The MCA presents:

Friday, July 4, 2014

Recall: Overview of a Case
Interview
1 2 3 4 5

Framework Analysis Quant Insight Conclusion

• Understanding • Find the key issue • Comfort with • Business acumen • Messaging and
the problem numbers • Creativity communication
• Structuring your • Synthesis of key
approach details

3-5 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes 5 minutes 1 minute

Throughout the case

• Initiative • Communication • Coachability • Poise • Tone, body language

It’s not just cracking the case – the soft skills you demonstrate matter too!
Review: The stages of a strong
conclusion
Start of delivery Analysis Risks and next steps
Can I have a minute to gather Justify the recommendation Move to risks and next steps
my thoughts? with a brief synthesis without being prompted
• Includes facts you’ve • Shows you are thinking
discovered from the case beyond the problem

Quickly restate the problem I would recommend X Adress key risks associated
• “In order to restore because… with your recommendation
profitability next quarter, I • Reason A
would recommend…” • Reason B Identify next steps required to
• Reason C confirm/implement
Say what you will do upfront recommendations
• Lead with action not
analysis
Strong conclusions leave a
positive impression
Go beyond the
Short and Sweet Confidence recommendation
Aim for 30 seconds to 1 Be confident with Identify a way to mitigate risks
minute recommendations
• Don’t revisit every detail • Acknowledge you do not Next steps should be
know all the factors actionable on Monday
morning
Do not introduce new Sound excited! • Ex. A pilot program /
insights not previously survey
discussed
• This takes you away from
your structure

Being succinct and impactful are learnable skills!

Soft skills the interviewers are
looking for and how to shine

• Are they • Is the candidate

relaxed? making eye-
contact?
• Is the candidate
open and • Is their voice
collaborative? calm and
“Do I want to natural?
work with this
person?”

• Are they sharing their notes with me?

Case presentation: Try to do your
work in “slides”
• Makes it easy for the interviewer to follow your
thought process throughout the case
• A method that works for me:
– 1 blank sheet for initial case facts and later insights
– 1 blank sheet for structure
• Transfer key takeaways from branches to insights sheet, so
you can jump into your conclusion smoothly and quickly
– 1 blank sheet for calculations
• Transfer key numbers to structure sheet and/or insight sheet
The interviewer will be looking
beyond your case skills
There may be several opportunities to interact with your interviewer outside the actual
case. Be sure you are up to date on the news regarding the company. Here are some
general rules of thumb:
Fair questions Topics to avoid
What types of business problems have you dealt Anything you can Google or readily find on your
with? own

What types of clients/industries have you found to Compensation

be the most interesting?
Hours, weekends
What are the most challenging aspects/biggest
surprises/things you wish you knew? Specific client names

I saw that your firm participated in program X, as I Personal information

mentioned on my resume, I am passionate about
education and was wondering if you could discuss
further.

Remember, etiquette and positive attitude are key

Having structure outside of the
case is vital (I/II)
What scares you the most about this job?

“When starting any new job the people who have been
there longer will have an advantage over those who are
newly joining. These same individuals have been trained
longer and are more knowledgeable on the processes
A standard
involved with the job. The intelligence gap between
answer
associates and consultants concerns me. On average,
people who have joined this are of work have much more
business knowledge than I have and understand the
theory well.”

Think 1. How can you rephrase this?

further... 2. What could make this stronger?
Having structure outside of the
case is vital (II/II)
What scares you the most about this job?

Intelligence gap
with associates

1 2 3
All have 4 years of
They have had a May not be willing
business skills
two year head start to help me
through undergrad

Every question be answered in a structured way!

Several key stories can help you
navigate through behavioral questions
1. When have you shown initiative?
Leadership 2. Tell me about a time you lead a team?
Story 3. Tell me about a time when you dealt with conflict in a team
setting

1. Tell me about a time you convinced someone of something?

Communication
2. Tell me about a time you had to present an idea to a large
Story
group.

1. How do you deal with different personalities?

Interpersonal 2. What do you think will be the most challenging part of the
Story job.
3. Do you prefer to work in a team or individually.

Leverage the Career Center to help you refine your stories

STAR framework can be used to
structure stories

Situation Task Action Result

Brief description of Explain the task you Describe the specific Close with the result
the situation and had to complete actions you took to of your effort.
context of the story highlighting any complete the task. • Quantifying
• Who specific challenges or These should results always
• What constraints highlight desirable helps!
• Where • Deadlines traits without
• When • Costs needing to state them
• How • Other issues… • Initiative
• Intelligence
• Dedication
• Leadership
• understanding
Case prep resources

We’re here to support you as you tackle this challenge!

• Contains the MCA casebook and lots of mock cases and

MCA Website prep tips from other schools
• http://inside.rotman.utoronto.ca/mca/resources-
members-only/
• Frameworks, advice and help with mental math
Victor Cheng
• https://www.caseinterview.com/math/mathtest.php

• You cannot get “over the bar” without working together

Your Peers – you are not in competition with your peers!
• If you are looking for case partners and can’t find one
reach out to us, we can set you up with someone
What’s next: Timeline for fall
recruiting
May June July August Sept.

PRACTICE 20 CASES
Case
Prep
301
3-4 CASES PER WEEK
Case
Prep
401

• Our next prep session will cover figures, figures, and more figures
• The goal of checking in during Augustis to make sure that you get
additional feedback heading into the recruiting season.
• Find partners and get started!
Practice a Case: Breakout Rooms
Giving a case Room
RTL 1010
 During: Don’t give away key pieces of information without
RTL 1025
being asked
 During: If your partner is truly struggling, do help them along RTL 1043
 During: Push on “why” and “how”, ask follow-up questions RTL 1045
RTL 1047
Receiving a case
RTL 1049
 During: Take notes and ask clarifying questions upfront RTL 1051
 During: Show your work and talk the interviewer through RTL 1053
your assumptions RTM 1041
 After: Go over what you struggled with and focus on sticking
RTM 1043
points
RTM 1045
RTM 1047
Stick to a 25 minute timeline. If the candidate hasn’t gotten
every step of the case with 5 minutes left, start to wrap up so RTM 1049
they can at least offer a conclusion based on what they do know. RTM 1051
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