Casing on a compressed timeline

Question

Hi everyone,

Great to meet you! A little bit about me - I completed my MBA in May 2023, recruited into investment banking, and left my associate position in April for personal reasons. I took some time off to recuperate and am now looking to transition into consulting. I potentially have a case study interview in ~ two weeks and want to ensure I’m preparing effectively, especially given my finance background.

Would anyone be able to weigh in about:

How best to structure my preparation over the next two weeks.
Any frameworks or resources that were particularly helpful for case studies, especially when transitioning from banking.
Tips on practicing and improving efficiently with a tight timeline.

Thank you in advance for any insights!

Answer 1

Hi Dominic,

Q: How to structure my preparation over the next two weeks.

I would consider the following (also valid for the other points you mentioned):

Define a calendar for your preparation. Identify how many hours you have before your interview and allocate a time slot for preparation in your calendar accordingly. Many candidates need over 100 hours to get ready starting from scratch to be ready, so you might use it as a benchmark.
Start by reading good MBA Consulting Handbooks. You can find several for free online (INSEAD is a good one to start). Read the cases and try to apply your structure to solve them. Whenever you see something is missing, upgrade your structure with the new insights. Try to read a new case per day – in this way you will absorb the information better with constant learning.
After the first 5-10 cases in books/handbooks and basic theory, start practicing live. PrepLounge can be helpful for connecting with other candidates for that. There is a relevant part of the interview score that is based on your communication, which you cannot practice at all if you only read cases.
Keep track of your mistakes and see which ones you are repeating. If so, try to identify the source of the mistake (feedback from experienced partners would be particularly useful for this). Be sure to focus on both the behavioral part and the case part during the mocks. The case part should also cover market sizing, math and graph analysis.
Before the interviews, be sure to prepare your questions for the interviewer – a great way to show that you prepared in advance and to connect with the interviewer for a good final impression. Ideally, try to get information on who they are and study their profile to have good questions to ask.

If you are short on time, you might consider coaching. If you want, you can check out the program I created, which covers all of the above, at the following link:

▶ GYM Program

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 2

Hi there, and welcome to consulting prep!

Given your background in investment banking, I assume you already have strong analytical skills, but transitioning into consulting requires a slightly different approach. Here’s how you can effectively prepare in the next two weeks:

Structured Preparation Plan:
- Days 1-4: Focus on learning core consulting frameworks (profitability, market entry, mergers & acquisitions). While these might feel familiar, consulting requires a more structured breakdown.
- Days 5-10: Start doing 1-2 case studies per day with peers or using platforms like PrepLounge. The key here is practicing both structuring your answers and mental math. Focus on adaptability since consulting cases often involve ambiguous problems.
- Days 11-14: Do mock interviews under timed conditions. Make sure you’re practicing with feedback from someone experienced, as real-time feedback is essential to improving quickly.
Recommended Frameworks & Resources:
- Victor Cheng’s “Case Interview Secrets”: Great for understanding the fundamentals of case study structures.
- PrepLounge: Use this platform for live case practice with other candidates and professional coaches
- Case in Point by Marc Cosentino: This is a well-known resource with comprehensive case examples.
Efficiency Tips:
- Focus on structuring: Since finance backgrounds tend to focus on detailed analysis, practicing concise and high-level structuring will be key.
- Mental math: Sharpen your quick calculation skills under pressure.
- Feedback loops: After each case, identify 2-3 things you can improve and work on them in the next practice session. Efficiency comes from targeted improvement.

Incorporating these strategies will help you maximize your preparation in the short timeline.

Good luck! And let me know if you need support,

Kairavee

Answer 3

Hey there,

A few thoughts:

The key reason why candidates fail their case interviews and don't improve with practice is because they never learn the right approach and techniques to begin with. They might go through 30-40 cases, just repeating the same mistakes over and over again. There is often no strong baseline.
So even if your timeline is compressed, make sure you understand and learn the basics for each part of the case (structuring, charts, math), which is
- A replicable step-by-step for each part of the case interview
- The right thinking techniques around the individual parts (e.g., what's a framework, what is evaluated, how can I ensure I think about it the correct way, what are some shortcuts to get to the answer quickly, etc.)
- Simple communication templates to help you communicate your insights as well as ask for data in the right way to drive the case forward
There are several approaches you can take, such as hiring a skilled coach, reading the right materials, or enrolling in relevant courses. For example, while some chatbots may suggest a list of books, my book, The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview, provides direct guidance tailored to modern case interviews. It covers all the essential points mentioned here, and more, while also offering a detailed preparation plan. You can find it on Amazon
Avoid generic advice and framework memorization approaches. This will only hurt your performance and waste a ton of time (why -> check out the first post here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-goodrelevant-is-the-case-in-point-book-for-case-prep-1984)
Once you have that baseline it's time to practice and internalize the skills to create the right profile, polishing your strengths and lifting your weaknesses to a robust-enough level
Practice drills alone (structure, chart, math) and practice full cases with other excellent candidates that know the right habits and approach. It is crucial that you are practicing with really good peers, otherwise, it's a waste of time. Practicing drills on your own is a huge effectivity and efficiency booster since you can go over many more questions in a shorter amount of time compared to practicing with peers. Do both in parallel! You want to spend your time where it is most useful, e.g., if you struggle with math focus on math drills, etc.
Focus on quality over quantity. Doing 50+ cases does not mean much if you are not applying the right habits to score high and do a detailed debrief after every case to improve. You want to move from bad to good for your weaknesses and good to great for your strengths --> use the feedback from your previous experience and tailor your prep accordingly
Consider booking at least an initial coaching session to get a detailed and objective evaluation of your performance + learn the right habits for every case regardless of context and framework + get a tailored preparation plan out of the session that will set you up for an effective and efficient prep.
For your prep, tailor the cases to the firm you are applying to. McKinsey cases for instance are quite different from BCG and Bain
Don't forget the fit interview part. Prepare answers for all the typical fit questions and stories (3-5 hours) and rehearse them a couple of times (5 hours)

Key tip: Avoid generic tips from chatbot-generated answers here. ChatGPT et al take a big average of partially true/ wrong information that is out there. The outcome of relying on that average is an average performance - at best - which is not enough to pass any consulting interview by a large margin.

All the best with your prep!

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 4

Hello there,

Considering you have less than 2 weeks and a finance background (assuming solid quant skills and business judgement), I’d suggest you take the following steps:

Understand case mechanics: Check the company’s website/Youtube channel to understand the typical flow of a case. Also, conduct quick research on most common types of cases and corresponding frameworks (market entry, M&A, profitability, etc.) using case books, Preplounge case bank or other websites
Assess baseline skills: Engage a coach or consultant for a mock session to identify your most prominent areas for development and pragmatic tips on how to address them within the short timeframe
Conduct drills and mock interviews: Iteratively alternate between isolated drills and full mock interviews to address the weaknesses identified and sharpen your strengths
Fine-tune fit and delivery: In the last stretch towards your interview, you should engage a coach for final tips on the fit interview segment and comms / delivery throughout the interview

Point 1 can be completed in a day assuming you have up to 4 focused hours to study. Point 2 can take 1-2 hours including interview and feedback. 80% of your prep time should be spent on point 3 while point 4 can be done within last 3 days before the interview.

Feel free to reach out if you need me to shed more light on any of the suggestions above.

All the Best,

Fathu

Answer 5

Honestly... get a good coach that can give you 3-4 sessions in that time-frame.

And I don't mean "interview simulations" but real COACHING sessions. Coaching is a huge accelerator.

Avoid resources like "Case in Point" (sorry, memorizing high-level generic frameworks or buckets is worse than useless...it will ensure that you fail your interview) or any pre-made frameworks.

Answer 6

Get a coach

Being that short in time, get a coach (former interviewer in the firm you are interviewer). The coach will save you hours of inefficient preparation pointing out to the specific things you need to improve.