Tips and Tricks

Introduction

Most of what you'll need to know about case solving you should know by now. You'll begin to feel comfortable and confident with it once you have solved a bunch of cases. After every couple of cases you might want to revisit this or your own notes, to check on what you're doing right and wrong, and then rework upon it. In this section we will cover some of the additional aspects that dress up your case solving, to ensure that good problem solving is delivered well to the interviewer.

Writing

There are a few videos online and other sources which will teach you how to structure your page, and other tips for the cleanest possible structures and notes. You might find some of that useful, especially in a physical interview, where the interviewer might be looking at your page. I'll dial my pointer back, and provide just some very basic ideas, that can and should easily be taken care of:

- Legibility -

Make sure that your handwriting (even though written quickly) is easily legible, especially for you, and also for the interviewer

- Highlighting -

When you discover a key insight, write and circle it, or do whatever to make sure that you can easily spot the 2-3 key insights at any point in the case

- Visibility -

In case you need to place your sheet next to the camera, or are in a physical setting, get used to ensuring that you can complete the case on one side of paper (ideal) if possible, and turning the page and writing, so that the interviewer can see you work

Recapping

Every now and then you will want to recap points of the case. This is referred to as "Summarising" in the "Structuring" sub-header in "3 Parts of a Case". The idea here is to use this tool whenever one of two things happen:

- Insight found -

In one or two sentences, recap the key buckets and insights found so far. And from here ask if you should move towards solutioning or look for other key insights.

- You're stuck -

If you haven't found anything that seems to answer the question, and don't know where to go, recap what you think have been important directionally, and pose the challenge. For example, "We found that profits have declined solely because the cost of rent has gone up. However, we are neither renting any new land, nor have the general rental charges increased in the areas where our factories are." At this point you could ask if you are missing any critical information, or whether there may be other possibilities that you aren't considering. This is a way for you to lay out your thinking, and ask for a hint, without just giving up.

Communicating

Communicating clearly is one of the most important finishing touches for your case solving. It can make average case solvers sound great, and excellent case solvers sound sub par. This would be a great point to revisit the "Communication" page in the "Foundations" section. Make sure you're clear on what your style of communication will be during any part of the case, and what some of your standard go to sentences might be. The one guiding principle to keep in mind is that at any point of time your case should feel like a discussion. The interviewer should know what's on your mind; what you're doing and why you're doing it. Be clear, open and casual. That's how a partner would expect one of their consultants to be, to easily guide them along.

Presenting

While you're in the interview, you need to present yourself as well as possible. This means both aesthetically, how prim and proper you look, as well as how you present yourself, as an interviewee. I will leave the aesthetic angle out, since there are many sources better equipped than I am, to guide on the same. Some last minute pointers on how to present yourself are:
- Make eye contact and connect, rather than looking nervous
- Try to show your work, or use your hands to paint a clear picture of what you're saying
- Talk slowly and clearly
- Present confidence