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.
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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
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.
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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.
- What have people been saying about our product since they started using it? Collect all the positive feedback you can to give your product more social proof.
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.
- What will it take for you and your team to get the most value out of our product? This will help you dive deeper into how your client operates and how you can best assist them.
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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Case interview questions
Case interviews at management consulting firms are among the most difficult job interviews, but they are also quite predictable. Once you know the types of questions they ask, preparation is straightforward. Using years of experience at McKinsey, as well as field reports from thousands of candidates, I’ve crafted a list of 8 common case interview questions, and in this article, I’ll show you how to answer each of them.
Case interview questions – Overview
Types of case interview questions .
Most questions in case interviews belong to one of these 9 types: 1. Framework/issue tree questions 2. Market-sizing and guesstimate questions 3. Valuation questions 4. Brain teaser questions 5. Chart insight questions 6. Value proposition questions 7. Information questions 8. Math problems 9. Solution-finding questions In this article, we’ll discuss how to answer each question, along with the necessary tips and tricks.
How to answer case interview questions
There are the fo ur basic steps to answer case interview questions:
This general outline may vary depending on each type and each question – for example, brain teasers or information questions need only the last step, while market-sizing and framework questions need all four steps to deliver the perfect answer.
Type 1 – Framework/Issue tree questions
If the interviewer asks you to identify factors contributing to a problem or to break down an entity (such as the revenue of a business), he/she is telling you to draw an issue tree. And to draw a spot-on issue tree, you need to master consulting problem-solving foundations , the MECE principle , and common consulting frameworks . You should check out our other articles on these topics before moving on, because mastering the issue tree is the key to acing every possible case interview. You also need good business intuition to draw good issue trees, so that’s all the more reason to start reading every day.
Job: Factors from the job itself. Further divided into 3 sub-branches
Company: Factors from the work environment within the restaurant chain, surrounding the affected jobs. Further divided into 2 sub-branches
Competitors: Factors from outside the restaurant chain, related to competing job offers. Further divided into 2 sub-branches.
For detailed guides on issue trees, frameworks and their principles, see the articles on Issue Trees , Case Interview Frameworks, and MECE Principle
Type 2 – Market-sizing & guesstimate
These questions go along the lines of “How many trees are there in Central Park?” or “What’s the market size of pick-up trucks in the USA?” The key to nailing market-sizing and guesstimate questions lies in not the closest results, but the most logical and structured approaches. In fact, the interviewer expects you to follow these four steps:
Unless you come up with something about 10 times the reasonable estimate, don’t worry about being “wrong” – the interviewer is unlikely to have a “correct” number in mind, he/she just wants to see your structured mindset. This question type is so common, we devote a whole article to it, and our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program have a separate package on these questions. Check out our comprehensive guide on Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions for more details! Now, here’s a quick example for you to try and get used to this type:
Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions
How to Estimate Logically and Structurally
Break down the problem: The global smartphone market can be divided into three segments – developed countries, developing countries, and undeveloped countries. In each segment, the annual unit sales of smartphones depend on four variables:
Solve each piece:
=> Estimated global smartphone market: 1.53 billion units per year => Actual 2019 global smartphone sales: 1.37 billion units (error margin: 11.7%) This market-sizing question is solved using a four-step process, which is explained in this article: Market-Sizing & Guesstimate Questions
Type 3 – Valuation questions
Valuation questions are a blend of guesstimation/market-sizing, math, and business. They also require basic finance knowledge. There are three ways to estimate the value of a business:
In real case interviews, you have to justify your approach then ask the interviewer to give you the necessary data.
Type 4 – Brain teasers
Brain teasers are riddles designed to test unconventional, creative, and logical thinking. A famous example of this is Accenture’s “How do you put a giraffe in a fridge?”. Although not as popular as before, brain teasers might still appear in consulting interviews; therefore, you should spend some time to prepare. Most brain teasers can be allocated into these seven types:
| require you to bypass misleading details to spot what’s important. | require you to identify trends and patterns, then fill in the blanks. |
| require you to use stories to explain weird and seemingly impossible situations. | require you to find alternative meanings to words to explain impossible situations. |
| require you to identify meanings hidden behind the organization, composition, and visual demonstration of letters. | require you to estimate vague, sometimes unverifiable figures; we’ve just covered these in the previous section. |
In our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program , there are +200 brain teasers to help you prepare for these “unpredictable” questions. You can also read our article about Case Interview Brain Teasers for insights on all of these exciting brain teasers, as well as 30 example questions and answers!
Brain Teaser Questions
Cracking the Most Unpredictable Interview Questions with 30 Examples
Answer Key Open the fridge, put the giraffe in, then close the fridge. The question never says how big the fridge or the giraffe is. For the logic and approach behind each kind of brain teasers, see the article on Brain Teasers.
Type 5 – Chart insight questions
You can’t be a management consultant without mastering the use of charts – the complex, scary-looking real-world charts such as those included in our Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program. In management consulting and case interviews, most charts are one (or a combination) of these four basic types:
To read these charts and answer chart-insights questions effectively, you must follow a structured, comprehensive process:
You can find a more detailed guide in the Charts section in our article about Consulting Math.
Type 6 – Value proposition questions
No business or consulting candidate can succeed without understanding the customers! Value-proposition questions are not only about correctly identifying customer preferences, but also about analyzing and delivering the answer in a structured fashion. The former relies heavily on business knowledge and intuition, but the latter can be trained methodically and quickly. Personally, I use a “double issue-tree” – essentially a table with customer segments on one axis and proposed values on the other: For segmenting customers, you can use the following table. However, don’t over-rely on it, since there may be more relevant and insightful question-specific segmentations.
In some cases, clarification is also necessary – both to avoid “answering the wrong question” and to narrow down the range of customers/values you need to cover in the answer.
Cost factors
Physical factors
Emotional factors
Type 7 – Information questions
“Information questions” essentially ask if the piece of data you use is obtainable in the first place. In real consulting work, data is not always available – client team members may refuse to cooperate or there’s simply no data on the subject. There are many kinds of information sources in case interviews/consulting works, but I’ll divide them into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources means you must do the research yourself (or pay someone else to do it for you), such as customer surveys or mystery shoppings. If someone already did that research, and you use their results, it’s called a secondary source – you can get these from the client , the consulting firm you work for, or third-parties such as market research firms or external industry experts. You can find out more about these sources and how to cite them in real case interviews through this free Prospective Candidate Starter Pack, which contains a glossary of data sources in consulting. Our Prospective Candidate Starter Pack has a sheet containing all the possible sources of information in case interviews and consulting projects, among numerous other free resources; you can download and use it to answer these questions, by subscribing to our newsletter at the end of this article.
Type 8 – Math problems
When you have to do the math, perform back-of-the-envelope calculations in a structured fashion, and say out loud what you’re writing. For one thing, it’s safe; for another, you show that you’re careful, organized, and reliable – just like actual consultants. We have a Math Practice Tool right here! Use it every day, and you’ll be a master of mental calculations in no time flat! We have a dedicated article on Consulting Math, which you should definitely read.
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Type 9 – Solution-finding questions
When dealing with solution questions, keep these four points in mind:
Last but not least, deliver at least two solutions, preferably three to five. Otherwise, you’ll appear uncreative and lazy to the interviewer’s eyes. Nailing these questions relies on having excellent business intuition; our Case Interview End-to-End Program has a dedicated Business Intuition package, but you should also train a habit of reading consulting and business articles daily, to sharpen your business mind.
Reminders on case interview questions
The questions are not clear-cut in candidate-led cases.
There are two extremes in consulting case interview format: interviewer-led (McKinsey) and candidate-led (BCG, Bain).
This list, therefore, is much more relevant to the interviewer-led format; nonetheless, this guide is still quite beneficial for candidate-led cases, because when solving that big problem, you’ll have to tackle small issues similar to the 8 aforementioned question types.
Mastering the fundamentals is crucial to consistent performance
Although it’s good to study the case interview questions, it is no substitute for mastering the fundamental principles. Learning the exercises without the basics is like building a house without a foundation. My poor neighbor’s house developed a huge crack right down the center because of its weak foundation, so make sure to build your case interview prep a strong one by knowing the basics first. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals, you’ll become much more flexible – this quality is getting increasingly important because case interviews are getting less predictable, and more realistic. If you haven’t, I advise you to read these articles (especially the first 4) before practicing the question types:
Expect the unexpected
If you study those nine question types, rest assured that you’ve covered the majority of questions in case interviews. However, these are not all the possible questions you might be given. In actual cases, there are always questions that cannot be categorized neatly. If you do not prepare for these questions, it’s easy to be thrown off-balance. So, how do you prepare for “the unexpected”?
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If you are interviewing for a business strategy or operations role at Google, there is a high chance that you will be given at least one case interview or case study interview. Roles at Google that have case interviews as part of the interview process include:
- Strategy & Operations
- Product Management
- Business Partnerships
- Business Analyst
In order to land these jobs at Google, you will need to pass every single one of your case interviews. While Google case interviews may seem ambiguous and intimidating at first, know that they can be conquered with the right preparation and practice.
If you are unfamiliar with how to solve or prepare for Google case interviews, we have you covered. In this comprehensive Google case interview guide, we’ll cover:
- What is a Google case interview
- Why Google uses case interviews
- The 6 steps to ace any Google case interview
- Google case interview examples and answers
- Google case interview tips
- Resources to prepare for your Google case interview
What is a Google Case Interview?
Google case interviews, also known as Google case study interviews, are 30- to 45-minute exercises in which you are placed in a hypothetical business situation and are asked to find a solution or make a recommendation.
To do this, you’ll create an overall framework that shows what approach you would take to solve the case. Then, you’ll collaborate with the interviewer, answering a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions that will give you the information and data needed to develop an answer. At the end of the case, you’ll deliver your recommendation.
Case interviews have traditionally been used by consulting firms to assess a candidate’s potential to become a successful consultant, but many companies with ex-consultants now use them to assess an interview candidate’s capabilities. Since Google hires so many former consultants in its business roles, you’ll likely encounter at least one case interview in your interview process.
The business problems that you’ll be given in a Google case interview will likely be real challenges that Google faces today:
- How can Google increase its revenues from enterprise businesses?
- How can Google reduce costs among its customer service call centers while maintaining customer satisfaction?
- Google has seen a steep decline in the number of Google searches in Japan. What is causing this decline and what should Google do to address this?
- How can Google improve customer retention among small and medium-sized businesses?
Depending on what team at Google you are interviewing for, you’ll likely be given a business problem that is relevant to that specific team.
Although there is a wide range of business problems you could possibly be given in your Google case interview, the fundamental case interview strategies to solve each problem is the same. If you learn the right strategies and get enough practice, you’ll be able to solve any Google case interview.
Why does Google Use Case Interviews?
Google uses case interviews because your performance in a case interview is a measure of how well you would do on the job. Google case interviews assess a variety of different capabilities and qualities needed to successfully complete job duties and responsibilities.
Google’s case interviews assess five major qualities:
- Logical, structured thinking : Can you structure complex problems in a clear, simple way?
- Analytical problem solving : Can you read, interpret, and analyze data well?
- Business acumen : Do you have sound business judgment and intuition?
- Communication skills : Can you communicate clearly, concisely, and articulately?
- Personality and cultural fit : Are you coachable and easy to work with?
Since all of these qualities can be assessed in just a 30- to 45-minute case, Google case interviews are an effective way to assess a candidate’s capabilities.
The 6 Steps to Solve Any Google Case Interview
In general, there are six steps to solve any Google case interview or case study interview.
1. Understand the case
Your Google case interview will begin with the interviewer giving you the case background information. While the interviewer is speaking, make sure that you are taking meticulous notes on the most important pieces of information. Focus on understanding the context of the situation and the objective of the case.
Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions if you do not understand something. You may want to summarize the case background information back to the interviewer to confirm your understanding of the case.
The most important part of this step is to verify the objective of the case. Not answering the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.
2. Structure the problem
The next step is to develop a framework to help you solve the case. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. Another way to think about frameworks is brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.
Before you start developing your framework, it is completely acceptable to ask the interviewer for a few minutes so that you can collect your thoughts and think about the problem.
Once you have identified the major issues or areas that you need to explore, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback.
3. Kick off the case
Once you have finished presenting your framework, you’ll start diving into different areas of your framework to begin solving the case. How this process will start depends on whether the case interview is candidate-led or interviewer-led.
If the case interview is a candidate-led case, you’ll be expected to propose what area of your framework to start investigating. So, propose an area and provide a reason for why you want to start with that area. There is generally no right or wrong area of your framework to pick first.
If the case interview is interviewer-led, the interviewer will tell you what area of the framework to start in or directly give you a question to answer.
4. Solve quantitative problems
Google case interviews typically have some quantitative aspect to them. For example, you may be asked to calculate a certain profitability or financial metric. You could also be asked to estimate the size of a particular market or to estimate a particular figure.
The key to solving quantitative problems is to lay out a structure or approach upfront with the interviewer before doing any math calculations. If you lay out and present your structure to solve the quantitative problem and the interviewer approves of it, the rest of the problem is just simple execution of math.
5. Answer qualitative questions
Google case interviews will also typically have qualitative aspects to them. You may be asked to brainstorm a list of potential ideas. You could also be asked to provide your opinion on a business issue or situation.
The key to answering qualitative questions is to structure your answer. When brainstorming a list of ideas, develop a structure to help you neatly categorize all of your ideas. When giving your opinion on a business issue or situation, provide a summary of your stance or position and then enumerate the reasons that support it.
6. Deliver a recommendation
In the last step of the Google case interview, you’ll present your recommendation and provide the major reasons that support it. You do not need to recap everything that you have done in the case, so focus on only summarizing the facts that are most important.
It is also good practice to include potential next steps that you would take if you had more time or data. These can be areas of your framework that you did not have time to explore or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.
Google Case Interview Examples and Answers
Example #1: What differences would you take into account when selling a product to a client in India versus a client in Argentina?
Sample solution: To answer this, create a framework that shows the most important characteristics or qualities of each country that you would want to look into. For example, one potential framework may look into the customer needs and preferences, the competitive landscape, market trends, and Google’s capabilities across the two countries.
Example #2: If you were a Google Search competitor entering a new market and had a small market share, how would you convince advertisers to advertise with you?
Sample solution: To answer this question, you should be familiar with Google Search. You can create a framework that outlines the product’s strengths and weaknesses so that you can identify gaps in customer needs.
At a high level, the strengths of Google Search is that it has the widest reach since it is the most used search engine. It also has high targeting specificity since it has lots of data on long-tail keywords. However, the main drawback is how competitive and expensive it can be for advertisers to use. Customer service can also be slow for smaller customers given the number of customers Google services. Finally, the product can be complicated for advertisers to set up initially. Therefore, when entering a new market as a Google Search competitor, it may make sense to target customers with smaller budgets and sell them on low-prices, fast customer service, and ease of set up.
Example #3: What are three areas that Google should invest in?
Sample solution: To answer this question, it may be helpful to clarify what Google’s primary objective is. Are they looking to increase profits, revenues, or number of users? The ideas that you brainstorm may vary depending on their actual goals. Next, develop a framework to organize your ideas. You may want to think about areas of investments as short-term investments, medium-term investments, and long-term investments.
Example #4: If you were the CEO of AdSense, what would be your strategy to improve the product?
Sample solution: As always, create a framework to help you organize your ideas in a clear and easy to follow way. To improve AdSense, you can think about improving the product for advertisers, improving the product for search users, and improving the product for Google’s profitability. Using a framework like this one will help you consider all of the different ways that AdSense can be improved.
Example #5: How much money do you think YouTube makes daily from ads?
Sample solution: This is an estimation question. Before doing any math calculations, make sure to lay out a structure or approach for how you would estimate this figure.
You may want to start by estimating the number of people in the world, the percentage that use YouTube, the percentage that use YouTube on any given day, the average amount of time spent on YouTube in a day, the number of ads seen for that period of time, and then estimating the amount YouTube earns per ad that is shown. Multiplying all of these figures will give you your answer.
Example #6: How would you set the price for the YouTube masthead? The YouTube masthead is a digital billboard placed on YouTube’s homepage for 24 hours, reaching about 60 million people.
Sample solution: In general, there are three ways to price a product: pricing by the cost to produce the product, pricing by the economic value the product provides customers, and pricing by the price of competitors’ similar products.
Since the cost of putting up a digital billboard is minimal, the first pricing strategy is not helpful. Looking at the second pricing strategy, you can price the digital billboard based on how much it would have cost the potential customer to get 60 million ad impressions. Looking at the third pricing strategy, you can look into how much other types of advertising that reach a similar number of people costs. For example, you could look into how much Super Bowl ads cost.
Example #7: How would you market the Google Ads product to a potential client?
Sample solution: To develop an effective marketing strategy, you may want to look into the client’s needs, competitor offerings, and Google Ads’ features or benefits. Exploring these three areas will help you identify the features or benefits of Google Ads that are superior to competitor products that the client values.
Example #8: How would you estimate the market size of Google display ads on websites?
Sample solution: This is another estimation question. As always, outline a structure before you begin doing any math calculations.
You may want to start by estimating the global population, estimating the percentage that have internet, estimate the average number of sites visited per day, estimate the percentage of websites that have ads, estimate the percentage of these websites that use Google display ads, estimate the revenue Google generates per ad. If you multiply the product of these figures by 365 days in a year, you’ll get an estimate of the market size of Google display ads.
Example #9: How would you determine the number of staff members needed in the customer support team next year?
Sample solution: One potential approach for solving this question could look like the following.
Start with Google’s annual revenues and estimate the average revenue generated per customer to determine the number of customers Google services. For each customer, estimate the frequency in which they call customer support and the average length of a support call. Assuming that a staff member works eight hours per day, you can estimate the number of staff members you’d need to meet the volume of support calls.
You may need to grow this number by Google’s historical growth rate to account for expected revenue growth next year.
Example #10: If you were setting up a new ecommerce business, what are the things you would look at?
Sample solution: This is a market entry case. Potential areas you should consider looking into in your framework include: the attractiveness of the market, the competitive landscape, the company’s capabilities, and the expected profitability.
Example #11 : How should YouTube deal with spam?
Sample solution: There are many different ways to deal with spam. To ensure that you brainstorm ideas in a clear and comprehensive way, develop a framework to categorize all of the different ways of dealing with spam. You may want to think about this as: preventing spam from being posted, detecting spam, and removing spam.
Example #12 : Let’s say that Google is considering acquiring iRobot, a company that builds consumer robots, such as the Roomba. What would you consider when deciding whether to make this acquisition?
Sample solution: This is an acquisition case. To determine whether or not this is an attractive acquisition, you may want to look into: the attractiveness of the consumer robots market, the attractiveness of iRobot as a company, the potential synergies from the acquisition, and the financial implications of the acquisition.
Example #13 : Estimate the time it takes a Google Street View car to collect footage in a city.
Sample solution: To answer this question, first clarify which city the interviewer is talking about. Then, outline your approach for how you would do this calculation.
You might want to start by estimating the length and width of the city area. Then, estimate how wide a street is and the average distance between streets. If you think of a city as a grid that consists of vertical and horizontal lines, you can use these estimates to calculate the total street length in the city.
Afterwards, estimate the average speed of a Google Street View car, taking into traffic and stoplights. Dividing the total street length by the average speed of a Google Street View car will get you an estimate of how long it would take to collect footage.
Example #14 : How would you define the strategy for YouTube over the next 5 years?
Sample solution: This question is very similar to Example #3. Before answering, it may be helpful to clarify what YouTube’s primary objective is. Are they looking to increase profits, increase number of users, or increase user engagement? You may want to think about strategy as short-term strategy and long-term strategy.
Example #15 : Let’s say that Google is considering getting into the ride share business. What should they consider when making the decision on whether or not to enter?
Sample solution: This is a market entry case and the approach is similar to Example #10. Potential areas you should consider looking into in your framework include: the attractiveness of the ride share market, the competitive landscape, the company’s capabilities, and the expected profitability.
Google Case Interview Tips
Below are eight of our best tips to help you perform your best during your Google case interviews.
1. Familiarize yourself with Google’s business model
If you don’t understand Google’s business model, it will be challenging for you to do well in their case interviews. Therefore, you should know that Google makes the majority of its revenue by selling advertising and you should be familiar with the products and services that Google offers for the specific team you are interviewing for.
2. Read recent news articles on Google
Often, the cases you’ll see in a Google case interview are real business issues that the company faces. Reading up on the latest news on Google will give you a sense of what Google’s biggest challenges are and what major business decisions they face today. There may be a good chance that you’ll be given a case that is similar to something that you have read in the news.
3. Verify the objective of the case
Answering the wrong business problem will waste a lot of time during your Google case interview. Therefore, the most critical step of the case interview is to verify the objective of the case with the interviewer. Make sure that you understand what the primary business issue is and what overall question you are expected to answer at the end of the case.
4. Ask clarifying questions
Do not be afraid to ask questions. You will not be penalized for asking questions that are important and relevant to the case.
Great questions to ask include asking for the definition of an unfamiliar term, asking questions that clarify the objective of the issue, and asking questions to strengthen your understanding of the business situation.
5. Do not use memorized frameworks
Interviewers can tell when you are using memorized frameworks from popular case interview prep books. Google values creativity and intellect. Therefore, make every effort to create a custom, tailored framework for each case that you get.
Read our comprehensive case interview framework guide to learn how to create outstanding frameworks.
6. Always connect your answers to the case objective
Throughout the case, make sure you are connecting each of your answers back to the overall business problem or question. What implications does your answer have on the overall business problem?
Many candidates make the mistake of answering case questions correctly, but they don’t take the initiative to tie their answer back to the case objective.
7. Communicate clearly and concisely
In a Google case interview, it can be tempting to answer the interviewer’s question and then continue talking about related topics or ideas. However, you have a limited amount of time to solve a Google case, so it is best to keep your answers concise and to the point.
Answer the interviewer’s question, summarize how it impacts the case objective, and then move onto the next important issue or question.
8. Be enthusiastic
Google wants to hire candidates that love their job and will work hard. Displaying enthusiasm shows that you are passionate about working at Google. Having a high level of enthusiasm and energy also makes the interview more enjoyable for the interviewer. They’ll be more likely to have a positive impression of you.
Resources to Prepare for Your Google Case Interview
If you’re looking for the best way to learn and practice case interviews to pass your upcoming Google case interview or case study interview, give our one week case interview course a try. The material in the course has helped 6,000+ students land offers at top-tier consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG, and Bain, so it’ll be more than enough for your Google case interview.
Try the course for free today .
If you are considering alternative resources to use, below are the two books we recommend. They are available in digital or paperback format on Amazon.
- Hacking the Case Interview : Learn exactly what to do and what to say in every step of the case interview. This is the perfect book for beginners that are looking to learn the basics of case interviews quickly.
- The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook : Hone your case interview skills through 65+ problems tailored towards each type of question asked in case interviews and 15 full-length cases based on real McKinsey, BCG, and Bain interviews. This book is great for intermediates.
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Case Interview Examples for Consulting Interview Prep (2023)
- Last Updated May, 2023
Rebecca Smith-Allen
Former McKinsey Engagement Manager
How to Use Case Interview Examples
Video Case Interview Example: Questions & Answers
Tips for Acing Your Case
Free Case Interview Examples (Consulting Firms)
Free Case Interview Examples (Consulting Clubs)
Welcome back for more help preparing to ace your consulting interviews!
We mentioned on the Case Interview Prep page that practice is the key to passing your consulting interviews. To practice, you’ll need some examples of case interview questions an answers to work with.
We’ve got links to loads of them below.
In addition, we have:
- Tips on how to use case interview examples to prepare for your consulting interviews,
- A video case interview example with My Consulting Offer founder Davis Nguyen and Dan, an MCO coach and ex-BCG interviewer, and
- Insight into the difference between average and exceptional answers to case interview questions.
Get ready to dive deep into structuring your analysis of business problems, identifying the key issues, and recommending solutions!
How to Use Case Interview Examples to Ace Your Case
1. start your case interview preparation early..
You’ll need to practice dozens of case interview examples to get good enough to receive an offer from one of the top consulting firms. This is not something you can cram the night before an interview.
Start as soon as possible.
2. Don’t Read Straight through Sample Case Interview Examples or Passively Watch Videos.
Some people think that the best way to improve their chances of passing a case interview is by reading as many cases interview examples as they can.
This is like reading about how to play tennis but never picking up a racket. To get better at tennis, for example, you need to actually pick up a ball and be active. The same applies to your interview preparation.
Stop and think at each step in the case interview question. Come up with your own answer and say it out loud. Practice driving each part of the case interview example yourself.
- How would you structure your analysis of the problem?
- What questions would you ask the interviewer?
- How would you set up the case math problem?
- What recommendation would you make to the client?
After you’ve developed your answer, compare it to the suggested answer for the case.
What did you get right?
How did your answer and the case interview example answer differ?
Are there things you miss consistently across multiple case interview examples?
The answers to these case interview examples can look simple when you just read through them, but it’s not easy to come up with all the key aspects of the solution on your own.
Nail the case & fit interview with strategies from former MBB Interviewers that have helped 89.6% of our clients pass the case interview.
3. Find Partners to Practice Case Interviews with.
Teamwork is an important part of consulting work, so get ready for it now. Find a case interview practice partner, preferably someone else who’s applying to jobs in the management consulting industry because they’ll know more about what recruiters are looking for.
Practicing cases with a partner provides the opportunity to get feedback from someone else on what you’re doing well and what you need to improve. Additionally, you’ll learn a lot by watching how your partner solves sample case studies.
Look for aspects of their approach that are effective as well as what they could do better. Working with a partner will make your consulting interview practice feel more real.
Similar to how you need a tennis partner to feel what is like to play tennis, you need a case partner to experience what a case interview is like.
4. Master the 4 Parts of the Case Interview.
In our article on Case Interview Prep , we discussed the 4 parts of the case interview: the opening, structure, analysis, and conclusion. As you practice with consulting case interview examples, practice each of these 4 parts to ensure you’re strong at them all.
5. Avoid Case Burnout.
A case zombie is someone who’s grown tired of casing from doing too much of it. Their answers feel rehearsed, not conversational.
They may seem bored, not engaged in solving the problem. They’ll be less creative in their solutions. They certainly won’t pass the airport test!
Avoid becoming a case zombie by practicing smarter, not harder.
Video: Case Interview Examples – Questions & Answers
In the following case interview example, Davis Nguyen, founder of My Consulting Offer, talks with Dan , an MCO coach and former BCG consultant and interviewer. Their discussion of BCG’s GenCo case is broken into 4 parts of the case interview.
In their case interview example, Davis and Dan demonstrate how to approach the business problem. They also provide examples of good answers vs. exceptional answers. Take note of what differentiates a good case interview answer from an exceptional answer so that you can not only get through your interview, but ace it.
Remember, don’t just watch the video. Stop the video and provide your own answer before listening to Dan’s answer to the case question.
Step 1: Case Interview Example Opening – Ensure you understand the client and the problem you’ll be solving in the case.
Step 2: case interview example structure – break the problem down into smaller parts. make sure you cover all key case issues., step 3: case interview example analysis – ask questions, gathering information from graphs and charts provided by the interviewer, do case math, and provide insight into the client’s business problem based on what you learn., step 4: case interview example recommendation – develop a rational recommendation for the client based on all you’ve learned throughout the case interview., tips for acing your consulting case interviews – the difference between average & exceptional, case interview opening.
The opening is a great point to ask “dumb” questions because, at this point, you’re not expected to know much about the client and their business.
Here your goal is to understand the client, their business, and what a successful project will look like.
Don’t shy away from asking for clarification on things that will help you better understand the business problem and solve it. For example, if you don’t know how life insurance works and the case is about life insurance, then ask.
After ensuring you understand the client and their problem, the next thing to ask about is key metrics of success.
For example, the client may want to find new avenues for growth. Are they looking for a 5% increase in revenue or to double their business?
Finding out what success looks like in the client’s eyes will ensure you work to deliver a solution that meets their expectations, not one that’s underwhelming.
After you find out what success looks like, ask further probing questions to better understand the client, their business, and any constraints on solving the case.
Examples of Relevant Questions to ask Your Interviewer
Examples of relevant questions about the client might include the geography they operate in or the sector of their industry they are strongest in.
Examples of relevant questions about their business might include what products or services are most profitable or most important to their customers.
Examples of relevant questions about the problem might include whether there are any costs that can’t be cut or what the maximum amount the client is able to invest in developing a new product.
Asking these types of questions up front will give you a better context for solving the client’s problem and make it more likely that you will solve the case interview.
Case Interview Structure
You’ll need a framework to make sure your analysis covers all key aspects of the consulting case.
You can use one of the many standard Case Interview Frameworks we’ve outlined , but top interviewees develop their own framework for analyzing the case interview question.
Their frameworks may include pieces of one or more of the standard frameworks but are tailored to the particular business problem they’re discussing.
Good frameworks are hypothesis-driven, that is to say they can be tested similar to the science experiment, so that the answer is either a “yes” or “no.” For example, examining your bank account to see, “if I have $400 for a ticket” is an example.
Second, good frameworks cover all topics relevant to the answer. For example, if the client is opening up a new hotel in a foreign country, checking out the existing competition should be part of the framework.
As you study more about interactive case interviews and practice them you’ll develop a sense for what factors are relevant or not relevant to the case at hand.
Finally, a good structure will be MECE or mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.
This means the framework will break down the market or population being analyzed into segments that include every part of the whole (collectively exhaustive), and each segment of the market or member of the population will show up in one and only one category without overlap (mutually exclusive).
For example, if you divide the target market for a retail product into segments by age, these segments would be MECE:
- 10-19,
- 40-49, etc.
The categories 15-25, 20-30, 27-35 would not be MECE because people could be counted twice.
Case Interview Analysis
In the analysis phase of your case interview example, you’ll ask questions to get the information you need to solve the client’s business problem. Your questions will likely lead you to one of the 4 types of analysis that are common in consulting interviews: market sizing, brainstorming, quantitative reasoning (case math), or reading exhibits.
No matter which of these types of analysis comes up, there’s a 4-step method that ensures you can crack the case.
This 4-step method is:
- Ask for data,
- Interpret the data,
- Provide insight, and
- Outline next steps.
The data you ask for will depend on the case interview question you’re solving. For example, if the question is about profitability, you’ll need to know about the client’s finances: dig into revenues and costs.
For example, if you find that the client’s revenues are flat while their costs have been rising, you’ll know that the problem is in the cost structure and that you’ll need to examine costs more closely.
Next, provide insight. As you examine costs further, you’ll find out why they’ve grown faster than revenues.
This insight will naturally lead to the next steps. What does the client need to do to get costs under control and fix their profitability problem?
You may need to go through this 4-step method a couple of times, focusing on different aspects of the client’s business problem.
Once you’ve examined and developed insight into all key aspects of the problem, your next step will be to conclude the interview with a recommendation for the client.
Case Interview Conclusion
At this point, you’ve hopefully cracked the case and are ready to present your recommendations to the client (your interviewer).
The best way to do this is to use the 5R approach:
- Recap – restate the business problem you’ve analyzed. In consulting this is done because a CEO might have hired 5 McKinsey teams and can’t remember which one you are on.
- Recommendations – Provide the solution your analysis led to. We lead with the recommendation because it is the most important piece of information. Stating it first and clearly puts everyone on the same page.
- Reasons – Summarize the key facts and insights that lead you to your recommendations.
- Risks – Outline any risks the client should be aware of as they implement your recommendations. No recommendation has a 100% probability of success. Clients need to be aware of business risks in the same way patients need to understand the side effects of drugs.
- Retaining the client – Provide next steps for how you can help the client ensure success. As consultants, we are paid for helping our clients. If there is a natural extension of the work as the client implements the team’s recommendations, we should tell them how we can provide further assistance (and ultimately make money for your firm).
While most candidates will address their recommendations and possibly the reasons for their recommendations, few will hit all these points.
In particular, outlining risks and further ways you can help the client will differentiate you from other candidates and help you to advance to the second round of interviews or get the offer.
Free Online Case Interview Examples from 7 Top Consulting Firms
Now that you’re familiar with how you should use case interview examples and what differentiates an average answer from an exceptional one, you need sample questions to practice with.
Below, we provide links to dozens to help you hone your business problem-solving skills.
1. McKinsey Case Interview Examples
Disconsa – Help a not-for-profit develop better financial-service offerings for remote Mexican communities.
Electro-Light – Help a beverage manufacturer prepare for a new product launch.
GlobalPharm – Help a pharmaceutical industry client manage with its merger and acquisitions strategy.
Transforming a National Education System – Help a country’s education ministry develop a new strategy for educating the country’s children.
2. BCG Case Interview Examples
Airline – Help a low-cost air carrier to remain profitable despite a recent fuel price hike.
Drug – Help a drug manufacturer to set a suitable price for their new drug.
Driving Revenue Growth – Help a medical devices and services company to increase revenues following an acquisition. (The same one that is highlighted above in our example)
Crafting a Distribution Strategy – Help a cereal manufacturer evaluate their distribution strategy.
3. Bain Case Interview Examples
3D television – Help a television manufacturer decide whether to develop a 3D product.
4. Deloitte Case Interview Examples
Footloose – Help a footwear company improve their market share in the boots category.
Higher Education Merger: Technology Institute of the West – Help a higher education institution expand into online learning.
Strategy: Extreme Athletes World Games – Help a new sports organization to plan its budget and strategic business plan.
Digital Engineering: Green Apron – Help a grocery store chain design their new e-commerce platform.
5. AT Kearney Case Interview Examples
Promotion Planning – Help a national grocery and drug store chain improve its product promotion strategy.
6. PWC Case Interview Examples
Healthcare AI Innovator – Help a health care information provider improve its communication with pharmaceutical clients to improve outcomes.
Love at First Byte – Help a data management client comply with new regulations.
Prioritizing Ethics and Integrity – Help a software company leverage data analytics to comply with regulations.
Telecom Giant Doubles its Size With an Acquisition – Help a telecommunications company integrate a newly acquired business.
7. Accenture Case Interview Examples
The “Great Unknown” – Help a leading manufacture of prefabricated kitchen furnishings turn around its recent loss of market share.
The “Parade of Facts” – Help a leading food company develop a fresh prepared meal business.
The “Back of the Envelope” – Estimate the total number of dry cleaners in Philadelphia.
8. Capital One Case Interview Examples
Ice Cream Corporation – Help the president of Ice Cream Corporation grow profits.
9. Oliver Wyman Case Interview Examples
Wumbleworld – Help a China-based theme park operator identify the reasons for declining profits and develop options for reversing the trend.
Aqualine – Help a manufacturer of small power boats determine why its sales growth has slowed and identify opportunities to boost sales.
10. LEK Case Interview Examples
Theater chain – Help a large theater chain identify revenue growth opportunities.
Free Online Case Interview Examples from Consulting Clubs
Need more case interview examples? Here are links to MBA case books compiled by INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, Darden, and several other business schools.
Recent Consulting Case Interview Examples
- 2019 Berkeley Haas School of Business Consulting Club Interview Preparation Guide and Case Book
- 2017-2018 Berkeley Haas School of Business Consulting Club Case Interview Examples
- 2017-2018 McCombs University of Texas at Austin Consulting Case Interview Examples
- Columbia Business School Management Consulting Association Case Book 2017
- Duke Fuqua School of Business MBA Consulting Case Interview Examples 2016-2017
- NYU Stern MBA MCA Case Book: 2017
- UCLA Anderson School of Management Consulting Association Case Interview Examples 2015-2015
- Darden Consulting Club Case Book: 2014-2015
- Yale Life Sciences Consulting Case Book 2014
- ESADE MBA Consulting Club Case Interview Examples 2014
- Darden Consulting Case Book: 2012-2013 Edition
- Kellogg Consulting Club Case Book and Interview Guide: 2012 Edition
Even More Consulting Case Interview Examples
- The Cornell Consulting Club Interview Prep Website
- Harvard Business School Management Consulting Club Case Interview Examples
- The MIT Sloan School of Management Consulting Club Case Book and Interview Guide – October 2001
- The Berkeley MBA Haas Consulting Club 2006 Case Interview Examples
- London Business School – The 2006 Consulting Club Case Book
- Columbia Business School Management Consulting Association Case Book – 2006
- Torch the Case – The NYU Stern Consulting Case Book – 2007 edition
- Michigan – the Ross School of Business Consulting Club 2010 Case Interview Examples
- Wharton Case Book by the Wharton Consulting Club – December 2010
- The Duke MBA Consulting Club Case Interview Examples – 2010-2011
- Case Interview Book by the ESADE MBA Consulting Club 2011
- INSEAD Consulting Club Handbook – 2011
If you still have questions on case interview examples, leave them in the comments below. We’ll ask our My Consulting Offer coaches and get back to you with answers.
We have tons of other articles to help you get an offer from one of the top consulting firms. Check out our pages on:
- Case Interview Math ,
- Case Interview Types, and
- Market Sizing Questions .
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14 Best Case Study Questions to Ask Your Top Customers
If you want to show interested leads that you can put your money where your mouth is, case studies are a good way to go. They’re a valuable form of content that can even be used as lead magnets under the right conditions, and they have a singular purpose: To show how your clients achieved specific, significant results with your product or service.
Knowing how to write a great case study is an important part of success, but there’s a part of the process that comes before that: Knowing which questions to ask, which you’ll determine when you’re preparing for a case study interview.
The questions you ask can make the difference between a case study that feels like it’s been churned out by a low-quality AI machine compared to one that feels actionable, engaging, and high-stakes to your readers.
In this post, we’re going to go over the 14 best case study questions to ask, along with discussing some tips to improve the results you’ll get.
How to Structure Your Case Study Questions
Before we dive in, we want to talk about how to structure your questions in the interview.
In this post specifically, we’re going to look at individual questions you should ask around pointed topics, like about the client’s brand, solutions they’ve tried already, and their results.
It’s best to stick close to the progression outlined here because it will give you the basic information you need at every level of the case study interview . You can’t ask what solutions they’ve tried before when you don’t even understand their brands’ needs.
And keep in mind that when you’re asking users to provide specific information about a topic up front, they’ll often reference it later, strengthening the overall case study and sometimes encouraging them to share information they may not have thought to share otherwise.
That being said, let’s go ahead and start to dive in to the best case study questions you should ask.
Questions About Their Brand
The best case studies will have some information about the brand they’re featuring and not just about how the brand uses their product. Information about the brand size, industry, and unique selling propositions (USPs ) can all play a valuable part in building a strong case study.
These are a few important case study questions to consider asking about branding:
1. Can you tell us a little bit about your brand?
This is a great way to start the interview off strong. Ask the client to tell you about the brand, plain and simple. See what they have to say; they may share information about their product or service, how they fit into their industry, what differentiates them, and more.
Leaving this first question relatively vague and open-ended helps them feel more comfortable while giving you some good ideas for where to go.
If they’re stumped, ask them to provide a brief description of what their company does.
2. Can you tell me about your business’s structure, including industry, company size, or years in business?
While this may feel technical, it can be exceptionally valuable to readers of the case study to help them relate or get a good understanding of who is using your products.
3. An industry-relevant question
SaaS tools that help with ad management may ask clients about their total monthly ad spend, for example. An eco-friendly company may ask clients what their “green goals” are or their previous carbon emissions.
Think about what would benefit you to have in the case study, and ask it here if possible.
Questions About Their Challenge & Pain Points
We know that all great case studies will highlight the challenges that clients have before finding your product or service as their solution, exacerbated by key pain points.
It’s so important to get enough information that these challenges feel real and significant in the case study; if you neglect to explain why a challenge was an actual obstacle, it can come across as seeming trivial. That can make your solution seem trivial, too.
These are the best case study questions to ask for this stage of the interview.
4. What were the challenges you needed to solve before finding our product?
This is a specific, pointed question, which helps make it effective.
If I ask my content marketing clients this question, for example, they might say, “we didn’t know how to create content that ranked well” or “we needed help creating content at scale.”
You can dive deeper by asking pointed questions about their key problems, which brings us to the next question.
5. Why did this challenge have such a significant impact on your business?
This is the golden ticket right here, because it’s about pain points.
Say you’re selling marketing services, and the client’s challenge is that they wanted help with lead generation.
The pain points of “organic channels were too slow in driving customer acquisition, and our churn rates were eviscerating our client numbers” or “we tried to run ads ourselves but ended up losing hundreds of dollars to no avail.”
Wasted money. Bleeding clients. Too-slow organic channels. These are pain points that make the case study feel real, and that other customers will connect to.
6. What other solutions had you tried before and why didn’t they work?
While it’s best to skip out on trash-talking competitors in the case study, asking this question during the interview can give you valuable context and a lot to work with.
If, for example, I’m a weight loss coach, my clients may have tried the keto diet and Weight Watchers to no avail. Knowing that the keto diet made them feel queasy and that they found the point-tracking Weight Watchers to be too much work can be useful information for the study, even if you don’t ever name the alternatives.
These are pain points in their own right, and can be utilized like the following:
“The client had tried different solutions before but found that the diets either made them sick or were too much work to maintain.” It positions your solution to be the winning option.
Questions About How They Discovered You
While it may seem irrelevant, information about how customers discovered you and why they decided to work with you can actually become compelling parts of a case study— even if only mentioned in brief.
Here’s an example of how you can use this information in the case study:
“We found Breadcrumbs after our business partner mentioned it to us, and after reading about their easy-to-use interface and accessible lead scoring, we decided to give it a try.”
You’ve got social proof (business partner referred them) and a promo for a unique feature that made them convert.
Here are the case study questions you can ask to get this information:
7. How did you find out about our brand?
It’s a simple question, and it will likely be a simple answer. Nice and easy.
8. What made you decide to try our product over other solutions?
This essentially gets the customer to sell your product back to you, which is phenomenal. And someone reading the case study might think, “They’re right; I’ve also looked for a lead scoring tool with a great interface, I’d try that.”
Questions About How They Used The Product or Service
This will likely be one of the meatier parts of the case study interview because this is where some of the actionable information comes into play. How did your clients use your product or service, what steps did they take, and how can others use this to replicate the eventual results we’ll discover?
These are the case study questions to ask:
9. Which specific products and product features did your team use?
Say you’re selling invoicing software to small businesses. Not all clients will use every feature.
Graphic designers, for example, may take advantage of project estimates for upfront deposits more than a copywriter who only works for flat fees. That copywriter, however, might be more likely to use invoice templates for retainer clients or automated billing features.
Ask about the products and services the team used.
10. How did your team use our products and services to meet their needs?
You know what products or services were used, but now it’s time to ask how they were used.
Project estimates, for example, allowed graphic designers to send more professional-looking invoices to clients, who could pay upfront deposits through credit card, check, or bank deposit. This helped that designer weed out clients who had no intention of paying and gave them the funds they needed to secure the supplies to begin working.
And for the copywriter who used automated billing, it saved her an exceptional amount of time and ensured she got paid on time because she sent those invoices on time.
11. How was your experience?
Was the SaaS tool user-friendly? Did your clients take advantage of a free demo program or the option to have an account manager get their entire account up and running?
Ask about their specific transition process using the tool and what made the experience a more positive one.
Questions About Their Results
Last but not least… the results. Believe it or not, some case studies skip this part of the interview, but you definitely want to include hard, quantifiable data in as many case studies as possible.
12. What end results did you get after using our product?
Ask for the results your clients achieved. If they’re comfortable sharing the information, ask for KPIs.
How did using our social media marketing software increase message response rates?
How did our marketing service improve lead generation efforts, and customer acquisition costs?
How did our lead scoring software reduce the contact-to-close period for leads or increase the overall financial value of leads acquired?
Be as specific as the client will allow. The more definitive the data you can share, the better.
13. What impact did these results have on your business?
While this may seem self-explanatory, this is a great final question that again helps the impact of your product or service really stand out.
We saw customer satisfaction increase and sales go up by about 15% by improving message response rates on social media.
Or, by getting more leads at lower costs, our business was able to reinvest those accelerated profits into additional campaigns to scale exponentially at an unprecedented rate, and now we’re opening two new branches.
This can be a combination of data-focused or story-driven impacts. Either (or both!) works well.
14. Is there anything else we should know?
Anything else you want to share? This is a short but powerful question, and while some clients will say, “nope, that’s it,” you may be surprised what some other people share with you.
There may be something they’ve been excited to talk about that hasn’t come up in the questions yet, or something may pop into mind to elaborate on something you’d discussed earlier.
Give them the floor, and see what they have to say.
Final Thoughts
If you’re going to take the time needed to conduct and write up a case study (both your own time and the client’s), you want to get it right. Coming prepared with a list of strong case study questions can help you create content that will be highly effective at generating leads and converting customers for a long time to come.
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33 Case Study Questions for Customer and Client Interviews
When selling your product or service to prospective customers, you make a stronger case when you can show concrete results. This is where a case study comes in. A case study strengthens your sales pitch by showing firsthand results. You can boost your case studies by interviewing previous customers and asking them to share how they benefited from your business. Interview your loyal customers using the following questions to build strong case studies you can share with new prospective clients.
What is a Case Study?
A case study is a detailed report that showcases how your product has benefited previous clients. It is a way to show firsthand how your product or service can benefit potential new clients. Case studies help you build trust with new clients — 88% of whom trust online customer reviews and ratings. Conversely, only 14% of customers trust advertisements.
Asking the right types of questions to your previous customers will help you better craft your final case study. Since you will be writing these studies with new clients in mind, drafting your questions beforehand will give you the right information to highlight how you have previously solved similar client issues in the past.
How to Write Case Study Questions
This section offers an outline of sections that should be included in your final case study and sample questions to ask of your clients.
Start With the Backstory
Before writing your case study questions, determine why you are writing it. Outline the major problems you intend to highlight and create questions that will allow you to articulate how you solved them. The following section includes case study question examples you can use to conduct your client interviews, but you can modify them based on your goals.
When interviewing your previous clients, first introduce them to your audience by including some background information on their company. Next, set up the case study by presenting the initial problem.
- Tell me a little bit about your business and its history.
- Who are your target customers?
- Describe your role at the company.
- What are some common challenges faced by businesses in your industry?
- What problems or challenges were you facing that led you to seek out our product/service?
- Why was this specific challenge a priority?
- How was this problem impacting your business?
- What other potential solutions had you tried before, and why weren’t they working?
Establish Your Relationship
After setting up the problem and why it was significant to your customers, ask them to define their relationship with your brand. If you are interviewing repeat customers, ask them how they discovered your business, why you were their chosen solution, and what's kept them coming back. If you are interviewing a first-time client, ask what drew them to your business over another.
Some questions can include:
- How long have you been a customer with us?
- How did you first hear about our business?
- What made you choose our company over competitors?
- How did you envision using our product or service to drive your solution?
Have Them Demonstrate Your Product
Once you have set up the initial problem and delved into how your client chose you to solve it, you can get into the details of the actual case study. Ask specific questions about how your client used your product or service.
Be detailed. These answers will help you draft a case study that resonates with prospective buyers who are facing the same issue.
- How did you use our product or service to create your solution?
- Which features of the product did you find most beneficial?
- Was this product a replacement for a similar tool you had used in the past?
- How many people at your company use our product?
- What are the advantages of using our product over another similar one?
- How was the setup and implementation process?
- Did you contact the customer service team any time during the process?
- If so, how was your customer service experience?
- How was the rollout process?
- What types of feedback have you received from employees about our product?
Outline the Product’s Benefits
This section of your interview will delve into the actual solution and its results. Use this section to ask about specific outcomes and metrics the company used to track successes.
- How did our product address your specific challenges?
- What kinds of measurable results did you see?
- Which key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics did you measure to determine whether our product successfully solved your problem?
- How has your business changed since you deployed our product or service?
- How is your initial problem currently impacting your business? Is it still an issue, or has it been resolved?
- How would you recommend other customers use our product to get the best results?
Wrap Up the Interview
At the end of the interview, ask some general business case study questions relating to customer satisfaction and relationship management. You can use these to conclude the case study. This section of the interview is also likely to generate some potential customer quotes you can use in your marketing materials .
- Have you referred us to your friends or clients?
- How likely are you to work with us again?
- How can we improve our product to best meet your future needs?
- In which other instances can you see our product providing a viable solution?
- Is there anyone else I can talk to for more information?
How to Ask Your Clients for an Interview
If you have been in business for a while, you probably know your best advocates. Think about your top customers, and start by asking those who are the most likely to promote your business. If you know a client who often refers customers to you, ask them for a specific example of how your company helped them solve a problem.
You might draw a blank when asked to identify your best advocates. In this case, talk to your sales team or your project managers to see if they know of any potential customers who would be happy to share their success stories.
Consider your customers’ time. Don’t approach them for an interview in the middle of a busy season or if they have had a recent issue with your company. Get familiar with your selected clients and how they intended to use your product so you have some background information before starting the interview.
Finally, write a personalized request. Don’t send out a form email requesting case studies. Make your requests relevant to each potential interviewee so they know they are valued customers.
How to Write the Case Study
Instead of taking notes during the interview, take a recording on your phone or a portable recording device and transcribe it when you’re done. You can take minor notes as you go along, to help when you go back to transcribe. This way you can be more engaged in the interview and follow up on interesting information that might pop up. Be sure to check that your recording hardware or software is working ahead of time, to ensure you don't lose valuable information during the interview.
The case study questions listed above are arranged as an outline of a typical case study. Start by introducing the company and the problem they were trying to solve when they sought out your business. Next, explain the process of how they used your product to solve their problem.
End the case study with numbers and statistics demonstrating how you helped the business successfully solve its problem. Make sure you get specific numbers and figures to illustrate your clients’ successes. If you don’t get them during the initial interview, follow up with a phone call or email.
Sample Case Study Questions and Answers
These sample case study questions and answers demonstrate how to extract information from your interview and turn it into an engaging business case study that is interesting and informative.
This case study from Switch, a digital marketing agency, details how the company was able to help a client improve its return on investment (ROI) on search and Facebook ad campaigns by moving them from their in-house marketing team.
The case study starts with an impressive statistic — the company improved its ROI on search ads from 1.2x to 19x in a short time period. The case study breaks this statistic down for potential leads who might not be familiar with marketing terminology, indicating that its client was able to increase sales without spending more on search engine ads.
While the actual case study interview is not published, a sample question and answer that would have generated this data could be:
- Q: How did shifting the development of search engine ad campaigns to Switch impact ad performance?
- A: The Switch team was able to change our approach. Before, we used a single strategy on our search and Facebook ads. Their team was able to create split campaigns targeted to different audiences and run A/B tests to refine the messages. In a couple of months, our ROI on search ads went from 1.2x to 19x.”
This case study goes into detail about how Switch worked with its clients to refine the Facebook and search ad strategy, ending with impressive results.
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications featured this case study detailing how its client Brampton Caledon Community Living (BCCL) used the company’s cloud-based mobile phone system to better service clients. This case study is simple, laid out with headings like “Challenge” and “Solution.”
Rogers Communications pulled relevant quotes from the client and included them in text boxes throughout the study to break up the text. Rogers also included direct quotes from personnel at BCCL, making a strong case for its product. While it doesn’t offer hard numbers like the previous example, it does include a quote detailing how the cloud-based system has improved the work environment.
Again, the interview for this case study is not included in the example, but it does include the answers as client quotes.
- Q: What led you to switch over to the RogersUnison cloud-based platform?
- A: “We had been using more laptops and mobile phones for work outside the office and Rogers Unison was essential to this transition.”
Best Practices for Conducting A Business Case Study Interview
When you’ve found client advocates who are willing to talk to you about how your company led them to success, draft your interview questions. Keep these best practices in mind.
Be Prepared
Being well-prepared for your interview is the best way to ensure its success. Before meeting with your client, learn what you can about the client so you can flesh out the case study. Conduct a mock interview to prepare. Talk to your sales team or the client’s specific project manager for details to better understand the client and what they were facing when they hired your company or purchased a product.
Ask Open-Ended Questions
Structure your questions so the interviewee has to give detailed answers. If you limit your interview to "yes" or "no" questions, it can be hard to gather enough information to write your case study. Open-ended questions let your client get into the specifics surrounding the study.
Do a Deep Dive
One reason you should record your interviews and transcribe them later is so you can focus on the client’s answers. Often, information will come up in an answer to one question that will prompt you to ask a follow-up question. Recording your interview lets you deviate from your prepared questions to get a more robust analysis of the case.
Getting Started on Your Case Study
Case studies are a great marketing tool for building credibility. They give prospective clients a better understanding of how you work and how you can provide alternative solutions for key issues. But the key to writing a good case study is to start with a quality interview.
You have the tools needed to draft powerful questions. So start the process by looking through your list of past clients and determining who would be the best to interview. Develop a thorough understanding of their situation and their history with your company, and then conduct your interview.
After your first few case studies, you'll be confident on how to best structure questions and refine your interviews to get the best information. Soon, you will be crafting detailed and engaging case studies to best market your business.
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Case Study Interview Examples: Questions and Answers
- What would be your approach for introducing a product into a foreign market? What are the risks and benefits to consider i.e. producing in your own country vs producing in the new country, etc?
- Company ABC is struggling, should it be restructured? Identify the three main problems it's facing. What is the most important problem the company is facing? How would you recommend the company address this problem? How would you turn this company around? Provide your reasoning for your recommendation(s).
- A toy company has been experiencing decline sales for the last two seasons. Research suggests that introducing several new product lines is the solution. Develop a marketing strategy for the company's largest product line, including pricing, product packing, etc.
- A large chain of retail clothing stores is struggling with profitability. Bases on your review fo the company's financial statements, what problems can you identify? Can this company be turned arounds? How would you go about deciding?
- A new Eddie Bauer Store is being opened up in London. Discuss all the marketing issues regarding the opening of this new location.
- Take in information quickly and remember what you hear.
- Identify key issues, prioritize and logically solve problems.
- Make quick, yet accurate, decisions.
- Manage time efficiently.
- Perform under pressure.
- Be aware of resource constraints.
- Identify customer needs.
- Be original and creative.
- Please provide the total weight of a fully loaded Jumbo Jet at the time of take off.
- How many light bulbs are there in the United States?
- How many photocopies are taken in the United Kingdom each year?
- How much beer is consumed in the city of New York on Fridays?
- How many people sell AMWAY products in the United States?
- If there are 7,492 people participating in a tournament, how many games must be played to find a winner?
- How many golf balls will fit in the Empire State Building?
- How many car tire are sold in Canada each year?
- Given thhe numbers 5 and 2000, what is the minimum number of guesses required to find a specific number if the only hint you're given is "higher" and "lower" for each guess made?
- How do you determine the weight of a blue whale without using a scale?
- Take time to think before you answer the question.
- If given a pen and paper, take notes and write down key information. Use the paper to make calculations, write down ideas and structure your answer.
- Ask additional questions if you feel you are missing information. The interviewer is often expecting you to ask to find missing information.
- Use lateral thinking and be creative. There isn't always just one right answer. Just make sure your answer is backed up by sound logic and numbers that make sense.
- Make sure you know your math. At minimum you'll need to perform some basic arithmetic or mathematical calculations.
- These quesitons are often used to test your ability to structure, as well as your ability to think laterallly, make logical links and communicate clearly.
- Make mental calculations quickly by making sensible estimates and rounding numbers up or down.
- Does your answer make sense? If you're answer doesn't make sense, chances are you've made a bad assumpation, estimate or calculation. Go back and carefully check your work and provide a new answer.
- You can use business frameworks (SWOT, Porter's Five forces, etc.) or mind mapping to support your analysis and answers, as long as it makes sense.
- Many market sizing questions revolve around issues being faced by an organization or industry. Commercial awareness can be very important to answering market sizing questions.
- How would you work with a subordinate who is underperforming?
- You're consulting with a large pharmacy with stores in multiple states. This company has improved sales but experienced a decrease in revenue. As a result, it is contemplating store closings. Explain how you'd advise this client?
- You are working directly with a company's management team. It is organizing a project designed to significantly increase revenue. If you were provided with data and asked to supervise the project, what steps would you take to ensure it's successful?
- You have been assigned to work with a small company that manufactures a popular product. However, a competitor begins selling a very similar product which incorporates state of the art technology. What would you advise your client to do?
- You have been assigned to advise a company with a large Western European market. Company management wants to open the Chinese market. What advice do you have for this company?
- The firm has assigned you to consult a company intending to drop a product or expand into new markets in order to increase revenue. What steps would you take to help this company achieve its objective?
- You have been assigned to consult a shoe retailer with stores throughout the nation. Since its revenue is dropping, the company has proposed to sell food at its stores. How would you advise this client?
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Memahami Case Interview dan Tips Sukses Menjalaninya
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Pernahkah kamu harus menjawab atau mengerjakan pertanyaan yang berupa studi kasus dalam sebuah wawancara kerja ? Jika iya, itu adalah bentuk case interview .
Memang tidak semua interview kerja akan menyajikan studi kasus.
Akan tetapi, jika kamu mendapat pertanyaan semacam ini, tentu saja dengan menjawabnya dengan baik akan memberi kesan baik juga di mata rekruter.
Nah, supaya kamu bisa lebih siap menghadapi interview dan pertanyaan semacam ini, yuk baca serba-serbinya berikut ini.
Apa Itu Case Interview?
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Seperti yang telah disinggung sebelumnya, case interview adalah sebuah wawancara kerja yang bentuk pertanyaan berupa studi kasus.
The Balance Career menyebutkan, pertanyaan interview ini kamu mengajakmu berimajinasi dalam sebuah situasi rumit di perusahaan dan tim.
Dari situ, kamu akan diminta untuk menyelesaikan situasi atau masalah.
Biasanya, contoh kasus yang diberikan dalam case interview adalah masalah atau tantangan yang kemungkinan besar akan kamu temui saat mulai bekerja.
Namun, tidak menutup kemungkinan case interview yang diberikan malah tidak ada hubungannya sama sekali dengan perusahaan.
P ertanyaan semacam ini bukan berarti jebakan, melainkan interview er ingin melihat kemampuan analisis dan problem solving -mu.
Tipe-tipe case interview .
Ada dua tipe wawancara studi kasus yang bisa kamu jumpai.
Pertama adalah case interview yang dipandu oleh pewawancara ( interview er- led ).
Kedua kamulah yang harus proaktif mengajukan pertanyaan ( candidate – led ) untuk memahami kasusnya.
Pertanyaan interview kerja berupa studi kasus umumnya lebih sering ditemui kalau kamu hendak melamar ke perusahaan konsultan.
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Contoh Pertanyaan Case Interview
Pertanyaan studi kasus bukanlah sesederhana, “Apa yang akan kamu lakukan jika harus bekerja sama dengan seseorang yang tidak kamu suka?”.
Pertanyaan case interview biasanya akan berupa sebuah skenario yang menyangkut perusahaan (bisa juga tidak) dengan masalah spesifik.
Kamu diharapkan bisa memberikan solusi terbaik dari kondisi yang ditanyakan.
Berikut ini adalah contoh pertanyaan case interview yang Glints rangkum dari Bain & Company .
Klien kami, FashionCo, bergerak di bidang fashion wanita. Selama bertahun-tahun, FashionCo selalu menjadi pemimpin pasar. Akan tetapi, dalam lima tahun belakangan, pendapatan mereka selalu menurun tiap tahunnya.
Minggu depan, FashionCo akan mengadakan meeting dengan manajemen untuk membahas hal ini. CEO ingin mengetahui rekomendasimu, sebagai bagian dari Bain Consulting untuk meningkatkan revenue perusahaan dan mengapa hal ini bisa terjadi.
Sebenarnya, dalam menjawab pertanyaan studi kasus ini tidak ada benar salah yang mutlak.
Sebab, seperti yang telah Glints sebutkan, tujuan utamanya adalah mengetahui kemampuan menganalisis dan memecahkan sebuah masalah.
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Tips Sukses Case Interview
Mengingat tujuan case interview adalah mengetahui cara pikiranmu untuk menemukan sebuah solusi, jadi tak perlu takut jawabanmu akan salah.
Kamu juga tak perlu merasa kecil hati jika banyak mengajukan pertanyaan terkait kasus selama sesi interview berlangsung. Apalagi jika formatnya memang candidate-led .
Malah, itulah yang sebenarnya diharapkan pewawancara supaya kamu benar-benar paham kasus yang sedang diujikan.
Untuk itu, ada beberapa tips yang bisa kamu ikuti supaya wawancara studi kasusmu berjalan lancar.
1. Pahami pertanyaannya
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Untuk memastikan kamu mengerti dengan jelas yang ditanya, cobalah ucapkan ulang masalahnya sebelum memberikan jawaban.
Jangan ragu untuk bertanya dan memperjelas masalah yang dihadapi karena hal ini wajar dalam case interview .
2. Buatlah catatan
Pertanyaan yang diajukan saat case interview bisa saja memuat banyak detail. Itu sebabnya, kamu mungkin perlu mencatatnya.
Mencatat detail studi kasus yang diberikan bisa membantu kamu mendapatkan poin-poin penting tanpa rekruter harus mengulang.
Sah-sah saja membawa notes atau kertas saat interview . Jangan ragu untuk melakukannya karena ini adalah hal yang juga wajar dalam case interview .
Bahkan, kamu juga bisa menggambar grafik bila diperlukan untuk mempresentasikan hasil pemikiranmu.
3. Tetap tenang
Mungkin saja banyak detail yang belum disampaikan saat rekruter atau user membacakan contoh kasus.
Itu sebabnya, kamu tidak perlu buru-buru untuk memikirkan dan mendapatkan jawaban atau solusi.
Pikirkanlah solusi-solusi itu dengan tenang sebelum akhirnya memberikan jawaban.
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4. Bertanya
Seperti yang sudah Glints singgung, interview dengan studi kasus selalu bersifat interaktif.
Itu sebabnya, jangan ragu atau malu bertanya kepada pewawancara untuk memastikan kamu sudah paham apa yang ditanyakan.
5. Jelaskan cara berpikirmu
Jawaban dari pertanyaan studi kasus tidak dinilai dari seberapa brilian atau solusi yang kamu berikan.
Malah, yang diharapkan dari sebuah case interview adalah proses berpikir yang kamu lakukan hingga akhirnya sampai pada kesimpulan solusi itu.
Maka dari itu, jelaskan dengan baik berbagai hal yang kamu pertimbangkan sehingga kamu memutuskan memberikan solusi itu.
6. Tetap bersikap profesional
Interaksi yang terjadi saat sesi interview bisa jadi membuatmu terlalu nyaman hingga lupa bahwa sedang dalam sesi wawancara kerja.
Itu sebabnya, pastikan kamu tetap bersikap profesional.
Jaga bahasa tubuh saat interview agar tidak terlalu santai. Duduk tegak, berbicara dengan lugas, dan jangan lupa pertahankan eye contact saat berbicara dengan interview er , ya.
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Menghadapi case interview tentu membutuhkan persiapan yang sedikit berbeda daripada sesi wawancara kerja biasa. Meski begitu, kalau terus latihan, kamu akan dapat melaluinya dengan baik.
Durasi case interview yang umum adalah sekitar 15-30 menit. Mungkin akan butuh lebih lama jika persiapanmu belum matang.
Untuk melatihnya, kamu bisa melihat beberapa contoh pertanyaan case interview dari beberapa perusahaan konsultan, seperti McKinsey, Bain, atau BCG.
Mau tahu lebih banyak tips tentang wawancara kerja? Yuk, kunjungi kategori Tips Interview di Glints Blog!
Kamu bisa temukan artikel yang membahas berbagai jenis pertanyaan interview, tips, dan contoh jawabannya. Dengan mempelajarinya lebih banyak, persiapanmu juga akan lebih matang.
Ayo baca lebih banyak artikel melalui link ini !
- Practice Case: Fashion Co
- Tips for Preparing for a Case Interview
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