Expected Analytical Skills at Case Interviews
November 11th 2015 Posted at Uncategorized
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Expected Analytical Skills at Case Interviews
I today received an email from a reader, who will be interviewing with BCG and Roland Berger next week. He indicates being very strong at structuring business cases, and conceptually cracking them, but sometimes makes some ‘dull’ mistakes with mathematical calculations. He therefore asks what the expected analytical skills are during case interviews, and how ‘bad’ it would be to make a mistake in a simple mathematical calculation during a case interview.
I would say making a mistake with a simple mathematical calculation is relatively bad. Making one such mistake can be forgiven, for instance if you afterwards perfectly crack the business case, as well as your other case interview. Nonetheless, the interviewer will likely write down the mathematical mistake in your evaluation, after the case interview. When you would then be invited to a next round, your interviewer will be aware of this previous mistake, and might extra test your analytical skills to assure they are strong enough.
To avoid all of this, I would however say: ‘Get your mathematical skills right!’ If you are not the strongest in math, you should thus anticipate this. There are several tools online available to assist you with this. Personally, I believe Aptigenius.com provides a good tool for prospective interviewees. The math questions are specifically designed for people applying for consulting or finance positions, and it monitors and follows up your progress. Nonetheless, there are many other great tools online you could spot through Google, such as for instance Wiziq.com or Adhyapak.com.
In any case, most of the leading strategy consulting firms will expect you to do most of the calculations by heart. It is ‘Ok’ if you need a little piece of paper, but the top 3 consulting firms will generally expect you to do the math by heart (unless the calculation could be seen as extremely difficult – which would only rarely occur). In any case, if you do make the calculation on paper, but you nail the case, this would definitely be forgotten. Furthermore, it is obviously better to do it on paper and be right, than to do it by heart and be wrong.
Lastly, for most case interviews you are not allowed to use a calculator. Nonetheless, I have had it once in a case interview that the interviewer asked a very complex calculation and told me I could use a calculator if I had one with me. I luckily did, made the calculation, eventually cracked the case and made a good impression. Therefore I do want to add that it is always a good idea to have your calculator with you in your suitcase, when you go to the case interview.
Full report and articles at www.aceyourcase.com
Written by Tom Rochtus
Tom Rochtus was born and raised in Belgium. He has a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Leuven in addition to a master’s degree in management of technology from the Louvain School of Management, where he graduated magna cum laude. He has furthermore spent several years traveling and studying abroad; including a master’s degree in International Business at Egade in Monterrey, and an academic exchange at the University of Edinburgh. His professional career started when early at university, he set up his own successful information technology company, and participated in and won awards at prominent competitions for innovative young entrepreneurs. As part of his master’s degree, he completed an internship at Procter & Gamble as a strategy planner, which eventually inspired him to pursue a career in management consulting. After successfully applying for most of the leading management consulting firms, Tom eventually signed with Bain & Company, one of the world’s most prestigious management consulting companies. During his free time, he enjoys traveling to “off-beat” destinations, as well as spending time with his family and friends.
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