Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Cons Frameworks Carnegie Mellon
Cons Frameworks Carnegie Mellon
INTERVIEW WORKSHOP
• Where does the work take place? The office or the client site?
• Books
• Vault’s Guide to “The Case Interviews”
• Vault’s Guide to “Finance Interviews”
• Martin Yate’s “Knock Them Dead”
• Web Sites
• Firm Web Sites
• Vault & Wetfeet
Consulting interviews typically last 45 minutes
Case Interview –
Success Critical
The Fit Interview
Preparing for fit interviews
?
Snapshots of Consulting
Engagements
Problem
Problemsolving
solving
Communication
Communication
skills
skills
Case interviews evaluate far more than a candidate’s
functional and technical skills
Skill Key Questions
• Interpersonal skills Is the candidate relaxed and confident?
Revenue Cost
• What are the • How is the product • What advertising • How is this product
product’s distributed to medium is used to priced?
differentiating consumers? sell the product? • How are its
attributes? • What new methods • What is the most competitors priced?
• Why does the of distribution are effective method of
consumer purchase coming available? “getting the word
this product? out”?
Substitutes
• Relative price/value of the
substitute compared to
industry’s product
• Cost of switching to substitute
• Buyers’ propensity to switch
Value Chain
Design and
Suppliers Manufacturing Marketing Sales Distribution Service
Engineering
•Cost •Value Engineer. •Costs (Labor, •Research •Size of sale force •Margins •Response time
•Quality •Research overhead, WIP, •Price elasticity •Logistics •Inventory turns •Enabling
•Cycle Time •Development Capacity) •Promotion •Agency systems •Level of support technology
•Technology Timetable •Process •Channels vs. in-house •Logistics network •Labor
•Investment (Throughput, •Commission •Structure of requirements
hurdle general flow, structure network •Satisfaction
•Prototyping economies of •Retention/attrition •Delivery/batch levels
scale, yield, best levels sizes
practice, •Volume vs. profit
utilization, asset
base, technology)
Financial Analysis
– Elevator Question
Five general types of cases
Industry
Analysis
Investment/ Market
Divestment Expansion
Profit
Pricing
Improvement
Industry analysis case studies
Examples
• A manufacturer of automotive batteries is losing market share
and profitability is decreasing. What should the company do?
• A leading manufacturer of automobiles is considering
acquiring a national rental car company. What factors are
important in this decision?
• A group of investors is considering building a 40,000-seat
concert pavilion in the Northwest suburbs. What factors
should they consider?
• A national provider of in-home health care services is
considering purchasing a regional managed care facility with
250 physicians. What factors should our client consider in
making this decision?
Industry analysis case studies
Key Points Candidate Should Explore
• Market • Market size and segmentation
• Analyze product demand/trends
• Customer requirements