How to Be a Helpful Mock Interviewer

If you are reading this and are a student, there's a good chance you are interested in recruiting for consulting roles. There is also a great chance you are not the only one you know in that boat. In a recruiting season, you could trade cases with dozens of other casers (they're your competition, but maybe also your friends). Since you're all in this together, I often get asked how to give better mock interviews as someone without consulting experience. While everyone needs specific, personalized guidance to make the biggest improvements possible, I think focusing on three areas can make a material difference for most.

First, know your cases cold. Reuse cases with different people. Give them to yourself. Know the math inside and out. Learn the areas where you can get more nuanced for stronger casers and more high level for new casers. Knowing all of this means your focus will be on the caser, not the case, so you'll have more mental energy to spend on identifying areas of growth. Additionally, you'll be better able to guide the interviewee back on track if needed, and you'll be able to conduct the case competently and confidently, like a real interviewer.

Second, be specific in your feedback. Saying "You did badly" is not useful to anyone. When you point out an area of improvement, specify what they did, explain the issue with that, and suggest how to improve. To the point above, learn what good looks like from the stronger casers that you interviewed and use that knowledge to help newer casers.

Lastly, limit the feedback to a few major points. If you spend your debrief listing 20 small mistakes, the caser won't know how to prioritize and probably won't retain most of the feedback. Stick to three topics and go deeper. Focus on the "small hinge that swings a big door" (consultants love analogies).

What goes around comes around. Be a better interviewer, train others to be better, and you'll get better feedback and improve faster.

Or, you know, work with an experienced coach.