I have a question regarding an upcoming interview with Monitor Deloitte on Friday in Germany. They told me I will have two written cases for which I will have 30mins prep time. After that cases will be presented by me to a Deloitte consultant. The question for me is how this presentation looks like? Can I just walk them through my solutions step-by-step by explaining? Or do I need some visual way to present it? (e.g., in PPT slides) - Please help!!
Monitor Deloitte Interview
I dont have direct experience with Deloitte's interview process but based on having done similar interviews in the past and the short prep time, I dont think visual slides are expected.
Based on the typical format for these interviews,here are some key points to consider for your presentation:
- Structured Walk-Through: You are expected to guide your interviewer through your problem-solving process in a structured manner. Start with a brief overview of the case and your understanding of the key question. Outline the framework or approach you used to tackle the problem.
- Step-by-Step Explanation: Proceed by walking them through your analysis, step-by-step. Make sure to clearly explain how each step of your analysis relates to the next, and how you arrived at your conclusions. This narrative should be logical and easy to follow.
- Summarize Key Points: Conclude with a summary of your key findings and recommendations. This recap is crucial as it reinforces your conclusions and ensures that the main insights are clear to the interviewer.
Prepare for Questions: Be ready to answer detailed questions about your approach, assumptions, and conclusions. The interviewer may challenge certain points to test your reasoning and see how well you can defend your analysis.
For additional resources and specific preparation materials, I highly recommend visiting Deloitte's Case Interview Preparation site.
Please feel free to book a coaching session with me to prepare for this process!
Hi there,
Q: The question for me is how this presentation looks like? Can I just walk them through my solutions step-by-step by explaining? Or do I need some visual way to present it?
They should let you know before you start reviewing the material. If you have just 30 minutes, you might not be required to create any slides.
Overall, this is what I would recommend for the presentation part, assuming you have slides to present. If you don't have slides, you can present your findings verbally by following the same structure.
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
B) Content of each slide
There are 3 basic components for most slides:
- Title
- Written content
- Graphs / Tables
Many candidates structure the title as a mere description of what the chart is about.
A great title instead shows the implication of the graph as well.
Example: say the 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:
- Introduce the slide: “Let’s move to slide 2, which will show us why we have an issue with this division”
- Present the main message of the slide: “As you can see, we have a cost structure which makes it unfeasible to be competitive in this market”
- Provide details: “The graph, indeed, shows how our fix cost is XYZ, while competitors can benefit from economies of scale. Indeed…”
You can find more on written cases below:
▶ How to Prepare for a Written Case
Good luck!
Francesco
Hi,
I recently had a written case with Monitor Deloitte and was given 50 min for analysis followed by 10 min of presentation to the Director (interviewer).
In my case, the interviewer made it very clear that he would not be more impressed if I presented visually using slides or so. He recommended I present the way I feel most comfortable. So I simply read out my answer per question from my handwritten notes. You are allowed to simply have rough notes and verbally present your findings without needing a visual aid to present.
My suggestion would be to maximise the 50min reading/analysis time because the case is long and there are many questions to answer. They make it clear in the written material that we are bound to miss out on answering all questions given the lengthy nature, so use your time wisely.
Hope it helps. All the best!
Do ask them exactly that question because each firm and office has different preferences.
In some cases (though almost never for when they give you only 30 mins to prep), you can present ppt pages.
Other times, if you're having the interview in their office, you can draw the pages by hand or on a flip-chart.
And in some other cases, you can just present it verbally and only have some bullet point on hand.
I've even seen the written case presentation being led in a word doc.
You can go either way, but best to ask them what they prefer.
And do reach out - I have a couple of written case examples that I can share with sample answers.
Best,
Cristian
This really depends on the specific office. In some cases they expect slides, in other's you have access to a flipchart, in others, you just have to chose 4-5 slides from the package they gave you (and you should “improve” those, by adding a key message and highlighting specific insights).