The Dreaded Case Interview

Man, I've still got the heebie jeebies, as I've just finished one. I'm sure a few of you have done a case interview before. As a person who hasn't done an interview in about 3 years, this was one rude awakening! For anyone else who is ever planning to do one of these things, do the following:

1. Do not go anywhere near guessing the numbers until you have laid out your whole argument, from the very first number you need to get, to the actual answer. Every single step. Be as thorough in this part as possible.
2. Make your guesses realistic. As an aside, remember that lots of people ride bikes in China :)
3. Know your maths. At least I did ok here....it was about the only part!
4. In the end, when they ask how you would check your numbers, it's really just checking your methodology, and the numbers you have assumed.
5. Breathe deeply...and then again.

I think my chances of getting to the first round are severely reduced. So much for management consulting

On the flip side, I thought that my technical interview at Lend Lease was one of the worse interviews I have done...look where I am now :)

Damn! five cheap calls already:

I've felt your pain bro...

You can never fully prepare for an interview in my opinion. There will almost always be ONE question that floors you...it's how you respond that's the key.

And hey, at least you didn't have to sell instant powdered ice-cream back to two sales people in your interview. :)
ricegrains (link) - 28 July '04 - 17:15

"if you were in mcdonalds and had to line up, and all of the lines were the same length, how would you choose which one to line-up in?"
hint: the answer is not "the one closest to me" ;)
al - 29 July '04 - 00:38

MAcdonalds hey?

I'd take the line with the skinnier kids in it haha. Unless they eat like KC.
PeeDz - 08 August '04 - 09:34

I've only been in my new job for about a month and a bit and already I had to give other people interviews. One question I actually asked someone in an interview: 'It says here that one of your interests is dancing, so with that in mind, I was wondering wether you could do the robot dance?'

The answer was no, and suffice to say he didn't get the job. If you can't robot dance you really shouldn't be a graphic designer.
Dre - 17 August '04 - 06:00