case study interview sap

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What to Expect on the Day of the Case Study Interview

The case study interview session will likely begin like a standard interview, with introductions and a small talk to help put you at ease. The location will usually be an interviewing room or a vacant conference room.

The interviewer will introduce the business situation and provide exhibits, which often include an excerpt from a financial statement, and perhaps a bullet-point summary of the facts of the case. The interviewer will ask if you have any questions, and then you will be prompted to begin working on the case.

Cases are usually self-contained, so it is unlikely you will need internet access to do research. However, you will likely have to perform calculations, and will either be provided with paper and pens or allowed to use the calculator on your mobile phone or the whiteboard in the room.

During the case, the interviewer may stay in the room to address any questions you have. The interviewer may also offer prompts, guide you to the next step, or provide hints.

Many interviewers will offer verbal or tacit feedback along the way, and it is important to pay attention to it. You may occasionally find yourself getting stuck, and it is entirely appropriate to ask questions of the interviewer to help get back on track.

At the conclusion, you may be given feedback on your overall performance, or an opportunity to debrief with the interviewer.

Common Types of Case Study Questions

Case study questions usually fall into one of the following four categories:

JobTestPrep offers practice packages to prepare for assessment centre case studies .

Estimation Questions

This type of question requires you to think on your feet and work out the solution to a problem with only your own limited knowledge. Such questions include:

Actual or Theoretical Client Questions

This type of question requires candidates to analyse an actual or possible client issue. Examples include:

Graphic Interpretation Questions

This type of question requires candidates to interpret data from some kind of chart or graph. The data may be actual company data, data that has been made up or data that refers to something else entirely.

Case Study Example Topics

Case study questions are most likely to cover general business strategy topics. Candidates can expect any of the following during their case interview:

Build a business case for developing a major new product, service, technology solution, or customer experience

Build a business case for a developing new line of business, spinning off an existing one, or creating a subsidiary business

Recommend whether to pursue a purchase, divestiture, acquisition, merger, joint venture, strategic alliance, or major partnership

Recommend whether to enter a new market and if so, by what competitive strategy (for example, cost, service, quality)

Determine how best to improve company or business unit growth, and how it might affect critical areas of the company’s financial statements, especially revenue, gross margin, EBITDA, or profitability

Determine how best to price or segment a new product or service offering Determine whether to rehabilitate a brand

Determine how to respond to a major competitive threat (for example, “Google / Amazon / Microsoft just entered our space”)

How to Prepare and Practice Effectively

When preparing for the case study interview, it is important to keep things in perspective. You are not being assessed on your mastery of business strategy. Rather, the interviewers are looking at whether you take a critical approach to complex business problems, and can break them down into components logically, thoroughly and clearly.

They want to see whether you apply a structure to those components, one that highlights meaningful differences in choices a client may face. And they are especially interested in whether you ask insightful questions that increase everyone’s knowledge and drive the conversation toward a solid conclusion.

In light of that, here are some practical ways you can prepare for the case interview:

Step 1. Gain a Working Understanding of the Standard Frameworks Used in the Consulting Industry

There are numerous online resources to help familiarise you or refresh your understanding.

Keep in mind these frameworks are not hacks and must be applied appropriately if you decide to use them during your case study interview.

Step 2. Get Comfortable With Fundamental Analysis Techniques

One of the most common is MECE (mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive), but there are several others .

But the goal is the same – lay out a range of feasible solutions with no gaps in between.

Step 3. Sharpen Your Ability to Make Back-Of-The-Envelope Calculations

Especially financial ratios , so that you can make comparisons or decisions quickly.

Step 4. Develop a Concise Style for Putting Business Situations and Solutions Into Narrative Form

Harvard Business Review or MIT Sloan Management Review articles contain particularly good examples of consulting solutions told as compelling stories.

Step 5. Practice Several Actual Cases

Most of the top consulting firms offer online guidance, worked examples and actual cases.

Another good resource is your university’s careers services department. Many have extensive case interview preparation materials, and staff who can conduct a practice case study interview with you.

Step 6. Practice Active Listening

Listening is a highly cultivated skill among senior managers. You will come across as very junior if you cut them off or act too eagerly when it’s your turn to speak.

Note that if you are answering a question in your head while the interviewer is still talking, you are not listening!

To develop your consulting case interview technique, consider practising further using online resources such as this preparation pack from JobTestPrep.

Tips on How to Perform Well During the Case Study Interview

Actively engage with the interviewer . Ask questions to make sure you are both understanding matters, and being understood.

Demonstrate that you are enjoying the challenge . Consulting is gruelling work. Show that you can bring energy to a consulting engagement, and that you’re the kind of person clients would want to work with, especially when the going gets tough.

Treat the interviewer as you would one of the firm’s most valued clients . Communicate using the language of the client where appropriate.

Keep the conversation moving forward . At every step make sure that you are bringing structure to the business problem, and keeping all the issues in proper context.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are case study interviews.

Case study interviews are used in the latter stages of the application process for top-level roles, especially in the professional services or consultancy industry.

Candidates are presented with a case study based on a realistic and relevant scenario and must study the problem, analyze the provided data and information, and present a conclusion or a recommendation.

Case study interviews are about your ability to effectively understand and analyze a business problem to produce a solution, but they are also about your thought processes and ability to communicate decisions and recommend appropriate solutions.

The case study interview will normally take place in a ‘typical’ interview environment – in-person, at the office and with either a single interviewer or a panel. In some cases, it might happen remotely or as part of a group exercise with other applicants.

In the case study interview , you are being assessed on your strategy, how adaptable and fast learning you are, and how you use critical thinking and logic to analyze information. You will also be evaluated on your general business acumen and your knowledge of the company and wider industry, alongside desirable characteristics like insight and curiosity.

When presenting your findings, the interviewer wants you to come across as confident, presentable, and poised, while being able to distill complicated ideas and solutions in the simplest form to make them both understandable and easy to implement.

What type of jobs have case study interviews?

Case study interviews have been traditionally used as a part of the application process for associate-level jobs in the consultancy industry. These roles are usually directly involved in generating income for the business by collaborating with clients in a consultant capacity, so the case study interview is an in-depth work sample.

In recent times, case study interviews are also being used in the recruitment of analysts, where strategy and business acumen are needed alongside analytical skills for success in a job that provides detailed support for senior management in terms of internal problem solving and external profit growth.

You might also expect to deal with a case study interview if you are looking for a role in IT, especially at higher levels with some level of business-wide decision making. Managers in many industries might be provided with an employee-related case study to deal with as part of the interview process to assess leadership style and understanding of typical HR processes and procedures.

How do I prepare for the case study interview?

The case study interview is not as much about getting the ‘right’ answer as it is about the process of getting there, so it is a difficult one to prepare for. However, the more you know about what to expect in the interview, the better you will be able to perform. Articles like this one on Wikijob will give you an extensive overview of the structure of a case study interview, as well as what to expect on the day.

One of the best sources of information about the case study interview is likely to be the business for which you have applied. This is especially true with the Big Four consultancy firms (PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and EY) as they use the case study in many recruitment processes and have lots of resources on their recruitment site to help candidates to get prepared.

You will also be expected to have a good working knowledge of the wider industry that you are a part of, and the company you have applied for in relation to that. Knowing more about the consultancy space, for example, will give you an idea about what the business values are, and you can use this when considering the right course of action to suggest.

You can also get excellent preparation advice from JobTestPrep , with guided practice cases and revision resources to help you get used to different types of questions, how to approach the problem, and different strategies and structures to use to answer.

The case study interview is not just about how effectively you can analyze the problem – it is also about selecting and recommending a course of action. You will need presentation skills to be able to give this information to the relevant clients if you get the job, and this means that you need to hone your skills to perform well in the interview, too.

Practice active listening, speaking clearly, and using popular presentation software like PowerPoint because you might be expected to put together and talk about a slide show to make your recommendation.

What types of case studies can be given in an interview?

The case study that you will be given in your interview is likely to be realistic and relevant to the role you have applied for. In some cases, it will be a fictitious problem based on something that you might need to do if you get the job, while in others it might be a real customer problem that you are being asked to solve.

The case studies are usually based around different strategy issues and topics that a consultant or analyst might be asked to help with, including things like:

What are the common case study interview questions?

The common case study questions that you might be asked in a case study interview are about strategy, but they are also usually relevant to the role you have applied for. There are three main types of questions that you might be asked:

What are the best free online resources to prepare for case study interviews?

When you are applying for a job with a company that uses case study interviews as part of the recruitment process, you will often find the best free resources to help you prepare on their career site. Making use of the resources the company provides is the best way to be prepared because you will be using the information they have provided, which is usually closely aligned to the actual content of the assessments and interviews.

For a more broad view of case study interviews including techniques and definitions, articles like this Wikijob resource will provide you with a lot of information that will help you prepare, including tips.

We recommend that anyone facing a case study interview gets access to the free resources available at JobTestPrep , with practice case studies. The Prep Packs are a paid-for source of invaluable information that includes techniques, frameworks and extra ideas that will help you work to your absolute best in the interview.

How can you prepare a presentation for a case study interview?

It is highly likely that as part of the case study interview , you will be expected to create a presentation of your results.

In some cases, this might be through an informal discussion with the interviewer, but in many cases, you will have to present your recommendation more formally so that you can be assessed on your presentation skills, communication, and confidence.

In this case, you should prepare for the presentation by practicing presentations. Some case interviews will expect you to create a slideshow of your findings and speak about them, so knowledge of software like PowerPoint will help here.

The most important preparation you can do is about how you present yourself. The interviewer wants you to be poised, confident and comfortable with what you are saying, so you can get the best results by practicing speaking clearly, taking complicated ideas, and simplifying them, and actively listening when you are asked a question. Think of any topic – work-related or not – and create a short presentation on it that could be understood by anyone, and then present it to a friend or a relative.

What is the best way to structure and layout your notes in the case study interview?

When you undertake a case study interview , you will be provided with some source material and the facility to make notes – and these notes will be pivotal in your performance, ensuring that you can make the best recommendation through detailed analysis.

The way you approach the case study will depend on several factors, but you should always create some form of ‘issue tree’ that considers the problem that needs to be solved and can be branched out into smaller questions and problems.

To do this effectively, take a good couple of pages of notes related to the data and information that is provided by the interviewer. There will likely be some extraneous information provided that could muddy the waters of your thinking but making notes will help clarify it. It is especially useful to keep numbers in mind, whether that is related to staffing, profit, or stock – this is important.

You will then need to use a couple of pages to create the issue tree structure and begin to answer some of the questions.

The final part of your note-taking should be the recommendation and the preparation that you need to do to present your findings to the interviewer.

Don’t forget that you are expected to make notes through the process, but you should also speak to the interviewer and let them know what your thought processes are – and ask for more data if you have any gaps. When they are speaking, make sure you are listening and you understand what they are saying before taking any notes – active listening is an important skill in a consultant or analyst.

How much time do you have to think about the answer in a case study interview?

In the case study interview , you are not necessarily going to be given a specific amount of time to think about your answer because the whole interview is about your thinking process.

What this means in practice is that you will be reading and analyzing the information, devising a structure and a strategy and concluding in a live environment, consulting with the interviewer to ask questions and get clarity.

By thinking aloud and making notes, you will have enough time to contemplate how you are tackling the question.

A typical case study interview can last as little as 30 minutes, but many are considerably longer at half a day or even a full day (depending on the role, the company, and the industry you have applied for).

What should I study to ace the case study interviews?

One of the first things that you need to study for the case study interview is the material that is provided by the company you have applied for – or ones in the same industry.

As many of the major consultancy firms use case study interviews for associate-level recruitment and analysts, the case studies tend to be similar enough that the resources provided will be useful even for a job at a competitor.

You also need to be au fait with the company and the wider industry, identifying trends across businesses and the specific values of the organization you have applied for.

In terms of the case study itself, knowledge of analysis techniques and the frameworks used in consulting will be useful – even if you don’t use them in that particular case, you might need them later in the role (once you ace the interview).

Aside from confidently creating issue trees and ensuring your data gathering is Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive (MECE), some things you will need to know include:

Think about what is important to analyze for a business too, like profit margins, expenses, and ROI, as well as consumer metrics like User Lifetime Value and demographics.

What is the next step after a case study interview?

The case study interview is usually the last step in a recruitment process for top-level roles and will have taken place after the more traditional ‘fit’ interview where you will be asked competency-based and motivational questions.

You will have already surpassed other applicants through the initial paper sift, any aptitude or psychometric testing, and interviews to get to the case study.

This means that if you are successful in the case study interview, the next step will be a job offer or a salary discussion.

Final Thoughts

You can’t cram for a case study interview. But you can prepare in such a way that your analytical acumen, communication skills , and business intuition are all razor-sharp on the day of the interview. Furthermore, you can show that you are one of the few who can take on the consultant mindset, and appear natural doing so.

In summary, here are the steps you can take that will show you grasp the fundamentals of consulting, and have the aptitude to master them over your career:

Get familiar with the most common business case scenarios, and the important differences between them.

Develop a working method for breaking down business cases into components, and for structuring these components.

Get knowledgeable about analysis frameworks , how they can be used as problem-solving tools, and where it is appropriate to use them.

Cultivate a narrative style that gets people interested and excited about your work.

Use a conversational style that begins with asking good questions, and is driven by wanting to be the best listener in the room – not the best talker.

This article was written in partnership with LiveCareer . Since 2005, LiveCareer has been developing tools that have helped over 10 million users build stronger resumes and CVs, write persuasive cover letters, and develop better interview skills. These tools include their free resume builder and CV builder .

You might also be interested in these other WikiJob articles:

Or explore the Interview Advice / Interview Questions sections.

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