I have my first ever management consulting interview in less than two weeks and I have never case prepped before. Is it too late to start? Where do I even begin? I’ve seen a couple places online that do paid coaching, is it worth paying for them?
1 Like
I’d start by familiarising myself with what a case interview entails. I recommend doing this by watching live runthroughs (I think bain has a good 20min one on youtube).
From there I’d structure my prep by the stages of the case, drills, and live practice. Stages of the case involve practicing intial case understanding, frameworking, the body (this part is mainly addressed through drills), and the synthesis. The body of the case can be practiced by doing drills on mental maths, market sizing, brainstorming, and chart reading. Finally put it all together by doing practice cases (you can find partners online through facebook groups or just asking your friends).
In terms of time split between them all, I’d prioritise live practice as it tests all aspects at the same time, and then allocate time to drill certain areas you aren’t as strong with. The ratio of which will depend on the person and can really vary.
I personally have never used the online sites so can’t comment too much on them.
1 Like
Online sites can be a great all in one platform to learn casing in a structured manner. My top recommendations would be:
- Rocketblocks
- Casecoach
Rocketblocks is really good for drills, and has numerous exemplar answers written by other people for you to compare against. Rocketblocks also offers a free trial which can be good to test out before you commit to paying for anything.
Casecoach is good in terms of explaining the different stages of a case. It is actually the recommended platform of a few MBBs (BCG will give free access to Casecoach if you make it to first round interviews), and is structured nicely in an order than helps beginners learn from scratch.
I’m sure there are several other great platforms but these two are the ones I’ve had the most experience with. Also I probably wouldn’t recommend paying for someone to coach you online one on one as I’m sure you can find good people online through facebook groups. I would only consider paying for coaching once you’ve gotten the fundamentals down and you want to take your casing to the next level.
1 Like
Wow thank you for the super indepth answers!