BearingPoint case interviews are the most difficult part of the interview process. You will need to ace every single BearingPoint case interview in order to land a job offer.

 

BearingPoint case interviews are asked in nearly every single round of interviews. Typically, there are two or three rounds of interviews at BearingPoint:

 

• BearingPoint first round interview: Consists primarily of questions based on your consulting resume

 

• BearingPoint second round interview: Consists of case interviews and behavioral interview questions (e.g., tell me about a time when you led a team, give an example of a time you used data to solve a problem)

 

• BearingPoint final round interview: Consists of case interviews and fit interview questions (e.g., why consulting, why BearingPoint)

 

If you have an upcoming interview with BearingPoint, we have you covered. In this article, we’ll cover exactly what you need to do to crush your BearingPoint case interview and land the job offer. In this article, we’ll cover:

 

• What is a BearingPoint case interview?

 

• What does a BearingPoint case interview assess

 

• How to solve a BearingPoint case interview

 

• BearingPoint case interview examples

 

• BearingPoint case interview tips

 

• Recommended BearingPoint case interview resources

 

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course. These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

 

What is a BearingPoint Case Interview?

 

Like most consulting firms, BearingPoint uses case interviews to assess candidates.

 

A case interview, also known as a “case” for short, is a 30 to 60-minute exercise in which you and the interviewer work together to develop a recommendation or answer to a business problem.

 

These business problems can be anything that real companies face:

 

• How can Coca-Cola increase its profitability?

 

• What can Amazon do to increase customer satisfaction?

 

• How should Apple price its latest product?

 

• What geography should Uber enter next?

 

BearingPoint case interviews simulate what the consulting job will be like by placing you in a hypothetical business situation. Cases simulate real business problems that BearingPoint solves for their clients. Many BearingPoint case interviews are based on actual projects that interviewers have worked on.

 

While consulting projects typically last between 3 to 9 months, BearingPoint case interviews condense solving the business problem into just 30 to 45 minutes.

 

BearingPoint case interviews can cover any industry, including retail, consumer packaged goods, financial services, energy, education, healthcare, government, and technology.

 

They can also cover a wide range of business situations, including entering a new market, launching a new product, acquiring a company, improving profitability, and growing revenues.

 

Although BearingPoint case interviews cover a wide range of industries and business situations, no technical or specialized knowledge is needed.

 

Nailing your BearingPoint case interviews is critical to getting a job offer. You will need to pass every single one of your BearingPoint case interviews.

 

What Does a BearingPoint Case Interview Assess?

 

BearingPoint case interviews assess five different qualities or characteristics: logical and structured thinking, analytical problem solving, business acumen, communication skills, and personality and cultural fit.

 

Logical and structured thinking: Consultants need to be organized and methodical in order to work efficiently.

 

• Can you structure complex problems in a clear, simple way?

 

• Can you take tremendous amounts of information and data and identify the most important points?

 

• Can you use logic and reason to make appropriate conclusions?

 

Analytical problem solving: Consultants work with a tremendous amount of data and information in order to develop recommendations to complex problems.

 

• Can you read and interpret data well?

 

• Can you perform math computations smoothly and accurately?

 

• Can you conduct the right analyses to draw the right conclusions?

 

Business acumen: A strong business instinct helps consultants make the right decisions and develop the right recommendations.

 

• Do you have a basic understanding of fundamental business concepts?

 

• Do your conclusions and recommendations make sense from a business perspective?

 

Communication skills: Consultants need strong communication skills to collaborate with teammates and clients effectively.

 

• Can you communicate in a clear, concise way?

 

• Are you articulate in what you are saying?

 

Personality and cultural fit: Consultants spend a lot of time working closely in small teams. Having a personality and attitude that fits with the team makes the whole team work better together.

 

• Are you coachable and easy to work with?

 

• Are you pleasant to be around?

 

All of these five qualities can be assessed in just a 30 to 60-minute case interview. This is what makes BearingPoint case interviews so effective in assessing consulting candidates.

 

How to Solve a BearingPoint Case Interview

 

There are generally six steps to solving a BearingPoint case interview. Step four and step five may happen in a different order depending on the case you receive, but all the other steps will occur in the same order each time.

 

1. Understand the case

 

Your BearingPoint case interview will begin with the interviewer giving you the case background information. While the interviewer is speaking, make sure that you are taking meticulous notes on the most important pieces of information. Focus on understanding the context of the situation and the objective of the case.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions if you do not understand something. You may want to summarize the case background information back to the interviewer to confirm your understanding of the case.

 

The most important part of this step is to verify the objective of the case. Not answering the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

 

2. Structure the problem

 

The next step is to develop a framework to help you solve the case. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. Another way to think about frameworks is brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

 

Before you start developing your framework, it is completely acceptable to ask the interviewer for a few minutes so that you can collect your thoughts and think about the problem.

 

Ideally, you want your framework to be as MECE as possible. MECE stands for mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive. You want each element of your framework to have zero overlap with the other elements. Additionally, you want the sum of the elements of your framework to cover all of the important issues or areas of the case.

 

Once you have identified the major issues or areas that you need to explore, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback.

 

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks.

 

3. Kick off the case

 

Once you have finished presenting your framework, you’ll start diving into different areas of your framework to begin solving the case. How this process will start depends on whether the case interview is candidate-led or interviewer-led.

 

If the case interview is a candidate-led case, you’ll be expected to propose what area of your framework to start investigating. So, propose an area and provide a reason for why you want to start with that area. There is generally no right or wrong area of your framework to pick first.

 

If the case interview is interviewer-led, the interviewer will tell you what area of the framework to start in or directly give you a question to answer.

 

BearingPoint case interviews are generally interviewer-led, but you may occasionally be given a candidate-led case.

 

4. Solve quantitative problems

 

Your BearingPoint case interview will most likely have some quantitative aspect to them. For example, you may be asked to calculate a certain profitability or financial metric. You could also be asked to estimate the size of a particular market or to estimate a particular figure.

 

The key to solving quantitative problems is to lay out a structure or approach upfront with the interviewer before doing any math calculations. If you lay out and present your structure to solve the quantitative problem and the interviewer approves of it, the rest of the problem is just simple execution of math.

 

When doing case interview math, make sure to talk through your thinking and calculations out loud. The interviewer should be able to easily follow what you are doing in each step of your calculations. Once you have calculated the answer, explain how your answer impacts the recommendation that you are beginning to form.

 

5. Answer qualitative questions

 

Your BearingPoint case interviews will likely also have qualitative aspects to them. You may be asked to brainstorm a list of potential ideas. You could also be asked to provide your opinion on a business issue or situation.

 

The key to answering qualitative questions is to structure your answer. When brainstorming a list of ideas, develop a structure to help you neatly categorize all of your ideas. When giving your opinion on a business issue or situation, provide a summary of your stance or position and then enumerate the reasons that support it.

 

When you finish answering a qualitative question, connect your answer back to the case objective. How does your answer impact the recommendation that you are beginning to form?

 

6. Deliver a recommendation

 

In the last step of the case interview, you’ll present your recommendation and provide the major reasons that support it. You do not need to recap everything that you have done in the case, so focus on only summarizing the facts that are most important.

 

It is also good practice to include potential next steps that you would take if you had more time or data. These can be areas of your framework that you did not have time to explore or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.

 

BearingPoint Case Interview Examples

 

BearingPoint does not provide any case interview examples on their website. However, we’ve compiled all the BearingPoint case interviews we could find on job interview websites and forums.

 

Example #1: A leading manufacturer of eco-friendly home products wants to enter the European market for sustainable cleaning supplies. How would you advise them on the best approach considering factors such as consumer behavior, regulatory environment, and existing competitors?

 

Example #2: A global chain of luxury hotels has seen a decline in profits in recent quarters despite stable occupancy rates. What factors could be contributing to this decline, considering variables like changing travel trends, operational costs, and customer preferences, and how would you recommend addressing them?

 

Example #3: A tech startup offering a subscription-based streaming service for independent films is considering adjusting its pricing strategy to attract more subscribers without compromising revenue. How would you determine the optimal price point for their service, taking into account factors such as customer willingness to pay, competitor pricing, and value proposition?

 

Example #4: A pharmaceutical giant is considering acquiring a smaller biotech firm specializing in gene therapy research. How would you assess the potential synergies between the two companies in terms of research pipelines, intellectual property, and market access, and what risks should they be aware of in this acquisition?

 

Example #5: A leading logistics company is experiencing bottlenecks in its distribution centers, leading to delays in order fulfillment. How would you identify areas for improvement in their operations, considering factors such as warehouse layout, inventory management systems, and employee training?

 

Example #6: A regional airline wants to reduce its operating costs without compromising safety or customer satisfaction. What strategies would you suggest to achieve this goal, considering areas such as fuel efficiency, maintenance practices, and route optimization?

 

Example #7: A software development firm specializing in healthcare applications is looking to expand internationally. What factors should they consider when choosing target markets, such as regulatory requirements, healthcare infrastructure, and competitive landscape?

 

Example #8: A renewable energy startup is considering investing in a new solar panel technology with promising efficiency gains. What potential risks should they be aware of, such as technological limitations, market competition, and regulatory changes, and how would you advise them to mitigate these risks?

 

BearingPoint Case Interview Tips

 

Below are our top ten tips for preparing for BearingPoint case interviews.

 

1. Start preparing early

 

Mastering BearingPoint case interviews takes time. Many of the skills and techniques needed to solve cases can’t be learned in just a day or in a week. Ideally, start preparing for your case interviews at least a month or two in advance to give yourself enough time to learn and practice.

 

2. Learn the right strategies the first time

 

It is much more effective to learn the right case interview strategies the first time than to learn poor strategies and then trying to correct them later. Building good case interview habits takes time, so you want to develop good habits from the beginning.

 

3. Practice with a case partner

 

Practicing BearingPoint case interviews with a partner is the best way to simulate a real case interview. There are many aspects of cases that you won’t be able to work on if you are doing mock cases by yourself. Casing with a partner lets you practice your communication, presentation, and collaboration skills.

 

4. Sense check your numbers

 

Accidentally missing zeroes or adding extra zeroes during your case interview calculations is the most common math mistake. To avoid this, you can do a quick sense check after each calculation to confirm that your answer is the right order of magnitude.

 

For example, if you are multiplying 115 million by 22, you should expect your answer to be in the billions because 100 million * 20 = 2 billion.

 

5. Predict what the interviewer is going to ask you next

 

A great way to stand out in a case interview is to answer the interviewer’s follow-up questions before they even get the chance to ask them. After each question that you answer, try to think of what follow-up questions may be asked. Answer or address these questions immediately after giving your answer.

 

6. Have a firm recommendation

 

You do not want to have a flimsy recommendation in which you switch back and forth between two different recommendations. Instead, have a recommendation that takes a firm stance. Remember that there is no right or wrong recommendation. As long as your recommendation is supported with data and evidence, your recommendation will be accepted.

 

7. Be coachable and easy to work with

 

During a case interview, you not only need to demonstrate that you can solve the case, but you also need to demonstrate that you would be a great fit for the consulting firm. At the end of the interview, the interviewer will ask themself: “Would I want to work with this person?”

 

An easy way to pass this is to be coachable and easy to work with. When the interviewer provides suggestions or guidance, take them. When the interviewer challenges your answer, politely provide your rationale but acknowledge that you understand the interviewer’s points.

 

8. Use a hypothesis-driven approach

 

During the case interview, you should have a hypothesis of what the answer to the case is. A hypothesis is simply an educated guess based on the knowledge that you have. As you analyze data and gather more information, make sure to be constantly changing and refining your hypothesis.

 

There are two benefits to using a hypothesis to drive the direction of the case. One, it ensures that you are focusing on relevant areas that will help you solve or answer the case. Two, by the time the interviewer asks you for a recommendation, you will already have a refined hypothesis on what the answer or solution to the case should be.

 

9. Be 80/20

 

You have limited time during a case interview to solve the case. Therefore, you won’t be able to cover all of the different areas in your framework and get answers to every single question that you have. Therefore, focus on the most important issues and use the 80/20 principle.

 

The 80/20 principle states that 80% of the outcome comes from 20% of your effort. During a case interview, focus on the most important questions or areas that will have the biggest impact or effect on developing your answer or recommendation.

 

10. Be enthusiastic

 

During the interview, display enthusiasm. This not only makes the interview more fun and interesting for the interviewer, but it also demonstrates that you are passionate about consulting and working at the firm. Interviewers want to hire candidates that love their job and work hard. Displaying enthusiasm is an indicator for these characteristics.

 

Recommended BearingPoint Interview Resources

 

Here are the resources we recommend to land a BearingPoint consulting offer:

 

For help landing consulting interviews

 

• Resume Review & Editing: Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple consulting interviews

 

For help passing case interviews

 

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.

 

• Case Interview Coaching: Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.

 

• Hacking the Case Interview Book (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.

 

• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

 

For help passing consulting behavioral & fit interviews

 

• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course: Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.