Someone nominated my blog for ClearAdmit’s best MBA Blog of the year. Thanks!
Last week was all work and no play. I did around 6-8 mock case interviews to prepare well for the upcoming interviews. While the first mock interview was a near disaster, the next ones were getting better and better. They are pretty hard at first, but once you figure out how to approach them, they get fun and pleasant. On Friday night, I went out with the Canadian Club at Wharton. We went pub crawling, but I came back fairly early. I prepared for behavioural interviews over the weekend, coming up with all kinds of stories about my life, and structuring my thoughts on standard interview questions.
On Monday afternoon, I had my first consulting interview with a major firm at the Four Seasons in Philadelphia. I think it went pretty well, especially for a first-timer. I will get the results on Tuesday or Wednesday. On Monday night, I went out for dinner to celebrate Ben’s birthday at a French bistro called Loie.
Tomorrow, I am going to Boston to interview with a competing firm, for a position located in The Netherlands. I am still waiting to hear from the Montreal office I am applying to. I know I am invited for interviews, but I don’t know when or where. It will likely be very soon and in Montreal. I was also invited to interview with an American consulting firm in their Paris office, but the interview won’t be until early May when I move to Fontainebleau.
I will keep my readers posted on the developments. This coming 2-3 weeks will likely determine where I will live and work for the next few years! A definite turning point in my life!
4 comments:
Hi Oli! Interesting blog you have here. I am a recent undergrad who is also going through some case interviews here in Singapore. I've had some case interview experience before, but not much. What would you give as major tips/advice to ace the cases?
Hi Ollie,
Glad that you read my blog. I'm by no means a seasoned case interview expert, but here are my takeaways from mock interviews and last week's real interviews:
- Relax!
- Make sure you understand what they actually want you to do ,what questions they want you to resolve. If you don't understand where you're going, how will you get there?
- Take time to understand the drivers in the situation, and ask questions about them
- Organise your math clearly, with titles and units. Box the important answers
- Always think about capacity utilisation, demand elasticity and economies of scale. They come back in basically all business cases
- Learn everything you can about the firm, so you can intelligently discuss their business and seem like you know what you're talking about. Also, I find that mentioning people's names from the firm while discussing company culture is something that has been well received so far.
- Being yourself. I think this is key because they want to know you as a person they can work with 60 hours a week. Even if you're very good at cracking the case, I don't think they would hire someone they don't trust
- In a stress interview, relax, think before you answer, and smile! Stay composed and don't change your attitude one bit.
- Above all, practice! I was nervous practicing with my friends at first, because I was afraid to look like an idiot. Once you get comfortable with case interviews, it becomes a fun game
Again, I'm by no means speaking from long experience as I have only done about 10 practice and 4 real interviews so far.
Thanks, Oli!!! Apologies for the late reply, I just got back from vacation. But thanks a bunch, again!!!
Btw, do you know anybody who is still currently doing interviews? I'm looking for a mock interview partner to practice cases. Thanks!
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