Case in Point: Complete Case Interview Preparation

This book is so great for more than trying to get into one of the most prestigious consulting firms, it’s about being able to hold your own in a business conversation and categorize the issues at hand and have a methodology on how to think about it. Both categorizing the problems and determining real world solutions. Business literacy at its finest.

Are you apprehensive about your upcoming case interview? You should be. You will need to think logically, quickly, and deeply under pressure. Marc Consentino's Case in Point is a bible for anyone going for consulting, case-based interviews. This should be the first book you read and work through as your prepare for your interviews. It is the most comprehensive, clearly written case prep book available (and I've seen many others). If you want to be really comprehensive, do as many practices cases (consulting company websites have interactive ones) as you can find. After reading Case In Point, I flipped through the frameworks and ivy case system before each of my interviews. Going through the frameworks and doing some back of the envelop math the night before my interviews really helped get me in the right frame of mind. Unlike any other case-prep book, Case in Point covers almost every type of case you will encounter, takes you through how to structure your answers, and gives you tons of practice with "back-of-the-envelop" math problems. The majority of cases in the book are from real past interviews with the top firms. This latest edition greatly expands on past editions with structure maps, more math-based cases, and newer, more complex cases from recent interviews. I used Case in Point and I have many friends who used Case In Point to prepare and then get offers with the top firms. Well worth the $20.

Pros: The book is the best prep book on case interviews that I came across while I was preparing for a job in management consulting. It is very clearly written. It does not confuse or drone with much irrelevant information. Humor is a plus. Buy this book first, then worry about adding other books for extra practice. Cons: The limitation of the book is that it is a book. For example, the cases that I faced at my interviews were more interactive where additional information (charts, figures) was presented to me when I had already made some headway into the case, and not in the beginning. This would require an interactive software (such as the interactive cases found on McKinsey, BCG, and Bain websites). Overall: The best you can get. Even without the interactive ability, it helps you develop a way to think about a "case". Suggestion to author: I would have also liked that the book to help develop thinking about "second-order structure" in a case, which, I realize, is very broad and depends a lot on the case itself. The first-order structure is covered in the ivy system.

EXCELLENT book. A must-have piece for anyone who is (1) either anticipating an interview or (2) simply considering their possible entry into the world of management consulting. In his work, Cosentino not only provides the best - and most realistic - prepatory tool for case interviewing available on the market, he also provides the best overview of the industry at large, including all that which it demands of its participants. If you are preparing for an interview next year, next month or tomorrow, buy this book. If you are, as yet, still trying to decide if management consulting is "for you", buy this book. Case In Point is of equally invaluable necessity in either regard. No other book offers as realistic a feel for what management consulting `really' entails and, since self-selection comprises 80% of any ultimate hiring "decision", that is the more important groundwork with which all candidates must concern themselves. That critical self-analysis is, by far, best facilitated by Cosentino's book over the drier competitor approaches which lack his perspective, humor, and overall relevance. If you buy other books as well, you will find yourself as I did, only returning to Cosentino's cases as the freshest, most comprehensive and comprehensible - indeed the only ones you'll need for the most efficient and exhaustive preparation and self-analysis.

In graduate school I browsed many books on consulting case interview preparation. This was the only book I read. The clear, consistent way of thinking through how to manage case interviews made sense. Rather than focusing on formulas, frameworks (e.g., Porters Five Forces), or just examples, Cosentino classifies cases into sensible categories and coaches the student through how to think about answering. Additionally, he gives valuable tips on how to get comfortable in the interview.The true proof however was that I interviewed with the two top strategy consulting firms and received offers from both.I would highly recommend this book to anyone considering interviewing with top strategy consulting firms.

Case in Point is in my view the best book of its type on the market. The top firms vary their cases from interviewer to interviewer--Cosentino's book provides a good system for tackling any case that you're presented. This book got me extremely well-prepared for my interviews. I just received a summer associate offer from what's arguably the top consulting firm, despite my non-business background.