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exercise
Case questions test many of the skills necessary to be a successful consultant
Skill Key Questions
Do you effectively organize information?
Analytical Skills Do you develop a logical framework for analysis?
How comfortable are you with numbers and mathematical operations?
Do you demonstrate sound business understanding and logic?
Business Insight & Judgment Do you understand the implications of your decisions?
Are you approaching the problem at the right level of detail?
Can you make sound decisions based on limited data, and defend them?
Decision-Making Ability
Are you flexible in adapting them to new information?
Creativity Do you come up with interesting or original ways to tackle problems?
Are you relaxed and confident?
Poise
Can you bounce back from mistakes or adapt to uncomfortable situations?
Are you a good listener?
Communication Skills
How well do you articulate your questions and answers?
Would co-workers and clients enjoy working with you?
Interpersonal Skills
Are you engaging?
1 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process
Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data
How you structure the case is the most critical part of the interview
2 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process
Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data
3 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process
Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data
Relevant facts must be pieced together to build up an answer the original question
4 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
There is no “right answer” – you will be evaluated
on your framework and thought process
Collect and
Structure Assemble Articulate
Evaluate
the Problem Solution Findings
Data
Close by clearly summarizing your conclusions and addressing any open issues
5 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
Let’s now use the knowledge we’ve acquired to
crack an easy sample case interview
I live in Washington, DC
I’m a fan of baseball, and of the Washington
Can operating a T-
Nationals in particular
shirt vending cart
outside RFK Stadium I’ve noticed many single-vendor carts outside RFK
Stadium at the Nationals’ home games, selling
be a profitable
things like ice cream, hot dogs, clothing, etc.
business?
I’m thinking of getting in the business by buying a
cart and selling T-shirts
Revenue Costs
Profit equals revenue
minus costs
Now that we have our framework, we can organize our thought process and
questions to tackle each of these mini-problems
7 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
In this case, the cost piece is probably easier to
calculate, so let’s go after that first
Profit
Revenue Costs
8 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
We proceed by asking relevant questions, and
making assumptions where appropriate
Profit
Revenue Costs
9 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
We turn now to the revenue piece of the problem
Profit
Revenue Costs
10 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
Estimating the quantity is key, so we structure this as
a mini-case in itself
How many people will buy my T-shirts per game?
11 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
It is important to always “sanity check” our
numbers to see if they are realistic
12 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
Now that we’ve calculated each component of our
“profit tree,” we can put them back together
Profit
Revenue Costs
50 T-shirts sold per $15 per T-Shirt Annual cart leasing Labor: $10 / hour for 5
fee: $5,000 hours
Annual operator’s T-Shirts: $2 each for
license: $1,000 50 T-shirts
13 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
Next, we annualize our numbers, and come to a
conclusion
14 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
You should also think about, and mention,
additional factors that may be relevant
15 KAISER
ASSOCIATES
Finally, be prepared to walk through your solution
in a clear, concise way
16 KAISER
ASSOCIATES