Example Consulting Case Interview (NO BLOOP SOUNDS)
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Susie and James, of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, walk through a mock case interview with commentary.
DISCLAIMER: I doubt there's any such thing as a perfect case interview - and this isn't trying to be one! Take what you can from it, but definitely add your own flavor.
NOTE: This version has had the bloop sounds removed from the pop-ups. For the original, bloopy version see: • Video
![State of Play | September 24, 2024 [ENGLISH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/fVs0suPHAX8/mqdefault.jpg)
Shut the company down... Next case, please.
Mr bean
my interview is tomorrow, I'm so fuckedd, cant wait
Is he Boyd Holbrook, the Narcos actor?
No he can't be...the Narcos actor was a carpenter but the resemblance is uncanny.
Comments at 2:00 - Framework is basically right. However it is a truism - "I will find out what the problem is and then fix it". So at 2:09 I am thinking excellent! Examining the rev and cost drivers are exactly the right starting point. This is all on track and I am basically happy to be on the giving end of the interview (train wrecks make me uncomfortable as an interviewer).
I also felt that way, I stopped the video at 3min.
Do u work in consulting?
I feel like I'm watching a Cyberchase For Real segment...
Hmm text book answer - but does it really apply to the realities of a large retailer?
While it's upper bound is variable i.e adding more floor staff in heavy sales its lower bound is not. You simply can't yank on people per sqm or people per truck movement in the logistics train and maintain eg OH&S compliance, SLAs or union awards etc. i.e. lowering labour breaks things - so in practice labour is fixed relative to other assets / operations.
This has been so helpful!! Thank you so much. More videos explaining examples cases please....
No hypothesis, wtf?!
Im so confused can someone please explain why removing their main profit driver i.e. the large appliances and downsizing is a good idea? If the problem is storage then why not find lower cost storage and not store the large profitable appliances in house? Am i missing something?
In general, are you required to compute all of the mathematical calculations manually?
where my bloops at
OK So I am being unreasonably tough...
At 4:33 I have no sense of what the revenue drivers are. I do have a sense that you pulled a tool from your pocket (the 3Cs) and threw it at the problem without really understanding why.
If you had a sense of revenue drivers you would be able to talk volumes and prices and get to price per sale. This would point to potentially interesting things such as has volume remained ok and people opted for cheaper more basic models.
Typically, they would give you a case and leave you alone for a while. It is never that improvised in a sense of the interviewer spitting data at you and your are crunching it. Does not happen like that.
Actually I've had a bunch of interviews where they sit there and give you more information if you ask the right questions
I think Susie would not have moved to the next round because she did not prioritize AT ALL. Simply asked all the fuckin' questions she had, time waste.
That was great! Very helpful.
Hei
Trond Online
BLOOP at 5:57 ... you're a liar.
lame
My girl suzie done messed up with dat zero lol
hmm I thought the guy was the interviewer
WRONG first question- Assumes the store mix is relevant- when you have no foundation for asking the question.
Issue is declining profit. WHY? Profit = Revenue - Costs. So identify where the issue is: Costs or Revenue.
[I write this post 54 seconds into seeing the vid for the first time].
Q1 What were the revenues and costs what was the expectation?
I read Victor Chengs book and "rejected" the candidate mentally after 3 minutes. I have 0 consulting experience and 16 years of real world experience. No disrespect to consultants but Chengs book addresses this item like a hammer to a nail.
This pretty much is self-explanatory because this seems to be the same for small and/or large firms such as us(Small).
1. Discover what the ACTUAL ISSUE is with the business by asking questions to scope out the primary reason.
2. Ask questions that are directly driven to define the problem.
3. Develop a strategy on paper that shows in plain English how the solution can be solved
4. (What Susie miss) and final... hypothesis
5. Bring the team back
6. Close the damn deal
So when you talk to big companies, you ask high end questions. When dealing with companies not as large, keep in simple and understandable to the client. I know there's more to it on cases but this does not seem to make a difference ALTHOUGH strategy is easier. Good to know I didn't get into this on my own and talking out my butt. I actually have something worthy to say and provide lol. Video was Still helpful. I personally would get more to the point a tad bit more short-handly but I do have only one negative thing to this interview. How could she not know variable vs fixed and where's the hypothesis?
I'm not sure how she doesn't know the difference between a variable or fixed cost. That's weak....
7:20 revenue calc all makes sense. [Are you open 365 days per year- c250 shopping days?].
10:04: Actually writing down a formula!!! How amazingly refreshing to see such [what should be but isn't] an obvious thing done right where most grad candidates forget - and then they multiply when they should divide etc! :D There is no P&L outline so you can easily blow up and call revenue, gross profit etc.
gotta have those bloops
Is this not something that a few sales reports would have told the clients? I suppose not which is why they are getting the consultant in!!
wait but when you decide to cut down on large applications surely you need to account for the reduced number of large applicances sold, particularly since they had a high margin
It became hard to follow when you left out the values for the Rural market. The comparison of the two markets is lost on us for a couple of minutes.
OK Issue at 2:42 to 3:00: Now you are starting to lose marks- You have jumped in with some micro questions and are asking questions about revenue drivers. You really need the macro profit question to be answered by now.
Is this revenue or costs.
Then when or if you get to revenue your first question MUST be to discover whether this is a volume or price issue: Revenue = volume x price.
are you supposed to extract all of that cost driver information from the interviewer by peppering him with all of those questions? is that the standard? or do they usually lay out the necessary information to solve the case for you?
Im starting school at Columbia, and I want to work at a place like BCG or Bain. Looks like I've got a lot to learn! Wish me luck.
BoxOfOranges84 didyou do it?
I want to know as well
In such cases, can a candidate ask for data of a profit making competitor? I think comparisons can best let a company know why it is going in loss.
labour is a variable cost
It depends on the company itself, if the salary will not be affected by the production level, then it's a fixed cost.
exactly, it depends on the constraints of the physical capacity. it could be seen both ways :D
I would focus more on generating more revenue by gaining contracts with property management companies
May you kindly explain further?
Yea I agree, you mind sharing how you would? Interesting because to me, this seems left-field and a little time consuming when they are down in profit.
really helpful..thankxxx
5:32 COGS? Isn't labour a fixed cost? Also being a M&A banker I would have arranged your framework into something that resembles a P&L- that is typically beyond McKinsey's capabilities.
6:00 OK - so now I am relieved that you are looking at specifics. However your approach is not optimal. It is what eg McKinsey and BCG do in practice though: Dive into a whole bunch of things that are not relevant to what actually matters based on what some framework say to do.
Well this isn't rocket science exactly hahaha. More like economics for 10 years old.
That`s exactly what I was thinking, and it´s the situation in almost all these case interviews. It’s really a nonsense, I can teach my 14 year old solving and answering these questions. The problem they think they are very intelligent. As a business owner I would never trust a consultant to do the job, I do all the business analysis by myself.
@@luminy85 nothing wrong with an outside eye every now and then though
Nope I'm a exec director of an investment bank. IBD division - M&A and capital markets.