Case Interview

Want a job at Mckinsey, Bain, BCG, Booz, Accenture or Roland Berger? Here you can find the best resources for your case interview!

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MECE

Before I’ll clarify the Minto Principle, I’ll look into the expression MECE (pronunciation: me see) together with you, since it’s an essential phrase in the Minto Principle, case interviews and consulting in general. MECE is short for ‘Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive’ and is the consulting way of representing complex details in an simple method. Let’s look at both of these parts on their own.

Mutually Exclusive

If you are categorizing information, the MECE-principle dictates that the types need to be mutually exclusive. It means that it must certainly not be possible for a member of group A to be a representative of group B. To make it less abstract, an example of classification that is not mutually exclusive:

- Grouping of individuals in accordance to their particular color of outfits worn, as men and women can wear clothing with diverse colors, and the rest can wear these colors as well.

- Grouping of individuals in accordance to their particular hobbies, since individuals can have multiple pastimes and several individuals can do the same hobby.

- Grouping businesses according to their goods, as they can sell numerous products at the same time.

You get the picture, I suppose. So mutually exclusive categories are, for example: age, sex, nationality (often, at least). We all got the ME- element, how about the additional 2 letters?

Collectively Exhaustive

In addition to being mutually exclusive, the classes you pick need to also be collectively exhaustive: all options/all information ought to be included in the classes you select. This way you can be positive that there’s absolutely nothing you have missed in your analysis. For example, the choice of a company to purchase a competitor may be based on both financial and non-financial factors. These factors should then be broken down into new aspects that also are also (ME)CE. Yet another example is the profitability framework: it’s collectively exhaustive, as profit can be broken down into revenues and costs. No other factors influence profit.

Moreover, the profitability framework is also mutually exclusive, as revenues can in no way be costs and the opposite way round. These factors can also be broken down into new MECE-factors. Revenues can be broken down into numbers of sales and the price: the revenue per sale.

Training

In the course of your case interviews, you should make an effort to be as MECE as possible while structuring the case. Don’t get bogged down while aiming for flawlessness however, as you’ll only have minimal time. But how to make sure you get it spot on the first time? As with nearly all things: practice makes perfect. Implement the pyramid principle and MECE-thinking in every day life: when selecting a vacation location, while picking between dinner possibilities or when choosing a new vehicle.

You do not need to go through the entire structure each and every time, nor calculate everything. Only build the initial framework and try to refine it once or twice in your head. You can also sit down and write all of it down: a much better way to practice as you can see the refinements. Since you train this during case interview practice also, you could also use ‘standard’ case interview training.

A lot more details on case interviews and the pyramid principle in a brand new post later on this week. Also check out my book and the official Pyramid Principle book by Minto.

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Case Interviews? Start preparing now!

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Want a job at McKinsey, BCG or Bain? Get ready for Case Interviews!

An introduction to case interviews: the selection method of strategy consultants. If you need to join McKinsey or any other management consulting firm, you will face very challenging selection criteria. Indeed, your resume will certainly be put through investigation, but you should have to do case interviews. The specifics of the best consulting resume are too much for this article, in which we focus on case interviews. However, we will summarize what key areas are important for the better consulting resume. Within your resume, you should display expertise in a few key areas: leadership, analytical and intellectual skills and teamwork. In addition to that, need to achieved some interesting things which set you apart from the rest of the candidates. So much for your resume, now on to the interview itself. An introduction to Case Interviews Many individuals who aspire to be strategy consultants don't know what case interviews are. They may be actually very surprised once they encounter them throughout the selection process. Why are these (often) excellent applicants so badly readied for case interviews? Because case interviews are way more difficult than you may think. Should you have never done a case interview, you ll certainly underestimate the issue. Case interviews are there to test your capabilities, and they'll push everyone to the limit. People who work at a IT consultancy are usually very bright males and females. They expect anyone to function as the same, and the case interview is there to assess it. You could be wondering, what exactly is it for a interview method? What you can expect Once you pass the CV selection, you will end up invited into a one on one conversation which has a consultant of the firm. They will ask some questions of your background and quickly check your resume. Then, it’s onto the case itself. You can be asked anything, as the interviewer will ask something from his own experience. Because consultants perform large amount of different things, the questions you can receive vary from the amount of caravans sold in Los Angeles every day to the number of security camera’s bought each year by the airports of China. Expect questions like these get ready for them! There exist more types however. The preceding questions concentrate on numbers and estimation, other varieties could focus on business situations. For example: Firm B likes to ally with Business Z. What are the synergies and what would you advice the Central Executive Officer of the Business? You could possibly expect any situation, from mergers to product launches. Just like the above questions, they're challenging. Case Interview Preparation Now you really know what to anticipate, but how do you prepare? The ideal preparation is starting early and practice partner. But if you really need to shine, you would like professional guidance. We can help you obtain the job you’ve always wanted, so visit our web shop! Good luck with your case interviews!

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Want a job at a high end consulting firm? This is the best resource for case interview information!