Case Questions
Case questions are most commonly used in consulting interviews, but they can be used in other situations, such as in interviews for marketing positions with consumer goods companies. Simply put, a case interview is the analysis of a business question. Unlike most other interview questions, it is an interactive process. Your interviewer will present you with a business problem and ask you for your opinion. Your job is to ask the interviewer logical questions that will permit you to make a detailed recommendation. The majority of case interviewers dont have a specific answer that you, the candidate, are expected to give. What the interviewer is looking for is a thought process that is at once analytical and creative. Heres a sample case question:
You are advising a credit card company that wants to market a prepaid phone card to its customers. Is this a good idea?
You: What is the role of our company? Do we simply market the card or must we create them ourselves?
Interviewer: This card will be co-marketed with an outside phone company. We dont need to perform telecommunications functions.
You: What are our expenses connected with the card?
Interviewer: We must pay 15 cents for every minute we sell. We also have to pay $1.00 as a start-up cost for the card and card systems.
You: What are our marketing expenses?
Interviewer: We normally use slips of paper that are attached to the backs of our credit card payment envelopes. We sometimes also send customers a direct mailing - in a separate envelope. Or we can have telemarketers call selected customers.
You: Whats the cost of each of these marketing techniques, and what is their response rate?
Interv