Here are a couple of success stories received from readers who used case interview preparation techniques for securing an offer outside of consulting.
Success Story:
I would like to share my positive experience of a business case interview, thanks to your website!
After submitting my Master thesis several months ago, I immediately started to search for a job. After several interview rounds I got to the assessment day (AD) selection where one of the assignments was a business case.
For my first AD I went without really preparing and totally blew it up (actually I believed that you cannot prepare for such things, you’re either smart enough or not).
It was a business case task where you get a bunch of documents and papers with a lot of relevant & irrelevant info. You have 1 hour to go through the docs and develop recommendations for the company to solve the existing issues (which you also need to identify based on the given material).
You get then 5 minutes to present your conclusions. I was so nervous and overwhelmed by the volume of the material that I started to panic and didn’t manage to prepare myself properly. Of course I did not pass the AD and failed to get an offer.
Several days after that I received an invitation for an assessment day at another company (my dream company actually). So I decided to prepare for the business case assignment this time.
I searched on i-net for some examples and tips and accidentally landed at your website. I watched the videos first and found them amazing! The way you explained the approaches and strategies was so simple and genuine at the same time!
Next I read through your materials and practiced with a couple of examples. (Thank you so much for providing these materials for free).
At my next AD, when I received the scary package of materials, I felt really calm and concentrated because I knew exactly what to do. Thanks to your advice, I had a structure in my head and knew how to analyse the material and how to develop strategies. I simply followed your recommendations and the steps.
I managed it so well that I even had some minutes to rethink my answers and prepare mentally for the questions. It’s amazing how your advice actually works! The next day, I received a confirmation that I successfully passed the AD and received a job offer from my dream company.
I would like to thank you so much for your work and your great advice! Thank you for sharing your experience with us and providing all these valuable materials to students for free!
I also found the newsletters really helpful and inspiring! You are so right saying that solving a business case is all about being prepared!!!
Just to mention, the business cases that I got were not for the consulting companies, but your approaches work genuinely well even for other types of business cases. I have already forwarded your website to several of my friends who are going through the interview process at the moment.
Thank you once again for the great work you are doing! I believe that without accidentally finding your website I would not have passed the AD!
Success Story:
Even though I wasn’t applying for a consulting job, I read every one of your news letters, and I’m happy to say I will now work at [XXXX], a super-fast growing startup in the use-our-app-get-a-ride space.
I never submitted a resume through their website, but rather, followed your advice on networking and was able to connect and network with someone who directly referred me to their recruiter. Submitting a resume internally was exponentially more effective than when I applied for other companies online only.
I’ve been listening to your advice regarding the cover letter, and I knew I had to impress them to even get a chance of getting hired (more than 4 qualified people who were personally referred were previously turned down for this position within the past month).
I did a market study, and created a Prezi virtual presentation, which I presented to multiple people at the company to show them I could fulfill the role’s responsibilities by doing the work the position required in advance. Also, in all interviews and written communications with the company, I focused on my most important accomplishments in a humble but noticeable manner. I believe this really pushed me rather quickly through the hiring process.
I also showed them my analytical thinking by creating frameworks based on certain “case studies” given in the interview process (think–asynchronous case interviews). I do not believe they were used to seeing the consultant-minded approach while applying (many who work there are engineers and IB), and I received an offer 1 week after starting the interview process. Although these case studies were conducted separately from the interview, 1 was timed, and the other was due 20 hours after it was assigned.
Thank you again for your amazing newsletters, wisdom, and willingness to help people like me realize their full potential and gain meaningful employment at a young age.