Case in Point 10: Complete Case Interview Preparation

by Marc P. Cosentino

The Wall Street Journal calls Case in Point the MBA Bible! Cosentino demystifies the consulting case interview. He takes you inside a typical interview by exploring the various types of case questions, and he shares with you the acclaimed Ivy Case System. It will give you the confidence to answer even the most sophisticated cases. The book includes dozens of strategy cases, with case starts exercises, 21 ways to cut costs -- plus a special section on Federal and nonprofit cases.!

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

229 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2018

Reviews

[Alli Bittner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book back in the summer, but didn’t log it at the time for fear of tipping off coworkers that I was on the hunt! 😂

Long story short, I landed my dream MBB offer and will be pivoting into strategy consulting in January 2023. The principles in this book were key to acing the incredibly difficult cases I faced in my multiple rounds of live interviews. I strongly recommend this book to aspiring MBB joiners, with two important caveats.

First, do NOT memorize the frameworks in this book and regurgitate them in your interviews. If you do, you will sound robotic and formulaic. No partner will want to risk you doing this in front of a client. Instead, memorize and apply the principles, but tailor your frameworks to the client and industry in each case. This demonstrates to your interviewer that you can quickly learn the “lay of the land” in an unfamiliar market and come up with recommendations that address your client’s unique challenges.

Second, you MUST run practice cases. No amount of reading about cases can substitute for actually doing them. Most MBBers will recommend at least twenty live practice cases before your first round of interviews. Personally, I logged over fifty. There is simply no such thing as too much practice.

Good luck!

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was is about hypothetically how a consultant could address a 1 hour case interview. If you have 10/15 minutes of spare time, you can use to read one case from the long list of cases. Each case address the different questions one should raise to understand a context, eliminate options and recommend one strategy to answer the key question. It’s another book to better show off your skills in interviews.

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hält, was es verspricht.

[Alana Shukovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

It got me a job so I'd say it's a winner. The one supplement I'd add to reading this is listening to audio files of cases to get a feel of what casing is supposed to sound like.

[Valentin Nugmanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

With few clear objectives, solutions, or takeaways, what's the point?

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and most career defining books out there. I constantly reference the branch tree logic Cosentino uses to break down a problem.