Job Interviews (Case Studies)

An option that many people do consider after their under-graduation is to work. Many do so if they have already got an offer from ISB (which requires you to work for 2 years) or otherwise. The companies that usually visit campuses are consulting firms, investment banks, etc. Almost all consulting firms will test on case studies – though the focus might be different. Some may focus on guesstimates (Ex: BCC), some focus on quantitative skills (Ex: Monitor), and some focus only on Business Case Studies (Ex: McKinsey). Investment banks will require you to have a very good knowledge about finance and good with numbers (Ex: Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, CitiBank)

Business Studies and Guesstimates
 
Study Material: You can find various Case Books here.
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There are usually three types of business case studies: (1) A company wants to increase it's profitability. How should it go about it? (2) How to increase the market share? (3) How to enter a market? And guesstimates can be anything.

Few case studies I was asked in some of my interviews or my friends were asked at McKinsey interview:
#1. U.S. Apparel Company want to enter into China. How should it go about it? 
#2. U.S. entertainment channel wants to enter into India. What should it do? 
#3. You take a flight from X to Y and then from Y to Z. You take airline A for your journey from X to Y and an airline B for your journey from Y to Z. You pay total of Rs. M for the entire journey. How much of this Rs. M will go to each airline?
#4. Give two ways in which Reliance can increase its market share.
#5. If it is 2007, and you want to open a mall in South Delhi, how much investment would be required and when will you break-even (asked at BCC - Final Round)

Few guesstimates I was asked in some of my interviews or my friends were asked:#6. How much money you need in your pocket now, if you want to open a coffee shop in this area? (A.T. Kearney)

#7. How many footballs can be put in this room (1) when room is empty (2) the room is as it is now (tables, chairs, etc there) (asked at BCC)

#8. Estimate the amount of toll collected in a day in Delhi-Gurgaon highway. (asked at BCC)

If you need help with any of the above cases or otherwise you can write to us.
Some general things to keep in mind while approaching case studies and guesstimates.

1. Clarify the question (know what is asked properly before answering)

You need to clarify with the interviewer what he expects you to do/ how he wants you to approach. For example in the case #1. mentioned above, you need some more information, so yes, ask questions.

·  Ask questions about the background. For example, what kind of apparel company is it, where all is it operating at the moment, what is the purpose of entering the China market (is it just to expand or they want to use cheap labour cost, etc.)

·  Paraphrasing the question always helps (though not necessary) It makes sure you have got the question right.

2. General guidelines to approach

In the various workshops I attended, all of them emphasized on MECE - mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive sets. So, a way to approach a problem should be to divide it according to this MECE rule.

I would suggest - Never mention Porter's 5-forces model, 4Cs, 6Ps, etc that many case books talk about. I never used them. Yes, read them once. These help you to think about a problem in MECE way. Note: Even if you apply these in any case, don't directly mention during the interview that you are applying it.

Drawing a flowchart: This is highly recommended. It tells the interviewer that you are approaching the problem in an organized manner. And most importantly, flowchart also ensures you took MECE into consideration and focussed more on whatever was required.

It's always better, that once you have clarified the question, ask the interviewer for 2-3 minutes and use this time to draw the flowchart.

One thing that I was always told and I experienced is that the case study is solved by both - the interviewer and the interviewee. So, it's better to make the interview interactive by involving the interviewer while you are solving by asking questions. (This doesn't mean that you ask unnecessary questions) 

Guesstimates

For guesstimates, it's better that you have some idea of population, demographics, etc of India, U.S., etc. It always helps (though if you don't know, there's no harm in asking the interviewer about it) In guesstimates, don't randomly throw numbers. Everything should be backed by some logic. 80-20 rule etc comes handy. It's better you practice quite a few guesstimates as they aren't easy.

I'll write about my interview with an investment bank in much detail in a later post. For any questions, post below as comment. If you need any help with job interviews/CVs etc, you can mail it to us at eureka123.ssc@gmail.com 

This article is written by Gaurav Poddar. He received job offers from BCC and Deutsche Bank after graduating from St. Stephen's College.