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Our approach to recruiting

Solving today's most pressing challenges requires fresh perspectives. We’re committed to recruiting great people from all backgrounds, and we hire candidates with a variety of undergraduate majors and work experiences. Throughout our recruiting process, you'll encounter two types of interviews: the case interview and the behavioral interview.

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Case interviews

Case interviews help us gauge how you solve problems. We're interested in how you think—qualitatively and quantitatively—and your ability to communicate in a clear, structured manner. Remember, beyond calculations, there’s no one right answer to case questions. Focus on engaging in thoughtful conversation, and bring us along through your thought process.

Behavioral interviews

Behavioral interviews allow us to learn about your background and interest in joining the Strategy Consulting team. Take time to think about how your unique experiences and perspectives would add to our team. The behavioral interview is also a great time to ask us questions.

Preparing for your case interview

Two Capital One Strategy Consulting associates sit at a table and look at a laptop together

Case interview tips

The best way to get comfortable with case interviews is to practice. Our sample case below is a great place to start, but seeking out other case resources, working through cases with friends and attending workshops will help too. We suggest practicing as many full cases out loud as possible, ideally with a partner.

Two Capital One Strategy Consulting associates sit at a table with a laptop out

What to expect in your interview

Strategy Consulting cases tend to be interviewer-led. They cover a wide range of business problems and aren’t specific to any industry. When the case starts, the interviewer will provide you with an initial scenario, then ask you to lay out a structure for how you’d tackle the problem. The interviewer will ask questions to guide the conversation, but you’ll need to proactively make grounded recommendations and rationalize your thinking. There will be a quantitative element (e.g., break-even calculations, simple arithmetic and algebra), but we allow calculators when appropriate.

Case interview practice

Real-world

Here’s an example of a case you might see during our interview process.

Practice Case: Sandwich Shop

Background and set-up

  • You’re the owner of the nearest “Sammy’s Sandwich Shop” franchise here in the D.C. area.
  • It’s late 2023, and Sammy’s Sandwich Shop is looking for a new marketing campaign.
  • As the franchise owner, you’ve been approached by the national office who wants to introduce a new marketing campaign—“$5 for a 12-inch sandwich.”
  • You need to decide whether or not you’d like to participate in the campaign.

Quick tips: Starting off strong

  • Make sure you understand the scenario. Think: What am I being asked to solve?
  • Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions.
  • Often, it helps to repeat what you're solving for back to the interviewer to make sure you're on the same page.
  • Ask for time to gather your thoughts prior to structuring and delivering your response—your interviewer will be happy to give you a minute.

Question 1:

What are some factors we should consider that would inform your decision?

Question 1: What are some factors we should consider that would inform your decision?

Candidates should present a framework for analyzing the problem. Here is a sample response:


Revenues

  • Current price per sandwich sold
  • Current number of sandwiches sold
  • Projected increase in number of sandwiches sold

Expenses

  • Fixed costs of owning a sandwich shop (e.g., labor, rent, utilities, equipment)
  • Variable costs of making sandwiches (e.g., ingredients for each sandwich type, shipping charges)

Promotion considerations

  • Conditions of promotion (e.g., length of promotion, types of sandwiches it applies to)
  • Incremental marketing expense (e.g., new signage, portion covered by national office)
  • Long-term impacts (e.g., past campaigns' impact on revenue or customer behavior)

External considerations

  • Brand (e.g., current brand positioning on price and quality)
  • Competitors (e.g., number and type of competitors, their brand and pricing, their previous promotions)
  • Customers (e.g., price sensitivity, opportunity to grow base)

Quick tips: Creating a case framework

  • The purpose of a framework is to structure your approach to solving the problem and share your ideas in a concise manner.
  • Factors should be provided in buckets to create a Mutually Exclusive & Collectively Exhaustive (MECE) framework. This means that none of your categories overlap, but together they are a full set of potential factors.
  • The best way to improve your ability to structure problems is through practice.
  • Often, case prep materials list a set of standard frameworks to use in interviews. While this is a helpful starting place, we encourage you to develop your own framework in our case interviews. We don't use standard frameworks in our own projects, so we want to see that you can use your creativity and judgment to create a framework that is specific and customized to the problem at hand.

Question 2:

Our next step is to understand the economics of the business. What is the average profit per sandwich today?

Question 2: Our next step is to understand the economics of the business. What is the average profit per sandwich today?

Background info:


You only sell turkey and roast beef sandwiches

  • Turkey sandwiches sell for $6
  • Roast beef sandwiches sell for $7.50

Sandwiches can come on white or honey wheat bread

  • 20% of sandwiches sold are turkey on white bread
  • 40% of sandwiches sold are turkey on honey wheat bread
  • 20% of sandwiches sold are roast beef on white bread
  • 20% of sandwiches sold are roast beef on honey wheat bread

Costs are as follows

  • White bread: $3
  • Honey wheat bread: $2
  • Turkey: $1
  • Roast beef: $3

Question 2: Our next step is to understand the economics of the business. What is the average profit per sandwich today?

Solution:


Revenues:   (60% x $6) + (40% x $7.50)
$3.60 + $3.00 = $6.60 per sandwich (weighted average)
Expenses:   (20% x $4) + (40% x $3) + (20% x $6) + (20% x $5)
$0.80 + $1.20 + $1.20 + $1.00 = $4.20 per sandwich (weighted average)
Profit:   $6.60 - $4.20 = $2.40 per sandwich

Quick tips: Setting up the problem

  • When working through a math problem, it’s helpful to first set up the problem and communicate your approach to your interviewer before proceeding with calculations. This approach helps your interviewer understand your thought process and allows you to double check that your approach is correct.

Question 3:

What is the average profit per sandwich if we do the $5 promotion? How many more sandwiches do we need to sell to break even?

Question 3: What is the average profit per sandwich if we do the $5 promotion? How many more sandwiches do we need to sell to break even?

Solution:


New profit:   $5.00 - $4.20 = $0.80
Break even:   Demand (old) x $2.40 = Demand (new) x $0.80
Demand (new) / Demand (old) = $2.40 / $0.80
= 3 (times as many sandwiches)
= 300% of original demand or 200% increase

Question 4:

What else should we consider before launching the promotion?

Question 4: What else should we consider before launching the promotion?

There is no one right answer. Candidates should list out a few potential considerations and explain them.


  • New customers acquired (Will the promotion attract new customers? Will these customers continue to purchase sandwiches once the promotion ends?)
  • Ability to adjust promotion (Could we limit the promotion to only certain types of sandwiches? Could we require the addition of other higher-margin items to access the promotion?)
  • Upsell opportunities (Could we sell other items to customers to increase the total value of their order? What will uptake look like?)
  • Competition from other sandwich shops (Could we be creating a “race to the bottom” if other shops lower their prices in response?)
  • Change in brand perception and expectations (Will customers expect this price from us going forward? Will they come less often when we’re not running a promotion?)

Quick tips: Answering brainstorming questions

  • When asked to list considerations or factors, it’s helpful to ask for a brief moment to write out your ideas. This provides you the opportunity to communicate as clearly as possible, apply structure and make sure the considerations you’re providing are distinct from each other.

Question 5:

Should we launch the promotion?

Question 5: Should we launch the promotion?

There is no one right answer. Strong answers will include the following components:


  • A clear stance with justification based on quantitative analysis. E.g., I do not believe we should pursue the promotion as it seems unreasonable for us to expect to sell three times as many sandwiches to break even given the new average profit margin.
  • A list of risks/concerns with potential solutions. E.g., If the promotion leads to an increase in the ratio of roast beef sandwiches sold, we may be at risk of a loss. To mitigate this risk, we could limit the promotion to turkey sandwiches. Another break even analysis would help verify if this is a better solution.

Quick tips: Delivering a recommendation

  • When providing a recommendation, you should leverage ideas and analysis from earlier in the case to support your final decision.
  • You should lead with your answer recommending the best path, then support that answer with evidence.
  • Include forward-looking considerations in your recommendation, such as further analyses needed, additional opportunities for the business and potentials risks going forward.

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