Case Groups

Introduction

There's a very strong people element to this portion of the placement preparation process. That's what makes this exciting, fun and weirdly stressful. You might see a lot of people jump the gun and start forming case groups super early on, and there are also those people who get left out, and are struggling to find a group at the end. So let's try to study what case groups are all about:

Why Form a Case Group

At the top level, the idea is that this is a set of people that you will solve cases with, so that all of you can work towards getting better at it. If you think about it, there's a lot of people on the shortlist that you will be doing this with though. So more specifically, the purposes that a case group help solve are:

- Steady source of case prep -

This becomes useful because everyone's schedule is different, and people are setting up cases with each other. In the absence of a clean matching algorithm, you could get 5 cases on a day, and no cases for the next few. Your case group is a set of people that you have a more rhythmic schedule with, so that everyone has the opportunity to get a steady flow of cases.

- Pick up insights -

While you give and take cases from a lot of people, the case group is your home group. The cases received and passed on / watched within the group will overlap to a great extent (70-90% maybe). The idea here is that if I have solved a case, rather than benefiting from just my own learnings and that of the interviewer, I can share it with a few others, and we can brainstorm the best ways of solving it, and chalk out a few important learnings. It is also useful to discuss or use learnings from the foundations phase with this group, so that you can formalise some of the best practises amongst yourselves.

- Home team -

The preparatory process can get nerve-racking. It shouldn't, when you look at the numbers and notice that everything is in your favour, but oh well. It's important to remember that someone else getting placed doesn't really come at the potential loss of your seat, and that each interview is truly independent. At least within your closest group of people, everyone is a lot more humanised, and that's easy to remember. These are therefore the people that you can easily talk to about your concerns, thoughts and open up to a little more. Case prep can become a super fun activity, when a good amount of college gossip is also thrown into the mix.

When to Form a Case Group

We know that FOMO takes over, and people will form groups ahead of time, and all that is concerning. So what should one do? The ideal situation and timeline according to me is:

- Foundations phase -

Use this time to focus on getting your structuring, communication and guesstimates on point. It's a great phase to look around at your class and form an opinion on whom you think you can learn from, and who all you gel with. Participate in a case competition or two and check out the chemistry you have with people as well as their capability. Avoid repeating the same teams. This is an opportunity to explore, rather than just winning competitions. I know that there are PPIs at stake, but that's not as often the case with consulting firms, so it shouldn't make as much of a difference, if that's the aim.

- Shortlist -

As the shortlists come out, start scoping out those people who have similar shortlists to yours. Not necessarily the same companies, just ones in the same tier, with similar processes (often the same companies). This would be a good time to form a case group.

Practically speaking, a lot of people would have formed groups during the foundations phase itself. I would suggest that you relax, and give anyone who asks, a diplomatic answer. By the time shortlists come out, a ton of case groups rearrange, so that people can do cases with people on similar shortlists. So even if you miss out early on, you will be able to form the right group at the right time.

Who Should Be a Part of My Group

Firstly, I'm sure that by now we have established that the boundaries between case groups is weak. People will often join other case groups for a couple of sessions, some people will not be as active participants, and so on. So keep in mind that if the below, tough guideline are difficult to meet perfectly, it's okay.

- 3-4 people -

More than this is too many people to coordinate and take crisp learnings away from. Less than this isn't a group.

- Different backgrounds -

It is often recommended that you form your group with people who have different backgrounds and therefore different approaches to case solving, broadening your perspective. As you have seen in the section of resume shortlisting, there will only be so many people who aren't in the type A bucket. So this might be tricky. If you're able to get 1 or even 2 people in your group who bring in a genuinely different perspective on a few points, that's amazing. If not, make sure you do cases with some of the people that do, and bring it back to the group. Each of you should push yourselves to also think outside of the box, at least during case analysis.

- Similar priorities -

It's useful to align priorities within the group. Check on whether all of you are equally invested in similar companies. Do your schedules match, and do you guys intend to approach preparation in a similar manner. All of this ensures that the group works like a group, and not just individuals on the same whatsapp group.

- Capability -

Try to reach out to one person whom you think is smart or likely to be a good case solver. Everyone is forming groups, so even if you're able to find one person who is interested in teaming up with you, each of you probably have another person interested, and would have formed a group. I think it's better for each person to reach out to just one person and try to form the group. Not hand picking each and every member, takes care of difference in backgrounds to an extent. The people you know best, you'll do cases with anyway, even if they're not in your group.

What to Do Within the Group and How

I think that there are two key steps which can make your case group effective and a fun group to work with:

- Sharing broad timelines -

It is a little more useful if you and your case group are working on similar types of cases at the same time than if one person is working on unconventional cases while the other is still on guesstimates. It's not the biggest problem, because everyone does have to get to a point where they're comfortable with all cases at least a week prior to interviews. But it's smoother, and more effective when timeline match to an extent. Discussing this is a very useful opportunity for everyone to also get some validation or feedback on their planned timeline for preparation.

- Setting up and sticking to a rhythm -

Create a rhythm of doing things with your case team, and then stick to it. You'll feel much better about your state of preparation.
  - Case rhythm - How often do you guys plan on doing cases, and how many per day? Should everyone be present with some people watching, or should we pair off? There aren't fixed answers to these questions. I'd suggest you mix it up, and stick with whatever feels helpful.
  - Learning rhythm - Every now and then the group should meet up just to consolidate learnings. Discuss the frameworks you have been using in situations and the areas where you get stuck. Discuss communication styles, industry specific knowledge, and approaches to structuring. But do set up a rough frequency at which you force yourselves to share learnings and doubts. Prior to meeting up, set a sort of agenda, because you might want to rope in some people from outside the group for learning sessions where they can also benefit and contribute.
  - Check-in rhythm - Every now and then just sit in the library together and read through your old cases or a preparatory book, or even complete your homework together. The closer you are to your group, the more candid you'll be in your feedback. But most importantly, this is the kind of stuff that makes the process fun. It doesn't have to be formalised, but get in the habit of hanging out a little bit.