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As companies worldwide get more and more concerned about hiring the right talent
for their key positions, candidate evaluation during interviews has become all the
more sophisticated. The case interview is unique in the sense that it presents the
candidate with a problem to be solved in the context of real-world business
situations and seeks solutions that tests both logical reasoning and creativity. It
allows the interviewer to evaluate the candidate’s skills in deconstructing a problem
and communicating their thought process, the ability to think on their feet, handle
ambiguity and assess their comfort with numbers. Although, traditionally used by
consulting firms in their recruiting processes, the case method is now increasingly
used for jobs across functions whether general management or investment banking.
The casebook by The Consulting & Strategy Club of IIM Lucknow documents
candidates’ interview experiences by different firms that have been hiring from the
IIM Lucknow campus over the years. The ideal way to use this book would be for
the candidate to first arrive at a case solution employing his own approach and then
enhance his learning through comparison with the approaches documented in the
casebook.
Foreword..................................................................................................................................... 2
About Case Interviews................................................................................................................. 6
Skills Tested................................................................................................................................ 6
Types of Cases Encountered ....................................................................................................... 6
Do List for a Case Interview ........................................................................................................ 7
Frameworks ................................................................................................................................ 7
Some Important Frameworks ...................................................................................................... 7
Summer Internship Experiences 2013 ......................................................................................... 12
Accenture Management Consulting ............................................................................................ 12
Interview Experience 1 ..................................................................................................................... 12
Interview Experience 2 ..................................................................................................................... 13
Interview Experience 3 ..................................................................................................................... 15
Interview Experience 4 ..................................................................................................................... 18
Interview Experience 5 ..................................................................................................................... 19
Interview Experience 6 ..................................................................................................................... 23
Interview Experience 7 ..................................................................................................................... 25
A T Kearney .............................................................................................................................. 28
Interview Experience 8 ..................................................................................................................... 28
Boston Consulting Group............................................................................................................ 29
Interview Experience 9 ..................................................................................................................... 29
Interview Experience 10 ................................................................................................................... 31
Deloitte ..................................................................................................................................... 34
Interview Experience 11 ................................................................................................................... 34
Interview Experience 12 ................................................................................................................... 35
Interview Experience 13 ................................................................................................................... 38
KPMG ........................................................................................................................................ 40
Interview Experience 14 ................................................................................................................... 40
McKinsey & Co ........................................................................................................................... 41
Interview Experience 15 ................................................................................................................... 41
Interview Experience 16 ................................................................................................................... 43
Interview Experience1 7 ................................................................................................................... 44
Interview Experience 18 ................................................................................................................... 47
Case interviews are usually based on real problems which interviewers themselves
have encountered in the course of their client engagements. They usually last for
about 20 minutes and seek to test the candidate’s problem solving skills. In a typical
case interview, the interviewer states a problem and the interviewee goes about
tackling the problem by asking a series of questions. The interviewer answers these
questions based on how he wishes to direct the interview. The candidate must put
forth a logical framework for solving the problem after having understood the key
issues and must ideally make some recommendations/conclusions towards the end
of a case.
Skills Tested
Take notes
Do not make any assumptions
Ask questions
Take your time before responding
Lay out a structure for the interviewer
Summarize at regular intervals
Frameworks
STP:
Segmentation:
Targeting:
4Ps:
Round 3 Rounds
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, BITS-Pilani, Chemical Engineering, Oracle Financial Services
stream, Work ex details, Software -22 months, CFA Level1, family work experience in
etc.) pharmaceutical
Interview questions (With Round 1:
indicative answers if you Tell me about yourself
choose to share them) Why AMC?
Why Consulting?
Why not finance?
Why MBA from Engineering?
Any question you would like to us?
Round 2: Mostly HR
Tell me about yourself
Why AMC?
Why Consulting?
Any question you would like to us?
Round 3:
Tell me about yourself
Why AMC?
Why Consulting?
Any question you would like to us?
What do you think went Why consulting could have been more better
wrong in this interview?
Any tips for future batches Read about the company on their website and include that
on the basis of your information in your answers.
experience Practise basic case solving frameworks
Interview Experience 2
Round 3: Partner
Round
(First/Second/third)
Round 2:
Pure HR interview with all kinds of standard HR
questions like leadership examples, strengths, why
consulting, hobbies, social work etc.
Round 3:
Partner Round- Checking the fit. Similar questions as
earlier. No case studies or guesstimate.
Narration of the case All the rounds had a common objective: checking whether
interview (Please be as consulting is fit for me. They were especially keen on the
descriptive as possible) learnings out of my work ex. Any standout achievement will
really help here. Otherwise the questions were quite
straightforward. No technical stuff for me (cases,
guesstimates). “Why Accenture” is one question which was
asked in all the three rounds.
What do you think went I had a break between my second and third round due to
wrong in this interview? other interviews. It caused a slight break in the flow although
not a major one.
Any tips for future batches Go through the website and their campus ppt well
on the basis of your Be prepared with “Why Accenture” answer
experience Prepare for all the standard HR answers well in
advance. It really helps on the final day.
Interview Experience 3
What is the current mobile phone I use? (At the time, I used a
Micromax A74)
Why has Micromax succeeded? What has it done correctly?
What do you understand from Micromax’s recent advertising
campaigns? Why has it cast Hugh Jackman?
Why is Nokia doing badly? What are the strategic mistakes it
has made?
Round 2:
Largely conversational, my experiences and expectations from
consulting and whether Accenture would fit me. No clichéd
HR questions.
Round 3:
Guesstimate the size of the Indian Diaper market.
Repeating the point about me being too technical for the role.
Round 4:
What is Accenture’s current stock price?
Is Accenture a public or a private company?
Where is Accenture headquartered out of?
What is causing deflation in Japan?
More questions about the state of the Japanese economy and
macroeconomics in general.
What should the governor of RBI focus on?
Narration of the case Boeing parts:
interview I was only asked to list the broad areas I’d look at.
Listed transportation, supply chain, labour relations,
and legal arrangements.
Brief Profile : B.Tech from PEC (2010 batch); Prior work experience of
(Graduation College, about 5 months with Mu Sigma, Bangalore and 26 months
stream, Work ex details, with ZS Associates, Gurgaon
etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1: Some basic questions like tell me about yourself,
indicative answers if you why consulting
choose to share them)
Discussed one project from Mu Sigma and one from ZS in
detail, nature of responsibilities
The interviewer did not allow me to use a pen and paper and
rather asked to orally discuss the case. I questioned the ins and
outs of the business, the industry and other basic qualifiers.
The issue was with the supply chain. Gave him
recommendations on how to enhance the profits. After this he
gave a couple of hypothetical situations pertaining to sales and
distribution issues and how I would go ahead. The interview
lasted for about 45 mins.
Round 2:
Tell me something about yourself, typical HR situations
(significant achievement, situation where you achieved
something significant after overcoming obstacles, etc.), which
practice area would you like to work in at AMC, what do you
Round 3:
This was the Partner round. Some general questions from my
work-experience, which practice area would you prefer, why,
recent developments in that practice area, a couple of projects
from my stint at ZS
What do you think went Spoke enthusiastically, did well in the cases
right in this interview?
What do you think went Couldn’t justify satisfactorily why I wanted a particular
wrong in this interview? practice area
Any tips for future batches Prepare well for HR questions, it helps
on the basis of your
experience
Interview Experience 5
Case
1st asked me about how Tata Sumo is doing in India, to which
I replied not well at all. Then the problem statement was to
help Tata come up with a decision regarding the future of
Sumo.
Walked him through the value chain and stressed on the cost
and value drivers and came up with 3 solutions, to which he
seemed impressed and stopped the discussion there
Round 2:
Round 3:
Narration of the case The problem statement was to help Tata come up with a
interview (Please be as decision regarding the future of Sumo.
descriptive as possible)
I took a minute off to get the 1st two layers of the structure in
place. Then started with the Cost and Value drivers and
complemented it with the value chain to figure out where they
were going wrong. After looking at every aspect, we came to
the conclusion that the Tata Sumo is falling behind due to
improper positioning of the vehicle vis-à-vis it competitors
and the lack of sheer innovation that the subsequent models
have shown.
What do you think went Clarity of thought
right in this interview? Structure to answers, especially HR answers
Interacting with the Interviewer, asking questions wherever
necessary
Not fumbling and losing the main chain of thought
Interview Experience 6
Narration of the case 1) A burger joint’s profitability is falling despite same sales
interview (Please be as revenue? Analyse the reasons.
descriptive as possible) 2) ESPN has to bid for an upcoming cricket match series.
Give them a reasonable quote.
Ans: I asked about the kind of series: test, oneday
or IPL.
I asked about the match’s location. He replied India to
which I asked if India was playing. Enquired about the
sponsors, ad revenues etc.
What do you think went Coherence and structure in answers
right in this interview? I was very candidly chatting with them which probably
worked in my favour
What do you think went
wrong in this interview?
Interview Experience 7
Round 2: HR
Tell me about yourself?
Why Accenture? Why consulting?
HR person was interested in my work ex and PORs, asked a
plenty of questions on that.
Round 3: CV Based + HR
Tell me about yourself?
Asked how my day was, as my energy levels were bit low at
that point of time.
I had an entrepreneurial venture at IIT and interviewer was
asking questions related to entrepreneurship trends in India
and issues faced in my venture, key learnings etc.
Interviewer was working in a similar domain of supply chain
(Sales and distribution) and we had a discussion on challenges
involved in projects.
What were my expectations from Accenture and why I prefer
it over working for Olam?
What do you think went I was quick to realise the case presented to me in between
right in this interview? conversation and I had asked him time for structuring it.
There were no signs of nervousness as I had sat for ample
number of interviews before and was very comfortable and
confident throughout the process. Was quick to catch cues
from interviewer and focused discussion on topics that
engaged him. Was cheerful throughout the process.
What do you think went I was completely exhausted as interviews were scheduled
wrong in this interview? towards end of the day and my energy levels were not high.
Any tips for future batches Be confident, energetic and enjoy the process.
on the basis of your
experience
Interview Experience 8
Round 2: (HR)
1) Tell me something about yourself
2) How was your experience of working with XYZ
Company?
3) Why consulting? Why not join the old firm back?
4) Why Accenture?
5) How do you fit in?
6) What if we are not able to recruit you today?
Round 3 :
Started with the usual tell me something about yourself. Then
he started questioning me on why I want to choose consulting
as a field and why I don’t want to work with my old firm
again.
Then he gave me a guesstimate:
Estimate the no of passenger shared auto rickshaws in
Lucknow
The guesstimate could have been done using multiple
approaches so he asked me the different approaches I can use
to arrive at the final answer. He also cross questioned me on
the assumptions I had made while solving the guesstimate.
Round 4:
Any tips for future batches If you have core manufacturing work-ex, irrespective of the
on the basis of your department you were in, be thoroughly prepared with
experience operations related questions.
Also, be prepared for a few question from your undergraduate
stream
Interview Experience 9
Round -
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, PEC, Goldman Sachs
stream, Work ex details,
etc.)
Interview questions (With Round 1-
indicative answers if you 1. Tell me something about yourself (was asked the same
choose to share them) question multiple times in the process)
2. Your most significant achievement in life
3. Support your hobbies with examples: I mentioned reading
novels and was asked about the last novel i read and what did i
like the most in the novel
Round 2 -
1. Explain what I did at Goldman Sachs (Job role and
responsibilities)
2. One instance where you think team work was most
important (linked to work experience)
Any tips for future batches Prepare some questions to ask to the interviewer.
on the basis of your 1. Stay happy! a smile on your face really works!
experience 2. Don't hesitate in asking for time to think. It is perfectly
fine!
3. Make HR questions as personal as possible! ( a BIG +)
4. Maintain your stand following the Pcom rules if asked
about offer. Ask for some time to think and contact PCom
immediately.
Interview Experience 10
Narration of the case Round 1: The case was concerning a mobile device
interview (Please be as manufacturer facing a decline in profits. It had opened new
descriptive as possible) stores through a franchisee recently and started selling
products at a lower price. This had affected the equation with
the set of old retailers. In addition the margins provided to
the retailers by the client weren’t competitive which were
causing it to lose sales.
Any tips for future batches Extremely important to stay calm and confident throughout
on the basis of your the interview and have a good discussion with the interviewer.
experience
Interview Experience 11
Round 2: n/a
Round 3: n/a
Narration of the case Case overview:
interview (Please be as There is a computers/laptop manufacturer, global leader, with
descriptive as possible) two revenue streams – Primary selling of products
Service revenues from maintenance, repair and replacement
parts
Global average split is 75%-25% respectively but India split is
95%-5%
Problem Statement:
To increase revenue stream from services in India
Case Approach:
1) Background questions:
2) Approach:
I dived into each bucket to find that the problem lay in spare
parts after spending considerable time on good staff and
access. (I established that distribution/reach was good so
people did not find it inconvenient to visit our stores as well
as we had skilled help that could effectively and quickly solve
consumer problems)
Any tips for future batches Enjoy the interview! It is actually great fun, and if the
on the basis of your interviewer realises you’re enjoying it, it acts as a huge positive!
experience
Deloitte
Interview Experience 12
Narration of the case Summer Olympics will take place in 2015. Our customers are
interview (Please be as conducting the event.
descriptive as possible) What are the major sources of revenues for them?
Major sources of profit?
What are the costs involved?
How will you price the tickets to earn so and so amount of
profit?
How will you make a team. How will you prioritize the tasks?
What do you think went I was confident and bold enough to think on my feet.
right in this interview? The interviewers seemed more interested in how one
approaches a problem. They were complicating the problem
as I got deeper into it. The key is to consider all possible
aspects and quickly chose the best possible alternative as a part
of the questions which were asked.
Might sound like a cliché, Thinking out Loud helps a lot!
What do you think went I fumbled in 2 instances. There are times when the answers
wrong in this interview? just don’t strike! But keep your calm, keep thinking as there is
always a next question and there is always a better way to
answer the next question!
Any tips for future batches
on the basis of your
experience
Interview Experience 13
Round 3 Rounds
(First/Second/third)
Round 3:
The third round was act based with a senior manager acting as
a client. I briefly gave the synthesis of the case with my
Interview Experience 14
Round 3 Rounds
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile :
(Graduation College, Mechanical Engineering from IIT Madras
stream, Work ex details, Work in Caterpillar – 35 months, operations
etc.)
Round 2:
Case on a firm which has 3 plants and is making huge losses.
Data sheet is given with details of cost and productivity of all
3 plants.
We decided to look into the costs being incurred, split the cost
into 3 buckets – Wages, Material and overhead costs.
Material had no scope of cost reduction, Wages – we
identified in plant 3 the no.of salaried were more than hourly
hence more cost. Similarly in overheads – Plant 3 has too
much inventory holding cost.
So we decided to reduce these costs, but even reducing these
didn’t turn a profit so we decided to shut plant 3 and move
the production to plant 1 and plant 2
Later I gave suggestions on how to raise cash for increasing
the production in the other 2 plants – Money by selling plant
3, Loan or money from market
Later did profit analysis to prove the investment is giving good
profit
Round 3:
Had to present the case I did in Round 2 to the partner – he
was acting as the client whose case we took up and solved.
Drew the tree structure and explained him how we went about
each and every bucket before identifying root causes.
Possible solutions for root causes and suggestions to improve.
The partner kept asking many questions, not agreeing to most.
He was only satisfied when the arguments made were based
on numbers.
Later he asked basic HR questions like, what field of
consulting would I choose? Why deloitte? Etc.
KPMG
Interview Experience 15
What do you think went I messes up a little on the company specific questions. Do go
wrong in this interview? through the Company RG before you enter the interview.
Any tips for future batches Stay confident. They seem to like people who are confident
on the basis of your about what they speak. If you don’t know an answer, tell it to
experience them politely.
McKinsey & Co
Interview Experience 16
After each round you will be asked if you have any questions
for the interviewer, if you have some good questions then do
ask, but do not ask for just for the sake of asking.
Narration of the case Round 1: Guesstimate: Value of a bulb with infinite life
interview (Please be as (involved basic DCF calculation, evaluation of expenditure
descriptive as possible) you might do in case of a normal bulb).
Case: Problems that a truck association might be facing in
getting truck drivers (possible problems and solutions for
those). Be innovative as possible. Although I didn’t reach the
exact problem in the end (only got to know this after the
interview from a friend), but explored quite a few areas to get
through to the second round. The interviewer was very silent
and unresponsive, you just had to carry on with the case on
your own. A solution to the truck problem was that the people
got AIDS as they went at different places, and then they had
problems getting married. Second was that there were health
problems, due to them eating food at different places and
uncomfortable seats, no proper place to sleep.
What do you think went Being calm and confident, thinking on the feet really helps. I
right in this interview? had already gone through a fair set of interviews before, so
wasn’t nervous at all. While you would have done an umpteen
The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow Page 42
number of cases before hand, but every case will be new and
will require you to go to different breadth and depths. While
case solving remains a very important part, they also test you
on your HR skills. The second round was the deciding factor,
after which directly there was a partner round. In the end
managed to convert the call. Finally, it was very important to
smile over the course of interview which lasted 30-45 mins
What do you think went To be frank, I think everything went right for me in this
wrong in this interview? process. Although I did miss out the exact cause of the
problem in the first round but wasn’t so much a big deal. The
way you structure your thoughts is more important.
Any tips for future To me case solving had much more importance in the course
batches on the basis of of the interview, but HR answers shouldn’t be ignored for
your experience sure.
Make sure you are properly dressed. You get evaluated on
every aspect.
Interview Experience 17
Name: Anonymous
Company: Mckinsey and Company
Name of interviewer Rounds 1,2: Case Study
and designation Round 3: HR
Round 3 Rounds
Interview questions Round 1:
(With indicative answers 1.) Tell me something about yourself?
if you choose to share 2.) Convince me to sell my company even when it is doing
them) very well in the market.
Round 2:
1.) Case study on Indian Telecom sector
Round 3:
1.) McK vs BCG question
2.) 5 ways India can win 5 Gold medals in upcoming
olympics
Interview Experience 18
Narration of the case Round 1: Vikas brought in the case decisively (not as a gradual
interview (Please be as flow in conversation): “My friend owns a standalone cinema
descriptive as possible) theatre in Mumbai. Profits and revenue taking a hit. What
should I do?”
I started the case with the usual qualifiers (since when, what
has changed, industry, competition, type of movies, location
etc). I made a structure but he sounded disinterested. Kept
throwing me off my game with vague disinterested hints.
None of my directions seemed to appeal to him. I persisted.
Took some timeouts to rethink approaches. Came up with 3-4
approaches before we went into one. Then he asked me to
ideate.
What do you think went I was calm across interviews and somehow managed to leave
right in this interview? the stress at the door before all rounds. I received positive
feedback regarding this later on.
Round 1: My HR answers were interesting, passionate,
structured but natural. I never gave up during the case and
persisted despite several setbacks. I didn’t mind starting from
scratch repeatedly. My idea-gen was adequate.
Round 2: I gave an honest and humble feedback about round
1 when asked. Initial structure during case was ok (I missed
fuel, but he pointed it out). Most importantly, I could crack
the math in the case in my first attempt (it was quite simple
really, but turns out, many silly mistakes were made during the
day). I managed to structure my recommendations as well and
generate several relevant ideas.
Round 3: Frank genuine answers about my academics and
work experience. He asked about people at my previous
company, expectations from Mckinsey etc.
What do you think went Round 1: I didn’t think my case went all that great, as the
wrong in this interview? interviewer looked disinterested throughout and kept
redirecting me. Halfway through the case, I realised that
cracking the case was out of the question. I came out of the
interview apprehensive but luckily was ushered into round 2
before I could dwell on it.
Round 2: I entered the interview unsure, given my
performance in the first interview. I kept trying to give
subjective solutions and state assumptions when all the
interviewer wanted was simple math. I kept thinking the case
can’t just be simple maths, but initially it was!
Round 3: I was mentally prepared for a case but there was
none.
Interview Experience 19
Interview Experience 20
Company: McKinsey
Interview Experience 21
Interview Experience 22
Brief Profile : B.A. (Hons) English- Lady Shri Ram College for Women-
(Graduation College, Fresher
stream, Work ex details,
etc.)
Narration of the case “My friend runs a standalone theatre in the heart of Mumbai,
interview (Please be as but has recently been witnessing declining profits.”
descriptive as possible)
I initially structured it into a regular profit and loss case, but
after the first 4-5 minutes (possibly because he gathered that I
had no problem structuring the case) he jumped directly to
recommendations. The rest of my case focused solely on me
shooting options as to how he could possibly increase his
profits. The suggestions included the obvious ones such as
price of tickets, show timings, staff requirements etc, and then
we went on to other areas such as the Food and Beverages
counter, Parking and so on.
At that point, after we had exhausted all avenues he asked me
to come up with out-of-the-box solutions, and we spent the
rest of the interview solely on idea generation.
What do you think went I didn’t ask for numbers, possibly because numbers were
wrong in this interview? where I had messed up in the last case. If I had gotten over
the phobia in time the case solutions I presented would have
had more of an impact.
Any tips for future batches Reading the cues and expressions of the interviewer always
on the basis of your help.
experience Apart from that don’t make the mistake of getting trapped by
your structures because McKinsey partners usually tend
towards unorthodox case interviews.
Interview Experience 1
Round 2:
I think the interviewer was impressed from the fact that the
problem was solved from the demand side. Also, I quickly
suggested 2 solutions to the problem:
Short term – Reduce prices and take a hit on profit to
regain market share
Medium term – Follow hub and spoke model to
reduce delay in delivery time
Long term – Acquire a source (may be mine or long
term supplier) for lime stone
Round 3:
What do you think I was nervous in my first interview; hence initially I went in
went wrong in this haywire manner. However, I was told that one needs to
interview? perform in 2 out of 3 interviews to get through. I did well in
my second interview and hence moved to third round. So in
case, you do not do well in one of the interview, it should
not matter. It’s important to think clearly and structurally.
Any tips for future 1. Be calm and composed. Even if one interview does
batches on the basis of not go well, one would have another chance to
your experience perform
2. Take good background questions to understand the
problem. Dissect the problem and then approach
3. Structured thinking is very important. Also, explain
briefly the broad bucket in the structure.
4. All suggestions should have some basis based on the
inputs taken during t he interview.
5. Thorough CV and HR preparation are hygiene
factors.
6. Always smile!
Interview Experience 2
Round 3: NA
Narration of the case The partner started off by asking me about academics (I had
interview a really high CGPA that time) and I asked him a bit about
how he was also one of the top rankers in his time at
Lucknow (he’d mentioned this at the BCG dinner earlier).
He then gave me the case question. I started by focussing on
the different factors that were important for a person to get
loans from banks (like creditworthiness, availability etc.) He
said the structure was fine but he wanted me to focus more
on the link between financing and the truck purchase. So I
figured out that I needed to understand their target
customers better. We discussed that for a while. It turned
out that there were two kinds of customers (forming 50% of
the total each) One was large fleet owners who bought lots
of trucks together and had no trouble with financing. The
others were smaller ‘players’. They took a loan from a local
moneylender and used the purchased truck as collateral. So I
suggested we focus on the smaller guys (because they did
not have access to traditional financing) and try to get the
moneylenders to promote our trucks. He then drew a
couple of graphs and asked me to figure out what kind of
monetary compensation we could offer the moneylender.
What do you think The case was really different from the ones I had done
went right in this earlier so I really enjoyed it. It didn’t really feel like a case
interview? interview at all, felt more like a discussion. I was able to pick
up the clues well.
Any tips for future Try to have fun. Don’t fret too much about how many cases
batches on the basis of you have practiced.
your experience
Interview Experience 3
Narration of the case The case was about an Indian conglomerate entering the IT
interview space. I was asked to prepare a detailed market entry
strategy at the start. When I outlined that he could opt for a
JV, an acquisition or an own set-up, he asked me to probe
further into the JV idea. From there on, the case was about
identifying specific metrics to ascertain the best JV route. It
was a very spontaneous case discussion, and we covered a
variety of opportunities, problems and solutions in and
around the original problem statement.
What do you think I kept my cool. At one point, I realised that he was not
went right in this getting the specific reply he wanted. Instead of panicking, I
interview? asked for a minute, took a step back and reworked the
problem successfully. What worked most was the level of
engagement with the interviewer. Post the case, we had an
excellent dialogue about the sector in which he was working
on a case.
What do you think I rushed to give a particular answer in the case, which was
went wrong in this absolutely unnecessary. It was crucial that I didn’t get
interview? nervous after that.
Any tips for future Keep high energy through the interview. Feel confident and
batches on the basis of remember that, at the end of the day, an interview should
your experience most importantly be a good conversation.
Round Second
Name of interviewer Vikram (Principal)
and designation
Narration of the case The case was about a cement company losing market share.
interview It has set up new plants too. There was some amount of
data to play with and a lot of technical jargon (which I
suspect was to just throw me off track!)
What do you think I structured the problem in a very detailed manner. I asked
went right in this relevant questions and took my time. I also got lucky that
interview? intuitively I managed to find the root cause of the problem,
though it wasn’t expected out of the case. The rapport with
the interviewer was good during and after the case.
What do you think Nothing really, I was quite happy with how the interview
went wrong in this went.
interview?
Any tips for future Look happy, it rubs off on to the interviewer as well! It’s
batches on the basis of important to practice ample cases so that you’re confident
your experience with your problem solving.
McKinsey & Co
Interview Experience 4
What do you think Structured cases, exhaustive option generation, relaxed &
went right in this confident personality and ability to build a connect with
interview? each administrator in all rounds
What do you think Nothing really. I maintained my cool and came across as
went wrong in this relaxed and composed for all three rounds. My feedback
interview? from the firm while they made the offer was that I managed
to keep myself very calm and my cases structured even
though at times it seemed difficult.
Any tips for future -Do not give up at any point in time during any case.
batches on the basis of Sometimes the case may not be your comfort area but you
your experience need to drive yourself till the end & that matters
-When numbers are thrown at you, keep your cool and work
it out without being under any pressure. It’s better to get the
right answer than mess up simple math
-Practice cases and be clear about HR answers. Nothing
should precede the other, give equal importance to both
Round 2: No case
Any tips for future HR answers are supremely important – run answers through
batches on the basis of people and work on the feedback.
your experience
Be prepared for any kind of interviewer. Each has their own
unique style – keeping calm is the best way to crack the
interview.
Interview Experience 6
Interview Experience 7
Interview questions Since it was Deepak’s first interview of the day, he didn’t
want to do a case. It was a 20-30 minutes HR interview. The
broad questions were:
- About work experience ( I focussed on achievements
and initiatives)
- About dance (my spike as per my CV: I focussed on
leadership skills, handling failures and motivation
skills adopted)
- Biggest failure in life
- Conflict management techniques used in teams
- Academic performance at IIML (he was referring to
my CGP of term 1)
- Life at IIML ( I focussed on my learnings, positive
and negative aspects)
Narration of the case No case
interview
What do you think Since it was my first interview of the day, I was quite
went right in this enthusiastic and had a big smile on my face (appearance is
interview? very important). I was relieved when Deepak told me that
he didn’t want to do a case. I tried to answer in a story-
telling format (its important that the interviewer understands
the flow of the answer).
Any tips for future - Its very important to keep energy level high
batches on the basis of - Engage the interviewer in a conversation and don’t
your experience stop yourself from saying something by virtue of
being the interviewee. Give yourself importance and
talk proudly about your past experiences
- Pick up hints thrown by the interviewer
- A firm handshake always works and exudes
confidence
- Don’t freak out and have fun
A T Kearney
Interview Experience 8
Round 3 rounds
Any tips for future It is important to stay calm during the case interviews The
batches on the basis of interviewer will be ready to help you out so it is important to
your experience clarify your doubts. Take some time to understand the case
question and confirm with the interviewer before
proceeding further.
Round 3: HR Questions
Narration of the case “I’m a chemical manufacturer. Help me optimize my
interview outbound logistics”
Interview Experience 11
What do you think They expected me to suggest the GDP approach myself.
went wrong in this
interview?
Interview Experience 12
Round 2: HR
What do you like about Accenture
What do you remember from Accenture’s PPT
Did you attend the session by our senior partner,
Give one positive and one negative feedback
I handled the negative part very tactfully: starting with slight
negativity but ending on a very positive note.
Would like to join IB or GTIN.
Understand the difference properly.
Round 3: CV
Walk me through your academic background.
Why did you leave something as promising as
Biotechnology for something as mundane as
Management consulting.
Tell me one challenging task that you did
I gave the example of a project at Deloitte.
What do you think I knew from beforehand what they were looking for. I could
went right in this project all those qualities in some or the other answer. My
interview? HR answers were well prepared and reviewed before I
entered the interview.
I kept a smiling face though one of the interviewers’ kept a
shrewd expression on his face.
I steered the interview in my way by giving answers of all
HR questions based on experiences and stories and talking
about things I knew very well so that I could handle the
drilling questions.
What do you think I took Economics’ name as one of my favourite subjects
went wrong in this and couldn’t answer some questions properly.
interview?
Any tips for future Any company, any interview, HR answers are extremely
batches on the basis of important. More so to tailor the answers to the company. It
your experience is also important to understand the values and culture of the
company and portray a fit in the interview. Accenture’s PPT
is very important to them. If you are serious about that
company make sure you attend the ppt.
Interview Experience 13
Round 3:
Any tips for future • For AMC, it pays well to know well about what
batches on the basis of work the company does and some recent
your experience happenings that the company was involved in.
• Frame good questions for asking at the end of
the interview as my third round was primarily
based on that
• Generate a plethora of options when analysing a
case. It shows that you can think in multiple
directions. In summers, most companies look
only for people with ideas rather than skills.
Hence, this is the most important phase of a
case interview as far as summers are concerned.
• Thorough CV and HR preparation are of prime
importance
Interview Experience 14
Narration of the case Guesstimate in the 1st interview: Estimation of Baby Diaper
interview market in India
Followed by questions like, what was a major assumption in
your estimate, what could have been a better approach for
estimation, etc.
What do you think My ability to think of different ways to approach this
went right in this problem, and being able to point out a flaw in my estimate
interview? and a solution to that
Interview Experience 15
Round 3 rounds
Brief Profile Jadavpur University, IT
Consultant in PricewaterhouseCoopers for 2 years
Any tips for future Lay out the structure well. They seemed to be more
batches on the basis of interested in covering the breadth of options rather than
your experience drilling down on them. Also they didn’t seem to bother
much about numbers and percentages in the case and
guesstimate.
Interview Experience 16
Round 2:
What skills do you think a consultant needs? Which one of
those skills do you lack in?
Round 3:
Questions regarding work experience – I worked on SAP
implementation, so the interviewer asked me to give three
reasons why companies go for ERP implementation – a
hidden form of cost-benefit analysis case
The interviewer was looking for the approach only and not
extensive detailing.
What do you think I had to give some impromptu answers for certain questions
went wrong in this regarding my previous question. Even though I justified my
interview? answers well finally, I could have organised my answers
better.
Any tips for future 7. Know about the company thoroughly. In case you
batches on the basis of have not attended the ppt, find out the same from
your experience your friends who have attended it and try to get as
much information as possible from seniors.
8. Lot of students have been questioned about academic
subjects. So it’s good to brush up on basics before
attending the interview.
9. In case of students with prior experience, prepare
well in advance about your nature of work, roles and
responsibilities, nature of projects handled. Be ready
with some examples through which you can explain
your problem solving skills and leadership skills.
Interview Experience 17
Round 2:
Round 3:
Any tips for future 10. For AMC, it pays well to know well about what work
batches on the basis of the company does and some recent happenings that
your experience the company was involved in.
11. Frame good questions for asking at the end of the
interview
12. Generate a plethora of options when analysing a case.
It shows that you can think in multiple directions. In
summers, most companies look only for people with
ideas rather than skills. Hence, this is the most
important phase of a case interview as far as summers
are concerned.
13. Thorough CV and HR preparation are hygiene
factors.
14. Always smile!
Interview Experience 18
Interview questions Round 1: It was more of a chit chat round. First, the
(With indicative interviewer asked me – Tell me something about yourself. In
answers if you choose my answer, I mentioned about founding and heading 70
to share them) member team of Student Welfare Group at IIT Kharagpur &
co-founding a start-up named estumart.com at IIT Kharagpur.
The interviewer became more interested in my work at
Student Welfare Group & he asked me in detail about my
work. Then he asked few questions on my start-up like
whether it is still working or not, what was the motivation for
the start-up & having such a good engineering profile, why
didn’t I opt for an MS degree. In the last, he asked me
whether I have any questions. I asked about the difference
between GTIN & IB profile. First he I told him, what I knew
about both the profiles, then there was some discussion
regarding why I want to choose IB over GTIN.
What do you think I had interest in the consulting. So I have gathered a lot of
went right in this information about Accenture, their different profiles. The
interview? discussions with the interviewers showed them that I had
genuine interest in consult work.
What do you think My 2nd interview was not that good according to me. I had to
went wrong in this globe sometime like in question on core values of Accenture.
interview?
Any tips for future The most important thing is that you should be confident
batches on the basis enough. Consult interviews are more of a discussion rather
of your experience than interviews. So take it in that way only. If you have any
genuine doubt, you can also ask questions to them. It will be
appreciated.
Deloitte
Interview Experience 19
Round 3 Rounds
HR round:
Interviewer started with his introduction first.
Why consultancy?
Round 2:
Round 3:
What do you think Quick calculations and analysis of data sheet was a plus
went right in this point.
interview? I was able to answer the question why consulting well.
Thorough knowledge about everything that I wrote on the
CV.
A smile throughout the interview helped.
Interview Experience 1
2. Guesstimation Case
2nd Round
Structure:
What do you think Though I was called for the 2nd interview, I think I didn’t
went wrong in this do well in the Guesstimation case (1st round) itself. The
interview? 2nd interview was good but I guess they were calling
people for the 3rd interview based on both the interviews
combined. Prepare for cases and Guesstimation well.
Interview Experience 2
Round 1st and 2nd round were case interviews. Third was a work
(First/Second/third) experience specific interview and last was the HR round.
What do you think My case performance in the second round went pretty
went right in this well. The interviewer complimented me about the
interview? analysis (though it may not look that impressive above).
The structure and thorough conversation helped me sail
through and I was told that I kept the interviewer
interested and hooked throughout the case solving
phase.
What do you think My first round didn’t go that well particularly the Airline
went wrong in this question. I should have interacted more to understand
interview? various perspectives rather than being biased with
current market situation (Like higher oil price and
interest rates which was not applicable here)
Any tips for future 1) Stay Cool because it will help you to interact
batches on the basis freely and focus on various perspectives which is
of your experience very important in the case
2) Display a lot of enthusiasm and don’t shy away
from talking. Remember Consultant need to do a
lot of talking. Just ensure you talk sense on that
day.
3) Practise some cases before interviews.
4) Never think that you are out of race. Don’t judge
yourself in the interview. Interviewer might give
you chance to bounce back.
5) Higher Work Ex people particularly IT
background can’ t get day zero shortlist is a myth
Interview Experience 3
Name: Mahesh
Name of interviewer NA
and designation
Round First (of 3 rounds)
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : Bpharm
(Graduation College,
stream, Work ex Work experience of 2 years
details, etc. )
Personal interview 1. Tell me something about yourself?
questions (With
indicative answers if 2. Asked me about my role at previous workplace?
you choose to share
3. Why consulting?
them)
Other questions
Guesstimate the number of travellers to Antartica
Guesstimate the number of cab drivers in Dehli
What do you think Got the structure. I was able to use the ques from the
went right in this interviewer and could this helped in approaching the
interview? case better.
After the discussion gave 3 points on which a director
needs to focus
What do you think Should have organized the points in each vertical in
went wrong in this order of their importance.
interview?
Any tips for future Ask for clarifications to the interview if needed.
batches on the basis of Practice a lot of cases with your peers.
your experience
Be clear about ‘Why ABC’?
Interview Experience 4
Name of Principal
interviewer and
designation
Round First
Personal interview 1. Are you clear about your decision between IB and
questions Consulting?
2. Why consulting
3. Why BCG?
Case analysis:
What do you think I was passionate about the education industry like I had
went right in this mentioned. I also was not put down by his comments of
interview? “have you understood my question”. He didn’t give me
much time to think, but I still managed to build a structure
with all the ambiguity in the problem. I feel he was judging
the different ways in which I could think since it was a
pretty open ended and highly unstructured case to start
with.
What do you think At first I didn’t understand why he was focusing on the
went wrong in this demand of English language. I should have taken into
interview? consideration of adults as well. I was looking at only
school children. I was very nervous since it was my first
interview of the day and was also the very first for BCG
in the morning. The interview was shorter than I
anticipated.
Any tips for future Please make sure of what you say in the initial HR
batches on the basis questions. I had mentioned that I liked teaching. That was
of your experience the reason why picked out this case for me. So please
make sure you can show the passion for a particular
interest that you have mentioned.
Round Second
Case analysis:
Summary:
What do you think He was very impressed with my HR questions. That gave
went right in this me major confidence. The case was simple and need a
interview? proper structure initially which I provided. He was
impressed with the option generation as well.
What do you think I forgot to ask him the growth rate of our target market
went wrong in this (HNIs).
interview?
Any tips for future Prepare HR answers really well. My case was something
batches on the basis which anybody would have cracked but the differentiating
of your experience part was the HR answers.
Round Third
Analysis:
2nd Case:
Case analysis:
Ans. 5 years
Ans: 20%
What do you think The extra information I had on Infosys was something
went right in this he was very impressed with. He liked the fact that I was
interview? persistent in the PE case. I was thinking of different
options. He led me to a solution.
The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow Page 105
What do you think I didn’t get the hint of him leading me to an LBO based
went wrong in this solution even though I knew what an LBO was.
interview?
Any tips for future Be confident and be persistent. Keep on going at the
batches on the basis case even if you are stuck
of your experience
Interview Experience 5
Case analysis:
Structure:
Summary:
What do you think Calmness and common sense was the key.
went right in this
interview?
What do you think Was a little nervous at the beginning of the interviewing
went wrong in this as a result of the complexity of the case.
interview?
Round Second
Case analysis:
This was a case that really tested your ability to think far
and wide because the math was simple but the underlying
logic could have been missed very easily
Structure:
Used a simple revenue-cost structure for the pre and post
radio taxi phase. Then tried to see if any of the key
What do you think Thought simple and picked up the cues very well.
went right in this
interview?
What do you think Failed to see the obvious solution the first time and
went wrong in this needed a little pushing in the right direction.
interview?
Round Third
Summary:
Case analysis:
Summary:
Case analysis:
Structure:
Summary:
Interview Experience 7
Structure:
Interview Experience 8
Round First
Work-ex: 0 months
Personal interview Just a little chat about where you’re from, what you like
questions doing and stuff. Of course, it began with the quintessential
-“Why don't you tell me something about yourself?”
What do you think Well I didn’t really end up “cracking the case” as well i
went right in this could have. That was really a big negative I thought. But i
interview? hindsight, the fact that i got an offer only affirm that there
is no such thing as “cracking the case”- they only judge
your approach to problem solving, and as you very well
know there is no one correct solution
What do you think I really made a connect with the interviewer I felt. Let him
went wrong in this do more of the talking bit as i sat listening. It really helps,
interview? because in the end, the interviewer will inevitably end up
dropping those crucial hints that shall help you reach a
conclusion.
Any tips for future You really need to be calm and only then will the analytical
batches on the basis of skills and creativity really show. But do not worry - the
your experience interviewer shall go out of his/her way to make you feel so.
Round Second
Personal interview 1. Although the partner did not ask me any questions
questions specifically, I started talking to him about his day,
job and used this as an opportunity to highlight the
points in my work experience which I wanted to
share (remember they will not always ask you
everything and do ensure that you connect it
wherever possible)
Structure:
Then the interviewer said that after one week, the sales of
the client had declined drastically and the competitor had
not reduced its prices. This created a problem of inventory.
What do you think I was able to get the fact that the problem related to Game
went right in this Theory.
interview?
What do you think The case had only one solution but I could not exactly
went wrong in this pinpoint that
interview?
Any tips for future Even though the ideas might sound outlandish, get them
batches on the basis of across, they will give you the benefit of thinking out of the
your experience box. Try to involve the interviewer in the case as much as
Round Third
Personal interview Started directly with the case. At the end of the case asked
questions me about LBO (Leveraged buyout) and asked me to give
an example in the Indian markets
Structure:
I proved that joining the radio cab was better. But the
interviewer told me that was the wrong answer. He asked
me to go back.
Any tips for future Try to be receptive to the hints given by the interviewer in
batches on the basis of the process. They are extremely important to get to the
your experience solution quickly.
KPMG
Interview Experience 9
Company KPMG
Name: Abhishek Mani Tripathi
Round 3 rounds of case interviews
Brief Profile : NIT Trichy, ECE, 2years Analog Devices
Round 2:
Round 3:
Case analysis:
First case :
Second case :
Interview Experience 10
Case 1:
Problem statement:
Samsung has come up to you with a business
proposition i.e. they want to start an insurance company
for electronic goods. How will you help them?
Case Analysis:
The only thing they were looking was how you structure
your analysis and your line of thinking.
I started with asking questions about the new business
model to extract some information like target
customers,, how is the value proposition different from a
warranty, how much can Samsung expect to charge its
customers for insurance.
My first step was to analyze the business model and
establish the financial feasibility. This was followed by
target customers – who are the target customers and are
they sufficient to justify investment and why will they be
interested in our product. Third step was to deal with
operational issues of providing this product.
Problem statement:
Case Analysis:
Case 3:
Problem statement:
You want to open a petrol pump. Proceed.
Case Analysis:
Case 4:
Problem statement:
Case Analysis:
Any tips for future Case analysis is very important. Make sure that you
batches on the basis prepare a structure and show them the structure of
of your experience analysis before starting.
Interview Experience 11
Interview Experience 12
Case analysis:
The Consulting & Strategy Club, IIM Lucknow Page 124
First, I confirmed whether he was talking about leather
cricket ball. Thereafter, I started talking about where a
cricket ball will be used and who will buy a cricket ball. At
each juncture, I kept on checking with Mr. Sikka so as I’m
not deviating from the solution.
Then I told him that I would estimate sales of cricket balls
for Mumbai and then extrapolate it to the whole country.
I calculated number of matches played in one day by
estimating number of grounds in Mumbai (having played
on most of the grounds, it was easy for me). Then I
separated one day matches and 20-20 matches as one day
match requires 2 balls and 20-20 requires 4 balls(As two
20-20 matches are possible on a single pitch in one day).
Also, considering that each ground hosts practice session
2 times a day and this will also contribute towards the
sales. Then he stopped me and said fine. He did not go
into depth of the guesstimate as it could have got
complicated with other parts of the country to be
considered for contribution towards the sales of cricket
balls.
What do you think I was able to connect with the interviewer. I asked him
went right in this questions on which we spoke for 15 minutes and he
interview? seemed interested.
What do you think No idea as such. I guess he needed something more
went wrong in this from the guesstimate. More number crunching could
interview? have helped.
Any tips for future Please practice your cases as well as guesstimates. Also,
batches on the basis know your CV in and out. Always connect with the
of your experience interviewer.
Interview Experience 13
Narration of the case The case was about a fertilizer manufacturing company
interview based out of the US which was receiving complaints
regarding its poor customer service.
I started by asking details about the company, its
operations, its customers, the competitors and the
What do you think Good case overall. I got the structure right which helped
went right in this me arrive at the solution fast.
interview?
What do you think Nothing really. However, I really had to think on my
went wrong in this toes because the interviewer was constantly interrupting
interview? me and trying to disturb my thought process.
Round Third
Name of interviewer Gautam Kumra
and designation
Personal interview Very serious interview. He was completely straight-faced
questions right from the word goes. Immediately asked me to tell
him something about myself. After hearing me out, he
asked me to tell him something about my work
experience at the Bain Capability Centre. This part went
pretty well.
Narration of the case He didn’t really give me a case. He asked me which
interview sector I followed in India, to which I replied the retail
sector. We then entered into a discussion into the retail
sector in India. I had very little sector knowledge and
retail was my best bet. SO after giving him some facts
that I had read, he asked me what a retail company think
should about while entering the Indian market, i.e., the
Interview Experience 14
Case analysis:
Preliminary questions - We all know Bharti Airtel and
the services it offered quite well – So there was no need
to ask preliminary questions. Also, since I wasn’t aware
that I was doing a case I did not have the opportunity
to ask preliminary questions.
What do you think I did not do the case analysis particularly well. I did not
went wrong in this use the pen and paper. This meant that I was generating
interview? options thinking on my feet rather than providing
carefully considered alternatives. This to a very large
extent inhibited my creativity and did not give me
enough opportunity to demonstrate my structuring
skills.
Any tips for future Know your Resume well. At no point in the interview
batches on the basis of should you ramble on. All answers must be natural (ie,
your experience must not appear rehearsed), brief, structured and to the
point.
Retaining composure through the interview is critical.
Mistakes may happen during the interview, but it is
important to pick you up and keep at it. People rarely
have perfect interviews where everything has gone right
and interviewers don’t expect it either.
Round Second
(First/Second/third)
Brief Profile : Chartered Accountant, BCom(Hons) from SRCC,
(Graduation College, Delhi University. Prior work ex as a Tax Consultant
stream, Work ex with Ernst & Young, a Visiting Faculty at St Josephs
details, etc.) Colleger, Bangalore and then as a Ratings Analyst with
CRISIL Ratings
Case analysis:
Preliminary questions – Since it was Tata Nano, lot
of the background questions were not required. I
clarified whether the problem was a lack of bookings
that they received. He agreed.
Any tips for future The most important thing to nail a consult interview is
batches on the basis of composure and confidence. With this in place, half the
your experience job is done.
In all HR answers it is important to show genuineness.
No answer must come across as fabricated.
Interview Experience 15
Company Mc Kinsey
What do you think Got the initial structure of industry right. Asked
went right in this information about an unknown industry before starting
interview? to solve it.