The LEK Written Case Interview: What You Need to Know

The LEK Written Case Interview


If you’re interviewing with LEK Consulting, you might be diligently preparing for a traditional, interactive case interview then suddenly get an email telling you that you’re scheduled for a written case interview.

Don’t panic.

Written case interviews are not the same as traditional cases, but this article will help you prepare to ace yours.

In this article, we’ll discuss:

  • What is a written case interview?
  • Why do consulting firms use written cases and what are they looking for?
  • What does the LEK written case look like?
  • How should you approach your LEK written case interview?
  • We’ll also provide links to additional resources.

Let’s get started!

What Exactly Is a Written Case Interview?

Unlike a regular case interview in which you discuss a business problem with your interviewer, in a written case interview, your written work will be the focus of the discussion. 

You’ll be provided with pages of text-based information and charts which you need to analyze and distill to answer a problem or assess an opportunity faced by the client.  There’s not enough time to consider all the information in-depth, so quickly deciding what you need to concentrate on to answer the question is crucial.

Then, you’ll need to write a clear and persuasive presentation to outline and support your recommendation. You’ll present this to the interview team.

The LEK written case forms part of the final round interview along with two further case interviews.

Why Do Consulting Firms Use Written Cases and What Skills Do They Test?

As a consultant, you’re going to need to be able to review and interpret large amounts of information. LEK wants to be sure that you can handle both verbal communication say, from a client meeting, and written communication, such as business documents.

A written case lets the recruiting team check whether you’re able to sift through a large amount of data, pull out the key relevant information, and present that back to the client in an effective way.

During the LEK written case, the recruiting team will be looking to answer some key questions:

  • Can you quickly grasp the business context and draw out the challenge or opportunity?
  • Can you build a list of options for the client and explain their pros and cons?
  • Do you demonstrate the quantitative analysis skills required to back up your position?
  • Are you showing sound business judgment in your final recommendation?
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What’s the Format Of the LEK Written Case?

Preparing to do the LEK written case interview

In the LEK written case interview, candidates will be given a pack of around 30 slides with information that needs to be read and distilled.  

You’ll have an hour to come up with options for the client based on your understanding of their problem or opportunity.

During that hour, you need to consolidate the information down to fit around 7 outline slides that LEK provides to form the basis of your presentation.

These outline slides may have the heading at the top of the page but no further information, or might be graphs or tables that need to be completed. 

Leaving part of the side blank provides an opportunity for LEK to assess your math and analysis skills or your ability to extract relevant information to support a topic.

After you create the presentation, you’ll then have 30 minutes to present your thoughts to an interview panel. The time is broken into ~20 minutes to present and ~10 minutes for Q&A.

During the Q&A, expect the interview team to challenge your conclusions and recommendation. They’ll be looking at your ability to support your recommendation under pressure. Take a deep breath and reiterate the key information and analysis that led you to your conclusion.

6 Tips for Acing the LEK Written Case

  1. Plan how you’ll manage your time and stick to it! You’ll feel pressure from the volume of information you receive. Resist the temptation to immediately start working through it. Map out how much time you’re going to need for:
    1. Framing the question,
    2. Analyzing the information,
    3. Organizing the information to come up with a recommendation,
    4. Creating your presentation, and
    5. Practicing what you’re going to say.
  2. Review the outline slides provided. Take a moment to look over the slides LEK expects you to complete. This will help you understand the task and the expected structure for the final presentation.
  3. Start with the end in mind. Work out the problem the client’s trying to solve and write it down. Writing it down is important as it gives you something to focus on when you feel overwhelmed by the data.
  4. Create a hypothesis. Reframe the problem you’ve written down into a question you can prove or disprove. This helps you find the right data to solve the problem for the client.
  5. Analyze the data. Review the information pack, searching for relevant information. Remember there’ll be too much to go through properly, so quickly decide what’s relevant and set aside everything else. Interpret the information and write down the key points on the appropriate slides. You may need to do some rough calculations with the data involved as well.
  6. Follow the 5R outline in your presentation:
    • Recap the question to show you understand the issue the client’s trying to solve.
    • State your recommendation.
    • Provide your reasoning.
    • Outline any risks to implementing your recommendation.
    • Retain the client by showing how you can support their next steps.
  7. Practice how you will talk through your presentation. Just because you’ve finished filling up the 7 outline slides doesn’t mean your job is done. Practice presenting the slides so you’re comfortable and confident with what you have to say and how you plan to say it.
  8. If you have time, come up with a list of questions the interviewers might ask. Proactively think through possible answers to these questions and back your answers up the available data. This way, you won’t be caught flat footed during the Q&A.

More information on the 5Rs can be found in our comprehensive guide to Written Case Interviews.

Written cases, like other case interviews, seem daunting at first. But, learning how to approach, and structure them, can help you feel less nervous. 

Don’t focus on getting the “right” answer. Work quickly to decide on a recommendation and then focus on using the information provided to make sure your argument is as strong as possible.

Links to Additional Resources for Preparing for the LEK Written Case

On LEK cases in general, we hear that they favor strategy cases and cases with heavy quantitative analysis  (case math questions based on the information in exhibits they provide). Their behavioral interviews are separate from their case interviews.

In this article, we’ve covered:

  • Exactly what a written case interview is,
  • Why consulting firms choose written case interviews and what they’re testing,
  • What you’ll face in the LEK written case,
  • Advice on tackling the LEK written case, and
  • Further resources for preparing for your written case.

Still have questions?

If you have more questions about the LEK written case interview, leave them in the comments below. One of My Consulting Offer’s case coaches will answer them.

Help with Consulting Interview Prep

Thanks for turning to My Consulting Offer for advice on written case interviews. My Consulting Offer has helped almost 85% of the people we’ve worked with to get a job in management consulting. We want you to be successful in your consulting interviews too. For example, here is how Tracy was able to get her offer from LEK.

We want you to be successful in your consulting interviews too.

If you want to learn more about how to ace your case interviews, schedule a free call with a member of our team. We’ll show you how you get an offer without spending hundreds of hours preparing.

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Nail the case & fit interview with strategies from former MBB Interviewers that have helped 89.6% of our clients pass the case interview.

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