http://www.duke.edu/web/fuquacc/iview.

htm
The information in this page is intended to give you a basic understanding of the interview
types that a consulting firm may employ. Since this website is not secure, we're not going
to give away Fuqua's libraries of sample cases and interview tips here. Also, check out
Chad Mikula's primer on case interviewing.
The Waiting Room
Many consulting firms interview off-campus and set up a waiting room for you to relax and
talk informally to consultants. Often the people in the room will be coordinators, Fuqua
alumni, and other interviewees. Sometimes you will be asked to complete some
paperwork or pre-schedule a second-round interview. You should stay relaxed in the
waiting room, but don't let your guard down because everyone can influence the evaluation
of you.
Behavioral Interviews
Under Construction.
CEO Cases
This is the general case interview that might begin, "The CEO of a brick manufacturer has
hired us to figure out why sales have been falling..." Your task is to ask questions to gather
data, pose a hypothesis, do some analysis, and deliver insight or a specific answer. The
keys to success are to structure your analysis, to make reasonable assumptions, to show
clearly how you are thinking, and to deliver an answer. As you work through the case, there
will often be phases of asking questions, being creative, crunching numbers,

The CEO type of case interview is used to assess a candidate's :

Logical/Analytical Thought Process
Business Insight
Quantitative Skills
Creativity/Inquisitiveness
Practical Judgment/Decisiveness
Communication Skills
Response to pressure/lack of information

Engagement Cases
These cases begin a lot like the CEO cases, but the interviewer is looking specifically at
how you would structure the engagement, who you would interview, and what type of
information you would gather. They are not looking for you to drive to an answer, but
instead to show how you would approach the problem. It is good to talk in general terms
about hypotheses and a framework for interpreting data. Typically there will be very little
detail or numbers, and the interviewer may become frustrated if you try to find them. Don't
be surprised, however, when the interviewer says, "OK, now you're on the engagement and
you have this data... What should you tell the CEO?"

Situational Cases
These cases put you on the scene at a client engagement, usually after something has
gone wrong. Your job is to deal with the team and/or the client to clean up the mess.
Interviewers are looking for your relationship-building and team-management skills. The
best approach is not to guess what the interviewer is looking for, but to really imagine
yourself in that situation and have the right conversations. Make sure you ask questions
before making judgments, and always be honest with the client.

Financial (ROA) Cases

A common case of this type involves a biologist who invents a better tomato seed -- who
sells it to a farmer -- who produces tomatoes -- and sells them to a processor -- who
makes better ketchup -- and sells that ketchup at a premium in grocery stores. So who
gets the financial benefit of the better seed? Sometimes the case will be conceptual, and
other times it will involve numbers for each player in this value chain. Your job is to figure
out what is the driver of this industry (usually ROA) and how that translates into incremental
revenue at each stage.

Market Sizing Cases

"How many pennies are there in the South Square Mall?" These mini-cases come as
ice-breakers or as a segment in a larger case. The key is to segment the "market" and
then come up with justified estimates for each part. Make sure you explain all of your
assumptions, but also round them to easy numbers. When you add it all up and have an
answer, make sure you test whether that is reasonable. You'll usually miss something, and
the interviewer may remind you to see how you react, or to make sure you move into the
main part of the case with the right information. In this case, cash registers are obvious,
but don't forget about people's pockets, banks, fountains, etc.

The Elevator Pitch

At the end of a case, the interviewer may say, "You've just stepped into the elevator with
our client and she asks you for an update as we ride from the 30th floor to the lobby." The
challenge is to very quickly and clearly summarize the hypothesis, analysis, outstanding
questions, and conclusions that you have discussed in the previous 29 minutes of the
interview. Take a breath to get your thoughts together, and then give three or four
sentences that convey the most relevant information. Don't waste time telling the executive
anything they would already know, but also don't just jump right to the answer.

Telephone Interviews
Sometimes firms will ask you to interview over the telephone. This may happen as a
first-round screening interview for firms that don't come to campus, as a late-stage staffing
assessment, or just because of some scheduling glitch. Holding an effective conversation
over the phone is very challenging on both sides, so you'll have to work extra hard to
convey your personality and skills. Make sure you schedule the interview when you can be
relaxed, in a quiet place (use the CSO if necessary). Consider putting on your suit and
opening your portfolio just as you would for a regular interview, and don't use a cordless
phone!

Ten Things to Remember About Case Interviewing

10: Never lose focus on the fact that the case interview is also an interpersonal
interview. Consulting firms will still be judging the candidate on their:
Communication Skills (Structure, Clarity, Tone)
Persuasiveness
Interpersonal Skills
Professional Readiness
Achievement Drive/Energy

9: Make sure that you answer the case question that is posed.
Listen carefully to what is expected of you in the exercise
Restate the question back to the interviewer so that you are sure the two of you are
heading off in the same direction.
Don't try to force a solution on the problem. For example, not all problems are
marketing issues.

8: The case interview is not a race. Take a moment or two to compose your thoughts.
Take notes Organize your thoughts
Silence is not necessarily a bad thing
Ask questions and ask subtly if you are on track

7: Case interviewers don't just want the answer ... they are assessing your process at
getting to the answer.
Think out loud
 Provide insight into the logic behind your technique and decisions

6: Ask questions. Cases are intended to be give-and-take exercises.

Rarely are you given all of the relevant information up front
Questions are the best method for demonstrating inquisitiveness
Ask questions that build as many relevant facts as you need to support your
approach. At some point the interviewer will stop giving details and its your turn

5: When you do not have enough information make clearly stated, reasonable
assumptions. Reason by analogy
Do not get frustrated by ambiguity and insufficient data
State your assumptions if they are critical to your thought process

4: There are no right answers but some approaches may be more right than others.
Keep in mind that most cases are actually engagements to which the interviewer
dedicated a few months of his or her life
There is a limited amount of time (in the interview or at the client) to move to the
essential "leverage points"
Don't get stuck in the weeds. Make sure you can come out of the analysis phase with
a coherent answer

3: Use (don't abuse) frameworks to help you organize your thoughts.

Frameworks should often be transparent to the interviewer
Each framework has relative strengths and weaknesses so pick the one most
appropriate for the given scenario
Frameworks are more useful in articulating your thinking and perspective.

2: Synthesize your analysis into a compelling story.

Be decisive Define what the client should take-away
Summarize the problem, relevant issues and your solution in a concise way as if you
were sitting in front of an executive and giving him/her advice to more efficiently.

1: Practice!
Being adept at case interviews is a learnable skill. The more practice you get the
more polished you will become. If you feel like you bombed and you are in a low risk
interview, ask the interviewer for feedback.