case study questions notes

100 Best Case Study Questions for Your Next Customer Spotlight

Published: November 29, 2022

Case studies and testimonials are helpful to have in your arsenal. But to build an effective library, you need to ask the right case study questions. You also need to know how to write a case study .

Case studies are customers' stories that your sales team can use to share relevant content with prospects . Not only that, but case studies help you earn a prospect's trust, show them what life would be like as your customer, and validate that your product or service works for your clients.

Before you start building your library of case studies, check out our list of 100 case study questions to ask your clients. With this helpful guide, you'll have the know-how to build your narrative using the " Problem-Agitate-Solve " Method.

What makes a good case study questionnaire?

The ultimate list of case study questions, how to ask your customer for a case study, creating an effective case study.

Certain key elements make up a good case study questionnaire.

A questionnaire should never feel like an interrogation. Instead, aim to structure your case study questions like a conversation. Some of the essential things that your questionnaire should cover include:

• The problem faced by the client before choosing your organization.
• Why they chose your company.
• How your product solved the problem clients faced.
• The measurable results of the service provided.
• Data and metrics that prove the success of your service or product, if possible.

You can adapt these considerations based on how your customers use your product and the specific answers or quotes that you want to receive.

What makes a good case study question?

A good case study question delivers a powerful message to leads in the decision stage of your prospective buyer's journey.

Since your client has agreed to participate in a case study, they're likely enthusiastic about the service you provide. Thus, a good case study question hands the reins over to the client and opens a conversation.

Try asking open-ended questions to encourage your client to talk about the excellent service or product you provide.

Free Case Study Templates

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Categories for the Best Case Study Questions

• Case study questions about the customer's business
• Case study questions about the environment before the purchase
• Case study questions about the decision process
• Case study questions about the customer's business case
• Case study questions about the buying team and internal advocates
• Case study questions about customer success
• Case study questions about product feedback
• Case study questions about willingness to make referrals
• Case study question to prompt quote-worthy feedback
• Case study questions about the customers' future goals

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• Data-Driven Case Study Template
• Product-Specific Case Study Template
• General Case Study Template

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Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business

Knowing the customer's business is an excellent way of setting the tone for a case study.

Use these questions to get some background information about the company and its business goals. This information can be used to introduce the business at the beginning of the case study — plus, future prospects might resonate with their stories and become leads for you.

• Would you give me a quick overview of [company]? This is an opportunity for the client to describe their business in their own words. You'll get useful background information and it's an easy prompt to get the client talking.
• Can you describe your role? This will give you a better idea of the responsibilities they are subject to.
• How do your role and team fit into the company and its goals? Knowing how the team functions to achieve company goals will help you formulate how your solution involves all stakeholders.
• How long has your company been in business? Getting this information will help the reader gauge if pain points are specific to a startup or new company vs. a veteran company.
• How many employees do you have? Another great descriptor for readers to have. They can compare the featured company size with their own.
• Is your company revenue available? If so, what is it? This will give your readers background information on the featured company's gross sales.
• Who is your target customer? Knowing who the target audience is will help you provide a better overview of their market for your case study readers.
• How does our product help your team or company achieve its objectives? This is one of the most important questions because it is the basis of the case study. Get specifics on how your product provided a solution for your client. You want to be able to say "X company implemented our solution and achieved Y. "
• How are our companies aligned (mission, strategy, culture, etc.)? If any attributes of your company's mission or culture appealed to the client, call it out.

How many people are on your team? What are their roles? This will help describe key players within the organization and their impact on the implementation of your solution.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Environment Before the Purchase

A good case study is designed to build trust. Ask clients to describe the tools and processes they used before your product or service. These kinds of case study questions will highlight the business' need they had to fulfill and appeal to future clients.

• What was your team's process prior to using our product? This will give the reader a baseline to compare the results for your company's product.
• Were there any costs associated with the process prior to using our product? Was it more expensive? Was it worth the cost? How did the product affect the client's bottom line? This will be a useful metric to disclose if your company saved the client money or was more cost-efficient.
• What were the major pain points of your process prior to using our product? Describe these obstacles in detail. You want the reader to get as much information on the problem as possible as it sets up the reasoning for why your company's solution was implemented.
• Did our product replace a similar tool or is this the first time your team is using a product like this? Were they using a similar product? If so, having this information may give readers a reason to choose your brand over the competition.
• What other challenges were you and your team experiencing prior to using our product? The more details you can give readers regarding the client's struggles, the better. You want to paint a full picture of the challenges the client faced and how your company resolved them.
• Were there any concerns about how your customers would be impacted by using our product? Getting answers to this question will illustrate to readers the client's concerns about switching to your service. Your readers may have similar concerns and reading how your client worked through this process will be helpful.
• Why didn't you buy our product or a similar product earlier? Have the client describe any hesitations they had using your product. Their concerns may be relatable to potential leads.
• Were there any "dealbreakers" involved in your decision to become a customer? Describing how your company was able to provide a solution that worked within those parameters demonstrates how accommodating your brand is and how you put the customer first. It's also great to illustrate any unique challenges the client had. This better explains their situation to the reader.
• Did you have to make any changes you weren't anticipating once you became a customer? Readers of your case study can learn how switching to your product came with some unexpected changes (good or bad) and how they navigated them. If you helped your client with troubleshooting, ask them to explain that here.

How has your perception of the product changed since you've become a customer? Get the interviewee to describe how your product changed how they do business. This includes how your product accomplished what they previously thought was impossible.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Decision Process

Readers of the case study will be interested in which factors influenced the decision-making process for the client. If they can relate to that process, there's a bigger chance they'll buy your product.

The answers to these questions will help potential customers through their decision-making process.

• How did you hear about our product? If the client chose to work with you based on a recommendation or another positive case study, include that. It will demonstrate that you are a trusted brand with an established reputation for delivering results.
• How long had you been looking for a solution to this problem? This will add to the reader's understanding of how these particular challenges impacted the company before choosing your product.
• Were you comparing alternative solutions? Which ones? This will demonstrate to readers that the client explored other options before choosing your company.
• Would you describe a few of the reasons you decided to buy our product? Ask the interviewee to describe why they chose your product over the competition and any benefits your company offered that made you stand out.
• What were the criteria you used when deciding to buy our product? This will give readers more background insight into the factors that impacted their decision-making process.
• Were there any high-level initiatives or goals that prompted the decision to buy? For example, was this decision motivated by a company-wide vision? Prompt your clients to discuss what lead to the decision to work with you and how you're the obvious choice.
• What was the buying process like? Did you notice anything exceptional or any points of friction? This is an opportunity for the client to comment on how seamless and easy you make the buying process. Get them to describe what went well from start to finish.
• How would you have changed the buying process, if at all? This is an opportunity for you to fine-tune your process to accommodate future buyers.
• Who on your team was involved in the buying process? This will give readers more background on the key players involved from executives to project managers. With this information, readers can see who they may potentially need to involve in the decision-making process on their teams.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customer's Business Case

Your case study questions should ask about your product or solution's impact on the customer's employees, teams, metrics, and goals. These questions allow the client to praise the value of your service and tell others exactly what benefits they derived from it.

When readers review your product or service's impact on the client, it enforces the belief that the case study is credible.

• How long have you been using our product? This will help readers gauge how long it took to see results and your overall satisfaction with the product or service.
• How many different people at your company use our product? This will help readers gauge how they can adapt the product to their teams if similar in size.
• Are there multiple departments or teams using our product? This will demonstrate how great of an impact your product has made across departments.
• How do you and your team currently use the product? What types of goals or tasks are you using the product to accomplish? Get specifics on how the product actively helps the client achieve their goals.
• If other teams or departments are using our product, do you know how they're using it? With this information, leads can picture how they can use your product across their teams and how it may improve their workflow and metrics.
• What was the most obvious advantage you felt our product offered during the sales process? The interviewee should explain the benefits they've gained from using your product or service. This is important for convincing other leads you are better than the competition.
• Were there any other advantages you discovered after using the product more regularly? Your interviewee may have experienced some additional benefits from using your product. Have them describe in detail what these advantages are and how they've helped the company improve.
• Are there any metrics or KPIs you track with our product? What are they? The more numbers and data the client can provide, the better.
• Were you tracking any metrics prior to using our product? What were they? This will allow readers to get a clear, before-and-after comparison of using your product.
• How has our product impacted your core metrics? This is an opportunity for your clients to drive home how your product assisted them in hitting their metrics and goals.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Buying Team and Internal Advocates

See if there are any individuals at the customer's company who are advocates for your product.

• Are there any additional team members you consider to be advocates for our product? For example, does anyone stick out as a "power user" or product expert on your team? You may want to interview and include these power users in your case study as well. Consider asking them for tips on using your service or product.
• Is there anyone else on your team you think we should talk to? Again, the more people can share their experience using your product, the better.
• Are there any team members who you think might not be the biggest fans of our product or who might need more training? Providing extra support to those struggling with your product may improve their user experience and turn into an opportunity to not only learn about their obstacles but turn them into a product fan
• Would you share some details about how your team implemented our product? Get as much information as possible about the rollout. Hopefully, they'll gush about how seamless the process was.
• Who from your company was involved in implementing our product? This will give readers more insight into who needs to be involved for a successful rollout of their own.
• Were there any internal risks or additional costs involved with implementing our product? If so, how did you address them? This will give insight into the client's process and rollout and this case study question will likely provide tips on what potential leads should be on the lookout for.
• Is there a training process in place for your team's use of our product? If so, what does it look like? If your company provided support and training to the client, have them describe that experience.
• About how long does it take a new team member to get up to speed with our product? This will help leads determine how much time it will take to onboard an employee to your using your product. If a new user can quickly get started seamlessly, it bodes well for you.
• What was your main concern about rolling this product out to your company? Describing their challenges in detail will provide readers with useful insight.

Case Study Interview Questions About Customer Success

Has the customer found success with your product? Ask these questions to learn more.

• By using our product can you measure any reduced costs? If it has, you'll want to emphasize those savings in your case study.
• By using our product can you measure any improvements in productivity or time savings? Any metrics or specific stories your interviewee can provide will help demonstrate the value of your product.
• By using our product can you measure any increases in revenue or growth? Again, say it with numbers and data whenever possible.
• Are you likely to recommend our product to a friend or colleague? Recommendations from existing customers are some of the best marketing you can get.
• How has our product impacted your success? Your team's success? Getting the interviewee to describe how your product played an integral role in solving their challenges will show leads that they can also have success using your product.
• In the beginning, you had XYZ concerns; how do you feel about them now? Let them explain how working with your company eliminated those concerns.
• I noticed your team is currently doing XYZ with our product. Tell me more about how that helps your business. Illustrate to your readers how current customers are using your product to solve additional challenges. It will convey how versatile your product is.
• Have you thought about using our product for a new use case with your team or at your company? The more examples of use cases the client can provide, the better.
• How do you measure the value our product provides? Have the interviewee illustrate what metrics they use to gauge the product's success and how. Data is helpful, but you should go beyond the numbers. Maybe your product improved company morale and how teams work together.

Case Study Interview Questions About Product Feedback

Ask the customer if they'd recommend your product to others. A strong recommendation will help potential clients be more open to purchasing your product.

• How do other companies in this industry solve the problems you had before you purchased our product? This will give you insight into how other companies may be functioning without your product and how you can assist them.
• Have you ever talked about our product to any of your clients or peers? What did you say? This can provide you with more leads and a chance to get a referral.
• Why would you recommend our product to a friend or client? Be sure they pinpoint which features they would highlight in a recommendation.
• Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. Your interviewee may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
• What is your advice for other teams or companies who are tackling problems similar to those you had before you purchased our product? This is another opportunity for your client to talk up your product or service.
• Do you know someone in X industry who has similar problems to the ones you had prior to using our product? The client can make an introduction so you can interview them about their experience as well.
• I noticed you work with Company Y. Do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.
• Does your company participate in any partner or referral programs? Having a strong referral program will help you increase leads and improve customer retention.
• Can I send you a referral kit as a thank-you for making a referral and give you the tools to refer someone to us? This is a great strategy to request a referral while rewarding your existing customers.
• Are you interested in working with us to produce additional marketing content? The more opportunities you can showcase happy customers, the better.

Case Study Interview Questions About Willingness to Make Referrals

• How likely are you to recommend our product to a friend or client? Ideally, they would definitely refer your product to someone they know.
• Can you think of any use cases your customers might have for our product? Again, your interviewee is a great source for more leads. Similar industries may have similar issues that need solutions. They may be able to provide a use case you haven't come up with.
• I noticed you work with Company Y; do you know if they are having any pain points with these processes? This will help you learn how your product has impacted your client's customers and gain insight into what can be improved.

Case Study Interview Questions to Prompt Quote-Worthy Feedback

Enhance your case study with quotable soundbites from the customer. By asking these questions, prospects have more insight into other clients and their success with your product — which helps build trust.

• How would you describe your process in one sentence prior to using our product? Ideally, this sentence would quickly and descriptively sum up the most prominent pain point or challenge with the previous process.
• What is your advice to others who might be considering our product? Readers can learn from your customer's experience.
• What would your team's workflow or process be like without our product? This will drive home the value your product provides and how essential it is to their business.
• Do you think the investment in our product was worthwhile? Why? Have your customer make the case for the value you provide.
• What would you say if we told you our product would soon be unavailable? What would this mean to you? Again, this illustrates how integral your product is to their business.
• How would you describe our product if you were explaining it to a friend? Your customers can often distill the value of your product to their friends better than you can.
• What do you love about your job? Your company? This gives the reader more background on your customer and their industry.
• What was the worst part of your process before you started using our product? Ideally, they'd reiterate how your product helped solve this challenge.
• What do you love about our product? Another great way to get the customer's opinion about what makes your product worth it.
• Why do you do business with us? Hopefully, your interviewee will share how wonderful your business relationship is.

Case Study Interview Questions About the Customers' Future Goals

Ask the customer about their goals, challenges, and plans for the future. This will provide insight into how a business can grow with your product.

• What are the biggest challenges on the horizon for your industry? Chances are potential leads within the same industry will have similar challenges.
• What are your goals for the next three months? Knowing their short-term goals will enable your company to get some quick wins for the client.
• How would you like to use our product to meet those challenges and goals? This will help potential leads understand that your product can help their business as they scale and grow.
• Is there anything we can do to help you and your team meet your goals? If you haven't covered it already, this will allow your interviewee to express how you can better assist them.
• Do you think you will buy more, less, or about the same amount of our product next year? This can help you gauge how your product is used and why.
• What are the growth plans for your company this year? Your team? This will help you gain insight into how your product can help them achieve future goals.
• How can we help you meet your long-term goals? Getting specifics on the needs of your clients will help you create a unique solution designed for their needs.
• What is the long-term impact of using our product? Get their feedback on how your product has created a lasting impact.
• Are there any initiatives that you personally would like to achieve that our product or team can help with? Again, you want to continue to provide products that help your customers excel.
• What will you need from us in the future? This will help you anticipate the customer's business needs.
• Is there anything we can do to improve our product or process for working together in the future? The more feedback you can get about what is and isn't working, the better.

Before you can start putting together your case study, you need to ask your customer's permission.

If you have a customer who's seen success with your product, reach out to them. Use this template to get started:

Thank you & quick request

Hi [customer name],

Thanks again for your business — working with you to [solve X, launch Y, take advantage of Z opportunity] has been extremely rewarding, and I'm looking forward to more collaboration in the future.

[Name of your company] is building a library of case studies to include on our site. We're looking for successful companies using [product] to solve interesting challenges, and your team immediately came to mind. Are you open to [customer company name] being featured?

It should be a lightweight process — [I, a product marketer] will ask you roughly [10, 15, 20] questions via email or phone about your experience and results. This case study will include a blurb about your company and a link to your homepage (which hopefully will make your SEO team happy!)

In any case, thank you again for the chance to work with you, and I hope you have a great week.

[Your name]

If one of your customers has recently passed along some praise (to you, their account manager, your boss; on an online forum; to another potential customer; etc.), then send them a version of this email:

Hey [customer name],

Thanks for the great feedback — I'm really glad to hear [product] is working well for you and that [customer company name] is getting the results you're looking for.

My team is actually in the process of building out our library of case studies, and I'd love to include your story. Happy to provide more details if you're potentially interested.

Either way, thank you again, and I look forward to getting more updates on your progress.

You can also find potential case study customers by usage or product data. For instance, maybe you see a company you sold to 10 months ago just bought eight more seats or upgraded to a new tier. Clearly, they're happy with the solution. Try this template:

I saw you just [invested in our X product; added Y more users; achieved Z product milestone]. Congratulations! I'd love to share your story using [product] with the world -- I think it's a great example of how our product + a dedicated team and a good strategy can achieve awesome results.

Are you open to being featured? If so, I'll send along more details.

Case Study Benefits

• Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.
• Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.
• Case studies are easily sharable.
• Case studies build rapport with your customers.
• Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

1. Case studies are a form of customer advocacy.

If you haven't noticed, customers aren't always quick to trust a brand's advertisements and sales strategies.

With every other brand claiming to be the best in the business, it's hard to sort exaggeration from reality.

This is the most important reason why case studies are effective. They are testimonials from your customers of your service. If someone is considering your business, a case study is a much more convincing piece of marketing or sales material than traditional advertising.

2. Case studies provide a joint-promotion opportunity.

Your business isn't the only one that benefits from a case study. Customers participating in case studies benefit, too.

Think about it. Case studies are free advertisements for your customers, not to mention the SEO factor, too. While they're not promoting their products or services, they're still getting the word out about their business. And, the case study highlights how successful their business is — showing interested leads that they're on the up and up.

3. Case studies are easily sharable.

No matter your role on the sales team, case studies are great to have on hand. You can easily share them with leads, prospects, and clients.

Whether you embed them on your website or save them as a PDF, you can simply send a link to share your case study with others. They can share that link with their peers and colleagues, and so on.

Case studies can also be useful during a sales pitch. In sales, timing is everything. If a customer is explaining a problem that was solved and discussed in your case study, you can quickly find the document and share it with them.

4. Case studies build rapport with your customers.

While case studies are very useful, they do require some back and forth with your customers to obtain the exact feedback you're looking for.

Even though time is involved, the good news is this builds rapport with your most loyal customers. You get to know them on a personal level, and they'll become more than just your most valuable clients.

And, the better the rapport you have with them, the more likely they'll be to recommend your business, products, or services to others.

5. Case studies are less opinionated than customer reviews.

Data is the difference between a case study and a review. Customer reviews are typically based on the customer's opinion of your brand. While they might write a glowing review, it's completely subjective and there's rarely empirical evidence supporting their claim.

Case studies, on the other hand, are more data-driven. While they'll still talk about how great your brand is, they support this claim with quantitative data that's relevant to the reader. It's hard to argue with data.

An effective case study must be genuine and credible. Your case study should explain why certain customers are the right fit for your business and how your company can help meet their specific needs. That way, someone in a similar situation can use your case study as a testimonial for why they should choose your business.

Use the case study questions above to create an ideal customer case study questionnaire. By asking your customers the right questions, you can obtain valuable feedback that can be shared with potential leads and convert them into loyal customers.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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47 case interview examples (from McKinsey, BCG, Bain, etc.)

One of the best ways to prepare for   case interviews  at firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain, is by studying case interview examples. 

There are a lot of free sample cases out there, but it's really hard to know where to start. So in this article, we have listed all the best free case examples available, in one place.

The below list of resources includes interactive case interview samples provided by consulting firms, video case interview demonstrations, case books, and materials developed by the team here at IGotAnOffer. Let's continue to the list.

• McKinsey examples
• BCG examples
• Bain examples
• Deloitte examples
• Other firms' examples
• Case books from consulting clubs
• Case interview preparation

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with MBB ex-interviewers

1. mckinsey case interview examples.

• Beautify case interview (McKinsey website)
• Diconsa case interview (McKinsey website)
• Electro-light case interview (McKinsey website)
• GlobaPharm case interview (McKinsey website)
• National Education case interview (McKinsey website)
• Talbot Trucks case interview (McKinsey website)
• Shops Corporation case interview (McKinsey website)
• Conservation Forever case interview (McKinsey website)
• McKinsey case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Profitability case with ex-McKinsey manager (by IGotAnOffer)
• McKinsey live case interview extract (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

2. BCG case interview examples

• Foods Inc and GenCo case samples  (BCG website)
• Chateau Boomerang written case interview  (BCG website)
• BCG case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• Written cases guide (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG live case interview with notes (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview with ex-BCG associate director - Public sector case (by IGotAnOffer)
• BCG mock case interview: Revenue problem case (by IGotAnOffer) - See below

3. Bain case interview examples

• CoffeeCo practice case (Bain website)
• FashionCo practice case (Bain website)
• Associate Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Consultant mock interview video (Bain website)
• Written case interview tips (Bain website)
• Bain case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)
• Digital transformation case with ex-Bain consultant
• Bain case mock interview with ex-Bain manager (below)

4. Deloitte case interview examples

• Engagement Strategy practice case (Deloitte website)
• Recreation Unlimited practice case (Deloitte website)
• Strategic Vision practice case (Deloitte website)
• Retail Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Finance Strategy practice case  (Deloitte website)
• Talent Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Enterprise Resource Management practice case (Deloitte website)
• Footloose written case  (by Deloitte)
• Deloitte case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

5. Accenture case interview examples

• Case interview workbook (by Accenture)
• Accenture case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

6. OC&C case interview examples

• Leisure Club case example (by OC&C)
• Imported Spirits case example (by OC&C)

7. Oliver Wyman case interview examples

• Wumbleworld case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Aqualine case sample (Oliver Wyman website)
• Oliver Wyman case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

8. A.T. Kearney case interview examples

• Promotion planning case question (A.T. Kearney website)
• Consulting case book and examples (by A.T. Kearney)
• AT Kearney case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

9. Strategy& / PWC case interview examples

• Presentation overview with sample questions (by Strategy& / PWC)
• Strategy& / PWC case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

10. L.E.K. Consulting case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough   (L.E.K. website)
• Market sizing case example video walkthrough  (L.E.K. website)

11. Roland Berger case interview examples

• Transit oriented development case webinar part 1  (Roland Berger website)
• Transit oriented development case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 1   (Roland Berger website)
• 3D printed hip implants case webinar part 2   (Roland Berger website)
• Roland Berger case interview guide   (by IGotAnOffer)

12. Capital One case interview examples

• Case interview example video walkthrough  (Capital One website)
• Capital One case interview guide (by IGotAnOffer)

12. EY Parthenon case interview examples

• Candidate-led case example with feedback (by IGotAnOffer)

14. Consulting clubs case interview examples

• Berkeley case book (2006)
• Columbia case book (2006)
• Darden case book (2012)
• Darden case book (2018)
• Duke case book (2010)
• Duke case book (2014)
• ESADE case book (2011)
• Goizueta case book (2006)
• Illinois case book (2015)
• LBS case book (2006)
• MIT case book (2001)
• Notre Dame case book (2017)
• Ross case book (2010)
• Wharton case book (2010)

Practice with experts

Using case interview examples is a key part of your interview preparation, but it isn’t enough.

At some point you’ll want to practise with friends or family who can give some useful feedback. However, if you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll also want to work with ex-consultants who have experience running interviews at McKinsey, Bain, BCG, etc.

If you know anyone who fits that description, fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

Related articles:

50+ Case Interview Questions and Examples From Top Firms

Discover over 50 case interview questions and examples from top consulting firms. Prepare effectively for your next interview with expert insights and tips!

Posted August 22, 2024

Featuring Garrett W.

MBB Interviews: Ask Me Anything

Starting friday, august 23.

7:00 PM UTC · 60 minutes

Table of Contents

Let’s face it, consulting interviews can be intimidating, especially with their complex case questions. These questions are designed to assess your problem-solving skills, analytical ability, and strategic thinking, crucial competencies for success in the consulting world. Recognizing the types of case interview questions and mastering them can significantly elevate your chances of landing your dream job in prestigious firms like McKinsey, BCG, or Bain.

This article serves as a comprehensive guide to mastering case interview questions, providing insights into the most common consulting case interview questions and detailed case interview examples from top consulting firms. From McKinsey case interview questions to unique challenges posed by firms like Deloitte and Accenture, we've got you covered. We will also share tips on how to ace your case interview and how to prepare for different types of case interview questions effectively.

By the end of this article, you'll have a well-rounded understanding of what to expect and how to showcase your problem-solving prowess when it matters most. Let’s begin!

List of Case Interview Questions, Practice Cases, and Examples

In preparing for your consulting interviews, it's crucial to familiarize yourself with the most common types of case interview questions. On this list, we will provide sample questions from the top consulting firms.

McKinsey Case Interview Examples

To excel in McKinsey case interviews , it's crucial to practice with specific examples that mirror the real challenges you might face. Here are some detailed scenarios from McKinsey to guide your preparation:

1. Beautify Case

Sample Question #1 : Beautify is excited to support its current staff of beauty consultants on the journey to becoming virtual social media-beauty advisors. Consultants would still lead the way in terms of direct consumer engagement and would be expected to maintain and grow a group of clients. They would sell products through their own pages on beautify.com, make appearances at major retail outlets, and be active on all social media platforms.

What possible factors should Beautify consider when shifting this group of employees toward a new set of responsibilities?

Sample Question #2 : One of the key areas that Beautify wants to understand is the reaction of current and potential new customers to the virtual social media-beauty advisors.

Imagine you are a current Beautify customer and you mostly shop at your local department store because you enjoy the high-touch service offered by in-store consultants. What features would make you consider switching to a mostly virtual sales experience?

See more questions here .

2. Diconsa Case

Sample Question #1 : What should the team investigate to determine whether the Diconsa network could and should be leveraged to provide a range of basic financial services to Mexico’s rural population?

Sample Question #2: The team has estimated that it currently costs a family 50 pesos per month in transportation and food to make the journey to collect benefit payments. The team also estimates that if benefits were available for collection at local Diconsa stores, the cost would be reduced by 30 percent.

Twenty percent of Mexico’s population is rural, and of that number, half currently receive state benefits.

You can assume that Mexico has a population of 100 million.

You can also assume that families in Mexico have an average four members, and that this does not vary by region.

If every family could collect state benefits at their local Diconsa stores, how much in total per year would be saved across all Mexican rural families receiving state benefits?

3. Electro-Light Case

Sample Question #1: What key factors should SuperSoda consider when deciding whether or not to launch Electro-Light?

Sample Question #2: SuperSoda executives believe that the company's position as a top-three beverage company gives it strategic impetus toward achieving the desired market share. However, they ask the team to outline what would be needed to achieve the target 12.5 percent share of the electrolyte-drinks market. What would SuperSoda need to do to gain the required market share for Electro-Light following its launch?

4. National Education System Transformation

Sample Question #1: What issues would you want to investigate in diagnosing the current state of the Loravian school system?

Sample Question #2: One of the clients at Loravian’s educational department mentions neighbor country “C” as an example, because it’s outperforming all of Loravia's economic peers and neighbors in the international assessment. She believes that the more concentrated school structure in this country is a big reason for better outcomes in the international assessment. She suggests that having larger, less fragmented schools allows for more effective teacher selection and training, leading to improved education outcomes for students. Finally, she shares that 15 percent of Loravia's population is currently attending school.

What would be the reduction in the total number of schools in Loravia if it were to achieve the same average school size as neighbor country C?

5. Talbot Trucks Case

Sample Question #1: What information would you want to collect to understand the attractiveness for Talbot Trucks in producing and selling eTrucks in Europe?

Sample Question #2: After running focus groups with Talbot Trucks’ customers, the team concluded that the total cost of an eTruck needs to be the same as a diesel truck to be considered attractive to customers. Currently, a Talbot Trucks diesel truck costs €100,000.

Assuming that the figures above do not change, what is the maximum price Talbot Trucks can charge for its eTruck so that the total cost of ownership is equal to that of a diesel truck?

6. Shops Corporation Case

Sample Question #1: What types of factors would you want to explore to understand how Shops Corporation might improve its diversity within senior leadership?

7. Conservation Forever Case

Sample Question #1: What factors could the team consider when choosing one of the three specific geographies on which to focus the conservation efforts?

Sample Question #2: The director of CF likes these initial projections, but is not convinced that the assumptions are realistic. They tell the team, “According to your model, there are three levers we need to focus on to generate revenue from ecotourism in Peru: number of visitors, length of stay, and spending amount. What are your best ideas for how to maximize each lever? And how about some ideas outside of the constraints of this model?”

Your team is meeting in ten minutes to generate ideas in preparation for a workshop with leaders from several coastal communities, and you are jotting down some notes.

What ideas do you have to generate revenue linked to ecotourism?

McKinsey offers case interview examples that cover various industries and problem-solving scenarios, helping you prepare for any interview question. Engaging with these cases will not only boost your confidence but also enhance your ability to approach complex business problems with innovative solutions.

BCG Case Interview Examples

At BCG , the case interview process is designed to simulate the real-world problems that client teams face, allowing you to demonstrate your problem-solving abilities and specialized skills relevant to the role. Embracing the challenge with enthusiasm will not only make the experience rewarding but also provide a true taste of consulting life at BCG. Here are some of their case interview examples:

Here are a few examples of common case questions:

• Should a company enter a new market?
• Should a company pursue a new product line?
• How can a company improve its profitability?
• How can a company reduce costs?
• How can a company improve its customer satisfaction?

Read: How to Prepare for Boston Consulting Group Management Consulting Case Interviews?

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Bain Case Interview Examples

During your preparation for Bain case interviews, it's essential to delve into specific examples that reflect the real challenges you may encounter. Here's are five examples of practice cases and mock interview tips provided by Bain to guide your preparation:

• Coffee Shop Co. Practice Case
• FashionCo. Practice Case
• Associate Consultant Mock Interview
• Consultant Mock Interview
• Written Case Interview Tips

Read : Bain Case Interviews: A Comprehensive Preparation Guide

Deloitte Case Interview Examples

Deloitte provides a rich array of materials and interactive case studies designed to prepare you for the rigors of their case interviews. These examples reflect real client engagements, offering insights into the complex problems you may face and the analytical, creative, and strategic thinking required to solve them.

Deloitte Case Examples

Footloose Case Study sample questions:

• How big is the work boot market (expressed in euros)? Does Duraflex get more of its revenue from work boots or casual boots?
• Explain why Badger is outperforming Duraflex in the work boot market.
• What changes would you recommend to Duraflex’s work boot strategy? Why? Would you recommend they introduce a sub- branded boot line?

Engagement Strategy: Federal Agency V sample questions:

• To begin an engagement strategy, how might you establish a baseline to measure employee engagement against?
• What characteristics would you look for in external organizations to use as potential benchmarks?
• What are the various populations of the workforce and how would you engage them?
• How will you use Deloitte’s relationship with, and institutional knowledge, of Agency V to develop your deliverables?

Recreation Unlimited sample questions :

• What are potential reasons for Recreation Unlimited's poor eCommerce performance relative to competitors?
• In order to win digital customers, Recreation Unlimited wants to find ways to improve and differentiate their digital customer experience. What are some potential ways to improve the customer experience and how does improving customer experience create value for the customer and value for the business?
• As part of the digital strategy that Recreation Unlimited is considering, they are debating whether to improve the website experience or increase digital marketing. Since they are not sure they will have the budget for both, they want you to help them decide. How would you approach this question?

Strategic Vision: Federal Benefits Provider sample questions :

• What steps should the Deloitte team take to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap for the Agency?
• What are the components or metrics of a business case that should be considered to justify the development of a 10-year strategic roadmap?
• In building the 10-year strategic road map, the Deloitte team realizes there are several key challenges that pose impediments to implementing the Agency’s vision. What is the cost of each challenge to the Agency?
• Leaders in the various departments remain skeptical that the 10-year vision can positively impact their unique operations, while employees are largely unaware of the 10-year vision initiative. How might Deloitte develop an impactful change management strategy to institutionalize the goals of the 10-year vision and ensure buy-in across the Agency’s diverse workforce?

Talent Management: Federal Civil Cargo Protection Bureau sample questions:

• What data would you want to have to be able to move forward?
• What immediate steps would you take to review screening processes and training procedures?
• How would you incorporate things like job descriptions and competencies in your review in order to build a new human capital strategy?
• How will you engage and develop leadership given the Chief Administrator is new to the role and has a different background?

Click here to practice a consulting case interview.

Read : Best 30 Free Resources to Get into Management Consulting

Accenture Case Interview Examples

Accenture's case interviews serve as the final hurdle to becoming a consultant at the firm. These interviews are uniquely structured to assess a candidate's ability to solve complex business problems. The format includes both interviewer-led and candidate-led cases, providing a comprehensive evaluation of your problem-solving capabilities.

Learn more about Accenture’s Case Interview Workbook here .

OC&C Case Interview Examples

OC&C , a globally recognized but relatively smaller strategy consulting firm, is known for its rigorous case interviews that reflect real-life client challenges. These interviews are designed to assess a wide range of skills, from analytical thinking to business acumen, tailored to the firm's focus on private equity clients and seven key industries.

1. Leisure Clubs Case sample questions:

• What factors might you analyze to determine what is going to happen to demand for leisure clubs?
• What is likely to happen to demand for leisure clubs?
• What is the critical issue for our client?

2. Important Whisky in an Emerging Market Case sample questions:

• What information would you require to help explain the slowing down of growth?
• What is driving profitability down?
• What are the potential strategic options?

Oliver Wyman Case Interview Examples

Oliver Wyman's case interviews are designed to uncover how you approach unstructured challenges and evaluate data to build comprehensive solutions. The firm encourages candidates to think critically and creatively, using logical components to break down complex problems.

See how Oliver Wyman can help you with interview preparation by explaining conversational and case interviews, as well as sharing interview tips and explaining what the role of the case interview is.

A.T. Kearney Case Interview Examples

A.T. Kearney's interview process is notably rigorous, tailored to assess a wide range of abilities from analytical thinking to strategic problem-solving. Take a look at A.T. Kearney’s case example and case book to help you how to prepare effectively:

• Promotional Planning Case example
• Consulting Case Book and Tips for Interviewing

Strategy& / PWC Case Interview Examples

Strategy& / PWC focuses on executive-level strategic issues, such as capability identification, market positioning, and operational efficiency. This branch's case interviews are designed to simulate real business challenges, helping to prepare candidates for the demands of strategic consulting roles. Here's a closer look at the types of questions you might encounter:

Sample Question 1: Market sizing

• Estimate the size (by value) of the UK grocery retail market

Sample Question 2: Market sizing

• Estimate the size (by value) of the UK retail cooking sauces market

Sample Question 3: Interpreting information and drawing conclusions

• Look at the chart on the following slide
• Interpret the meaning of the chart
• How are things changing? Who's winning and who's losing?
• Given your knowledge of the UK grocery market, why might this be?

Learn more about case interview preparation by reading through Strategy& / PWC’s presentation .

L.E.K. Consulting Case Interview Examples

The case interview process at L.E.K. Consulting is rigorous – designed to evaluate a candidate's ability to solve complex business problems. The interviews are structured across multiple rounds, each focusing on different aspects of your analytical and strategic thinking abilities. Here's what you need to know to prepare effectively:

• Interview Preparation
• Market Sizing Case Example Video Walkthrough

Roland Berger Case Interview Examples

The case interviews at Roland Berger are designed to evaluate your ability to display key personality traits, with a notable preference for candidates who have international experience, as this is explicitly stated by the firm. Roland Berger has provided two case webinars on their website. Each example provides a case scenario, problem, and tips on how to answer the questions.

• 3D Printed Hip Implants Case / 3D Printed Hip Implants Case 2 sample questions:
• Based upon the explanation process: Which are the most important costs to consider?
• Is additive manufacturing of the hip implant – based upon the given information – lucrative?
• Which measures could increase the economic feasibility of the product?
• Transit Oriented Development Case / Transit Oriented Development Case 2 sample questions:
• How would you split the 416 stations between little, medium, and large revenue potential?
• How can the public transport operator of Munich increase its revenue through focusing on its existing rail stations?

Capital One Case Interview Examples

The structure of a Capital One case interview typically involves three key sections: outlining the business situation and framework, tackling quantitative questions, and formulating a recommendation based on your calculations. Expect scenarios that might not strictly adhere to the MECE principle (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive), which is often a staple in consulting case interviews. This approach reflects the real-world ambiguity you might face in business situations, requiring a flexible and adaptive problem-solving strategy. Here's a video walkthrough on everything there is need to know about Capital One case interview:

• Strategy Analyst - Case Study Guide

EY Parthenon Case Interview Examples

EY-Parthenon case interviews are designed to mimic real-life challenges, providing a glimpse into the practical work of a consultant. The interviews are candidate-led, similar to styles seen at BCG or Bain, and focus on several key areas including analytical thinking, structured problem-solving, and effective communication. The EY-Parthenon behavioral interview questions are comparable to those you would encounter in interviews for other top-tier management consulting firms. Be prepared to answer the following questions:

EY-Parthenon Case Interview Behavioral/FIT Questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why are you interested in consulting, and why specifically EY-Parthenon?
• Describe a time when you worked on a team project. What was your role, and how did you contribute to the team’s success?
• Can you provide an example of a challenging problem you faced at work and how you solved it?
• How do you handle tight deadlines and pressure? Can you give an example?
• Tell me about a time when you had to influence someone to achieve a goal.
• How do you prioritize tasks when you have multiple projects to manage?
• Describe a situation where you had to deal with a difficult team member. How did you handle it?
• What is your greatest professional achievement so far?
• Give an example of a time when you had to learn something new quickly.
• Why do you think you would be a good fit for EY-Parthenon’s culture?
• Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake. How did you handle it?
• Can you provide an example of a project where you demonstrated leadership?
• How do you handle feedback and criticism?
• Are there any questions that you have for me?
• Your answer for this question must be a resounding “YES”. The more you have questions for them, the better because that shows that you’ve researched the company. You may ask about a particular previous project they did or something in particular to their operations.

Online Case Interview Examples from Consulting Clubs

Mastering the case interview is essential in consulting, and consulting clubs are key in this preparation. NYU, Duke, and Kellogg Consulting Club, for instance, provide free various interview cases, both individual and group, that mimic real consulting challenges.

• NYU Stern MCA 2020-2021 Casebook
• Columbia Business School 2021 Casebook
• The Duke MBA Consulting Club Casebook 2021-2022
• UCLA Case Book 2019 – 2020
• Darden School Of Business 2021-2022 Casebook
• Kellogg Consulting Club 2020 Casebook
• Cornell MBA Johnson Consulting Club Casebook 2020-2021
• Notre Dame Casebook 2022
• FMS Consulting Casebook 2021-22
• INSEAD Consulting Club Casebook 2021
• IIMC Consulting Casebook 2021-22
• IIM Lucknow Casebook 2022
• Harvard Business School Management Consulting Club Case Interview Examples
• Berkeley Haas School of Business Consulting Club Interview Preparation Guide and Case Interview Examples 2019

How to Ace Your Case Interview

To excel in your case interview, it's crucial to demonstrate a blend of problem-solving skills, analytical ability, strategic and logical thinking, and comfort with ambiguity. These elements are essential as they reflect real client projects that you might handle at firms like Deloitte Consulting LLP.

Read : The 15 Most Common Consulting Interview Questions — With Answers

Step-by-Step Approach to Case Interviews

• Understand the Issue : Start by clarifying the case question. Ensure you fully grasp the problem before proceeding.
• Develop a Framework : Articulate a framework and initial hypothesis to explore. This helps in structuring your response and guides your analysis.
• Analytical Execution : Engage in logical storytelling. Walk the interviewer through your thought process and explain your assumptions. Take notes and structure your analysis clearly.
• Recommendation and Next Steps : Conclude with a strong recommendation based on your findings. Outline the next steps and expected results or impacts.

Read : Mastering Consulting Cases: A Step-by-Step Approach

Tips on How to Prepare For Your Case Interview

To excel in your case interview preparation, it's essential to engage in extensive practice with a variety of case types. Successful candidates often practice with dozens of case interview scenarios, treating the preparation process with the same rigor as studying for finals or the GMAT. Here are key steps to enhance your preparation:

• Diverse Practice Cases : Ensure the practice cases you use cover a broad spectrum of problems, including profitability, market sizing, and business expansion scenarios. This variety prepares you for any curveballs and helps develop flexibility in applying different frameworks.
• Quality of Practice Materials : Select high-quality practice cases from trusted sources. The content and structure of these cases should closely mimic the types of cases presented in actual interviews at top consulting firms.
• Framework Mastery : Rather than memorizing frameworks, focus on understanding and adapting them to fit different case scenarios. This approach helps in crafting tailored solutions during your actual interview.
• Time Management : Practice managing your time effectively during mock interviews. Top consulting firms like Bain appreciate candidates who can efficiently organize and analyze information under time constraints.
• Engage with Realistic Simulations : Participate in mock interviews and case sessions that simulate the actual interview environment. This practice helps you refine your problem-solving approach and improve your communication skills under pressure.
• Continuous Learning and Adaptation : Stay informed about new trends and changes in the consulting interview landscape. Engage with resources that provide updates and insights into evolving interview formats.

Personalized Coaching : Consider working with an experienced coach who can provide personalized feedback and guidance. Coaching can significantly enhance your performance by focusing on areas that need improvement.

Practice with Experts from Leland

Through an extensive exploration of the various aspects of case interviews across prestigious consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, Deloitte, Accenture, and others, it's evident that thorough preparation and an adaptable mindset are critical for success.

Leland offers comprehensive case study interview preparation tailored to help you excel in consulting case interviews. Our experienced consultants provide personalized coaching, realistic case simulations, and strategic feedback to enhance your problem-solving skills and boost your confidence. With our expert guidance, you'll be well-prepared to tackle any case interview challenge and make a lasting impression.

What questions should you consider asking during a case study interview?

• In your case study interview, it's crucial to ask insightful questions to understand the context fully. Consider asking about how the interviewee discovered your company, the timeline of their engagement, their initial experiences with your company, the challenges they aimed to address, and whether they considered any competitors or alternative solutions.

What strategies can enhance your performance in a case interview?

• To excel in a case interview, start by taking a moment to organize your thoughts before responding. Structure your response logically, guiding the interviewer through your thought process and clarifying any assumptions you make. Maintain composure and treat the interview as a professional conversation, which can help alleviate pressure.

How can you excel in a case study interview?

• To perform well in a case study interview, make sure to take detailed notes throughout. Even if you are not familiar with the industry, focus on demonstrating your analytical skills and how you approach problem-solving. Communicate clearly and ensure you have a thorough understanding of the problem you're asked to analyze.

What types of questions are typically asked in case interviews?

• Case interviews generally include questions from nine key categories, such as framework or issue tree questions, market-sizing and guesstimate questions, valuation inquiries, brain teasers, chart interpretation, value proposition analysis, informational queries, and mathematical problems.

Preparing for consulting recruiting and/or case interviews? Here are some additional resources to help:

• Top 3 Tactics to Ace Your Case Interview
• A Comprehensive Guide to McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co., and Boston Consulting Group
• From No Offers to Multiple Offers - How to Take Your Casing to the Next Level
• Soft Skills for Consulting: Why They Matter and How to Develop Them
• Five Tips to Break Into Management Consulting

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• Case Interview: A comprehensive guide
• Pyramid Principle
• Hypothesis driven structure
• Fit Interview
• Consulting math
• The key to landing your consulting job
• What is a case interview?
• Types of case interview
• How to solve cases with the Problem-Driven Structure?
• What to remember in case interviews
• Case examples or building blocks?
• How do I prepare for case interviews
• Interview day tips
• How we can help

1. The key to landing your consulting job.

Case interviews - where you are asked to solve a business case study under scrutiny - are the core of the selection process right across McKinsey, Bain and BCG (the “MBB” firms). This interview format is also used pretty much universally across other high-end consultancies; including LEK, Kearney, Oliver Wyman and the consulting wings of the “Big Four”.

If you want to land a job at any of these firms, you will have to ace multiple case interviews.

It is increasingly likely that you will also have to solve online cases given by chatbots. You might need to pass these either before making it to interview or be asked to sit them alongside first round interviews.

Importantly, case studies aren’t something you can just wing . Firms explicitly expect you to have thoroughly prepared and many of your competitors on interview day will have been prepping for months.

Don’t worry though - MCC is here to help!

This article will take you through a full overview of everything you’ll need to know to do well, linking to more detailed articles and resources at each stage to let you really drill down into the details.

As well as traditional case interviews, we’ll also attend to the new formats in which cases are being delivered and otherwise make sure you’re up to speed with recent trends in this overall part of consulting recruitment.

Before we can figure out how to prepare for a case interview, though, we will first have to properly understand in detail what exactly you are up against. What format does a standard consulting case interview take? What is expected of you? How will you be assessed?

Let's dive right in and find out!

Professional help

Before going further, if this sounds like a lot to get your head around on your own, don't worry - help is available!

Our Case Academy course gives you everything you need to know to crack cases like a pro:

Case Academy Course

To put what you learn into practice (and secure some savings in the process) you can add mock interview coaching sessions with expereinced MBB consultants:

Coaching options

And, if you just want an experienced consultant to take charge of the whole selection process for you, you can check out our comprehensive mentoring programmes:

Explore mentoring

Now, back to the article!

2. What is a case interview?

Before we can hope to tackle a case interview, we have to understand what one is.

In short, a case interview simulates real consulting work by having you solve a business case study in conversation with your interviewer.

This case study will be a business problem where you have to advise a client - that is, an imaginary business or similar organisation in need of guidance.

You must help this client solve a problem and/or make a decision. This requires you to analyse the information you are given about that client organisation and figure out a final recommendation for what they should do next.

Business problems in general obviously vary in difficulty. Some are quite straightforward and can be addressed with fairly standard solutions. However, consulting firms exist precisely to solve the tough issues that businesses have failed to deal with internally - and so consultants will typically work on complex, idiosyncratic problems requiring novel solutions.

Some examples of case study questions might be:

• How much would you pay for a banking licence in Ghana?
• Estimate the potential value of the electric vehicle market in Germany
• How much gas storage capacity should a UK domestic energy supplier build?

Consulting firms need the brightest minds they can find to put to work on these important, difficult projects. You can expect the case studies you have to solve in interview, then, to echo the unique, complicated problems consultancies deal with every day. As we’ll explain here, this means that you need to be ready to think outside the box to figure out genuinely novel solutions.

2.1. Where are case interviews in the consulting selection process?

Not everyone who applies to a consulting firm will have a case interview - far from it!

In fact, case interviews are pretty expensive and inconvenient for firms to host, requiring them to take consultants off active projects and even fly them back to the office from location for in-person interviews (although this happens less frequently now). Ideally, firms want to cut costs and save time by narrowing down the candidate pool as much as possible before any live interviews.

As such, there are some hoops to jump through before you make it to interview rounds.

Firms will typically eliminate as much as 80% of the applicant pool before interviews start . For most firms, 50%+ of applicants might be cut based on resumes, before a similar cut is made on those remaining based on aptitude tests. McKinsey currently gives their Solve assessment to most applicants, but will use their resulting test scores alongside resumes to cut 70%+ of the candidate pool before interviews.

You'll need to be on top of your game to get as far as a case interview with a top firm. Getting through the resume screen and any aptitude tests is an achievement in itself! Also we need to note that the general timeline of an application can differ depending on a series of factors, including which position you apply, your background, and the office you are applying to. For example, an undergraduate applying for a Business Analyst position (the entry level job at McKinsey) will most likely be part of a recruitment cycle and as such have pretty fixed dates when they need to sit the pre-screening test, and have the first and second round interviews (see more on those below). Conversely, an experienced hire will most likely have a much greater choice of test and interview dates as well as more time at their disposal to prepare.

For readers not yet embroiled in the selection process themselves, let’s put case interviews in context and take a quick look at each stage in turn. Importantly, note that you might also be asked to solve case studies outside interviews as well…

2.1.1. Application screen

It’s sometimes easy to forget that such a large cut is made at the application stage. At larger firms, this will mean your resume and cover letter is looked at by some combination of AI tools, recruitment staff and junior consulting staff (often someone from your own university).

Only the best applications will be passed to later stages, so make sure to check out our free resume and cover letter guides, and potentially get help with editing , to give yourself the best chance possible.

2.1.2. Aptitude tests and online cases

This part of the selection process has been changing quickly in recent years and is increasingly beginning to blur into the traditionally separate case interview rounds.

In the past, GMAT or PST style tests were the norm. Firms then used increasingly sophisticated and often gamified aptitude tests, like the Pymetrics test currently used by several firms, including BCG and Bain, and the original version of McKinsey’s Solve assessment (then branded as the Problem Solving Game).

Now, though, there is a move towards delivering relatively sophisticated case studies online. For example, McKinsey has replaced half the old Solve assessment with an online case. BCG’s Casey chatbot case now directly replaces a live first round case interview, and in the new era of AI chatbots, we expect these online cases to quickly become more realistic and increasingly start to relieve firms of some of the costs of live case interviews.

Our consultants collectively reckon that, over time, 50% of case interviews are likely to be replaced with these kinds of cases . We give some specific advice for online cases in section six. However, the important thing to note is that these are still just simulations of traditional case interviews - you still need to learn how to solve cases in precisely the same way, and your prep will largely remain the same.

2.1.3. Rounds of Interviews

Now, let’s not go overboard with talk of AI. Even in the long term, the client facing nature of consulting means that firms will have live case interviews for as long as they are hiring anyone. And in the immediate term, case interviews are still absolutely the core of consulting selection.

Before landing an offer at McKinsey, Bain, BCG or any similar firm, you won’t just have one case interview, but will have to complete four to six case interviews, usually divided into two rounds, with each interview lasting approximately 50-60 minutes .

Being invited to first round usually means two or three case interviews. As noted above, you might also be asked to complete an online case or similar alongside your first round interviews.

If you ace first round, you will be invited to second round to face the same again, but more gruelling. Only then - after up to six case interviews in total, can you hope to receive an offer.

2.2. Differences between first and second round interviews

Despite case interviews in the first and second round following the same format, second/final round interviews will be significantly more intense . The seniority of the interviewer, time pressure (with up to three interviews back-to-back), and the sheer value of the job at stake will likely make a second round consulting case interview one of the most challenging moments of your professional life.

There are three key differences between the two rounds:

• Time Pressure : Final round case interviews test your ability to perform under pressure, with as many as three interviews in a row and often only very small breaks between them.
• Focus : Since second round interviewers tend to be more senior (usually partners with 12+ years experience) and will be more interested in your personality and ability to handle challenges independently. Some partners will drill down into your experiences and achievements to the extreme. They want to understand how you react to challenges and your ability to identify and learn from past mistakes.
• Psychological Pressure: While case interviews in the first round are usually more focused on you simply cracking the case, second round interviewers often employ a "bad cop" strategy to test the way you react to challenges and uncertainty.

2.3. What skills do case interviews assess?

Reliably impressing your interviewers means knowing what they are looking for. This means understanding the skills you are being assessed against in some detail.

Overall, it’s important always to remember that, with case studies, there are no strict right or wrong answers. What really matters is how you think problems through, how confident you are with your conclusions and how quick you are with the back of the envelope arithmetic.

The objective of this kind of interview isn’t to get to one particular solution, but to assess your skillset. This is even true of modern online cases, where sophisticated AI algorithms score how you work as well as the solutions you generate.

If you visit McKinsey , Bain and BCG web pages on case interviews, you will find that the three firms look for very similar traits, and the same will be true of other top consultancies.

Broadly speaking, your interviewer will be evaluating you across five key areas:

2.1.1.One: Probing mind

Showing intellectual curiosity by asking relevant and insightful questions that demonstrate critical thinking and a proactive nature. For instance, if we are told that revenues for a leading supermarket chain have been declining over the last ten years, a successful candidate would ask:

“ We know revenues have declined. This could be due to price or volume. Do we know how they changed over the same period? ”

This is as opposed to a laundry list of questions like:

• Did customers change their preferences?
• Which segment has shown the decline in volume?
• Is there a price war in the industry?

2.1.2. Structure

Structure in this context means structuring a problem. This, in turn, means creating a framework - that is, a series of clear, sequential steps in order to get to a solution.

As with the case interview in general, the focus with case study structures isn’t on reaching a solution, but on how you get there.

This is the trickiest part of the case interview and the single most common reason candidates fail.

We discuss how to properly structure a case in more detail in section three. In terms of what your interviewer is looking for at high level, though, key pieces of your structure should be:

• Proper understanding of the objective of the case - Ask yourself: "What is the single crucial piece of advice that the client absolutely needs?"
• Identification of the drivers - Ask yourself: "What are the key forces that play a role in defining the outcome?"

Our Problem Driven Structure method, discussed in section three, bakes this approach in at a fundamental level. This is as opposed to the framework-based approach you will find in older case-solving

Focus on going through memorised sequences of steps too-often means failing to develop a full understanding of the case and the real key drivers.

At this link, we run through a case to illustrate the difference between a standard framework-based approach and our Problem Driven Structure method.

2.1.3. Problem Solving

You’ll be tested on your ability to identify problems and drivers, isolate causes and effects, demonstrate creativity and prioritise issues. In particular, the interviewer will look for the following skills:

• Prioritisation - Can you distinguish relevant and irrelevant facts?
• Connecting the dots - Can you connect new facts and evidence to the big picture?
• Establishing conclusions - Can you establish correct conclusions without rushing to inferences not supported by evidence?

2.1.4. Numerical Agility

In case interviews, you are expected to be quick and confident with both precise and approximated numbers. This translates to:

• Performing simple calculations quickly - Essential to solve cases quickly and impress clients with quick estimates and preliminary conclusions.
• Analysing data - Extract data from graphs and charts, elaborate and draw insightful conclusions.
• Solving business problems - Translate a real world case to a mathematical problem and solve it.

Our article on consulting math is a great resource here, though the extensive math content in our MCC Academy is the best and most comprehensive material available.

2.1.5. Communication

Real consulting work isn’t just about the raw analysis to come up with a recommendation - this then needs to be sold to the client as the right course of action.

Similarly, in a case interview, you must be able to turn your answer into a compelling recommendation. This is just as essential to impressing your interviewer as your structure and analysis.

Consultants already comment on how difficult it is to find candidates with the right communication skills. Add to this the current direction of travel, where AI will be able to automate more and more of the routine analytic side of consulting, and communication becomes a bigger and bigger part of what consultants are being paid for.

So, how do you make sure that your recommendations are relevant, smart, and engaging? The answer is to master what is known as CEO-level communication .

This art of speaking like a CEO can be quite challenging, as it often involves presenting information in effectively the opposite way to how you might normally.

To get it right, there are three key areas to focus on in your communications:

• Top down : A CEO wants to hear the key message first. They will only ask for more details if they think that will actually be useful. Always consider what is absolutely critical for the CEO to know, and start with that. You can read more in our article on the Pyramid Principle .
• Concise : This is not the time for "boiling the ocean" or listing an endless number possible solutions. CEOs, and thus consultants, want a structured, quick and concise recommendation for their business problem, that they can implement immediately.
• Fact-based : Consultants share CEOs' hatred of opinions based on gut feel rather than facts. They want recommendations based on facts to make sure they are actually in control. Always go on to back up your conclusions with the relevant facts.

Being concise and to the point is key in many areas, networking being one for them. For more detail on all this, check out our full article on delivering recommendations .

Prep the right way

3. types of case interview.

While most case interviews share a similar structure, firms will have some differences in the particular ways they like to do things in terms of both the case study and the fit component.

As we’ll see, these differences aren’t hugely impactful in terms of how you prepare. That said, it's always good to know as much as possible about what you will be going up against.

3.1. Different case objectives

A guiding thread throughout this article and our approach in general will be to treat each case as a self-contained problem and not try to pigeonhole it into a certain category. Having said that, there are of course similarities between cases and we can identify certain parameters and objectives.

Broadly speaking, cases can be divided into issue-based cases and strategic decision cases. In the former you will be asked to solve a certain issue, such as declining profits, or low productivity whereas in the latter you will be ask whether your client should or should not do something, such as enter a specific market or acquire another company. The chart below is a good breakdown of these different objectives:

3.2. How do interviewers craft cases

While interviewers will very likely be given a case bank to choose from by their company, a good number of them will also choose to adapt the cases they would currently be working on to a case interview setting. The difference is that the latter cases will be harder to pigeonhole and apply standard frameworks to, so a tailored approach will be paramount.

If you’ve applied for a specific practice or type of consulting - such as operational consulting, for example - it’s very likely that you will receive a case geared towards that particular area alongside a ‘generalist’ consulting case (however, if that’s the case, you will generally be notified). The other main distinction when it comes to case interviews is between interviewer-led and candidate-led.

3.3. Candidate-led cases

Most consulting case interview questions test your ability to crack a broad problem, with a case prompt often going something like:

" How much would you pay to secure the rights to run a restaurant in the British Museum? "

You, as a candidate, are then expected to identify your path to solve the case (that is, provide a structure), leveraging your interviewer to collect the data and test your assumptions.

This is known as a “candidate-led” case interview and is used by Bain, BCG and other firms. From a structuring perspective, it’s easier to lose direction in a candidate-led case as there are no sign-posts along the way. As such, you need to come up with an approach that is both broad enough to cover all of the potential drivers in a case but also tailored enough to the problem you are asked to solve. It’s also up to you to figure out when you need to delve deeper into a certain branch of the case, brainstorm or ask for data. The following case from Bain is an excellent example on how to navigate a candidate-led case.

3.4. Interviewer-led cases

This type of case - employed most famously by McKinsey - is slightly different, with the interviewer controlling the pace and direction of the conversation much more than with other case interviews.

At McKinsey, your interviewer will ask you a set of pre-determined questions, regardless of your initial structure. For each question, you will have to understand the problem, come up with a mini structure, ask for additional data (if necessary) and come to the conclusion that answers the question. This more structured format of case also shows up in online cases by other firms - notably including BCG’s Casey chatbot (with the amusing result that practising McKinsey-style cases can be a great addition when prepping for BCG).

Essentially, these interviewer-led case studies are large cases made up of lots of mini-cases. You still use basically the same method as you would for standard (or candidate-led) cases - the main difference is simply that, instead of using that method to solve one big case, you are solving several mini-cases sequentially. These cases are easier to follow as the interviewer will guide you in the right direction. However, this doesn’t mean you should pay less attention to structure and deliver a generic framework! Also, usually (but not always!) the first question will ask you to map your approach and is the equivalent of the structuring question in candidate-led cases. Sometimes, if you’re missing key elements, the interviewer might prompt you in the right direction - so make sure to take those prompts seriously as they are there to help you get back on track (ask for 30 seconds to think on the prompt and structure your approach). Other times - and this is a less fortunate scenario - the interviewer might say nothing and simply move on to the next question. This is why you should put just as much thought (if not more) into the framework you build for interviewer-led cases , as you may be penalized if you produce something too generic or that doesn’t encompass all the issues of the case.

3.5. Case and fit

The standard case interview can be thought of as splitting into two standalone sub-interviews. Thus “case interviews” can be divided into the case study itself and a “fit interview” section, where culture fit questions are asked.

This can lead to a bit of confusion, as the actual case interview component might take up as little as half of your scheduled “case interview”. You need to make sure you are ready for both aspects.

To illustrate, here is the typical case interview timeline:

• First 15-30 minutes: Fit Interview - with questions assessing your motivation to be a consultant in that specific firm and your traits around leadership and teamwork. Learn more about the fit interview in our in-depth article here .
• Next 30-40 minutes: Case Interview - solving a case study
• Last 5 minutes: Fit Interview again - this time focussing on your questions for your interviewer.

Both the Case and Fit interviews play crucial roles in the finial hiring decision. There is no “average” taken between case and fit interviews: if your performance is not up to scratch in either of the two, you will not be able to move on to the next interview round or get an offer.

NB: No case without fit

Note that, even if you have only been told you are having a case interview or otherwise are just doing a case study, always be prepared to answer fit questions. At most firms, it is standard practice to include some fit questions in all case interviews, even if there are also separate explicit fit interviews, and interviewers will almost invariably include some of these questions around your case. This is perfectly natural - imagine how odd and artificial it would be to show up to an interview, simply do a case and leave again, without talking about anything else with the interviewer before or after.

3.5.1 Differences between firms

For the most part, a case interview is a case interview. However, firms will have some differences in the particular ways they like to do things in terms of both the case study and the fit component.

3.5.2. The McKinsey PEI

McKinsey brands its fit aspect of interviews as the Personal Experience Interview or PEI. Despite the different name, this is really much the same interview you will be going up against in Bain, BCG and any similar firms.

McKinsey does have a reputation for pushing candidates a little harder with fit or PEI questions , focusing on one story per interview and drilling down further into the specific details each time. We discuss this tendency more in our fit interview article . However, no top end firm is going to go easy on you and you should absolutely be ready for the same level of grilling at Bain, BCG and others. Thus any difference isn’t hugely salient in terms of prep.

3.6. What is different in 2023?

For the foreseeable future, you are going to have to go through multiple live case interviews to secure any decent consulting job. These might increasingly happen via Zoom rather than in person, but they should remain largely the same otherwise.

However, things are changing and the rise of AI in recent months seems pretty much guaranteed to accelerate existing trends.

Even before the explosive development of AI chatbots like ChatGPT we have seen in recent months, automation was already starting to change the recruitment process.

As we mentioned, case interviews are expensive and inconvenient for firms to run . Ideally, then, firms will try to reduce the number of interviews required for recruitment as far as possible. For many years, tests of various kinds served to cut down the applicant pool and thus the number of interviews. However, these tests had a limited capacity to assess candidates against the full consulting skillset in the way that case interviews do so well.

More recently, though, the development of online testing has allowed for more and more advanced assessments. Top consulting firms have been leveraging screening tests that better and better capture the same skillset as case interviews. Eventually this is converging on automated case studies. We see this very clearly with the addition of the Redrock case to McKinsey’s Solve assessment.

As these digital cases become closer to the real thing, the line between test and case interview blurs. Online cases don’t just reduce the number of candidates to case interview, but start directly replacing them.

Case in point here is BCG’s Casey chatbot . Previously, BCG had deployed less advanced online cases and similar tests to weed out some candidates before live case interviews began. Now, though, Casey actually replaces one first round case interview.

Casey, at time of writing, is still a relatively “basic” chatbot, basically running through a pre-set script. The Whatsapp-like interface does a lot of work to make it feel like one is chatting to a “real person” - the chatbot itself, though, cannot provide feedback or nudges to candidates as would a human interviewer.

We fully expect that, as soon as BCG and other firms can train a truer AI, these online cases will become more widespread and start replacing more live interviews.

We discuss the likely impacts of advanced AI on consulting recruitment and the industry more broadly in our blog.

Here, though, the real message is that you should expect to run into digital cases as well as traditional case interviews.

Luckily, despite any changes in specific case interview format, you will still need to master the same fundamental skills and prepare in much the same way.

We’ll cover a few ways to help prepare for chatbot cases in section four. Ultimately, though, firms are looking for the same problem solving ability and mindset as a real interviewer. Especially as chatbots get better at mimicking a real interviewer, candidates who are well prepared for case cracking in general should have no problem with AI administered cases.

3.6.1. Automated fit interviews

Analogous to online cases, in recent years there has been a trend towards automated, “one way” fit interviews, with these typically being administered for consultancies by specialist contractors like HireVue or SparkHire.

These are kind of like Zoom interviews, but if the interviewer didn’t show up. Instead you will be given fit questions to answer and must record your answer in your computer webcam. Your response will then go on to be assessed by an algorithm, scoring both what you say and how you say it.

Again, with advances in AI, it is easy to imagine these automated case interviews going from fully scripted interactions, where all candidates are asked the same list of questions, to a more interactive experience. Thus, we might soon arrive at a point where you are being grilled on the details of your stories - McKinsey PEI style - but by a bot rather than a human.

We include some tips on this kind of “one way” fit interview in section six here.

4. How to solve cases with the Problem-Driven Structure?

If you look around online for material on how to solve case studies, a lot of what you find will set out framework-based approaches. However, as we have mentioned, these frameworks tend to break down with more complex, unique cases - with these being exactly the kind of tough case studies you can expect to be given in your case interviews.

To address this problem, the MyConsultingCoach team has synthesized a new approach to case cracking that replicates how top management consultants approach actual engagements.

MyConsultingCoach’s Problem Driven Structure approach is a universal problem solving method that can be applied to any business problem , irrespective of its nature.

As opposed to just selecting a generic framework for each case interview, the Problem Driven Structure approach works by generating a bespoke structure for each individual question and is a simplified version of the roadmap McKinsey consultants use when working on engagements.

The canonical seven steps from McKinsey on real projects are simplified to four for case interview questions, as the analysis required for a six-month engagement is somewhat less than that needed for a 45-minute case study. However, the underlying flow is the same (see the method in action in the video below)

Let's zoom in to see how our method actually works in more detail:

4.1. Identify the problem

Identifying the problem means properly understanding the prompt/question you are given, so you get to the actual point of the case.

This might sound simple, but cases are often very tricky, and many candidates irretrievably mess things up within the first few minutes of starting. Often, they won’t notice this has happened until they are getting to the end of their analysis. Then, they suddenly realise that they have misunderstood the case prompt - and have effectively been answering the wrong question all along!

With no time to go back and start again, there is nothing to do. Even if there were time, making such a silly mistake early on will make a terrible impression on their interviewer, who might well have written them off already. The interview is scuppered and all the candidate’s preparation has been for nothing.

This error is so galling as it is so readily avoidable.

Our method prevents this problem by placing huge emphasis on a full understanding of the case prompt. This lays the foundations for success as, once we have identified the fundamental, underlying problem our client is facing, we focus our whole analysis around finding solutions to this specific issue.

Now, some case interview prompts are easy to digest. For example, “Our client, a supermarket, has seen a decline in profits. How can we bring them up?”. However, many of the prompts given in interviews for top firms are much more difficult and might refer to unfamiliar business areas or industries. For example, “How much would you pay for a banking license in Ghana?” or “What would be your key areas of concern be when setting up an NGO?”

Don’t worry if you have no idea how you might go about tackling some of these prompts!

In our article on identifying the problem and in our full lesson on the subject in our MCC Academy course, we teach a systematic, four step approach to identifying the problem , as well as running through common errors to ensure you start off on the right foot every time!

This is summarised here:

Following this method lets you excel where your competitors mess up and get off to a great start in impressing your interviewer!

4.2. Build your problem driven structure

After you have properly understood the problem, the next step is to successfully crack a case is to draw up a bespoke structure that captures all the unique features of the case.

This is what will guide your analysis through the rest of the case study and is precisely the same method used by real consultants working on real engagements.

Of course, it might be easier here to simply roll out one an old-fashioned framework, and a lot of candidates will do so. This is likely to be faster at this stage and requires a lot less thought than our problem-driven structure approach.

However, whilst our problem driven structure approach requires more work from you, our method has the advantage of actually working in the kind of complex case studies where generic frameworks fail - that is exactly the kind of cases you can expect at an MBB interview .

Since we effectively start from first principles every time, we can tackle any case with the same overarching method. Simple or complex, every case is the same to you and you don’t have to gamble a job on whether a framework will actually work

4.2.1 Issue trees

Issue trees break down the overall problem into a set of smaller problems that you can then solve individually. Representing this on a diagram also makes it easy for both you and your interviewer to keep track of your analysis.

To see how this is done, let’s look at the issue tree below breaking down the revenues of an airline:

These revenues can be segmented as the number of customers multiplied by the average ticket price. The number of customers can be further broken down into a number of flights multiplied by the number of seats, times average occupancy rate. The node corresponding to the average ticket price can then be segmented further.

4.2.2 Hypothesis trees

Hypothesis trees are similar, the only difference being that rather than just trying to break up the issue into smaller issues you are assuming that the problem can be solved and you are formulating solutions.

In the example above, you would assume revenues can be increased by either increasing the average ticket price or the number of customers . You can then hypothesize that you can increase the average occupancy rate in three ways: align the schedule of short and long haul flights, run a promotion to boost occupancy in off-peak times, or offer early bird discounts.

4.2.3 Other structures:structured lists

Structured lists are simply subcategories of a problem into which you can fit similar elements. This McKinsey case answer starts off by identifying several buckets such as retailer response, competitor response, current capabilities and brand image and then proceeds to consider what could fit into these categories.

Buckets can be a good way to start the structure of a complex case but when using them it can be very difficult to be MECE and consistent, so you should always aim to then re-organize them into either an issue or a hypothesis tree.

It is worth noting that the same problem can be structured in multiple valid ways by choosing different means to segment the key issues. Ultimately all these lists are methods to set out a logical hierachy among elements.

4.2.4 Structures in practice

That said, not all valid structures are equally useful in solving the underlying problem. A good structure fulfils several requirements - including MECE-ness , level consistency, materiality, simplicity, and actionability. It’s important to put in the time to master segmentation, so you can choose a scheme isn’t only valid, but actually useful in addressing the problem.

After taking the effort to identify the problem properly, an advantage of our method is that it will help ensure you stay focused on that same fundamental problem throughout. This might not sound like much, but many candidates end up getting lost in their own analysis, veering off on huge tangents and returning with an answer to a question they weren’t asked.

Another frequent issue - particularly with certain frameworks - is that candidates finish their analysis and, even if they have successfully stuck to the initial question, they have not actually reached a definite solution. Instead, they might simply have generated a laundry list of pros and cons, with no clear single recommendation for action.

Clients employ consultants for actionable answers, and this is what is expected in the case interview. The problem driven structure excels in ensuring that everything you do is clearly related back to the key question in a way that will generate a definitive answer. Thus, the problem driven structure builds in the hypothesis driven approach so characteristic of real consulting practice.

You can learn how to set out your own problem driven structures in our article here and in our full lesson in the MCC Academy course.

4.2. Lead the analysis

A problem driven structure might ensure we reach a proper solution eventually, but how do we actually get there?

We call this step " leading the analysis ", and it is the process whereby you systematically navigate through your structure, identifying the key factors driving the issue you are addressing.

Generally, this will mean continuing to grow your tree diagram, further segmenting what you identify as the most salient end nodes and thus drilling down into the most crucial factors causing the client’s central problem.

Once you have gotten right down into the detail of what is actually causing the company’s issues, solutions can then be generated quite straightforwardly.

To see this process in action, we can return to our airline revenue example:

Let’s say we discover the average ticket price to be a key issue in the airline’s problems. Looking closer at the drivers of average ticket price, we find that the problem lies with economy class ticket prices. We can then further segment that price into the base fare and additional items such as food.

Having broken down the issue to such a fine-grained level and considering the 80/20 rule(see below), solutions occur quite naturally. In this case, we can suggest incentivising the crew to increase onboard sales, improving assortment in the plane, or offering discounts for online purchases.

Our article on leading the analysis is a great primer on the subject, with our video lesson in the MCC Academy providing the most comprehensive guide available.

4.4. Provide recommendations

So you have a solution - but you aren’t finished yet!

Now, you need to deliver your solution as a final recommendation.

This should be done as if you are briefing a busy CEO and thus should be a one minute, top-down, concise, structured, clear, and fact-based account of your findings.

The brevity of the final recommendation belies its importance. In real life consulting, the recommendation is what the client has potentially paid millions for - from their point of view, it is the only thing that matters.

In a case interview, your performance in this final summing up of your case is going to significantly colour your interviewer’s parting impression of you - and thus your chances of getting hired!

So, how do we do it right?

Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle elegantly sums up almost everything required for a perfect recommendation. The answer comes first , as this is what is most important. This is then supported by a few key arguments , which are in turn buttressed by supporting facts .

Across the whole recommendation, the goal isn’t to just summarise what you have done. Instead, you are aiming to synthesize your findings to extract the key "so what?" insight that is useful to the client going forward.

All this might seem like common sense, but it is actually the opposite of how we relay results in academia and other fields. There, we typically move from data, through arguments and eventually to conclusions. As such, making good recommendations is a skill that takes practice to master.

We can see the Pyramid Principle illustrated in the diagram below:

To supplement the basic Pyramid Principle scheme, we suggest candidates add a few brief remarks on potential risks and suggested next steps . This helps demonstrate the ability for critical self-reflection and lets your interviewer see you going the extra mile.

The combination of logical rigour and communication skills that is so definitive of consulting is particularly on display in the final recommendation.

Despite it only lasting 60 seconds, you will need to leverage a full set of key consulting skills to deliver a really excellent recommendation and leave your interviewer with a good final impression of your case solving abilities.

Our specific article on final recommendations and the specific video lesson on the same topic within our MCC Academy are great, comprehensive resources. Beyond those, our lesson on consulting thinking and our articles on MECE and the Pyramid Principle are also very useful.

4.5. What if I get stuck?

Naturally with case interviews being difficult problems there may be times where you’re unsure what to do or which direction to take. The most common scenario is that you will get stuck midway through the case and there are essentially two things that you should do:

• 1. Go back to your structure
• 2. Ask the interviewer for clarification

Your structure should always be your best friend - after all, this is why you put so much thought and effort into it: if it’s MECE it will point you in the right direction. This may seem abstract but let’s take the very simple example of a profitability case interview: if you’ve started your analysis by segmenting profit into revenue minus costs and you’ve seen that the cost side of the analysis is leading you nowhere, you can be certain that the declining profit is due to a decline in revenue.

Similarly, when you’re stuck on the quantitative section of the case interview, make sure that your framework for calculations is set up correctly (you can confirm this with the interviewer) and see what it is you’re trying to solve for: for example if you’re trying to find what price the client should sell their new t-shirt in order to break even on their investment, you should realize that what you’re trying to find is the break even point, so you can start by calculating either the costs or the revenues. You have all the data for the costs side and you know they’re trying to sell 10.000 pairs so you can simply set up the equation with x being the price.

As we’ve emphasised on several occasions, your case interview will be a dialogue. As such, if you don’t know what to do next or don’t understand something, make sure to ask the interviewer (and as a general rule always follow their prompts as they are trying to help, not trick you). This is especially true for the quantitative questions, where you should really understand what data you’re looking at before you jump into any calculations. Ideally you should ask your questions before you take time to formulate your approach but don’t be afraid to ask for further clarification if you really can’t make sense of what’s going on. It’s always good to walk your interviewer through your approach before you start doing the calculations and it’s no mistake to make sure that you both have the same understanding of the data. For example when confronted with the chart below, you might ask what GW (in this case gigawatt) means from the get-go and ask to confirm the different metrics (i.e. whether 1 GW = 1000 megawatts). You will never be penalised for asking a question like that.

5. What to remember in case interviews

If you’re new to case cracking you might feel a bit hopeless when you see a difficult case question, not having any idea where to start.

In fact though, cracking case interviews is much like playing chess. The rules you need to know to get started are actually pretty simple. What will make you really proficient is time and practice.

In this section, we’ll run through a high level overview of everything you need to know, linking to more detailed resources at every step.

5.1. An overall clear structure

You will probably hear this more than you care for but it is the most important thing to keep in mind as you start solving cases, as not only it is a key evaluation criterion but the greatest tool you will have at your disposal. The ability to build a clear structure in all aspects of the case inteview will be the difference between breezing through a complicated case and struggling at its every step. Let’s look a bit closer at the key areas where you should be structured!

5.1.1 Structured notes

Every case interview starts with a prompt, usually verbal, and as such you will have to take some notes. And here is where your foray into structure begins, as the notes you take should be clear, concise and structured in a way that will allow you to repeat the case back to the interviewer without writing down any unnecessary information.

This may sound very basic but you should absolutely not be dismissive about it: taking clear and organized notes will allow what we found helps is to have separate sections for:

• The case brief
• Follow-up questions and answers
• Numerical data
• Case structure (the most crucial part when solving the case)
• Any scrap work during the case (usually calculations)

When solving the case - or, as we call it here, in the Lead the analysis step, it is highly recommended to keep on feeding and integrating your structure, so that you never get lost. Maintaining a clear high level view is one of the most critical aspects in case interviews as it is a key skill in consulting: by constantly keeping track of where you are following your structure, you’ll never lose your focus on the end goal.

In the case of an interviewer-led case, you can also have separate sheets for each question (e.g. Question 1. What factors can we look at that drive profitability?). If you develop a system like this you’ll know exactly where to look for each point of data rather than rummage around in untidy notes. There are a couple more sections that you may have, depending on preference - we’ll get to these in the next sections.

5.1.2 Structured communication

There will be three main types of communication in cases:

• 1. Asking and answering questions
• 2. Walking the interviewer through your structure (either the case or calculation framework - we’ll get to that in a bit!)
• 3. Delivering your recommendation

Asking and answering questions will be the most common of these and the key thing to do before you speak is ask for some time to collect your thoughts and get organised. What you want to avoid is a ‘laundry list’ of questions or anything that sounds too much like a stream of consciousness.

Different systems work for different candidates but a sure-fire way of being organised is numbering your questions and answers. So rather than saying something like ‘I would like to ask about the business model, operational capacity and customer personas’ it’s much better to break it down and say something along the lines of ‘I’ve got three key questions. Firstly I would like to inquire into the business model of our client. Secondly I would like to ask about their operational capacity. Thirdly I would like to know more about the different customer personas they are serving’.

A similar principle should be applied when walking the interviewer through your structure, and this is especially true of online case interviews (more and more frequent now) when the interviewer can’t see your notes. Even if you have your branches or buckets clearly defined, you should still use a numbering system to make it obvious to the interviewer. So, for example, when asked to identify whether a company should make an acquisition, you might say ‘I would like to examine the following key areas. Firstly the financial aspects of this issue, secondly the synergies and thirdly the client’s expertise’

The recommendation should be delivered top-down (see section 4.4 for specifics) and should employ the same numbering principle. To do so in a speedy manner, you should circle or mark the key facts that you encounter throughout the case so you can easily pull them out at the end.

5.1.3 Structured framework

It’s very important that you have a systematic approach - or framework - for every case. Let’s get one thing straight: there is a difference between having a problem-solving framework for your case and trying to force a case into a predetermined framework. Doing the former is an absolute must , whilst doing the latter will most likely have you unceremoniously dismissed.

We have seen there are several ways of building a framework, from identifying several categories of issues (or ‘buckets’) to building an issue or hypothesis tree (which is the most efficient type of framework). For the purpose of organization, we recommend having a separate sheet for the framework of the case, or, if it’s too much to manage, you can have it on the same sheet as the initial case prompt. That way you’ll have all the details as well as your proposed solution in one place.

5.1.4 Structured calculations

Whether it’s interviewer or candidate-led, at some point in the case you will get a bunch of numerical data and you will have to perform some calculations (for the specifics of the math you’ll need on consulting interviews, have a look at our Consulting Math Guide ). Here’s where we urge you to take your time and not dive straight into calculating! And here’s why: while your numerical agility is sure to impress interviewers, what they’re actually looking for is your logic and the calculations you need to perform in order to solve the problem . So it’s ok if you make a small mistake, as long as you’re solving for the right thing.

As such, make it easy for them - and yourself. Before you start, write down in steps the calculations you need to perform. Here’s an example: let’s say you need to find out by how much profits will change if variable costs are reduced by 10%. Your approach should look something like:

• 1. Calculate current profits: Profits = Revenues - (Variable costs + Fixed costs)
• 2. Calculate the reduction in variable costs: Variable costs x 0.9
• 3. Calculate new profits: New profits = Revenues - (New variable costs + Fixed costs)

Of course, there may be more efficient ways to do that calculation, but what’s important - much like in the framework section - is to show your interviewer that you have a plan, in the form of a structured approach. You can write your plan on the sheet containing the data, then perform the calculations on a scrap sheet and fill in the results afterward.

5.2. Common business knowledge and formulas

Although some consulting firms claim they don’t evaluate candidates based on their business knowledge, familiarity with basic business concepts and formulae is very useful in terms of understanding the case studies you are given in the first instance and drawing inspiration for structuring and brainstorming.

If you are coming from a business undergrad, an MBA or are an experienced hire, you might well have this covered already. For those coming from a different background, it may be useful to cover some.

Luckily, you don’t need a degree-level understanding of business to crack case interviews , and a lot of the information you will pick up by osmosis as you read through articles like this and go through cases.

However, some things you will just need to sit down and learn. We cover everything you need to know in some detail in our Case Academy Course course. However, some examples here of things you need to learn are:

• Basic accounting (particularly how to understand all the elements of a balance sheet)
• Basic economics
• Basic marketing
• Basic strategy

Below we include a few elementary concepts and formulae so you can hit the ground running in solving cases. We should note that you should not memorise these and indeed a good portion of them can be worked out logically, but you should have at least some idea of what to expect as this will make you faster and will free up much of your mental computing power. In what follows we’ll tackle concepts that you will encounter in the private business sector as well as some situations that come up in cases that feature clients from the NGO or governmental sector.

5.2.1 Business sector concepts

These concepts are the bread and butter of almost any business case so you need to make sure you have them down. Naturally, there will be specificities and differences between cases but for the most part here is a breakdown of each of them.

5.2.1.1. Revenue

The revenue is the money that the company brings in and is usually equal to the number of products they sell multiplied to the price per item and can be expressed with the following equation:

Revenue = Volume x Price

Companies may have various sources of revenue or indeed multiple types of products, all priced differently which is something you will need to account for in your case interview. Let’s consider some situations. A clothing company such as Nike will derive most of their revenue from the number of products they sell times the average price per item. Conversely, for a retail bank revenue is measured as the volume of loans multiplied by the interest rate at which the loans are given out. As we’ll see below, we might consider primary revenues and ancillary revenues: in the case of a football club, we might calculate primary revenues by multiplying the number of tickets sold by the average ticket price, and ancillary revenues those coming from sales of merchandise (similarly, let’s say average t-shirt price times the number of t-shirts sold), tv rights and sponsorships.

These are but a few examples and another reminder that you should always aim to ask questions and understand the precise revenue structure of the companies you encounter in cases.

5.2.1.2. Costs

The costs are the expenses that a company incurs during its operations. Generally, they can be broken down into fixed and variable costs :

Costs = Fixed Costs + Variable Costs

As their name implies, fixed costs do not change based on the number of units produced or sold. For example, if you produce shoes and are renting the space for your factory, you will have to pay the rent regardless of whether you produce one pair or 100. On the other hand, variable costs depend on the level of activity, so in our shoe factory example they would be equivalent to the materials used to produce each pair of shoes and would increase the more we produce.

These concepts are of course guidelines used in order to simplify the analysis in cases, and you should be aware that in reality often the situation can be more complicated. However, this should be enough for case interviews. Costs can also be quasi-fixed, in that they increase marginally with volume. Take the example of a restaurant which has a regular staff, incurring a fixed cost but during very busy hours or periods they also employ some part-time workers. This cost is not exactly variable (as it doesn’t increase with the quantity of food produced) but also not entirely fixed, as the number of extra hands will depend on how busy the restaurant is. Fixed costs can also be non-linear in nature. Let’s consider the rent in the same restaurant: we would normally pay a fixed amount every month, but if the restaurant becomes very popular we might need to rent out some extra space so the cost will increase. Again, this is not always relevant for case interviews.

5.2.1.3. Profit and profit margin

The profit is the amount of money a company is left with after it has paid all of its expenses and can be expressed as follows:

Profit = Revenue - Costs

It’s very likely that you will encounter a profitability issue in one of your case interviews, namely you will be asked to increase a company’s profit. There are two main ways of doing this: increasing revenues and reducing costs , so these will be the two main areas you will have to investigate. This may seem simple but what you will really need to understand in a case are the key drivers of a business (and this should be done through clarifying questions to the interviewer - just as a real consultant would question their client).

For example, if your client is an airline you can assume that the main source of revenue is sales of tickets, but you should inquire how many types of ticket the specific airline sells. You may naturally consider economy and business class tickets, but you may find out that there is a more premium option - such as first class - and several in-between options. Similarly to our football club example, there may be ancillary revenues from selling of food and beverage as well as advertising certain products or services on flights.

You may also come across the profit margin in case interviews. This is simply the percentage of profit compared to the revenue and can be expressed as follows:

Profit margin = Profit/Revenue x 100

5.2.1.4. Break-even point

An ancillary concept to profit, the break-even point is the moment where revenues equal costs making the profit zero and can be expressed as the following equation:

Revenues = Costs (Fixed costs + Variable costs)

This formula will be useful when you are asked questions such as ‘What is the minimum price I should sell product X?’ or ‘What quantity do I need to sell in order to recoup my investment?’. Let’s say in a case interview an owner of a sandwich store asks us to figure out how many salami and cheese salami sandwiches she needs to sell in order to break even. She’s spending $4 on salami and $2 for cheese and lettuce per sandwich, and believes she can sell the sandwiches at around $7. The cost of utilities and personnel is around $5000 per month. We could lay this all out in the break-even equation:

7 x Q ( quantity ) = (4+2) x Q + 5000 ( variable + fixed costs )

In a different scenario, we may be asked to calculate the break-even price . Let’s consider our sandwich example and say our owner knows she has enough ingredients for about 5000 sandwiches per month but is not sure how much to sell them for. In that case, if we know our break-even equation, we can simply make the following changes:

P ( price ) x 5000 = (4+2) x 5000 + 5000

By solving the equation we get to the price of $7 per sandwich.

5.2.1.5. Market share and market size

We can also consider the market closely with profit, as in fact the company’s performance in the market is what drives profits. The market size is the total number of potential customers for a certain business or product, whereas the market share is the percentage of that market that your business controls (or could control, depending on the case).

There is a good chance you will have to estimate the market size in one of your case interviews and we get into more details on how to do that below. You may be asked to estimate this in either number of potential customers or total value . The latter simply refers to the number of customers multiplied by the average value of the product or service.

To calculate the market share you will have to divide the company’s share by the total market size and multiply by 100:

Note, though, that learning the very basics of business is the beginning rather than the end of your journey. Once you are able to “speak business” at a rudimentary level, you should try to “become fluent” and immerse yourself in reading/viewing/listening to as wide a variety of business material as possible, getting a feel for all kinds of companies and industries - and especially the kinds of problems that can come up in each context and how they are solved. The material put out by the consulting firms themselves is a great place to start, but you should also follow the business news and find out about different companies and sectors as much as possible between now and interviews. Remember, if you’re going to be a consultant, this should be fun rather than a chore!

5.3 Public sector and NGO concepts

As we mentioned, there will be some cases (see section 6.6 for a more detailed example) where the key performance indicators (or KPIs in short) will not be connected to profit. The most common ones will involve the government of a country or an NGO, but they can be way more diverse and require more thought and application of first principles. We have laid out a couple of the key concepts or KPIs that come up below

5.3.1 Quantifiability

In many such scenarios you will be asked to make an important strategic decision of some kind or to optimise a process. Of course these are not restricted to non-private sector cases but this is where they really come into their own as there can be great variation in the type of decision and the types of field.

While there may be no familiar business concepts to anchor yourself onto, a concept that is essential is quantifiability . This means, however qualitative the decision might seem, consultants rely on data so you should always aim to have aspects of a decision that can be quantified, even if the data doesn’t present itself in a straightforward manner.

Let’s take a practical example. Your younger sibling asks you to help them decide which university they should choose if they want to study engineering. One way to structure your approach would be to segment the problem into factors affecting your sibling’s experience at university and experience post-university. Within the ‘at uni’ category you might think about the following:

• Financials : How much are tuition costs and accommodation costs?
• Quality of teaching and research : How are possible universities ranked in the QS guide based on teaching and research?
• Quality of resources : How well stocked is their library, are the labs well equipped etc.?
• Subject ranking : How is engineering at different unis ranked?
• Life on campus and the city : What are the living costs in the city where the university is based? What are the extracurricular opportunities and would your sibling like to live in that specific city based on them?

Within the ‘out of uni’ category you might think about:

• Exit options : What are the fields in which your sibling could be employed and how long does it take the average student of that university to find a job?
• Alumni network : What percentage of alumni are employed by major companies?
• Signal : What percentage of applicants from the university get an interview in major engineering companies and related technical fields?

You will perhaps notice that all the buckets discussed pose quantifiable questions meant to provide us with data necessary to make a decision. It’s no point to ask ‘Which university has the nicest teaching staff?’ as that can be a very subjective metric.

5.3.1 Impact

Another key concept to consider when dealing with sectors other than the private one is how impactful a decision or a line of inquiry is on the overarching issue , or whether all our branches in our issue tree have a similar impact. This can often come in the form of impact on lives, such as in McKinsey’s conservation case discussed below, namely how many species can we save with our choice of habitat.

5.4 Common consulting concepts

Consultants use basic business concepts on an every day basis, as they help them articulate their frameworks to problems. However, they also use some consulting specific tools to quality check their analysis and perform in the most efficient way possible. These principles can be applied to all aspects of a consultant’s work, but for brevity we can say they mostly impact a consultant’s systematic approach and communication - two very important things that are also tested in case interviews. Therefore, it’s imperative that you not only get to know them, but learn how and when to use them as they are at the very core of good casing. They are MECE-ness, the Pareto Principle and the Pyramid principle and are explained briefly below - you should, however, go on to study them in-depth in their respective articles.

Perhaps the central pillar of all consulting work and an invaluable tool to solve cases, MECE stands for Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive . It can refer to any and every aspect in a case but is most often used when talking about structure. We have a detailed article explaining the concept here , but the short version is that MECE-ness ensures that there is no overlap between elements of a structure (i.e. the Mutually Exclusive component) and that it covers all the drivers or areas of a problem (Collectively Exhaustive). It is a concept that can be applied to any segmentation when dividing a set into subsets that include it wholly but do not overlap.

Let’s take a simple example and then a case framework example. In simple terms, when we are asked to break down the set ‘cars’ into subsets, dividing cars into ‘red cars’ and ‘sports cars’ is neither mutually exclusive (as there are indeed red sports cars) nor exhaustive of the whole set (i.e. there are also yellow non-sports cars that are not covered by this segmentation). A MECE way to segment would be ‘cars produced before 2000’ and ‘cars produced after 2000’ as this segmentation allows for no overlap and covers all the cars in existence.

Dividing cars can be simple, but how can we ensure MECEness in a case-interview a.k.a. a business situation. While the same principles apply, a good tip to ensure that your structure is MECE is to think about all the stakeholders - i.e. those whom a specific venture involves.

Let’s consider that our client is a soda manufacturer who wants to move from a business-to-business strategy, i.e. selling to large chains of stores and supermarkets, to a business-to-consumer strategy where it sells directly to consumers. In doing so they would like to retrain part of their account managers as direct salespeople and need to know what factors to consider.

A stakeholder-driven approach would be to consider the workforce and customers and move further down the issue tree, thinking about individual issues that might affect them. In the case of the workforce, we might consider how the shift would affect their workload and whether it takes their skillset into account. As for the customers, we might wonder whether existing customers would be satisfied with this move: will the remaining B2B account managers be able to provide for the needs of all their clients and will the fact that the company is selling directly to consumers now not cannibalise their businesses? We see how by taking a stakeholder-centred approach we can ensure that every single perspective and potential issue arising from it is fully covered.

5.4.2 The Pareto Principle

Also known as the 80/20 rule, this principle is important when gauging the impact of a decision or a factor in your analysis. It simply states that in business (but not only) 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. What this means is you can make a few significant changes that will impact most of your business organisation, sales model, cost structure etc.

Let’s have a look at 3 quick examples to illustrate this:

• 80% of all accidents are caused by 20% of drivers
• 20% of a company’s products account for 80% of the sales
• 80% of all results in a company are driven by 20% of its employees

The 80/20 rule will be a very good guide line in real engagements as well as case interviews, as it will essentially point to the easiest and most straightforward way of doing things. Let’s say one of the questions in a case is asking you to come up with an approach to understand the appeal of a new beard trimmer. Obviously you can’t interview the whole male population so you might think about setting up a webpage and asking people to comment their thoughts. But what you would get would be a laundry list of difficult to sift through data.

Using an 80/20 approach you would segment the population based on critical factors (age groups, grooming habits etc.) and then approach a significant sample size of each (e.g. 20), analysing the data and reaching a conclusion.

5.4.3 The Pyramid Principle

This principle refers to organising your communication in a top-down , efficient manner. While this is generally applicable, the pyramid principle will most often be employed when delivering the final recommendation to your client. This means - as is implicit in the name - that you would organise your recommendation (and communication in general) as a pyramid, stating the conclusion or most important element at the top then go down the pyramid listing 3 supporting arguments and then further (ideally also 3) supporting arguments for those supporting arguments.

Let’s look at this in practice in a case interview context: your client is a German air-conditioning unit manufacturer who was looking to expand into the French market. However, after your analysis you’ve determined that the market share they were looking to capture would not be feasible. A final recommendation using the Pyramid Principle would sound something like this: ‘I recommend that we do not enter the German market for the following three reasons. Firstly, the market is too small for our ambitions of $50 million. Secondly the market is heavily concentrated, being controlled by three major players and our 5 year goal would amount to controlling 25% of the market, a share larger than that of any of the players. Thirdly, the alternative of going into the corporate market would not be feasible, as it has high barriers to entry.Then, if needed, we could delve deeper into each of our categories

6. Case examples or building blocks?

As we mentioned before, in your case interview preparation you will undoubtedly find preparation resources that claim that there are several standard types of cases and that there is a general framework that can be applied to each type of case. While there are indeed cases that are straightforward at least in appearance and seemingly invite the application of such frameworks, the reality is never that simple and cases often involve multiple or more complicated components that cannot be fitted into a simple framework.

At MCC we don’t want you to get into the habit of trying to identify which case type you’re dealing with and pull out a framework, but we do recognize that there are recurring elements in frameworks that are useful - such as the profitability of a venture (with its revenues and costs), the valuation of a business, estimating and segmenting a market and pricing a product.

We call these building blocks because they can be used to build case frameworks but are not a framework in and of themselves, and they can be shuffled around and rearranged in any way necessary to be tailored to our case. Hence, our approach is not to make you think in terms of case types but work from first principles and use these building blocks to build your own framework. Let’s take two case prompts to illustrate our point.

The first is from the Bain website, where the candidate is asked whether they think it’s a good idea for their friend to open a coffee shop in Cambridge UK (see the case here ). The answer framework provided here is a very straightforward profitability analysis framework, examining the potential revenues and potential costs of the venture:

While this is a good point to start for your case interview (especially taken together with the clarifying questions), we will notice that this approach will need more tailoring to the case - for example the quantity of coffee will be determined by the market for coffee drinkers in Cambridge, which we have to determine based on preference. We are in England so a lot of people will be drinking tea but we are in a university town so perhaps more people than average are drinking coffee as it provides a better boost when studying. All these are some much needed case-tailored hypotheses that we can make based on the initial approach.

Just by looking at this case we might be tempted to say that we can just take a profitability case and apply it without any issues. However, this generic framework is just a starting point and in reality we would need to tailor it much further in the way we had started to do in order to get to a satisfactory answer. For example, the framework for this specific case interview doesn’t cover aspects such as the customer’s expertise: does the friend have any knowledge of the coffee business, such as where to source coffee and how to prepare it? Also, we could argue there may be some legal factors to consider here, such as any approvals that they might need from the city council to run a coffee shop on site, or some specific trade licences that are not really covered in the basic profitability framework.

Let’s take a different case , however, from the McKinsey website. In this scenario, the candidate is being asked to identify some factors in order to choose where to focus the client’s conservation efforts. Immediately we can realise that this case doesn’t lend itself to any pre-packaged framework and we will need to come up with something from scratch - and take a look at McKinsey’s answer of the areas to focus on:

We notice immediately that this framework is 100% tailored to the case - of course there are elements which we encounter in other cases, such as costs and risks but again these are applied in an organic way. It’s pretty clear that while no standard framework would work in this case, the aforementioned concepts - costs and risks - and the way to approach them (a.k.a building blocks ) are fundamentally similar throughout cases (with the obvious specificities of each case).

In what follows, we’ll give a brief description of each building block starting from the Bain example discussed previously, in order to give you a general idea of what they are and their adaptability, but you should make sure to follow the link to the in-depth articles to learn all their ins and outs.

6.1 Estimates and segmentation

This building block will come into play mostly when you’re thinking about the market for a certain product (but make sure to read the full article for more details). Let’s take our Bain Cambridge coffee example. As we mentioned under the quantity bucket we need to understand what the market size for coffee in Cambridge would be - so we can make an estimation based on segmentation .

The key to a good estimation is the ability to logically break down the problem into more manageable pieces. This will generally mean segmenting a wider population to find a particular target group. We can start off with the population of Cambridge - which we estimate at 100.000. In reality the population is closer to 150.000 but that doesn’t matter - the estimation has to be reasonable and not accurate , so unless the interviewer gives you a reason to reconsider you can follow your instinct. We can divide that into people who do and don’t drink coffee. Given our arguments before, we can conclude that 80% of those, so 80.000 drink coffee. Then we can further segment into those who drink regularly - let’s say every day - and those who drink occasionally - let’s say once a week. Based on the assumptions before about the student population needing coffee to function, and with Cambridge having a high student population, we can assume that 80% of those drinking coffee are regular drinkers, so that would be 64.000 regular drinkers and 16.000 occasional drinkers. We can then decide whom we want to target what our strategy needs to be:

This type of estimation and segmentation can be applied to any case specifics - hence why it is a building block.

6.2 Profitability

We had several looks at this building block so far (see an in-depth look here ) as it will show up in most case interivew scenarios, since profit is a key element in any company’s strategy. As we have seen, the starting point to this analysis is to consider both the costs and revenues of a company, and try to determine whether revenues need to be improved or whether costs need to be lowered. In the coffee example, the revenues are dictated by the average price per coffe x the number of coffees sold , whereas costs can be split into fixed and variable .

Some examples of fixed costs would be the rent for the stores and the cost of the personnel and utilities, while the most obvious variable costs would be the coffee beans used and the takeaway containers (when needed). We may further split revenues in this case into Main revenues - i.e. the sales of coffee - and Ancillary revenues , which can be divided into Sales of food products (sales of pastries, sandwiches etc., each with the same price x quantity schema) and Revenues from events - i.e renting out the coffee shop to events and catering for the events themselves. Bear in mind that revenues will be heavily influenced by the penetration rate , i.e. the share of the market which we can capture.

6.3 Pricing

Helping a company determine how much they should charge for their goods or services is another theme that comes up frequently in cases. While it may seem less complicated than the other building blocks, we assure you it’s not - you will have to understand and consider several factors, such as the costs a company is incurring, their general strategic positioning, availability, market trends as well as the customers’ willingness to pay (or WTP in short) - so make sure to check out our in-depth guide here .

In our example, we may determine that the cost per cup (coffee beans, staff, rent) is £1. We want to be student friendly so we should consider how much students would want to pay for a coffee as well as how much are competitors are charging. Based on those factors, it would be reasonable to charge on average £2 per cup of coffee. It’s true that our competitors are charging £3 but they are targeting mostly the adult market, whose willingness to pay is higher, so their pricing model takes that into account as well as the lower volume of customers in that demographic.

6.4. Valuation

A variant of the pricing building block, a valuation problem generally asks the candidate to determine how much a client should pay for a specific company (the target of an acquisition) as well as what other factors to consider. The two most important factors (but not the only ones - for a comprehensive review see our Valuation article ) to consider are the net present value (in consulting interviews usually in perpetuity) and the synergies .

In short, the net present value of a company is how much profit it currently brings in, divided by how much that cash flow will depreciate in the future and can be represented with the equation below:

The synergies refer to what could be achieved should the companies operate as one, and can be divided into cost and revenue synergies .

Let’s expand our coffee example a bit to understand these. Imagine that our friend manages to open a chain of coffee shops in Cambridge and in the future considers acquiring a chain of take-out restaurants. The most straightforward example of revenue synergies would be cross-selling, in this case selling coffee in the restaurants as well as in the dedicated stores, and thus getting an immediate boost in market share by using the existing customers of the restaurant chain. A cost synergy would be merging the delivery services of the two businesses to deliver both food and coffee, thus avoiding redundancies and reducing costs associated with twice the number of drivers and vehicles.

6.5. Competitive interaction

This component of cases deals with situations where the market in which a company is operating changes and the company must decide what to do. These changes often have to do with a new player entering the market (again for more details make sure to dive into the Competitive Interaction article ).

Let’s assume that our Cambridge coffee shop has now become a chain and has flagged up to other competitors that Cambridge is a blooming market for coffee. As such, Starbucks has decided to open a few stores in Cambridge themselves, to test this market. The question which might be posed to a candidate is what should our coffee chain do. One way (and a MECE one) to approach the problem is to decide between doing something and doing nothing . We might consider merging with another coffee chain and pooling our resources or playing to our strengths and repositioning ourselves as ‘your student-friendly, shop around the corner’. Just as easily we may just wait the situation out and see whether indeed Starbucks is cutting into our market share - after all, the advantages of our product and services might speak for themselves and Starbucks might end up tanking. Both of these are viable options if argued right and depending on the further specifics of the case.

6.6. Special cases

Most cases deal with private sectors, where the overarching objective entails profit in some form. However, as hinted before, there are cases which deal with other sectors where there are other KPIs in place . The former will usually contain one or several of these building blocks whereas the latter will very likely have neither. This latter category is arguably the one that will stretch your analytical and organisational skills to the limit, since there will be very little familiarity that you can fall back on (McKinsey famously employs such cases in their interview process).

So how do we tackle the structure for such cases? The short answer would be starting from first principles and using the problem driven structure outlined above, but let’s look at a quick example in the form of a McKinsey case :

The first question addressed to the candidate is the following:

This is in fact asking us to build a structure for the case. So what should we have in mind here? Most importantly, we should start with a structure that is MECE and we should remember to do that by considering all the stakeholders . They are on the one hand the government and affiliated institutions and on the other the population. We might then consider which issues might arise for each shareholder and what the benefits for them would be, as well as the risks. This approach is illustrated in the answer McKinsey provides as well:

More than anything, this type of case shows us how important it is to practise and build different types of structures, and think about MECE ways of segmenting the problem.

7. How Do I prepare for case interviews

In consulting fashion, the overall preparation can be structured into theoretical preparation and practical preparation , with each category then being subdivided into individual prep and prep with a partner .

As a general rule, the level and intensity of the preparation will differ based on your background - naturally if you have a business background (and have been part of a consulting club or something similar) your preparation will be less intensive than if you’re starting from scratch. The way we suggest you go about it is to start with theoretical preparation , which means learning about case interviews, business and basic consulting concepts (you can do this using free resources - such as the ones we provide - or if you want a more through preparation you can consider joining our Case Academy as well).

You can then move on to the practical preparation which should start with doing solo cases and focusing on areas of improvement, and then move on to preparation with a partner , which should be another candidate or - ideally - an ex-consultant.

Let’s go into more details with respect to each type of preparation.

7.1. Solo practice

The two most important areas of focus in sole preparation are:

• Mental math

As we mentioned briefly, the best use of your time is to focus on solving cases. You can start with cases listed on MBB sites since they are clearly stated and have worked solutions as well (e.g. Bain is a good place to start) and then move to more complex cases (our Case Library also offers a range of cases of different complexities). To build your confidence, start out on easier case questions, work through with the solutions, and don't worry about time. As you get better, you can move on to more difficult cases and try to get through them more quickly. You should practice around eight case studies on your own to build your confidence.

Another important area of practice is your mental mathematics as this skill will considerably increase your confidence and is neglected by many applicants - much to their immediate regret in the case interview. Find our mental math tool here or in our course, and practice at least ten minutes per day, from day one until the day before the interview.

7.2. Preparation with a partner

There are aspects of a case interview - such as asking clarifying questions - which you cannot do alone and this is why, after you feel comfortable, you should move on to practice with another person. There are two options here:

• Practicing with a peer
• Practicing with an ex-consultant

In theory they can be complementary - especially if you’re peer is also preparing for consulting interviews - and each have advantages and disadvantages. A peer is likely to practice with you for free for longer, however you may end up reinforcing some bad habits or unable to get actionable feedback. A consultant will be able to provide you the latter but having their help for the same number of hours as a peer will come at a higher cost. Let’s look at each option in more detail.

7.2.1. Peer preparation

Once you have worked through eight cases solo, you should be ready to simulate the case interview more closely and start working with another person.

Here, many candidates turn to peer practice - that is, doing mock case interviews with friends, classmates or others also applying to consulting. If you’re in university, and especially in business school, there will very likely be a consulting club for you to join and do lots of case practice with. If you don’t have anyone to practice, though, or if you just want to get a bit more volume in with others, our free meeting board lets you find fellow applicants from around the world with whom to practice. We recommend practicing around 10 to 15 ‘live’ cases to really get to a point where you feel comfortable.

7.2.2. Preparation with a consultant

You can do a lot practising by yourself and with peers. However, nothing will bring up your skills so quickly and profoundly as working with a real consultant.

Perhaps think about it like boxing. You can practice drills and work on punch bags all you want, but at some point you need to get into the ring and do some actual sparring if you ever want to be ready to fight.

Practicing with an ex consultant is essentialy a simulation of a case interview. Of course, it isn’t possible to secure the time of experienced top-tier consultants for free. However, when considering whether you should invest to boost your chances of success, it is worth considering the difference in your salary over even just a few years between getting into a top-tier firm versus a second-tier one. In the light of thousands in increased annual earnings (easily accumulating into millions over multiple years), it becomes clear that getting expert interview help really is one of the best investments you can make in your own future.

Should you decide to make this step, MyConsultingCoach can help, offering bespoke mentoring programmes , where you are paired with a 5+ year experienced, ex-MBB mentor of your choosing, who will then oversee your whole case interview preparation from start to finish - giving you your best possible chance of landing a job!

7.3. Practice for online interviews

Standard preparation for interview case studies will carry directly over to online cases.

However, if you want to do some more specific prep, you can work through cases solo to a timer and using a calculator and/or Excel (online cases generally allow calculators and second computers to help you, whilst these are banned in live case interviews).

Older PST-style questions also make great prep, but a particularly good simulation is the self-assessment tests included in our Case Academy course . These multiple choice business questions conducted with a strict time limit are great preparation for the current crop of online cases.

7.4. Fit interviews

As we’ve noted, even something billed as a case interview is very likely to contain a fit interview as a subset.

We have an article on fit interviews and also include a full set of lessons on how to answer fit questions properly as a subset of our comprehensive Case Academy course .

Here though, the important thing to convey is that you take preparing for fit questions every bit as seriously as you do case prep.

Since they sound the same as you might encounter when interviewing for other industries, the temptation is to regard these as “just normal interview questions”.

However, consulting firms take your answers to these questions a good deal more seriously than elsewhere.

This isn’t just for fluffy “corporate culture” reasons. The long hours and close teamwork, as well as the client-facing nature of management consulting, mean that your personality and ability to get on with others is going to be a big part of making you a tolerable and effective co-worker.

If you know you’ll have to spend 14+ hour working days with someone you hire and that your annual bonus depends on them not alienating clients, you better believe you’ll pay attention to their character in interview.

There are also hard-nosed financial reasons for the likes of McKinsey, Bain and BCG to drill down so hard on your answers.

In particular, top consultancies have huge issues with staff retention. The average management consultant only stays with these firms for around two years before they have moved on to a new industry.

In some cases, consultants bail out because they can’t keep up with the arduous consulting lifestyle of long hours and endless travel. In many instances, though, departing consultants are lured away by exit opportunities - such as the well trodden paths towards internal strategy roles, private equity or becoming a start-up founder.

Indeed, many individuals will intentionally use a two year stint in consulting as something like an MBA they are getting paid for - giving them accelerated exposure to the business world and letting them pivot into something new.

Consulting firms want to get a decent return on investment for training new recruits. Thus, they want hires who not only intend to stick with consulting longer-term, but also have a temperament that makes this feasible and an overall career trajectory where it just makes sense for them to stay put.

This should hammer home the point that, if you want to get an offer, you need to be fully prepared to answer fit questions - and to do so excellently - any time you have a case interview.

8. Interview day - what to expect, with tips

Of course, all this theory is well and good, but a lot of readers might be concerned about what exactly to expect in real life . It’s perfectly reasonable to want to get as clear a picture as possible here - we all want to know what we are going up against when we face a new challenge!

Indeed, it is important to think about your interview in more holistic terms, rather than just focusing on small aspects of analysis. Getting everything exactly correct is less important than the overall approach you take to reasoning and how you communicate - and candidates often lose sight of this fact.

In this section, then, we’ll run through the case interview experience from start to finish, directing you to resources with more details where appropriate. As a supplement to this, the following video from Bain is excellent. It portrays an abridged version of a case interview, but is very useful as a guide to what to expect - not just from Bain, but from McKinsey, BCG and any other high-level consulting firm.

8.1. Getting started

Though you might be shown through to the office by a staff member, usually your interviewer will come and collect you from a waiting area. Either way, when you first encounter them, you should greet your interviewer with a warm smile and a handshake (unless they do not offer their hand). Be confident without verging into arrogance. You will be asked to take a seat in the interviewer’s office, where the case interview can then begin.

8.1.1. First impressions

In reality, your assessment begins before you even sit down at your interviewer’s desk. Whether at a conscious level or not, the impression you make within the first few seconds of meeting your interviewer is likely to significantly inform the final hiring decision (again, whether consciously or not).

Your presentation and how you hold yourself and behave are all important . If this seems strange, consider that, if hired, you will be personally responsible for many clients’ impressions of the firm. These things are part of the job! Much of material on the fit interview is useful here, whilst we also cover first impressions and presentation generally in our article on what to wear to interview .

As we have noted above, your interview might start with a fit segment - that is, with the interviewer asking questions about your experiences, your soft skills, and motivation to want to join consulting generally and that firm in particular. In short, the kinds of things a case study can’t tell them about you. We have a fit interview article and course to get you up to speed here.

8.1.2. Down to business

Following an initial conversation, your interviewer will introduce your case study , providing a prompt for the question you have to answer. You will have a pen and paper in front of you and should (neatly) note down the salient pieces of information (keep this up throughout the interview).

It is crucial here that you don’t delve into analysis or calculations straight away . Case prompts can be tricky and easy to misunderstand, especially when you are under pressure. Rather, ask any questions you need to fully understand the case question and then validate that understanding with the interviewer before you kick off any analysis. Better to eliminate mistakes now than experience that sinking feeling of realising you have gotten the whole thing wrong halfway through your case!

This process is covered in our article on identifying the problem and in greater detail in our Case Academy lesson on that subject.

8.1.3. Analysis

Once you understand the problem, you should take a few seconds to set your thoughts in order and draw up an initial structure for how you want to proceed. You might benefit from utilising one or more of our building blocks here to make a strong start. Present this to your interviewer and get their approval before you get into the nuts and bolts of analysis.

We cover the mechanics of how to structure your problem and lead the analysis in our articles here and here and more thoroughly in the MCC Case Academy . What it is important to convey here, though, is that your case interview is supposed to be a conversation rather than a written exam . Your interviewer takes a role closer to a co-worker than an invigilator and you should be conversing with them throughout.

Indeed, how you communicate with your interviewer and explain your rationale is a crucial element of how you will be assessed. Case questions in general, are not posed to see if you can produce the correct answer, but rather to see how you think . Your interviewer wants to see you approach the case in a structured, rational fashion. The only way they are going to know your thought processes, though, is if you tell them!

To demonstrate this point, here is another excellent video from Bain, where candidates are compared.

Note that multiple different answers to each question are considered acceptable and that Bain is primarily concerned with the thought processes of the candidate’s exhibit .

Another reason why communication is absolutely essential to case interview success is the simple reason that you will not have all the facts you need to complete your analysis at the outset. Rather, you will usually have to ask the interviewer for additional data throughout the case to allow you to proceed .

NB: Don't be let down by your math!

Your ability to quickly and accurately interpret these charts and other figures under pressure is one of the skills that is being assessed. You will also need to make any calculations with the same speed and accuracy (without a calculator!). As such, be sure that you are up to speed on your consulting math .

8.1.4. Recommendation

Finally, you will be asked to present a recommendation. This should be delivered in a brief, top-down "elevator pitch" format , as if you are speaking to a time-pressured CEO. Again here, how you communicate will be just as important as the details of what you say, and you should aim to speak clearly and with confidence.

For more detail on how to give the perfect recommendation, take a look at our articles on the Pyramid Principle and providing recommendations , as well the relevant lesson within MCC Academy .

8.1.5. Wrapping up

After your case is complete, there might be a few more fit questions - including a chance for you to ask some questions of the interviewer . This is your opportunity to make a good parting impression.

We deal with the details in our fit interview resources. However, it is always worth bearing in mind just how many candidates your interviewers are going to see giving similar answers to the same questions in the same office. A pretty obvious pre-requisite to being considered for a job is that your interviewer remembers you in the first place. Whilst you shouldn't do something stupid just to be noticed, asking interesting parting questions is a good way to be remembered.

Now, with the interview wrapped up, it’s time to shake hands, thank the interviewer for their time and leave the room .

You might have other case interviews or tests that day or you might be heading home. Either way, if know that you did all you could to prepare, you can leave content in the knowledge that you have the best possible chance of receiving an email with a job offer. This is our mission at MCC - to provide all the resources you need to realise your full potential and land your dream consulting job!

8.2. Remote and one-way interview tips

Zoom case interviews and “one-way” automated fit interviews are becoming more common as selection processes are increasingly remote, with these new formats being accompanied by their own unique challenges.

Obviously you won’t have to worry about lobbies and shaking hands for a video interview. However, a lot remains the same. You still need to do the same prep in terms of getting good at case cracking and expressing your fit answers. The specific considerations around remote case interviews are, in effect, around making sure you come across as effectively as you would in person.

8.2.1. Connection

It sounds trivial, but a successful video case interview of any kind presupposes a functioning computer with a stable and sufficient internet connection.

Absolutely don’t forget to have your laptop plugged in, as your battery will definitely let you down mid-interview. Similarly, make sure any housemates or family know not to use the microwave, vacuum cleaner or anything else that makes wifi cut out (or makes a lot of noise, obviously)

If you have to connect on a platform you don’t use much (for example, if it’s on Teams and you’re used to Zoom), make sure you have the up to date version of the app in advance, rather than having to wait for an obligatory download and end up late to join. Whilst you’re at it, make sure you’re familiar with the controls etc. At the risk of being made fun of, don’t be afraid to have a practice call with a friend.

8.2.2. Dress

You might get guidance on a slightly more relaxed dress code for a Zoom interview. However, if in doubt, dress as you would for the real thing (see our article here ).

Either way, always remember that presentation is part of what you are being assessed on - the firm needs to know you can be presentable for clients. Taking this stuff seriously also shows respect for your interviewer and their time in interviewing you.

8.2.3. Lighting

An aspect of presentation that you have to devote some thought to for a Zoom case interview is your lighting.

Hopefully, you long ago nailed a lighting set-up during the Covid lockdowns. However, make sure to check your lighting in advance with your webcam - bearing in mind what time if day your case interview actually is. If your case interview is late afternoon, don’t just check in the morning. Make sure you aren’t going to be blinded from light coming in a window behind your screen, or that you end up with the weird shadow stripes from blinds all over your face.

Natural light is always best, but if there won’t be much of that during your interview, you’ll likely want to experiment with moving some lamps around.

8.2.4. Clarity

The actual stories you tell in an automated “one-way” fit interview will be the same as for a live equivalent. If anything, things should be easier, as you can rattle off a practised monologue without an interviewer interrupting you to ask for clarifications.

You can probably also assume that the algorithm assessing your performance is sufficiently capable that it will be observing you at much the same level as a human interviewer. However, it is probably still worth speaking as clearly as possible with these kinds of interviews and paying extra attention to your lighting to ensure that your face is clearly visible.

No doubt the AIs scoring these interviews are improving all the time, but you still want to make their job as easy as possible. Just think about the same things as you would with a live Zoom case interview, but more so.

9. How we can help

There are lots of great free resources on this site to get you started with preparation, from all our articles on case solving and consulting skills to our free case library and peer practice meeting board .

To step your preparation up a notch, though, our Case Academy course will give you everything you need to know to solve the most complex of cases - whether those are in live case interviews, with chatbots, written tests or any other format.

Whatever kind of case you end up facing, nothing will bring up your skillset faster than the kind of acute, actionable feedback you can get from a mock case interview a real, MBB consultant. Whilst it's possible to get by without this kind of coaching, it does tend to be the biggest single difference maker for successful candidates.

You can find out more on our coaching page:

Explore Coaching

Of course, for those looking for a truly comprehensive programme, with a 5+ year experienced MBB consultant overseeing their entire prep personally, from networking and applications right through to your offer, we have our mentoring programmes.

You can read more here:

Comprehensive Mentoring

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Hacking the Case Interview

This case interview guide will equip you with insider strategies and frameworks to ace any case interview. We'll walk you through step-by-step through every part of a case interview. 

By the end of this article, you'll walk into your consulting case interviews feeling prepared and confident. You'll know exactly what to do and say in any case interview.

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Case Interviews

2. Understanding the Case Interview Background

3. asking clarifying questions, 4. structuring a framework, 5. starting the case interview, 6. solving quantitative problems, 7. answering qualitative questions, 8. delivering a recommendation, 9. summary of a case interview.

10.  Next Steps

1. Introduction To Case Interviews

Case interviews are a special type of interview that every single consulting firm uses. Regardless of which firm you are applying for, you will be given multiple case interviews that you are expected to pass.

 A case interview, or “case”, is simply a 30- to 60-minute exercise in which you and the interviewer work together to develop a recommendation to answer or solve a business problem.

These business problems can be anything that real companies face:

• How can Coca-Cola increase its profitability?
• What should Netflix do to increase customer retention?
• How should Apple price its new iPhone?
• Should Disney open another Disneyland theme park?

In the beginning of the interview, the interviewer will give you a business problem. At the end, you’ll present a recommendation and provide 2 – 3 reasons that support your recommendation.

These 2 – 3 reasons will likely be both quantitative and qualitative. Expect to interpret charts and graphs, perform calculations, brainstorm ideas, and have qualitative discussions to develop support for your recommendation.

The good news is that there is no right answer. As long as you have logical reasons and evidence that support your recommendation, the interviewer will accept your answer.

The bad news is that you can be given any type of business problem. Cases can be in any industry, from pharmaceuticals to aviation. Cases can be in any function, from strategy to operations.

Regardless of the variety of business problems you could be given to solve, case interviews all follow the same format or structure. This is good news for you because you can use the same strategies for every case interview.

As a former Bain consultant and interviewer, I’ve helped 5,000+ students across 13+ countries. In this guide, I’ll work through an actual case interview step-by-step and provide you effective strategies for tackling each step.

The case interview will begin with the interviewer giving you the case background information. Let’s say that the interviewer reads you the following: 

Interviewer : Our client, Coca-Cola, is a large manufacturer and retailer of non-alcoholic beverages, such as sodas, juices, sports drinks, and teas. They have annual revenues of roughly $30 billion and an operating margin of roughly 30%. Coca-Cola is looking to grow and is considering entering the beer market in the United States. Should they enter?

As the interviewer reads this, take notes. It is important to understand what the objective of the case is and keep track of information.

One strategy for taking notes effectively is to turn your paper landscape and draw a vertical line to divide your paper into two sections. The first section should be roughly two-thirds of the page while the second section will be one-third of the page.

Take notes in the second section of your page:

After the interviewer finishes giving the case background information, confirm that you understand the situation and objective. Provide a concise synthesis like the following:

You : To make sure I understand correctly, our client, Coca-Cola, is a large manufacturer and retailer of non-alcoholic beverages. They are looking to grow and our objective is to determine whether or not they should enter the U.S. beer market.

Interviewer : That sounds right.

Make sure your synthesis is concise. You do not want to regurgitate verbatim everything that the interviewer has said. Only mention the most important pieces of information.

You should also make sure you verify the objective of the case. Answering or solving the wrong case objective is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

Next in the case interview, you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions before you begin thinking about how to solve the case.

At this point, only ask questions that are critical for you to fully understand the case background and objective. You’ll be able to ask more questions later.

You might ask a few questions like the following:

You : Is Coca-Cola looking to specifically grow revenues or profits?

Interviewer : Coca-Cola wants to grow profits.

You : Is there a particular financial goal or metric Coca-Cola is trying to reach within a certain time frame?

Interviewer : They are looking to grow annual profits by $2 billion within 5 years.

You : Great. Those are all the immediate questions I have for now.

After you understand the case background and objective of the case interview, lay out a framework of what areas you want to look into in order to answer or solve the case.

A case interview framework is simply a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into simpler, smaller components. Think of a framework as brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

When creating a framework, it is completely acceptable to ask the interviewer for a few minutes of silence to write out a framework.

You : Would you mind if I take a few minutes to structure my thoughts and develop a framework to tackle this case?

Interviewer : Of course, go ahead.

For this case example, what do you need to know in order to help Coca-Cola decide whether or not they should enter the beer market?

You might brainstorm the following questions:

• Does Coca-Cola know how to produce beer?
• Would people buy beer made by Coca-Cola?
• Where would Coca Cola sell its beer?
• How much would it cost to enter the beer market?
• Will Coca-Cola be profitable from doing this?
• How can Coca-Cola outcompete competitors?
• What is the market size of the beer market?

This is not a very structured way of tackling the case, so organize these ideas into a framework that has 3 – 4 broad areas, also called “buckets”, that you want to investigate.

An easy way to develop these buckets is to ask yourself, what 3 – 4 things must be true for you to 100% recommend that Coca-Cola should enter the beer market.

In an ideal world. These four things would need to be true:

• The beer market is an attractive market with high profit margins
• Competitors are weak and Coca-Cola will be able to capture significant market share
• Coca-Cola has the capabilities to produce an outstanding beer product
• Coca-Cola will be extremely profitable

You can rephrase these points to be the broad categories in your framework. You can write your framework in the first section of your paper:

Next, let’s add a few bullets under each category to give more detail on exactly what information we need to know to decide whether Coca-Cola should enter the beer market.

This entire process of brainstorming ideas and developing a structured framework should only take a few minutes.

How do you come up with a framework so quickly?

Most candidates make the mistake of either using a single memorized framework for every case or memorizing multiple different frameworks for different cases.

The issue with memorized frameworks is that they aren’t tailored to the specific case you are solving for. When given an atypical business problem, your framework elements will not be entirely relevant.

Interviewers can easily tell that you are regurgitating memorized information and not thinking critically.

Instead of memorizing frameworks, I recommend memorizing a list of 8 - 10 broad business elements, such as the following:

When given a case, mentally run through this list and pick the 3-4 elements that are most relevant to the case. This will be your framework. If the list does not give you enough elements, brainstorm and add your own elements to your framework.

This strategy guarantees that your framework elements are relevant to the case. It also demonstrates that you can create unique, tailored frameworks for every business problem.

Using this strategy for this case, you would run through your list of memorized business elements and select the following:

This strategy is a shortcut for creating unique tailored frameworks for every business problem. You do not need to develop a framework entirely from scratch every time.

Now that you have your framework, turn your paper to face the interviewer and walk them through it.

You : To decide whether or not Coca-Cola should enter the market, I want to look into four main areas.

One, I want to look into the beer market attractiveness. Is this an attractive market to enter? I’d want to look into areas such as the market size, growth rate, and profit margins.

Two, I want to look into the beer competitive landscape. Is this market competitive, and will Coca-Cola be able to capture meaningful market share? I want to look into questions such as the number of competitors, how much market share each competitor has, and whether competitors have any competitive advantages.

Three, I want to look into Coca-Cola’s capabilities. Do they have the capabilities to succeed in the beer market? I want to look into things such as whether they have the expertise to produce beer, whether they have the distribution channels to sell beer, and whether there are any existing synergies they can leverage.

Four, I want to look into expected profitability. Will Coca-Cola be profitable from entering the beer market? I want to look into areas such as expected revenues, expected costs, and how long it would take to break even.

The interviewer might ask a few questions on your framework, but will otherwise indicate whether they agree or disagree with your approach.

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks .

There are two styles of case interviews: interviewer-led cases and candidate-led cases .

If this is an interviewer-led case, the interviewer will propose which area of your framework they would like to dive deeper into. They might say something like the following:

Interviewer : Your framework makes sense to me. Why don’t we start by estimating the size of the U.S. beer market.

If this is a candidate-led case, you will be expected to propose an area to look into. There is no right or wrong area to start first. Propose any area of your framework as long as you have a reason for it.

You could say something like:

You : To start, I’d like to look into the beer market attractiveness. I’d like to first understand the market size to determine if the beer market is an attractive market.

If you end up picking an area that the interviewer does not want you to explore, they will redirect you to an area that they do want you to explore.

The two styles of case interviews are nearly identical. The only difference is whether or not you have to proactively propose what area to explore first and what area you want to explore next.

Expect to perform calculations and analyze charts and graphs during your case interview.

Market sizing questions are one type of quantitative question you may get asked. Let’s say the interviewer asks you:

Interviewer : What is the market size of beer in the U.S.?

Most candidates jump right into the math, stating the U.S. population and then performing various calculations. Doing math without laying out a structure often leads to making unnecessary calculations or reaching a dead-end.

Laying out an upfront approach helps avoid these mistakes and demonstrates that you are a logical, structured thinker.

For this market sizing problem, you could structure your approach in the following way:

• Start with the U.S. population
• Estimate the percentage that are legally allowed to drink alcohol
• Estimate the percentage that drink beer
• Estimate the frequency in which people drink beer
• Estimate the average price per can or bottle of beer

Multiplying these steps together gives you the answer. By laying out an approach up front, the interviewer can easily understand how you are thinking about the problem. With the right structure, the rest of the problem is simple arithmetic.

Sometimes the interviewer will give you numbers to use for these calculations. Other times, you’ll be expected to make assumptions or estimates.

When performing your calculations, make sure to do them on a separate sheet of paper. Calculations often get messy and you want to keep your original paper clean and organized.

A sample answer to this question could look like this:

You : To estimate the market size of beer in the U.S., I’m going to start with the U.S. population. Then, I’ll estimate the percentage that are eligible to drink alcohol. I’ll then estimate the percentage of the remaining population that drinks beer.

If we take this and multiply it by the frequency in which people drink beer and the average price per can or bottle of beer, we will find an estimate for the market size. 

Does this approach make sense to you?

Interviewer : Makes sense to me.

You : Great. I’ll assume the U.S. population is 320M people. Assuming the average life expectancy is 80 years old and an even distribution of ages, roughly 75% of the population can legally drink alcohol.

This gives us 240M people. Of these, let’s assume 75% of people drink beer. That gives us 180M beer drinkers.

Let’s say on average, a person drinks five beers a week, or roughly 250 beers per year, assuming roughly 50 weeks per year.

This gives us 180M * 250 = 45B cans or bottles of beer.

Assuming the average can or bottle of beer costs $2, this gives a market size of $90B.

You should not only answer the question, but tie the answer to the case objective.

In other words, how does knowing the U.S. market size of beer help you decide whether or not Coca-Cola should enter the market?

You could say something like the following:

You : Given that Coca-Cola has annual revenues of $30B, a $90B beer market represents a massive opportunity. The market size makes the beer market look attractive, but I’d like to understand if beer margins are typically high and determine how much market share Coca-Cola could realistically capture.

A second type of quantitative question you could be asked is to calculate profit or profitability. The interviewer may ask you:

Interviewer : Assume that a 12-ounce can of beer sells for $2 on average. To produce a keg of beer, it costs $100 for raw materials, $95 for labor, and $75 for storage. If a keg of beer holds 1,800 oz. of beer, what is the profit margin for beer?

Make sure you structure your approach and connect your answer to the case objective.

A sample answer could look like:

You : To calculate the profit margin for beer, I will first calculate the total costs to produce a keg of beer. Next, I will divide the volume of a keg by the volume of a can to determine how many cans a keg of beer produces.

Afterwards, I will divide the total cost of producing a keg of beer by the number of cans in a keg of beer to determine the cost per can.

Finally, I can use the price and cost per can of beer to calculate the margin of beer. Does this approach make sense to you?

You : Great. The total cost of a keg of beer is $100 plus $95 plus $75, or $270. The number of cans of beer in a keg is 1,800 oz. divided by 12 oz., or 150 cans.

Therefore, the cost per can of beer is $270 divided by 150 cans, or $1.80. Since the average price of beer is $2 per can, the profit is $0.20 per can. This makes the margin $0.20 divided by $2 or 10%.

Compared to Coca-Cola’s overall operating margin of 30%, the beer market profit margin of 10% is significantly lower. Although the market size for beer is large, the low margin makes the beer market less attractive.

A third type of quantitative question you could get asked is interpreting charts and graphs. The interviewer may show you the following:

A helpful strategy is to start your analysis by explaining what the axes of the chart show. This will help you understand the chart better.

Next, don’t just read what numbers the chart shows, but interpret what those numbers mean for the case objective.

A sample answer might look like the following:

You : For this chart, we have market share on the y-axis and different categories of beer on the x-axis. For each category, we see that market share is concentrated among a few large players. This implies a highly competitive market with high barriers to entry. Because of this, the beer market does not look attractive because it is so competitive.

In addition to asking quantitative questions during the case interview, the interviewer will also ask qualitative questions.

One type of qualitative question you could get asked are brainstorming questions. For example, the interviewer might ask:

Interviewer : What are the barriers to entry in the beer market?

Most candidates answer by listing ideas that immediately come to mind:

• Brewing equipment
• Beer production expertise
• Distribution channels

This is a highly unstructured way of answering the question. Make sure to use a simple structure to organize your thoughts.

A simple structure, such as thinking about barriers to entry as either economic barriers or non-economic barriers, helps facilitate brainstorming and demonstrates logic and structure.

With this structure, you might come up with the following answer:

Have a simple structure when answering qualitative questions. Examples of other simple structures to use include the following:

Additionally, take your answer and connect it to the case objective. In this example, are these barriers to entry high or low? Do you think Coca-Cola can overcome these obstacles to enter the beer market?

You might answer this question in the following way:

You : I’m thinking of barriers to entry as economic barriers and non-economic barriers. Economic barriers include things such as equipment, raw material, and other capital. Non-economic barriers include: beer brewing expertise, brand name, and distribution channels.

Looking at these barriers, I think it will take Coca-Cola a lot of work to overcome these barriers. While Coca-Cola does have a brand name and distribution channels, they lack beer brewing expertise and would have to buy a lot of expensive equipment and machinery. These barriers make entering the beer market difficult.

Another type of question you could get asked are business opinion questions, such as the following:

Interviewer : Do you think there are significant production synergies in producing non-alcoholic beverages and producing beer?

As always, structure your answer and connect your answer to the case objective.

Here is a sample answer:

You : Production involves equipment, raw materials, and labor. There is likely some overlap in equipment, such as using the same bottling machines, but Coca-Cola will likely need new equipment for brewing beer.

Raw materials, on the other hand, are completely different. Coca-Cola will need to source barley, hops, and yeast, which it currently does not use in its existing beverages.

Finally, the same labor can be used, but employees will need new training since producing beer is fairly different from producing a non-alcoholic drink.

Overall, I think there are only a few production synergies that Coca-Cola can leverage, which makes entering the market a bit more difficult.

You’ve done a ton of work so far in the case interview and now it is time to put everything together into a recommendation.

Throughout the interview, you should have been making notes of key takeaways after each question you answer.

Take a look at the key takeaways you’ve accumulated so far and decide whether you want to recommend entering the beer market or not entering the beer market:

• The U.S. beer market size is $90B compared to Coca-Cola’s annual revenue of $30B
• The beer market profit margins are 10% compared to Coca-Cola’s average margin of 30%
• The beer market is highly concentrated across all categories
• Barriers to entry are moderate
• There are some synergies with existing production

There is no right or wrong recommendation, as long as you support your recommendation with reasons and evidence.

Regardless of what stance you take, make sure you have a firm recommendation. You do not want to be flimsy and switch back and forth between recommending entering the market and not entering the market.

Secondly, make sure your recommendation is clear and concise. Use the following structure:  

• Clearly state what your recommendation is
• Follow that with the 2 - 3 reasons that support your recommendation
• State what potential next steps would be to further validate your recommendation

The conclusion of the case might look like the following:

Interviewer : Let’s say that you bump into the CEO of Coca-Cola in the elevator. He asks you what your preliminary recommendation is. What do you say?

You : I recommend that Coca-Cola should not enter the U.S. beer market for the following three reasons.

One, although the market size is fairly large at $90B, the margins for beer are just 10%, significantly less than Coca-Cola’s overall operating margin of 30%.

Two, the beer market is very competitive. In all beer segments, market share is concentrated among a few players, which implies high barriers to entry. Coca-Cola lacks beer brewing expertise to produce a great product that existing incumbents have.

Three, there are not that many production synergies that Coca-Cola can leverage with its existing products. Coca-Cola would need to buy new equipment, source new raw materials, and provide new training to employees, which will be time-consuming and costly.

For next steps, I want to look into Coca-Cola’s annual expected profits if they were to enter the U.S. beer market. I hypothesize that they will be unable to achieve an increase in annual profits of $2B within five years, but I’d like to confirm this through further analysis.

All case interviews roughly follow this same format or structure. The industry, quantitative problems, and qualitative questions will be different, but the strategy and approach will be the same.

To recap, here are all of the steps in a typical case interview.

• The interviewer will read the case background information to you
• You will take notes on the case objective and important information
• You will synthesize the case background and verify the case objective
• You will ask clarifying questions
• You will ask for a few minutes of silence to structure your framework
• You will present your framework to the interviewer
• Either you or the interviewer will propose an area to look into
• You will answer quantitative problems, such as market sizing questions, profitability calculations, or interpreting charts and graphs
• You will answer qualitative questions, such as brainstorming questions or business opinion questions
• The interviewer will ask for a recommendation
• You will deliver a recommendation, three reasons that support your recommendation, and potential next steps

We’ve covered a lot of information in this guide, so don’t feel overwhelmed about case interviews. It takes time to become comfortable and proficient.

You can watch the video below for a summary of all of the material covered in this guide. Learning the same material a second time can be helpful for information retention and a deeper understanding of the content and strategies.

10. Next Steps

You now understand what a case interview looks like and have learned basic strategies to tackle each part. There are many more advanced strategies to learn to give yourself a competitive edge over other candidates.

Here are the resources we recommend to land your dream consulting job:

For help landing consulting interviews

• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

For help passing case interviews

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.

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What Is a Case Study?

What is a case study interview, how to prep for a case study interview, case study interview example questions, during the case study interview.

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Table of Contents

A case study interview isn’t your average interview. While most interviews ask you to give examples of how you use your skills on the job, in a case study interview, you’ll use those skills in front of the interviewer to solve a real-life problem.

It’s like auditioning for the school play. But instead of showing you can sing and dance, you’re using a case interview to show how you provide innovative solutions to pressing business problems. Not sure how to get ready for this kind of interview? We’ve got you covered. This guide explains how to prep for a case study interview.

Case studies are used across a variety of industries — everything from business to medicine. They are an in-depth examination, analysis, and critique of a real-world scenario the company experienced. People discuss the situation and explore what they learned while forming new solutions to try when they face a similar situation in the future and hope to improve their performance.

For example, doctors and nurses use case studies to improve how they diagnose and treat patients. Using real patient information, the medical team analyzes the case to see what the team may have missed and why they missed it. Learning from these errors helps the team better prepare for similar cases in the future to improve patient care.

While many industries use case studies to iterate and improve their performance, not every company uses case study interviews. This type of interview is very common at consulting companies (no matter what kind of consulting it is). But it’s not unusual for companies outside of consulting to use case interviews for marketing or operations roles.

In a case study interview, you’re given a real-world situation the company has faced and are tasked with analyzing it and suggesting a course of action.

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Businesses use case study interviews to assess your abilities in real-time. While you’ll probably draw on a variety of skills, most case study interviews assess:

• Strategic thinking
• Analytical skills
• Common sense

The advantage of a case study interview is that the interviewer can evaluate your ability in each of these areas and see how you’ll actually use them on the job.

What Is a Fit Interview?

Some people use “case study interview” and “fit interview” interchangeably. While a fit interview and a case study interview both ask behavioral interview questions , they are not the same thing.

A case study interview assesses your ability to do the job. It primarily evaluates how you approach business problems and use your skills to solve them. A fit interview is about company culture fit. The interviewer asks questions that assess how well you’ll fit into the company, like asking you questions about what motivates you or how you lead .

Fit and case interviews are important parts of the evaluation process. Getting the job done is just as critical as getting along with coworkers and supporting the company’s mission. Depending on where you interview, you may have one fit interview and one case study interview, or the fit interview may be a smaller part of the case study interview.

What You’ll Learn in a Case Study Interview

A case study interview allows the hiring manager to see your skills in action and how you approach business challenges. But it also teaches you a lot about the company (even if you’re doing most of the talking).

In a sense, you’re behaving as an employee during a case study interview. This gives you a peek behind the curtain, allowing you to see the company’s inner workings, like how they approach business problems and what they expect from you and your performance.

For example, you may offer a novel approach to solving a problem during a case interview. How does the interviewer react to it? Are they impressed? Surprised? Is there a scowl or frown on their face? Their reaction gives you insights into how the company will likely receive your solutions.

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Skills you’ll build: Critical thinking, creativity, brainstorming

Depending on the specific company, you may have the case study interview questions in advance, but you may not. Whether you do or don’t, here’s how to prepare for a case study interview.

Conduct Deep Research

Good interview prep for any interview means researching the company. That includes things like learning more about the company’s mission and the challenges the industry faces. But when you’re preparing for a case study interview, your research needs to go deeper. 

When you answer a case study question, your answer has to be specific to the company’s clients or business objectives. For example, if you’re interviewing for a role in strategy consulting , your answer shouldn’t focus on aspects of human resources consulting (unless it’s particularly relevant).

Your research needs to include the kinds of clients the company works with and what types of problems the company solves. For example, the company may only consult for Fortune 100 companies that need accounting advice. Keep these facts in mind as you prepare for the interview.

Case Study Interview Formats

There are four types of case study interview formats:

• Candidate-led: The interviewer asks you a specific question (or gives you a prompt), and you walk the interviewer through a detailed answer.
• Employer-led: The interviewer leads you through a series of specific (and predetermined) prompts and questions, no matter your answers.
• Presentation: You’re given a problem in advance to create and present a detailed case study.
• Video: Similar to a presentation case study interview, you’ll create a video presentation of the case study.

Most companies will tell you in advance which style of case study interview you should prepare for. But if they don’t, reach out to your recruiter or check the company’s website. Many include the essential details you need to prepare for the case study interview.

Seek Out Company-Specific Tips

Speaking of companies and their websites, not only do many companies that use case study interviews tell you the format, they often include helpful tips and tricks to help candidates prepare. This includes what to expect, what the company is looking for skill-wise, and what kinds of responses they want. They may even have a few practice questions and videos you can use to help you prep.

Unlike other common interview questions , it’s not as easy to prepare an answer to case study interview questions. Even though you know it’s a case study interview, you don’t necessarily know the specifics of the case or what problems you’ll be asked to solve.

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That said, it’s likely your case study interview questions will cover one or several of these concepts:

• Entering new markets
• Increasing profits
• Cutting costs
• Turnarounds
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Pricing strategy
• Developing new products
• Industry analysis
• Competitive response

While there are many ways to answer case study interview questions, a few basic prep tips can help you get ready for every question.

In addition to what you usually bring to a job interview , make sure you bring a notepad and pen or pencil to a case study interview. Taking notes will help you better understand the questions and formulate your answers. It also gives you a place to calculate numbers and figures if you need to. Not every case study interview allows calculators, so you’ll need to be ready to do your calculations manually.

Ask Specific Questions

As you’re working through the case study, you can and should ask any clarifying questions you need. The interviewer wants to hear specific, detailed answers that solve the problem. So, whenever you’re unclear, ask a follow-up question to not only get what you need but to give the interviewer what they need. 

That said, your question(s) should be very specific. You need to verify exactly what the interview is asking so you can create an appropriate answer. Say the interviewer gives you a broad question: The client’s revenue is falling. How do you help them increase it? You can follow up with a very specific question or two to make sure you understand what the interviewer is asking:

You’re asking how I would help the client raise revenue, correct? Are you also asking how I would help them increase their profit and cut costs?

>>Related: 5 Top Questions to Ask in an Interview (and Why You Should Ask Them)

Talk Them Through It

A big part of the case study interview is seeing you in action. However, in this case, “see” really means “how you think.” Since the interviewer can’t hear your inner monologue, you’ll need to practice thinking out loud.

While the interviewer wants to hear your solution, they also want to hear how you got there. That means talking through your entire thought process. Instead of saying, “I’d do X,” you have to explain how you arrived at your decision while you’re getting there.

Because not everyone thinks out loud, it may feel unnatural to you, and you likely won’t be expected to do it on the job. But it’s crucial to practice this skill — and it is a skill — because the interviewer is expecting you to do it in a case study interview.

Want to give a case study a shot? Try out a Forage consulting virtual simulation program and gain the skills you’ll need to ace a case study interview.

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• May 13, 2020

A Quick Guide to Preparing for a Case Study Interview

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Reviewed by Chris Leitch

Invited to participate in a case study interview but not sure about the best ways to get ready for it?

As you always want to be at your very best when interviewing with a company, the case study interview requires a bit more preparation than recognising some of the common types of job interviews .

While you’ll still need to impress a prospective employer with strong research, confident interview responses and a professional appearance , the case study interview tests your knowledge and abilities through a spontaneous, analytical exercise. It examines how you approach problem-solving with the pressure of handling a situation without previous knowledge of any details or context.

Although the consulting industry utilises it as an essential part of the hiring process, the case study interview can be also found in many other environments, including startups, government and corporate organisations. It measures a candidate’s analytical, logic reasoning and communication abilities while under pressure.

In this guide, we will cover what you need to know to successfully prepare for a case study interview.

Case Study Interviews Explained

Even if you’ve never participated in one, it’s likely you’ve heard stories about the case study interview format. The case study puts you, the candidate, on the spot to solve a business problem posed by the interviewers.

Case study interview questions cover a wide range of topics and do not look for a single ‘right’ answer. Instead, the format gives the interviewers a look at how you respond spontaneously while applying problem-solving skills to create a solution to the business challenge presented.

For example, an exercise might ask what the potential market size is for a vegan food company within a prospective city and if setting up shop within the region would be worth it. The case study may not share all the details to help you reach an answer, but it should prompt you to ask questions that help you structure your thought process.

What to Expect in a Case Study Interview

The ways by which a case study interview is conducted will vary by company. However, this format bears unique characteristics:

• You’ll receive an introduction to the business problem, its relevant details and other information that lend to setting context. Some companies may choose to share a briefing document for you to read, while others may prefer to communicate the scenario in conversation.
• Information about the business problem will be, to some degree, vague. While the problem may cover complex business concepts, expect that the information will provide a high-level description of the scenario – not detailed reports with specific facts and figures. Case study interviews present such information in general terms for a reason. They’re meant to provide just enough information so that you can choose how to approach your line of questioning to solve the problem.
• The discussion about the business problem will be led by either the interviewer or the candidate. You need to be prepared for both situations. Who leads the conversation about the business problem is important, as it reveals the direction the discussion will take.

In interviewer-led sessions, the interviewer seeks to gauge the quality of your approach as it relates to a specific part of the business problem. They control the dialogue, focusing on a series of tough questions unlike those considered to be difficult in other interview formats . The interviewer sticks to a line of questioning that refers to details and themes relevant to the business problem, and evaluates how you comprehend, interpret and recommend actions within this specific domain.

On the hand, candidate-led conversations evaluate your ability to understand a business problem comprehensively, and from multiple points of view. Consultants play different roles on projects. Their actions cover various levels of activity, from analysing the business facts and data, creating the solutions and communicating directly with the clients on the overall strategy and approach. You’ll need to show strong methodology to guide others in your process.

Candidate-led sessions are challenging because they give you the freedom to explain your best approach to tackle the entire problem, but without receiving the input or comments of others to help guide a conversation along.

How to Prepare for a Case Study Interview

As you might find these interviews to be difficult, intense and downright nerve-wracking , you can succeed in a case study interview through thoughtful preparation. Here are five tips to help you ace the interview:

1. Demonstrate Your Analytical, Reasoning and Communication Skills

While recapping key details of the business problem is important, the case study interview measures much more than your ability to recall the facts. It showcases how you think on your feet as you seek out information to determine your course of action.

While you might be comfortable sketching out a framework or a mathematical formula that helps you identify the way you wish to solve the problem, this interview format also tests your ability to explain the reasoning in a clear and believable manner to others.

To be successful in a case study interview, you must demonstrate the skill to process information quantitatively, as well as speak about your rationale and decisions convincingly.

2. Get Ready to Play an Active Role in the Discussion

Case study interviews require a high level of engagement. While other interviews might have you responding to questions with rehearsed answers, the case study interview presents a situation that is dynamic and unpredictable.

You’ll want to approach the session with an active disposition. This typically includes taking notes, documenting your observations and ideas, sketching out diagrams and charts, and asking follow-up questions throughout the interview .

3. Identify the Type of Problem Posed to You

Jobseekers may find that there are common themes that appear when covering the type of business problems found in case study interviews. Eight of the most common exercises explore these questions:

• Maths – eg: ‘How many more units do we need to sell to double the profit?’
• Market size – eg: ‘How big is the market size within the US for smart wearable devices?’
• Framework/Issue tree - eg: ‘Identify the factors you would consider in addressing the problem.’
• Data-chart insights – eg: ‘What story do the numbers tell about the operations of this business?’
• Value proposition – eg: ‘What factors do customers look for in choosing a mobile phone carrier?’
• Business valuation – eg: ‘Just how much is this company worth today, and would it change if acquired by our competitor?’
• Hypothesis – eg: ‘What are some possible reasons that explain this trend?’
• Brain teaser – eg: ‘How many tennis balls can you fit in an area that is twice the size of a football field?’

There is not a single approach that solves all business problems. By identifying the type of problem you’re encountering, you’ll be able to quickly determine the most appropriate method to apply.

For example, you might discover that a maths problem will rely on the knowledge of specific formulas and expressions, while a hypothesis question calls for a closer look at the root causes behind an issue.

4. Organise a Framework that Helps You Solve the Problem

Having a good framework to apply to a problem is the key to doing well in a case study interview. You want to show that you understand a business issue well enough to formulate recommendations or insights that address the problem. As there isn’t one right answer to such a problem, your interviewer will be interested to hear about the thought process you applied to arrive at your decisions.

The process may involve a range of problem-solving skills and methods, including the use of mathematical formulas, first-hand knowledge about an industry and decision-tree flowcharts that guide through questions you’ve applied to the issue.

It’s helpful to write down your framework and refer to it as needed. By having the steps outlined, you’ll be able to explain your recommendations in a clear and confident manner so that the rationale used in your analysis appears sound.

5. Practise, Practise, Practise!

Prepare for the case study interview by engaging in mock practice sessions before the big day. While it’s important to spend time putting together the methods you’ll use to analyse a business problem, enlisting the help of a friend or two familiar with this interview format is essential.

You’ll want to find case study examples online and share your selections with those helping you practise. Your friends should read the materials before the practice sessions and play the role of the interviewer.

By conducting a practice session as if it were the real thing, your friends will help you work through the awkwardness and spontaneity of the case study interview and develop the confidence to perform successfully.

By following these tips, you’ll be ready to show off your analytical, communication and problem-solving skills, all important to the case study interview. However, don’t limit your preparation only to the guidance given for this specific style; rather, you’ll want to make sure you continue the things that served you well for other interview formats, including making a good first impression and avoiding interview faux pas .

By combining those behaviours with the preparation, mindset and practice needed to solve business problems on your feet, you’ll put yourself in a great position to succeed at a case study interview.

Have you ever found yourself in a case study interview? What advice do you have to give? Let us know in the comments section below!

Interview Preparation

Finding a Job

Interview Formats

Case Study Questions

Crafting an impactful case study library: the ultimate guide.

Case studies and testimonials are powerful tools for convincing potential clients of the value of your product or service. To create a truly effective library of case studies, it's crucial to ask the right questions and know how to write a compelling narrative. Follow our guide and learn how to use the "Problem-Agitate-Solve" method to create a winning case study.

The Significance of a Well-Designed Case Study Questionnaire

In order to produce a successful case study, having a well-structured questionnaire is essential. The questionnaire should gather all necessary information without feeling like an interrogation. It should flow like a conversation, covering key elements such as the client's problem, why they chose your company, and the measurable results of your product or service. It's important to tailor your questions based on how your customers use your product and the specific information you want to highlight.

The Ultimate List of Case Study Questions

If you're unsure of what questions to ask your clients for a case study, refer to our list of 100 carefully curated questions. These questions are designed to deliver a powerful message to leads in the decision stage of the buyer's journey. By asking open-ended questions, you can encourage your clients to discuss the excellent service or product you provide.

Approaching Your Customer for a Case Study

The thought of asking a client to participate in a case study may be daunting, but with the right approach, you can build trust and make them feel valued. Start by asking them to describe their processes and tools before using your product, highlighting the need your product fulfills and appealing to potential future clients. You can also inquire about any concerns or hesitations they had about switching to your product, showcasing how your company prioritizes customer satisfaction.

Crafting an Effective Case Study

When writing a case study, it's important to provide thorough information about the client's experience before and after using your product. Utilize details to paint a clear picture of the challenges they faced, how your company's solution helped, and any unexpected changes that came with switching to your product. This not only showcases the success of your product or service, but also makes it relatable for potential leads.

Utilizing Case Studies for Successful Sales

When assisting clients with troubleshooting, ask for their feedback on the product. How has their perception of the product changed since becoming a customer? Understanding how the product has positively impacted their business is crucial for creating a strong case study.

Interview Questions About the Decision-Making Process

Readers of the case study are interested in the factors that influenced the client's decision-making process. This information can help potential customers in their own decision-making process, increasing the chances of them choosing your product. Some relevant questions to ask include:

• How did you first hear about our product? This demonstrates your brand's reliability and reputation.
• How long were you searching for a solution to this problem? This adds context to the challenges the client faced before choosing your product.
• Were you considering other solutions? If so, which ones? This shows that the client thoroughly researched and compared options before choosing your company.
• What ultimately convinced you to purchase our product? What sets us apart from our competitors? Encourage the interviewee to discuss the benefits of your product and why they chose it over others.
• What were the key criteria in your decision to buy our product? This provides insight into the factors that influenced their decision-making process.
• Were there any specific goals or initiatives that led to the decision to purchase our product? This helps readers understand the bigger picture behind the decision to work with your company.
• Can you describe the buying process? Were there any notable positives or challenges? This allows the client to comment on the ease and efficiency of the buying process and highlight any positive aspects.

How Can You Improve the Buying Process for Your Customers?

When looking for ways to improve your buying process, having feedback from your customers is crucial. This allows you to tailor the process for future clients and enhance their experience.

Important questions to ask include:

• Who in your team was involved in the buying process? This provides insights into the key players, from executives to project managers.

Interviewing Customer Case Studies: How It Benefits Your Business

Understanding the impact of your product on your customer's business is essential in showcasing its value and benefits. Here are some questions to ask in a case study interview:

• How long has your company been using our product? This gives an idea of how long it took to see results and overall satisfaction with the product.
• How many individuals in your company use our product? This helps readers understand how the product can be adapted to their teams, especially if they are of a similar size.
• Are there multiple departments or teams using our product? This showcases the broad impact of your product across various departments.
• How do you currently use the product? What specific goals or tasks does it help you accomplish? Encourage the interviewee to provide details on how the product actively assists them in achieving their goals.
• If other departments or teams are using our product, do you know how they utilize it? This allows potential customers to visualize how the product can benefit their own teams and improve their metrics and workflow.

Why Every Business Needs a Case Study Library

As a salesperson, it's important to not just promote your product, but also show potential buyers its impact. This is where case studies play a crucial role in providing evidence of your product's success. In fact, according to a HubSpot survey, 77% of B2B prospects consider winning case studies important in their decision to buy.

The Power of Case Studies and Testimonials in Closing Deals

When it comes to building trust and closing deals, case studies and testimonials are valuable tools. But how can you create an effective case study? One approach is the "Problem-Agitate-Solve" method, which involves showcasing a customer's problem, agitating its impact, and demonstrating how your product solved it.

Tips for Building an Effective Case Study Library

Before diving into the "Problem-Agitate-Solve" method, it's important to have a solid foundation for your case study library. Here are some tips:

• Create a well-crafted questionnaire that covers company information, product impact, metrics, customer quotes, and before and after comparisons.

Top Questions to Ask in a Case Study Interview

An effective case study interview is key to gathering valuable information from your customers. Here are some key questions to ask:

• What benefits did you experience during the sales process?
• Were there any additional advantages you discovered after using the product regularly?
• How has our product impacted your core metrics?

Building Trust and Demonstrating Product Success Through Case Studies

By incorporating your customer's business goals and challenges into your case study, you not only showcase the benefits of your product, but also earn trust from potential customers. Testimonials and data-driven case studies are powerful tools in demonstrating the effectiveness of your product.

Tips for Conducting a Successful Case Study Interview

To ensure a successful case study interview, here are some helpful tips:

• Identify internal advocates for your product and seek advice from power users.
• Interview multiple team members for additional insights.
• Address any concerns or challenges during the rollout of your product.

Utilizing Business Goals and Challenges in Case Studies: A Powerful Tool for Success

In addition to showcasing your product's effectiveness, incorporating your customer's business goals and challenges into case studies can be a powerful way to demonstrate the benefits of your product and attract potential customers.

The Importance and Rewards of Asking About Referrals in Case Study Interviews

During a case study interview, it is essential to inquire about the customer's willingness to recommend your product to others. This positive recommendation can result in increased leads and customer acquisition. Furthermore, asking about how other companies in their industry address similar challenges can provide valuable insights and potential referrals. By gathering feedback on referrals and seeking advice for other businesses facing similar issues, you can enhance your case studies and generate more leads for future success.

Start Building Your Case Study Portfolio Today!

By implementing these strategies and incorporating the "Problem-Agitate-Solve" approach, you can create a robust case study library that will help you close more deals and establish trust with potential customers. So don't wait any longer – begin collecting your success stories and crafting your case studies today!

Harnessing the Power of Client Referrals for Business Growth

As a business, it is essential to capitalize on any opportunity to showcase the value of your products or services. One effective approach is to leverage client referrals to speak about their positive experiences with your brand. Not only does this enhance your credibility, but it also provides valuable insights into the impact of your product on your clients' customers and how it can be improved.

Referrals within Your Industry

If you have a client in a specific industry, it presents a perfect chance to reach out for a referral. By asking if they know of any other businesses facing similar challenges to those they had before using your product, you can arrange an interview to gather their feedback. This not only adds credibility to your product but also strengthens trust with potential clients.

Exploring Referral and Partner Programs

An excellent way to boost leads and improve customer retention is by having a well-established referral program. Consider asking your clients if they are currently participating in any referral programs and if they would be interested in receiving a referral kit as a thank-you for recommending your business. This not only incentivizes referrals but also shows your appreciation for their support.

Key Questions for an Effective Case Study Interview

When conducting a case study with a client, asking the right questions is crucial in gathering valuable feedback for your marketing materials. Here are some examples of questions that can elicit compelling responses:

• What challenges did you face before implementing our product? This question highlights the most significant pain point or issue your client experienced before using your product.
• What advice would you give to other businesses considering our product? By sharing their experience, readers can learn from your client's success.
• How has your team's workflow been affected by using our product? This showcases the value of your product and its impact on their business.
• Do you believe the investment in our product was worth it? Why? Allow your client to make the case for your product's value.
• What would happen if our product was no longer available? This demonstrates the necessity and impact of your product on their business.
• How would you describe our product to a friend? Your clients can often articulate the value of your product to their peers better than you can.
• What do you love about your job and company? This gives readers more insight into your client and their industry.
• What was the most challenging aspect before using our product? Ideally, this will highlight how your product helped solve this challenge.
• What do you appreciate most about our product? This question allows your client to share their opinion on the key features that make your product worthwhile.
• What motivates you to continue doing business with us? This question provides insight into why your client chooses to work with your company, showcasing the trust and satisfaction they have in your product.

The Importance of Client Relationships

Fostering a positive relationship with your clients is crucial for the success of your business. By building trust and understanding their goals and plans, you can gain valuable insights on how your product can help their business grow.

Securing Permission for a Case Study

Before creating a case study, it is essential to obtain permission from your client. Use this template to request their participation:

Expressing Gratitude and Requesting Collaboration

Hello [customer name],

I would like to take a moment to thank you for your business and express my excitement for our continued partnership. It has been a pleasure to work with you on [solving X, launching Y, taking advantage of Z opportunity], and I am eager to showcase our collaboration.

At [name of your company], we are compiling a library of case studies highlighting successful companies who have utilized our product to overcome challenges. Your company immediately came to mind as a great candidate for a case study. Would [customer company name] be open to being featured in our case study?

The process would involve a brief 10-20 question interview, either through email or phone, about your experience and results. Your company will also be featured in the case study with a link to your homepage, providing potential SEO benefits.

Thank you again for choosing to work with us, and I hope you have a fantastic week.

Best regards,

[Your name]

If a customer has shared positive feedback with you through various channels, you can reach out with this email:

Showing Appreciation for Feedback

I would like to personally thank you for the fantastic feedback you shared regarding [product]. It is always a pleasure to hear that our product is meeting your expectations and producing desired results for your business.

If you are interested, we would love to feature [customer company name] in our case study as a successful example of a business using our product. Let me know if you would be open to this, and we can discuss the details further.

Thank you again for your valuable support and partnership. We look forward to working with you in the future.

The Effectiveness of Case Studies for Your Business

As we continue to expand our library of case studies, we are eager to include your story. Whether or not you choose to participate, we appreciate your contribution and look forward to hearing more about your progress. - [Your name]

The Power of Customer Testimonials

One of the most significant advantages of case studies is that they serve as testimonials from satisfied customers. When someone is considering your business, a case study is a much more persuasive form of marketing compared to traditional advertisements.

The Benefits of Participating in Case Studies

Customers who participate in case studies also reap the rewards of this marketing strategy. Not only do they receive free publicity and improved SEO, but they also showcase the success of their business, attracting new leads and potential clients.

Easily Shareable Marketing Material

Case studies are an excellent tool for sales teams as they can be easily shared with leads, prospects, and clients. Whether through a website or PDF, a simple link can be circulated and utilized during sales pitches, making it a valuable asset.

Building a Strong Relationship with Your Customers

While case studies require some back-and-forth communication with your customers to obtain specific feedback, it also helps build a strong rapport between you and your most loyal clients. This personal connection can lead to positive word-of-mouth recommendations for your business and services.

The Impact of Data in Case Studies

Unlike customer reviews, which are solely based on opinions, case studies rely on data and facts. They not only showcase the success of your brand but also support it with relevant and measurable data, making it difficult to dispute.

A well-executed case study should be authentic and trustworthy. It should provide valuable insights and concrete evidence of the effectiveness of your product or service.

Create Effective Customer Case Studies to Attract Potential Clients

Learn how your business can meet the unique needs of your customers by showcasing success stories. Use our helpful case study questionnaire to create the perfect customer case study.

Utilize Our Free Case Study Templates

Show off your company's accomplishments with our complimentary case study templates. Our robust sales software is strategically crafted to boost productivity, foster strong customer relationships, and empower your expanding sales team.

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26+ Best Case Study Questions for Customer Interviews

Updated July 2024 : Case studies are a critical element of most SaaS marketing strategies. But what case study questions do you ask in the customer interview to ensure you elicit the details AND emotion you need for an authentic and compelling story?

In research we conducted this year, SaaS marketers ranked case studies the #1 most effective marketing tactic to increase sales—ahead of general website content, SEO, blog posts, social media and other marketing tactics.

But gathering the insights, data and customer quotes that make a case study resonate takes some finesse. This is why it’s so important to develop a set of relevant case study questions for interviews with customers.

Get 26 case study questions, PLUS 19 bonus questions for use case, adoption and switcher stories. Download the cheat sheet now .

What case study interview questions should you ask?

In this post, we share the 26 powerful case study questions we use when conducting a case study interview.

We also included favorite case study interview questions and hot tips from customer marketing and advocacy practitioners in our industry:

• Natalie Gullatt , Customer Lifecycle and Growth Manager, Artera 
• Cecilia Wainio , Customer Growth, Jitterbit
• Helen Feber , Founder, Referential
• Luis González , Head of Global Customer Advocacy, Alteryx
• Deirdre Puleo , former Content Strategist, Wix 
• Kaily Baskett , Director of Revenue Growth, SlapFive
• Jeff Ernst , CEO, SlapFive
• Gabriela Contreras , Independent Marketing Consultant
• Erin O’Quinn , Senior Manager, Customer Marketing, VMware by Broadcom
• Cassie Stevenson , Global Customer Advocacy Lead, Qumulo
• Cindy Aitken ,  Director, Customer Marketing, Collibra
• Diana Yanez-Pastor , Independent Customer Advocacy Marketing Consultant

With these insight-eliciting case study questions in your back pocket, you’ll be able to uncover nuggets of gold that will help you create a customer story that really resonates with your prospects and leads.

Also learn how to conduct a good case study interview

In this post, we also cover tips for conducting a great case study interview, as well as some common interview mistakes to avoid.

Before the case study interview

Find a convenient time for the interview, prepare your case study questions in advance, should you send the case study questions to your customer ahead of time, make your customer comfortable, 26 case study questions for interviews with customers, bonus case study interview questions, an email interview won’t cut it, take notes and record the interview, watch out for these 4 common interview mistakes.

Get a cheat sheet with 26 case study questions, PLUS 19 bonus questions for use case, adoption and switcher stories. Download the cheat sheet now .

Keep in mind that there are 3 important phases to any case study:

• Before: What were the customer’s pain points, challenges, priorities and aspirations before they found you?
• During: Why did the customer choose your solution? How did the implementation go? How are they using your solution?
• After: What can the customer do now that they couldn’t do before? What impact has your solution had on their business?

The best case studies draw readers in by walking them through these phases by using customer quotes and details that bring the story to life and make it more compelling.

Your customers are busy—and they’re doing you a big favor by participating in the case study—so be as flexible as possible when you’re scheduling the case study interview. And while you’ll likely want to talk to them for hours, be respectful of their time and ask for 30 minutes.

You’ll probably have just 30 or 40 minutes to capture your customer’s story so be thoroughly prepared before you even schedule the case study interview.

Hot tip: How to prepare for an interview

Here are three things you should do before each interview: 1. Ask the CSM or account manager about the account. 2. Review the account details in the CRM or customer management tool. 3. Customize your interview questions to ensure they align with the story you’d like to tell, your company’s goals and the customer’s success.

This is hotly debated amongst customer marketing and advocacy professionals. 

Some people worry that sending the case study interview questions in advance will result in less candid and natural responses. 

Others argue that it’s important to provide the case study questions for interviews with customers ahead of time so they have time to think about their responses and dig for metrics.

So, we did a quick poll and here’s the consensus:

I think we can all agree that we want our customers to be at ease during the interview. At the very least, that means sending the metrics-related questions ahead of time. 

Want to scale your case study production? Partner with Uplift .

Before the interview starts, it’s important to make the customer feel comfortable and explain the process—what to expect during the interview and after. Make sure the customer understands that they have complete control over what’s included in the final draft.

“Thank you so much for agreeing to tell us your story. Once we write the story, we’ll send it to you to review. We won’t publish anything you’re not 100% happy with. Are you okay if I record the call?”

Introductions and warm-up

1. Can you briefly tell me about yourself and your role? 

2. What is most meaningful to you about the work you do? 

Case study question #2 makes the story more personal and the answer often aligns with the company’s strategic initiatives.

3. What are you most proud of with this implementation/solution?

Case study question #3 helps put the interviewee into a positive mindset and you can sometimes get great intel that enables more detailed discussion—and this can lead to a more attention-grabbing story.

4. What keeps you up at night as it relates to your job?

Case study question #4 is one of my favorites because leaders who want to drive transformation will obsess over it. They don’t “turn off” ideating at 5pm. They think about it while they’re driving, doing chores… and trying to fall asleep. So for me, this question allows me to get to the core of their thinking—and you’ll often get the most human answer.

5. What was going on at your company that sent you looking for a solution like [company name]? 

5a. Follow-up: Why was this such a big problem for you and your company? 5b. Follow-up: What was the consequence of doing nothing?

Case study question #5 is a non-threatening way to ask what wasn’t working, and helps bring context to the conversation.

Case study question #5b usually uncovers a longer-term or more critical potential problem and helps get to the root of the ‘so what’ of challenges.

6. Before you landed on [our solution], how did you try to solve the problem?

6a. Follow-up: Why didn’t those solutions work?

7. What criteria did the new solution need to meet?

8. What were the top 3 things you wanted to achieve with the new solution? 

9. What are the 3 biggest reasons you chose [our solution] over competitors and the option of doing nothing? 

9a. Follow-up: Did anything else impress you at this early stage?

Emily Amos, CEO & Founder, Uplift Content

Hot tip: Get better answers

Use rapid framing to elicit prioritized responses. Don’t ask: Why did you purchase this solution? Instead ask: What are the top 3 reasons you purchased this solution from us, instead of another vendor?

10. When you first started working with [company name], how did you come up with the implementation plan?

11. What was the implementation process like? 

12. What challenges did you hit along the way and how did [company name] help you through it?

Case study question #12 is great for building trust. It’s also the #1 most frequently asked question on customer reference calls by a wide margin.

13. What changes did you notice early on? How did things progress?

14. Can you tell me about how you’re using [our solution] and how it’s helped you? 

15. Was there anything that surprised you or stood out to you about [our solution]?

16. How has [our solution] made your job easier? 

16a. Follow-up: What about your department or other departments? The company as a whole?

17. What has your personal experience been like working with the [solution/team]?

18. If you couldn’t use our solution ever again, what would that be like? 

Case study question #18 can lead to some great sound bites.

Hot tip: Create distance

Say to your customer: “Assume I know nothing.” This encourages the customer to provide more context, which is where the golden nuggets really come out. 

19. What would you consider to be the biggest success of your relationship with [company name]?

20. What can you do now that you couldn’t do before? 

Case study question #20 is great for eliciting before/after context.

21. Where have you seen the biggest increase/impact?

21a. Follow-up: Can you quantify those results? For example…

Case study question #21a helps you encourage the interviewee by mentioning specific metrics or outcomes. 

22. What have these results meant for your business? 

22a. Follow-up: Were you expecting to see the type of results you experienced?

Case study question #22 gives the interviewee an opportunity to explain how the results are personal and meaningful.

23. How has [company name] evolved with you? How has it managed to remain your ideal solution both then and now?

23a. Follow-up: Can you think of an example of how working with [company name] has changed your thought process, strategy or the way you do business?

Case study question #23 can open up unique avenues of questioning and capture the dynamic nature of the relationship between you and your customer.

24. What unexpected benefit did you find or what did you learn along the way that you’ll take with you through your career?

Case study question #24 is great because it gets the customer excited about what they do.

25. If another company asked you if you would recommend working with us, what would you say and why? 

Case study question #25 is helpful because it gets the interviewee to provide quotes that summarize the company’s value props succinctly.

26. Is there anything you wish I’d asked?

Case study question #26 can give you some of your best quotes.

Do you want your case studies to have a particular focus? Do you want to tell a:

• Use case story?
• Adoption story?
• Competitive steal story?

Do you want to create:

• Customer-led blog posts providing advice or best practices?
• Customer-led blog posts providing thought leadership?
• Video stories?

If you answered yes…

…you need specific case study interview questions.

We created a cheat sheet with the 26 case study questions above, PLUS 19 additional questions for stories with a specific storyline or focus.

Download the interview questions cheatsheet – with the 19 bonus questions.

Don’t settle for a case study interview done by email. Not only are people more candid in conversation, but you’ll also be able to ask spur-of-the-moment case study questions and explore ideas as they’re presented.

Here are the 4 best ways you can conduct your case study interview:

• face-to-face (this is the best and most personable choice; try to arrange this if your customer is in your region)
• phone interview
• repurposing webinar

A recording and transcription of the case study interview will ensure accuracy and give you peace of mind. Down the road, you can also use the transcript for other marketing activities, such as grabbing testimonials and pull quotes, writing blog posts and more.

Use an app to record phone calls, or use Zoom or Google Meet to record video calls. Make sure you have permission to record the conversation.

Learn how to write a SaaS case study in 9 steps.

1 . Using yes/no questions

Does your list have any yes/no questions? If so, be ready with follow-up questions. Better yet, revise the case study question so it’s open-ended to elicit a more thoughtful response.

2 . Not pushing for numbers

Don’t be afraid to ask for numbers, concrete examples or more information. You need these for a quality case study and this is your chance to get them. Don’t be afraid to repeat case study questions or rephrase them to make sure you get what you need.

3 . Not allowing the conversation to flow

You don’t need to be rigid about asking every single question on your list. The best insights are often unexpected so allow the conversation to flow a little—but don’t get too far off-topic or you’ll run out of time.

4 . Not listening to your customer

Don’t think you already have all the answers. Go into the case study interview with an open mind and be ready to listen.

Scale your case study production

We write case studies for high-growth SaaS companies like ClickUp, WalkMe and Lean Data.  Check out our case study writing service .

26 Case Study Interview Questions to Help You Uncover Gold Get the powerful questions we use in interviews, plus 19 bonus questions for use case, adotpion and switcher stories.

As the founder of Uplift Content, Emily leads her team in creating done-for-you case studies, ebooks and blog posts for high-growth SaaS companies like ClickUp, Calendly and WalkMe. Connect with Emily on Linkedin

Sign up for the Content Huddle newsletter

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• Knowledge Base

Methodology

• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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McCombes, S. (2023, November 20). What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved August 21, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/case-study/

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What Is a Case Study?

Weighing the pros and cons of this method of research

Verywell / Colleen Tighe

• Pros and Cons

What Types of Case Studies Are Out There?

Where do you find data for a case study, how do i write a psychology case study.

A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in many different fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.

The point of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.

While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format similar to other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, we got you—here are some rules of APA format to reference.  

At a Glance

A case study, or an in-depth study of a person, group, or event, can be a useful research tool when used wisely. In many cases, case studies are best used in situations where it would be difficult or impossible for you to conduct an experiment. They are helpful for looking at unique situations and allow researchers to gather a lot of˜ information about a specific individual or group of people. However, it's important to be cautious of any bias we draw from them as they are highly subjective.

What Are the Benefits and Limitations of Case Studies?

A case study can have its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.

One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate things that are often difficult or impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case study:

• Allows researchers to capture information on the 'how,' 'what,' and 'why,' of something that's implemented
• Gives researchers the chance to collect information on why one strategy might be chosen over another
• Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research

On the other hand, a case study can have some drawbacks:

• It cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
• Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
• It may not be scientifically rigorous
• It can lead to bias

Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they want to explore a unique or recently discovered phenomenon. Through their insights, researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might be explored in future studies.

It's important to remember that the insights from case studies cannot be used to determine cause-and-effect relationships between variables. However, case studies may be used to develop hypotheses that can then be addressed in experimental research.

Case Study Examples

There have been a number of notable case studies in the history of psychology. Much of  Freud's work and theories were developed through individual case studies. Some great examples of case studies in psychology include:

• Anna O : Anna O. was a pseudonym of a woman named Bertha Pappenheim, a patient of a physician named Josef Breuer. While she was never a patient of Freud's, Freud and Breuer discussed her case extensively. The woman was experiencing symptoms of a condition that was then known as hysteria and found that talking about her problems helped relieve her symptoms. Her case played an important part in the development of talk therapy as an approach to mental health treatment.
• Phineas Gage : Phineas Gage was a railroad employee who experienced a terrible accident in which an explosion sent a metal rod through his skull, damaging important portions of his brain. Gage recovered from his accident but was left with serious changes in both personality and behavior.
• Genie : Genie was a young girl subjected to horrific abuse and isolation. The case study of Genie allowed researchers to study whether language learning was possible, even after missing critical periods for language development. Her case also served as an example of how scientific research may interfere with treatment and lead to further abuse of vulnerable individuals.

Such cases demonstrate how case research can be used to study things that researchers could not replicate in experimental settings. In Genie's case, her horrific abuse denied her the opportunity to learn a language at critical points in her development.

This is clearly not something researchers could ethically replicate, but conducting a case study on Genie allowed researchers to study phenomena that are otherwise impossible to reproduce.

There are a few different types of case studies that psychologists and other researchers might use:

• Collective case studies : These involve studying a group of individuals. Researchers might study a group of people in a certain setting or look at an entire community. For example, psychologists might explore how access to resources in a community has affected the collective mental well-being of those who live there.
• Descriptive case studies : These involve starting with a descriptive theory. The subjects are then observed, and the information gathered is compared to the pre-existing theory.
• Explanatory case studies : These   are often used to do causal investigations. In other words, researchers are interested in looking at factors that may have caused certain things to occur.
• Exploratory case studies : These are sometimes used as a prelude to further, more in-depth research. This allows researchers to gather more information before developing their research questions and hypotheses .
• Instrumental case studies : These occur when the individual or group allows researchers to understand more than what is initially obvious to observers.
• Intrinsic case studies : This type of case study is when the researcher has a personal interest in the case. Jean Piaget's observations of his own children are good examples of how an intrinsic case study can contribute to the development of a psychological theory.

The three main case study types often used are intrinsic, instrumental, and collective. Intrinsic case studies are useful for learning about unique cases. Instrumental case studies help look at an individual to learn more about a broader issue. A collective case study can be useful for looking at several cases simultaneously.

The type of case study that psychology researchers use depends on the unique characteristics of the situation and the case itself.

There are a number of different sources and methods that researchers can use to gather information about an individual or group. Six major sources that have been identified by researchers are:

• Archival records : Census records, survey records, and name lists are examples of archival records.
• Direct observation : This strategy involves observing the subject, often in a natural setting . While an individual observer is sometimes used, it is more common to utilize a group of observers.
• Documents : Letters, newspaper articles, administrative records, etc., are the types of documents often used as sources.
• Interviews : Interviews are one of the most important methods for gathering information in case studies. An interview can involve structured survey questions or more open-ended questions.
• Participant observation : When the researcher serves as a participant in events and observes the actions and outcomes, it is called participant observation.
• Physical artifacts : Tools, objects, instruments, and other artifacts are often observed during a direct observation of the subject.

If you have been directed to write a case study for a psychology course, be sure to check with your instructor for any specific guidelines you need to follow. If you are writing your case study for a professional publication, check with the publisher for their specific guidelines for submitting a case study.

Here is a general outline of what should be included in a case study.

Section 1: A Case History

This section will have the following structure and content:

Background information : The first section of your paper will present your client's background. Include factors such as age, gender, work, health status, family mental health history, family and social relationships, drug and alcohol history, life difficulties, goals, and coping skills and weaknesses.

Description of the presenting problem : In the next section of your case study, you will describe the problem or symptoms that the client presented with.

Describe any physical, emotional, or sensory symptoms reported by the client. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions related to the symptoms should also be noted. Any screening or diagnostic assessments that are used should also be described in detail and all scores reported.

Your diagnosis : Provide your diagnosis and give the appropriate Diagnostic and Statistical Manual code. Explain how you reached your diagnosis, how the client's symptoms fit the diagnostic criteria for the disorder(s), or any possible difficulties in reaching a diagnosis.

Section 2: Treatment Plan

This portion of the paper will address the chosen treatment for the condition. This might also include the theoretical basis for the chosen treatment or any other evidence that might exist to support why this approach was chosen.

• Cognitive behavioral approach : Explain how a cognitive behavioral therapist would approach treatment. Offer background information on cognitive behavioral therapy and describe the treatment sessions, client response, and outcome of this type of treatment. Make note of any difficulties or successes encountered by your client during treatment.
• Humanistic approach : Describe a humanistic approach that could be used to treat your client, such as client-centered therapy . Provide information on the type of treatment you chose, the client's reaction to the treatment, and the end result of this approach. Explain why the treatment was successful or unsuccessful.
• Psychoanalytic approach : Describe how a psychoanalytic therapist would view the client's problem. Provide some background on the psychoanalytic approach and cite relevant references. Explain how psychoanalytic therapy would be used to treat the client, how the client would respond to therapy, and the effectiveness of this treatment approach.
• Pharmacological approach : If treatment primarily involves the use of medications, explain which medications were used and why. Provide background on the effectiveness of these medications and how monotherapy may compare with an approach that combines medications with therapy or other treatments.

This section of a case study should also include information about the treatment goals, process, and outcomes.

When you are writing a case study, you should also include a section where you discuss the case study itself, including the strengths and limitiations of the study. You should note how the findings of your case study might support previous research. 

In your discussion section, you should also describe some of the implications of your case study. What ideas or findings might require further exploration? How might researchers go about exploring some of these questions in additional studies?

Need More Tips?

Here are a few additional pointers to keep in mind when formatting your case study:

• Never refer to the subject of your case study as "the client." Instead, use their name or a pseudonym.
• Read examples of case studies to gain an idea about the style and format.
• Remember to use APA format when citing references .

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach .  BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011;11:100.

Crowe S, Cresswell K, Robertson A, Huby G, Avery A, Sheikh A. The case study approach . BMC Med Res Methodol . 2011 Jun 27;11:100. doi:10.1186/1471-2288-11-100

Gagnon, Yves-Chantal.  The Case Study as Research Method: A Practical Handbook . Canada, Chicago Review Press Incorporated DBA Independent Pub Group, 2010.

Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods . United States, SAGE Publications, 2017.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

MB411 Clinical Case Study 2

8 Essential Components of a Case Study (Includes Interview Questions)

By Boast on February 1, 2022

Building trust with your prospects is crucial to growing your business. However, earning that trust can be challenging. You need to show proof that you can deliver on your promises. One way to show proof is through case studies. In this blog, I’ll explain what case studies are and share the eight essential components of a case study.

What is a Case Study?

From a broad perspective, a case study is an in-depth analysis of a particular subject. Generally, the study covers a problem-solution-results format. When applied to the business world, a case study examines how a customer had a problem, found a solution using a particular product or service, and shares the results of the solution.

Case studies are an excellent way for businesses to highlight the relationship between their product or service and its customers. It shares real data and results as social proof for potential customers.

Generally speaking, case studies appear as a one-page written article with visuals to support the content. However, it doesn’t have to end there. Case studies can be converted into a video, infographic, or podcast to be shared on your website, podcast platforms, and social media.

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8 Essential Components of a Case Study

Case studies are a powerful way to show how your business has positively impacted your customers’ lives. To have the most success, including the following eight essential components of a case study is imperative. I’ve also included some questions to help guide your interview with your customer.

1. Start with a Compelling Title and Summary

As with any story, you should include an eye-catching headline. You want to keep the title short but relative to the story. Try to encompass the title around the work you did with your customer.

You should also include a brief summary of the entire story into 2-4 sentences. The summary is the first thing your audience will read after clicking on the title. You want to share with the reader what to expect as they continue to read. We recommend including bullet points after the summary to include key metrics to share their success.

2. Share Background Information About Your Customer

Before diving into the problem, you should share a little information about your customer. This will help your reader understand who your customer is and how long they’ve been using your product or service. In most cases, this information helps your reader find a connection.  

Use the following questions to guide you as you write an “about customer” section in your case study:

• What industry are they from? 
• Where are they located? 
• How many employees do they have? 
• How long have they been a customer?

3. Explain the Challenge Your Customer Faced

Once your readers understand who your customer is, it’s time to explain the problem or pain point your customer was experiencing. Describe the initial challenge your customer faced before using your product or service.

The problem is central to the story you’re telling. Prospects who are experiencing similar pain points will be able to relate well to the study. Consider asking the following questions:

• What were your pain points before using our product or service?
• What could have happened if you did not find a solution?
• Did you try other solutions before finding our product or service?

4. Discuss Your Customer’s Decision Process

It’s helpful to discuss your customer’s decision process and the steps they went through before discovering your product or service. Explaining this process may help potential customers work through their own situation.

In this section of your case study, you want to discuss how your customer found you. Try asking your customer these questions:

• How did you hear about our product or service?
• When evaluating your options, what was most important to you?
• Who was involved in the decision-making process?

Consider the goals and objectives your customer set in place as they began their journey to find a solution. Again, this information can help spark a connection between your reader and may drive them to give your product or service a try.

5. Explain the Solution and Implementation

After you share how your customer made the decision to choose your product or service as their solution, you want to explain how it was implemented. Focus on your customer’s experience with your onboarding process.

Sharing this process in your case study gives prospects a look into how your implementation process works. Try asking your customer the following questions:

• Did the implementation of our product/service meet your expectations?
• How long did it take to complete the onboarding process?
• Who was involved in the implementation process?

6. Share the End Results

Conclude your case study with the end results. Share the impressive metrics your customer achieved while using your product or service. Remember, the more numbers and hard data you can include, the better.

Apart from the measurable results, it’s also important to share the qualitative results. Explain the benefits your customer has received since using your product or service. Did they accomplish the goals and objectives they initially set out to achieve?

7. Include Supporting Visuals and Quotes

One component you don’t want to forget is supporting visuals and quotes. Visuals can range from images, infographics, GIFs, and videos. Images are some of the most common elements to include. Consider adding your customer’s logo, headshot, or photo from their business. Infographics can be helpful if there is a lot of data to be shared.

If you’re able to record an interview with your customer, you can turn the case study into a video testimonial as well. Video testimonials are a powerful way to share your customer’s story in a visual format. Hearing the words directly from your customer establishes an emotional connection, and emotions drive buying decisions .

Additionally, you should include direct quotes to add to your text. Select one or two quotes from your customer to enhance the content. Direct quotes provide a sense of authenticity to the story.

8. Don’t Forget the Call To Action (CTA)

Your case study is a form of Proof-Based Marketing , real proof that shows prospects how you’ve been able to help others. The last essential component to your case study should be a call to action or CTA. As with any marketing content, you want to include a CTA to bring in new leads and customers. 

When done correctly, your case study can also convince others experiencing similar problems to try out your product or service. It’s best to include your CTA throughout the case study as some prospects will take less convincing than others.

There you have it, eight essential components of a case study. We recommend including all of these elements into your case studies for the most success. Remember to include your customer throughout the process and get their written consent to use their information as marketing content.

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Discover Aboriginal Experiences launches 4 member case studies on sustainable tourism for Earth Day 2024

Mabu Buru Tours, Broome, Western Australia © Tourism Australia

Media release

A collective of quality, authentic, Aboriginal-guided tourism offerings, Discover Aboriginal Experiences (DAE) is delighted to launch four case studies on collective members going to extraordinary lengths when it comes to sustainable tourism, whether that relates to protecting the environment, community, culture – or all three.

The launch of the four case studies coincides with upcoming Earth Day 2024, falling on 22 April. The case studies also tap into recent figures published by Statista , which show that more than 80 per cent of global travellers regard sustainable travel as important to them, and that they were willing to adopt sustainable travel incentives something that has led the global eco-tourism industry to be worth US$172.4 billion.

Indeed, the vast majority of experiences offered by members of the DAE collective fall into this category. These four case studies profile Mabu Buru Tours in Western Australia; Sand Dune Adventures in New South Wales; Wajaana Yaam in New South Wales; and Maruku Arts in the Northern Territory. The case studies are detailed below in Appendix 1. Interviews can be arranged by request.

Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples don’t see a piece of land as something to fence off and own. Nor do they look at the bush as a place to extract as many resources as possible. They don’t regard waterways as reservoirs to feed mass plantations. Instead, they see themselves and the land as one.

The world’s oldest living cultures have been embracing sustainability long before it became fashionable to lower food miles and use plant-based plastics. For at least 65,000 years they have lived in harmony with the environment, adhering to a reciprocal relationship that honours, rather than exploits the land. The Earth is their mother, a force that enables their existence in return for care and respect.

“The Indigenous connection to Country is fundamental across the DAE collective, as is sharing of culture through tourism, fostering a thriving living culture and economic and physical wellbeing of communities, and telling uniquely Australian stories,” says Nicole Mitchell, Executive Officer Discover Aboriginal Experiences. “We’re delighted to spotlight four of our members who stand out in these fields. There are so many others – and we will develop our portfolio of case studies in the coming months. We hope this inspires guests and journalists to rethink and recognise the immense positive impact that the growing demand for Aboriginal tourism is having.”

It's this ongoing commitment to sustainability that saw the DAE collective recently acknowledged in Travel + Leisure’s Global Vision Awards 2024, announced in the lead-up to Earth Day to recognise the many companies, individuals, destinations and non-profit organisations that are leading the way in developing a more sustainable travel industry.

Editor's note:

Trade and media can access information on each operator in the collective as well as images and logos from the Trade and Media section of the website, here . Keep up to date and be inspired via our Connect to Country digital magazines. A collection of royalty-free Aboriginal tourism images and videos are available here . Please see the dropdown menu for Discover Aboriginal Experiences.

The Discover Aboriginal Experiences collective is part of Tourism Australia’s Signature Experiences of Australia program that promotes outstanding tourism experiences within a variety of special categories. This collection showcases a diversity of experiences delivered by the world’s oldest living cultures, creating memorable trips for adventure seekers, culture enthusiasts, foodies and nature lovers, ranging from exploring hidden rock art galleries to foraging for native delicacies, stand-up paddleboarding on culturally significant waterways to bedding down at wilderness lodges in serene natural settings.

Each member of the Discover Aboriginal Experiences collection is considered a world-class leader in Aboriginal tourism, representing local Aboriginal cultures with integrity and authenticity.

Appendix 1: Case studies

Case study 1: mabu buru tours, kimberley, western australia.

Mabu Buru Tours is the brainchild of Johani Mamid, a proud Indigenous man born and raised in Broome in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. His guided experiences take guests on a deep dive into culture, allowing you to savour seasonal fruits, meet local wildlife, and delve into ancient lore and traditions. More than a tour, it’s an immersive cultural journey fostering understanding of Aboriginal life and history. And by learning about it, you’re helping preserve it.

Mabu Buru donates 50 per cent of profits from the ‘3-day Broome Ultimate Aboriginal Culture Expedition’ to the Mabu Buru Foundation , an Aboriginal not-for-profit organisation dedicated to ensuring the survival and preservation of Indigenous culture through continued practice and knowledge sharing.  The Foundation’s objectives include ‘Cultural Practice and Knowledge Sharing’, ‘Training and Employment’ for local Aboriginal people, ‘Cultural Tourism’ experiences, ‘Conservation and Environment’, and ‘Community Engagement.’

Funds are then used via a number of initiatives. Among them are workshops and training programs to facilitate cultural practices, knowledge transmission and skill development among cultural practitioners and emerging talents. “A big goal of ours is to protect knowledge,” says Johani. “We've created a business that helps to bring together corporate Australia and Indigenous products and services and Indigenous businesses, which of course not just helps the corporate Australia companies, it also helps Indigenous businesses to connect with opportunities we find for them and create for them to see.”

The foundation also channels funds into caring for Country by supporting initiatives that contribute to environmental conservation, land management, and the preservation of significant cultural sites and practices. Johani and his team also believe education is key, and they work with schools, organisations and community groups to deliver cultural awareness programs, educational resources and activities that promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture. And the Foundation helps create jobs and business opportunities for Aboriginal people, promoting entrepreneurship and supporting economic development initiatives that align with cultural values and aspirations.

Case study 2: Sand Dune Adventures, Port Stephens, NSW

There’s something about zooming down the largest shifting sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere that makes you understand why Port Stephens, a two-hour drive north of Sydney/Warrane, is such a special place, and has been to the Worimi Aboriginal people for millennia. Here, Sand Dune Adventures ’ adrenaline-pumping quad-bike tours take guests across Stockton Bight Sand Dunes in the Worimi Conservation Lands, covering some 4,200 hectares. This part of New South Wales is off-limits to most people – unless you’re with a Worimi guide and have good screaming lungs.

Sand Dune Adventures combines this thrilling quad-biking adventure with unique cultural preservation as you journey through bushland, in and around enormous sand dunes – you’ll learn about traditional Aboriginal food and history, as well as the dunes’ significance to Indigenous communities.

Sand Dune Adventures is owned and operated by the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council . Guides are all Worimi peoples; “Our tours are not about profit, they’re about people and sustaining culture,” says Andrew Smith, CEO of the Worimi Local Aboriginal Land Council. More than that, Sand Dune Adventures also funds the Murrook Cultural Centre , who’s purpose it to gather, sustain, protect and teach Aboriginal Culture to all people with an emphasis on Worimi culture. 

“We’ve trained dozens of Aboriginal local people in our business,” says Andrew, noting that the centre now employs more than 45 staff and has grown from having four quad bikes to being able to accommodate more than 100 guests at any given time. “We have a whole series of people who can be Aboriginal tour guides, they can ride the quad bikes, they know the local history, they’re trained in business administration and marketing. All the things required to run a successful business. We also do training in natural resource management… we get our elders and Traditional Owners and knowledge holders out on Country with some of our younger generation and start talking about respect… discovering a combined balance in the ecosystem between our traditional natural resource management values and scientific values.”

This forward-thinking centre is fundamental when it comes to gathering, sustaining, protecting and teaching Aboriginal culture, catering to everyone from school groups to community businesses, government groups and international travellers. It’s also used by the local Aboriginal community as a gathering place. Aboriginal staff teach various facets of culture, ranging from boomerangs to weapons and tools, art and dance, bush food and medicine, craft and more.

The Council also funds a ‘green team’, dedicated to the rehabilitation and regeneration of natural environments alongside urban-based environmental education. Part of this has been the establishment of a nursery at Murrook. “We also have a botanist, ecologist and archaeologist. We do seed collection and create stock supplies for our nursery to sustain native plants indigenous to this region. There are a lot of rehabilitation sites looking for native plants. We’re here with a long-term investment,” says Andrew.

And the return to the community? “Social Adventures Australia worked out that for every $1 we invest into our businesses, it’s giving around a $25 return to a family. That’s a massive investment into our people.”

Case study 3: Maruku Arts, Ulu r u, Northern Territory

In the Northern Territory’s heartland, near the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ulu r u, Maruku Arts has been contributing to cultural sustainability for more than 35 years, helping to preserve Aboriginal practices like painting, drawing and carving through sharing these traditions with visitors and local employment.

Owned by A n angu (Aboriginal people from the Western and Central Deserts of Australia), Maruku offers the opportunity for guests to peruse an extensive range of paintings and distinctive punu (wooden carvings) by some 900 A n angu artists from 25 different communities, depicting Creation stories and places. Everything is ethically sourced and sold. Beyond supporting these artists via the retail gallery, this outback art centre offers hands-on dot-painting workshops, where you’ll be guided by a local A n angu artist to learn about the traditional art form, symbols and tools, creating your own artwork.

Maruku not only sells art from its local community Mutitjulu at Ulu r u, but also sends staff to remote communities across the NPY regions (Pitjantjajatjarra, Yangkuntjarra, Ngaanyatjarra Lands) of the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, to purchase woodcarvings – it has been doing this since 1984. In 2019 alone, it invested $1.5 million dollars into 22 different communities across the central and western deserts, funding tour guides and environmental training, among other cultural facets.

“As Maruku Arts celebrates 40 years, it's a testament to our longevity and sustainability,” says Lauren Woodward,  Maruku’s manager cultural tourism and events. “Maruku Arts stands as a beacon of cultural preservation and community empowerment.”

Case Study 4: Wajaana Yaam Adventure Tours, Coffs Harbour, NSW

The Gumbaynggirr people of the New South Wales Mid-North Coast have been paddling its waterways for tens of thousands of years, their ancestors using their knowledge of the tides to travel long distances in dugout canoes carved from hollowed tree trunks. Wajaana Yaam Adventure Tours continues this tradition via its stand-up paddleboarding tours, which are held on three idyllic waterways within the Solitary Islands Marine Park: the OFFICIAL Coffs, Moonee and Red Rock Creeks. While paddling, you can admire the fish darting through crystal clear waters as your Aboriginal guide brings the Dreaming to life, and introduces you to some coastal bush tucker.

But more than being a scenic way to see the coast, Wajaana Yaam has its eye on the future – much of the company’s profits are reinvested from tourism activities back into the community. The company’s founder, Clark Webb, also established Bularri Muurlay Nyanggan Aboriginal Corporation (BMNAC) in 2010, with the overarching goal of sustaining local culture on Country. Over the last 14 years, the organisation has set up three learning centres, among other achievements.

Arguably the biggest achievement to date has been the 2022 opening of the Giingana Gumbaynggirr Freedom School , the first bilingual school in NSW of an Aboriginal Language. “The aim is to revitalise the Gumbaynggirr language, as currently it is listed as endangered, while also education on Aboriginal culture, purpose, traditions and identity,” says Clark. “It’s of the utmost importance that our children can attend a school that holds their culture and the land in the highest regard.”

In 2022, the school opened with 15 students; in 2023 there were 52 students and this year there are 85… with a waiting list. This is a 100 per cent Aboriginal student school.

The BMNAC is also planning to open the Yilaami Eco-Resort, with capacity to cater for 40 guests and including an on-site restaurant and facilities that connect people with an array of cultural tourism experiences. In addition to offering a minimum of 12 permanent jobs, profits from the Yilaami Eco-Resort will provide the main source of funding for the Gumbaynggirr Giingana Freedom School, says Clark.

For media enquiries, contact:  Nicole Mitchell Executive Officer, Discover Aboriginal Experiences T: +61 410 499 525 E: [email protected] W:  discoveraboriginalexperiences.com

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We acknowledge the Traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Owners of the land, sea and waters of the Australian continent, and recognise their custodianship of culture and Country for over 60,000 years.

*Disclaimer:  The information on this website is presented in good faith and on the basis that Tourism Australia, nor their agents or employees, are liable (whether by reason of error, omission, negligence, lack of care or otherwise) to any person for any damage or loss whatsoever which has occurred or may occur in relation to that person taking or not taking (as the case may be) action in respect of any statement, information or advice given in this website. Tourism Australia wishes to advise people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent that this website may contain images of persons now deceased.

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Study discovers an electric current in the gut that attracts pathogens like Salmonella

by Nadine A Yehya, UC Davis

How do bad bacteria find entry points in the body to cause infection? This question is fundamental for infectious disease experts and people who study bacteria. Harmful pathogens, like Salmonella, find their way through a complex gut system where they are vastly outnumbered by good microbes and immune cells. Still, the pathogens navigate to find vulnerable entry points in the gut that would allow them to invade and infect the body.

A team of UC Davis Health researchers has discovered a novel bioelectrical mechanism these pathogens use to find these openings. Their study was published in Nature Microbiology .

Bacteria breaking through the gated gut

Salmonella cause about 1.35 million illnesses and 420 deaths in the United States every year. To infect someone, this pathogen needs to cross the gut lining border.

"When ingested, Salmonella find their way to the intestines. There, they are vastly outnumbered by over 100 trillion good bacteria (known as commensals). They are facing the odds of one in a million," said the study's lead author Yao-Hui Sun, a research scientist affiliated with the Departments of Internal Medicine, Ophthalmology and Vision Science, and Dermatology.

To learn how Salmonellae find their way into the intestine, the researchers observed the movement of S. Typhimurium bacteria (a strain of Salmonella) and compared it to that of a harmless strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria.

Navigating a complex gut landscape

The intestine has a very complex landscape. Its epithelial structure includes villus epithelium and follicle-associated epithelium (FAE). Villus epithelium is made of absorptive cells (enterocytes) with protrusions that help with nutrient absorption.

FAE, on the other hand, contains M cells overlying small clusters of lymphatic tissue known as Peyer's patches. These M cells are tasked with antigen sampling. They act as the immune system's first line of defense against microbial and dietary antigens.

The research that was done on a mouse model showed that Salmonellae detect electric signals in FAE. They move toward this part of the gut where they find openings through which they can enter. This process of cell movement in response to electric fields is called galvanotaxis, or electrotaxis.

"Our study found that this 'entry point' has electric fields that the Salmonella bacteria take advantage of to pass," said the study's senior author Min Zhao. Zhao is a UC Davis professor of ophthalmology and dermatology and a researcher affiliated with the Institute for Regenerative Cures.

The study also showed that E. coli and Salmonella respond differently to bioelectric fields. They have opposite responses to the same electric cue. While E. coli clustered next to the villi, Salmonella gathered to FAE.

The study detected electric currents that loop by entering the absorptive villi and exiting the FAE.

"Notably, the bioelectric field in the gut epithelia is configured in a way that Salmonellae take advantage of to be sorted to the FAE and less so for E. coli," explained Sun. "The pathogen seems to prefer the FAE as a gateway to invade the host and cause infections."

Previous studies have indicated that bacteria use chemotaxis to move around. With chemotaxis, the bacteria sense chemical gradients and move towards or away from specific compounds. But the new study suggests that the galvanotaxis of Salmonella to the FAE does not occur through chemotaxis pathways.

"Our study presents an alternative or a complementary mechanism in modulating Salmonella targeting to the gut epithelium," Zhao said.

Potential link to IBD and other gut disorders

The study might have the potential to explain complex chronic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

"This mechanism represents a new pathogen-human body 'arms race' with potential implications for other bacterial infections as well as prevention and treatment possibilities," Zhao said. "It is believed that the root cause of IBD is an excessive and abnormal immune response against good bacteria. It will be interesting to learn whether patients prone to have IBD also have aberrant bioelectric activities in gut epithelia."

Journal information: Nature Microbiology

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Estimating ancestral states of complex characters: a case study on the evolution of feathers

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Feathers are a key novelty underpinning the evolutionary success of birds, yet the origin of feathers remains poorly understood. Debates about feather evolution hinge upon whether filamentous integument has evolved once or multiple time independently on the lineage leading to modern birds. These contradictory results stem from subjective methodological differences in statistical ancestral state estimates. Here we conduct a comprehensive comparison of ancestral state estimation methodologies applied to stem-group birds, testing the role of outgroup inclusion, tree time scaling method, model choice and character coding strategy. Models are compared based on their Akaike Information Criteria (AIC), mutual information, as well as the uncertainty of marginal ancestral state estimates. Our results demonstrate that ancestral state estimates of stem-bird integument are strongly influenced by tree time scaling method, outgroup selection and model choice, while character coding strategy seems to have less effect on the ancestral estimates produced. We identify the best fitting models using AIC scores and a leave-one-out cross-validation approach (LOOCV). Our analyses broadly support the independent origin of filamentous integument in dinosaurs and pterosaurs and support a younger evolutionary origin of feathers than has been suggested previously. More generally, our study highlights that special care must be taken in selecting the outgroup, tree and model when conducting ASE analyses. With respect to model selection, our results suggest that considering a LOOCV approach, may yield more reliable results than simply comparing AIC scores when the analyses involve a limited number of taxa.

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Thomasclavelia ramosa is a Signature of Gut Dysbiosis associated with Alcohol-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A First Microbial Culturomics Study

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Background Gut microbiota alteration is implicated in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and HCC. No study has characterized the dysbiosis associated with ALD by microbial culturomics, an approach that certifies viability and allows the characterization of pathobiont strain candidates.

Methods A case-control study was conducted on patients with ALD without HCC (ALD-NoHCC) (n=16), ALD with HCC (ALD-HCC) (n=19), and controls (n=24). 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and microbial culturomics were used as complementary methods for gut microbiome profiling.

Results By microbial culturomics, Thomasclavelia ramosa was the most enriched and detected in all ALD samples (100%), while it was cultivated in only a small proportion of controls (20%, p < 0.001). By 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and 3-groups linear discriminant analysis, T. ramosa was increased explicitly in the ALD-HCC group (LDA-score > 5, p < 0.05).

Conclusions T. ramosa, identified by culturomics and 16 rRNA sequencing, is associated with ALD and ALD-HCC. Alongside the recently reported in vitro genotoxicity of this species in colorectal cancer, this species has been identified as a candidate oncobiont in ALD-HCC.

The gut microbiota signature of ALD and ALD-HCC was explored by microbial culturomics and 16S amplicon sequencing

By culturomics, T. ramosa was the most enriched and cultured from all included ALD patients, but in only 20% of controls (p < 0.05).

T. ramosa was significantly associated with alcohol-related HCC by 16S sequencing.

T. ramosa is identified as a putative oncobiont associated with ALD-HCC, thus opening new avenues for diagnosis and treatment.

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Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

This study was funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche under two programs: ANR-15-CE36-0004-01 and ANR "Investissements d'avenir", Mediterranee Infection 10-IAHU-03. The Region Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur also supported this study, which received financial support from the Fondation Mediterranee Infection.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethics committee of the Institut Hospitalo Universitaire Mediterranee Infection, Marseille, France (2020/004), approved by the Protection of Persons Committee (21.04391.000046/21075) gave ethical approval for this work

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Data Availability

All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study within the article and/or supplementary materials are available upon request. The raw sequencing data of fecal samples are available in the NCBI Sequence Read Archive with accession number PRJEB62828. The genome of six strains of Thomasclavelia ramosa (strains CSUR Q9705, Q9779, Q9849, QA0117, QA0118, and QA0666, available on request) have been sequenced, and genome sequencing data are publicly available under the Bioproject NCBI PRJEB76822.

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