Case_In_Point_7th_Edition_Page001_183_2

+ Case Journal
I had a student that had graduated Phi Beta Kappa from an Ivy League school. She had spent her time
between undergrad and graduate school working for a non-profit. While at Harvard’s Kennedy School,
she decided that she wanted to do consulting, but she had no business background. Her first attempt at
a mock case interview with me was a disaster. That day she started a journal. For every live case she
did with me, her classmates and alumni (she did around 30 live cases) and with every case that she
read (about 80 cases), she wrote down the problem, the solution and most importantly what she hadn’t
thought of. The student constantly reviewed it, so that what she didn’t think of naturally soon became
second nature to her. She also recorded structures, concepts, ideas and strategies. When she had
spare moments between classes or bus rides, she would flip through her journal. When she read articles
i n The Wall Street Journal, Business Week or McKinsey Quarterly, she would add to her journal. It
never left her side.
She ended up at a top firm and took the journal with her. With every engagement she learned something
new and added it to her journal. When she and her co-workers sat around brainstorming problems, she
would flip through her journal and throw out ideas, which often sparked discussions and occasionally led
to a solution.
I saw her five years after she had graduated and she still had her journal. Although it was as beaten up
as Indiana Jones’s journal, it held just as many treasures. She was headed to a new job and the journal
was the first thing she packed.
Since then, I have recommended creating a journal whenever I speak at schools. Besides keeping all
your notes in one place, it becomes a single source for case material that is also extremely helpful for
your classes. If you are truly serious about case interviewing, then you will continue to read and practice
all summer long. Recruiting events start as soon as you get back to campus, so if you take the time over
the summer to practice, life is going to be easier in the fall.