The Right Way to Start Case Interview Preparation

Episode #10, Fridays with Firmsconsulting

Imagine trying to read without first learning the alphabet or attempting to tackle calculus without first understanding arithmetic and algebra. That would be madness! So why do so many of us start case interview preparation by immediately attempting to solve the most complex cases, without first learning the foundational case interview skills to tackle those cases?

The answer in many cases is simple. We just don’t know any better. We think starting with the most complex cases, memorizing solutions and frameworks, seeing as many cases as possible from the first day of case interview preparation is what will give us the best chance to succeed.

Yet, this is not the case.

In this episode of “Fridays with Firmsconsulting” we discuss the 3 foundational case interview preparation skills you MUST master before approaching full cases. These skills will take some time to develop, it will not happen overnight, so you should start early.

I remember when I did my MBA, students interested in consulting and who were just starting case interview preparation were passing around complex case books that are so widely available on the internet. Yet when it came to actual case interviews, many of them, unfortunately, failed because they were lacking the basic case interview skills. They had no foundational knowledge that could help them effectively approach full cases.

We see the same happens with many Firmsconsulting clients. They often come to us after multiple failed case interview attempts hoping to change their results. And the first thing we teach them is to put away their complex case books and master the foundational skills first. Only after they sufficiently master the foundational skills will we gradually take them through more complex cases and, eventually, they get the results they desire.

This is how The Consulting Offer, Firmsconsulting’s flagship online case interview preparation program, is structured. It guides you through the development of basic case interview skills first and, only once you sufficiently master those skills, gradually trains you to solve increasingly more complex cases.

Think about it as building a foundation for a house before building an actual house. If you don’t have a good foundation, there is no point to invest time and effort in building a great house. However much you try, it will be a disaster waiting to happen.

So lets dive into today’s episode and discuss what is the right way to start your case interview preparation.

https://youtu.be/BSy8af5X2mY

If you have any questions or observations, please share it in the comments. We attend to each comment so don’t walk away leaving your questions unanswered.

Good luck with your case interview preparation,

Kris

Note: As mentioned in the video, on the Firmsconsulting website we have a complimentary section called What Firmsconsulting is Reading (under community and in groups). And what we do in this section is we post some of the major online articles we’ve read. We read much more, but the pieces we post are the most useful to us. The objective of this group is to help Firmsconsulting members develop their business judgement.

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