Case studies are not perfect, but they are the closest thing we could find to the real work conditions you’ll be faced with while working with us. Since technical abilities and business storytelling skills are equally important for what we do, we need to assess both in our selection process.
Each case study takes approximately 2 hours. They can be carried out remotely via Teams (recommended) or at our offices. Success in the Data Case is a prerequisite to advancing to the Business Case.
We recommend you use a computer equipped with tools you are already familiar with. We do not have tools or technology preferences: use R, Python, a GUI ETL, Fortran, whatever works best for you.
🦾 Data Case Study
During the data case you will receive a concrete business objective and the data needed to reach this objective. A series of more specific questions will guide you towards a suitable solution.
- your technical skills and knowledge
- your ability to explain your chosen methods in a clear and understandable way.
- Objective: answer basic and more advanced questions based on data provided to you and detail the approach you have followed to get to your results.
- Deliverable: results of analysis and answer to the initial questions.
- Timing: 2 hours, broken down in
- 90 min: your preparation on your own
- 30 min: discussion around your work
💻 Technical aspects
- You’ll need a setup that is suited to data preparation and analysis: python, R, SAS or equivalent.
- You will be provided with a CSV file containing all the required data
- Use a computer with which you're comfortable: you can use any tool you like to work on the data (but we might ask you to show us how you used it)
Upon successful completion of the data case, we move on to the business case, scheduled later.
💼 Business Case Study
The goal of the business case is to assess how you approach a business challenge.
- Objective: prepare a presentation outline for a consulting approach based on an article (in English) that explains the challenges facing a company.
- Deliverable: PowerPoint / Google Slides with the basic theme (this is not a design contest)
- Timing: 2 hours, broken down in
- 90 min: your preparation on your own
- 30 min: discussion around your work
There's nothing specific to prepare but some classic business frameworks and methodologies could help you structure your approach (SWOT, value chain etc. but not mandatory / not exhaustive).
What's important is how you structure your approach. If you are not familiar with consulting presentations, you might want to familiarize yourself with how consultants structure their presentations.
You'll have unrestricted internet access as part of the case study.
Suggested readings if you are not familiar with a business case
🎯 How to ace your case studies
- Mind the questions. What is asked for the case study? What is in the scope, what isn't?
- Manage your time well. What needs fine tuning? What is good enough to present?
- Manage the tools and resources at your disposal (the Internet is a big place).
- Structure your output.
- Be able to explain the approach you used to process the data and answer the questions
- Be prepared for a 2-hour exercise for each case: choose an environment that’s quiet enough and with a decent internet connection.
- Also: we keep it casual at the office, so wear something comfortable. Suits not required.
