Case interview preparation for McKinsey, BCG, and Bain
Turn Your Case Interviews Into Multiple Offers
Most case prep still teaches template matching. McKinsey, BCG, and Bain stopped rewarding it years ago. I spent 5 years at McKinsey, and I have coached 700+ people into consulting offers by building the skills the firms actually test.
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- 2,300+coaching sessions delivered
- 700+offers secured by my clients
- 340MBB offers
- 190McKinsey offers
- 1,600+5-star reviews across platforms
Client results
1,600+ 5-Star Reviews and Offers at All Firms
Candidates I have worked with have gone on to offers at MBB, Tier-2, Big 4, boutique, in-house strategy, and tech consulting roles, from target and non-target backgrounds alike.
★★★★★
“Florian is world-class. If you’re serious about landing an offer, work with him. It truly changed everything for me.”
★★★★★
“Florian is the absolute MVP. He was a fundamental lever in my path toward achieving multiple NYC MBB offers to join full time.”
★★★★★
“Took the course. Learned from Florian. Got the McKinsey Business Analyst offer. 100% worth the investment.”
★★★★★
“I was told I was the ‘most definite offer’ of this recruitment cycle and that the partners immediately gave me a ‘yes.'”
1,600+ 5-star reviews across PrepLounge, StrategyCase, Leland, and Amazon.
Choose your path
Where Should You Start?
Four starting points, depending on how far along you are and how much time you have.
You are early, or still deciding if consulting is for you
Start with the free Case Interview Foundations course. 40+ videos, 7+ hours of instruction, and 200+ pages of reading material covering case and fit interviews for all firms, plus advice on networking and applications.
Start the free course →Your interview is in two to eight weeks
The Case Interview Academy is the complete self-paced system: 82 video lessons plus thousands of practice drills with sample answers across structuring, math, and chart interpretation. Trusted by students from 18 of the top-20 MBA programs and 200+ universities.
Get instant access →You have a test, game, or screen coming up first
Firm-specific preparation for the exact assessment you are facing. Playable simulations and realistic practice questions, not generic aptitude drills.
- McKinsey Solve simulations
- BCG Cognitive Test practice
- BCG Online Case practice
- Bain SOVA practice tests
- Bain TestGorilla practice tests
You want a plan built around your specific situation
I take a limited number of clients each month, so every engagement starts with a real diagnosis rather than a generic curriculum. I work personally with every candidate, in sessions and outside them, to perfect every aspect of their application.
Book a free consultation → See coaching optionsAlso available: the Fit Interview Masterclass, resume and cover letter review, 27 industry cheat sheets, and my book The 1%.
Why most preparation fails
Modern Case Prep Is Broken
The prep industry sells volume. Memorize a set of frameworks, grind 50 or 60 practice cases, hope the pattern shows up on interview day. That approach was already weak ten years ago. Against how MBB interviews run now, it fails outright.
Here is what changed. Firms moved toward problems that resist templates: structuring from first principles, forming a hypothesis with incomplete data, reading a chart for the insight rather than the number, and defending a recommendation under pressure. A candidate who has memorized a profitability tree has nothing to fall back on when the case refuses to behave like one.
Meanwhile the tooling got worse. AI case bots recycle outdated case models and reward you for finishing them, which produces the feeling of preparation without the substance. Volume creates motion. It does not create skill.
I build the skills interviewers actually assess
- Structuring from first principles and creative brainstorming
- Data interpretation and exhibit analysis for case interviews
- Setting up and solving case math
- Business sense and judgment
- Confidence and maturity
- Top-down communication
Supported by
- Targeted drills on the specific skills you need to polish
- Practice on cases that behave like real business problems
- Honest feedback and practice plans that close the gap between your performance and the hiring standard
Fewer cases, done properly, beat a hundred cases done on autopilot.
1:1 coaching
Coaching Is Diagnosis, Mentorship, and Iteration, Not a Practice Partner
Most people picture coaching as mock interviews with feedback at the end, booked a week before the real thing. That is the least valuable version of it, and it is why candidates who wait often get little out of it.
The highest-return moment to get a baseline is at the beginning, when there is still time to act on what it tells you. Coaching also works well mid-preparation, when you have plateaued and cannot see why, and immediately before interviews for calibration and pressure testing.
- Baseline
- Diagnose
- Plan
- Teach
- Drill
- Test
What I run is a skill development system:
Diagnostic and baselining
I assess where you actually are across a real case simulation and actual evaluation criteria: structuring, math, data interpretation, brainstorming, communication, maturity, business sense, and fit. Not where you think you are.
Building the right profile
I identify the specific bottlenecks holding your performance down, lifting your weaknesses to avoid rejection and building up your strengths to receive offers. You get a preparation plan and all practice resources built around those gaps and your real timeline.
Clarity about your progress
I track your development across sessions. You always know where you stand, where you need to go, and what is required to get there. A candidate once described my feedback as surgical because I focus on the bigger picture as well as micro-habits across the case.
A network of resources and people
I connect my clients with each other for focused peer practice. I also help them polish their application documents and provide access to all the essential theory and practice materials, including recruiting test simulations, practice cases, and targeted case and fit interview drills.
Free, 15 minutes, no obligation. Single sessions and 5- or 10-session programs, for a limited number of clients each month. See coaching options and verified reviews.
Who you would work with
Why Work With Me: Dr. Florian Smeritschnig
I spent 5 years at McKinsey & Company as a Senior Consultant. That is the perspective this whole business runs on: I know what the scoring conversation sounds like after you leave the room.
Since leaving McKinsey in 2020, I have delivered 2,300+ mock interviews and coaching sessions, and my clients have secured 700+ offers. I remain an active consultant and stay deeply involved in global consulting recruiting, which keeps the material current.
- Author of three booksIncluding the Amazon bestseller The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview, plus The 1%: Case Interview Workbook and Consulting Career Secrets
- 1,600+ 5-star reviewsAcross PrepLounge, StrategyCase, Leland, and Amazon
- Invited speakerAt universities across the US, Europe, and Asia
- 12+ years in consulting5 of them at McKinsey
One mission
I worked backward from how case interviews are conducted and scored to develop a modern approach that helps my clients achieve consistent results.
In 2025, McKinsey removed me from its alumni network for helping hundreds of candidates get into the firm.
When I started out, my goal was to close the information asymmetry candidates are up against, and I guess it has worked.
Not a machine
I cap the number of coaching clients I take each month. Every session and interaction is with me, and the preparation products are built out of my McKinsey experience and what comes up in those sessions rather than assembled from public material.
If you are looking for an AI case bot that generates infinite cases, there are cheaper options. They will not tell you why your structure was weak or how to improve from there.
FAQ
Common Questions
Do I actually need coaching, or is self-study enough?
Plenty of people get offers on self-study alone, and if you are disciplined and starting early, the Academy plus the free course may be all you need. Coaching earns its cost when you cannot see your own gap, when you have already failed a round and do not know why, or when your timeline is short enough that guessing wrong is expensive.
How far in advance should I start?
Eight to twelve weeks of consistent work is a realistic runway for most candidates starting from zero. Two to four weeks is workable if you work with a coach. Below two weeks, prioritize ruthlessly or, ideally, try to push your interview date back.
Does this work if I am from a non-target school?
Yes, and a large share of the candidates I coach are non-target. The screen you face is harder at the resume stage, which is a separate problem with separate solutions. Once you are in the interview, the evaluation is the same for everyone in the room.
What does it cost?
The Case Interview Academy is $179. The Foundations course and all articles and guides on this site are free. Coaching starts at $399 for a single session. The 5-session program is $1,849, and the 10-session program is $2,999.
Is this only for McKinsey, BCG, and Bain?
The material and approach are built to the MBB standard because it is the highest one, which means it transfers down. Candidates have used it for Tier-2 firms, Big 4 strategy arms, boutiques, in-house strategy teams, and tech consulting.
How is this different from doing 50 practice cases with a peer?
A peer can tell you that something felt off. They usually cannot tell you which specific skill failed, why an interviewer would score it down, or how to approach it differently. Practice partners are useful for repetition once you have the technique. They are a poor way to acquire it, since they have no insider knowledge and rely on the same conflicting information found online or in outdated books.
Is StrategyCase affiliated with McKinsey, BCG, or Bain?
No. StrategyCase is independent. I worked at McKinsey for five years and left in 2020. Everything I teach is my own work, built from my experience on both sides of the table.
Free guides
Start With the Free Guides
Free articles and guides on applications, tests, and interviews. These six are the best place to begin.
Work with me
Work With Me Directly
You do not need another framework list. You need to know which specific skill is costing you the offer, and what to do about it in the time you have left. Together, we’ll find out.
- A free 15-minute consultation, with no obligation
- Every session is with me personally; nothing is delegated
- A limited number of clients each month
Prefer to start on your own? Take the free 2-minute diagnostic.
Book your free 15-minute consultation
Tell me about your background, your goals, and how I can help. I reply within 24 to 48 hours.
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