How could I best structure and present a 10-min answer for a mini case study of a 10-min duration?

Question

Hi everyone, I will be interviewing for an international organization that foster public-private partnerships. They will assign me a mini case study to work on during a slot of 10 minutes.

As this case study aims to assess my critical thinking and time management skills, are there any recommended frameworks or approaches to articulate and present my answers in a short amount of time (10 mins max) while showing an effective combination of time management and critical thinking skills?

Many thanks in advance for any help and suggestions!

Answer 1

Hi Sergio,

To me it does not sound all too different than your first structuring question in a regular consulting case.

Given you have 10 minutes (rather than your typical 2 mins thinking time) what you can do is:

1. Draw out your structure - what your approach be to answer the question and why

2. Also spend time on the 2nd level of your structure, so not just the big buckets

3. Start some brainstorming / ideas on what could go into some of those (most important) elements from point 1 and 2

4. Finish with (at least) a recap or summary type of phrase or even better a sort of recommendation.

As you can see, all are points that you would do in a regular case. The (1) and (2) would typically be the first, framework question in a case, while (3) and (4) would probably come later. So you just need to bring that forward, keep it all clean and structured and communicate it well.

Good luck,

Ariadna

Answer 2

Hi!

Your question is a bit too general to provide you with detailed feedback. Let me try to share with you a couple of high-level suggestions on how I would structure your exercise:

Start by breaking down the problem into smaller, manageable components (i.e., issue tree framework) and be sure to address each branch of the issue tree methodically
Structure your recommendations applying the MECE principle (your points should be mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive) in bullet points. It can be useful to categorize your points in macro-categories (e.g., by issue in focus, by type of activity, etc.)
Prioritize your recommendations based on a set of relevant KPIs, which could include feasibility of implementation, expected impact, etc.

I hope this helps! As you mentioned, I believe the objective here is demonstrating you are able to solve complex problems with a structured and logical approach.

Answer 3

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