Jason explains that a case interview is unique and important because it puts a candidate in a real life situation. The interviewer can see how well candidates hold their poise, how well they listen to what they need to deliver in terms of the case, and how structured they are in their thinking. The first part of the case generally has some background of the case company and some financial data. The second part of the case generally provides a deeper element of information around a specific piece of operation. Here, he uses the example of a company’s call center. For example, the interviewer may provide information on how many employees work there, how many supervisors and how many people managed by the supervisor, how many new hires come into the call center, the breakdown of how employees spend their time, and some additional cost data. Next, the interviewer asks questions. The first question is open-ended to get the candidate talking so that the interviewer can evaluate his or her poise and listening skills. For example, “I’m the client and now you have information on the company. How do I reduce my costs in the call center?” A hidden term is “client”; the candidate needs to address the interviewer a certain way based on this subtle piece of information. A bad answer would be something along the lines of “I would reduce training costs and change the way employees spend their time.” This is not adequate as there is no context provided for why the candidate thinks such. The interviewer is looking for a context on how they define the problem, an answer that meets the problem statement, and a good set of facts that supports the answer. Jason continues to provide a very specific answer where he defines the problem for the client and provides specific answers based on specific facts. A great answer would also pull from the candidate’s own experience, whether that is from school, an old job, or an extracurricular activity. Jason also highly recommends that the candidate asks some question to provide a clearer answer for the client. He informs listeners that candidates can prepare for case interviews by having a clear mind and having a good feel for how they would structure a problem, structure the answer, and how to articulate that. Jason’s one recommendation for someone that is going to have a case interview is to read the book about structured thinking and communication, “The Minto Pyramid Principle” by Barbara Minto.

jason.snider@ey.com

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Many consulting companies use case-based interviews, which use certain techniques to assess a person’s problem-solving ability and business logic. The interviews vary depending on the skill they are trying to assess. The five types of cases are brain teaser (which assesses creativity and how quickly a person can think on his feet), strategy (which determines a candidate’s business economics and how she handles complex business issues), operation (which assesses the understanding of business operations and basic industry knowledge), finance (which determines the understanding of finance and accounting), and complex (which is a mixture of two or more types of cases). The interviewer is not necessarily looking for the correct answer, but how the candidate approaches the problem. They are evaluating how well the candidates listen to the question, their quantitative and analytical skills, their creativity, and their ability to think quickly under pressure. The three key attributes of being a successful business advisor are organizational skills, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. Case interviews are effective because the company can assess people on many levels and see how they deal with real client scenarios, and also determine the candidate’s strengths and areas for improvement. The four steps to having a successful case interview are: (1) understand the question being asked, (2) structure and analyze response: use a framework and determine options, (3) evaluate the different options available, and (4) arrive at a conclusion and clearly articulate it.