When applying to top consulting firms, one of the most crucial stages of the interview process is the case interview. This format is designed to assess your analytical competencies, problem-solving skills, and ability to think strategically under pressure. Let's take a look at what to expect.
A case interview is a 30-minute simulation of a typical business project that consultants may have worked on. Cases provide a real example of an on-the-job experience and the assumption is that if a candidate is successfully able to tackle a case interview, he or she is also more likely to be a successful management consultant.
Case studies are the most important and usually the longest part of consulting interviews. In addition to the case study, the interview typically includes introductory small talk, a personal fit interview, and closing questions (see the illustration below).
Many companies review and standardize their consulting cases prior to a real interview to ensure that the case is neither too difficult nor too easy. Companies also ensure that a variety of skills are tested during the interviews.
The Typical Flow of a Case Interview
The case interview typically follows a structured flow to ensure that both the interviewer and the candidate cover all necessary aspects of the business problem. It involves the following phases:
1. Case Presentation and Problem Understanding
To start off, the interviewer will present a specific business problem or scenario. This could range from market entry considerations, to profitability issues, or organizational changes. The problem is usually based on real-world business issues that the consulting firm dealt with in the past.
You are expected to listen carefully, take notes, and clarify any points that are not clear to fully understand the scope and context of the problem.
👉 To get a better feeling for possible case prompts, check out the following beginner cases.
You have been hired to support the owner of a bike-shop as a business consultant. The bike-shop has suffered a significant revenue decline during the last year, and now the owner would like you to assess the situation and options for the way forward.They want to know last year’s profit, i.e. how it was affected by the revenue decline, and what the priority actions are to survive the next year. (short term)In addition they would like to understand the strategic competitive position of the shop better and how to increase revenues again mid- to long-term.
Our client (FastFood Co) is a fast-food company that has > 20 restaurants in the city. Recently, the business has encountered significant challenges, with net profit drops to negative.The client wants us to help them turn around the business. How would you help them?
Afterwards, you outline a structured approach or framework to tackle the problem. Common frameworks include the SWOT analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, or the 4P's, with which you can structure your information. This step demonstrates your ability to break down complex issues into manageable parts.
However, keep in mind that it is not enough to simply memorize the standard framework concepts. While standard frameworks are useful for a rudimentary outline of a case problem, they need to be optimized and adapted to the individual case. Don't worry, as this is a skill you can develop, but it definitely requires thorough preparation and practice.
Once you have crafted your structure, clearly explain your framework to the interviewer, ensuring he or she understands your thought process and logical flow.
3. Analysis and Problem Solving
Next, you dive into the analysis. During the interview, your interviewer may provide additional data, charts or exhibits. Analyze this information to support your framework and build your argument. Formulate hypotheses based on your analysis and test them against the data provided. If needed, adjust your approach based on your new findings.
During the quantitative analysis, perform the necessary calculations to support your findings. This could include market sizing estimations, profitability calculations or a cost analysis. Good mental math skills will definitely help in this phase.
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Once you have worked through your structure, provide clear, and actionable recommendations based on your analysis. Use the Pyramid Principle of communication, highlight your key findings and explain how they address the problem.
You should also be ready to justify your suggestions with evidence from your analysis (i. e. data) and discuss possible next steps or further areas of investigation that the client may wish to consider.
After all, the interviewer may question your conclusions or ask for further clarification. Be prepared to defend your recommendations and discuss alternative perspectives.
After, all the best way to prepare for your interview is practice. Explore our Case Library with real examples now!
Your client tk Commodity Trade (tk ComT) is a global materials trader - they buy and sell raw materials. tk ComT had stable EBITDA margins in recent years. They consider expanding their target market and entering the Lithium (electric vehicle battery grade) trade, due to the current high demand for electric cars and Lithium-ion batteries. The client is concerned about minimizing the cash spending and about improving the payback period for this market-entry campaign, due to corporate cash policy.As a consultant, you are expected to calculate the size of the Lithium market and to assess the payback periods for an organic market entry (with own resources) as well as for the acquisition of an established company. Finally, the client expects a proposal about the best market entry strategy and potential opportunities and risks.
Our client is a consumer packaged goods company looking for top-line growth opportunities. They are considering extending its pre-existing baby products brand (e.g., Huggies) into a new product category – baby clothing.They are looking for this business to generate +$300M revenue per year, beginning in Year 1.Should our client enter the baby clothing market?
Your client is a leading retail coffee chain. They are present in several countries globally and are a popular brand in most of the markets that they operate in, with several thousands stores in operation.A key focus of the company currently is diversity & inclusion. In their biggest market which is the US, 1 in 4 people have some sort of disability. One realization the client has had is that their retail stores are not as inclusive to individuals with disabilities. McKinsey has been brought on to help them design more inclusive spaces in their retail stores.
Your client is Novion Therapeutics, a leading American biotech company focused on gene and cell therapies. With a market capitalization of around $120 billion, Novion is recognized for its innovations in rare disease treatments and its mission to advance human health through breakthrough biotechnologies in immunology, oncology, and genetic medicine.Recently, the company has faced growing investor pressure. Despite strong products, its firm-value growth has stagnated, and investors are expecting a visible strategic move within the next quarter. The CFO has identified several high-growth, capital-intensive R&D and acquisition projects, but Novion lacks sufficient cash reserves to fund them. What should the CFO do next?
Sie wurden vom Vorstand der Global Plastics AG beauftragt, die wirtschaftliche Performance der Unternehmens-Gruppe im Rahmen eines Independent Business Review (IBR) zu analysieren und das Management zu beraten. Das Unternehmen ist seit dem 1. Januar 2019 durch eine Kontokorrentlinie i.H.v. € 150,0 Mio. finanziert. Darüber hinaus gibt es keine weiteren Verbindlichkeiten gegenüber Kreditinstituten. Das finanzierende Bankenkonsortium hat aufgrund schlechter Quartalszahlen und einer angespannten Marktlage eine Validierung der Mittelfristplanung angefordert.Die Global Plastics AG produziert weltweit in 5 Werken Kunststoffbauteile für Fahrzeuginnenräume in den Anwendungsbereichen PKW (PT-Segment), LKW (CT-Segment) sowie Land- (AG-Segment) und Baumaschinen (CON-Segment). Global Plastics beliefert primär deutsche Premium-OEMs und gilt als Qualitätsführer im Interior-Markt. Das Unternehmen nutzt dabei patentierte Technologien in den Bereichen Spritzguss, Kunststoffgalvanik sowie Heißprägung. Der Interior-Markt ist zunehmend von einem Preisdruck durch asiatische Wettbewerber geprägt, die den Qualitätsansprüchen europäischer Kunden immer besser entsprechen.Die Global Plastics AG hat Ihnen zur Analyse ihre GuV und Bilanz zur Verfügung gestellt. Dort sind die Ergebnisse der Geschäftsjahre 2019 bis 2021 sowie der Forecast des Geschäftsjahres 2022 enthalten.Bitte lösen Sie die unten aufgeführten Aufgaben.
Our client is Homeware Heaven. They are a homeware and appliance retailer that sells items such as kitchen appliances (fridges, ovens), kitchenware, lighting, bedding and bath products, home decor etc. They have 100 stores in the top 20 cities in the US. Their stores are large stand-alone stores located outside of the city centre. Over the last 3 years, business has not been going well for our client. Their revenue has been declining year over year and they have had fewer unique shoppers in their stores. They have hired McKinsey to help them turnaround the situation
The municipal utility Hamburg Energized is a local energy retail (power and gas) and distribution grid company active in the city of Hamburg. The majority of shares of Hamburg Energized is held by the city itself. As the distribution system operator of Hamburg, Hamburg Energized is responsible for the operations and maintenance of the gas and electricity grid on customer level.In the course of the energy transition in Germany, the responsible board member for the technical grid operations, Jan Bremer, thinks about deploying Smart Meters in the gas and electricity grid. He approaches you with the request to conduct a feasibility analysis and to give a clear recommendation whether or not Hamburg Energized should use Smart Meters in its gas and electricity grid in the future.
Your client is the Government of Indonesia, specifically a joint committee formed between a few key ministries including the Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Environment & Forestry. Indonesia is one of the largest developing countries in the world, with a population of about 285M people and an average monthly income of only USD 500. Located in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is actually a vast archipelago comprised of 17,000 islands, giving it one of the longest and most complex coastlines in the world. It is also part of the Coral Triangle, an area demarcated by scientists as the global epicenter of marine diversity. Your client tells you that Indonesia's once pristine coral reefs have seen a rapid decline over the past decade. They have come to you for help and want to figure out what is causing the problem.
Die Fröhlich Maschinen GmbH, ein mittelständisches Unternehmen mit Sitz in Deutschland, ist auf die Produktion von Spezialmaschinen für die Automobilindustrie spezialisiert. Das Unternehmen hat in den letzten fünf Jahren seinen Umsatz kontinuierlich gesteigert, jedoch ist die Profitabilität stark zurückgegangen. Die Gewinnmarge vor Steuern liegt bei nur 3,75 %, was deutlich unter dem Branchendurchschnitt von 8 % liegt.Gleichzeitig steht das Unternehmen vor internen und externen Herausforderungen:Interne Herausforderungen: Ein veraltetes ERP-System führt zu ineffizienten Prozessen in der Produktion und Verwaltung. Zudem gibt es Hinweise auf eine unvorteilhafte Kostenstruktur und mangelnde Transparenz bei der Produktprofitabilität.Externe Herausforderungen: Steigende Rohstoffpreise und ein intensiverer Wettbewerb setzen die Margen zusätzlich unter Druck. Einige Wettbewerber bieten ähnliche Produkte zu niedrigeren Preisen an und diversifizieren schneller in neue Branchen.Die Geschäftsführung hat Ihre Boutique-Beratung beauftragt, die Ursachen für die sinkende Profitabilität zu analysieren und konkrete Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vorzuschlagen.ZielAnalysieren Sie die Ursachen für die sinkende Profitabilität der Fröhlich Maschinen GmbH und entwickeln Sie konkrete Maßnahmen, um die Rentabilität und Effizienz langfristig zu steigern.
AlpenGlide is a well-known ski resort located in the Austrian Alps. Their revenues have stagnated over the recent years, and management is concerned that they are not capturing their full revenue potential.AlpenGlide has engaged Simon-Kucher to help understand what’s behind the stagnation and recommend actionable levers to unlock new revenue growth opportunities.
Your client is a newly founded protein company. Its owners are two brothers. One of them is a chemist and the other one is a very famous fitness model and personal trainer on YouTube. They intend to enter the nutrition supplements industry where they want to focus on protein supplementation for bodybuilding. The chemist has the capabilities to produce protein products for this industry. He has used this knowledge and a substantial loan to build a factory in Germany that would allow the brothers to mass produce their protein products.The brothers have approached you to advise them on how they can use their capabilities to profitably sell their product using their factory in Germany. They request very practical advice on how to get their product from their factory into the hands of the consumer at a profit.
Your friend is an aspiring artist and is asking for your consulting advise on a problem that he has been struggling with. Your friend (the artist) is trying to understand how many hours people listen to the number one music streaming platform (the one with the green logo) in total and on average per year. How would you approach this problem to help your friend answer his question?
Die Global Plastics AG ist ein im M-DAX gelistetes Unternehmen mit weltweit 2.500 Mitarbeitenden und einer Gesamtleistung in Höhe von € 395,0 Mio. in 2021. Der Umsatz des Unternehmens ging 2020 nach dem Ausbruch der COVID-19-Pandemie stark zurück und soll im Jahr 2022 wieder an das Niveau vor COVID-19 anknüpfen.Neben Umsatzrückgängen hat die Global Plastics AG auch mit einer erhöhten Varianz in den OEM Call-Offs zu kämpfen, was zu Überkapazitäten in der Produktion führt. Zusätzlich befindet sich die Global Plastics AG in Kundenverhandlungen zu bestehenden und neuen Verträgen.Das Thema Nachhaltigkeit ist tief in der Unternehmensidentität verankert. Das Unternehmen investiert kontinuierlich in die Forschung und Entwicklung von neuen Technologien. Diese Investitionen dienen im Wesentlichen dazu ...... das bestehende Produktportfolio weiter zu verbessern und sich einen Wettbewerbsvorteil zu erarbeiten.... den zu erwartenden strengeren Vorschriften hinsichtlich CO2-Neutralität der Wert-schöpfungskette als auch einer steigenden Beimischungsquote von recyceltem Kunststoff und Alternativmaterialien in den nächsten Jahren gerecht zu werden.Das Unternehmen ist bei den Kunden für seine innovativen Technologien bekannt und für seine branchenweit Maßstäbe setzende, präzise und qualitativ hochwertige Fertigung geschätzt. Die Global Plastics AG produziert weltweit in fünf Werken (USA, BRA, HUN, CHN, DEU) Kunststoffbauteile für Fahrzeuginnenräume in den Anwendungsbereichen PKW (PT-Segment), LKW (CT-Segment) sowie Baumaschinen (CON-Segment). Global Plastics beliefert primär deutsche Premium-OEMs weltweit und gilt als Qualitätsführer im Interior-Markt. Der globale Interior-Markt ist zunehmend von einem durch asiatische Wettbewerber generierten Preisdruck geprägt, die den Qualitätsansprüchen europäischer Kunden immer besser entsprechen.Sie wurden durch den Vorstand der Global Plastics AG beauftragt, einen Transformationsplan zu entwickeln, der die langfristige Wettbewerbsfähigkeit des Unternehmens sicherstellt. Ziel Ihres Workstreams ist die Analyse des aktuellen Produktionsnetzwerks sowie die Erarbeitung neuer Hebel für Wachstum. Die Global Plastics AG hat Ihnen zur Analyse ihre GuV und Bilanz zur Verfügung gestellt. Dort sind die Ergebnisse der Geschäftsjahre 2019 bis 2021 sowie der Forecast für das Geschäftsjahr 2022 (drei Monate Ist + neun Monate Plan) enthalten. Bitte lösen Sie die beiden unten aufgeführten Aufgaben.
The client is an Indonesian producer of paper boards which can be further processed into paper boxes, shopping bags, etc. They sell in both their domestic market i.e. Indonesia, and in the export market i.e. the US. Revenue last year was $5 billion, with 80% from Indonesia and 20% from the US. Overall they have been growing at 3% annually. The client wants to achieve a 5% growth rate in the next 1-2 years. With the resource constraint they have, they want to focus on one of the two markets. They want to know which market they should go after to achieve that increase in growth rate, and how.
Your client is Madhouse Studios, one of the largest anime producers in Japan. The anime-industry is flourishing. Originally revenue was generated mainly in Japan but the trend is that revenues outside of Japan are growing at a steady rate of 15% a year as more and more non-Japanese people enjoy anime. Despite this rapidly growing new segment, Madhouse lost $6m in profits at the end of 2017 even though profits were growing steadily the years before.Madhouse has given you the objective to find the root cause of the loss in profitability and to advise them on how to proceed from here.
Johnny Depp, now 56 years old, has started to feel that his acting career is about to get over. His net worth crossed over $650 million at the peak of his career but has since dwindled, amid lawsuits and lifestyle expenses. As such, he thinks that his current wealth might not be enough for his upcoming years. So, he’s hired you as a consultant to help him find ways to multiply his worth. What can you suggest?
Deep water is a European manufacturer of small yachts and premium boats for private customers. The company operates in Europe and the Middle East and is based in Northern European country, where its manufacturing site, as well as HQ, are located. Deep Water has a strong and recognizable brand as a manufacturer of luxury boats and (recently) also small yachts. Deep water has been experiencing significant financial difficulties related to its profitability during the several past years. Currently, Deep Water has about 200 M€ of sales p.a. The company wants to improve its profitability, maintaining at least the current level of sales.
Your client is a D2C (direct to customer) online fashion business in a developing country. It is a new brand, launched about 2 years ago and founded by ex-investment bankers. Their brand focuses on trendy, edgy design that is less main-stream (versus big brands like H&M, Uniqlo, Zara etc) for adult men. While they have been growing fast, they want to understand how they can further improve their sales.
Your client is a Franchisee of a popular Steakhouse-chain in Germany. The Franchisee currently owns 2 Steakhouse-restaurants and wants you to investigate how well these perform and if there is any way for improvement?
Mastering the case interview is a crucial step in securing a consulting job. To perform well, you need to demonstrate structured thinking, analytical skills, and clear communication while solving a real-world business problem.
The interview typically follows a structured flow, starting with an introduction and resume discussion, followed by the case presentation, where you clarify the problem and outline a logical framework. From there, you analyze data, test hypotheses, and apply quantitative skills to arrive at well-supported recommendations. Finally, you summarize your findings and engage in a discussion to defend your approach.
Success in case interviews comes down to practice. Familiarizing yourself with common frameworks is useful, but true preparation involves adapting them to different cases, improving your problem-solving speed, and refining your communication. By structuring your thoughts clearly, staying flexible in your approach, and confidently presenting your findings, you’ll increase your chances of impressing your interviewer and landing an offer at a top consulting firm. 🚀
Let's Move On With the Next Articles:
The Personal Fit Interview
Basics of Case Interviews
The personal fit interview is a crucial part of the selection process in consulting. It’s often underestimated by candidates who tend to focus on the challenging case interviews only. But the personal fit interview is just as important! It’s all about determining if you’ll fit well within the team and align with the company culture. Read this article to find out why the personal fit interview matters so much and how to prepare effectively.
Consulting interviews are not just about your skills and knowledge — companies also want to see how well you align with their culture and values, often called "personal fit". This part of the interview is your chance to show you’re a natural addition to the team.Here’s a look at three common personal fit questions and some tips on how to answer them confidently and thoughtfully.
Every case interview has a certain structure. An important factor on how your case interview is going to proceed is if the interview is interviewer-led or candidate-led.We’d like to explain the two interview formats – candidate-led cases and interviewer-led cases – highlight their differences, and provide you with tips on how to excel in each of them.
