I have my first in-person case interview with Kearney, and I really want to ace it.
Since I tend to get slightly nervous, I expect to be doing a lot of calculations on paper. How would you organise your calculation sheet to keep it looking neat, structured and efficient, even under pressure?
Hello there!
I believe that more than project to your interviewer that you are organized, a well structured session is important for you to actually solve for the problem.
First of all, do the structure before putting the numbers on it. That can be an equation, a table, a venn diagram, you name it - whatever makes the problem defined in a way that you can just plug the numbers in it after confirming your rationale with the interviewer.
That’s my suggestion to you :)
If you want to have the guidance from a professional coach to make sure you’ll ace the interview, feel free to reach out. I offer a 20min free alignment session and will be happy to help you in this challenge!
Best,
Mari
Hey there,
Getting nervous is completely normal! A lot of us (myself included) get more than just "slightly" nervous :-)
But on organization of calculations, you can create a process and system to help you where you can tear a piece of paper and have this separate to the rest of your notes - and then use that piece for raw calculations.. Then transfer important numbers and final numbers to your main "booklet" so you can keep your notes and information clean without mixing it up with arithmetic operations.
Happy to explain the implementation of this in more detail if you'd like!
All the best
Hi there,
A case interview can definitely be stressful, but projecting a structured and organized approach will help you stay composed and impress your interviewer. Here are a few key strategies:
1. Structuring Your Approach from the Start
• Pause Before You Start: This is probably the most important step! Take a deep breath and clarify your approach before diving in. Communicate your plan to the interviewer to show structured thinking.
• Segment the Problem: Break the case into clear steps—e.g., clarifying the problem, outlining a framework, performing calculations, and drawing insights.
• Use Headings & Labels: When writing down your structure, use clear section headers (e.g., “Revenue Breakdown” or “Cost Components”) to keep your notes easy to follow.
2. Keeping Your Calculation Sheet Neat & Efficient
Since you’ll be doing a lot of calculations, organization is key. Here’s how to keep your sheet structured:
• Use Clear Sections: Divide your sheet into sections (e.g., assumptions, formulas, intermediate steps, final answer) - for me a table usually helps.
• Label Everything: Write down units ($, %, millions, etc.) and clearly define what each number represents.
• Keep Numbers in a Column Format: This makes it easier to double-check your math.
• Box or Underline Key Results: This helps the interviewer quickly follow your logic.
• Write Legibly: Under pressure, it’s easy to scribble—take an extra second to keep it readable.
3. Keep calm
• Speak Your Thought Process: Even if you’re calculating, briefly explain your logic so the interviewer follows along.
• Check for Sanity: Before stating your final number, take a step back and ask, “Does this result make sense?”
• Practice Under Pressure: Simulate case conditions by timing yourself and doing calculations while speaking aloud.
Since this is your first in-person case, try to enjoy the process! Ultimately the interviewer is looking for someone that they want to be working with!
Feel free to reach out if you have any further questions. Happy to help with this!
Best,
Evelina
Hi there.
Would generally follow the formula:
1. Tell the interviewer what you are going to do it and why
2. Do it
3. Tell them the "so what"
For example, if they ask you to calculate profitability across geographies for 2020 - 2025.
1. "First I am going to calculate their revenues for 2020 - 2025 and their cost for 2020 - 2025 for the US market. Revenue minus cost will give me their profits. Once I am done with the US market which is their largest one, I am going to replicate the same analysis for Europe and Japan."
2. Walk them through the math step by step (making sure they know where you are at in your process)
3. "Having calculates their profits across markets from 2020 - 2025 what stands out is that the profit margin of 7% in the US is the lowest indicating we might have a less favorable product mix in the US vs. Europe which has a margin of 9%. Moreover we see that the US margin has decreased as we have grown in the US. Again, potentially caused by outsized growth in less profitable segments"
Hope that helps.
Let me know, if I can help in any way.
Good luck!
-Andreas
