Capgemini Case Interview: Everything You Need to Know

Capgemini case interviews


Capgemini interviews consist of case interviews, a group case interview, and behavioral or fit interviews. There are typically three rounds of interviews that candidates go through before receiving an offer.
 

  • First round: A 30 minute phone screen with a recruiter. The interview is primarily focused on resume questions and behavioral or fit interview questions.

 

  • Second round: A 30- to 40-minute interview. This interview is focused on solving a case interview or case study interview.

 

  • Third round: Three to four interviews that are 30 to 40 minutes each. These interviews consist of case interviews, a group case interview, and behavioral or fit interviews.

 

However, know that the interview process may vary slightly depending on the office that you are interviewing for.

 

If you have an upcoming interview with Capgemini or are expecting one, we have you covered. In this article, we’ll cover:

  • The 6 steps to solve any Capgemini case interview

 

  • Capgemini case interview examples

 

  • How to ace the Capgemini group case interview

 

  • Capgemini’s ten most common behavioral or fit interview questions


  • Recommended Capgemini 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.

 

The 6 Steps to Solve Any Capgemini Case Interview

 

Acing your case interviews is the single most important factor that determines whether or not you will receive a consulting job offer from Capgemini.

 

A case interview is a special type of interview that nearly every single consulting firm uses. Capgemini case interviews simulate what the consulting job will be like by placing you in a hypothetical business situation in which you are asked to solve a business problem.

 

Capgemini case interviews, also known as case study interviews, are all candidate-led. You will be in the driver’s seat of the case interview and will be expected to ask the right questions, probe for data, and propose each next step to solve the case.


 

Follow these six steps to solve any Capgemini case interview or case study interview:

 

1. Understand the case

 

The case will begin with the interviewer giving you the case 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, the company, and the objective of the case.

 

2. Verify the objective

 

Understanding the business problem and objective of the case is the most important part of the case interview. Not addressing the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

 

Make sure that you ask clarifying questions to better understand the business situation and problem. Then, confirm that you understand the case objective with the interviewer. This ensures that you start the case on the right track.

 

3. Create a framework

 

Develop a framework to help you tackle the business problem. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. With a framework, you’ll be brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

 

Afterwards, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback to you.


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

 

4. Develop a hypothesis

 

After creating a framework, you should develop a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess on the answer based on the data and information that you have so far.

 

Your hypothesis does not need to be correct. You’ll be continuously testing and refining your hypothesis throughout the case. The purpose of having a hypothesis is to guide your analysis and ensure that you are spending your time answering the right questions.

 

5. Test your hypothesis

 

The majority of the case will be spent testing your hypothesis.

 

After stating your hypothesis, it is up to you to lead the direction of the case. Depending on the context of the case, you may want to ask for data to do some analysis. You may also want to explore qualitative questions that you have. As you uncover more information, your hypothesis will likely have to change. 

 

Sometimes, your hypothesis will be completely wrong and you’ll need to develop a completely new hypothesis to test. Other times, your hypothesis may be on the right track, but you’ll need to refine or narrow it down further.

 

Throughout the rest of the case, you’ll be answering a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. Make sure that after each question, you explain how your answer impacts your hypothesis or answer to the case.

 

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 summarizing only 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 yet or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.

 

Capgemini Case Interview Examples

 

We've compiled Capgemini case interviews that were given to previous candidates below. For more practice, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases.


Example #1: Kraft Heinz’s Spice Division

 

The Kraft Heinz Company is an American food company with over $30 billion in annual sales. You have been hired by the CEO of Kraft Heinz because their food spices division has had flat or declining sales each year for the past five years. What is causing this and what should you do to improve their performance?

 

Example #2: U.S. Bank

 

Our client is a financial services company based in the United States. They provide banking, investments, mortgages, trusts, and payment services to individuals, businesses, and government entities.

 

Our client has grown to their current size through many years of acquisitions. They have recently hired a consulting firm to conduct a benchmarking study that revealed that their costs are over-market by $500M. What is causing this discrepancy and how can our client reduce their costs?

 

Example #3: Wine Exports

 

Your client is a mid-size wine producer in the Republic of Georgia, located between Western Asia and Eastern Europe. They produce over 15 million bottles of wine per year and are known as a high quality wine producer.

 

Although Georgian wine is largely unknown to many parts of the world, your client is considering selling their wine in the United States. Should they enter the U.S. wine market?

 

Example #4: Orange Juice Pricing

 

Tropicana is an American multinational company that primarily makes fruit-based beverages, specializing in orange juice. Historically, Tropicana packages their orange juice in 18-ounce cartons. However, there has been demand for their orange juice product in larger volume containers.

 

Tropicana has invested in purchasing machines that package their juice in 36-ounce plastic gallons. How should they price their larger volume orange juice product?

 

Example #5: Retail Store Expansion

 

Our client is an American shopping mall-based specialty retailer of casual apparel and accessories. They primarily target men and women between the ages of 14 to 28. Over the past ten years, our client has been rapidly expanding their number of store locations and have achieved significant revenue growth.

 

However, the company has recently moved from being profitable to unprofitable. The CEO has hired you to help determine what is causing the decline in profitability and what the company should do to become profitable again.

 

Example #6: Unilever Direct Store Delivery

 

Unilever is a multinational consumer packaged goods company based in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. They produce food beverages, cleaning agents, and personal care products.

 

Unilever is planning to launch a new product and is deciding between two different methods of going to market. The first method is direct store delivery in which manufacturers sell and distribute goods directly to point of sales retail stores. The second method is warehouse delivery in which manufacturers distribute goods to retailer’s distribution centers or warehouses.

 

Which delivery model should Unilever choose?

 

How to Ace the Capgemini Group Case Interview

 

Capgemini uses a group case interview in their final round of interviews. This special type of case interview assesses you on your collaboration and teamwork skills.

 

Here’s what you should expect:
 

  • You’ll be put into a group of 4 to 6 people

 

  • The interviewer will give the group the case prompt and about 15 pages of case information

 

  • You’ll have 10 minutes to review the material by yourself

 

  • You’ll then have 30 minutes to discuss the case with your group

 

  • Afterwards, your group will present your answer or recommendation to the interviewer, who will ask follow-up questions

 

Your goal in a group case interview is to add as much value as you can to the group. There are six different ways that you can do this:

  • Lead or facilitate the discussion: You can propose what topics to discuss, the order they should be discussed in, and how much time should be allocated towards each topic. If the group gets off track, you can bring the group’s focus back together.

 

  • Expand upon other people’s ideas: If a group member suggests a great idea or raises a good point, build upon it and make it even better.

 

  • Synthesize information: You can summarize information that other people have said and reconcile different viewpoints and ideas together.

 

  • Keep track of time: You can volunteer to keep track of time and make sure that the group is on track.

 

  • Play devil’s advocate: You can help your group develop strong ideas by testing the team’s thinking by considering potential risks or downsides of their ideas.

 

  • Take notes: You can keep track of what other people are saying so that you can recall what has been discussed if any group members have questions.

 

Additionally, follow these five tips to improve your group case interview performance.

 

Tip #1: Treat your group members as teammates, not competition

 

The group case interview is not an exercise in which you are competing with others. Interviewers are trying to assess whether you would be a great teammate. Multiple people or even all people in your group can receive job offers.

 

Therefore, focus on adding value to the group rather than on making yourself look better than your teammates.

 

Tip #2: Don’t spend too much time reviewing the materials in silence

 

In the beginning of the group case interview, your group will likely want to spend time reviewing the case materials independently. This is fine to do, but make sure you move towards having a group discussion as early as possible.

 

There are likely many things that need to be discussed and decided on as a group, so reading materials in silence for too long is not a good use of time.

 

Tip #3: Don’t speak too much, but don’t speak too little

 

If you speak too much, this may be seen as being too aggressive or controlling. If you speak too little, you may come off as shy or timid.

 

If you were to rank all of the members in your group by how much each person spoke, you would want to be roughly in the middle. This would be the perfect balance between speaking and listening.

 

Tip #4: Don’t interrupt or talk over your group members

 

Interrupting others when they are speaking is rude and disrespectful. You do not want to be inconsiderate or a jerk. Be nice and respectful to your group members.

 

Tip #5: Involve other people

 

If you observe that someone has not spoken much, ask them for their thoughts or opinions. If you notice that someone has been cut off when they were speaking, ask them to finish their thoughts after the person interrupting them has finished what they have to say. This shows that you are a considerate and helpful teammate.


For a full guide on group case interviews, check out our consulting group case interview step-by-step guide.

 

Capgemini’s Ten Most Common Behavioral or Fit Interview Questions

 

In addition to case interviews, you will likely be asked quite a few behavioral or fit interview questions. Capgemini provides some interview tips on their website, but their advice is fairly generic and not that helpful.

 

Below, we’ll go through the ten most commonly asked questions that you should absolutely prepare for.

 

1. Why are you interested in working at Capgemini?

 

How to answer: Have at least three reasons why you’re interested in working at Capgemini. You could mention that you loved the people that you have met from Capgemini so far. You can talk about Capgemini’s expertise in more technical capabilities compared to traditional consulting firms. You can speak to the opportunity to develop both your business and technical skill set. Finally, you can mention Capgemini’s small, close-knit work environment for their consulting division.

 

2. Why do you want to work in consulting?

 

How to answer: Again, have three reasons why you’re interested in consulting. You could mention the fast career growth opportunity, the opportunity to develop soft and hard skills, or the level of impact that you can make by working with large companies on their most challenging issues.

 

3. Walk me through your resume

 

How to answer: Provide a concise summary of your work experience, starting with the most recent. Focus on emphasizing your most impressive and unique accomplishments. At the end, tie your experiences to why you are interested in consulting.

 

4. What is your proudest achievement?

 

How to answer: Choose your most impressive, unique, or memorable accomplishment. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work.

 

5. What is something that you are proud of that is not on your resume?

 

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to highlight an accomplishment that is not related to your professional work experience. Perhaps there is a non-profit that you volunteer at, a side project or business that you work on, or a hobby that you have won awards or recognition for. Choose something that is impressive and interesting.

 

6. Tell me about a time when you led a team.

 

How to answer: If possible, choose a time when you directly managed a person or a team. For this question and the following questions, make sure that you structure your answer. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work. This is known as the STAR method and is commonly used to answer behavioral or fit interview questions.

 

7. Give an example of a time when you faced conflict or a disagreement.

 

How to answer: When answering this question, focus on emphasizing the steps you took to resolve the conflict or disagreement. Speak to the interpersonal skills you had to use in order to mediate the situation. Interviewers want to know that you are a great mediator and that you can handle conflict in a constructive way.

 

8. Tell me about a time when you had to persuade someone.

 

How to answer: Choose a time when you were able to change someone’s mind. Focus on emphasizing the steps that you took to persuade that person and what impact and results this had. Interviewers want to know that you are a great communicator and a good people person.

 

9. Describe a time when you failed.

 

How to answer: Choose a time when you failed to meet a deadline or did not meet expectations. Focus on emphasizing what you learned from the experience and how you used that experience to deliver even better results in the next opportunity that you got. Interviewers want to see that you don’t get discouraged from failure and that you treat those experiences as learning opportunities.

 

10. What questions do you have for me?

 

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to get to know the interviewer on a more personal level. Ask them questions about their experience in consulting or their career. Express genuine interest in what they have to show and ask follow-up questions. The more you can get the interviewer talking about themself, the more likely they will have a positive impression of you.


For more help, check out our complete guide on consulting behavioral interview questions.

 

Recommended Capgemini Interview Resources

 

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

 

For help landing 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.

 

 

  • 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.