3.54

3

Dec 24, 2011

Great book for people who have never encountered a case interview before. This is the book for all the basics that you can build on. However, be wary of forcing all cases into the 12 frameworks they provided. Most cases don't fit nicely into these packages and the book does not cover Private Equity cases.

If you are prepping for a case interview, I recommend that you pull some examples from the companies website, ask if you can do mock cases with people from their office, and practice, practice, Great book for people who have never encountered a case interview before. This is the book for all the basics that you can build on. However, be wary of forcing all cases into the 12 frameworks they provided. Most cases don't fit nicely into these packages and the book does not cover Private Equity cases.

If you are prepping for a case interview, I recommend that you pull some examples from the companies website, ask if you can do mock cases with people from their office, and practice, practice, practice. Additionally, you don't need to do 30+ cases to do well in an interview. Instead, you need to spend just as much time reviewing the practice cases you do as you did prepping for and participating in the mock interview. If you want a consulting job in this competitive environment, you'll need to be the top 5% of candidates and can't afford to have a "tough case" during the interview. You'll have to be prepared for anything. ...more

2

Jul 18, 2011

Almost useless. I am stunned by the incredible lack of clarity for a book whose sole purpose is to prepare you to lay out your thinking in the most clear way during a case interview.

The Ivy Case System is pointless. There is no learning involved, it is only memorization of 12 case types and the follow up questions for each. Once you have done that, it is admitted that cases almost NEVER fall into only one type so you are back to just thinking through each situation logically as if you had never Almost useless. I am stunned by the incredible lack of clarity for a book whose sole purpose is to prepare you to lay out your thinking in the most clear way during a case interview.

The Ivy Case System is pointless. There is no learning involved, it is only memorization of 12 case types and the follow up questions for each. Once you have done that, it is admitted that cases almost NEVER fall into only one type so you are back to just thinking through each situation logically as if you had never read the Ivy system.

Strong emphasis is placed on being able to read and create your own charts, graphs, and tables yet there is no instruction at all on how to make a good version of any. In fact, the charts and graphs in the book are often nearly indecipherable because of a complete lack of labeling. My favorite is the "Number Table" with which I am supposed to learn to multiply factors of ten. However, there are no labels (only the title "Number Table") and only one axis of the chart is made obvious by a gray coloring. The only way the reader could possibly figure out what the chart is telling them is to all ready know how to fill it in in its entirety.

The only reason this book does not get the lowest possible rating is the long set of example cases at the back of the book. For those of us in technical fields rather than business, it is good to see the types of problems that are to be expected. Even this section is flawed. The comments at the end of each case are too short and too vague. It would be helpful to hear a break down of what the most direct and appropriate answer would have been rather than “the student did a good job analyzing the chart and came up with a number of good possible solutions for the client.”

Overall, the only reason to buy this book is to see example case questions before an interview. Don't expect much help beyond that. ...more

3

Dec 28, 2017

For being one of the most popular case books, I found this book less useful than expected. The one thing that I will say it does have going for it is that its a quick read. If you are completely unfamiliar with what a case interview is, it may be a good introduction and overview to general approaches that can be taken to address cases. That being said, if youre looking for true case preparation, Id recommend Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng as I think it gives a structure that is easier to For being one of the most popular case books, I found this book less useful than expected. The one thing that I will say it does have going for it is that it’s a quick read. If you are completely unfamiliar with what a case interview is, it may be a good introduction and overview to general approaches that can be taken to address cases. That being said, if you’re looking for true case preparation, I’d recommend “Case Interview Secrets” by Victor Cheng as I think it gives a structure that is easier to apply to multiple scenarios (rather than trying to memorize 12 different frameworks).

The reason this book still got 3-stars is because I found it a decent point of reference and something that I used to prompt my memory through the preparation process. I’d still recommend the book, but only if you’re going to also read other books. If you’re only going to take the time to read one case book – give this one a skip.

Who should read it? Folks completely unfamiliar with case interviews and are looking for an introduction to the concept.

See all my reviews and more at www.ReadingToDistraction.com or @Read2Distract ...more

4

Jul 27, 2012

Good introduction and beginning guide for aspiring consultants. Provides a good baseline and proper advice for developing true case study skills.

4

Aug 27, 2014

Super useful book. It covers everything you need to know about approaching case interviews, and includes 39 full cases for you to practice.

4

Jul 08, 2013

Great book! It really helps you develop the tools and the mindset required to confidently respond to case interviews and other everyday mind challenging issues.

3

Jul 19, 2014

Very well written, but needs more emphasis on how to apply the teachings and how to come up with structures when in a case interview as opposed to simply being asked to memorize the preconceived structures suggested by the author.

4

Jun 02, 2014

Didn't finish the book, as I moved on to Victor Cheng's Look Over My Shoulder audio series. This book was great for learning estimation questions, though I found the number of frameworks not as helpful for going through other types of cases.

3

Jan 24, 2015

Decent guide for complete case prep newbies, but loses usefulness after the first 3-4 cases.

Cosentino's example cases are in the form of a pre-written dialogue, which means loss in usefulness comes from 2 areas:
1) The dialogue NEVER asks the interviewee to structure issues or walk through their issue structure (at least from what I remember).
2) Your case partner is probably not going to walk through issues in the same pre-formatted way that the in-book interviewee does.

4

Jun 20, 2018

While the book is written for case interview prep, its a great resource for anyone thinking through business strategy generally. While the book is written for case interview prep, it’s a great resource for anyone thinking through business strategy generally. ...more

4

Mar 12, 2020

Important book in consulting, especially the real-life cases and their solutions that are presented in a structured way. Much recommended ????

4

Jun 14, 2019

Highly recommended if you are preparing for cases, as a cheap but solid all in one soltution.

0

Feb 12, 2020

I feel like a sizable portion of the Stanford population went through this book to prepare for their McKinsey Bain bcp interviews, and I certainly did

3

May 10, 2017

If you want to do Consulting, it certainly has a lot of good techniques to use for casing.

4

Oct 16, 2019

Practical and insightful guide to consultancy-type interviews. Plenty of examples and a roadmap to interview planning.

4

May 08, 2018

This is a nice refresher if youve been out of grad school for a decade. This is a nice refresher if you’ve been out of grad school for a decade. ...more

4

Nov 06, 2017

A good start for fresh graduates who wants to start a career in Management Consulting.

5

Jan 28, 2020

A complete introductory and beginners guide to the world of consulting. Also a very good book to take notes on different consulting case scenarios and how to approach them. The reading is simple, engaging and interactive. Lots of sample cases and brainteasers to help yourself.

4

Sep 07, 2019

Great introduction to case interviews. However, the author claims to have made a perfect formula for any case. That is not true. Read this with an understanding of the diversity of cases and make your own frameworks.

2

Jul 15, 2017

Read Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng instead. This books multiple frameworks make it incredibly difficult to prepare for a real interview. Definitely take good notes on the multiple questions that you are encouraged to ask within - these are definitely useful.

4

Jun 03, 2019

Great starter for those, who would like to find out more about case interviews and the mental tools that could help to solve puzzles related to diversified business situations. What could be improved is the consistency between 20 cases to read at the end and the methodology presented at the beginning of the book.

5

Feb 23, 2019

Another nice introductory book for case interview preparation. Just like Cheng's Case interview secret minus the constant reminder to buy the course. I really love the chapter about estimation, I could grasp it better than from Cheng's. Also contain various examples of interview. This book is great, it would be even better to practice this with a partner for more realistic experience.

4

Jan 08, 2018

The book presents a good starting point to practice case interviews useful to land a consulting job.

The reason for the 4 stars rating is that, from my point of view, the cases are not challenging and complex enough.

Note: to maximize the potential of this book, you should have a partner that is able to be the interviewer.

0

Oct 05, 2019

# types of case questions: p.49
- market-sizing questions: population-based question, a household question, an individual question>>數字感
- factor questions
- business case questions: (1) number cases and (2) business strategy and operations cases

case journal p.64>>子彈思考術?網格筆記本?
decision tree p.71 練習越多越知道分析架構
Aristotles book The Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle was interview prep book. Aristotle lays out a tripod (a framework) and argues that persuasion relies on the relationship # types of case questions: p.49
- market-sizing questions: population-based question, a household question, an individual question>>數字感
- factor questions
- business case questions: (1) number cases and (2) business strategy and operations cases

case journal p.64>>子彈思考術?網格筆記本?
decision tree p.71 練習越多，越知道分析架構
Aristotle’s book The Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle was interview prep book. Aristotle lays out a tripod (a framework) and argues that persuasion relies on the relationship between logos, ethos and pathos. p.100
ALIGN: consider the company’s strategic needs and to think about the long-term consequences

# THE TWELVE CASE SCENARIOS
1. Entering a new market
2. Industry analysis
產業架構（value chain）與目前生命週期階段、成長性、供需情況、產值變化、市佔狀況（占比、有無整併情勢）、近期變化（新競爭者、法規、科技...）、產業驅動因子（產品競爭力、品牌知名度、規模經濟、科技...）、獲利性
個人習慣先從弄清楚產業全貌（有哪些上中下游公司、製成原理、各種專有名詞）開始，再進入近期發展（產業週期、供需、市佔狀況......），整個過程大多是自己在網路上找資料，也會在資料庫裡撈撈看產業報告，直接參考別人怎麼看怎麼寫會能很快上手
3. Mergers and acquisitions
4. Developing a new product
5. Pricing strategies >>price-driven costing 成管會
6. Growth strategies
7. Starting a new business
8. Competitive response
9. Increasing sales
10. Reducing costs p.101
11. Improving the bottom line p.86 p.107 P.108哈雷案例
12. Turnarounds


...more