The four types of consulting case interviews

An overview of interviewee-led, interviewer-led, group cases and written cases that MBB consulting firms use.

Kenton Kivestu, ex-Google, ex-BCG, Founder at RocketBlocks Updated: March 28, 2024

While the skill sets consulting firms want to see demonstrated in case interviews are fairly static, the medium through which they test them can vary.

Below we'll summarize the different types of consulting case interviews you'll encounter and key considerations for each case type.

There are lots of different configurations and case styles. But, put all that aside. The key thing you've always got to remember: all of them are simply a conversation about a challenging business problem. That should be the guiding light."
Jacob Best, former Bain Consultant

Type #1: Interviewee led cases

This is the most common type of case interview and it's used extensively by BCG, Bain, Deloitte, Accenture and many other firms. The only notable exception to this is McKinsey, who uses more interviewer-led cases.

Interviewee-led simply means that the pace, flow and content of the case interview itself will be led by the candidate. The interviewer will of course provide the initial case prompt, but beyond that, the candidate is expected to drive the rest of the case to conclusion. Some interviewers may intervene more or less, or be more forthcoming with tips and hints, but the expectation is that the candidate will drive the process.

One key thing to realize then is that this interview type will be more effective at assessing one's ability to navigate and lead him/herself through the problem itself (as we discussed above as one type of test on leadership skills).

Examples of interviewee led cases:

• Low cost carrier, case type: profitability. Help the client (a low cost carrier in Asia) remain profitable despite a recent fuel price hike. How would you approach this problem and ensure profitability for years to come?
• Coffee Co., case type: market entry. Your friend wants your help in determining whether opening a coffee shop outside of London is a good idea.
• Footloose, case type: market entry. Help management decide if they should focus their efforts on competing with Badger in the work boot sector, or focus their resources on further strengthening their position with casual boots.
• Wumbleworld, case type: profitability. WumbleWorld, an amusement park in China, has asked Oliver Wyman to identify the reasons for their company's declining profits and develop suggestions for how to reverse this trend.

Type #2: Interviewer led cases

This is the style of interview used almost exclusively in McKinsey interviews, although we've had numerous reports of Partners straying from the format in final round interviews and using a more informal, interviewee-led style.

The key difference between this type and interviewee led is that the interviewer will lead the candidate through a predetermined path and series of questions and thus it will be less of a candidate "choose your own adventure" experience.

The benefit, from the firm perspective, is a standardized interview. The goal is to produce more standardized and accurate ratings of candidates. The downside here is that there is less room for the candidate to demonstrate their own skill in structuring, navigating and leading the problem solving exercise. While interviewers will still have candidates do things like create an initial problem structure, regardless of what the candidate proposed, they'll then dictate which bucket of analysis or investigation to do next.

Examples of interviewer led cases:

• Diconsa, case type: product launch. In this case study, the Gates Foundation asked McKinsey to design a basic financial-services offering for inhabitants of remote communities in Mexico.
• Electro-Light, case type: product launch. The client is SuperSoda. SuperSoda is a top-three beverage producer in the United States and has approached McKinsey for help in designing a product-launch strategy.
• GlobaPharm, case type: mergers & acquisitions. GlobaPharm has engaged McKinsey to evaluate the BioFuture acquisition and to advise on its strategic fit with GlobaPharm's biologicals strategy. Our overall question today, therefore, is "Should GlobaPharm acquire BioFuture?"
• Edu transformation, case type: organizational transformation. The government of Loravia wants to achieve major improvements in both the quantity and quality of education for its children. They’ve asked McKinsey to provide advice on how they can achieve this transformation in its school system.

Check out the RocketBlocks casebook for more examples of full cases to use in your practice

Type #3: Written cases

A newer form of case interview that Bain and a handful of other firms have been pioneering is a heavy mix of data analysis plus a presentation.

This format is still evolving quickly right now but in most cases candidates are handed a data trove consisting of a mix of slides, datasets and research and asked to cull through it, assemble a recommendation and make a presentation to a group of consultants. Typically, candidates are given 2 hours to review the data set and build a presentation. Then they'll present their recommendation to a group of senior consultants for roughly twenty minutes and then host Q&A.

For a detailed overview of written cases, including a side-by-side comparison of BCG's format vs. Bain's format, see the full write up on the written case format.

"In the written cases, you're usually given a deck of slides and some time to review. It's different but you want to follow the same process: structure the problem, find supporting data and propose a series of solutions."
Abhi Tiwari, former BCG Consultant

Format wise, this type of case interview is designed to get even closer to modeling the on the job experience: analyze data, pull together a recommendation and present to the client. Bain, in particular, has been pushing this because they found that their interview process was starting to over index on the importance of certain soft skills and cultural elements and, in turn, down playing the analytical elements.

Overall, while this type of case will evaluate all the same soft skills and analytical skills, it gives candidates a little more time to dig into the data, ruminate on it before having present back an answer and recommendation.

Type #4: Group cases

This style of case interview is the most unique and the rarest of the types. The first major strategy firm to employ group case interviews was the Monitor Group, which was acquired by Deloitte in 2013. Unsurprisingly, the skillset that this interview will tease out more than any others is the candidate's collaborative skills. Firms that utilize a group case are usually particularly interested to see how candidates will interact with each other.

Some of the key collaborative dynamics they'll be looking at are: who is helping drive the discussion forward? Who is ensuring that the different viewpoints are being heard, acknowledged and discussed? How are resolutions between differing points of view being resolved or not resolved and why? To look at one specific example, consider the case of one candidate advocating a factually incorrect position. Does another candidate successfully convince him/her otherwise? Consultants often have to "walk clients" back from incorrect positions and just telling a client "you're wrong" won't cut it, because it will damage the relationship with a client.

"I found the fixed-style McKinsey interviews more interrogative than others. Some of the cases from boutique firms felt more personal, and the interviews themselves felt a little more unpredictable than some of the larger firms. There are differences, but on the whole, it's still a case!"
Richard Smith, former Bain Consultant

How many cases do I have to do?

Good question! The process varies from firm to firm, as you'd imagine, but there is a fairly typical end-to-end recruiting process that takes place for most firms. Let's take a look at that now.