💼 How to nail a case study

Thousands of students each year fail to land finance internships.

One student from Turkey reached out to me for help. 2 days later he was hired and Unilever thought his case study was amongst the best they've seen.

Here’s how you can nail your case study:

1. Before you read the case study, read each question and underline the exact question being asked.

This tells you if they are looking for a most likely or a least likely answer. These types of questions trip up many, as we read over the question quickly.

2. Once you've identified the exact question being asked, can you answer the question as is? Do you have enough information currently, or do you need to read the question prompt to have all the information necessary?

If you have enough information, write down your answer in a separate place for later.

3. If you don't, move on to the next question and repeat the above step. Do not read the prompt yet. This saves time and allows you to see if any questions require you answer prior ones first.

4. Now that you've ID'd the question being asked, and determined if you have enough information to answer the question, you can read the question prompt.

When you are read the prompt, read with blinders. You want to hunt for just the relevant information. Throw away the fluff.

5. With the relevant info parsed out, start asking questions.

For this student, he had to determine what decision would increase gross margin the most.

Questions to ask:

• What is gross margin?

• What affects gross margin?

• Can we eliminate answers that don't effect gross margin?

6. My student's questions were all multiple choice, however, if you have short answer or essay questions it's time to brain dump.

It is not enough to just write your answer down and move on. They will be looking for the why behind your answer.

Write down how you came to the answer to each question. Be as specific as possible. You want to show how and why your answer is correct. This shows the person reading your answers that you ask relevant questions and have thought through the question.

7. Refine your answers. Find someone who doesn't know anything about the subject of your case study and try to explain your answers to them in a way they can understand.

If you can do this, you will not only have well thought out answers, but also clear concise answers.

To nail your case study:

• Read each question first

• Underline the exact question

• Determine if you have enough information

• Read the question prompt with blinders

• Ask questions

• Show the how and why behind your answers.