Practicing Cases with Other Candidates

37.1 Why Peer Practice Is Valuable

Peer practice develops skills that are difficult to build through self-study alone.

It helps you practice:

• Speaking: Explaining your reasoning clearly in real time.
• Listening: Responding to questions and new information.
• Pressure: Solving problems while another person evaluates you.
• Adaptability: Recovering when the case takes an unexpected direction.
• Feedback: Learning how your performance appears to someone else.

Key benefit: Peer practice exposes the gap between understanding case concepts and executing them during a conversation.

37.2 Finding Practice Partners

Good partners can come from consulting clubs, universities, MBA programs, professional networks, online communities, or other candidates preparing for similar interviews.

Look for people who are:

• Reliable: They show up prepared and on time.
• Serious: They want to improve rather than simply complete cases.
• Constructive: They can give specific feedback.
• Comparable: They are preparing for similar interview standards.

You do not need one permanent partner. Practicing with several people exposes you to different interviewing styles and feedback.

37.3 Practicing with Classmates

Classmates can make strong practice partners because scheduling is often easier and you may already share similar recruiting goals.

Try to create a regular cadence rather than arranging practice randomly.

Useful approach: Meet once or twice per week, alternate roles, and agree on one or two skills each person wants feedback on.

Avoid turning sessions into casual discussions. Treat the actual case portion as realistically as possible.

37.4 Practicing with Friends Outside Consulting

Friends without consulting experience can still be useful, especially for communication practice.

They can evaluate whether your explanations are understandable, whether you speak clearly, and whether your recommendation sounds logical.

Limitation: They may not be able to judge technical case skills accurately.

Give them a clear interviewer guide and ask them to focus on observable behaviors rather than trying to evaluate consulting-specific techniques they have not learned.

37.5 How to Run a Peer Case Properly

A peer case should resemble the real interview.

Use a complete case with interviewer instructions, exhibits, expected calculations, and suggested answers. Avoid giving the candidate unnecessary help.

A simple format is:

1. Briefing: Agree on the skills the candidate wants to practice.
2. Case: Run the interview without unnecessary interruptions.
3. Self-assessment: Candidate explains what felt strong or weak.
4. Feedback: Interviewer gives specific observations.
5. Action: Agree on what the candidate should practice next.

Important: Separate the case from the feedback. Constant coaching during the case reduces realism.

37.6 How to Be a Good Interviewer

Interviewing someone else is itself valuable practice because it forces you to recognize strong and weak case behavior.

As the interviewer:

• Know the case before starting.
• Deliver the prompt clearly.
• Provide information only when appropriate.
• Allow the candidate time to think.
• Follow the case instructions rather than improvising excessively.
• Take notes on specific behaviors.

Good interviewer behavior: Challenge the candidate enough to create realism without trying to make the case artificially difficult.

37.7 How to Give Useful Feedback

Useful feedback is specific, observable, and actionable.

Weak feedback: “Your structure could be better.”

Better feedback: “Your structure covered the major areas, but you did not prioritize them. You listed four branches and then waited for me to choose where to begin.”

Focus on recurring skills such as structure, math, insight generation, communication, synthesis, and recommendation quality.

Do not overwhelm the candidate with twenty minor comments. Identify the few issues that would most improve future performance.

37.8 How to Receive Feedback

Receiving feedback well is part of case preparation.

Listen without immediately explaining why you did something. Ask clarifying questions if you do not understand the comment.

Useful question: “What would a stronger version of that answer have sounded like?”

Not every piece of peer feedback will be correct, so look for patterns across multiple practice sessions. Repeated feedback deserves particular attention.

37.9 Rotating Interviewer and Candidate Roles

Both roles teach important skills, so rotate regularly.

As a candidate, you practice execution under pressure. As an interviewer, you begin noticing patterns that are harder to see while solving the case yourself.

Learning benefit: Watching another candidate struggle with an unclear structure or weak synthesis often makes the importance of those skills immediately obvious.

A balanced practice relationship gives both participants roughly equal opportunities in each role.

37.10 Avoiding the Blind-Leading-the-Blind Problem

Peer practice has a major limitation: both people may be inexperienced.

Two candidates can repeatedly reinforce the same weak technique if neither knows what strong performance should look like.

Reduce this risk by:

• Using high-quality cases: Choose cases with clear interviewer guidance and solutions.
• Reviewing strong examples: Compare your performance with credible demonstrations.
• Cross-checking feedback: Look for consistency across several partners.
• Seeking expert input periodically: Use an experienced consultant, coach, or mentor when available.

Principle: Peer feedback is valuable, but it should not become your only source of calibration.

37.11 Building a Case-Practice Group

A small practice group can provide variety, accountability, and a larger pool of cases.

A strong group might have three to six members who rotate partners and share schedules, practice cases, and lessons learned.

Establish simple norms:

• Preparation: Interviewers review cases beforehand.
• Punctuality: Sessions begin and end on time.
• Feedback: Comments are specific and constructive.
• Rotation: Members practice with different partners.
• Tracking: Each person records recurring weaknesses.

Final principle: Peer practice is most effective when it is structured, realistic, and feedback-driven. Do not simply accumulate cases. Use each session to identify a specific weakness, practice it deliberately, and test whether your performance improves the next time you sit in the candidate’s chair.