What questions you should ask at the end of the case interview

As the McKinsey, BCG, or Bain case interview wraps up, you will usually get a chance to ask the interviewer a few questions. While the questions you will ask have almost no bearing on your interview outcome (outliers excluded…), you should not neglect them. Think about what you would like to know beforehand and come prepared for the interviews.

How to make the most out of this opportunity

Now that the tables have turned and you are in the interviewer role, use this opportunity to your advantage. Get to know more about the firm, even after all the research you have done so far, and all the personal connections you have made to get to this stage.

If you ask similar questions to all interviewers within and across firms, you should get a good range of answers to help you assess in greater detail the different companies and your fit with their culture and people.

If you learn from the free advice and articles we offer on StrategyCase.com, employ the habits and techniques we teach in our 1-on-1 practice sessions, and prepare effectively, you should be able to choose from a number of high-quality top-tier offers.

If you get a bunch of offers, you want to make sure to select the one firm with the best fit. In the long term, this will influence your satisfaction with the job as well as your performance and career progression. You have to make sure that you really choose the place where you would like to work very long hours day-in, day-out over a couple of years.

For that matter, pay attention to the ‘softer’ factors during the whole recruiting process and pick up all information and details necessary to make an informed decision.

What questions should you ask the case interviewer at the end of the interview?

You should benefit and get real value out of the answers. One trick to do this is to ask personal questions to the interviewer, e.g. how he or she likes the job, instead of generic questions that could be answered within one minute of browsing the company’s website.

Examples of good questions to the interviewer

1. Was the case you have given me based on a real-life assignment? If yes, how did it end, what did you recommend, and was the client satisfied? How did the implementation turn out?
2. Ask something about their area of expertise, which is usually related to the case that you have discussed (recent trends, disruptions, news, etc.).
3. Ask about their journey in the company. How did they progress through the ranks? Did they switch offices? Were they staffed globally or regionally?
4. Ask questions about the firm’s strategy, which is not available to the public (office expansion, geographic changes, industry foci, etc.).
5. Ask about staffing, the review process, and training opportunities.

In general, most questions are fair game! Ask everything you want to know about.

How we can help you ace the consulting interviews

We have specialized in placing people from all walks of life with different backgrounds into top consulting firms both as generalist hires as well as specialized hires and experts. As former McKinsey consultants and interview experts, we help you by

• tailoring your resume and cover letter to meet consulting firms’ highest standards
• showing you how to pass the different online assessments and tests for McKinsey, BCG, and Bain
• showing you how to ace McKinsey interviews and the PEI with our video academy
• coaching you in our 1-on-1 sessions to become an excellent case solver and impress with your fit answers (90% success rate after 5 sessions)
• preparing your math to be bulletproof for every case interview
• helping you structure creative and complex case interviews
• teaching you how to interpret charts and exhibits like a consultant
• providing you with cheat sheets and overviews for 27 industries.

Reach out to us if you have any questions! We are happy to help and offer a tailored program to help you break into consulting.

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