it only lasting 60 seconds, you will need to leverage a full set of key consulting skills to deliver a really excellent recommendation and leave your interviewer with a good final impression of your case solving abilities.

Our specific article on final recommendations and the specific video lesson on the same topic within our MCC Academy are great, comprehensive resources. Beyond those, our lesson on consulting thinking and our articles on MECE and the Pyramid Principle are also very useful.

3.3. Common case types and the building blocks to solve them

You should tackle each new case on its own merits. However, that’s not to say there aren’t recurring themes that come up fairly reliably in cases - there absolutely are. Business is business and case studies will often feature issues like profitability, competition etc.

Old fashioned framework approaches would have you simply select a defined framework for each kind of case and, in effect, just run the algorithm and wait for a solution to fall out.

We’ve already explained how frameworks can let you down. In this context, too many candidates will fall into the trap of selecting a framework for that case type that simply won’t work for their specific case.

The counterpoint in favour of frameworks, though, is that they are at least fast and prevent you having to start from the ground up with a common kind of case.

Ideally, you should have the best of both worlds - and this is why, in our articles on this site and in our MCC Academy course, we have developed a set of “building bocks” for common case themes.

As they name suggests, building blocks give you modular components for different kinds of case to help build out your own custom structures faster. These then allow you to leverage the symmetries between cases without inheriting the inflexibility of frameworks.

Let’s take a look at five different case types and get a brief idea of how our building block approach helps you with each. You can find more detail on each in the full length articles linked, as well as in the full-length video lessons in our MCC Academy course.

3.3.1. Estimation

Consultants need to push forward to provide definitive recommendations to clients in a timely manner despite typically not having access to full information on a problem. Estimation of important quantities is therefore at the heart of real life consulting work.

Estimation is thus just as fundamental to case cracking.

A case interview might centre on an estimation question, and this might be quite common for a first round interview. However, estimation is also very likely to be a crucial part of pretty well any other kind of case question you receive is likely to include estimation as a crucial component of your analysis.

The kinds of estimation you might be asked to make in a case interview can be very daunting:

  • How many bank branches are there in Italy?
  • How many cars are sold in Berlin in one year?
  • How many people will buy the latest high-tech smartphone on the market?

You might have no idea where to begin with these examples. However, tempting as it might be, your answer cannot ever be a simple guess .

A decent estimation does have a guessed element - though this should really be an educated guess based on some pre-existing knowledge. However, this guessed element is always then combined with a rigorous quantitative method to arrive at a reasonable estimation.

In context of a case interview, it’s important to realise that your interviewer doesn’t really care about the right answer (they don’t need to ask you to find out, after all). What’s important is showing the rational process by which you get to your answer.

A guess that was somehow exactly correct is no good compared to a “wrong” answer that was reached by a very sensible, intelligent process of estimation. In cases, this method will often be a matter of segmentation.

So, where would we start in working out how many cars are sold in Berlin, for example?

The key to estimation case questions is the ability to logically break down the problem into more manageable pieces. In consulting case studies, this will generally mean segmenting a wider population to find a particular target group. For example, starting from the total population of Berlin and narrowing down to the cohort of individuals who will buy a car that year.

There are usually many ways to segment the same starting population, and several different segmentation schemes might be equally valid. However, it is crucial to choose the specific method best suited to the goal in answering the question and allowing you to best leverage the data you have available.

Segmentation must be allied with assumptions in order to arrive at an estimation. These assumptions are the “guessed” element of estimations we mentioned above. Assumptions cannot just be plucked from thin air, but must always be reasonable .

The example below showcases both the segmentation and assumptions made in an estimation of the size of the wedding planning market in London:

Estimation Example Structure

Our articles on estimation and the MECE concept are great starting points in getting to grips with consulting estimation. However, the best place to learn how to make estimations is with the dedicated building block video lesson in our MCC Academy course.

Those of you from physics or engineering backgrounds will probably see a lot in common with Fermi questions . We have plenty of estimation cases for you to work through in our free case library. However, Fermi questions are a great way of getting a little extra practice and you can find a lifetime’s supply online.

3.3.2. Profitability

The fundamental goal of any normal business is to maximise profits - nobody is getting up and going to work to lose money. Even Silicon Valley tech start-ups are supposed to be profitable some day!

Profitability problems are thus bread and butter issues for management consultants.

Clients often tell consultants broadly the same story. The business was doing in well in recent years, with strong profits. However, some recent turn of events has upset the status quo and led to concerns around profit levels. Consultants are brought in as businesses are often sufficiently complex that it can be difficult to figure out precisely where and why the company is losing money - let alone how to then reverse the situation and restore healthy profits.

Despite steady growth in customer flow, the Walfort supermarket chain has seen falling profits in the past year. What is the reason for this decline?

Understanding profitability ultimately means understanding the various components that determine a company’s profit. You will need to learn to decompose profit first into revenues and costs (profit being the synthesis of these two factors). Crucially, you then need to segment further, distinguishing different specific revenue streams and separating various fixed and variable costs.

To take an example, just examining the revenue side of profit, the incoming revenues for an insurance firm might be broken down as follows:

Insurance Revenues

Improving profitability will inherently mean increasing revenues and/or decreasing costs. To solve profitability problems, we thus have to understand the ways we can minimise different costs, as well as ways to drive sales and/or optimise pricing to increase revenue. Importantly, you must be able to judge which of these options is best suited to address specific scenarios.

The key to tackling the complex kind of profitability questions given by MBB-level consultancies lies in this proper segmentation.

By contrast, old-fashioned case interview frameworks will simply have you look at aggregate cost and revenue data before recommending generic cost-cutting or revenue-driving measures. However, this will often lead to negative outcomes in more involved cases, making matters worse for the client.

For example, it might well be that a company actually makes a loss when it serves a certain cohort of customers. An airline, for instance, might lose money on economy class customers but make a healthy profit on each business class customer. Attempts to boost revenue by increasing sales across the board might actually reduce profit further by increasing the number of economy class customers. What is required is targeted measures to increase focus on business class and/or mitigate economy class losses.

You can start learning to segment these kinds of cases properly in our article on profitability , whilst the best way to really master profitability questions is our full lesson on the subject in the Building Blocks section of our MCC Academy course.

3.3.3. Pricing

For a company to be profitable at all, it is a pre-requisite that it charges the right price for whatever it sells. However, establishing what price to charge for any one product - or indeed a whole suite of related products - can be a highly complex business.

Consultants are often engaged to negotiate the many variables, with all their complex interdependencies, at play in pricing. Correspondingly, then, pricing is a common theme in case interviews.

  • A company launches a new smartphone with a significantly improved camera. How much should they charge?
  • A doughnut chain wants to start selling coffee in their shops. How much should they charge per cup?

Clearly, lot of different factors can influence the answers to these questions, and it can be difficult to know where to start. To get a handle on all this complexity, you will need to take a methodical, structured approach.

To really understand pricing, you must begin from fundamentals like the customer’s willingness to pay, the value captured by the company, and the value created for the customer. These basics are shown in the diagram below:

Pricing Basics

This might seem simple enough, but the exact level at which prices are ultimately set is determined by a whole host of factors, including product availability, market trends, and the need to maintain a competitive position within the market. In particular, if we are changing the price of an existing product, we must consider how the price elasticity of demand might cause sales to fluctuate.

Our four-step method for pricing starts from establishing the customer’s next best alternative, calculating the value added by our own product, and working from there. A summary of this method is given, along with an overview of pricing in general, in our article on the subject . However, the most complete resource is our pricing lesson in the MCC Academy .

3.3.4. Valuation

Valuation is fundamental to any kind of investment. Before allocating capital towards a particular opportunity, an investor must understand precisely what value it holds and how this compares to the other available options.

In short, valuation tells us how much we should be willing to pay to acquire a company or an asset.

There are many ways to value an asset - indeed the finer points are still subject to research in both the academic and private sectors.

Standard ways to assign value include asset-based valuations (notably the Net Asset Value or NAV) and the various multiples so widely used by market traders.

However, in consulting case interviews, you will only usually need to be familiar with Net Present Value (NPV) . This means you need to learn and master the NPV equation:

NPV Equation

CF = Cash Flow r = Discount Rate

Whilst this is a pretty simple equation on the face of it, in order to make proper use of it, you will also need to develop a feel for interest/discount rates appropriate to different cases. This will be essential, as you will often have to estimate rational values for these rates for different investments before plugging those values into the NPV equation. Our Case Academy course has more detail here.

Note, though, that NPV is only really half the story.

NPV provides a kind of “absolute” value for an asset. However, the fact is that the worth of any asset will be different for different buyers , depending largely upon what the buyer already owns. In just the same way a spare clutch for a 1975 Ford will be a lot less valuable to a cyclist than to someone restoring the relevant classic car, so a courier business will be more valuable to an online retailer than to an airline.

As such, what we call the Total Enterprise Value (TEV) of an asset is calculated as a function of that asset’s NPV and of the potential cost and revenue synergies resulting from an acquisition. This is shown in the useful structure below:

TEV

You can learn more about all aspects of valuation in our article here , as well as in our dedicated video lesson in MCC Academy . These include guides to the kind of interest rates typically required to finance different kinds of investment.

3.3.5. Competitive Interactions

Most of what we’ve discussed so far in terms of case themes and our building block approach to them will all depend upon the prevailing competitive landscape our client exists within. Product prices, profit levels and ultimately valuations can all change over time in response to competition.

What is more, the zero sum dynamics of competitive interactions mean that these things can change quickly .

Companies enjoying near monopolies for years or even decades can quickly see their values go to zero, or near enough, in the face of some innovation by a competitor coming onto the market.

Nokia and Kodak thoroughly dominated the mobile phone and photography markets respectively - until new companies with new products pulled the rug out from under them and led to precipitous collapses.

New market entrants or old competitors with new ideas can throw a company’s whole business model up in the air overnight . Complex decisions about profound changes need to be made yesterday. Firms trying to save themselves will often slash prices in attempts to maintain sales - though this can actually make things worse and result in a corporate death-spiral. Consultants are then frequently called in to help companies survive - with this type of engagement carrying over to inform case interview questions.

You are running an airline and a low-cost competitor, like Ryanair, decides to start operating on your routes. You are rapidly losing customers to their lower fares. How do you respond?

Your eventual solutions to competitive interaction problems will likely need to be novel and unique to the situation. However, the process by which we understand competitive interactions and move towards those solutions is usually very methodical, moving through the limited dimensions in which a company can take action.

The following structure neatly encodes the general options open to responding to new sources of competition:

Competitive Interaction Structure

Of course, we would never suggest that you blanket-apply any strict, inflexible methodology to a whole swathe of case questions – this is precisely the approach that causes so much trouble for candidates using old-fashioned frameworks.

This structure is only a starting point - a shortcut to a bespoke framework specific to the case question in hand. You might well have to alter the details of the structure shown and you will almost certainly have to expand it as you lead the analysis . How you build out your structure and the solutions you provide are necessarily going to depend upon the specific details of the case question.

Thus, in order to deal with competitive interactions, you will need to put in the time to understand how the different strategies available function - as well as how competitors might then react to implementing such strategies. With enough practice, though, soon you won’t be fazed by even the most complex cases of competition between firms.

You can learn more in our article here and in our dedicated video lesson on competitive interaction in the MCC Academy case interview course.

3.4. Mental mathematics

Almost every interview case study will feature some mental mathematics and this is an area where many many candidates let themselves down.

As such, it makes sense to out in the time and make sure you are fully proficient.

Nothing beyond high school level is required, but you probably don’t do much mental arithmetic day to day and will likely need to practice quite a lot to get good enough to reliably perform at pace, under pressure.

We give a high-level overview of what you need to know in our consulting math article , but devote a whole section of our MCC Academy course to a deep dive on consulting math, with plenty of practice material to get you up to scratch.

4. How do I practice for case interviews?

As we said above - case interviews are much like chess. The rules are relatively quick to learn, but you need to practice a lot to get good.

If you’re working through our MCC Academy course, we recommend getting through the core Problem Driven Structure section. After that, you should be practising alongside working through the remainder of the course and beyond. However you do things, you need to get up to speed with the fundamentals before practice is going to do much more than confuse you.

Of course, if you’re enrolled in one of our mentoring programmes , your mentor will let you know precisely when and how you should be scheduling practice, as well as tracking your progress throughout.

4.1. Solo Practice

For solitary preparation, one of the best uses of your time is to work on your mental mathematics . This skill is neglected by many applicants - much to their immediate regret in the case interview. Find our mental math tool here or in our course, and practice at least ten minutes per day, from day one until the day before the interview.

Once you've covered our Building Blocks section, you should then start working through the cases in My Consulting Coach's case bank alongside your work on the course. This is a large library of case interview questions and answers in different formats and difficulties.

To build your confidence, start out on easier case questions, work through with the solutions, and don't worry about time. As you get better, you can move on to more difficult cases and try to get through them more quickly. You should practice around eight case studies on your own to build your confidence.

4.2. Peer practice

One you have worked through eight cases solo, you should be ready to simulate the interview more closely and start working with another person.

Here, many candidates turn to peer practice - that is, doing mock case interviews with friends, classmates or others also applying to consulting.

If you’re in university, and especially in business school, there will very likely be a consulting club for you to join and do lots of case practice with. If you don’t have anyone to practice, though, or if you just want to get a bit more volume in with others, our free meeting board lets you find fellow applicants from around the world with whom to practice.

4.3. Professional practice

You can do a lot practising by yourself and with peers. However, nothing will bring up your skills so quickly and profoundly as working with a real consultant.

Perhaps think about it like boxing. You can practice drills and work on punch bags all you want, but at some point you need to get into the ring and do some actual sparring if you ever want to be ready to fight.

Of course, it isn’t possible to secure the time of experienced top-tier consultants for free. However, when considering whether you should invest to boost your chances of success, it is worth considering the difference in your salary over even a just few years between getting into a top-tier firm versus a second-tier one. In the light of thousands in increased annual earnings (easily accumulating into millions over multiple years), it becomes clear that getting expert interview help really is one of the best investments you can make in your own future.

Should you decide to make this step, MyConsultingCoach can help, offering the highest quality case interview coaching service available . Each MCC case coach is selected as an MBB consultant with two or more years of experience and strong coaching expertise.

Case interview coaching is hugely beneficial in itself. However, for those who want to genuinely maximise their chances of securing a job offer - and especially for time-poor, busy professionals or hard-pressed students who want to take the guesswork and wasted time out of their case interview prep - we also offer a much more comprehensive service .

With one of our bespoke mentoring programmes , you are paired with a 5+ year experienced, ex-MBB mentor of your choosing, who will then oversee your whole case interview preparation from start to finish - giving you your best possible chance of landing a job!

4.4. Practice for online cases

Standard preparation for interview case studies will carry directly over to online cases.

However, if you want to do some more specific prep, you can work through cases solo to a timer and using a calculator and/or Excel (online cases generally allow calculators and second computers to help you, whilst these are banned in live case interviews).

Older PST-style questions also make great prep, but a particularly good simulation is the self-assessment tests included in our Case Academy course . These multiple choice business questions conducted with a strict time limit are great preparation for the current crop of online cases.

5. Fit interviews

As we’ve noted, even something billed as a case interview is very likely to contain a fit interview as a subset.

We have an article on fit interviews and also include a full set of lessons on how to answer fit questions properly as a subset of our comprehensive Case Academy course .

Here though, the important thing to convey is that you take preparing for fit questions every bit as seriously as you do case prep.

Since they sound the same as you might encounter when interviewing for other industries, the temptation is to regard these as “just normal interview questions”.

However, consulting firms take your answers to these questions a good deal more seriously than elsewhere.

This isn’t just for fluffy “corporate culture” reasons. The long hours and close teamwork, as well as the client-facing nature of management consulting, mean that your personality and ability to get on with others is going to be a big part of making you a tolerable and effective co-worker.

If you know you’ll have to spend 14+ hour working days with someone you hire and that your annual bonus depends on them not alienating clients, you better believe you’ll pay attention to their character in interview.

There are also hard-nosed financial reasons for the likes of McKinsey, Bain and BCG to drill down so hard on your answers.

In particular, top consultancies have huge issues with staff retention. The average management consultant only stays with these firms for around two years before they have moved on to a new industry.

In some cases, consultants bail out because they can’t keep up with the arduous consulting lifestyle of long hours and endless travel. In many instances, though, departing consultants are lured away by exit opportunities - such as the well trodden paths towards internal strategy roles, private equity or becoming a start-up founder.

Indeed, many individuals will intentionally use a two year stint in consulting as something like an MBA they are getting paid for - giving them accelerated exposure to the business world and letting them pivot into something new.

Consulting firms want to get a decent return on investment for training new recruits. Thus, they want hires who not only intend to stick with consulting longer-term, but also have a temperament that makes this feasible and an overall career trajectory where it just makes sense for them to stay put.

This should hammer home the point that, if you want to get an offer, you need to be fully prepared to answer fit questions - and to do so excellently - any time you have a case interview.

6. Interview day - what to expect, with tips

Of course, all this theory is well and good, but a lot of readers might be concerned about what exactly to expect in real life . It’s perfectly reasonable to want to get as clear a picture as possible here - we all want to know what we are going up against when we face a new challenge!

Indeed, it is important to think about your interview in more holistic terms, rather than just focusing on small aspects of analysis. Getting everything exactly correct is less important than the overall approach you take to reasoning and how you communicate - and candidates often lose sight of this fact.

In this section, then, we’ll run through the case interview experience from start to finish, directing you to resources with more details where appropriate. As a supplement to this, the following video from Bain is excellent. It portrays an abridged version of a case interview, but is very useful as a guide to what to expect - not just from Bain, but from McKinsey, BCG and any other high-level consulting firm.

6.1. Getting started

Though you might be shown through to the office by a staff member, usually your interviewer will come and collect you from a waiting area. Either way, when you first encounter them, you should greet your interviewer with a warm smile and a handshake (unless they do not offer their hand). Be confident without verging into arrogance. You will be asked to take a seat in the interviewer’s office, where the interview can then begin.

6.1.1. First impressions

In reality, your assessment begins before you even sit down at your interviewer’s desk. Whether at a conscious level or not, the impression you make within the first few seconds of meeting your interviewer is likely to significantly inform the final hiring decision (again, whether consciously or not).

Your presentation and how you hold yourself and behave are all important. If this seems strange, consider that, if hired, you will be personally responsible for many clients’ impressions of the firm. These things are part of the job! Much of material on the fit interview is useful here, whilst we also cover first impressions and presentation generally in our article on what to wear to interview .

As we have noted above, your interview might start with a fit segment - that is, with the interviewer asking questions about your experiences, your soft skills, and motivation to want to join consulting generally and that firm in particular. In short, the kinds of things a case study can’t tell them about you. We have a fit interview article and course to get you up to speed here.

6.1.2. Down to business

Following an initial conversation, your interviewer will introduce your case study , providing a prompt for the question you have to answer. You will have a pen and paper in front of you and should (neatly) note down the salient pieces of information (keep this up throughout the interview).

It is crucial here that you don’t delve into analysis or calculations straight away . Case prompts can be tricky and easy to misunderstand, especially when you are under pressure. Rather, ask any questions you need to fully understand the case question and then validate that understanding with the interviewer before you kick off any analysis. Better to eliminate mistakes now than experience that sinking feeling of realising you have gotten the whole thing wrong halfway through your case!

This process is covered in our article on identifying the problem and in greater detail in our Case Academy lesson on that subject.

6.1.3. Analysis

Once you understand the problem, you should take a few seconds to set your thoughts in order and draw up an initial structure for how you want to proceed. You might benefit from utilising one or more of our building blocks here to make a strong start. Present this to your interviewer and get their approval before you get into the nuts and bolts of analysis.

We cover the mechanics of how to structure your problem and lead the analysis in our articles here and here and more thoroughly in the MCC Case Academy . What it is important to convey here, though, is that your case interview is supposed to be a conversation rather than a written exam . Your interviewer takes a role closer to a co-worker than an invigilator and you should be conversing with them throughout.

Indeed, how you communicate with your interviewer and explain your rationale is a crucial element of how you will be assessed. Case questions in general, are not posed to see if you can produce the correct answer, but rather to see how you think . Your interviewer wants to see you approach the case in a structured, rational fashion. The only way they are going to know your thought processes, though, is if you tell them!

To demonstrate this point, here is another excellent video from Bain, where candidates are compared.

Note that multiple different answers to each question are considered acceptable and that Bain is primarily concerned with the thought processes of the candidate’s exhibit .

Another reason why communication is absolutely essential to case interview success is the simple reason that you will not have all the facts you need to complete your analysis at the outset. Rather, you will usually have to ask the interviewer for additional data throughout the case to allow you to proceed .

NB: Don't be let down by your math!

Your ability to quickly and accurately interpret these charts and other figures under pressure is one of the skills that is being assessed. You will also need to make any calculations with the same speed and accuracy (without a calculator!). As such, be sure that you are up to speed on your consulting math .

6.1.4. Recommendation

Finally, you will be asked to present a recommendation. This should be delivered in a brief, top-down "elevator pitch" format , as if you are speaking to a time-pressured CEO. Again here, how you communicate will be just as important as the details of what you say, and you should aim to speak clearly and with confidence.

For more detail on how to give the perfect recommendation, take a look at our articles on the Pyramid Principle and providing recommendations , as well the relevant lesson within MCC Academy .

6.1.5. Wrapping up

After your case is complete, there might be a few more fit questions - including a chance for you to ask some questions of the interviewer . This is your opportunity to make a good parting impression.

We deal with the details in our fit interview resources. However, it is always worth bearing in mind just how many candidates your interviewers are going to see giving similar answers to the same questions in the same office. A pretty obvious pre-requisite to being considered for a job is that your interviewer remembers you in the first place. Whilst you shouldn't do something stupid just to be noticed, asking interesting parting questions is a good way to be remembered.

Now, with the interview wrapped up, it’s time to shake hands, thank the interviewer for their time and leave the room .

You might have other interviews or tests that day or you might be heading home. Either way, if know that you did all you could to prepare, you can leave content in the knowledge that you have the best possible chance of receiving an email with a job offer. This is our mission at MCC - to provide all the resources you need to realise your full potential and land your dream consulting job!

6.2. Remote and one-way interview tips

Zoom case interviews and “one-way” automated fit interviews are becoming more common as selection processes are increasingly remote, with these new formats being accompanied by their own unique challenges.

Obviously you won’t have to worry about lobbies and shaking hands for a video interview. However, a lot remains the same. You still need to do the same prep in terms of getting good at case cracking and expressing your fit answers. The specific considerations around remote interviews are, in effect, around making sure you come across as effectively as you would in person.

6.2.1. Connection

It sounds trivial, but a successful video interview of any kind presupposes a functioning computer with a stable and sufficient internet connection.

Absolutely don’t forget to have your laptop plugged in, as your battery will definitely let you down mid-interview. Similarly, make sure any housemates or family know not to use the microwave, vacuum cleaner or anything else that makes wifi cut out (or makes a lot of noise, obviously)

If you have to connect on a platform you don’t use much (for example, if it’s on Teams and you’re used to Zoom), make sure you have the up to date version of the app in advance, rather than having to wait for an obligatory download and end up late to join. Whilst you’re at it, make sure you’re familiar with the controls etc. At the risk of being made fun of, don’t be afraid to have a practice call with a friend.

6.2.2. Dress

You might get guidance on a slightly more relaxed dress code for a Zoom interview. However, if in doubt, dress as you would for the real thing (see our article here ).

Either way, always remember that presentation is part of what you are being assessed on - the firm needs to know you can be presentable for clients. Taking this stuff seriously also shows respect for your interviewer and their time in interviewing you.

6.2.3. Lighting

An aspect of presentation that you have to devote some thought to for a Zoom interview is your lighting.

Hopefully, you long ago nailed a lighting set-up during the Covid lockdowns. However, make sure to check your lighting in advance with your webcam - bearing in mind what time if day your interview actually is. If your interview is late afternoon, don’t just check in the morning. Make sure you aren’t going to be blinded from light coming in a window behind your screen, or that you end up with the weird shadow stripes from blinds all over your face.

Natural light is always best, but if there won’t be much of that during your interview, you’ll likely want to experiment with moving some lamps around.

6.2.4. Clarity

The actual stories you tell in an automated “one-way” fit interview will be the same as for a live equivalent. If anything, things should be easier, as you can rattle off a practised monologue without an interviewer interrupting you to ask for clarifications.

You can probably also assume that the algorithm assessing your performance is sufficiently capable that it will be observing you at much the same level as a human interviewer. However, it is probably still worth speaking as clearly as possible with these kinds of interviews and paying extra attention to your lighting to ensure that your face is clearly visible.

No doubt the AIs scoring these interviews are improving all the time, but you still want to make their job as easy as possible. Just think about the same things as you would with a live Zoom interview, but more so.

7. How we can help

There are lots of great free resources on this site to get you started with preparation, from all our articles on case solving and consulting skills to our free case library and peer practice meeting board .

To step your preparation up a notch, though, our Case Academy course will give you everything you need to know to solve the most complex of cases - whether those are in live interviews, with chatbots, written tests or any other format.

Whatever kind of case you end up facing, nothing will bring up your skillset faster than the kind of acute, actionable feedback you can get from a mock case interview a real, MBB consultant. Whilst it's possible to get by without this kind of coaching, it does tend to be the biggest single difference maker for successful candidates.

You can find out more on our coaching page:

Explore Coaching

Of course, for those looking for a truly comprehensive programme, with a 5+ year experienced MBB consultant overseeing their entire prep personally, from networking and applications right through to your offer, we have our mentoring programmes.

You can read more here:

Comprehensive Mentoring

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9 Types of Questions in Actual Case Interviews

Case interviews at management consulting firms are among the most difficult job interviews, but they are also quite predictable. Once you know the types of questions they ask, preparation is straightforward.

Using years of experience at McKinsey, as well as field reports from thousands of candidates, I’ve crafted a list of 8 common case interview questions, and in this article, I’ll show you how to answer each of them.

Case interview questions – Overview

Types of case interview questions .

Most questions in case interviews belong to one of these 9 types:

1. Framework/issue tree questions 2. Market-sizing and guesstimate questions 3. Valuation questions 4. Brain teaser questions 5. Chart insight questions 6. Value proposition questions 7. Information questions 8. Math problems 9. Solution-finding questions

In this article, we’ll discuss how to answer each question, along with the necessary tips and tricks.

How to answer case interview questions

There are the fo ur basic steps to answer case interview questions:

  • Step 1: Clarify any unclear points in the question
  • Step 2: Announce approach and ask for time
  • Step 3: Draw issue trees to solve the given problem
  • Step 4: Pitch your answer and end with a takeaway conclusion.

This general outline may vary depending on each type and each question – for example, brain teasers or information questions need only the last step, while market-sizing and framework questions need all four steps to deliver the perfect answer.

Type 1 – Framework/Issue tree questions

These are on top of the list among popular case interview questions!

what is a case interview question

If the interviewer asks you to identify factors contributing to a problem or to break down an entity (such as the revenue of a business), he/she is telling you to draw an issue tree.

And to draw a spot-on issue tree, you need to master consulting problem-solving foundations , the MECE principle , and common consulting frameworks . You should check out our other articles on these topics before moving on, because mastering the issue tree is the key to acing every possible case interview.

You also need good business intuition to draw good issue trees, so that’s all the more reason to start reading every day.

Gastronomia – a gourmet restaurant chain has found the turnover rate among its highly-skilled chefs increasing dramatically for the last 3 years; this has led to a noticeable decline in food quality and increased training costs, among other negative effects.

Which factors would you consider when tackling this turnover problem?

what is a case interview question

Job: Factors from the job itself. Further divided into 3 sub-branches

  • Compensations: are the salaries, bonuses, and benefits attractive enough?
  • Difficulty: is the job too difficult?
  • Nature: is the job too boring, too unengaging, too repetitive…?

Company: Factors from the work environment within the restaurant chain, surrounding the affected jobs. Further divided into 2 sub-branches

  • Cultural environment: is the culture at Gastronomia compatible with the chefs?
  • Physical environment: is the physical working environment at Gastronomia safe, comfortable, convenient…?

Competitors: Factors from outside the restaurant chain, related to competing job offers. Further divided into 2 sub-branches.

  • Inside industry: are other restaurant chains competing with Gastronomia for skilled personnel?
  • Outside industry: are there new career options or changes in existing alternatives that draw chefs away from restaurant chains like Gastronomia?

For detailed guides on issue trees, frameworks and their principles, see the articles on Issue Trees , Case Interview Frameworks, and MECE Principle

Type 2 – Market-sizing & guesstimate

These questions go along the lines of “How many trees are there in Central Park?” or “What’s the market size of pick-up trucks in the USA?”

The key to nailing market-sizing and guesstimate questions lies in not the closest results, but the most logical and structured approaches. In fact, the interviewer expects you to follow these four steps:

Step 1: Clarify: Make sure you and the interviewer are on the same page regarding every detail and terminology, so you won’t be answering the wrong question.

Step 2: Break down the problem: Break the item in the question (number of trees in Central Park, market size of pickup trucks) down into smaller, easy-to-estimate pieces.

Step 3: Solve each piece: Estimate each small piece one at a time; each estimation should be backed by facts, figures, or at least observations.

Step 4: Consolidate the pieces: Combine the previous estimations to arrive at a final result; be quick with the math, but don’t rush it if you aren’t confident.

Unless you come up with something about 10 times the reasonable estimate, don’t worry about being “wrong” – the interviewer is unlikely to have a “correct” number in mind, he/she just wants to see your structured mindset.

This question type is so common, we devote a whole article to it, and our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program have a separate package on these questions. Check out our comprehensive guide on Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions for more details!

Now, here’s a quick example for you to try and get used to this type:

How many smartphones are sold each year, globally?

  • Smartphones are phones using exclusively touch-screens.
  • “Sold” means sold to the end-consumers. 
  • The market size is calculated at present.

Break down the problem:

The global smartphone market can be divided into three segments – developed countries, developing countries, and undeveloped countries.

In each segment, the annual unit sales of smartphones depend on four variables:

  • The percentage of “phone-owning age” people among the population
  • The percentage of smartphone owners within the “phone-owning age” group.
  • The average, annual, per capita “consumption” of smartphones for those owners.

Solve each piece:

  • The population is 1.5 billion in developed countries, 5.5 billion in developing countries, and 1 billion in undeveloped countries.
  • 80% of the world population is in the “phone-owning age” (Global life expectancy is 70 and everyone older than 15 years counts towards the “phone-owning age” group)
  • 100% of the phone-owning age in developed countries will own a smartphone; the figure in developing countries is 75%, while in undeveloped countries it’s 10%.
  • The average smartphone user replaces their phone every 3 years – so they “consume” 0.33 phones each year.

=> Estimated global smartphone market: 1.53 billion units per year

=> Actual 2019 global smartphone sales:  1.37 billion units (error margin: 11.7%).

This market-sizing question is solved using a four-step process, which is explained in this article:  Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions

Type 3 – Valuation questions

Valuation questions are about estimating the monetary value of a business, and these are very popular in case interviews too!

Valuation questions are a blend of guesstimation/market-sizing, math, and business. They also require basic finance knowledge. There are three ways to estimate the value of a business:

  • The NPV Method: take the net cash flow generated by the business, and discount it to the present to account for time value of money. Basically “this company is worth X dollars because it gives me Y dollars over Z years”. This approach works best when the cash flow from the business is positive and stable.
  • The Market Method: take one index of the firm (which can be stocks or anything depending on the industry) and multiply it with an industry multiple (the value of one unit of the said index). In other words, “this company is worth AxB dollars because it has A traffic and each traffic is worth B dollars”. This approach works best when the market is transparent and data on similar firms are accessible – usually with major, established industries such as commercial airlines.

In real case interviews, you have to justify your approach then ask the interviewer to give you the necessary data.

Our client wants to sell his organic-food restaurant (called “Cato’s Cabbage Farm”) to retire. How much is his restaurant worth?

(Supposed the interviewer gives you the following data: his current income from the restaurant is $100,000 per year; two other restaurants in the neighborhood – one with 2 times more customers, and another about 0.75 times, have been sold at $1,800,000 and $1,000,000 respectively).

NPV Method: Cato’s Cabbage Farm value = $100,000 / 10% = $1,000,000

Market Method:

Assume the number of customers for Cato’s Cabbage Farm is 1 “customer unit”, then the two neighborhood restaurants get 2 and 0.75 “customer units”.

  • Industry multiple: ($1,800,000+$1,000,000) / (2+0.75) = ~$1,018,182
  • Cato’s Cabbage Farm value = $1,018,182 x 1 = $1,018,182

Type 4 – Brain teasers

Brain teasers are the least predictable case interview questions – but even these can be learned!

Brain teasers are riddles designed to test unconventional, creative, and logical thinking. A famous example of this is Accenture’s “How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?”.

Although not as popular as before, brain teasers might still appear in consulting interviews; therefore, you should spend some time to prepare.

Most brain teasers can be allocated into these seven types:

  • Logical questions are pure logic riddles – there’s no trick, no illusion, no creativity.

In our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program , there are +200 brain teasers to help you prepare for these “unpredictable” questions. You can also read our article about Case Interview Brain Teasers for insights on all of these exciting brain teasers, as well as 30 example questions and answers!

How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?

Open the fridge, put the giraffe in, then close the fridge. The question never says how big the fridge or the giraffe is.

For the logic and approach behind each kind of brain teasers, see the article on Brain Teasers.

Type 5 – Chart insight questions

You can’t be a management consultant without mastering the use of charts – the complex, scary-looking real-world charts such as those included in our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program.

In management consulting and case interviews, most charts are one (or a combination) of these four basic types:

  • Bar charts compare the values of several items at one point in time, or 1-2 items at several time intervals.
  • Line charts illustrate time-series data, i.e trends in data over a continuous period.
  • Pie charts illustrate proportions, i.e “parts of a whole” analyses.
  • Scatter-plots use data points to visualize how two variables relate to each other.

To read these charts and answer chart-insights questions effectively, you must follow a structured, comprehensive process:

You can find a more detailed guide in the Charts section in our article about Consulting Math.

What can you draw from the following chart?

what is a case interview question

Trends in chart:

  • Steady rise in the number of confirmed deaths to about 70-80 per million;
  • Both changes started around March 10-11.
  • These sudden rises can be explained by events occurring in early-March, and 2.
  • If number of cases is kept low, the threat from COVID-19 will remain minimal, considering a mortality rate of only 2%.

Type 6 – Value proposition questions

No business or consulting candidate can succeed without understanding the customers!

Value-proposition questions are not only about correctly identifying customer preferences, but also about analyzing and delivering the answer in a structured fashion. The former relies heavily on business knowledge and intuition, but the latter can be trained methodically and quickly. Personally, I use a “double issue-tree” – essentially a table with customer segments on one axis and proposed values on the other:

For segmenting customers, you can use the following table. However, don’t over-rely on it, since there may be more relevant and insightful question-specific segmentations.

In some cases, clarification is also necessary – both to avoid “answering the wrong question” and to narrow down the range of customers/values you need to cover in the answer.

What will a customer consider when buying a Toyota sedan?

Clarification: A sedan must be branded “Toyota” to be a Toyota sedan – cars with other Toyota-owned brands such as Lexus or Ranz do not count in this question.

Situational Assessment:

Toyota sedans occupy the entry-level and mid-range price segments, so Toyota customers will be more price-conscious than, for example, Lexus customers.

They are also less likely to lean considerably towards one particular factor, so achieving a balance is extremely important.

Functionality factors:

  • Comfort: Toyota sedans are mostly for everyday use, so customers should feel comfortable being inside the car.
  • Utility: Toyota sedans are used for multiple purposes, so convenience for a wide range of uses is important.

Cost factors

  • Purchase price: A car can be an expensive investment while Toyota’s low-to-mid-range customers are more price-conscious, so having a cheap/reasonable price is important.
  • Fuel and maintenance: Maintenance and fuel costs over time are likewise inversely related to the decision to buy a Toyota sedan.

Physical factors

  • Performance: Customers are usually drivers themselves, who often pay attention to the technical characteristics of the car (speed, acceleration, handling, etc.)
  • Visual design: The car should possess the same level of visual appeal as other competitors in the same segment.
  • Build quality: Parts of the car should be assembled in a reasonably good manner.

Emotional factors

  • Branding: The car should come from a well-known, reputable brand
  • Personal preferences: Some customers choose specific cars simply because they “like” the car.

Type 7 – Information questions

In any problem-solving process, information is one of the overarching concerns!

“Information questions” essentially ask if the piece of data you use is obtainable in the first place. In real consulting work, data is not always available – client team members may refuse to cooperate or there’s simply no data on the subject.

There are many kinds of information sources in case interviews/consulting works, but I’ll divide them into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources means you must do the research yourself (or pay someone else to do it for you), such as customer surveys or mystery shoppings. If someone already did that research, and you use their results, it’s called a secondary source – you can get these from the client , the consulting firm you work for, or third-parties such as market research firms or external industry experts.

You can find out more about these sources and how to cite them in real case interviews through this free Prospective Candidate Starter Pack, which contains a glossary of data sources in consulting.

Our Prospective Candidate Starter Pack has a sheet containing all the possible sources of information in case interviews and consulting projects, among numerous other free resources; you can download and use it to answer these questions, by subscribing to our newsletter at the end of this article.

How do you assess your target customer’s preferences for sports cars?

Primary sources: customer survey, customer interviews, Secondary sources: industry reports, client sales reports, third-party expert interview, client expert interview

Type 8 – Math problems

A lot of information in case interviews and consulting work comes in the quantitative form, so you won’t escape Math by joining the consulting industry!

When you have to do the math, perform back-of-the-envelope calculations in a structured fashion, and say out loud what you’re writing. For one thing, it’s safe; for another, you show that you’re careful, organized, and reliable – just like actual consultants.

We have a Math Practice Tool right here! Use it every day, and you’ll be a master of mental calculations in no time flat!

We have a dedicated article on Consulting Math, which you should definitely read.

Type 9 – Solution-finding questions

What’s the point of analyzing a problem, if not to solve it?!

When dealing with solution questions, keep these four points in mind:

  • Firstly, in case interviews as well as real consulting projects, solutions must always solve every root cause of a problem, so remember to check if your solutions are relevant and comprehensive.
  • Secondly, every solution must be actionable – if your solutions are too expensive, too time-consuming, etc. for the client, they’re useless.
  • Thirdly, the interview expects a highly-structured answer; so segment your solutions based on their characteristics (long-term vs short-term is the easiest segmentation)

what is a case interview question

Last but not least, deliver at least two solutions, preferably three to five. Otherwise, you’ll appear uncreative and lazy to the interviewer’s eyes.

Nailing these questions relies on having excellent business intuition; our Case Interview End-to-End Program has a dedicated Business Intuition package, but you should also train a habit of reading consulting and business articles daily, to sharpen your business mind.

A restaurant that relies solely on on-premise dining found the loss of adjacent parking space (due to termination of contract) harming their revenue. How can they fix that?

The solutions for the restaurant’s parking space problem can be divided into two types:

  • Short-term solutions: Find new parking space around the neighborhood, or renegotiate for old parking space (possibly at a higher price).
  • Long-term solutions: Introduce takeaway items and off-premise dining.

Reminders on case interview questions

The questions are not clear-cut in candidate-led cases.

There are two extremes in consulting case interview format: interviewer-led (McKinsey) and candidate-led (BCG, Bain).

Interviewer-led cases, on one hand, consist of multiple, clear-cut questions in a larger business case context; the candidate navigates through these questions to arrive at the solutions.

Candidate-led cases, on the other hand, have one big problem, which the candidate must break down into small pieces to identify the root causes and deliver solutions.

This list, therefore, is much more relevant to the interviewer-led format; nonetheless, this guide is still quite beneficial for candidate-led cases, because when solving that big problem, you’ll have to tackle small issues similar to the 8 aforementioned question types.

Mastering the fundamentals is crucial to consistent performance

Although it’s good to study the case interview questions, it is no substitute for mastering the fundamental principles.

Learning the exercises without the basics is like building a house without a foundation. My poor neighbor’s house developed a huge crack right down the center because of its weak foundation, so make sure to build your case interview prep a strong one by knowing the basics first.

Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’ll become much more flexible – this quality is getting increasingly important because case interviews are getting less predictable, and more realistic.

If you haven’t, I advise you to read these articles (especially the first 4) before practicing the question types:

  • Case Interview 101
  • Issue Tree – The Complete Guide
  • MECE Principle
  • Case Interview Frameworks
  • McKinsey Case Interview – Interviewer-led Format
  • BCG & Bain Case Interview – Candidate-led Format

Expect the unexpected

If you study those nine question types, rest assured that you’ve covered the majority of questions in case interviews.

However, these are not all the possible questions you might be given. In actual cases, there are always questions that cannot be categorized neatly. If you do not prepare for these questions, it’s easy to be thrown off-balance.

So, how do you prepare for “the unexpected”?

  • Master the basics: Focus your efforts on the basics, once you’ve mastered them it’d be comfortable to move on to higher, more sophisticated levels.
  • Business Intuition : You need business intuition for a business-related job, it’s simple as that. Nearly every case concerns business in one way or another – even public sector cases. This is why we also teach business intuition in our Case Interview E2E Secret Program.
  • Have mock case interviews : Practice case interviews with ex-consultants will help you get a sense of what might happen or how you might be evaluated in actual cases. Highly experienced coaches from MConsultingPrep will review your performance, giving you the most valuable feedback and actionable tips & techniques.

Scoring in the McKinsey PSG/Digital Assessment

The scoring mechanism in the McKinsey Digital Assessment

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Thumbnail of Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program

Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program

Elevate your case interview skills with a well-rounded preparation package

Six types of charts in case interview are: Bar/Column chart, Line chart, Percentage chart, Mekko chart, Scatter plot chart, Waterfall chart.

A case interview is where candidates is asked to solve a business problem. They are used by consulting firms to evaluate problem-solving skill & soft skills

Case interview frameworks are methods for addressing and solving business cases.  A framework can be extensively customized or off-the-shelf for specific cases.

Georgetown University.

Case Interviewing Questions

What is a case interview.

The case interview is a scenario modeled after a real business or management problem. Candidates are asked to analyze a problem and provide a solution based on the information given. The majority of cases don’t have a specific answer that you are expected to give; instead, the interviewer is looking for you to demonstrate a problem-solving process that is both analytical and creative.

Who Uses This Style of Interviewing?

Many consulting firms use the case interview as part of their interview process. The case gives candidates a sense of the type of work that consultants do and allows the employer to test the candidate’s ability to analyze, present information, and perform under pressure. However, any employer who is looking for strong problem solving and presentation skills can use case style interviewing.

Skills Evaluated During a Case Interview

  • Communication skills
  • Analytical and reasoning skills
  • Ability to organize and present information
  • Ability to perform under pressure
  • Understanding of basic business principles
  • Creativity and resourcefulness

Types of case questions:

  • Business case (most common).  A scenario to gauge the general business knowledge of candidates and how they can logically apply this knowledge. It could focus on different areas such as: profit/loss, organizational structure, and marketing. Example: “An airline finds that, while its revenues are high, the company is still operating at a loss. What is going on?”
  • Market-sizing/”Guesstimates.” Estimation questions that require the use of logical deduction and general statistical information to estimate some number or size. Example: “How many gas stations are there in the U.S.?” 
  • Brainteasers.  Puzzles or logic questions used to gauge creativity, quantitative skills, and problem-solving skills. Example: “Why are manhole covers round?” 

How to Approach a Case Interview

  • Listen to the case . Take notes and rephrase the question to make sure you’ve got all the information.
  • Clarify the problem . Ask good questions to clarify and show your understanding of the problem.
  • Analyze the problem . Pause and take time to think about how you will approach the problem. Silence is okay!
  • Structure an answer . Write out your method for solving the problem. Use examples from in and outside the classroom to show insight.
  • Share your answer . Talk through your approach using key points to guide you.
  • Summarize your findings . Provide a conclusion that restates your main points.

How to prepare for a case interview

The best preparation for a case interview is to PRACTICE. The more cases you work through, the more comfortable you will become with the process.

Use this general timeline and the resources below to structure your practice:

As early as possible :

  • Read the case resources Case in Point and the Vault Guide to the Case Interview .
  • Coordinate an informational interview with a Georgetown alum working in consulting. Use Hoya Gateway to get connected.
  • Sign up for a mock interview to practice your behavioral interview skills (these are important too!).

Two weeks before an interview

  • Review and practice cases with a friend.
  • Attend an employer case workshop.
  • Visit employer websites for each company’s tips and sample cases.

The day before the interview

  • Review our tips below.
  • Get enough sleep so that your mind will be sharp.
  • Bring paper and pens to the interview.

Case Interview Tips

  • Take notes.
  • Remember, the case is a chance to demonstrate how you think – don’t be discouraged if you don’t know the industry well. Use your analytical and communication skills to show how you would break down the problem.
  • Make sure you understand the problem you are being asked to analyze. Paraphrase back to the interviewer to make sure you heard them correctly.
  • Ask questions and listen to the answers you get (don’t be discouraged by information that the interviewer doesn’t provide, that likely means it is not important).
  • Take time to collect your thoughts (and ask for more time if you need it). Don’t be afraid of silence.
  • Lay out a road map for your interviewer (your framework will help here).
  • Think out loud to allow the interviewer to see your analytical skills.
  • Present your thinking in a clear, logical manner.
  • Summarize your recommendations and use examples from your classes, internships, or extra-curricular activities to provide insight beyond the case.
  • Read industry magazines and journals (both general and specific).
  • Familiarize yourself with some basic statistics, such as the population of the U.S.

There are several resources available both in the career center and online, which can help you prepare for case style interviews.

Case Interviewing Guides

  • Case In Point: Case Interview Preparation , 10th Edition, (Marc P. Cosentino, 2010)
  • Case Interview Secrets  (Victor Cheng, 2012)
  • Vault Career Guides  – career guides, employer profiles and rankings, and more. You must create an account with your Georgetown e-mail address to access Vault.
  • Vault Guide to the Case Interview , 9th Edition

Sample Cases & Websites

  • Management Consulting Case Interviews – hundreds of case interview questions organized by type, industry, and employer. Questions are available for free but solutions require a subscription.
  • CaseInterview.com – Sign up for free access to case interview training videos, newsletters, and strategies for success from Victor Cheng, author of Case Interview Secrets .
  • MConsulting Prep – Started by a former McKinsey consultant, this website has videos and coaching strategies for interview preparation.
  • How to Ace the Case Consulting Interview webinar , Igor Khayet (F’06)
  • Case Interview 101 – an introduction video from MConsulting Prep. 

Company Resources for Case Interview Preparation

  • Accenture’s case interview workbook (PDF)
  • Succeeding in Case Study Interviews : a blog post from an Accenture recruiter

Bain & Company

  • Interview preparation tips and interactive case studies

BCG (Boston Consulting Group)

  • Interview process and tips

Dean and Company

  • Interview preparation
  • “How to Crack a Case” presentation  (PDF)
  • Interview tips
  • Interactive cases

L.E.K. Consulting

  • Interview preparation tips with samples cases and videos

McKinsey & Company

  • Interview process, including videos, sample cases, and practice tests

Oliver Wyman

  • Interview preparation and case interviews
  • Interview preparation and process

Ultimate Case Interview Guide: Preparation, Strategies & Examples

Table of contents.

Consulting firms use a unique type of interview as part of their recruitment process. It’s called a case interview and it tests how well you can solve real-world business problems.

These case interviews are the most important part of the consulting recruitment process. However, most candidates do not know how to prepare and ace their case interviews.

In this article, I’ll teach you everything that you need to know to “ace the case” and get your dream job in consulting.

What is a case interview?

A case interview is a type of job interview where the candidate is given a real-world business problem to solve. Case interviews are used by consulting firms, such as McKinsey, BCG, and Bain.

Case interviews reflect the type of business problems that candidates will come across as a management consultant. They test the candidate’s ability to break down the problem, identify the root cause, and identify the optimal solution for the business.

Consulting firms use case interviews because they test the core skills required of a consultant. Firms are on the lookout for:

  • How well you structure a complex and ambiguous business problem
  • How accurately you determine which issues are important in the problem
  • How comfortable you are with data (numerical and otherwise)
  • How accurately you draw conclusions and recommend actions to solve the problem
  • How clearly you articulate your thoughts during an interactive problem-solving discussion

Types of case interview questions

Case interview questions come in many varieties but there are a number of common business topics you should prepare for:

  • Growth:  The business wants to increase market share in an existing market.
  • M&A:  The business is considering merging or acquiring another company, such as a competitor.
  • Market entry:  The business wants to enter a new geography or launch a new product (see our guide to the Market Entry Framework ).
  • Profitability:  The business wants to increase profitability or revenue, or reduce costs (see our guide to the Profitability Framework ).
  • General business situation: Generic case questions that don’t fit neatly into a category above (see our guide to the Business Situation Framework ).

Styles of case interviews

There are two main styles of case interviews:

  • Interviewer-led (high guidance, high pressure): The interviewer dictates the setting and pace of the interview. They will lead you down a path to a solution but, at the same time, will grill you with deep questions about the case. The challenge with this style is that you must quickly and confidently answer the interviewer’s questions.
  • Candidate-led (low guidance, low pressure): The interview leaves the problem open to you. You need to determine the best line of questioning to find the solution. The challenge with this style is that you must independently navigate an ambiguous business problem.

McKinsey Practice Case Question

How to prepare for a case interview

Learn common case interview frameworks.

A case interview framework is a template that can be applied to break down and solve case study questions. It aids candidates by giving them a clear approach to resolving the case question they are given.

There are frameworks for all common case interview questions, such as market entry , profitability , and generic business situation questions .

However, you must remember that you will be penalized for applying a generic framework to your case interview question. You should treat the framework as a starting point and tailor it to the specific details of the business problem that you’re given.

Practice case interview questions

The best way to get good at case interviews is to practice case interviews (surprise!).

Top candidates will literally practice upwards of 50 or 100 case questions before their interview. There are two ways to practice case interviews:

  • Practice alone: It’s good to practice alone when you’re getting started. To do this, you’ll need to find example case questions that are structured in a question-and-answer format (e.g. these McKinsey case interview questions ). This format is great because it doesn’t require an interviewer to guide you through the case.
  • Practice with a partner: After a while, you’ll need a partner to practice more complex and ambiguous cases. Look for a partner who is familiar with case interviews, as they’ll have a good understanding of how and when to provide guidance.

It can sometimes be difficult to find a good case interview partner. If you’re at university, you should start by asking peers in your classes if they’re applying for consulting firms and practicing with them. Otherwise, you could try to find a partner on the PrepLounge candidate listing or the My Consulting Coach candidate listing .

Take case preparation courses or coaching

Many candidates choose to purchase case preparation courses (like Crafting Cases , My Consulting Coach  or Hacking the Case Interview ) or work with coaches (like Management Consulted and PrepLounge ).

I haven’t personally tried any courses or coaches. However, based on the content on their website, I really like the way that Crafting Cases teaches case interviews.

Instead of giving you generic frameworks to memorize and apply, they teach you how to create bespoke frameworks in real time during the interview. This is undoubtedly the best way to ace your case interview, so you might want to check them out .

Improve your mental math

Doing math in the privacy of your own home is one thing. It’s another thing to do math aloud and under the critical gaze of an interviewer.

You should actively practice doing mental math aloud and under time pressure.

Here are a couple of things that you should be confident with:

  • Zeroes:  It’s always the zeros! You need to be confident when calculating orders of magnitude (e.g. 12,000 x 120,000).
  • Fractions: It helps to be familiar with translating common fractions to decimals (e.g. 1/6 = 0.16). You should know how to do this for fractions between 1/2 and 1/15.
  • Common values: It also helps to know the value of common variables, such as the population of your country and the world. The trick here is to round them to the nearest number that you can confidently use with mental math (e.g. rounding the population of the world from 7.8bn to 8bn).

what is a case interview question

Download 183 practice case interviews and over 851 pages of interview guides

The ultimate case study preparation package. Download practice cases from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Harvard, Kellogg, Columbia, INSEAD, Cornell, and more!

What to expect on the day

Case interviews follow the same format, no matter which consulting firm you’re applying for.

There are three stages to a case interview:

  • Fit interview (15-30 mins):  The interviewer will ask questions about your suitability and motivation to be a consultant at the particular firm that you’re applying for (e.g. the dreaded “why consulting” question ).
  • The case interview question (30-45 mins): The interviewer will give you a real-world business problem to solve (more details below).
  • Open questions (5-10 mins):  At the end of the interview, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions to the interview.

To be successful, you’ll need to do well during all three stages. However, the most important stage is the case interview question.

How to answer a case interview question

Answering a case interview question requires a balance between structure and flexibility.

On the one hand, it’s extremely useful to have a pre-planned response structure so that you’re not starting from scratch in a high-pressure interview. On the other hand, you need to adapt the structure to the specific nuances of the case question.

Here is what I’ve found to be the most useful way to answer a case interview question:

Step 1. Listen and clarify

The interviewer will present you with the case interview question. Start by noting down the question, restating the question to confirm you understood it correctly, and then clarifying the objective of the question.

Step 2. Take time to prepare an approach / framework

You should immediately ask your interviewer if you can take a couple of minutes to think through the question and structure your thoughts. They’ll always give you this time.

Use this time to identify the type of case interview question that you have been asked, as it’s not always obvious (e.g. profitability, market-entry, etc.). Once you’ve done this, then figure out the most appropriate framework to apply.

But you cannot simply apply a generic framework to your question. In fact, interviewers will penalize candidates who apply a generic framework in a case interview.

Interviewers are looking for your ability to break down the specific business situation they’ve given you, so you need to adjust your framework to apply to your question.

Your framework should cover all your hypotheses for the root cause of the business problem. For example, if you have a profitability case, then you need to consider both revenues and costs.

Step 3. Confirm the objective and share your approach

Once you have prepared your framework, you should share it with your interviewer.

Start by re-iterating the objective of the case question, then spin your paper around and walk through your approach step-by-step.

Why do you do this? In the case interview, you should consider your interviewer as your client. You want their buy-in on the approach and you’ll rely on them to confirm that you’re solving the right problem.

This is very important. If you get the framework correct, then solving the case interview question can be reasonably straightforward. If you get the framework wrong, you’ll almost never solve the case.

Step 4. Test each component of your framework

Now is the most challenging part. It’s time to break down the business problem.

As I mentioned earlier, your framework should cover all the potential hypotheses for the business problem. So if your framework is good, then it’s simply a matter of working through and testing each step.

Start the first step of your framework and ask your interviewer questions to understand that aspect of the business. For example, you might want to start answering your profitability case question by breaking down revenues. In that step, you would ask questions about revenue drivers, such as average sales price, number of units sold, etc.

From there, work through each step of your approach. In our example, you would then ask questions about costs, such as changes in fixed costs, variable costs, etc.

At this stage, you’re looking to identify root causes. In many cases, there will be multiple root causes, so don’t stop when you’ve found one potential root cause. Continue until you’ve worked through your entire framework.

Once you’ve finished working through your framework, ask your interviewer if there’s anything else that you should consider. Follow their lead. If all goes well, there won’t be anything that you haven’t already investigated.

Step 5. Synthesize findings and draw conclusions

At the end of the interview, you’ll need to describe your findings and provide recommendations to the client.

You probably have a whole bunch of different findings and root causes for the business problem, so you need to make sense of it all.

Ask the interviewer if you can take some time to prepare your findings for the client. They will always give you this time.

Step 6. Communicate your recommendations

It’s important that you clearly, concisely, and confidently communicate your recommendations to the interview.

You should use the Pyramid Principle to structure your recommendations, which means:

  • Start with the recommendation: Start by stating your main recommendations for the business. This should only be a few sentences.
  • Follow with the rationale: Describe the main arguments for your recommendation. These arguments should be supported by data and other evidence.
  • Focus only on what’s important:  Ignore everything else. Don’t discuss anything that you’ve found to  not be the cause of the business problem.

Other tips for the case interview

It goes without saying that the most important thing is to answer the case question well.

To do that, you should follow the approach outlined above. But, in addition, you should:

  • Ask questions:  Never be afraid to ask questions. Treat your interviewer like a consulting client. Your job as the consultant is to ask them questions to understand the root cause of their business problem.
  • Take logical notes: Case interviews can take up to 45 minutes and it’s impossible to keep everything in memory for the entire time. Your interviewer will expect you to write things down. And they sometimes even judge the way that you write notes, so keep things neat and logical.
  • Stay composed:  You’ll almost certainly run into a dead-end and not know where your line of questioning should go next. Don’t panic! Just take a deep breath, review your notes, and move on.
  • Demonstrate structure:  Consultants love structure. You should show that you have a structured approach that you’re following methodically. And, whenever you’re listing or grouping, you should ensure that your items are MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive).
  • Communicate top-down:  Whenever you need to communicate something with the interviewer (e.g. your recommendation), you should start with the conclusion and then follow with the justification. This is known as the Pyramid Principle .

Example case interview questions

Example 1: healthcare (mckinsey & co).

Our client is Magna Health, a health care company in the Midwest. It both insures patients and provides health care services. Employers pay a fixed premium to Magna for each of their employees in return for which Magna covers all necessary health services of the employee (ranging from physician care, and medications to hospitalization).

Magna currently has 300,000 patients enrolled in its plan. It has 300 salaried physician employees who provide a broad range of services to patients in 6 centers. These physicians represent a wide range of specialty areas, but not all areas. When a patient needs medical treatment in a specialty area not covered by a Magna physician, they are referred outside of the Magna network for care, and Magna pays all referral costs on a fee-for-service basis. Magna does not own any hospitals itself, instead contracting services from several local hospitals.

Magna’s CEO has retained McKinsey to help determine what is causing the declining profitability and how Magna might fix it. What key areas would you want to explore in order to understand Magna’s decline in profitability?

Example 2: Banking (Bain & Co)

Our client, Giant Bank is one of the “big 4” banks in Australia. These 4 banks account for about 75% of the retail/commercial banking revenue in Australia and are roughly equal in size. Giant Bank does not have a good understanding of the profitability of its retail customer base, and more specifically individual segments.One segment that has been of particular concern to them is the “youth” customer segment. This group encompasses all customers under the age of 22.

Giant Bank wants Bain to help answer two questions:

  • What is the average annual profit of a Youth customer?
  • What should Giant Bank’s strategy be to maximize long term profits for this customer segment?

Example 3: Private Equity (Bain & Co)

Gulf Partners, a private equity fund specializing in leveraged buyouts, has asked Bain to evaluate an investment in Singapore-based Acme Packaging. (A private equity firm is a company that has raised money from individuals and institutions to invest in companies that may be a riskier investment but offer the promise of higher returns.)

Acme Packaging manufactures and sells intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), which are metal frame crates stacked within shipping containers for the transport of goods. Acme Packaging has manufacturing operations in Singapore and sales offices throughout Asia. 100% of sales are from Asian markets with 80% of sales from rubber customers – mostly tire manufacturers from Japan and Southeast Asia. Acme Packaging has 65% market share within the rubber IBC market and has increased share in the Asia IBC market by 5% over the past 3 years.

Gulf Partners prefers to sell their investments within 5 years with a minimum 40% return on their investment. In order to evaluate whether Acme Packaging can generate high returns, Gulf Partners would like Bain to assess the growth potential for Acme Packaging. They specifically want to know:

  • Can Acme Packaging double its operating income by year 5 (2006)?
  • What growth opportunities should Gulf Partners pursue to increase the value of Acme?

Example 4: Medical Devices (BGC)

Your client is GenCo, a large, international, diversified company with a health care division that produces a wide variety of medical instruments and related services.

Five years ago, it expanded into the health care software industry by purchasing MedCount, which markets administrative systems to large U.S. hospitals. These systems are designed primarily for back-office functions; they are not designed for managing patients or providing other physician and technical support.

Since it was purchased, the software division has failed to deliver the growth needed to justify the multiple GenCo paid for it. GenCo feels it has already squeezed margins as much as possible, and now is looking for new sales opportunities.

MedCount turned to BCG to help identify potential ways to increase revenues. How would you approach this problem?

Example 5: Defense (BGC)

Your client is a U.S. defense contractor that manufactures the Mohawk Light Fighter Jet for the British Royal Air Force. The company has produced the $20 million fighter jet for the past 12 years. The British government has decided to put the contract out to bid, however, and to win the program, the client’s purchasing agents have estimated, the company will need to cut its costs by 5 percent. It has asked BCG to help it reduce costs.

Example 6: Foods (BCG)

Your client is the sugar cereal division of Foods Inc., a U.S.-based distributor and manufacturer of packaged foods. According to the division president, Foods Inc.’s traditional strength has been with grocery stores, which still account for the majority of its $1.1 billion in sugar cereal sales. But Big M Mart, a discount chain, has been growing at a healthy rate of almost 15 percent per year and has now become Food Inc’s largest customer. Your client is not sure how to react, and has asked BCG for assistance with its distribution strategy.

what is a case interview question

47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

Case interview examples - McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.

One of the best ways to prepare for   case interviews  at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples. 

There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

The below list of resources includes interactive case interview samples provided by consulting firms, video case interview demonstrations, case books, and materials developed by the team here at IGotAnOffer. Let's continue to the list.

  • McKinsey examples
  • BCG examples
  • Bain examples
  • Deloitte examples
  • Other firms' examples
  • Case books from consulting clubs
  • Case interview preparation

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. mckinsey case interview examples.

  • Beautify case interview (McKinsey website)
  • Diconsa case interview (McKinsey website)
  • Electro-light case interview (McKinsey website)
  • GlobaPharm case interview (McKinsey website)
  • National Education case interview (McKinsey website)
  • Talbot Trucks case interview (McKinsey website)
  • Shops Corporation case interview (McKinsey website)
  • Conservation Forever case interview (McKinsey website)
  • McKinsey case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
  • McKinsey live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

2. BCG case interview examples

  • Foods Inc and GenCo case samples  (BCG website)
  • Chateau Boomerang written case interview  (BCG website)
  • BCG case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
  • Written cases guide (by IGotAnOffer)
  • BCG live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

3. Bain case interview examples

  • CoffeeCo practice case (Bain website)
  • FashionCo practice case (Bain website)
  • Associate Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
  • Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
  • Written case interview tips (Bain website)
  • Bain case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)
  • Bain case mock interview with ex-Bain manager (below)

4. Deloitte case interview examples

  • Engagement Strategy practice case (Deloitte website)
  • Recreation Unlimited practice case (Deloitte website)
  • Strategic Vision practice case (Deloitte website)
  • Retail Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
  • Finance Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
  • Talent Management practice case (Deloitte website)
  • Enterprise Resource Management practice case (Deloitte website)
  • Footloose written case  (by Deloitte)
  • Deloitte case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

5. Accenture case interview examples

  • Case interview workbook (by Accenture)
  • Accenture case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

6. OC&C case interview examples

  • Leisure Club case example (by OC&C)
  • Imported Spirits case example (by OC&C)

7. Oliver Wyman case interview examples

  • Wumbleworld case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
  • Aqualine case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
  • Oliver Wyman case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

8. A.T. Kearney case interview examples

  • Promotion planning case question (A.T. Kearney website)
  • Consulting case book and examples (by A.T. Kearney)
  • AT Kearney case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

9. Strategy& / PWC case interview examples

  • Presentation overview with sample questions (by Strategy& / PWC)
  • Strategy& / PWC case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

10. L.E.K. Consulting case interview examples

  • Case interview example video walkthrough   (L.E.K. website)
  • Market sizing case example video walkthrough  (L.E.K. website)

11. Roland Berger case interview examples

  • Transit oriented development case webinar part 1  (Roland Berger website)
  • Transit oriented development case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
  • 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 1   (Roland Berger website)
  • 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
  • Roland Berger case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)

12. Capital One case interview examples

  • Case interview example video walkthrough  (Capital One website)
  • Capital One case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

13. Consulting clubs case interview examples

  • Berkeley case book (2006)
  • Columbia case book (2006)
  • Darden case book (2012)
  • Darden case book (2018)
  • Duke case book (2010)
  • Duke case book (2014)
  • ESADE case book (2011)
  • Goizueta case book (2006)
  • Illinois case book (2015)
  • LBS case book (2006)
  • MIT case book (2001)
  • Notre Dame case book (2017)
  • Ross case book (2010)
  • Wharton case book (2010)

Practice with experts

Using case interview examples is a key part of your interview preparation, but it isn’t enough.

At some point you’ll want to practise with friends or family who can give some useful feedback. However, if you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

The IGotAnOffer team

Interview coach and candidate conduct a video call

100 Best Case Study Questions for Your Next Customer Spotlight

Brittany Fuller

Published: November 29, 2022

Case studies and testimonials are helpful to have in your arsenal. But to build an effective library, you need to ask the right case study questions. You also need to know how to write a case study .

marketing team coming up with case study questions

Case studies are customers' stories that your sales team can use to share relevant content with prospects . Not only that, but case studies help you earn a prospect's trust, show them what life would be like as your customer, and validate that your product or service works for your clients.

Before you start building your library of case studies, check out our list of 100 case study questions to ask your clients. With this helpful guide, you'll have the know-how to build your narrative using the " Problem-Agitate-Solve " Method.

Download Now: 3 Free Case Study Templates

What makes a good case study questionnaire?

The ultimate list of case study questions, how to ask your customer for a case study, creating an effective case study.

Certain key elements make up a good case study questionnaire.

A questionnaire should never feel like an interrogation. Instead, aim to structure your case study questions like a conversation. Some of the essential things that your questionnaire should cover include:

  • The problem faced by the client before choosing your organization.
  • Why they chose your company.
  • How your product solved the problem clients faced.
  • The measurable results of the service provided.
  • Data and metrics that prove the success of your service or product, if possible.

You can adapt these considerations based on how your customers use your product and the specific answers or quotes that you want to receive.

What makes a good case study question?

A good case study question delivers a powerful message to leads in the decision stage of your prospective buyer's journey.

Since your client has agreed to participate in a case study, they're likely enthusiastic about the service you provide. Thus, a good case study question hands the reins over to the client and opens a conversation.

Try asking open-ended questions to encourage your client to talk about the excellent service or product you provide.

Free Case Study Templates

Tell us about yourself to access the templates..

case-study-questions_3

Categories for the Best Case Study Questions

  • Case study questions about the customer's business
  • Case study questions about the environment before the purchase
  • Case study questions about the decision process
  • Case study questions about the customer's business case
  • Case study questions about the buying team and internal advocates
  • Case study questions about customer success
  • Case study questions about product feedback
  • Case study questions about willingness to make referrals
  • Case study question to prompt quote-worthy feedback
  • Case study questions about the customers' future goals

what is a case interview question

Showcase your company's success using these three free case study templates.

  • Data-Driven Case Study Template
  • Product-Specific Case Study Template
  • General Case Study Template

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business

Knowing the customer's business is an excellent way of setting the tone for a case study.

Use these questions to get some background information about the company and its business goals. This information can be used to introduce the business at the beginning of the case study — plus, future prospects might resonate with their stories and become leads for you.

  • Would you give me a quick overview of [company]? This is an opportunity for the client to describe their business in their own words. You'll get useful background information and it's an easy prompt to get the client talking.
  • Can you describe your role? This will give you a better idea of the responsibilities they are subject to.
  • How do your role and team fit into the company and its goals? Knowing how the team functions to achieve company goals will help you formulate how your solution involves all stakeholders.
  • How long has your company been in business? Getting this information will help the reader gauge if pain points are specific to a startup or new company vs. a veteran company.
  • How many employees do you have? Another great descriptor for readers to have. They can compare the featured company size with their own.
  • Is your company revenue available? If so, what is it? This will give your readers background information on the featured company's gross sales.
  • Who is your target customer? Knowing who the target audience is will help you provide a better overview of their market for your case study readers.
  • How does our product help your team or company achieve its objectives? This is one of the most important questions because it is the basis of the case study. Get specifics on how your product provided a solution for your client. You want to be able to say "X company implemented our solution and achieved Y. "
  • How are our companies aligned (mission, strategy, culture, etc.)? If any attributes of your company's mission or culture appealed to the client, call it out.

How many people are on your team? What are their roles? This will help describe key players within the organization and their impact on the implementation of your solution.

case-study-questions_5

Case Study Interview Questions About the Environment Before the Purchase

A good case study is designed to build trust. Ask clients to describe the tools and processes they used before your product or service. These kinds of case study questions will highlight the business' need they had to fulfill and appeal to future clients.

  • What was your team's process prior to using our product? This will give the reader a baseline to compare the results for your company's product.
  • Were there any costs associated with the process prior to using our product? Was it more expensive? Was it worth the cost? How did the product affect the client's bottom line? This will be a useful metric to disclose if your company saved the client money or was more cost-efficient.
  • What were the major pain points of your process prior to using our product? Describe these obstacles in detail. You want the reader to get as much information on the problem as possible as it sets up the reasoning for why your company's solution was implemented.
  • Did our product replace a similar tool or is this the first time your team is using a product like this? Were they using a similar product? If so, having this information may give readers a reason to choose your brand over the competition.
  • What other challenges were you and your team experiencing prior to using our product? The more details you can give readers regarding the client's struggles, the better. You want to paint a full picture of the challenges the client faced and how your company resolved them.
  • Were there any concerns about how your customers would be impacted by using our product? Getting answers to this question will illustrate to readers the client's concerns about switching to your service. Your readers may have similar concerns and reading how your client worked through this process will be helpful.
  • Why didn't you buy our product or a similar product earlier? Have the client describe any hesitations they had using your product. Their concerns may be relatable to potential leads.
  • Were there any "dealbreakers" involved in your decision to become a customer? Describing how your company was able to provide a solution that worked within those parameters demonstrates how accommodating your brand is and how you put the customer first. It's also great to illustrate any unique challenges the client had. This better explains their situation to the reader.
  • Did you have to make any changes you weren't anticipating once you became a customer? Readers of your case study can learn how switching to your product came with some unexpected changes (good or bad) and how they navigated them. If you helped your client with troubleshooting, ask them to explain that here.

How has your perception of the product changed since you've become a customer? Get the interviewee to describe how your product changed how they do business. This includes how your product accomplished what they previously thought was impossible.

case-study-questions_7

Case Study Interview Questions About the Decision Process

Readers of the case study will be interested in which factors influenced the decision-making process for the client. If they can relate to that process, there's a bigger chance they'll buy your product.

The answers to these questions will help potential customers through their decision-making process.

  • How did you hear about our product? If the client chose to work with you based on a recommendation or another positive case study, include that. It will demonstrate that you are a trusted brand with an established reputation for delivering results.
  • How long had you been looking for a solution to this problem? This will add to the reader's understanding of how these particular challenges impacted the company before choosing your product.
  • Were you comparing alternative solutions? Which ones? This will demonstrate to readers that the client explored other options before choosing your company.
  • Would you describe a few of the reasons you decided to buy our product? Ask the interviewee to describe why they chose your product over the competition and any benefits your company offered that made you stand out.
  • What were the criteria you used when deciding to buy our product? This will give readers more background insight into the factors that impacted their decision-making process.
  • Were there any high-level initiatives or goals that prompted the decision to buy? For example, was this decision motivated by a company-wide vision? Prompt your clients to discuss what lead to the decision to work with you and how you're the obvious choice.
  • What was the buying process like? Did you notice anything exceptional or any points of friction? This is an opportunity for the client to comment on how seamless and easy you make the buying process. Get them to describe what went well from start to finish.
  • How would you have changed the buying process, if at all? This is an opportunity for you to fine-tune your process to accommodate future buyers.
  • Who on your team was involved in the buying process? This will give readers more background on the key players involved from executives to project managers. With this information, readers can see who they may potentially need to involve in the decision-making process on their teams.

case-study-questions_10

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business Case

Your case study questions should ask about your product or solution's impact on the customer's employees, teams, metrics, and goals. These questions allow the client to praise the value of your service and tell others exactly what benefits they derived from it.

When readers review your product or service's impact on the client, it enforces the belief that the case study is credible.

  • How long have you been using our product? This will help readers gauge how long it took to see results and your overall satisfaction with the product or service.
  • How many different people at your company use our product? This will help readers gauge how they can adapt the product to their teams if similar in size.
  • Are there multiple departments or teams using our product? This will demonstrate how great of an impact your product has made across departments.
  • How do you and your team currently use the product? What types of goals or tasks are you using the product to accomplish? Get specifics on how the product actively helps the client achieve their goals.
  • If other teams or departments are using our product, do you know how they're using it? With this information, leads can picture how they can use your product across their teams and how it may improve their workflow and metrics.
  • What was the most obvious advantage you felt our product offered during the sales process? The interviewee should explain the benefits they've gained from using your product or service. This is important for convincing other leads you are better than the competition.
  • Were there any other advantages you discovered after using the product more regularly? Your interviewee may have experienced some additional benefits from using your product. Have them describe in detail what these advantages are and how they've helped the company improve.
  • Are there any metrics or KPIs you track with our product? What are they? The more numbers and data the client can provide, the better.
  • Were you tracking any metrics prior to using our product? What were they? This will allow readers to get a clear, before-and-after comparison of using your product.
  • How has our product impacted your core metrics? This is an opportunity for your clients to drive home how your product assisted them in hitting their metrics and goals.

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Case Study Interview Questions About the Buying Team and Internal Advocates

See if there are any individuals at the customer's company who are advocates for your product.

  • Are there any additional team members you consider to be advocates for our product? For example, does anyone stick out as a "power user" or product expert on your team? You may want to interview and include these power users in your case study as well. Consider asking them for tips on using your service or product.
  • Is there anyone else on your team you think we should talk to? Again, the more people can share their experience using your product, the better.
  • Are there any team members who you think might not be the biggest fans of our product or who might need more training? Providing extra support to those struggling with your product may improve their user experience and turn into an opportunity to not only learn about their obstacles but turn them into a product fan
  • Would you share some details about how your team implemented our product? Get as much information as possible about the rollout. Hopefully, they'll gush about how seamless the process was.
  • Who from your company was involved in implementing our product? This will give readers more insight into who needs to be involved for a successful rollout of their own.
  • Were there any internal risks or additional costs involved with implementing our product? If so, how did you address them? This will give insight into the client's process and rollout and this case study question will likely provide tips on what potential leads should be on the lookout for.
  • Is there a training process in place for your team's use of our product? If so, what does it look like? If your company provided support and training to the client, have them describe that experience.
  • About how long does it take a new team member to get up to speed with our product? This will help leads determine how much time it will take to onboard an employee to your using your product. If a new user can quickly get started seamlessly, it bodes well for you.
  • What was your main concern about rolling this product out to your company? Describing their challenges in detail will provide readers with useful insight.

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Case Study Interview Questions About Customer Success

Has the customer found success with your product? Ask these questions to learn more.

  • By using our product can you measure any reduced costs? If it has, you'll want to emphasize those savings in your case study.
  • By using our product can you measure any improvements in productivity or time savings? Any metrics or specific stories your interviewee can provide will help demonstrate the value of your product.
  • By using our product can you measure any increases in revenue or growth? Again, say it with numbers and data whenever possible.
  • Are you likely to recommend our product to a friend or colleague? Recommendations from existing customers are some of the best marketing you can get.
  • How has our product impacted your success? Your team's success? Getting the interviewee to describe how your product played an integral role in solving their challenges will show leads that they can also have success using your product.
  • In the beginning, you had XYZ concerns; how do you feel about them now? Let them explain how working with your company eliminated those concerns.
  • I noticed your team is currently doing XYZ with our product. Tell me more about how that helps your business. Illustrate to your readers how current customers are using your product to solve additional challenges. It will convey how versatile your product is.
  • Have you thought about using our product for a new use case with your team or at your company? The more examples of use cases the client can provide, the better.
  • How do you measure the value our product provides? Have the interviewee illustrate what metrics they use to gauge the product's success and how. Data is helpful, but you should go beyond the numbers. Maybe your product improved company morale and how teams work together.

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Case Study Interview Questions About Product Feedback

Ask the customer if they'd recommend your product to others. A strong recommendation will help potential clients be more open to purchasing your product.

  • How do other companies in this industry solve the problems you had before you purchased our product? This will give you insight into how other companies may be functioning without your product and how you can assist them.
  • Have you ever talked about our product to any of your clients or peers? What did you say? This can provide you with more leads and a chance to get a referral.
  • Why would you recommend our product to a friend or client? Be sure they pinpoint which features they would highlight in a recommendation.
  • Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. Your interviewee may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
  • What is your advice for other teams or companies who are tackling problems similar to those you had before you purchased our product? This is another opportunity for your client to talk up your product or service.
  • Do you know someone in X industry who has similar problems to the ones you had prior to using our product? The client can make an introduction so you can interview them about their experience as well.
  • I noticed you work with Company Y. Do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.
  • Does your company participate in any partner or referral programs? Having a strong referral program will help you increase leads and improve customer retention.
  • Can I send you a referral kit as a thank-you for making a referral and give you the tools to refer someone to us? This is a great strategy to request a referral while rewarding your existing customers.
  • Are you interested in working with us to produce additional marketing content? The more opportunities you can showcase happy customers, the better.

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Case Study Interview Questions About Willingness to Make Referrals

  • How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or client? Ideally, they would definitely refer your product to someone they know.
  • Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Again, your interviewee is a great source for more leads. Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. They may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
  • I noticed you work with Company Y; do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.

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Case Study Interview Questions to Prompt Quote-Worthy Feedback

Enhance your case study with quotable soundbites from the customer. By asking these questions, prospects have more insight into other clients and their success with your product — which helps build trust.

  • How would you describe your process in one sentence prior to using our product? Ideally, this sentence would quickly and descriptively sum up the most prominent pain point or challenge with the previous process.
  • What is your advice to others who might be considering our product? Readers can learn from your customer's experience.
  • What would your team's workflow or process be like without our product? This will drive home the value your product provides and how essential it is to their business.
  • Do you think the investment in our product was worthwhile? Why? Have your customer make the case for the value you provide.
  • What would you say if we told you our product would soon be unavailable? What would this mean to you? Again, this illustrates how integral your product is to their business.
  • How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend? Your customers can often distill the value of your product to their friends better than you can.
  • What do you love about your job? Your company? This gives the reader more background on your customer and their industry.
  • What was the worst part of your process before you started using our product? Ideally, they'd reiterate how your product helped solve this challenge.
  • What do you love about our product? Another great way to get the customer's opinion about what makes your product worth it.
  • Why do you do business with us? Hopefully, your interviewee will share how wonderful your business relationship is.

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Case Study Interview Questions About the Customers' Future Goals

Ask the customer about their goals, challenges, and plans for the future. This will provide insight into how a business can grow with your product.

  • What are the biggest challenges on the horizon for your industry? Chances are potential leads within the same industry will have similar challenges.
  • What are your goals for the next three months? Knowing their short-term goals will enable your company to get some quick wins for the client.
  • How would you like to use our product to meet those challenges and goals? This will help potential leads understand that your product can help their business as they scale and grow.
  • Is there anything we can do to help you and your team meet your goals? If you haven't covered it already, this will allow your interviewee to express how you can better assist them.
  • Do you think you will buy more, less, or about the same amount of our product next year? This can help you gauge how your product is used and why.
  • What are the growth plans for your company this year? Your team? This will help you gain insight into how your product can help them achieve future goals.
  • How can we help you meet your long-term goals? Getting specifics on the needs of your clients will help you create a unique solution designed for their needs.
  • What is the long-term impact of using our product? Get their feedback on how your product has created a lasting impact.
  • Are there any initiatives that you personally would like to achieve that our product or team can help with? Again, you want to continue to provide products that help your customers excel.
  • What will you need from us in the future? This will help you anticipate the customer's business needs.
  • Is there anything we can do to improve our product or process for working together in the future? The more feedback you can get about what is and isn't working, the better.

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Before you can start putting together your case study, you need to ask your customer's permission.

If you have a customer who's seen success with your product, reach out to them. Use this template to get started:

Thank you & quick request

Hi [customer name],

Thanks again for your business — working with you to [solve X, launch Y, take advantage of Z opportunity] has been extremely rewarding, and I'm looking forward to more collaboration in the future.

[Name of your company] is building a library of case studies to include on our site. We're looking for successful companies using [product] to solve interesting challenges, and your team immediately came to mind. Are you open to [customer company name] being featured?

It should be a lightweight process — [I, a product marketer] will ask you roughly [10, 15, 20] questions via email or phone about your experience and results. This case study will include a blurb about your company and a link to your homepage (which hopefully will make your SEO team happy!)

In any case, thank you again for the chance to work with you, and I hope you have a great week.

[Your name]

what is a case interview question

If one of your customers has recently passed along some praise (to you, their account manager, your boss; on an online forum; to another potential customer; etc.), then send them a version of this email:

Hey [customer name],

Thanks for the great feedback — I'm really glad to hear [product] is working well for you and that [customer company name] is getting the results you're looking for.

My team is actually in the process of building out our library of case studies, and I'd love to include your story. Happy to provide more details if you're potentially interested.

Either way, thank you again, and I look forward to getting more updates on your progress.

what is a case interview question

You can also find potential case study customers by usage or product data. For instance, maybe you see a company you sold to 10 months ago just bought eight more seats or upgraded to a new tier. Clearly, they're happy with the solution. Try this template:

I saw you just [invested in our X product; added Y more users; achieved Z product milestone]. Congratulations! I'd love to share your story using [product] with the world -- I think it's a great example of how our product + a dedicated team and a good strategy can achieve awesome results.

Are you open to being featured? If so, I'll send along more details.

what is a case interview question

Case Study Benefits

  • Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.
  • Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.
  • Case studies are easily sharable.
  • Case studies build rapport with your customers.
  • Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

1. Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.

If you haven't noticed, customers aren't always quick to trust a brand's advertisements and sales strategies.

With every other brand claiming to be the best in the business, it's hard to sort exaggeration from reality.

This is the most important reason why case studies are effective. They are testimonials from your customers of your service. If someone is considering your business, a case study is a much more convincing piece of marketing or sales material than traditional advertising.

2. Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.

Your business isn't the only one that benefits from a case study. Customers participating in case studies benefit, too.

Think about it. Case studies are free advertisements for your customers, not to mention the SEO factor, too. While they're not promoting their products or services, they're still getting the word out about their business. And, the case study highlights how successful their business is — showing interested leads that they're on the up and up.

3. Case studies are easily sharable.

No matter your role on the sales team, case studies are great to have on hand. You can easily share them with leads, prospects, and clients.

Whether you embed them on your website or save them as a PDF, you can simply send a link to share your case study with others. They can share that link with their peers and colleagues, and so on.

Case studies can also be useful during a sales pitch. In sales, timing is everything. If a customer is explaining a problem that was solved and discussed in your case study, you can quickly find the document and share it with them.

4. Case studies build rapport with your customers.

While case studies are very useful, they do require some back and forth with your customers to obtain the exact feedback you're looking for.

Even though time is involved, the good news is this builds rapport with your most loyal customers. You get to know them on a personal level, and they'll become more than just your most valuable clients.

And, the better the rapport you have with them, the more likely they'll be to recommend your business, products, or services to others.

5. Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

Data is the difference between a case study and a review. Customer reviews are typically based on the customer's opinion of your brand. While they might write a glowing review, it's completely subjective and there's rarely empirical evidence supporting their claim.

Case studies, on the other hand, are more data-driven. While they'll still talk about how great your brand is, they support this claim with quantitative data that's relevant to the reader. It's hard to argue with data.

An effective case study must be genuine and credible. Your case study should explain why certain customers are the right fit for your business and how your company can help meet their specific needs. That way, someone in a similar situation can use your case study as a testimonial for why they should choose your business.

Use the case study questions above to create an ideal customer case study questionnaire. By asking your customers the right questions, you can obtain valuable feedback that can be shared with potential leads and convert them into loyal customers.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Hacking The Case Interview

Hacking the Case Interview

What is a case interview?

Case interviews are a special type of interview that every single consulting firm uses. They are almost exclusively used by consulting firms, although some companies with ex- consultants may also use them.

A case interview, also known as a “case” for short, is a 30 to 45-minute exercise in which you and the interviewer work together to develop a recommendation or answer to a business problem.

These business problems can be anything that real companies face:  

  • How can Amazon increase its profitability?
  • What can Apple do to increase customer retention?
  • How should Tesla price its new electric vehicle?
  • Where should Disney open another Disneyland theme park?

Case interviews simulate what the consulting job will be like by placing you in a hypothetical business situation. Cases simulate real business problems that consulting firms solve for their clients. Many case interviews are based on actual projects that interviewers have worked on.

While consulting projects typically last between 3 to 9 months, case interviews condense solving the business problem into just 30 to 45 minutes.

Nailing your case interviews is critical to breaking into consulting. There is no way to get a consulting job offer without passing your case interviews.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

What do Case Interviews Cover?

Case interviews can cover any industry, including retail, consumer packaged goods, financial services, energy, education, healthcare, government, and technology.

They can also cover a wide range of business situations, including entering a new market, launching a new product, acquiring a company, improving profitability, and growing revenues.

Although case interviews cover a wide range of industries and business situations, no technical or specialized knowledge is needed.

Unless you are interviewing for a consulting firm that specializes in a particular industry or function, cases are designed to be solved by someone that has general business knowledge.

With enough practice and repetition, anyone can master case interviews.

What is the Format of a Case Interview?

Although there is a wide range of different cases you could be asked to solve, all case interviews follow the same progression.

What is a case interview?

The interviewer will provide you with the case background information. You’ll have the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and verify the objective of the case. Next, you’ll create a framework to solve the case.

Afterwards, you’ll start exploring different areas of your framework to develop support for a recommendation. Along the way, you’ll solve quantitative problems and answer qualitative questions.

Quantitative problems may include estimating the size of a particular market, calculating expected profitability, or interpreting data in various charts, graphs, and tables.

Qualitative questions may include brainstorming ideas or giving your opinion on an open-ended business question based on your business acumen.

Finally, once you have gone through the major areas of the case, you’ll deliver a recommendation at the end of the case interview.

Why are Case Interviews Used?

Why do consulting firms use case interviews to assess candidates?

Case interviews are the best way for consulting firms to predict which candidates will make the best consultants. Case interviews do not predict this perfectly, but they come quite close.

Since case interviews simulate the consulting job by placing you in a hypothetical business situation, interviewers use case interviews to see how you would perform as a hypothetical consultant.

Many of the skills and qualities needed to successfully complete a case interview are the same skills and qualities needed to successfully finish a consulting case project.

Case interviews also give you a sense of whether you would like the consulting job. If you find case interviews interesting and exciting, you’ll likely enjoy consulting. If you find case interviews dull and boring, consulting may not be the best profession for you.

What Qualities do Case Interviews Assess?

Case interviews assess five different qualities or characteristics.

Logical, structured thinking : Consultants need to be organized and methodical in order to work efficiently.

  • Can you structure complex problems in a clear, simple way?
  • Can you take tremendous amounts of information and data and identify the most important points?
  • Can you use logic and reason to make appropriate conclusions?

Analytical problem solving : Consultants work with a tremendous amount of data and information in order to develop recommendations to complex problems.

  • Can you read and interpret data well?
  • Can you perform math computations smoothly and accurately?
  • Can you conduct the right analyses to draw the right conclusions?

Business acumen : A strong business instinct helps consultants make the right decisions and develop the right recommendations.

  • Do you have a basic understanding of fundamental business concepts?
  • Do your conclusions and recommendations make sense from a business perspective?

Communication skills : Consultants need strong communication skills to collaborate with teammates and clients effectively.  

  • Can you communicate in a clear, concise way?
  • Are you articulate in what you are saying?

Personality and cultural fit : Consultants spend a lot of time working closely in small teams. Having a personality and attitude that fits with the team makes the whole team work better together.

  • Are you coachable and easy to work with?
  • Are you pleasant to be around?

All of these five qualities can be assessed in just a 30 to 45-minute case interview. This is what makes case interviews so effective in assessing consulting candidates.

Differences Between Case Interviews and Typical Job Interviews

A case interview is a special type of interview that is very difficult from your typical job interview. It takes time and practice to adjust to the case interview style and format.

Below are five key differences you should be aware of between case interviews and typical job interviews.

Case interviews focus on one big question.

In most job interviews, you may answer six to eight different questions in a single interview, spending a few minutes on each. For case interviews, you’ll spend 30 to 45-minutes solving one case and answering one big question.

Case interviews may be broken down into several smaller questions that you’ll need to answer, but the overall focus is to answer one overall question.

Case interviews are a collaborative conversation.

In a typical job interview, the interviewer will ask you a question, you’ll answer it, and then this sequence will repeat. Case interviews feel much less like an interview and much more like a collaborative working session.

For a case interview, rather than just answering the interviewer’s questions, you’ll be working closely with the interviewer. You’ll ask them questions to collect information, walk them through what you’re thinking, and get feedback from them on your approach.

You will not be able to pass the case interview without the interviewer’s help and feedback.

There is no one correct answer .

At the end of a case interview, you’ll deliver a recommendation to solve or answer the business problem you were given. Some recommendations may be better than others, but there is no one single correct answer.

Case interviews can be solved in a variety of different ways. Data and information can also be interpreted in many different ways. People’s opinions on business issues will also be different.

Due to all of these differences, there is a wide range of potential recommendations or answers. As long as these answers are supported with data or evidence, they can be acceptable answers.

The process matters more than the answer.

In the typical job interview, interviewers assess you primarily on your answers. However, because case interviews do not have one correct answer, interviewers focus more on assessing you on the process.

How did you go about solving the case interview?

Did you use a logical, structured framework to break the overall problem down into smaller, more manageable components? Did you generate meaningful insights from solving quantitative problems? Did you draw appropriate conclusions from answering qualitative questions?

The overall process of solving the case interview is much more important than just the answer that you get at the end.

Case interviews require no specialized knowledge or experience.

In most job interviews, you are applying to work in a specific industry or for a specific function. During the interview, interviewers want to see that you have this specific knowledge and experience.

Consulting is completely different because most consulting roles are generalist roles in which you do not specialize in an industry or function. Specialization in consulting occurs as you become more senior.

In case interviews, you will not be expected to have specialized knowledge. Instead, only basic business knowledge is needed of fundamental concepts such as profit, market share, and competitive advantage.

Types of Case Interview Formats

Traditional Case Interview

The traditional case interview is the format that accounts for 80 to 90 percent of all case interviews. It is the format we have covered so far in which you and the interviewer work together to develop a recommendation or answer to a business problem.

The traditional case interview starts with the interviewer explaining the case background information to you. The case interview ends after you have delivered your recommendation to the interviewer.

There are two styles of traditional case interviews, candidate-led case interviews and interviewer-led case interviews.

  • Candidate-led case interviews : You will be driving the direction of the case. You will propose what area of your framework to start in, what questions you would want to answer, what analyses you would want to do, and what the next step is to solve the case. If you go down the wrong direction, the interviewer will steer you back on course, but you ultimately decide what to do next.
  • Interviewer-led case interviews : The interviewer will be steering and controlling the direction of the case. The interviewer will point you to which questions to answer, what analyses to do, and what the next step is to solve the case.

Written Case Interview

Written case interviews are much less common than traditional case interviews.

For written case interviews, you will be given a packet of information at the beginning of the interview. This packet usually has between 20 to 40 pages of graphs, charts, tables, and notes. You’ll be given information on the case background and the objective of the case.

In some written case interviews, you may also be given a list of important questions to answer. In other written case interviews, you’ll only be given the primary business problem you are asked to answer.

You’ll then have 1 to 2 hours to analyze the information packet and then make 3 to 5 slides to present your analysis and recommendation to the interviewer.

In some written case interviews, you’ll have to create these slides completely from scratch. In other written case interviews, you’ll have pre-filled slide templates that you will fill out with your analysis and work.

For written case interviews, you’ll be working by yourself. The interviewer will leave the room to let you work and then return when time is up to hear your presentation. During the presentation, the interviewer may ask follow-up questions on your work and findings.

Group Case Interview

Group case interviews are also much less common than traditional case interviews.

For group case interviews, you’ll be put into a group of 3 to 6 people with other candidates that are also interviewing for the same consulting job you are interviewing for. The group will be given materials which contain the case background, objective, and all of the information needed to solve the case.

You’ll then have 1 to 2 hours to work together as a group to create a slide presentation that summarizes your work and recommendation.

During this time, the interviewer will be listening in on the discussions and conversations that the group will have, but they will not interfere or answer any questions.

Once the time is up, your group will deliver your presentation to the interviewer, who may also ask follow-up questions on the work and findings.

For group case interviews, there is a heavy emphasis on assessing how well you work in a team. Consultants spend almost all of their time working closely in small teams, so teamwork and collaboration are essential.

Interviewers will assess you on criteria such as the following:

  • Can you make meaningful contributions while working in a group?
  • Are you easy to work with?
  • Can you handle conflict and disagreement with teammates?
  • Do you bring out the best ideas and qualities in other people?

Types of Case Interview Business Situations

By now, you should know that case interviews cover a wide variety of industries and functions. However, there are six common case interview business situations that account for over 80% of all case interviews.

There is a very high chance that you’ll see these types of case interviews in your first-round and final-round consulting interviews.

Profitability case interviews

Profitability cases ask you to identify why a company is experiencing a decline in profitability and what they should do to address it. This is the most common business situation for case interviews.

To solve these types of cases, you’ll need to understand quantitatively, what is the driver causing the decline in profits? You will need to determine whether revenues have gone down, costs have gone up, or both have occurred.

Afterwards, you’ll need to understand why this is happening. Once you understand this, you can brainstorm potential ideas and prioritize the solutions that are the most impactful and feasible to implement.

Market entry case interviews

Market entry cases ask you to determine whether a company should enter a new market. This is the second most common business situation for case interviews.

To make this decision, you’ll need to assess whether the market is attractive, how strong competitors are, whether your company has the capabilities to enter, and what the expected profitability is.

Growth case interviews

Growth cases ask you to determine how a company can best increase its revenues.

To solve this case, you’ll need to identify all of the major ways the company can grow.

Should the company grow organically by targeting new geographies or customer segments? Should they grow by launching new products and services?

Instead, should the company grow inorganically by acquiring or forming a partnership with another company?

Once you have identified all of the major opportunities for growth, you can prioritize the opportunities that are the most impactful and feasible.

Pricing case interviews

Pricing cases ask you to determine how to set the optimal price on a product or service. To do this, you’ll need to consider different factors.

How much does the product cost to produce? You don’t want to price the product too low such that you have a loss on each sale.

How much are customers willing to pay for the product? You don’t want to price the product too high such that no customer is willing to purchase your product.

How much are competitors setting prices for similar products? You don’t want to price the product too high such that customers choose to purchase competitor products.

Considering each of these points will help you determine the right price to set.

Merger and acquisition case interviews

Merger and acquisition cases ask you to determine whether a particular company should be acquired.

To solve this case, you’ll first need to understand what the reason is for the acquisition. In most cases, the company will be looking to grow its revenues and profits.

Then, you’ll need to assess whether the market that the acquisition target plays in is attractive, whether the acquisition target itself is attractive, whether there will be any meaningful synergies, and whether the financials of the acquisition make sense.

These considerations will help you determine whether the acquisition should be made.

New product case interviews

New product cases ask you to determine whether a company should create and launch a particular new product.

To solve this case, you’ll need to assess whether the product’s market is attractive, whether the product meets customer needs, whether the product is superior to competitor products, whether the company has the capabilities to create and launch the product, and what the expected profitability is.

These considerations will help you make a smart and informed decision.

Land your Dream Consulting Job

Here are the resources we recommend to learn the most robust, effective case interview strategies in the least time-consuming way:

  • Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
  • Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
  • The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.
  • Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with former consulting interviewers
  • Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer
  • Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple interviews

Land Multiple Consulting Offers

Complete, step-by-step case interview course. 30,000+ happy customers.

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5 Ways to Prepare for Situational Interview Questions

  • Marlo Lyons

what is a case interview question

Tactical advice to help you nail common prompts.

When interviewing for a new job, anticipating and preparing answers in writing to the most common situational questions — such as how you solved a big problem, aligned stakeholders on a project, influenced someone to think a different way, worked with difficult personalities, or met a tight deadline — will ensure your answers are crisp and clear. Knowing exactly how you will approach common situational questions will help you stay calm and focused on highlighting how your unique strengths and experience make you the perfect candidate for the job. The author presents five strategies for answering situational interview questions with confidence.

Gone are the days when interviewers merely probed job candidates about their strengths and weaknesses. Today, recruiters and hiring managers are keen on assessing how candidates think and solve problems relevant to the job. To evaluate a candidate’s capabilities, “situational” or “behavioral” interview questions are commonly asked, beginning with prompts such as, “Can you tell me about a time when…” or “What would you do if…?”

  • Marlo Lyons is a career, executive, and team coach, as well as the award-winning author of Wanted – A New Career: The Definitive Playbook for Transitioning to a New Career or Finding Your Dream Job . You can reach her at marlolyonscoaching.com .

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To hire suitable candidates, every company conducts various rounds of interviews to measure the candidate’s technical and behavioral prowess. HR interviews are done to gauge the personality- strengths and weaknesses of a candidate to handle the role and then understand whether the candidate is suitable to do the job. Sometimes, the interviews are conducted to decide how well the candidate can fit into the company’s work culture. Generally, these rounds are done at the end of the recruitment process after the technical skills evaluation.

The HR interview rounds can make or break your opportunity to join your dream company. Hence it is best to keep some tips in mind to ace this interview.

  • Do not fake! Be yourself. Bluffing during the HR interview should be avoided at all costs.
  • Answer to the point and while answering, be honest and truthful.
  • Wear comfortable but formal clothes. Keep accessories to a bare minimum.
  • Reach the venue on time. If the interview is scheduled online, then log in at least 10-15 minutes earlier than the scheduled time and ensure that your connection set up is alright.
  • Do not sound dull while answering. Be enthusiastic and interactive with the hiring managers. In case the interview is online, then remember to keep your video on.
  • Lastly, have a smile on your face.

In this article, let us see what are the most commonly asked HR interview questions and understand why the questions are being asked and what would be the sample acceptable answers to those questions.

Traditional HR Questions

Behavioural hr interview questions.

  • Opinion-based HR Interview Questions

Brainteasers HR Interview Questions

Salary related questions, multiple choice questions, 1. tell me about yourself..

This is the universal question asked at the very first of any interview. It sounds easy, right? But this is the most important question where the candidates fail to create an impression with the interviewer as most of the time they are not aware of what exactly needs to be said.

Some tips to answer this question:

  • Do not ask the interviewer what he wants to know about you. You may be asking genuinely, but that just sounds rude.
  • Do not speak what is already there in the resume. The interviewer wants to know what they have not seen on the resume. And do not speak about anything personal.
  • Introduce yourself by including certain adjectives like problem-solving, innovation and tech-savvy, creative, quick learner, etc. that best describe you in your professional life to boost your chances.
  • Cover what you have accomplished in your career and what work you have done in the past which can help you excel in the position that you are being interviewed for.
  • You can also tell why you want the position and how the job is going to be perfect for you.
  • Focus only on your strengths that are relatable to the work.

what is a case interview question

Sample answer could be:

I am an energetic person, an effective communicator, and a quick learner. I was also one of the top students in my batch while I was pursuing a B.E degree in the XYZ domain. I worked on various projects related to the software domain which provided me a great deal of technical exposure along with the importance of working in a team and the value of client satisfaction. I have worked on developing various enterprise-level web applications for helping companies solve problems like ensuring business continuity, market research analysis, etc. So, I believe I am a good fit for technology-centric roles in your company.

2. Why do you want to work for our company?

Another popular question asked by the interviewer to make sure that the candidate has understood the job requirements and help the interviewer understand the reason behind choosing their company for that job. You should answer in such a way that the interviewer gets convinced that you are a great fit for the role.

  • Talk about the past projects that you had worked on that matches the requirements of the current role.
  • Talk about your career aspirations that are associated with this job role.
  • Have the knowledge in hand about the company’s vision, mission, and the work it has done in recent years that inspired you to join the organization.

Sample answer:

I feel that with my current skill sets and my experience in the XYZ domain, the job requirements this role presented are a perfect match for me. I could visualize myself in that role as it aligned with my career aspirations, skills, and expertise. Besides, I have researched your company and found that it has impressive and promising projections which made me excited to be a part of the amazing future. I would take pride in working under the great leadership of this company and I found this place to be a perfect fit for utilizing my expertise along with the promising aspect of personal growth.

3. What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

HR asks this question to get to know more about your characteristics and your suitability for the job. It is also one of the standards and most commonly asked questions.

  • Start by stating the strongest skills and qualities that can be of a great match to the job role.
  • Be ready with the backup claim for each of the strengths that you mention. Hence, avoid speaking of the strengths that you do not possess.
  • Do not tell any weakness that can potentially jeopardize your candidature.
  • Do not mention more than 2 weaknesses and always mention how you are working on improving them.
  • Do not tell cheesy, cliché answers like “I am a perfectionist which is both my strength and my weakness”.
I think one of my greatest strengths is that I am a great team player. I am also a self-motivated and quick learning individual. Whatever task that I set to do, I always give my best and complete it diligently well in advance. My weakness would be that I am learning to master people skills while meeting new individuals. I get nervous while talking to new people. I have been working on this for quite a long time and I can say with utmost confidence that I have come a long way.

4. Why are you looking for a change?

Yet another commonly asked question for experienced candidates, the interviewer wants to understand what made you look for different opportunities and identify if there are any red flags. Whatever is the reason for changing your job, do not talk negatively about the current employer. Do not divulge information about how bad the work environment was, how poor the salary was as these are of no concern to the interviewer. Keep the answer professional without sharing your woes.

The reason I am looking for change is that I feel like now is the time to expand my horizon. I have worked in my current company for quite a long time and while I am grateful for all the opportunities that were presented to me there, I want to go beyond my current role here, explore different avenues and take up challenging roles and I believe that your company will be the perfect place for me to push and grow myself as an individual.

There might be cases where you might have been laid off due to budget and management constraints. In these cases, you have to convey the below things to the recruiter:

  • It happened due to an unforeseen event and it was not your fault.
  • You still have a positive mindset about various opportunities that are available in the market.

Sample answer can be:

The client that I was working for was leaving the market and hence our company was forced to dissolve the department. Unfortunately, I had joined that position in that department very recently and hence my duration in this company was short. I do not have any regrets though as I was extremely happy due to the learning opportunities presented which will help me a lot in my further career endeavors.

5. Tell me about the gap in your resume.

This question comes up when the interviewer finds something interesting and out of ordinary in the resume. Some examples could be a job that could be unrelated to what you are seeking or a job that lasted only for some months or in some cases, the outright gap between two consequent jobs. Here, HR wants to make sure that the gaps are not due to any red flags.

After the completion of my bachelor’s degree, I started working continuously for 8 years without taking any break. This sort of impacted my productivity and also harmed my work-life balance. Hence, I decided to take a break of 6 months to clear my mind, make amends with my family, and also do solo travel to different places. I also gained some lessons during this break such as the importance of work-life balance, organizational ability, and a fresh new perspective on life.

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6. how would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10.

The main point while answering this question is to not convey that you are perfect. This would indicate that there is no scope for improvement and would showcase yourself as overconfident to the interviewer.

Also, remember to not undervalue yourself too. This would show that you don’t have any self-confidence.

I would like to rate myself an 8. 8 because I know that I am not perfect and there is always a scope for learning and improvement. Continuous learning is the most fundamental part of personal and professional growth.

7. What is your biggest achievement so far?

Make sure to discuss only your work-related achievement. Pick up the most recent achievement of yours and answer this question.

Tips to answer this:

Answer the question in a STAR format. STAR represents: S: Situation, T: Task, A: Action, and R: Result

I have achieved several milestones to date in my career as a software developer . The most recent one is of the time when we were working on a critical component of a product pertaining to customer payments. We were working round the clock for around 2 months and I was a core developer. I was made a lead to this component for completing the task in another 2 months. To meet the deadline, we ensured that we upskilled ourselves to learn all the aspects of the development of this module and also brought in a few more resources to complete it faster. Post the deployment, I trained our team to support the platform proficiently. Ultimately, we could complete the product well in advance of the deadline. When the product was launched, the higher management was super proud of us and our team was awarded for our outstanding performance in the quarterly town hall. It was a very proud moment for me.

8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Now, this question is the trickiest and deadliest one among all. This can prove to be a trap and you might not even be aware of it. While the question might seem casual, the main purpose of this question is to find out how long you are planning to stay in the company if hired and how your vision fits the vision of the company.

  • You might be tempted to answer honestly by saying things about your plans for higher studies, your plans to start a startup, your plans of becoming a hiring manager in the company or if you don’t have a plan then you are simply tempted to say you don’t have a plan at all. These are the things the interviewer doesn’t want to hear and hence avoid giving such answers.
  • The recruiter is only interested in knowing how long you are planning to stay in the company and how satisfied you are with the current position you are going to be hired.
Over 5 years, I would love to utilize all the opportunities that this company provides me to learn by utilizing the internal and external training programs. My ultimate career goal is to become a Technology Architect and hence I would look forward to developing various products that represent the vision of this company and be a part of making a difference along with quickening my journey of becoming a Tech Architect.

9. Why should we hire you?

The recruiter asks this important question to understand how well you would fit into the position because every hire is a risk to the interviewer in case they turn out to be unfit. Your answer to this question can make or break your interview. Hence, prepare well for this question and make sure to convey to the interviewer why you are the perfect fit for the position.

Some tips to answer would be to include:

  • How well you would perform the job and how you would be a great addition to the team.
  • How you possess the right talent which makes you stand apart.
  • Everything should boil down to how you can add great value to the organization.
I am a self-motivated and very open-minded person who can learn very fast. Looking at the job description and my experience in the field of web development, I am confident that I am very much suitable for this role. I enjoy solving problems and I am a great team player. I also believe that my values are aligned with this company’s values. I think this position will support my interest and also give me interesting and exciting opportunities to contribute to the growth of this organization. I am very much excited about this opportunity.

10. How do you deal with criticism?

The main intention to ask this question is to see what your attitude towards feedback is and how you react to it. The main point here is to let the interviewer know that you are always open to constructive feedback. You should not show yourself as a stubborn or ignorant person who is not capable of taking any input for your growth.

I am always enthusiastic about learning new things and during the process, I might tend to make mistakes. If someone provides me with constructive criticism, I am always open to it and I will work on correcting myself and learn from my mistakes. This would help me grow and move forward. If the feedback is negative, then I am mature enough to ignore the feedback and continue working on doing my job to the best of my capabilities without dampening my spirit.

1. What Are These Behavioural Questions

These questions are mostly of the format “Tell me about a time…” where you would be asked to share your experience based on certain scenarios which would help the interviewer judge how well you handled various work situations thereby reflecting your skills, capacity, and personality.

Always answer such types of questions using the STAR format to provide structured answers. STAR has the following questions to be answered in the same order:

  • Situation: What was the situation/event?
  • Task: What were the tasks involved in the above-mentioned situation?
  • Action: What did you do to complete the goal?
  • Result: What was the result of the actions? This is the most important part which conveys if you were successful or not.

Avoid bragging and exaggerating at all costs.

what is a case interview question

2. Tell me about a time when you were not satisfied with your performance?

Here, the interviewer gets to know the extent of ownership you take while performing any task. It also reflects how well you care about the job and the company.

When I initially joined my job right after college, there was a point where I was constantly becoming dependent on the team members to get work done. I did not like this as I wanted to carry out my responsibilities in an independent manner along with working in a team. I wasted no time and quickly learned the working dynamics of the project and received various assignments related to the project. The more assignments I worked on with minimal help, the more confident I became and the more sense of ownership is provided. I felt more independent and I was lauded multiple times for my dedication, my sense of ownership, and how quickly I was able to adapt to the project.

3. Tell me about a time when you were made to work under close supervision.

Here, the interviewer evaluates how well you work in a team and how well you can work independently.

In my previous job, I was working under the close supervision of my manager. It felt very overwhelming as the manager watched everything that I do throughout the day and I felt like he/she was virtually sitting by me at all times. I was uncomfortable with this because of the constant pressure involved. But then, I found out that the manager did not trust me enough to do my job alone as I was very new to it. So I worked on building her trust by working very diligently without any complaints in the projects and once I felt the manager was convinced of my abilities, I discussed with her to hand me a project which didn’t involve such close supervision. The manager gave me one such project reluctantly and I made sure I gave my best to it and the project was launched successfully which is how I gained her complete trust.

4. Can you tell me about a time where you were happy with your work and what was your reaction?

By asking this question, the interviewer wants to understand what success means to you and what feeling it brings out in you. By this, they can assess your concerns for the growth of the company along with your personal growth.

There was a time in my previous company where I was handling a project related to blogging that would potentially inspire a lot of people. So I worked on researching what topics would people get inspiration from and what would help them be better. I also conducted a survey which I shared with my friends, neighbors and relatives to get better insights about this. When we published the blog, the recognition that we got was tremendous. People loved how relatable the posts were and this turned out to be a significant reason behind the 90% sales of our products. I was very happy with my work as I did my part in contributing to company profits as well as providing a platform to people where they can get inspiration from.

5. Tell me about a time where you experienced difficulty at work while working on a project.

Now, this is a broad question as difficulty can be of any type. This question is asked to assess what are the things that you consider as difficult and how you go about solving that difficulty. While answering this:

  • Focus on describing a problem that was related to your work using the STAR approach.
  • Do not answer negatively or bad mouth any supervisor or any company.
  • The interviewer should be made to understand the cause of the problem.
  • Avoid bringing up personal problems in your life.
  • Focus on the learnings of the problem rather than dwelling too much on the damage.
There was a time in my current company when I received a bug report from our client which stated that the databases were performing below the mark when a complex query was called excessively from the interface. The first thing I did was checking the logs to perform the root cause analysis. Doing this gave me a rough idea regarding where the bug started appearing. I reproduced the bug only on the production server and I tried replicating the same on my local system. While debugging, I found out that there was a bug in the Java code where some lines were commented out by the developers who had already left this company. I fixed this code quickly and did a round of performance testing on the application to ensure that this doesn’t occur again. The issue was fixed at the end of the day and we were able to get the server up and running with enhanced performance. We learnt an important lesson to perform regression testing after every phase of releases to ensure the old functionalities were working fine along with the newly developed ones.

6. Tell me about a time where you displayed leadership skills.

This question is asked to check how competent you are in a particular situation. You have to ensure that you are not sounding lazy or unprofessional.

I remember this event. Every year, my company used to organize a summer barbeque, and this year, the person who was supposed to organize had left for a new job. I used to volunteer for this before so I volunteered myself for organizing the barbeque this year. The annual barbeque was a potluck event with some fun activities planned throughout the day. I conducted a survey amongst the employees to see what kind of activities they were interested in. I made a list of those activities and created teams dedicated to conducting each of them. I also ensured that activities did not cross the budget allocated and took care of sending out regular reminders to track the progress of the team. I sent out posters and went through the office floors with a team of people to make sure people are aware of what exciting things we have planned for them and ensure that they arrive at the venue on time. The day of the event was an amazing one. As we had everything planned, the event went on smoothly and everyone had loads of fun. I received great appreciation from the higher management for my organizational skills and everyone said that they had a great time.

7. Was there any point in your career where you made any mistake? Tell me about it.

Now here is a tricky behavioral question and if you don’t answer this carefully, you would be digging your own grave. The interviewer wants to understand what kind of mistakes you made, how did you approach it and how well you would perform if you are hired for the job. Some tips to answer the question:

  • Talk about a mistake you made which you were able to rectify and which didn’t cause any critical damage to your organization.
  • Talk about what you learned while working on fixing the mistake.
  • Avoid any mistake that represents any flaw in your personality.
I remember an instance when I joined my first company. I was asked to work on two projects simultaneously and I accepted it even though I knew I would not be able to handle it. I did not want to tell my manager that I cannot handle it as I did not want him to think less of me. I was not supposed to tell either of clients that I was working on another project which caused me double stress due to which I was not able to meet the deadlines for the assignments. I realized I should have clearly communicated this with my manager and then my manager understood the situation and allocated a new resource to work with me to complete the project delivery. I learned the importance of keeping my supervisors updated with any task and being open to them if I am facing any roadblocks.

8. How did you handle disagreements with your manager?

The interviewers want to know how well you deal when your ideas are disagreed by your manager/supervisor. Disagreements are part and parcel of working in a team. Hence, the recruiter wants to know if you are capable of handling such disagreements and how well you plan to develop the relationship with the manager.

  • Explain what the disagreement was.
  • How did you overcome that?
  • What was your learning outcome?
  • Do not speak ill or abuse your manager.
  • You can not tell that you never had a disagreement before as it would just prove that you do not have a sense of leadership or you lack creativity.
This reminds me of an instance where I and my manager had a disagreement on why a certain feature has to be included in the product and he was against it. We had lots of discussions regarding the pros and cons of that feature. During this, I explained to him why adding that feature to our website would be the best thing to do and how it would make the lives of our users easier. I gave him various scenarios and good reasons why that feature would be a great idea. My manager was convinced as he felt the reasons were good enough and we got his green signal to work on it. In the end, when we unveiled this feature to our client, the clients were indeed very happy and praised us all as we went out of our way to add this feature. My manager was very happy with the result. I learned that effective and graceful communication is the ultimate key. Ideas should be respectfully conveyed to people when there are disagreements as we belong to a team and the collective vision of the team is to launch the project successfully. In case my manager’s idea was best for the project, then I would gracefully accept that too.

9. Tell me how you will handle it if suddenly the priorities of a project were changed?

Here, the interviewers want to know how the candidate will act in the situation when priorities are changed. This will also reflect the candidate’s ability to handle stress and solve problems.

  • Make sure that you convey the right things to the interviewer.
  • Give instances of how well you are capable of handling pressure and stress.
  • Avoid boasting and no matter how frustrated you were during these situations, do not tell the interviewer.
I certainly understand that there might be valid reasons for a company to change the priority of a project. The vision of a project at one particular point of time would change at another time due to various conditions. If the priority of the task that I work on gets changed, I will put efforts into understanding why this happened and I will consider that it is in the best interest of the company and start to work on the new task of higher priority rather than crib about it. The ultimate goal is to achieve big things by putting in my best efforts.

Opinion based HR Interview Questions

1. consider the scenario - you win a million-dollar lottery. would you still be working.

Generally, these questions would be based on the cases or scenarios. This is to understand how you think and execute the plan in a given situation.

what is a case interview question

This question is a big trap! If you answer “yes” to this, then you will be considered a materialistic and money-minded person who could easily give up on the company if you are provided with a lot of money. And hence, you won’t be a valuable asset to the company.

I will be super thrilled if I win such a lottery as it would mean that I would be having a hefty saving for me and the future of my family. I won’t be quitting my job because I enjoy my work and I love learning new things continuously and I would still love to explore more domains. My only wish is to retire after completing a very fulfilling career.

2. What would you do if you were working under a bad boss?

Interviewers want to know how well a candidate can cope up with people with different beliefs and ideologies and hence it can get a little tricky to answer this. While answering this, you ensure that you are avoiding emphasis on the negative aspects of the situation.

Firstly, before jumping to the conclusion that my boss is bad, I will try my best to understand his personality and get to know what their problem is. If I find my boss to be aggressive, then I will make note of the things that would make him angry and will work on avoiding that. I will also try asking my colleagues how they have worked on dealing with him. If things get worse, I will contact HR to get a solution regarding this.

3. What do you think is an ideal work environment?

The main intention of this question is to understand if you will fit into the work environment that the company has already. Employers want to ensure that the employees are more productive and happy doing their work and retain them in the long run and hence they ask this kind of question to understand if the employees can fit into their culture.

Some tips to prepare for this question would be:

  • Thoroughly research the company you are interviewing for and have a brief idea of the work culture, the hierarchy of the company, etc.
  • Talk about the work culture that would focus on growth.
  • Emphasize how a team-oriented workplace would be of interest to you.
  • Ensure that whatever you talk about is aligned with the company’s vision.
  • Avoid mentioning a workplace that gives a lot of vacations, flexible timings, more bonuses, and fun. We know it is ideal, but it doesn’t work that way.
According to me, an ideal work environment is one that revolves around a team where the focus is on learning, working, and growing together to take the team members and the company to new heights. It is where the skills and capabilities of team members are being leveraged to grow. While I was researching your company, I found that you pay more importance to teamwork and that was something which impressed me. I believe that I can work better in an encouraging environment.

4. What does motivation mean to you?

This again is a broad question that can be easily misinterpreted by the candidates. While answering this question, we have to make sure that we are honest and also our answer should be associated with the job that we are getting interviewed for. Try giving an example to make things more clear.

Learning new things and the feeling of satisfaction that comes while solving a problem drives me to do my best in my job. I love challenges as they push me to do more. I believe that learning should never end and the day we stop learning is the day we get stagnant and this thought always motivates me to learn something new. Looking at the job description, I know that this job will provide me the motivation to keep things going.

5. What is your dream company like?

This a tricky question where the interviewer again assesses your rightness for the job. While answering this, do not spill out your actual dream of working for 6 figure salary in a company with frequent access to vacation and flexible work hours. The interviewer is not interested in these things and will consider these as red flags as they make you seem materialistic.

Some tips to answer this:

  • Be sincere in what you want in an ideal workspace.
  • What you say should align with the work culture of the company.
  • Avoid exaggeration and point out a specific employer as an example.
My dream company is a place that would provide me loads of opportunities to learn and grow and help me harness my abilities to contribute to the overall growth of the company. I value such a company that will recognize and appreciate performance and based on what I have researched about your company, I believe this place can offer me these opportunities.

6. What do you do to ensure that a certain number of tasks is completed effectively?

By asking this question, the interviewer understands how you will perform while multitasking. These days, every employer expects that a candidate should be able to work on multiple projects simultaneously which is where understanding how capable you are to multitask becomes important to them.

Some tips to answer the question:

  • Describe a situation where you worked on multi-tasking and how you were able to meet up the deadlines.
  • Do not talk about how much you hate multi-tasking.
  • Do not talk vaguely or give generic answers.
  • You can also give examples to back up your claim in STAR format.
Whenever I am assigned multiple tasks, the first thing I do is to calm myself down and build up a positive mindset that I can achieve the task. I then begin to organize them based on the priorities and come up with a plan to set deadlines for each of them and begin to work on the task. Whenever I feel like I am blocked or I am facing roadblocks, I let my supervisor know of this and I don’t hesitate to seek help from my colleagues. If I see that I am not able to meet the deadlines, then I will be informing my manager well in advance by detailing whatever I have done. Most of the time, my manager was kind enough to understand the cause of delays and I would receive an extension in the deadline and I ensure that my tasks are completed.

7. What would you prefer - being liked or being feared?

The answer should be given diplomatically here because no interviewer would want a candidate who likes to be feared.

Honestly, I prefer to be well respected in my organization. Fear does not command respect. I want to be in such a way that my team members will not hesitate to reach out to me for anything.

8. How long do you think you will be working for us if you are hired?

The recruiter wants to check for how long you will be staying in the current company. Do not be honest and share your plans of switching to a dream company or your plans of higher studies.

I am planning to be in this company for a very long time as long as I am being valued and respected for my work and as long as the management sees me as an asset.

9. If you were reborn as an animal, what animal would you want to be?

This might seem to be an odd question to answer to. Rest assured, the interviewer does not want to joke with you. Instead, they ask this question to get what kind of personality you are, what your thought process is, and how creative you are by describing yourself as an animal.

Some tips to answer this question would be:

  • While answering, make sure your justification is aligned with the job role you are choosing.
  • Do not choose animals with poor traits.
  • Do not choose animals with the traits that are opposing the ones required for the job role.
  • Lion: Always ready to fight, never backs from challenges, strong and rightly known as the king of the jungle.
  • Dog: Known for loyalty and friendliness.
  • Elephant: Hardworking animal capable of performing hardcore work.
  • Cows: Known for love and loyalty.
  • Dolphin: Known for selflessness and helpfulness.
  • Butterfly: Has the ability to transform from one stage to another and always waiting to fly beautifully.
  • Ant: Known for being a hard worker and for the ability to carry weights twice their weight.
  • Owl: Wise creatures known for seeing bigger pictures.
  • Dove: Known for peace and non-violence.
  • Chameleon: Jells well in all environments. Also considered to be sneaky. - This animal can be avoided.
  • Snake: Known for being tricky - This animal should be avoided.
  • Tortoise: Known for being lethargic and sluggish. - This animal should be avoided.

I would like to be reborn as a lion. A lion is known for its love for challenges and its pride. It goes for what it wants and it can thrive in a battle (or challenge) which is why I want to be a lion.

10. Will you lie for the company under any circumstances?

To be honest, this question is not commonly asked anymore. However, just be prepared for this question. It is a tricky one to answer as you have the question of integrity and the company benefits in line. The best thing to do here is to be diplomatic.

I believe in the principle of honesty. So, my willingness to be a part of the lie would depend on the situation and the outcomes associated with it. If my lie will not jeopardize anyone and brings a positive result for the company and the employees, then I can be a part of it. However, I do not feel good about lying.

1. What do you think is better - being perfect and delivering late or being good and delivering on time?

what is a case interview question

Back up your opinion with certain examples and answer what according to you is right.

Here is one possible answer:

I believe that it is always better to be good and deliver on time. Time is money to the organization. If we are good and on time, then there is always room for improvement and enhancements. But if we deliver it late, then no amount of perfection can make up for the time lost.

2. Judy’s mother had 4 children. The eldest one was April, the second child was May and the third child was June. What was the name of the fourth child?

This is a very simple question. Yet some people find it confusing when they hear it for the first time or possibly due to the stress of interviews. Think twice before answering. Never say that you do not know. At least try solving.

The answer is Judy.

3. How many times in a day does the clock’s hand overlap?

While hearing this question for the first time, it might sound very simple but it could also be complex. Interviewers do not generally look for the correct answers. They would just want to see how well you are capable of analyzing a problem and what is your thought process to approach a problem.

  • Take time to analyze the answer.
  • Note down your thought process while answering.
  • Show that you are actually in the process of solving a problem.
  • Do not blurt out answers without thinking.
  • Do not say I don’t know without even trying.
We know that we have 24 hours in a day. The hand first overlaps at 12:00, then at 1:05, 2:10, 3.15, 4:20, 5:25, 6:30, 7:35, 8:40, 9:45 and 10:50 two times in a day. There will be no overlap at 11:55 because the hour hand is moving towards 12 while the minute hand is at 11. This sums up the result to 22.

4. You have only two vessels of 3l and 5l volume and you are given an unending supply of water. Can you find out how to get 4l of water just by using these two vessels?

Take time to analyze the question. Do not think silently. Let the interviewer know of your thought process.

The answer to this question is:

First, fill the 3l vessel with water. Transfer all the water from the 3l vessel into the 5l vessel. Refill the 3l vessel again and pour it off into 5l vessel jug till it is full. In the 3l vessel, we now have 1-litre of water available. Empty the water from the 5l vessel completely. Pour the 1-litre water from 3l vessel to 5l vessel. Fill the 3l vessel with water and pour this into the 5l vessel. We now have 4l of water in the 5l vessel.

1. What to expect?

These kinds of questions are asked to find out if the interviewers can afford to hire you based on their budget and the range that they wish to offer. They want to ensure that your expectations and the range provided by the company are aligned and you are satisfied with it. It is very important to know and realize yourself worthwhile answering these questions especially when your expectations are more than what they are expecting to provide.

You do not want to come across as a money-minded person nor do you want to come across as a saint who is happy with being underpaid. Also, this is the part where your negotiation skills also come into play.

what is a case interview question

2. What is your current salary?

This question is asked to make sure that the money that you make in your current position falls within the budget that the interviewers want to provide you with.

  • Try your best to avoid telling your current salary.
  • Only in some cases where you are found to be the most perfect fit after excelling in all the rounds of the interview, the companies would be willing to offer you more hikes.
  • Some companies have a specified range dedicated to a particular position.
  • However, the job of the recruiter is to hire a candidate who can do more at less cost. Hence, disclosing your current income might land you in an unfavorable position.

Some tips to answer this would be:

  • Research about the salary provided by the company to that particular job role either by checking on websites like Glassdoor, Indeed or by connecting with people working in that company on Linkedin.
  • Avoid stating your current income.
  • Ask the interviewer what is the range that he/she is providing for the role.
  • Do not lie.
I am not allowed to disclose my current salary information as my employer considers it confidential information and I am bound to that agreement. However, if you share the range that you would be provided for this position, I can let you know if my salary is in that range. Or I can also give a salary range that is based on my research of the company and based on my skills.

3. What is your salary expectation?

You have to answer this question carefully as you do not want to get underpaid for the job role at the end of the day.

  • Research about the salary range the company is providing for the position.
  • Try to get a range from the interviewer and see if you are okay with it. If the interviewer still insists on you providing a number first then give a range that you are looking for.
  • You should be ready for negotiation, hence consider a range where you are okay with even if salary gets negotiated.
  • Do not simply blurt out a range. Explain why you deserve it.
I have been in the software development industry for around 6 years. I have worked on developing and launching so many projects and have come a long way from being a fresher. I have also demonstrated leadership capabilities which I think will also be an added asset for you along with my technical prowess. Considering all this and also based on my research, I think if my compensation falls in the range of ₹15,00,000- ₹20,00,000 then it won’t be a bad idea.

4. How much do you think you should be paid by looking at your qualifications?

By asking this question, the interviewer checks if the candidates are aware of their self-worth and indirectly want to know what money you are expecting. Do not be humble and modest while answering this question. You should sell yourself and prove that you are aware of what you are worth.

  • Research about what is the current market trend for the skills and capabilities that you possess.
  • Let the interviewer know that you have great skills by really selling yourself.
  • Do not undermine or downplay your skills just to please the recruiter.
  • Do not say a specific amount right away. Back it up with why you think you are worthy of that money.

We have seen what are the most commonly asked HR interview questions, why they are being asked, some tips to answer each question, and also possible sample answers to them. The list is quite comprehensive. Sometimes, an HR might also ask role-specific questions to know how well you have understood the job role. The questions asked during this round might seem to be a general casual discussion, but you have to be well prepared to answer this as the HR round is the most important round and the only step away from your dream job. The below image is the summary of all the tips that you can utilize to ace this interview.

Good Luck and go get your dream job!

what is a case interview question

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When HR asks you about your weaknesses what should you be ideally telling them?

What would be the acceptable content for the question “how do you handle failure or disappointment”?

What should be the acceptable answer for the question - “Do you want to relocate?”?

Is it ok to ask about the feedback at the end of the interview before leaving?

 What would be the acceptable answer for the question - “Consider a scenario where your manager leaves for an immediate one-week vacation and before leaving he gives you an assignment. What would you do first?”

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1 Million +

WATCH LIVE: Nicolle Wallace returns to Deadline White House. Tune in now for the latest on the Supreme Court and Fulton County.

Why Judge McAfee’s Fani Willis decision is a surprisingly easy one

Over the span of a two-day hearing in a Fulton County courtroom last week, America unnecessarily heard the details of the personal lives of two Georgia state prosecutors, details we should never had to learn. That one of them battled cancer. That one of them keeps plenty of cash in her home because her father taught her to do so. That one of them is going through a divorce and agreed with his estranged wife not to file until their children were of age. That one of them has been the target of vile, racist death threats . None of that information was relevant or required for the prosecution of a pending criminal case in which the 45th president of the United States is a co-defendant.

It’s worth repeating that the law in Georgia requires that an actual conflict of interest exist for disqualification of a prosecuting attorney. The conflict cannot be theoretical or speculative.

So why this unnecessary and salacious sideshow? According to Trump co-defendant Michael Roman, it’s because he is being prosecuted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. But the real motive behind this waste of time and money was to muddy the waters and create a very public crisis of character for the lead prosecutor. Roman’s bread and butter for years has been opposition research for the Republican Party. And when Roman's attorneys filed his motion to dismiss and to disqualify, they obviously made sure to dig deep into that well of expertise of casting doubt on opponents through his serious allegations about Willis’ ethical ability to remain the prosecutor in his case. Roman's motion also raised grave allegations about financial impropriety by Willis and one of the special prosecutors in the case, Nathan Wade.

In response to Roman’s claims, the state filed its detailed opposition filing, within which Roman’s allegations were denied. In support of this opposition, a number of exhibits were attached, including, most importantly, a sworn affidavit by Wade, made under penalties of perjury.

During her own testimony, Willis not only corroborated Wade’s testimony and assertions from his affidavit and from court, but she also added credible context to the idea that she paid back Wade in cash. She explained how her father taught her from a young age to make sure that she keeps enough cash to take care of herself (her father, John C. Floyd, III, an accomplished attorney in his own right who has since retired, took to the witness stand to corroborate his daughter’s explanation as to why she keeps cash in her home). Willis testified: “I don’t need anything from a man — a man is not a plan.” That she maintains her financial independence. Willis swore, under penalties of perjury, that she and Wade did not begin dating until after he had been appointed to his role as special prosecutor and that she has not realized a personal financial benefit from their relationship, which has been over since June 2023. 

If you believe the defense’s theory, then Willis pulled off some Keyser Söze-level plan . (Remember, the character from the movie, “The Usual Suspects,” who manages to get arrested, secure immunity from prosecution, purportedly assist the police in their investigation by redirecting their focus onto other suspects, get released from custody and miraculously cure his cerebral palsy to walk away, without any limp, from the police station in the closing credits of the film.) Following this theory, before Wade was appointed, she would have to have intentionally approached former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes to offer him what basically ended up being Wade’s role as special prosecutor, knowing the entire time that Barnes would turn her down; she intentionally got two other special prosecutors to agree to the same low hourly rate as Wade’s; she intentionally got the CFO of Fulton County to conspire with her to approve Wade’s invoices each month; she convinced a special purpose grand jury to recommend multiple charges against multiple individuals; and then she convinced a grand jury to return an indictment against 19 co-defendants — all to ensure that her then-boyfriend, Wade, would be able to make $250 an hour so she could travel with him on a cruise with his mother and spend personal time in some cities.

Theories are just notions and hypotheses; they’re not evidence, which is what is required in court. And in Fulton County last week, that two-day event was an evidentiary hearing. A court hearing that required the defense to carry its burden and prove its theories with ... evidence . Yet the only evidence that was elicited during that two-day hearing to support the defense’s theory was from a disgruntled former employee of the Fulton County DA’s office, who also happened to be a former friend of Willis. Her name is Robin Yeartie. She testified that Wade and Willis began their intimate relationship in October 2019; that in 2020, Willis told her that she was dating Wade and that Yeartie witnessed them hugging and kissing in 2021. That’s it. Not a single other defense witness testified that Wade and Willis began their intimate relationship before March 2022. Only Yeartie did. And it is only natural to question her intentions behind testifying for the defense in this case. She only admitted upon cross-examination by the state that the reason why she left her job at the DA’s office in March 2022 was because she was given the choice to either quit or be fired after being written up several times for subpar work performance. She said her friendship with Willis was over because she left the office and she hasn’t spoken with Willis since.

Judge McAfee, as the fact-finder in an evidentiary hearing, will now weigh all of the witnesses’ credibility, including that of Yeartie.

However, if Yeartie is telling the truth that Willis and Wade began dating as far back as October 2019, and that Willis appointed Wade so that she could reap some kind of personal financial benefit from his appointment, then following my Keyser Söze theory, that means that Willis also predicted that on Jan. 2, 2021, then-President Donald Trump would call Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and demand that he “find 11,780 votes”; that she knew on Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists, at the direction of Trump, would storm the U.S Capitol; that on Jan. 7, 2021, Republican officials and others would breach the voting systems in Coffee County, Georgia; that she knew in January 2022 that a judge would grant her request for a special purpose grand jury to assist her in her investigation because several individuals, including U.S. senators, were throwing up interference and roadblocks in her pursuit of the truth; and that she knew a grand jury would return a 98-page indictment naming 19 co-defendants for violating Georgia state-RICO, as well as dozens of other offenses. If Willis is that good at setting up the judicial system just to benefit her then-boyfriend — whom she is no longer dating — as well as herself, then she needs to share the next Powerball numbers with all of us.

If Willis is that good at setting up the judicial system just to benefit her then-boyfriend — whom she is no longer dating — as well as herself, then she needs to share the next Powerball numbers with all of us.

If that sounds absurd, it’s because it is. But that is more or less what the defense in this election interference case is asserting as the reason why Willis should be disqualified from the RICO case: that she has a personal financial interest in appointing Wade. And that is why evidence is necessary and required in order for Judge McAfee to rule that Willis should be disqualified.

But as long as we’re chasing the defense’s theory down its illogical rabbit hole, why not go all-in? I mean, if the only reason Willis was in it was to benefit Wade and herself, why didn’t she appoint Wade as a special prosecutor on the Young Slime Life (“YSL”) case, as well? Young Thug and 27 other members of YSL were indicted in May 2022, for RICO, murder and other offenses after months of investigation. Jury selection has also taken months, the trial has begun for only certain of the co-defendants, and trial promises to last for months and months to come. It would be a huge financial windfall for Wade and Willis if Wade was the special prosecutor in the YSL case. And at this rate, Willis could just continue to appoint Wade as a special prosecutor on all major investigations and cases.

It’s worth repeating that the law in Georgia requires that an actual conflict of interest exist for disqualification of a prosecuting attorney. The conflict cannot be theoretical or speculative. Appellate courts in Georgia recognize specific reasons to disqualify a prosecutor, none of which is applicable to Willis.

If Willis is disqualified, then the entire Fulton County District Attorney’s Office will be removed from this RICO case. It would then be reassigned by a special counsel of prosecutors to another office. The problem at that point is time and viability: How long would it take for the case to be reassigned and, once that occurs, will that new prosecuting office continue to pursue the same set of charges that were returned by the grand jury in the original indictment?

The stakes could not be higher. And yet, in my opinion, Judge McAfee’s decision is an easy one with a clear path: The defense’s failure to provide the legally required evidence to disqualify Willis means that the judge can deny the motion to dismiss and to disqualify. He, along with others, may not like how messy and unseemly the evidentiary hearing was. But that brief, unnecessary detour will be over and the case can continue on its path to conclusion, whether that is a conviction or an acquittal — with D.A. Willis at the helm of this prosecution.

what is a case interview question

Katie S. Phang is the host of "The Katie Phang Show," which airs Saturdays and Sundays at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC. She is a legal contributor for NBC News and MSNBC based in Miami. She leverages her significant trial attorney experience to provide analysis and commentary on the latest legal issues.

Doctors and patients fearfully proceed with IVF after Alabama court rules embryos are children

After three miscarriages in less than a year, Gabby Goidel said she was diagnosed with unexplained genetic infertility.

For reasons that aren't clear to doctors, any fetus she carries has a higher-than-average likelihood of genetic abnormalities, she said, so there is a slim chance she'd be able to carry a pregnancy to term without in-vitro fertilization.

To avoid the possibility of additional miscarriages, Goidel and her husband, Spencer, decided last year to pursue in vitro fertilization in their home state of Alabama.

IVF allows doctors to test embryos for genetic abnormalities, then implant only the ones that are healthy.

The Goidels were on track to freeze embryos later this month, and they planned to only store the ones that were genetically normal.

But on Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children under state law, meaning that people could theoretically be sued for destroying an embryo.

The Goidels began to worry whether they might be forced to store — or even use — embryos they had intended to discard.

"Most of our embryos are not going to be genetically normal," said Goidel, a 26-year-old property manager in Auburn. "My hope would be that we could let those embryos naturally pass, but now it’s, 'Do we have to save them?' I don’t necessarily want to implant a child that I know is going to miscarry."

Roughly half of first-trimester miscarriages are due to a chromosomal abnormality in the fetus. In addition to vaginal bleeding, abdominal pain and cramping, miscarriages can increase the risk of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide.

An uncertain future for IVF patients

In the wake of the Alabama ruling, many patients and providers are unsure of how to navigate the IVF process, given that embryos are often discarded if they have genetic abnormalities or after patients decide they will not need to use them. The decision raises questions about whether those who undergo IVF will have to store all their embryos indefinitely — but experts said the answer is not yet clear.

Storing frozen embryos can cost between $350 to $1,000 per year .

The court's decision was issued in a case in which a person removed embryos from storage at a fertility clinic and dropped them on the floor accidentally.

Gail Deady, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that because of that, the ruling "does not appear to create criminal liability for IVF providers."

Instead, she said, "what it does implicate is the Wrongful Death Act, which is civil liability and negligence," meaning people could be sued for the destruction of embryos and have to pay monetary penalties.

Nevertheless, “anyone who cares about reproductive autonomy should be terrified of this decision,” Deady added.

Dr. Mamie McLean, a reproductive endocrinologist at Alabama Fertility, said she is concerned about the survival of IVF services in Alabama. Clinics may need to raise prices if they have trouble staffing providers or have to pay more for medical malpractice insurance, she said. As a result, fewer people may be able to afford IVF and fewer insurers may be willing to cover treatments.

The cost of insurance to defend against wrongful death lawsuits “might actually prevent us from practicing, it would be so high,” said Dr. Brett Davenport, a reproductive endocrinologist at Fertility Institute of North Alabama.

Davenport, too, worries the new law could penalize doctors for helping people start families.

“I am a very pro-life reproductive endocrinologist, and yet this still seems quite absurd to me,” he said.

Legal experts worry the ruling could set the stage for harsher abortion restrictions in the future, as well, such as penalties for women who get abortions. (Right now, state law only penalizes providers who administer abortions.)

"The next step will be to say, 'Well, if an embryo is a person [outside the uterus], clearly it's a person in utero," said Priscilla Smith, director of the Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice at Yale Law School.

“I don’t want to be dramatic and say it’s totally Handmaid’s Tale, but more and more, you’re in the situation rather where the state controls your behavior," Smith said.

Where to put embryos?

After the Alabama Supreme Court decision, Meghan Cole, an attorney in Birmingham, made a plan to move her remaining embryos to another state. Cole has a rare blood disorder that prevents her from safely carrying a child, so she’s planning to use a surrogate. That embryo transfer is scheduled for next week, and she still has other embryos in storage.

“I was scared for what the future held for the embryos that we’re still going to have in storage,” she said. “My first thought was, ‘OK, I need to transfer my embryos out-of-state and have them frozen somewhere else so I don’t open myself up to liability.’”

Cole said she selected which embryo to use with Alabama’s legal landscape in mind.

“We are picking a boy to transfer because these rules and laws that are coming out that are affecting women’s health kind of scare me for a daughter,” she said.

Deady said there's no reason yet why patients in Alabama should be afraid of getting IVF — but providers are proceeding cautiously.

McLean said there are even some concerns about the ability to freeze embryos in the first place, given the ruling. An alternative to freezing or discarding embryos, she said, would be to create fewer of them. But in that case, patients would likely require more rounds of IVF to get pregnant, which is both expensive and physically demanding.

Alabama's legal landscape has made the Goidels reconsider whether they want to raise kids there.

“We’re this very traditional family that just wants to have a kid, so I didn’t realize ever that this was going to be a question of morality,” Goidel said.

“We really envisioned starting a life here and probably retiring here,” she added. “We’re very much questioning whether or not we want to leave.”

what is a case interview question

Aria Bendix is the breaking health reporter for NBC News Digital.

Buford Pusser was once his hero. Now, this ex-sheriff has a new view of the famed lawman

what is a case interview question

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct information about the death of Dennis Hathcock's aunt.

He drove the murder route.

Mike Elam scanned the bushes along the sides of the road where killers could have laid in wait.

Something didn't seem right to him.

It's about 20 miles from former McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser's house to the spot, or spots, where his wife, Pauline was shot in rural West Tennessee. Past the New Hope United Methodist Church. Under the bridge. Elam zipped along New Hope Road, which hasn't changed much since 1967. Elam took the same route at the same speed and stopped in the same places Pusser, the iconic Southern lawman, took on the night he and his wife were reportedly ambushed.

After his reenactment, Elam, 72, himself a former Southern lawman, had so many questions. Elam thought Pusser's account of the ambush was full of discrepancies. The blood splatter on the hood of the car didn't make sense. And, how did four assailants (as Pusser described) know where to set up for an ambush on a random rural road?

"I just want justice for Pauline," Elam said in a recent interview.

For almost three decades, checking the narrative about Buford Pusser has become an obsession for Elam.

He's self-published a book ("Buford Pusser: The Other Story"), operates a Facebook group for more than 17,000 Pusser skeptics and enthusiasts and even leads an occasional bus tour of the McNairy County sites made famous by two "Walking Tall" movies (1973 and 2004). Elam was a Benton County, Arkansas, sheriff for six years in the 1970s, and he said the 6-foot-6 Buford Pusser was a hero because his story inspired so many people to pursue law enforcement careers.

Then, in 1995, he saw a few internet articles suggesting Pusser may not have been the upstanding lawman he had been portrayed to be. 

He was hooked.

"He did good things, but that doesn't outweigh the bad things he did," Elam said.

And there was this: Elam discovered Pusser didn't regularly carry a big stick, like the movies depicted. 

"Hollywood myth," is the way Elam described the Buford Pusser story many people think they know.

What to know: Buford Pusser and the exhumation of Pauline Pusser's body. What to know

'He Walked Tall'

In the late 1990s, Elam began recording interviews, collecting evidence and, over the years, offering tips to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

On Feb. 8, 2024, the TBI took the extraordinary step of exhuming Pauline Pusser's body from the burial plot she shares with Buford, with a headstone chiseled with both their names and the words, "He Walked Tall."

"Pauline was fatally shot on August 12, 1967, in McNairy County, and the Tennessee Bureau of Criminal Identification was called in to investigate," a TBI statement read.  "As we have evolved to become the independent agency that we are today, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, this case has remained an active investigation.  As with any unresolved case, agents have continued to reexamine files and follow any and all leads. 

"A recent tip prompted a new review of the case file and the discovery was made that an autopsy was never performed on Mrs. Pusser’s body.  With the support of Pauline’s family and in consultation with 25 th  Judicial District Attorney General Mark Davidson, TBI requested the exhumation in an attempt to answer critical questions and provide crucial information that may assist in identifying the person or persons responsible for Pauline Pusser’s death."

Elam said he doesn't know if he was the person who made the tip that led to the exhumation, but he said he has made lots of tips to the TBI over the years. In his book, Elam theorizes Pusser was secretly part of the same illegal moonshine black market that he famously (chronicled in newspapers, books and movies) tried to stop. Elam said he believes Pauline Pusser knew of her husband's corruption.

Elam said he believes Buford Pusser killed her to prevent her from speaking to authorities.

"If he (Buford Pusser) took someone's life to keep his secret, what kind of hero was he?" Elam said.

Elam's theories have not been embraced by all his Facebook followers.

Ronald Pusser, who said he is Buford Pusser's fourth cousin, called Elam's theories "a joke." Pusser said his nickname during his school days was "Buford" after the legendary sheriff.

"He (Elam) is an (expletive) in my book," said Ronald Pusser, 60. "I don't understand his motivation."

Ronald Pusser said Elam is the reason for the renewed interest in the case.

"This (the exhumation) is a witch hunt started by Mike Elam's tip," he said. "I was flabbergasted. Let her (Pauline) rest in peace."

War on moonshiners

Buford Pusser was a basketball star at Adamsville High School in the mid-1950s. At 6-foot-6, he played center, and averaged a tick under 20 points per game. He left McNairy County for the U.S. Marine Corps, but recurring asthma eruptions in basic training ended his military career.

He moved to Chicago, became a professional wrestler (known as Buford The Bull) and married Pauline Mullins. Pusser and his new wife moved to Adamsville in 1962, and he got his first job in law enforcement as a constable in his hometown, serving for two years. In 1964, he decided to run for McNairy County Sheriff, and his opponent, James Dickey, died in a car accident just before the election.

Pusser served as the McNairy County Sheriff from 1964-69. As sheriff, Pusser declared war against moonshiners (McNairy County was dry), prostitution and the "State Line Mob," a criminal group that owned bars, restaurants and hotels on the border of Tennessee and Mississippi.

Elam said Pusser may have used a hickory stick to break up backyard stills in a few instances, but he did not carry one with him constantly like he did in the movies.

Pusser survived several assassination attempts as he took aim at the State Line Mob. His life story was chronicled in the book "The Twelfth of August" by W.R. Morris. The book got its name from the date of the reported ambush on Pusser and his wife. Pusser, himself, was shot in the chin during that incident. The book and several newspaper articles speculated that the ambush was carried out by a team of assassins led by a Dixie Mafia member named Kirksey Nix, who was never charged.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Edward Humes, who wrote "Mississippi Mud" (the Simon and Schuster published book is about the assassination of a judge and his wife), touched on the Pusser case through his research of Nix.

"There was a great deal of circumstantial evidence suggesting Kirksey Nix was in the right place at the right time to have been involved," Humes said in a Facebook direct message. "Pusser later claimed Nix had been hired to make the hit as revenge for the killing of a close Dixie Mafia friend’s wife, who had been shot by Pusser during a bust.

"Jailhouse snitches over the years have claimed Nix boasted of his involvement, but the career criminal and convicted killer was never charged in the case. Nix adamantly denied involvement when I interviewed him."

Pauline Pusser's case has never been solved. 

"The Twelfth of August" was the inspiration for the first "Walking Tall" movie in 1973. The film starred Joe Don Baker as an aggressive sheriff who would bash people with a stick if he thought they were running moonshine. The second film starred Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a military veteran who tried to clean up his hometown. The second movie strayed even further from Pusser's real-life story.

Buford Pusser died in a single car accident at age 36 in 1974. His Corvette hit an embankment on Highway 64 at a high-rate of speed.

Questions about blood splatter

Elam knows his theories about the case aren't always popular.

A few times, he has hired a bus to take Pusser enthusiasts to see the McNairy County sites made famous by the Pusser story. Once, he was met with resistance in front of the Buford Pusser Museum, located at 342 Pusser St. in Adamsville.

"We were greeted by the police department," Elam said.

Elam said he talked his way out of any trouble, and his guests got to tour the museum.

The Tennessean talked to the person who answered the phone at the museum. The person declined to give their name. He said he is not allowed to comment because the case is under investigation and hung up on a reporter.

Oakley Dean Baldwin, who wrote the self-published book "The Murder of Mrs. Buford Pusser," said he is a cousin of Pauline. He is a former crime scene investigator in North Carolina and an intelligence officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Baldwin said he and Elam are mostly in agreement about their theories of the Pusser ambush.

"I had a lot of concerns about the blood splatter on the vehicle," Baldwin said. "I also had concerns about a sheriff receiving a disturbance call at 2 a.m. and taking his wife. 

"A lot of red flags were popping up for me."

Dennis Hathcock was one of the witnesses at the crime scene just more than an hour after Pauline Pusser was killed. He said he saw part of Pauline's skull in a nearby ditch. He said he has been questioned over the years by the TBI.

Hathcock, now 74, was 16 at the time. He raced to the scene on his motorcycle after hearing about an ambush. Hathcock had followed Pusser's life closely because he believed the sheriff had shot his aunt, Louise Hathcock, in the back. Louise had a reputation as being a member of the State Line Mob.

Louise Hathcock's death (the official report said she shot at Pusser and he returned fire) is popular among the anti-Pusser crowd because they claim her shooting was not in self-defense.

Dennis Hathcock said he's happy with Elam's work.

"Thank God that somebody had enough sense to not fall for the B.S. about Pusser," he said.

A 30 caliber clue?

The most important piece of evidence Elam has found is now in possession of the TBI.

An anonymous follower of Elam's Facebook page contacted him in July of 2023. The follower said he had a 30 caliber carbine that once belonged to Buford Pusser.

Elam met the follower, called the TBI and the gun was put into evidence.

Elam doesn't know what TBI has done with the gun.

"I've been told Pauline was shot with a 30 caliber gun," Elam said. "I think it was the gun that may have been used to kill Pauline Pusser."

So far the TBI has said nothing about the gun, the results of tests on Pauline Pusser's corpse or how they may handle information changes the narrative about Buford Pusser.

Mike Elam, and everybody else, has to wait.

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Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are 'children' under state law

The Associated Press

what is a case interview question

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a ruling critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatments. The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Kim Chandler/AP hide caption

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a ruling critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatments. The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a decision critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatment in the state.

The decision was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases brought by three couples who had frozen embryos destroyed in an accident at a fertility clinic. Justices, citing anti-abortion language in the Alabama Constitution, ruled that an 1872 state law allowing parents to sue over the death of a minor child "applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location."

How Alabama's ruling that frozen embryos are 'children' could impact IVF

Interview highlights

How alabama's ruling that frozen embryos are 'children' could impact ivf.

"Unborn children are 'children' ... without exception based on developmental stage, physical location, or any other ancillary characteristics," Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in Friday's majority ruling by the all-Republican court.

Mitchell said the court had previously ruled that fetuses killed while a woman is pregnant are covered under Alabama's Wrongful Death of a Minor Act and nothing excludes "extrauterine children from the Act's coverage."

The ruling brought a rush of warnings about the potential impact on fertility treatments and the freezing of embryos, which had previously been considered property by the courts.

An Alabama Supreme Court ruling may have wider implications for people seeking IVF

"This ruling is stating that a fertilized egg, which is a clump of cells, is now a person. It really puts into question, the practice of IVF," Barbara Collura, CEO of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, told The Associated Press Tuesday. The group called the decision a "terrifying development for the 1-in-6 people impacted by infertility" who need in-vitro fertilization.

She said it raises questions for providers and patients, including if they can freeze future embryos created during fertility treatment or if patients could ever donate or destroy unused embryos.

Sean Tipton, a spokesman with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said at least one Alabama fertility clinic has been instructed by their affiliated hospital to pause IVF treatment in the immediate wake of the decision.

Dr. Paula Amato, president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, said a decision to treat frozen fertilized egg as the legal equivalent of a child or gestating fetus could limit the availability of modern health care.

"By insisting that these very different biological entities are legally equivalent, the best state-of-the-art fertility care will be made unavailable to the people of Alabama. No health care provider will be willing to provide treatments if those treatments may lead to civil or criminal charges," Amato said.

Gabby Goidel, 26, who is pursuing IVF treatment in Alabama after three miscarriages, said the court ruling came down on the same day she began daily injections ahead of egg retrieval.

"It just kind of took me by by storm. It was like all I could think about and it was just a very stressful thing to hear. I immediately messaged my clinic and asked if this could potentially halt us. They said we have to take it one day at a time," Goidel said.

She said her clinic is continuing to provide treatment for now, but said it will let her know if they have to change course.

Goidel said she turned to IVF and preimplantation genetic testing after the multiple miscarriages related to genetic issues.

"Without IVF, I would have to probably go through several more miscarriages before I even had an option of having a baby that is my own," she said.

The plaintiffs in the Alabama case had undergone IVF treatments that led to the creation of several embryos, some of which were implanted and resulted in healthy births. The couples paid to keep others frozen in a storage facility at the Mobile Infirmary Medical Center. A patient in 2020 wandered into the area and removed several embryos, dropping them on the floor and "killing them," the ruling said.

The justices ruled that wrongful death lawsuits by the couples could proceed. The clinic and hospital that are defendants in the case could ask the court to reconsider its decision.

Michael Upchurch, a lawyer for the fertility clinic in the lawsuit, Center for Reproductive Medicine, said they are "evaluating the consequences of the decision and have no further comment at this time."

An anti-abortion group cheered the decision. "Each person, from the tiniest embryo to an elder nearing the end of his life, has incalculable value that deserves and is guaranteed legal protection," Lila Rose, president and founder of Live Action said in a statement.

Chief Justice Tom Parker issued a concurring opinion in which he quoted the Bible in discussing the meaning of the phrase "the sanctity of unborn life" in the Alabama Constitution.

"Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory," Parker said.

Justice Greg Cook, who filed the only full dissent to the majority opinion, said the 1872 law did not define "minor child" and was being stretched from the original intent to cover frozen embryos.

"No court — anywhere in the country — has reached the conclusion the main opinion reaches," he wrote, adding the ruling "almost certainly ends the creation of frozen embryos through in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Alabama."

The Alabama Supreme Court decision partly hinged on anti-abortion language added to the Alabama Constitution in 2018, stating it is the "policy of this state to ensure the protection of the rights of the unborn child."

Supporters at the time said it would have no impact unless states gained more control over abortion access. States gained control of abortion access in 2022.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Alabama decision reflected the consequences of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and blamed Republican elected officials from blocking access to reproductive and emergency care to women.

"This president and this vice president will continue to fight to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state," Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.

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  • fertilization
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Politics latest: Tories turn on Sunak over 'unacceptable' stance on Islamophobia row

The Tories' first Muslim cabinet minister and a serving MP have told Sky News the prime minister is falling short in his response to the Islamophobia row engulfing the party after Lee Anderson's comments about Sadiq Khan. Rishi Sunak has condemned the remarks, but didn't call them racist.

Monday 26 February 2024 21:22, UK

  • Anderson won't apologise for Khan remarks
  • PM says comments about London mayor 'wrong'
  • Anderson allies say suspension 'final nail in coffin'
  • Peer says Sunak 'needs to act' against 'targeted racism'
  • Muslim Tory MP attacks PM's 'unacceptable' stance on faiths
  • Matthew Thompson: Row may just cause Tory party to unravel
  • Sky News Daily: Anderson, heightened tension, and MPs' safety
  • Live reporting by Faith Ridler and (earlier)  Ben Bloch

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about different political parties.

Labour is still sitting comfortably on a roughly 18-point lead, averaging at 43.4% in the polls, and the Tories on 25.4%.

In third are the Lib Dems on 9.7%, followed by Reform on 9.6%.

The Green Party stands at 5.9%, and the SNP on 3.1%.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker  here .

By  Jennifer Scott , political reporter

A Conservative former minister has been criticised for claiming there are "no-go areas" in parts of London and Birmingham where Muslim people live.

Paul Scully, who served as minister for London until the last reshuffle, made the comments during an interview with BBC Radio London, in which he said some people were "concerned about, more and more, their neighbourhoods changing".

He also said Lee Anderson, who was suspended from the Tory party after refusing to apologise for claiming "Islamists" had achieved "control" over London, was "trying to reflect that in a really clumsy way".

Read more below:

By Jennifer Scott , political reporter

Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has rejected an application from the SNP for an emergency debate over a ceasefire in Gaza - despite proposing the debate himself.

Last week saw the Commons descend into chaoswhen Sir Lindsay breached convention and allowed a Labour amendment to dominate an SNP opposition day, discussing the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The Speaker apologised for the incident and said he would grant the SNP a so-called SO24 debate to give them a chance to highlight their position.

But SNP leader Stephen Flynn revealed on Monday that their application had been thrown out, much to their anger.

Sir Lindsay said the government planned to "make a relevant statement" around the situation in Gaza on Tuesday, so there would be a "very relevant opportunity for this matter to come before the House".

By Alexandra Rogers , political reporter

Labour has called on Rishi Sunak to consider removing the whip from Liz Truss after her appearance in the US sparked controversy.

Anneliese Dodds, the chair of the Labour Party, accused the former prime minister of "propagating conspiracy theories" and "associating with individuals who have actually praised the far right in our country".

"That's deeply disturbing, and we've not seen any action being taken," Ms Dodds told Sky News.

Ms Dodds was referring to a series of controversial appearances made by Ms Truss in recent weeks, including a speech in Washington where she accused US president Joe Biden of being "asleep at the wheel" and stating that he needed to be "kicked out" of the White House.

Ms Truss had used a talk at the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac) in the US to claim her efforts to slash taxes were "sabotaged" by the "administrative state and the deep state" .

The former deputy chair of the Conservative Party, Lee Anderson, has refused to apologise for comments that saw him suspended from the party.

He said he believed "Islamists" had "got control" of London's mayor Sadiq Khan - a remark Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called "unacceptable".

But Mr Anderson isn't the only politician stoking racial divides, with Azhar Ali standing in this week's Rochdale by-election despite making antisemitic remarks that cost him Labour's backing.

The tensions have left many MPs fearing for their personal safety as security has had to be ramped up for several of them.

On this edition of the Sky News Daily , Jonathan Samuels speaks to  deputy political editor Sam Coates about the toxicity in politics.

Plus, Anna Firth, the Conservative MP for Southend West - where the late MP Sir David Amess was killed by an Islamic State sympathiser - describes what it's like to be a member of parliament in the current political climate.

Rishi Sunak "should show some leadership" and move to "root out" Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, a Tory peer has said.

Baroness Warsi said the debate around whether Lee Anderson's comments about Sadiq Khan could be labelled racist was "crazy".

Mr Anderson was suspended as a Tory MP after refusing to apologise for saying the London mayor was under the control of "Islamists" and handed the capital over to "his mates".

The prime minister said the remarks were "wrong" but has refused to describe them as Islamophobic.

Baroness Warsi was the first Muslim to serve in a Conservative government's cabinet, under David Cameron. 

She told Sky News: "It's crazy that we're sat here having conversations about words, about definitions, when it is so obvious to the ordinary member of the public that what Lee Anderson said was targeted racism.

"We didn't allow the Labour Party to get away with this whataboutery on antisemitism.

"The prime minister should show some leadership and root this out."

Baroness Warsi said it would be "shameful" if the decision not to call out the comments was based on "personal prejudice or an electoral tool", with suggestions Mr Anderson's fellow Red Wall Tory MPs are angry about his suspension.

"The prime minister now needs to act," she added. 

"He needs to be clear that this is on his watch and he will therefore be responsible for the racism that is coming out of the party that he leads."

As our deputy political editor Sam Coates points out, there are only two parties who can afford to inundate the likes of Facebook and Instagram with adverts - the Conservatives and Labour.

"But the question is, who is going to vet and check what happens?

"To what extent will Facebook take responsibility if there is content put out by the political parties which is flat untrue - or just unfair?"

You can hear more of Sam's thoughts below...

That brings tonight's coverage of Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge to a close, but stay with us for the latest news and analysis from Westminster.

The two Labour mayors also touched on today's cabinet away day, which saw senior ministers gather in Yorkshire.

Asked if this is patronising, Mr Burnham says: "I was in Gordon Brown's cabinet… and it was the day after we had spoken at the Hillsborough 20th anniversary at Anfield which was a big moment.

"I was at a cabinet away day in Glasgow the next day, and… these are the things that governments do when they are very unpopular, and they're desperately going around the country to try and prove that they're in touch.

"Sadly, the government I was in was doing that at the time – and this one is doing exactly the same thing now."

The conversation then turned to the book Mr Burnham and Mr Rotherham have written together, Head North.

Mr Rotherham explains how it will tell the story of their "lived experiences" and "what brought us together".

"We basically left Westminster together," the mayor of Greater Manchester says.

"We shook hands in a pub not far from here and said 'Are we fed up of this system that we're trying to work in, and are we going to try and build something different?'"

Andy Burnham (a keen Everton fan) tells Sophy the treatment of the club has proven the Premier League can't properly regulate football.

Everton were hit with a 10-point deduction for breaching profitability and sustainability rules last November, but this has now been reduced to six following an appeal ( read more here ).

He says: "This bill to regulate football is, I think, landing in parliament this week or next, very soon. 

"And I think parliament needs to stick to its guns. The Premier League has proved, in my view, that they can't properly regulate football through the way it's treated Everton Football Club. 

"We need a strong, independent statutory regulator for football, learning from all of the wrong things that have been done over recent weeks."

On the change to Everton's points deduction, he adds: "It's progress. 

"It still doesn't feel entirely fair to me. Well, the whole thing doesn't feel fair, the way this football club has been treated…

"This is a founder member of the Football League. Found a member of the Premier League, building a new stadium in Liverpool, enhancing the Premier League.

"And just to be hit with this arbitrary 10 points. Okay, there's been some recognition today that it wasn't fair."

The conversation with Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham now turns to HS2, and news that £4.7bn of funding from the scrapped northern leg will be earmarked for the North and Midlands.

Mr Rotherham says this amounts to being given "crumbs off a table".

"What's happened during 13-14 years of austerity is that the areas we represent have been hardest hit, and the most money and the heaviest cuts have been inflicted on our areas," he says.

"So our local authorities, our councils, can't do lots of the things that they would have been able to do if they'd have had just the steady stream of funding that they had previously.

"To give this is a little bit like crumbs off a table."

Mr Burnham also criticises the decision to scrap the northern leg.

"To scrap a strategic rail project that would have brought proper regeneration to the regions, make people’s lives better because rail services would be better… instead, what have they done?

"They've scrapped that, and scattered the money into refilling potholes all around the country."

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what is a case interview question

COMMENTS

  1. 10 Case Interview Question Examples (Plus Answers)

    Indeed Editorial Team Updated February 12, 2024 If you are applying for a position as a management consultant or a related job, you will likely be required to participate in a case interview. A case interview is used to test a candidate's analytical and soft skills as they relate to business.

  2. What Is a Case Interview and How Do You Ace It? (+Examples)

    A case interview is defined as "a hypothetical business situation that is presented during the job interview process to determine how a candidate thinks about a particular problem and how they would solve it." Usually, this specific business problem or situation is one that a candidate would face if hired for the job in that specific company.

  3. Case Interview: all you need to know (and how to prepare)

    2. What is a case interview? Before we can hope to tackle a case interview, we have to understand what one is. In short, a case interview simulates real consulting work by having you solve a business case study in conversation with your interviewer.

  4. Case Interview 101: The Online Guidebook

    How can the bank achieve that goal?" Case interviews are modeled after the course of actions real consultants do in real projects - so success in case interviews is seen by consulting firms as a (partial) indication of a good management consultant.

  5. 9 Types of Questions in Actual Case Interviews

    Types of case interview questions Most questions in case interviews belong to one of these 9 types: 1. Framework/issue tree questions 2. Market-sizing and guesstimate questions 3. Valuation questions 4. Brain teaser questions 5. Chart insight questions 6. Value proposition questions 7. Information questions 8. Math problems 9.

  6. Case Interviewing Questions

    Case Interviewing Questions What is a case interview? The case interview is a scenario modeled after a real business or management problem. Candidates are asked to analyze a problem and provide a solution based on the information given.

  7. 10 Tips To Prepare and Practice for a Case Interview

    Understand the case interview question. Ensuring you understand the problem presented in a case interview is the first step to formulating a high-quality solution. Paraphrase the question and ask for clarification on anything you are unsure about. Clarify the objective of the case interview question.

  8. How To Conduct Case Interview Prep (Plus Why It's Important)

    Strategic Read more: How To Succeed in a Case Study Interview (With Sample Questions and Answers) Why is case interview prep important? Case interview prep is important because it helps you better demonstrate your ability to solve business problems and perform day-to-day activities for potential employers.

  9. Prep For A Case Interview: What It Is + How To Ace It

    Contents What Is a Case Interview? In a case interview, the candidate is provided with a detailed situation, problem or challenge and asked to analyze it and come up with a solution. A case interview question can be based on a creative business situation your interviewer has experienced in real life, or one manufactured to deduce your abilities.

  10. Case Interview: Step-by-Step Guide for 2024

    9. Summary of a Case Interview. All case interviews roughly follow this same format or structure. The industry, quantitative problems, and qualitative questions will be different, but the strategy and approach will be the same. To recap, here are all of the steps in a typical case interview.

  11. What Is a Case Interview? (With Definition and Tips)

    (With Definition and Tips) Indeed Editorial Team Updated 30 September 2022 Employers in technical fields often use case interviews to determine how much a potential employee knows about their chosen field. Employers may use this type of interview to assess how a candidate approaches problems that have multiple potential solutions.

  12. Case Interview Guide: Preparation, Strategies & Examples

    The case interview question (30-45 mins): The interviewer will give you a real-world business problem to solve (more details below). Open questions (5-10 mins): At the end of the interview, you'll have an opportunity to ask questions to the interview. To be successful, you'll need to do well during all three stages.

  13. Case Interview Prep Guide

    Updated February 06, 2024 The case interview: it's the ultimate test of strategy and executive communication for the management consulting industry. When I first checked out how to become a consultant, I quickly discovered that the consulting case interview is a beast unlike any other.

  14. Common Case Interview Questions

    Mastering the most common case interview questions is the first step towards acing your case interview and landing a coveted job offer. Crafting an impeccable resume and preparing for the fit interview are important, but just the beginning - the real challenge lies in conquering the case interview. To effectively prepare, you must understand ...

  15. 47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

    One of the best ways to prepare for case interviews at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples.. There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

  16. The most common case study interview questions

    To identify the most common case interview questions posed by interviewers at McKinsey, BCG and Bain, we surveyed CaseCoach users who interviewed at one of the firms for a generalist role in 2023. We found that 90% of the 260+ case interviews reported by respondents fell into one of 10 question types: Rank. Question type. % of case questions. 1.

  17. Case Study Interview Examples (With Tips to Answer Them)

    Hiring managers ask case interview questions to assess a candidate's analytical and soft abilities in business. Preparing for a case interview is the greatest approach to creating a good impression and establishing that you're a good fit for consulting or other similar career.

  18. 6 Types of Case Interviews

    The case interview is where you demonstrate that you have the skills to do the job. Case interviews offer an in-depth view of how you think, function under pressure, solve problems, and marry big-picture context with attention to detail. In addition, they are excellent test scenarios for your communication ability.

  19. Case Interview Frameworks: The Ultimate Guide (2024)

    Case Interview Framework Strategies. There are four case interview framework strategies you should have in your toolkit: Strategy #1: Creating Frameworks from Scratch; Strategy #2: Memorizing 8 - 10 Broad Business Areas; Strategy #3: Breaking Down Stakeholders; Strategy #4: Breaking Down Processes; When given a case interview, you will need ...

  20. 100 Case Study Interview Questions [Updated for 2020]

    A good case study question delivers a powerful message to leads in the decision stage of your prospective buyer's journey. Since your client has agreed to participate in a case study, they're likely enthusiastic about the service you provide.

  21. A Guide To Acing Your Next Case Interview

    Related: 10 Case Interview Question Examples Format for case interviews The format for case interviews tend to fall under these three different categories: Brain teasers: These are logic puzzles and riddles that are intended to test your creative and analytical thinking skills. While they are less common for case interviews, it may be wise to ...

  22. What is a Case Interview? A Comprehensive Explanation

    The traditional case interview is the format that accounts for 80 to 90 percent of all case interviews. It is the format we have covered so far in which you and the interviewer work together to develop a recommendation or answer to a business problem.

  23. Case interview

    Case interview A case interview is a job interview in which the applicant is presented with a challenging business scenario that he/she must investigate and propose a solution to. Case interviews are designed to test the candidate's analytical skills and "soft" skills within a realistic business context.

  24. 5 Ways to Prepare for Situational Interview Questions

    Summary. When interviewing for a new job, anticipating and preparing answers in writing to the most common situational questions — such as how you solved a big problem, aligned stakeholders on a ...

  25. Top HR Interview Questions and Answers: Freshers & Experienced (2024

    In case the interview is online, then remember to keep your video on. Lastly, have a smile on your face. In this article, let us see what are the most commonly asked HR interview questions and understand why the questions are being asked and what would be the sample acceptable answers to those questions. Traditional HR Questions

  26. Why Judge McAfee's decision on Fani Willis should be an easy one

    None of that information was relevant or required for the prosecution of a pending criminal case in which the 45th president of the United States is a co-defendant.

  27. IVF doctors, patients fearful after Alabama court rules embryos are

    The Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos are children could lead to lawsuits for destroying frozen embryos, raising questions about in-vitro fertilization.

  28. Buford Pusser case: Ex-sheriff has new views, sends tips to TBI

    As with any unresolved case, agents have continued to reexamine files and follow any and all leads. "A recent tip prompted a new review of the case file and the discovery was made that an autopsy ...

  29. Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are 'children' under state

    The Alabama Supreme Court ruled, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, that frozen embryos can be considered children under state law, a ruling critics said could have sweeping implications for fertility treatments.

  30. Politics latest: Lee Anderson's comments that sparked ...

    Rishi Sunak is under pressure to address the suspension of Lee Anderson from the Tory party after the ex-party deputy chair said he believed "Islamists" had "got control" of Sadiq Khan, the London ...