Case Interview Tests For Success
Studying, practicing and more practicing – these are the things that usually make up for a successful case interview experience. This does not stop you from wondering if you are really going to be successful in a real, live case interview situation though. There are a few questions you can ask yourself that will help deliver you a relatively straight answer to such a question as “am I ready?” by helping you determine your capabilities in commonly tested skills during case interviews.
Do You Have Good Questioning Habits?
A vital part of the case interview is not only having questions asked about you and the way you are handling the case interview problem, but to ask questions in return. To be successful with this, you need to ask yourself if you’re good at questioning people professionally. Do you know how to word things to appear professional? Are you rude or do you ask questions in a polite way? Are you good at weeding out what information you need to keep and which vague points to ask questions about before moving ahead?
Can You Take Good, Brief Notes?
Note taking is a really important part of the case interview, but only if it is done correctly. What not to do – write down everything you hear, regardless of whether it is important, verbatim, with no spaces. What you should be doing – writing down key points that are important to your problem-solving process, ignoring facts that are immaterial and adding in short notes for the answers of questions you ask the interviewer. The point is to keep things short, never drawn out, with only what you need on it. Otherwise you’re taking up too much time writing, and not enough time figuring out the problem.
Can You Solve a Problem Away from a Formula?
While it is true that a good number of case interview problems can be solved with a framework and specific formula for doing things, it is equally important to be able to think on your feet and away from a formula in more challenging instances. Can you think creatively and out of the box? If you can, you’re likely to succeed. In fact, most interviewers are more impressed with an applicant that can think creatively versus one that must remain on a strict organizational formula to be able to figure out a problem. Creative thinking means you can find the answers to clients’ problems even if you have no encountered one like it before.
Asking yourself these questions as you prepare for case interviews is one of the best ways to tell for sure whether or not you’re ready. If you have practiced enough, are capable of understanding what kinds of pressures will be on you in the real situation and can answer these questions with confidence, you will have a greater chance of succeeding in a case interview situation than if you couldn’t. Remember these are just a part of the overall necessary skills for the case interview, but they are a very, very important part.
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