Bain & Company At what level you stop having to do case studies when applying to new roles?
(Currently Senior Consultant, seeking to change companies, And don’t feel like going through that case studies prep thing all over again 😅) Oliver Wyman Boston Consulting Group McKinsey & Company Bain & Company Kearney Strategy&
Chief
When you show up with a big book of business.
😊 The real question is: will you enjoy the job if you don’t enjoy case studies?
Oh please!!!
Lol maybe direct admit partner?
Starting at the EM level it stops being a stock standard case study they pull from a book, and more of a “talk me through a recent project you led” and “how did you break down the approach and structure your workstreams and teams?”
Agree, I don’t think this is accurate. IQVIA where are you getting your info?
At high levels where your book of business is a lot more important than solving a case. Recently there was a thread with a senior director at EYP and they said they didn’t have a case
Chief
Even Partner levels have to present a case study or presentation.
You shouldn't really need to do much case study prep at this point, it's just your job but in a shorter time frame. Just wing it
From my experience manager and above you have “cases” in the sense of walking through problems and showing strategic thinking but no one is going to make you do mental math
At AP, Partner, Senior Director level you don’t do a case interview. But you’ll have a panel presentation of your business case.
Chief
We for sure do them at least until manager level
I came in as EM and did maybe 6 or 7 general chats / fit, and only really 1 proper full case.
I just had to do one in industry!
As others have said, you should definitely expect to do some cases. And you’re unlikely to come in as more than an Associate/Consultant, the level MBAs join at, so you’re not going to be viewed as senior anyway (and AP/Manager/Principal candidates will likely have at least a couple of cases as part of the interview process)
I came in to D as an EM and I had a half-assed case interview. It lasted 20-25 mins and the SM was like, I've heard enough and took the laminated pages off the table and then says, so tell me more about your experience at X firm.
Other firm I worked for they asked me to set up an approach to a case they finished, then walk through a model structure with them and how would you approach staffing this case, etc. So those weren't a strict case interview, but it was definitely testing the same stuff.
In our office at Bain (a large EMEA location) we give Manager / Senior Manager / AP (principal) full cases.. but we pay more attention to the fit than we would at more junior levels