Kellogg students who participate in McKinsey & Company’s Case Interview Workshops are usually asked to bring a prepared case to be used in breakout sessions during the workshop.These guidelines are distributed in advance to aid participants in their case preparation.

What is a case Interview?

A case is a description of a real business problem.Case interviews are designed to test problem-solving skills.A case interview typically lasts 20 to 30 minutes and is a verbal exchange between the interviewee and the interviewer.During a case interview, the interviewee asks the interviewer questions to get enough data to recommend a solution; the interviewer provides the information that is asked for and helps the interviewee stay on track to develop an approach.At the end of the interview, the interviewee should be able to recommend a solution to the original problem presented by the interviewer.Understand that the interviewee is not often expected to find a solution to the problem; a logically structured, fact-based recommendation is usually enough.

Remember, the case interview is designed to mimic a typical McKinsey client engagement: clients hire McKinsey to make a recommendation about a problem that they are having.The objective of the interviewee is to identify the key issues of the problem, develop potential approaches to making a recommendation, and if possible, hypothesize a solution.

Helpful Guidelines for preparing your Case

The following sections provide guidelines developed by McKinsey & Company to assist you during your case preparation.

Selecting Your Case

McKinsey interviewers choose their cases based on past business experiences.When developing your own case, we suggest, if possible, that you do the same. Try to draw on real-world experiences or business problems that you have been exposed to as part of your Kellogg courses.These experiences and problems provide a great foundation for a case. You can also pick an interesting situation being covered in the media (e.g. BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, etc.).

Kicking-off Your Case Interview

Most cases start out with a phrase such as “A CEO of a hockey equipment manufacturer has asked McKinsey to... You are the Associate on the team and we need to get back to the CEO with our preliminary answer to his or her question within the next half an hour.”

The following questions pose typical problems that you could expect in case interviews.The case you develop for the workshop might involve the solution to a similar question.Keep these types of questions in mind when developing your case content.

¶ “How should Company X respond to significant environmental changes?”

¶ “What products and to what customer segments should a company sell?”

¶ “Should Company X add capacity?”

¶ “How should Company X react to a new competitor?”

¶ “Should Company X enter/exit a new/old market?”