What's A Case Interview?

Every job interview you will ever sit thru will consist of standard questions about your background, talents, career objectives, and so forth. But the interviewer will also wish to get a sense of how you'd really deal with yourself if you get the job. For some fields, like advertising or corporate communications or webpage style, samples of your previous work are regarded as dependable indicators of what your future work will probably be like. But in an area like management consulting, problem solving on your feet is the skill your interviewer will be especially interested in. Accounts of your previous successes are no replacement for actually seeing you in action. That's where the case interview comes in.



In a case interview, the interviewer will present you with a "case" that presents a issue very a lot like the ones you will face in the event you get hired for the position. It may even be an issue that the interviewer herself really faced on the job. On the spot, you'll be asked to evaluate the problem, develop a solution, and communicate that answer to the interviewer in way that clearly demonstrates your grasp of the business issues that the case presents and also the most effective methods to address them. Along the way, you'll display your gifts for basic mathematical calculations, brainstorming, logic along with other fundamental consulting skills.

No job interview is truly "fun," of course. The more you want the position, the more there is at stake, and also the more nervous you are certain to be. But a case interview is really more like an actor's audition than the conventional job interview, and in the event you can "get into the role" the way an actor does, your creative juices will flow and also the recruiter will get a great sense of what you are able to accomplish in the event you become a component of the company.



So, yes, the questions you will be asked to answer in a case interview are much more challenging than those dull questions you've been asked in so many interchangeable interviews in the past ("Where do you see your self in five years?" "What are some of your weaknesses?") But if you know you have what it takes for the job you are seeking (and if you do not, you've no business applying for it), than you also have what it takes to shine in the case interview that will get you that job. Think of a case interview not as a hurdle to surmount but as an opportunity to exploit - and it will be.

For those interested in the case interview questions and consulting cover letter, we have some essential information for you right now.