How to Rock the Mock Case Interview, FM Style

Now that it looks like Harvard students have a better chance of becoming a porn star (hey, Matthew DiPasquale!) than an investment-banking analyst, many have set their sights on the coveted world of consulting. But to enter this land of expense accounts and luxury hotel stays one must first master the dreaded case interview. Mistakes during the case interview—not asking the right questions, computation errors, bursting into tears—can ensure that the only work you will be doing at McKinsey is janitorial. Not to fear, FM is here with some actual (read: made-up) cases from real (read: make-believe) interviews to help you prepare to wow that hot interviewer from Bain.



Case 1

You are advising a major American insurance company headquartered in New York City. This company’s credit rating was recently downgraded because its London unit sold credit default swaps on collaterized debt obligations that lost much of their value when sub-prime mortgages went south. In order to prevent the company’s collapse, the Federal Reserve crated an $85 billion credit line in exchange for an equity stake in the company. Currently the company is faced with another tough decision: should it hold its executive retreat in Cabo or Bali this year? And would Hank Paulson want to go snorkeling? What would you advise?



Case 2

You are advising a paper-goods company located in Scranton, Pa. Two of the employees, Angela and Andy, are engaged to be married, but the assistant (to the) regional manager, Dwight, is also in love with Angela. Additionally, the branch manager, Michael, has started dating the human resources representative, Holly, even though his ex-lover and former boss Jan expressly forbade it. What would you advise?

—Jamison A. Hill