how should I prepare myself for a case in change management ?

Hey Louise 🙂, congrats on landing your interview! Change management cases often blend elements of traditional strategy with a greater focus on managing transitions, stakeholder communication, and overcoming resistance. While some quantitative analysis might still be involved, you’ll likely be assessed on your understanding of frameworks like ADKAR or Kotter’s 8-step process and your ability to apply them to real-world scenarios. It might help to review these models, reflect on any experiences or hypothetical situations where you led change, and practice articulating your approach with peers or mentors. Feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat more or set up a practice session. Best, Alessa 😇

Hi Louise,

First of all, congratulations on the invitation!

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

• First of all, I would highly advise you to enquire with the recruiter about the content of your upcoming interviews in order to be certain.
• Moreover, it can't hurt to acquire a basic knowledge of common change management concepts.

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 interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi Lousie,

Congrats on making it this far! :-)

My main advice would be to approach these interviews from a first-principles perspective. Focus on learning how to case, not on specific concepts like change management (there is a time and place for that as well - see below)!

• 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.

• 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

  • These elements will usually come up in any case and they are important for any case, regardless of if it's a change management case or something completely different.

• There are several approaches you can take, such as hiring a skilled coach, reading the right materials, or enrolling in relevant courses. I also have a book out which 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.

• It does not hurt to focus a bit more on the relevant concepts of change management (ChatGPT can give you a summary of these concepts with the press of a button) but chances are that not every case will be from that niche!

• 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).

All the best,

Florian