Has anyone been asked to do an interview like this

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• Yes, written case studies are not uncommon among strategy consulting firms, as they may potentially assess candidates’ abilities more accurately than “live” case studies.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming written case study, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hey!

Yes, this type of interview format is common in assessment centers, especially for consulting or strategic roles. It's a solo case study where you're given a client problem, some materials to analyze, and then asked to develop recommendations on your own. The 45 minutes of independent work tests your ability to analyze information quickly, structure your thoughts, and come up with actionable recommendations under time pressure. The 15-minute presentation is where you showcase your findings and reasoning.

This format simulates real-life consulting scenarios where you often have to work independently and present solutions to clients. To prepare, focus on time management, clear structuring of your ideas, and delivering concise recommendations. It’s different from interactive cases, but similar principles apply: be clear, structured, and concise in your approach.

Good Luck!

Alessa

Hi there,

Q: Has anyone been asked to do an interview like this

Yes, some firms do assessments via written cases/materials with the structure you mentioned. You can find below some tips for the analysis of the material and presentation parts.

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In general, for a written case study, I would recommend the following.

1. Prepare in advance with other case studies

You should be able to find a few written cases online to use for your self-prep. Ideally, the cases should include:

1. Graph interpretation
2. Math calculation
3. The amount of information you expect for your interview (if unknown, I would target at least 10-20 slides/pages)

2. Outline an action plan to analyze the material

If you have 45 minutes to review the material, a possible time schedule is the following (to adapt based on the amount of information and questions):

• 2 min – Read the questions
• 10-15 min – Read the material
• 5 min – Structure the approach
• 10-15 min – Perform math/ Identify answers/ Create slides
• 5 – Final review

The time to read the material depends on how much material you will receive.

3. Define a strategy to present your results

To present your findings in the second part, I would suggest keeping the same structure used for a conclusion in a live interview, that is:

1. Summarize the main questions you have to answer
2. Present your proposed answers and detail the motivation behind
3. Present risks and next steps for the areas you have not covered

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To present the slides, I would recommend taking into account the following:

A) Structure of the presentation

Normally the structure for a 5-slide presentation is the following:

• 1st slide – summary of the questions and your answers
• 2nd, 3rd and 4th slides - supporting arguments for the first slide
• 5th slide - risks and next steps

If you can prepare more slides, you can expand slides 2, 3 and 4 accordingly.

B) Content of each slide

There are 3 basic components for most slides:

1. Title
2. Written content
3. Graphs / Tables

Many candidates structure the title as a mere description of what the chart/content is about.

A great title instead shows the implication of the graph/content as well.

Example: say a graph is showing a cost structure for a division.

• A bad title would be: “Cost structure from 2005 to 2015”.
• A good title would be: “Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable”.
• A great title would be “Cost structure of Division XYZ is not sustainable due to ABC”, assuming you have insights on that.

The rule of thumb is that if you read all the titles of the slides, you should get a clear idea of the message of the presentation.

C) Presentation of the slides

When you present, I would recommend the following steps for each slide:

1. Introduce the slide: “Let’s move to slide 2, which will show us why we have an issue with this division”
2. Present the main message of the slide: “As you can see, we have a cost structure that makes it unfeasible to be competitive in this market”
3. Provide details: “The graph, indeed, shows how our fixed cost is XYZ, while competitors can benefit from economies of scale. Indeed…”

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Good luck!

Francesco

Hey there,

A few tips for a written case:

#1 Already have a plan when you go in for the written case

Since time is usually limited, you should have a plan on how long you want to spend on each task of the assignment beforehand.

#2 Focus – quickly separate crucial information from the noise

Written cases usually present you with an information overload that you need to sort out

#3 Graphs and charts – interpret and distill key insights from graphs and charts

Written cases bombard you with charts, graphs, tables, and other visual depictions of data that you should use to test your hypotheses. Learn how to quickly read and interpret them

#4 Math – quickly draft equations and conduct pen-and-paper math

Get into the habit of quickly setting up and simplifying calculations

#5 Storyline – draft a compelling storyline and tell it with visually appealing outputs

Create a top-down storyline of your recommendations. State your primary recommendation, then use supporting arguments to strengthen your position

#6 Presentation and defense – communicate and defend your recommendation top-down

If you have to present your findings at the end of the case, follow the top-down approach of your slide deck. Be confident and engaging when going through your recommendation and supporting arguments.

All the best!

Cheers,

Florian

This is a "written" case interview. It's less common that regular case interviews, and not all firms use this. May be common for the firm you are applying to. The skills you need are, with some adaptations, quite similar.