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How to Case by Yourself?

Hello there,

I have recently started case prepping but I have had trouble finding case partners at the moment. I was wondering if there is a way to case prep by yourself and how I could go about doing that. Are there any particular resources that help?

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Top answer
Clara
Coach
on Jun 21, 2022
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

You can do that with all cases actually, and you should. Just because it´s impossible to find the time and the partner(s) with whom to practice enough cases, particularly if you start from a point in which you need plenty -as many of us do/did. 

One great thing about the PrepL library is precisely for self study: responses are hidden until you click, so you can use them great for self-study. 

Here I leave you the link of 4 cases that I have published here in the library. Another great thing is that, if you have any questions, you can reach out directly to the author!

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Moritz
Coach
on Jun 24, 2022
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | High impact sessions + FREE materials & exercises

Hi there,

Not recommendable - you will have no idea as to whether or not you're going in the right direction. Relying on reading through cases, or much worse - “expert books”, is a waste of time without putting yourself in a 1:1 setting and getting feedback. 

There's a great deal of potential interviewers on PL, either peers or professional coaches. 

  • For peer practice, make sure to have a decent profile and get cracking! Once you have a few cases under your belt, it will become easier! 
  • If you'd like to discuss coaching, write to any coach and you'll have a 100% response rate :)

Best of luck!

Allen
Coach
on Jun 17, 2022
Ex-McK Experienced Hire and EM - I show you how to perform at your best

Interesting question.  

Although it's not the same as a live partner (especially one with professional experience), it's always a good idea to try and answer questions while recording yourself and then “get feedback” from watching the recording.

This would tend to work better for quantitative and brainstorming types of questions where you don't ask as many questions of the interviewer and would work worse for case openings and structuring where there's a lot of back-and-forth.

Hope this helps!

Allen

Pedro
Coach
on Jun 20, 2022
Bain | EY-Parthenon | Former Principal | 1.5h session | 30% discount 1st session

You can practice each of the case components by yourself. 

However, you can't really train communication, thinking under pressure and interviewer interaction withour having a case partner. Not to mention the fact that some cases are quite open, and do not have a pre-defined logical sequence - those are hard and those really need an interviewer… 

In short, there is a lot you can and should do without a partner - but at some point you will benefit immensely from having one.

Ian
Coach
on Jun 18, 2022
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Please don't case prep by yourself.

Yes, do your daily reading, math practice, chart practice, industry deep-dives, etc. on your own time. But, do not case/read cases by yourself.

Rather, figure out what you're having trouble finding case partners…and fix it.

Preplounge has 100s/1,000s of case partners for you. If you hire a coach not only will they case you, but they can also give you case partners that match you.

Ashwin
Coach
on Jun 18, 2022
Bain Senior Manager , Deloitte Director| 200+ MBB Offers | INSEAD

Hey there ,

In terms of skill building the below is definitely true : 

Coaching session > live practice with a good case partner > solving cases yourself 

However , you could do structuring drills , estimation drills to sharpen your problem solving skills (Preplounge has quite a few drills) 

Lucie
Coach
on Jun 18, 2022
10+yrs recruiting & BCG Project leader

Hi, 

you can prepare, basically you crack the case, but you dont get feedback. It can be enough, may not be. 

I would recommend to leverage this platform to find peer for case cracking and alternatively try 1 coaching session to mock the interview and obtain realistic feedback where you stand with case solving to be able to improve. 

Good luck,

Lucie

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