A case interview is a scenario-based problem-solving

exercise
Case questions test many of the skills necessary to be a successful consultant
Skill Key Questions
 Do you effectively organize information?
Analytical Skills  Do you develop a logical framework for analysis?
 How comfortable are you with numbers and mathematical operations?
 Do you demonstrate sound business understanding and logic?
Business Insight & Judgment  Do you understand the implications of your decisions?
 Are you approaching the problem at the right level of detail?
 Can you make sound decisions based on limited data, and defend them?
Decision-Making Ability
 Are you flexible in adapting them to new information?
Creativity  Do you come up with interesting or original ways to tackle problems?
 Are you relaxed and confident?
Poise
 Can you bounce back from mistakes or adapt to uncomfortable situations?
 Are you a good listener?
Communication Skills
 How well do you articulate your questions and answers?
 Would co-workers and clients enjoy working with you?
Interpersonal Skills
 Are you engaging?

1 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process

Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data

How you structure the case is the most critical part of the interview

Keys to Success Common Mistakes

 Listen carefully and understand the
question
 Create a solution framework
 Break the problem down into
manageable parts
 Organize the given data
 Not listening to the setup
 Not understanding the objective
 Diving right into the details without
creating a structure
 Trying to force-fit a text-book
framework

2 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process

Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data

A complete understanding of the problem requires thorough fact-finding

Keys to Success Common Mistakes

 State assumptions and hypotheses
 Start at a high level
 Prioritize your analysis, keeping the
objective in mind
 Be thorough and organized
 Generating answers too quickly
 Not asking enough questions
 Not asking clear, specific questions
 Asking questions for the sake of
asking questions, without relating
them back to the framework

3 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process

Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data

Relevant facts must be pieced together to build up an answer the original question

Keys to Success Common Mistakes

 Drive towards answering the
question
 Organize data to support your
arguments
 Be thorough in your analysis
 Do a “sanity check”
 Losing sight of the original question
 Giving incomplete solution
 Not gathering enough data
 Not relating your data or thought
process to the bigger picture

4 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process

Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data

Close by clearly summarizing your conclusions and addressing any open issues

Keys to Success Common Mistakes

 Be persuasive and complete  Failing to fully answer the question
 Communicate a game plan for  Failing to summarize findings
addressing issues you’ve identified  Rambling

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ASSOCIATES
Let’s now use the knowledge we’ve acquired to
crack an easy sample case interview
 I live in Washington, DC
 I’m a fan of baseball, and of the Washington
Can operating a T-
Nationals in particular
shirt vending cart
outside RFK Stadium  I’ve noticed many single-vendor carts outside RFK
Stadium at the Nationals’ home games, selling
be a profitable
things like ice cream, hot dogs, clothing, etc.
business?
 I’m thinking of getting in the business by buying a
cart and selling T-shirts

 I’ve done some research, and have found the following:

– Average Game Attendance: 30,000
– Number of Nationals Games per Season: 160
– Average Game Duration: 5 hours
– Average Ticket Price: $40

Tell me if this is a good idea

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ASSOCIATES
First, we need to develop an appropriate framework
to answer the problem

 We need to determine whether

this business can be profitable
Profit

Revenue Costs
 Profit equals revenue
minus costs

Quantity Price Fixed Variable

 Here, we break the problem down further, into

smaller parts that we solve more easily

Now that we have our framework, we can organize our thought process and
questions to tackle each of these mini-problems

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ASSOCIATES
In this case, the cost piece is probably easier to
calculate, so let’s go after that first

Profit

Revenue Costs

Quantity Price Fixed Variable

 What are the various costs I would incur?

 Which ones are one-time vs. recurring?
 How often do they recur?
 Which ones depend on how much I sell?

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ASSOCIATES
We proceed by asking relevant questions, and
making assumptions where appropriate

Profit

Revenue Costs

Quantity Price Fixed Variable

 Annual cart leasing  Labor: $10 / hour

fee: $5,000
 T-Shirts: $2 each
 Annual operator’s
license: $1,000
 Variable costs: ?
– We need to figure out
 $6,000 fixed costs per quantity
year

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ASSOCIATES
We turn now to the revenue piece of the problem

Profit

Revenue Costs

Quantity Price Fixed Variable

 How many T-shirts can we sell per game?

 How much can we charge for each one?
– Answer: $15

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ASSOCIATES
Estimating the quantity is key, so we structure this as
a mini-case in itself
How many people will buy my T-shirts per game?

 What is the per-

game attendance? 30,000 attendees per game

 How many 24,000 don’t buy

attendees buy 6,000 buy things (20%)
things? things

 How many of 4,500 buy other

these people buy 1,500 buy T-shirts (25%)
T-shirts? things

 How many of them 50 buy my T- 1,450 buy

buy from me? from
shirts (3%) others

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ASSOCIATES
It is important to always “sanity check” our
numbers to see if they are realistic

 Does 50 T-shirts per game sound realistic?

– If I sell 50 T-shirts out of 1,500, and assuming that other vendors sell
similar numbers, it implies that there are 30 T-shirt vendors in total outside
the stadium
– Is this a realistic number?
– The bulk of my sales probably come in the pre-game and post-game
periods, say 3 hours in total, implying that I sell 1 T-shirt every 3-4 minutes
– Can one person handle a transaction every 3.5 minutes?

Our assumptions seem reasonable

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ASSOCIATES
Now that we’ve calculated each component of our
“profit tree,” we can put them back together

Profit

Revenue Costs

Quantity Price Fixed Variable

 50 T-shirts sold per  $15 per T-Shirt  Annual cart leasing  Labor: $10 / hour for 5
fee: $5,000 hours
 Annual operator’s  T-Shirts: $2 each for
license: $1,000 50 T-shirts

 $750 per-game revenue  $6,000 annual cost  $150 per-game cost

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ASSOCIATES
Next, we annualize our numbers, and come to a
conclusion

Total Revenue per Game $750

LESS Total Cost per Game ($150)
Net Margin per Game $600

Number of Games per Year 80

Annual Gross Margin $48,000

LESS Annual Operating Costs ($6,000)
Total Annual Profit $42,000

 It’s important to sanity check the final answer

– Does the number make sense? Too high? Too low?

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You should also think about, and mention,
additional factors that may be relevant

 What does this figure of $42,000 really mean?

– Is it attractive? Why or why not?
– How can we answer this question?
 What else could influence this business?
– Maybe people buy more when their team is winning?
– More games if the Nationals qualify for the playoffs?
– Can T-shirts be sold at other events or locations?
– Can I rent out my cart to other vendors at other sports events?
– Could I diversify into other kinds of merchandise?
– Can I differentiate my T-shirts somehow?
– What happens when games are canceled due to weather?
– Etc.

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ASSOCIATES
Finally, be prepared to walk through your solution
in a clear, concise way

 Summarize your findings

 Make a firm and actionable recommendation
 Mention additional considerations and how
to begin to deal with them

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