Interviewing Questions
The Case Interview
Typically used within the consulting or banking fields, the case interview is becoming more popular in a wide variety of organizations. The case interview involves you being presented with a business problem that mimics what you might encounter in a real-life work situation or in many cases, a brain teaser or game of logic. They ask case questions to determine self confidence, discover the interviewee’s personality and to see if problem solving is something you enjoy. Here are some sample questions.
- Your client is a major player in the cosmetic industry. They are considering introducing a brand new clothing line. What recommendations might you have?
- You are in a room with three light switches, each of which controls one of three light bulbs in the next room. Your task is to determine which switch controls which bulb. All lights are off. Your constraints are: you may flick only two switches and you may enter the room with the light bulbs only once. How would you set about determining which switch controls which bulb?
- The Boston Globe has been losing money for the past two years. What can it do to become more profitable?
President Bush has just invented a solar powered engine. What should he do now? - How many hotel-sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner are produced each year around the world?
- The Vice President of Marketing for The Gap has just come to you. Despite the recent great sales at their various stores, “Generation Y” isn’t buying into Gap’s products. This is a significant problem because Gen Y represents a buying force of 60 million. What advice do you have for reaching out to this demographic?
- Do you think Fidelity should come out with a mutual fund targeted at high net worth individuals?
- Your client is the sugar cereal division of Foods Inc., a U.S.-based distributor and manufacturer of packaged foods. According to the division president, Foods Inc.'s traditional strength has been with grocery stores, which in total still accounts for the majority of its $1.1 billion in sugar cereal sales. However, a discount chain, Big M Mart, has been growing at a very healthy rate of almost 15 percent per year and has now become their leading customer. Your client is not sure how to react to this event. What would you recommend their distribution strategy be?
When responding to a question…
Work slowly but surely. Don’t respond with the first thing that comes to your head. Wait, consider the question, refer to your notes, and feel free to ask questions if something needs clarification.
Answer the question that was asked. It may be helpful to summarize the question or verify with the interviewer the crux of the question asked before even beginning. From there, formulate your strategy and framework.
Demonstrate a logical thought process. This is one of the few times in life where it is okay to give the wrong answer. In many cases, the interviewer may not even know the “right” answer. Instead, it is critical that your response appear logical, thoughtful and articulate. Always summarize your findings and recommendations so that your reply contains a clear beginning, middle and ending.
The devil is in the details. Do your best not to go off on tangents. Take cues from your interviewer, do they need more information or less? They will often warn you if you are headed in the wrong direction. When using numbers (and you should always use numbers) make them even numbers thereby allowing you to do the math more quickly and easily.
Relax and have fun with it. Remember, the business problem you are given will often mimic a real-life work situation. If you aren’t enjoying the case interview, one might think you won’t enjoy the job. Don’t forget to smile.
For more sample questions, tips and answers, we recommend you visit www.casequestions.com, BCG.com,
Bain.com, McKinsey.com, or read Case In Point by Marc Cosentino
