By Barbara Hewitt
This spring I’ve met with a number of students who plan to devote time over the summer to preparing for consulting interviews for the upcoming year. In case interviews, the candidate will be given a real business challenge that an organization may face and be asked to have a conversation with the interviewer about the problem and possible resolutions to it. Case interviews are used to ascertain how well candidates listen, whether they think logically, and how well they can articulate their thoughts in a coherent and well-thought out manner. As a candidate in a consulting interview you are likely to get case questions for industries or problems with which you are unfamiliar, so it is impossible to know exactly what the “question” will entail. It is possible, however, to develop an understanding of the types of questions you might be asked and some typical solution structures. Many consulting candidates find it helpful to both review general approaches to solving cases as well as practice specific sample cases in advance of their actual interviews.
Career Services subscribes to two excellent resources for students who would like guidance on preparing for case interviews. They include:
Vault Career Insider
WetFeet Insider Guides.
Both are available for free to current students from the online subscriptions link on the library section of the Career Services website. A valid PennKey and PennKey password are needed to access both resources.
Happy reading!
