After joining MBB, should I continue casing to sharpen my consulting skill?

Question

Hi all,

I’d like to get your thoughts on how to best improve my consulting skills after starting my position at an MBB firm.

After securing the offer, I haven’t cased for a few months and feel a bit "rusty." I know case interviews require specific skills that can fade over time, and I’ve heard that even MBB consultants might struggle to pass an interview if they haven’t practiced casing in a while. For example, if I do a case now, I will not be able to structure as fast as I would, and I will not be able to come up with a clear and deep structure under tight time.

This makes me wonder if continuing to case after I start my job (say, 1 per week) would be beneficial to maintain skills like structuring and communication, which I found improved with regular casing practice.

However, I’m also curious—are these casing skills as critical on the job as they are in the interview process? Is this approach effective, or is there a better way to achieve the same goals? I’d appreciate any insights or advice.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Technical aspects of a case interview toolkit does not really apply realistically well in a real study setting. Structuring and top down communication will obviously benefit from abit of case practice from time to time, but you will learn very quickly that the next big toolkit step up for you is literally making powerpoint pages, storylining, and leveraging firm resources

My recommendation - enjoy your time before you join. Life is going to be hell once you actually start working.

Answer 2

Congratulations on the offer!

Honestly, you don't need to practice cases in advance of your start date primarily because case interview skills are not 100% reflective of your day-to-day on the job even though communication and structuring skills will remain paramount.

In my opinion, BCG's written case interview that was retired when COVID hit is the MBB interview that came closest to replicating the job's requirements.

My suggestion to you is to relax and enjoy some leisurely activities you've always had on your radar because you will have less time to indulge in those when the job begins. But if you feel compelled to prepare, you're better of taking consulting-focused PowerPoint and Excel courses.

All the best,

Fathu

Answer 3

Hey there! From my experience at McKinsey and BCG, continuing to practice casing after starting your job might not be as necessary as you think. While casing skills help with structuring problems and communication during interviews, the actual consulting work often involves more collaboration, iteration, and deeper analysis than what a typical case interview requires. You will refine these skills naturally through real projects and client interactions.

Instead of focusing on weekly casing, prioritize sharpening specific consulting tools—such as Excel, PowerPoint, and industry knowledge—while working on soft skills like stakeholder management and communication. You'll be exposed to plenty of opportunities to refine your structuring and problem-solving on the job, so the pressure to maintain interview-style casing isn't as relevant once you're inside the firm.

Best, Alessa :)

Answer 4

Congratulations on your offer! I don't think you need to continue doing case interviews. Instead, it's important to remain mindful of what you've learned along the journey - thinking on the spot, structuring a problem and mental maths. Especially structured thinking and ways of expression is really important on the job, therefore I'd recommend you remain mindful of this and try to make it part of your communication style - especially to your managers. If you really want to do some homework prior to starting on the job, I'd recommend you to do an advanced Excel course to familiarise yourself with all formulas, keyboard shortcuts and general best practices in terms of structuring your excel workbook. BCG may already have resources on hand that will help you, I imagine you could just ask HR. Hope this was helpful and wish you a great start into your new career!

Answer 5

Hi there,

Not at all.

You will work on "case problems" every day once you join from things like structuring the macro project scope with your team to structuring back of the envelope 30' analyses.

This experience will be much more hands-on and will develop your consulting toolkit/basic consulting readiness much more so than working on case studies in your free time.

If you want help with the start, check out my book Consulting Career Secrets. It's on Amazon.

Cheers,

Florian