[Ed. Note: An alumna of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, Lucy Chen is a current Strategy Analyst at Accenture. The following tips are based on my various recruitment and professional experiences over the past four years. Please note that while I currently work at Accenture and represent Accenture at recruiting events, this article is not in any way a reflection of Accenture’s or Accenture Recruiting’s views.]

Ahh, the case interview. For anyone that has ever gone through consulting recruitment, these two words elicit a variety of reactions. But regardless of whether you love it or hate it, we can all admit that the preparing and practicing case interview was probably the most time-intensive part of the recruitment process. And for very good reason!

Ever wanted to be a detective? Well here’s your chance! The case interview is essentially a collaborative, clue-finding process in which you will work with your interviewer to solve a business problem.

This problem can range from a simple profitability case to more complex issues, such as mergers & acquisitions, product strategy — I’ve even had cases that dealt with patents and litigation! While the topics may vary, the style tends to be the same: the interviewer will first give you a 1–2 sentence overview which identifies the client, the problem, and the objective.

Upon hearing the problem setup, it is then your job to break down the overall problem into smaller issues and ask questions to explore potential causes and solutions. As the case progresses, you’ll discover new information, often in the form of spoken statistics, graphs, or tables. In many cases, you’ll be expected to perform basic mental math. After you’ve exhausted all of the issues in your framework, you’ll be asked to summarize each of your findings into a recommendation for the client.

If you’d like to read more about the case interview process, I suggest the following materials:

· Case In Point, Ch. 2–3, Marc Cosentino

· Victor Cheng’s Case Interview Workshop: Video 1, Video 2

It’s a common misconception that the case interview mirrors the type of work you would expect to do as a consultant. In reality, this type of high-level client interaction tends to be focused at the manager level and above. However, the case interview is still incredibly important, because it tests for both technical and soft skills used by analysts and consultants every day, including:

• Critical thinking and logical reasoning
• Communication/presentation skills
• Comfort with numbers
• Client readiness
• Creative thinking*

As you can see, the case interview tests for a wide range of skills, which is one of the reasons many consider it the most difficult part of consulting recruitment. Luckily, case interviewing comes naturally to a very few. For most, getting better at case interviews comes down to 2 simple steps: studying the basics and practice, practice, practice.

*I place an asterisk here because this skill isn’t tested by all firms. You will know when you are being tested on your creativity if you are asked to “Brainstorm a few ways that ______”.

Because case interviews test on so many different dimensions, there is always an area where you can strengthen yourself as a candidate. So whether you’re just cracking open Case In Point or already have it memorized, here’s a few tips to improve from a “good” candidate to a “great” one.

Ever driven down a freeway? Then you’ve probably seen those huge signposts every few miles that tell you which exits are coming up. Now imagine if you were driving down a road for hours without a single signpost. You would never know where you are or where you’re going.

In a case interview, you’re constantly talking back and forth: asking questions, shuffling through pages, diving through data — it’s a lot of information. So it’s pretty common for candidates and even interviewers to lose sight of the big picture.

While you may have a framework or road map in front of you, your interviewer isn’t going to have your notes in front of them. For your interviewer, it’s pretty easy to get lost in your road map unless you can create a signpost. In an interview, that means telling them how you’re thinking, what insights you’ve made, and how this fits into your overall narrative.

And don’t do this just once. Tell them, tell them, and tell them again at every major milestone in the case. It might sound tedious, but it’s better to be a little repetitive than to be completely lost.

This might sound similar to Tip 1, but think of it this way: Tip 1 is about telling your interviewer where you are currently and where you’re going as you proceed through the case. This tip is about transforming your case and data into a story so that you can create better insights.

Now in elementary school, the first thing that we learn is that stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can’t just start writing a story from the middle, because then it won’t feel complete.

The same goes for creating a narrative for your case interview. Reframe the intro you’re given into a story — verbalize the setting/situation, the challenge at hand, your objective, and finally — your initial ideas and approach to solving the problem.

As you explore through new data and insights, constantly tie everything you’ve learned back into your narrative. You’ll find that thinking through the numbers with consideration for the problem’s context will often help you uncover new conclusions and build a stronger recommendation.

Not to mention that when you’re asked to summarize your findings at the very end, you’ll already be prepared!

We know that most things in life aren’t one-size-fits-all, so why do we act as though cases are? One of the most common mistakes you often see with candidates (particularly those that have just read through Case In Point) is trying to jam everything in a case into a single framework.

Let’s be frank — business problems and issues are rarely as simple as frameworks make them out to be. There’s almost always interconnected issues, underlying drivers, and a whole slew of external factors to consider.

So rather than memorizing 14 or so frameworks, familiarize yourself with 3–4 frameworks that you can mix and match to suit your needs. And by familiarize, I mean, really take the time to understand the nuances of each component of the framework. For example, if you’re looking at Porter’s, you might ask yourself: what are the underlying drivers of supplier power? How does supplier power impact competitiveness within an industry? How does industry competitiveness impact consumer preference or vice versa? And lastly, how might consumer preference play into a firm’s profitability?

Once you thoroughly understand a single framework, do the same for 3–4 other frameworks. This will form the basis of your interview toolkit.

Next, think through how a component in one framework might impact a component in another framework. Look up several practice cases and read through their problem setups. For each setup, list out which framework components you would mix and match to build a custom framework. Once you feel comfortable with this process, you will be able to build strong approaches to any business problem you’re given.

The frameworks that you choose for your toolkit will vary depending on your method of thinking*, but if you want a place to start from, below are the core frameworks that I use in my personal toolkit:

1. Porter’s Five Forces
This framework is absolutely crucial to understand and understand well. At the surface-level, Porter’s was originally designed to help consultants assess the attractiveness (i.e. long-term profitability) of an industry. However, I’ve found a deep knowledge of this framework to be incredibly useful in understanding how external and internal industry dynamics interplay as industries grow and change. For me, Porter’s is almost always my starting point no matter what problem I’m given so that I can get a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s context and nuances.

2. Profitability
This is a pretty basic framework (Profit = Revenue — Expense), but I’ve found this useful in keeping track of the components of revenue and the components of expense. I tend to use this framework as a starting checklist of things I need to dig into if a client is facing profitability issues. Paired with Porter’s, this can be a very powerful way to tackle profitability cases.

3. PEST & SWOT
Again, these two are both fairly basic frameworks and while they test different things, I’ve paired them together here because I often use them in conjunction.

PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological and is a framework to evaluate external trends that might impact an industry or company.

SWOT, on the other hand, stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats and is often used to evaluate the internal capabilities in a company.

While a bit elementary if used by themselves, in conjunction, these two are good jumping-off points for you to understand the client and client context.

As you can see, my toolkit consists of 4 basic frameworks. To be honest, I probably rely on Porter’s and profitability the most; I use a few components of PEST and SWOT to help flesh out my thinking, but rarely do I ever use only one or all of them in the same interview. A few other frameworks that I occasionally use are:

• 4 Ps — useful for marketing cases
• Value chain — useful in conjunction with profitability framework or in operations cases
• Value creation — fun concept to toss in during profitability/marketing cases

*Again, your approach will vary depending on your own method of thinking. I usually start by looking at the high-level external factors before diving into the more granular internal issues. This can be done with Porter’s (external) and Profitability (internal) as well as PEST (external) and SWOT (internal).

The case interview is almost inevitably the most difficult part of consulting recruitment. Not only does it test how you think, but you’re also evaluated on how you communicate, present, calculate, and even summarize! With so many areas to juggle at once, cases can seem daunting at first. But don’t worry — focus on the basics, know your frameworks, and practice with friends. With each mock interview, you’ll find yourself getting better.

So before you go, don’t forget to:

1. Tell them, tell them, and tell them again.
Don’t get lost in your framework. Remind you (and your interviewer) where you are by creating signposts along the way: tell them where you are and where you’re going.

2. Build a narrative, piece by piece.
Engage your interviewer by turning your insights into a story. As you dig through data and questions, tie back your insights into your overarching narrative.

3. Mix and match your frameworks for the perfect fit.
Business cases are complex, but your approach doesn’t have to be. Build a toolkit of 3–4 frameworks that you know well and can combine for every situation.

If this was useful, please let us know so that we can keep creating more content for you. And of course, if you have any other questions, feel free to comment below.

Good luck!