Consulting case interviews require seven main areas of preparation: Business Concepts, Case Frameworks, Practice Cases, Math Strategies, Graphs & Tables, Note Taking, and Fit Interview.

MasterTheCase is the only case interview preparation resource that covers all seven preparation areas. They form the basis of our extensive video tutorial curriculum, described in detail below.

The seven preparation areas are also reflected in our main navigation menu, which we recommend exploring from left to right as you progress through your case interview preparation.
 

1. BUSINESS CONCEPTS

Case interview mastery requires a strong understanding of major business concepts, which is why our training  starts with them. The Business Concepts section contains 16 tutorials, integrating all major business subjects:

1.1 STRATEGY

1.1.1  Industry Analysis

This case interview tutorial will teach you Industry Analysis. It is a key Strategy tool used to assess industry attractiveness and its impact on business performance. The key topics include the determinants of a firm’s profitability, five forces of industry structure, non-structural macro factors, and industry-analysis process.

1.1.2  Competitive Strategy

This case interview tutorial will teach you Competitive Strategy. The key topics build on the concepts from the Industry Analysis video and include competitive advantage types, generic competitive strategies, unique value proposition, and tailored value chain.

1.2 ECONOMICS

1.2.1  Profit Equation

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Profit Equation. It is the underlying Economics concept in major types of consulting cases, reflecting the fact that profit maximization is at the core of business strategy. The key topics include the main profit, revenue, and cost drivers, and their structured analysis in case interviews.

1.2.2  Cost Segmentation

This case interview tutorial will teach you Cost Segmentation. The key topics include main cost-segmentation criteria and a detailed analysis of variable and fixed, recurring and one-time, and primary and support costs.

1.2.3  Break-Even Analysis

This case interview tutorial will teach you Break-Even Analysis. The key topics include the economics of break-even and the five key break-even metrics, consisting of volume, price, variable cost, fixed cost, and time.

1.2.4  Synergy Analysis

This case interview tutorial will teach you Synergy Analysis, which is often central to solving M&A as well as New Initiative cases. The key topics include the drivers of synergy, revenue synergies, and cost synergies.

1.2.5  Expected-Value Analysis

This case interview tutorial will teach you Expected-Value Analysis, which is an advanced tool for evaluating alternative business options with different outcome probabilities and risk profiles. The key topics include accounting for risk in business-option selection and performing six steps of Expected-Value Analysis.

1.3 FINANCE

1.3.1  Income Statement

This case interview tutorial will teach you how to analyze Income Statement, a core financial report. The key topics include a review of the income statement function and a detailed analysis of income-statement items.

1.3.2  Balance Sheet

This case interview tutorial will teach you how to analyze Balance Sheet, which, along with Income Statement, is a core financial report. The key topics include a review of the balance sheet function and a detailed analysis of balance-sheet items.

1.3.3  Time Value of Money

This case interview tutorial will teach you Time Value of Money. The key topics focus on efficient discounted cash flow analysis and include the stable and growing perpetuities, Rule of 72, and lifetime customer value.

1.4 OPERATIONS

1.4.1  Capacity

This case interview tutorial will teach you how to analyze Capacity as it relates to Production and Operations Management. The key topics include the capacity definition, primary drivers, and link with the value chain.

1.5 MARKETING

1.5.1  Marketing Mix

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Marketing Mix, which is the customer-facing strategy element. The key topics include the mix structure, link with strategy, and a detailed review of the mix components.

1.5.2  Pricing

This case interview tutorial will teach you Pricing, which is the most quantitative component of the Marketing Mix. The key topics build on the Pricing concepts from the Marketing Mix video and include four major pricing methods, pricing triangle, and buyer price sensitivity.

1.6 COMMUNICATION

1.6.1  Structured Communication

This case interview tutorial will teach you Structured Communication, which is fundamental to case interview success. The key topics include the pyramid structure, assertion qualities, and supporting-rationale qualities.

1.7 PROBLEM SOLVING

1.7.1  Structured Case Analysis

This case interview tutorial will teach you Structured Case Analysis. The key topics include the five main steps in the "answer-first" hypothesis-driven approach to problem solving used by top consulting firms, which forms the basis for MasterTheCase case frameworks and practice cases.

1.7.2  80/20 Principle

This case interview tutorial will teach you the 80/20 Principle, with a focus on its application in case analysis. The key topics include identifying and prioritizing key drivers, and three steps in efficient 80/20 analysis.

2. CASE FRAMEWORKS

Having developed a strong understanding of core business concepts, you will learn comprehensive case-analysis frameworks. The Case Frameworks section contains seven tutorials, covering all main types of case frameworks:

2.1 PROFITABILITY

2.1.1  Profit Improvement

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Profit Improvement Case Framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with declining profitability, stagnant earnings, and M&A due diligence.

2.2 GROWTH STRATEGY

2.2.1  Revenue Growth

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Revenue Growth Case Framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with declining revenue, stagnant growth, and strategy change.

2.3 NEW INITIATIVES

2.3.1  Market Entry

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Market Entry Case Framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with geo-market entry, product-market entry, and innovation development.

2.4 INVESTMENT

2.4.1  Asset Investment

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Asset Investment Case Framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with evaluation of production, real-estate, and infrastructure investments.

2.5 CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT

2.5.1  Mergers & Acquisitions

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Mergers & Acquisitions case framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with corporate M&A, private equity M&A, and initial public offerings.

2.6 COMPETITION

2.6.1  Competitive Threat

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Competitive Threat Case Framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with a competitor attack, new-player entry, and substitute launch.

2.7 OPERATIONS

2.7.1  Capacity Expansion

This case interview tutorial will teach you the Capacity Expansion Case Framework. The key applications of the framework include cases dealing with capacity management, production outsourcing and infrastructure investment.

3. PRACTICE CASES

Having mastered case frameworks, you will learn how to apply them for structured and hypothesis-driven case analysis. The Practice Cases section contains five tutorials, immersing you in realistic practice case interviews:

3.1 PROFIT IMPROVEMENT

3.1.1  Polychem

This case interview practice tutorial will teach you how to solve a Profit Improvement case from the cost side of the profit equation. Our client is a mid-sized US chemical company experiencing a profit-margin decline.

3.2 REVENUE GROWTH

3.2.1  Care Homes UK

This case interview practice tutorial will teach you how to solve a Revenue Growth case through identifying profitable opportunities to grow existing revenue streams. Our client is a UK-based provider of elderly care experiencing a revenue decline.

3.3 MARKET ENTRY

3.3.1  Polish Spirits

This case interview practice tutorial will teach you how to solve a Market Entry case that deals with an entry into a new geography. Our client is a Polish distiller that wants to grow by expanding into Western Europe.

3.4 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

3.4.1  British Airline

This case interview practice tutorial will teach you how to solve an M&A case that involves a corporate buyer. Our client is a British airline that wants to expand via acquisitions and targets a competitor for takeover.

3.5 COMPETITIVE THREAT

3.5.1  Plastico

This case interview practice tutorial will teach you how to solve a Competitive Threat case that involves a new player entry. Our client is a leading US plastics maker unsure about its response to a new Asian competitor.

4. MATH STRATEGIES

Having aced case analysis, you will further enhance your skills by learning advanced math strategies. The Math Strategies section contains four materials, teaching efficient calculation techniques and structured case math:

4.1 EFFICIENCY

4.1.1  Calculation Techniques

This case interview math tutorial will teach you efficient Calculation Techniques. The key topics include rapid methods of rounding numbers, managing zeroes, annualizing numbers, using the smallest common units, and handling percentages.

4.2 STRUCTURE

4.2.1  Structured Case Math

This case interview math tutorial will teach you Structured Case Math. The key topics include structuring full math logic upfront, calculating sequentially, sense-checking vs relevant benchmarks, and synthesizing the result back to the main question.

4.3 WOKSHEETS

4.3.1  Managing Zeroes

4.3.2  Handling Percentages

5. GRAPHS & TABLES

Having attained case math proficiency, you will learn how to efficiently analyze graphical and tabular case data. The Graphs & Tables section contains two tutorials, showing a structured approach to graph and table analysis:

5.1 GRAPHS

5.1.1  Structured Graph Analysis

This case interview tutorial will teach you Structured Graph Analysis. The key topics include forming an initial hypothesis, understanding the graph structure and contents, analyzing graph data to test the hypothesis, and synthesizing the analysis findings.

6. NOTE TAKING

As the final aspect of case interview preparation, you will learn a structured approach to taking and organizing case interview notes that facilitates efficient case analysis and fully engages the interviewer in your thinking:

6.1 STRUCTURE

6.1.1  Structured Note Taking

This case interview tutorial will teach you Structured Note Taking. The key topics include the primary rules of structured note taking and key habits of effective note takers to facilitate efficient case analysis and engage the interviewer.

7. FIT INTERVIEW

In parallel to mastering case analysis, you will need to prepare for your fit interviews. The Fit Interview section contains seven tutorials, teaching detailed frameworks for structured responses to key fit interview questions:

7.1 FIT INTERVIEW RESPONSE FRAMEWORKS

7.1.1  Fit Interview Frameworks

This fit interview tutorial will teach you Fit Interview Frameworks. The key topics include the main types of fit-interview questions, key qualities of strong fit responses, and a detailed review of primary fit-interview response frameworks.

7.2 FIT INTERVIEW RESPONSE TEMPLATES

7.2.1  Tell Me About Yourself

This template will help you develop a structured response to the Tell Me About Yourself fit-interview question, as described in the Fit Interview Frameworks tutorial. The blue input fields are specifically configured to limit your response length to the target time of two minutes.

7.2.2  Why Consulting

This template will help you develop a structured response to the Why Consulting fit-interview question, as described in the Fit Interview Frameworks tutorial. The blue input fields are specifically configured to limit your response length to the target time of two minutes.

7.2.3  Why Our Firm

This template will help you develop a structured response to the Why Our Firm fit-interview question, as described in the Fit Interview Frameworks tutorial. The blue input fields are specifically configured to limit your response length to the target time of two minutes.

7.2.4  Situation Example

This template will help you develop a structured response to the Situation Example fit-interview question, as described in the Fit Interview Frameworks tutorial. The blue input fields are specifically configured to limit your response length to the target time of two minutes.

7.2.5  Character Strength

This template will help you develop a structured response to a Character Strength fit-interview question, as described in the Fit Interview Frameworks tutorial. The blue input fields are specifically configured to limit your response length to the target time of two minutes.

7.2.6  Character Weakness

This template will help you develop a structured response to a Character Weakness fit-interview question, as described in the Fit Interview Frameworks tutorial. The blue input fields are specifically configured to limit your response length to the target time of two minutes.