【正文】 s munication skills and logic flow, (3) understand how a candidate responds to redirection, and (4) test his/her overall fit with the firm. Most questions . recruiters ask center around strategic growth opportunities for potential clients. Words of Wisdom:Coveney points out that she doesn’t have a preference regarding how a candidate initially reacts to the case interview question. “Some people take some time to formulate their thoughts, other people ask a few questions, and other people jump right in,” Coveney says. “Relax and take your time, focus on the specific issues of the case, remember there is no one right answer to the case, and don’t use too many frameworks. Don’t throw in the kitchen sink, like Porter’s five forces, etc. Just be confident, and relax—it will really help with the interview.” Recruiter No. 2: Kamenna Rindova, senior associate, Mercer Management Consulting The Questions:MMC asks most candidates oneonone questions and doesn’t often do group exercises. Reflecting the firm’s focus, most questions deal with strategy issues, with occasional market sizing questions thrown in. The purpose of the interview for MMC is to see the candidate39。s and the 3 C39。s and the three C39。 Young’s national director of university recruiting, says these candidates don’t seem to do any better or worse than candidates from noncase schools. Study different kinds of case questions. Just because your buddy interviewed before you and gave you a headsup on the questions doesn’t mean you have a leg up. Recruiters have tons of case questions in their repertoire, and the chances of their using the same question multiple times on one campus visit are slim to none. Get a classmate or friend to roleplay the interview with you, and use any resources (such as a casebook) that your school39。 you may even choose not to use frameworks at all. What39。 this method of interviewing gauges how well you manage the process of getting to an answer and how you perform under simulated clientengagement conditions. We talked to consultanthunters at several firms to glean their advice on cracking the case interview. Here39。 Brain Games: “How many tennis balls are in the United States?” s mission—if you don39。s five forces may indeed be your best bet. If you39。t have to be Sherlock Holmes to ace the cases in a consultingfirm interview. In fact, a little preparation can make solving them seem, well, elementary.Firms Are There to Help YouConsulting Industry GuideReady for some panyspecific advice? Here39。 insight into business problems and their approach to solving them (most questions are based on truelife client engagements) is the overall goal. Words of Wisdom:Gibney understands that many problems are too big to solve during the course of a halfhour interview, but wants to see a firm grasp of key issues. “The candidate must have an understanding of the overall situation and the overall problem, and then create an approach to solve it,”