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What the Case Study Method Really Teaches

• Nitin Nohria

Seven meta-skills that stick even if the cases fade from memory.

It’s been 100 years since Harvard Business School began using the case study method. Beyond teaching specific subject matter, the case study method excels in instilling meta-skills in students. This article explains the importance of seven such skills: preparation, discernment, bias recognition, judgement, collaboration, curiosity, and self-confidence.

During my decade as dean of Harvard Business School, I spent hundreds of hours talking with our alumni. To enliven these conversations, I relied on a favorite question: “What was the most important thing you learned from your time in our MBA program?”

• Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. and Distinguished Service University Professor. He served as the 10th dean of Harvard Business School, from 2010 to 2020.

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Interviews and assessment centres

Coping with case studies for graduate jobs.

targetjobs editorial team

25 Jan 2023, 13:39

Our tips on how to prepare for an assessment centre case study exercise will help you show graduate recruiters how well you could perform in the job.

Case studies at graduate assessment centres allow an employer to see you in action. An interview is all about you telling recruiters what you can do; the case study is about showing them, and so it’s arguably one of the fairest and most realistic components of a typical assessment day.

What do graduate assessment centre case studies involve?

The case study exercise can be for individuals or groups. You will usually be given some information about a work-related scenario and invited to examine the evidence before presenting your findings and solutions – either verbally (in a presentation or case study interview) or in written form. You may also be drip-fed additional information to assess and respond to throughout the allocated time.

At virtual a assessment centre, candidates are usually sent to a part of a platform to view the case study briefing pack before joining the rest of their group in a breakout room.

• Discover what virtual assessment centres involve and how best to approach them

Example assessment centre case study exercise 1

The following group exercise is a genuine investment case study. Candidates have to work together to find answers and respond to incoming news and data. They then have to make a presentation to a ‘management board’.

A publisher of scientific journals and books is looking to make a significant acquisition. It has identified a target company and approached a number of investment banks for their views on the merits of a potential deal and a target price. Based on these presentations, the publisher will decide whether to proceed with a bid and, if so, select one bank to act as their adviser.

Your team is one of the investment banks bidding to win the mandate. You need to: analyse the figures provided; to review the marketplace, your potential client (the publisher) and the target company; and to prepare a five-minute presentation giving your recommendations, eg whether to go ahead, go ahead under specific conditions etc.

Example assessment centre case study exercise 2

This is a similar example of a case study used for commercial and marketing graduate programmes. In this case, the groups are given a pack with details of the product range, sales figures, marketing campaigns and news clippings. The basic problem in this type of scenario is that a product range or the company receives some negative publicity on the eve of a new product launch or marketing campaign; assessors are interested in whether and how you would respond to it.

You are a member of marketing team at the global organisation, Choc-O-Lot Ltd. It manufactures and distributes chocolate products throughout the UK and Europe. Its flagship bar is ‘Dairy Dream’, but the business has expanded rapidly over the past eight years, launching new products and diversifying into new areas (such as running chocolate-themed experience days). The company is planning a huge brand relaunch. Just as Choc-O-Lot is about to launch a marketing campaign, an article appears in the national press alleging that Choc-O-Lot treats its workers, and members of its supply chain, poorly. It is widely shared on social media, with calls for a boycott. What would you do?

Tips for preparing for the case study exercise in advance

• Read the organisation’s graduate recruitment literature and check its website for sample case studies and recent press releases. Try to get a feel for the type of work it’s involved in and the kind of business decisions it has to make or advise clients on. Read up on issues affecting the industry the employer works in; it might give you an advantage when evaluating options.
• Practise your mental arithmetic, as you may have to demonstrate your quantitative ability without a calculator.
• Practise mock case study exercises. Go to AssessmentDay , our commercial partner, for free and paid-for example case studies. Check, too, with your careers service, as many run workshops on how to successfully prepare for case study exercises.

Get the insights and skills you need to shape your career journey with Pathways. Informed by years of conversations with recruiters, this course will give you the best tips and resources, allowing you to feel more at ease presenting to others.

Tips for approaching the case study exercise on the day

• Be clear about what you’re being asked to do. Understand what the problem is, what your role is and what your objectives are.
• Start by reading through the information pack and assessing which parts of the information are relevant – you should be able to annotate the pack. Then, you might want to list key points to be considered when coming to your solution or to brainstorm possible solutions, before considering the pros and cons to each one.
• Manage your time to ensure you complete the exercise. If you’re working in a group you could volunteer to be the timekeeper or ensure that someone else takes on this role. Allow time to prepare for the final presentation at the end of the session, if one is required.
• If you’re working in a small group you could divide up the tasks between you. You could nominate someone to assess any new information passed to the group during the course of the exercise. You could also nominate a note-keeper.
• In a group exercise, don’t dominate but do contribute to discussions. Articulate what you’re thinking so the assessors can see how you approach problems. Ask for more information or clarification if you’re unsure.
• Don’t lose sight of your objectives. The final presentation or written report should be relevant, clear and concise, and should include a summary of your conclusions and recommendations.

Tips for great presentations at graduate assessment centres

• Make sure the presentation is delivered in an appropriate style for the target audience. If your briefing scenario states that you are presenting back to a client, address the assessors as if they are clients. Consider what they are likely to know about the industry and what they don't know.
• If you are asked to make a recommendation or give a view, make this the start point of your presentation, and then present your reasoning and analysis.
• Think carefully about who and how many people will present back – switching between presenters needs to be quick and slick. If you don’t present back, nominate yourself as someone who will respond to questions.
• How to structure and deliver a great presentation at an interview or assessment day .

targetjobs editorial advice

This describes editorially independent and impartial content, which has been written and edited by the targetjobs content team. Any external contributors featuring in the article are in line with our non-advertorial policy, by which we mean that we do not promote one organisation over another.

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The HBS Case Method

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Take a Seat in the MBA Classroom

• Harvard Business School

How the HBS Case Method Works

How the Case Method Works

• Read and analyze the case. Each case is a 10-20 page document written from the viewpoint of a real person leading a real organization. In addition to background information on the situation, each case ends in a key decision to be made. Your job is to sift through the information, incomplete by design, and decide what you would do.
• Discuss the case. Each morning, you’ll bring your ideas to a small team of classmates from diverse professional backgrounds, your discussion group, to share your findings and listen to theirs. Together, you begin to see the case from different perspectives, better preparing you for class.
• Engage in class. Be prepared to change the way you think as you debate with classmates the best path forward for this organization. The highly engaged conversation is facilitated by the faculty member, but it’s driven by your classmates’ comments and experiences. HBS brings together amazingly talented people from diverse backgrounds and puts that experience front and center. Students do the majority of the talking (and lots of active listening), and your job is to better understand the decision at hand, what you would do in the case protagonist’s shoes, and why. You will not leave a class thinking about the case the same way you thought about it coming in! In addition to learning more about many businesses, in the case method you will develop communication, listening, analysis, and leadership skills. It is a truly dynamic and immersive learning environment.
• Reflect. The case method prepares you to be in leadership positions where you will face time-sensitive decisions with limited information. Reflecting on each class discussion will prepare you to face these situations in your future roles.

Student Perspectives

“I’ve been so touched by how dedicated other people have been to my learning and my success.”

Faculty Perspectives

“The world desperately needs better leadership. It’s actually one of the great gifts of teaching here, you can do something about it.”

Alumni Perspectives

“You walk into work every morning and it's like a fire hose of decisions that need to be made, often without enough information. Just like an HBS case.”

Celebrating the Inaugural HBS Case

“How do you go into an ambiguous situation and get to the bottom of it? That skill – the skill of figuring out a course of inquiry, to choose a course of action – that skill is as relevant today as it was in 1921.”

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

A case study research paper examines a person, place, event, condition, phenomenon, or other type of subject of analysis in order to extrapolate  key themes and results that help predict future trends, illuminate previously hidden issues that can be applied to practice, and/or provide a means for understanding an important research problem with greater clarity. A case study research paper usually examines a single subject of analysis, but case study papers can also be designed as a comparative investigation that shows relationships between two or more subjects. The methods used to study a case can rest within a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method investigative paradigm.

Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010 ; “What is a Case Study?” In Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London: SAGE, 2010.

How to Approach Writing a Case Study Research Paper

General information about how to choose a topic to investigate can be found under the " Choosing a Research Problem " tab in the Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper writing guide. Review this page because it may help you identify a subject of analysis that can be investigated using a case study design.

However, identifying a case to investigate involves more than choosing the research problem . A case study encompasses a problem contextualized around the application of in-depth analysis, interpretation, and discussion, often resulting in specific recommendations for action or for improving existing conditions. As Seawright and Gerring note, practical considerations such as time and access to information can influence case selection, but these issues should not be the sole factors used in describing the methodological justification for identifying a particular case to study. Given this, selecting a case includes considering the following:

• The case represents an unusual or atypical example of a research problem that requires more in-depth analysis? Cases often represent a topic that rests on the fringes of prior investigations because the case may provide new ways of understanding the research problem. For example, if the research problem is to identify strategies to improve policies that support girl's access to secondary education in predominantly Muslim nations, you could consider using Azerbaijan as a case study rather than selecting a more obvious nation in the Middle East. Doing so may reveal important new insights into recommending how governments in other predominantly Muslim nations can formulate policies that support improved access to education for girls.
• The case provides important insight or illuminate a previously hidden problem? In-depth analysis of a case can be based on the hypothesis that the case study will reveal trends or issues that have not been exposed in prior research or will reveal new and important implications for practice. For example, anecdotal evidence may suggest drug use among homeless veterans is related to their patterns of travel throughout the day. Assuming prior studies have not looked at individual travel choices as a way to study access to illicit drug use, a case study that observes a homeless veteran could reveal how issues of personal mobility choices facilitate regular access to illicit drugs. Note that it is important to conduct a thorough literature review to ensure that your assumption about the need to reveal new insights or previously hidden problems is valid and evidence-based.
• The case challenges and offers a counter-point to prevailing assumptions? Over time, research on any given topic can fall into a trap of developing assumptions based on outdated studies that are still applied to new or changing conditions or the idea that something should simply be accepted as "common sense," even though the issue has not been thoroughly tested in current practice. A case study analysis may offer an opportunity to gather evidence that challenges prevailing assumptions about a research problem and provide a new set of recommendations applied to practice that have not been tested previously. For example, perhaps there has been a long practice among scholars to apply a particular theory in explaining the relationship between two subjects of analysis. Your case could challenge this assumption by applying an innovative theoretical framework [perhaps borrowed from another discipline] to explore whether this approach offers new ways of understanding the research problem. Taking a contrarian stance is one of the most important ways that new knowledge and understanding develops from existing literature.
• The case provides an opportunity to pursue action leading to the resolution of a problem? Another way to think about choosing a case to study is to consider how the results from investigating a particular case may result in findings that reveal ways in which to resolve an existing or emerging problem. For example, studying the case of an unforeseen incident, such as a fatal accident at a railroad crossing, can reveal hidden issues that could be applied to preventative measures that contribute to reducing the chance of accidents in the future. In this example, a case study investigating the accident could lead to a better understanding of where to strategically locate additional signals at other railroad crossings so as to better warn drivers of an approaching train, particularly when visibility is hindered by heavy rain, fog, or at night.
• The case offers a new direction in future research? A case study can be used as a tool for an exploratory investigation that highlights the need for further research about the problem. A case can be used when there are few studies that help predict an outcome or that establish a clear understanding about how best to proceed in addressing a problem. For example, after conducting a thorough literature review [very important!], you discover that little research exists showing the ways in which women contribute to promoting water conservation in rural communities of east central Africa. A case study of how women contribute to saving water in a rural village of Uganda can lay the foundation for understanding the need for more thorough research that documents how women in their roles as cooks and family caregivers think about water as a valuable resource within their community. This example of a case study could also point to the need for scholars to build new theoretical frameworks around the topic [e.g., applying feminist theories of work and family to the issue of water conservation].

Eisenhardt, Kathleen M. “Building Theories from Case Study Research.” Academy of Management Review 14 (October 1989): 532-550; Emmel, Nick. Sampling and Choosing Cases in Qualitative Research: A Realist Approach . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2013; Gerring, John. “What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?” American Political Science Review 98 (May 2004): 341-354; Mills, Albert J. , Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Seawright, Jason and John Gerring. "Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research." Political Research Quarterly 61 (June 2008): 294-308.

Structure and Writing Style

The purpose of a paper in the social sciences designed around a case study is to thoroughly investigate a subject of analysis in order to reveal a new understanding about the research problem and, in so doing, contributing new knowledge to what is already known from previous studies. In applied social sciences disciplines [e.g., education, social work, public administration, etc.], case studies may also be used to reveal best practices, highlight key programs, or investigate interesting aspects of professional work.

In general, the structure of a case study research paper is not all that different from a standard college-level research paper. However, there are subtle differences you should be aware of. Here are the key elements to organizing and writing a case study research paper.

I.  Introduction

As with any research paper, your introduction should serve as a roadmap for your readers to ascertain the scope and purpose of your study . The introduction to a case study research paper, however, should not only describe the research problem and its significance, but you should also succinctly describe why the case is being used and how it relates to addressing the problem. The two elements should be linked. With this in mind, a good introduction answers these four questions:

• What is being studied? Describe the research problem and describe the subject of analysis [the case] you have chosen to address the problem. Explain how they are linked and what elements of the case will help to expand knowledge and understanding about the problem.
• Why is this topic important to investigate? Describe the significance of the research problem and state why a case study design and the subject of analysis that the paper is designed around is appropriate in addressing the problem.
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study? Provide background that helps lead the reader into the more in-depth literature review to follow. If applicable, summarize prior case study research applied to the research problem and why it fails to adequately address the problem. Describe why your case will be useful. If no prior case studies have been used to address the research problem, explain why you have selected this subject of analysis.
• How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding? Explain why your case study will be suitable in helping to expand knowledge and understanding about the research problem.

Each of these questions should be addressed in no more than a few paragraphs. Exceptions to this can be when you are addressing a complex research problem or subject of analysis that requires more in-depth background information.

II.  Literature Review

The literature review for a case study research paper is generally structured the same as it is for any college-level research paper. The difference, however, is that the literature review is focused on providing background information and  enabling historical interpretation of the subject of analysis in relation to the research problem the case is intended to address . This includes synthesizing studies that help to:

• Place relevant works in the context of their contribution to understanding the case study being investigated . This would involve summarizing studies that have used a similar subject of analysis to investigate the research problem. If there is literature using the same or a very similar case to study, you need to explain why duplicating past research is important [e.g., conditions have changed; prior studies were conducted long ago, etc.].
• Describe the relationship each work has to the others under consideration that informs the reader why this case is applicable . Your literature review should include a description of any works that support using the case to investigate the research problem and the underlying research questions.
• Identify new ways to interpret prior research using the case study . If applicable, review any research that has examined the research problem using a different research design. Explain how your use of a case study design may reveal new knowledge or a new perspective or that can redirect research in an important new direction.
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies . This refers to synthesizing any literature that points to unresolved issues of concern about the research problem and describing how the subject of analysis that forms the case study can help resolve these existing contradictions.
• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research . Your review should examine any literature that lays a foundation for understanding why your case study design and the subject of analysis around which you have designed your study may reveal a new way of approaching the research problem or offer a perspective that points to the need for additional research.
• Expose any gaps that exist in the literature that the case study could help to fill . Summarize any literature that not only shows how your subject of analysis contributes to understanding the research problem, but how your case contributes to a new way of understanding the problem that prior research has failed to do.
• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very important!] . Collectively, your literature review should always place your case study within the larger domain of prior research about the problem. The overarching purpose of reviewing pertinent literature in a case study paper is to demonstrate that you have thoroughly identified and synthesized prior studies in relation to explaining the relevance of the case in addressing the research problem.

III.  Method

In this section, you explain why you selected a particular case [i.e., subject of analysis] and the strategy you used to identify and ultimately decide that your case was appropriate in addressing the research problem. The way you describe the methods used varies depending on the type of subject of analysis that constitutes your case study.

If your subject of analysis is an incident or event . In the social and behavioral sciences, the event or incident that represents the case to be studied is usually bounded by time and place, with a clear beginning and end and with an identifiable location or position relative to its surroundings. The subject of analysis can be a rare or critical event or it can focus on a typical or regular event. The purpose of studying a rare event is to illuminate new ways of thinking about the broader research problem or to test a hypothesis. Critical incident case studies must describe the method by which you identified the event and explain the process by which you determined the validity of this case to inform broader perspectives about the research problem or to reveal new findings. However, the event does not have to be a rare or uniquely significant to support new thinking about the research problem or to challenge an existing hypothesis. For example, Walo, Bull, and Breen conducted a case study to identify and evaluate the direct and indirect economic benefits and costs of a local sports event in the City of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia. The purpose of their study was to provide new insights from measuring the impact of a typical local sports event that prior studies could not measure well because they focused on large "mega-events." Whether the event is rare or not, the methods section should include an explanation of the following characteristics of the event: a) when did it take place; b) what were the underlying circumstances leading to the event; and, c) what were the consequences of the event in relation to the research problem.

If your subject of analysis is a person. Explain why you selected this particular individual to be studied and describe what experiences they have had that provide an opportunity to advance new understandings about the research problem. Mention any background about this person which might help the reader understand the significance of their experiences that make them worthy of study. This includes describing the relationships this person has had with other people, institutions, and/or events that support using them as the subject for a case study research paper. It is particularly important to differentiate the person as the subject of analysis from others and to succinctly explain how the person relates to examining the research problem [e.g., why is one politician in a particular local election used to show an increase in voter turnout from any other candidate running in the election]. Note that these issues apply to a specific group of people used as a case study unit of analysis [e.g., a classroom of students].

If your subject of analysis is a place. In general, a case study that investigates a place suggests a subject of analysis that is unique or special in some way and that this uniqueness can be used to build new understanding or knowledge about the research problem. A case study of a place must not only describe its various attributes relevant to the research problem [e.g., physical, social, historical, cultural, economic, political], but you must state the method by which you determined that this place will illuminate new understandings about the research problem. It is also important to articulate why a particular place as the case for study is being used if similar places also exist [i.e., if you are studying patterns of homeless encampments of veterans in open spaces, explain why you are studying Echo Park in Los Angeles rather than Griffith Park?]. If applicable, describe what type of human activity involving this place makes it a good choice to study [e.g., prior research suggests Echo Park has more homeless veterans].

If your subject of analysis is a phenomenon. A phenomenon refers to a fact, occurrence, or circumstance that can be studied or observed but with the cause or explanation to be in question. In this sense, a phenomenon that forms your subject of analysis can encompass anything that can be observed or presumed to exist but is not fully understood. In the social and behavioral sciences, the case usually focuses on human interaction within a complex physical, social, economic, cultural, or political system. For example, the phenomenon could be the observation that many vehicles used by ISIS fighters are small trucks with English language advertisements on them. The research problem could be that ISIS fighters are difficult to combat because they are highly mobile. The research questions could be how and by what means are these vehicles used by ISIS being supplied to the militants and how might supply lines to these vehicles be cut off? How might knowing the suppliers of these trucks reveal larger networks of collaborators and financial support? A case study of a phenomenon most often encompasses an in-depth analysis of a cause and effect that is grounded in an interactive relationship between people and their environment in some way.

NOTE:   The choice of the case or set of cases to study cannot appear random. Evidence that supports the method by which you identified and chose your subject of analysis should clearly support investigation of the research problem and linked to key findings from your literature review. Be sure to cite any studies that helped you determine that the case you chose was appropriate for examining the problem.

IV.  Discussion

The main elements of your discussion section are generally the same as any research paper, but centered around interpreting and drawing conclusions about the key findings from your analysis of the case study. Note that a general social sciences research paper may contain a separate section to report findings. However, in a paper designed around a case study, it is common to combine a description of the results with the discussion about their implications. The objectives of your discussion section should include the following:

Reiterate the Research Problem/State the Major Findings Briefly reiterate the research problem you are investigating and explain why the subject of analysis around which you designed the case study were used. You should then describe the findings revealed from your study of the case using direct, declarative, and succinct proclamation of the study results. Highlight any findings that were unexpected or especially profound.

Explain the Meaning of the Findings and Why They are Important Systematically explain the meaning of your case study findings and why you believe they are important. Begin this part of the section by repeating what you consider to be your most important or surprising finding first, then systematically review each finding. Be sure to thoroughly extrapolate what your analysis of the case can tell the reader about situations or conditions beyond the actual case that was studied while, at the same time, being careful not to misconstrue or conflate a finding that undermines the external validity of your conclusions.

Relate the Findings to Similar Studies No study in the social sciences is so novel or possesses such a restricted focus that it has absolutely no relation to previously published research. The discussion section should relate your case study results to those found in other studies, particularly if questions raised from prior studies served as the motivation for choosing your subject of analysis. This is important because comparing and contrasting the findings of other studies helps support the overall importance of your results and it highlights how and in what ways your case study design and the subject of analysis differs from prior research about the topic.

Consider Alternative Explanations of the Findings Remember that the purpose of social science research is to discover and not to prove. When writing the discussion section, you should carefully consider all possible explanations revealed by the case study results, rather than just those that fit your hypothesis or prior assumptions and biases. Be alert to what the in-depth analysis of the case may reveal about the research problem, including offering a contrarian perspective to what scholars have stated in prior research if that is how the findings can be interpreted from your case.

Acknowledge the Study's Limitations You can state the study's limitations in the conclusion section of your paper but describing the limitations of your subject of analysis in the discussion section provides an opportunity to identify the limitations and explain why they are not significant. This part of the discussion section should also note any unanswered questions or issues your case study could not address. More detailed information about how to document any limitations to your research can be found here .

Suggest Areas for Further Research Although your case study may offer important insights about the research problem, there are likely additional questions related to the problem that remain unanswered or findings that unexpectedly revealed themselves as a result of your in-depth analysis of the case. Be sure that the recommendations for further research are linked to the research problem and that you explain why your recommendations are valid in other contexts and based on the original assumptions of your study.

V.  Conclusion

As with any research paper, you should summarize your conclusion in clear, simple language; emphasize how the findings from your case study differs from or supports prior research and why. Do not simply reiterate the discussion section. Provide a synthesis of key findings presented in the paper to show how these converge to address the research problem. If you haven't already done so in the discussion section, be sure to document the limitations of your case study and any need for further research.

The function of your paper's conclusion is to: 1) reiterate the main argument supported by the findings from your case study; 2) state clearly the context, background, and necessity of pursuing the research problem using a case study design in relation to an issue, controversy, or a gap found from reviewing the literature; and, 3) provide a place to persuasively and succinctly restate the significance of your research problem, given that the reader has now been presented with in-depth information about the topic.

Consider the following points to help ensure your conclusion is appropriate:

• If the argument or purpose of your paper is complex, you may need to summarize these points for your reader.
• If prior to your conclusion, you have not yet explained the significance of your findings or if you are proceeding inductively, use the conclusion of your paper to describe your main points and explain their significance.
• Move from a detailed to a general level of consideration of the case study's findings that returns the topic to the context provided by the introduction or within a new context that emerges from your case study findings.

Note that, depending on the discipline you are writing in or the preferences of your professor, the concluding paragraph may contain your final reflections on the evidence presented as it applies to practice or on the essay's central research problem. However, the nature of being introspective about the subject of analysis you have investigated will depend on whether you are explicitly asked to express your observations in this way.

Problems to Avoid

Overgeneralization One of the goals of a case study is to lay a foundation for understanding broader trends and issues applied to similar circumstances. However, be careful when drawing conclusions from your case study. They must be evidence-based and grounded in the results of the study; otherwise, it is merely speculation. Looking at a prior example, it would be incorrect to state that a factor in improving girls access to education in Azerbaijan and the policy implications this may have for improving access in other Muslim nations is due to girls access to social media if there is no documentary evidence from your case study to indicate this. There may be anecdotal evidence that retention rates were better for girls who were engaged with social media, but this observation would only point to the need for further research and would not be a definitive finding if this was not a part of your original research agenda.

Failure to Document Limitations No case is going to reveal all that needs to be understood about a research problem. Therefore, just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study , you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis. For example, the case of studying how women conceptualize the need for water conservation in a village in Uganda could have limited application in other cultural contexts or in areas where fresh water from rivers or lakes is plentiful and, therefore, conservation is understood more in terms of managing access rather than preserving access to a scarce resource.

Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings. If you do not, your reader may question the validity of your analysis, particularly if you failed to document an obvious outcome from your case study research. For example, in the case of studying the accident at the railroad crossing to evaluate where and what types of warning signals should be located, you failed to take into consideration speed limit signage as well as warning signals. When designing your case study, be sure you have thoroughly addressed all aspects of the problem and do not leave gaps in your analysis that leave the reader questioning the results.

Case Studies. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Gerring, John. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices . New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007; Merriam, Sharan B. Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education . Rev. ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1998; Miller, Lisa L. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science Research.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14 (2018): TBD; Mills, Albert J., Gabrielle Durepos, and Eiden Wiebe, editors. Encyclopedia of Case Study Research . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010; Putney, LeAnn Grogan. "Case Study." In Encyclopedia of Research Design , Neil J. Salkind, editor. (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2010), pp. 116-120; Simons, Helen. Case Study Research in Practice . London: SAGE Publications, 2009;  Kratochwill,  Thomas R. and Joel R. Levin, editors. Single-Case Research Design and Analysis: New Development for Psychology and Education .  Hilldsale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1992; Swanborn, Peter G. Case Study Research: What, Why and How? London : SAGE, 2010; Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods . 6th edition. Los Angeles, CA, SAGE Publications, 2014; Walo, Maree, Adrian Bull, and Helen Breen. “Achieving Economic Benefits at Local Events: A Case Study of a Local Sports Event.” Festival Management and Event Tourism 4 (1996): 95-106.

Writing Tip

At Least Five Misconceptions about Case Study Research

Social science case studies are often perceived as limited in their ability to create new knowledge because they are not randomly selected and findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. Flyvbjerg examines five misunderstandings about case study research and systematically "corrects" each one. To quote, these are:

Misunderstanding 1 :  General, theoretical [context-independent] knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical [context-dependent] knowledge. Misunderstanding 2 :  One cannot generalize on the basis of an individual case; therefore, the case study cannot contribute to scientific development. Misunderstanding 3 :  The case study is most useful for generating hypotheses; that is, in the first stage of a total research process, whereas other methods are more suitable for hypotheses testing and theory building. Misunderstanding 4 :  The case study contains a bias toward verification, that is, a tendency to confirm the researcher’s preconceived notions. Misunderstanding 5 :  It is often difficult to summarize and develop general propositions and theories on the basis of specific case studies [p. 221].

While writing your paper, think introspectively about how you addressed these misconceptions because to do so can help you strengthen the validity and reliability of your research by clarifying issues of case selection, the testing and challenging of existing assumptions, the interpretation of key findings, and the summation of case outcomes. Think of a case study research paper as a complete, in-depth narrative about the specific properties and key characteristics of your subject of analysis applied to the research problem.

Flyvbjerg, Bent. “Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research.” Qualitative Inquiry 12 (April 2006): 219-245.

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Case Interview Preparation

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Graduate employability case studies

This collection of case studies showcases a wide range of initiatives and measures universities and colleges have introduced, in response to the challenges brought on by the pandemic, to support final year students and recent graduates as they transition from university to graduate life.

The Government has engaged with the higher education sector to obtain case studies that demonstrate the breadth of innovative work that university and college careers services are doing to help graduates prepare for their next steps.

University of Birmingham

Knowing that over 87 per cent of recruiters use the professional networking site LinkedIn to find talent and research candidates, the University of Birmingham is now providing specialist advice on how to utilise the platform to network, job search and create a positive online profile.

The university has also set up a dedicated page on LinkedIn and has invited all final-year students and recent graduates to join the group. This offers an alternative centralised communications channel through which to engage recent graduates plus an effective way to advertise graduate-level opportunities. Included within the range of listed vacancies are also those from sectors that students may not have previously considered working in, as well as from local and regional small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This diversity of opportunity encourages graduate flexibility and helps to support gaps in the labour market.

The university has also launched a programme which connects postgraduate students with recent graduates, who help signpost them to the enhanced graduate support available, including mentoring and internships. The initiative has been particularly helpful at targeting students who are less likely to proactively engage.

The university is also running ‘Spotlight Sessions’, inviting alumni who experienced challenges when graduating following the 2008 financial crisis, to speak openly about their career pathways. This is a useful opportunity for students to learn about the flexibility and resilience that is sometimes needed when looking for graduate-level employment.

Contact : [email protected]

University of Central Lancashire

The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan)’s Centre for SME Development, in collaboration with its Careers department, organised a virtual expo in March for its students. The expo focused on connecting SMEs with students, in particular final-year students, to understand the sector, secure jobs and work experience, and meet SME skills needs.

UCLan’s ‘Graduate with Confidence’ programme, organised by Careers and UCLan’s start-up unit Propeller, encourages UCLan graduates to recognise their strengths and to develop their skills. The programme offers sessions for interview preparation and insight into working culture. At the end of the programme, graduates can apply for up to £100 in funding to support their transition to work.

UCLan has also prepared 60 full-time internships for graduates of 2020 and 2021. Held between June and July 2021, these paid opportunities will last eight weeks and are designed to be challenging but rewarding. UCLan has planned for remote delivery but will offer students practical opportunities where possible.

Contact: [email protected]

City, University of London

In response to the pandemic, City has adapted its successful GradVantage Programme, which helps 100 final-year students from underrepresented groups and minority ethnic backgrounds to prepare for starting their careers. City’s Careers team secured funding from City’s Access and Participation Plan to add 10 additional internships to this year’s programme. The team also created resources for unsuccessful applicants to ensure that they did not leave university without support.

City introduced an external assessment centre to improve participants’ ability to perform well in recruitment activities. Students will speak with the centre before attending interviews for their internships, so they can act on assessors’ feedback to improve their chances of gaining a place.

City also held a jobs fair, offering permanent job opportunities with SME) in the university’s local area. Not only will this give several students their first graduate work, but it will also help the community to develop and recover from the pandemic.

Throughout the year, City’s team has also used data on graduate outcomes and feedback from students and graduate employers to refine their support and services. They will continue to draw on these sources to deliver even stronger support for next year’s graduates.

De Montfort University

De Montfort University (DMU) is inviting all final-year students for a ‘final-year interview’. These informal practice sessions allow students to talk about the skills they have gained at university, as if speaking to an employer in a job interview. The aim is to help students recognise and understand the value of their graduate skills, including those they have developed during the pandemic, e.g. resilience, motivation and digital working.

During the first lockdown in 2020, DMU launched a COVID Digital Support Scheme, offering free business support to SMEs in Leicester by matching them with digital-savvy students. Students work remotely to help smaller businesses develop digitally. This gives students an opportunity to build their CVs and experience, while local businesses benefit from support to resolve specific issues. DMU students have won praise from companies across the city and county for their work.

DMU is also offering regional support through the Leicester 1,000 (L1K) project, a new initiative which seeks to place 1,000 DMU grads into 1,000 highly skilled Leicester jobs over three years. L1K aims to create a community of DMU graduates, regional businesses and DMU alumni, to boost graduates’ skills and networks, and to directly support finalists and recent graduates into graduate-level work in the region. 

University of Derby

Over 2,000 of Derby’s students have made use of Career Pulse, a tool designed to assess students’ skills and experiences and help them find opportunities to develop or find work. This tool has been used to shape a four-week programme of employability sessions and webinars for students in May, covering topics tailored to students’ needs.

The university is working closely with local employers and SMEs to arrange internships and work experience. Bringing students and business together is key – Derby students can pose questions to employers in ‘Ask the Expert’ sessions live on Instagram. There will also be 50 paid internships available at the university itself, available to any Derby student with limited work experience. Derby’s programme culminates at the start of June with GradFest, an employability fair for Derby students and graduates.

As a result of adjustments arising from COVID, Derby has found that improving its digital offer has increased student and employer engagement. In the future, Derby will continue to invest in building digital capability and engaging students in innovative ways, such as the ‘Ask the Expert’ sessions, blending virtual and traditional internships and employer fairs, and global big challenges with employers.

University of East Anglia

The University of East Anglia (UEA) focuses on confidence-building campaigns for its class of 2021 students and recent graduates. Its campaigns have included ‘Progress in a Pandemic’, a series of case studies, promoted across social media channels, spotlighting recent graduates and final–year students who have made employability progress despite the pandemic – whether upskilling, getting a job or securing internships or volunteering placements – explaining how they progressed and how to use CareerCentral’s support to succeed.

UEA also delivers a live ‘GradFair’ (a physical careers fair, currently delivered as a live, virtual event online) for all final-year students and recent graduates. All employers exhibiting have live, graduate-level opportunities. Attendees can book one-to-one support with careers advisors, and attend workshops largely focusing on confidence, resilience and becoming employable during the pandemic. 

As part of UEA’s ‘GradReady’ programme for its class of 2020, humanities students are encouraged to explore freelancing, self-employment and other entrepreneurship options. EnterpriseCentral offers tailored support, education and funding (up to £50,000 grants in some circumstances) to support UEA’s creative students.

University of Essex

The University of Essex has adapted its Generation Essex offer, which provides specialist careers support to final-year students and recent graduates, to ensure that the class of 2020 and 2021 are supported to achieve their graduate goals.

Last year’s Generation Essex resources have been made available online, including recordings from career events webinars and workshops. The university has also recruited coaches to support graduates, with no limit to the number of appointments.

The university also works closely with its Student Wellbeing and Inclusivity Service to ensure quality careers workshops are delivered around mental health, disability and diversity when searching for graduate roles.

For those considering an entrepreneurial career, the university provides support through access to a new stream of matched funding, which offers up to £500 for a business start-up and £1,000 for theatre projects. For successful projects, the Essex Startups Team provides specialised support to help make the business or company a continued success.

University of Exeter

The University of Exeter is running an educational Festival of Discovery from 24 May to 4 June, with an additional focus on wellbeing and employability. The extensive programme of activities will support all students, including final-year students, helping them to develop practical workplace skills through access to facilities and equipment, as well as helping them to build up their confidence.

The Festival of Discovery supports Exeter’s broader employability strategy, which also includes helping students to develop portfolios suitable for an increasingly digital working environment and online recruitment techniques. Virtual work and global experience opportunities have been created to enable the acquisition of valuable remote working skills, while bespoke recruitment and selection systems have been introduced to make it easier for SMEs to promote vacancies to the university’s students.

For students who cannot attend the Festival of Discovery, the university is again running ‘Grand Challenges’ online, an opportunity for students to collaborate in interdisciplinary groups to design solutions to real-life global problems, such as social inequality. This allows students to build a wide range of transferable skills.

University of Hull

The University of Hull will soon launch ‘GradFest’, a three-week intensive employability festival for Hull’s 2021 graduates. GradFest sessions will cover a variety of employability topics, including career pathways, job interviews and continuing professional development. For each session attended, Hull students receive points which contribute to an Employability Award and can also be redeemed against incentives such as a guaranteed interview for one of the university’s three summer internship programmes.

The university will be launching a new internship programme in May, the Humber Graduate Internship Programme. This will focus on regional economic growth and the retention of graduate talent. There is a drive and focus for the project to support regional growth while supporting Hull graduates’ efforts to secure meaningful work experience.

The programme will recruit and deploy a dedicated team of advisers to undertake engagement activities – needs assessments, succession planning, identifying skill gaps and more – with regional SMEs. Where appropriate, the project will provide the SME with access to graduate talent and support through a subsidised salary model.

Leeds Trinity University

Leeds Trinity has been working with other universities in Leeds to retain and attract more Leeds graduates, in addition to an extended internal package of employability support on offer to Leeds Trinity students and alumni. The #InLeeds programme shares opportunities and vacancies with students in Leeds to encourage them to bring their skills and talents to the city.

Building on this, Leeds Trinity is also working with the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges to help graduates gain skills and secure in-demand jobs. The consortium’s ‘[re]boot’ scheme offers students a fully-funded six- to 12-week part-time course, designed for the skills needs identified by regional employers.

In addition, Leeds is working with other Leeds universities and the Department for Work and Pensions to promote six-month paid highly skilled job opportunities provided via the Kickstart Scheme to Leeds graduates.

To take these initiatives further, Leeds Trinity is collaborating with 13 other universities and colleges across West Yorkshire to explore an initiative that would support graduates through a skills development and employment programme with Leeds Trinity as lead partner.

University of Lincoln

The University of Lincoln created the Finalist Career Launch as a direct response to student feedback on what support they needed to graduate in a pandemic. The programme is made up of opportunities, information, and special events put together in a checklist format to help give a boost to final-year students’ career planning. It includes experiential learning, with over 160 students participating in the motivational sessions alone, and a new bespoke programme, Work Day, which provides virtual one-day taster experiences for final-year students with no prior work experience.

In addition, Lincoln has just completed Breaking Barriers, a week in March to highlight the type and range of careers support available to help students celebrate diversity, learn about inclusive careers and be their best selves, through skills development. Over 260 students participated in 18 events, including events on cultural awareness in the workplace, active allyship and talks from inclusive employers. 75 per cent of students who attended were from underrepresented groups.

University of Liverpool

To support final year students and graduate retention, the University of Liverpool is working with the Liverpool City Region (LCR) combined authority and local enterprise partnership to create graduate jobs in the city region. An important element of the LCR Grad Scheme is that, once successful applicants go through the new development programme and settle in their new roles, they become ambassadors for their career sector and speak at local schools and colleges to inspire future students.

The university has also created a Skills Enhancement Project, where students from different academic disciplines work together to solve problems, sponsored by businesses and recruiters, over a six-week period. The initiative helps to support students who may have had less opportunity to develop their professional networks as a result of the pandemic.

Liverpool students who are coming to the end of their studies but are unsure about next steps are offered personalised support through the careers team’s Your Future project. In the project, which is powered by a segmentation exercise that uses six data points, students complete a tailored survey so that they receive relevant information about virtual internships, digital employability tools, jobs, enterprise challenges and events, all designed to guide them through the career search process.

London School of Economics

To support graduate employability, the London School of Economics (LSE) coordinates a community engagement programme through its Volunteer Centre, providing students with the chance to work on nine-week projects with local charities. Students can also participate in the Micro Internship programme: micro internships last up to four weeks and involve virtual work with a charity or non-governmental organisation.

Final year students with limited experience of the workplace can also receive advice from a mentor throughout the academic year. Each mentor is an alumnus of LSE, whose career path or entry into the labour market matches the needs and interests of the mentee. Alumni and major employers are also invited to attend special themed workshops on different market sectors, for example, creative industries, data and tech, and political risk. This offers final year students the chance to meet alumni and ask them about their careers.

To further support finalists, LSE also runs GradFest, which includes a programme of career-focused webinars and workshops. To help maximise engagement and improve outcomes, LSE Careers triages the needs of students in attendance, and after completing surveys, students are invited to 30-minute guidance appointments with careers consultants.

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester’s Final Year Future Week will be a virtual, immersive careers programme held in mid-June for final-year students and graduates. During the week, guests will be introduced to a variety of sectors across the labour market, including healthcare, IT and technology, and the creative industries.

To support and prepare participants, Manchester’s Careers Service will be running sessions with students to help them better recognise and articulate the employability skills they have developed during the pandemic, for example digital working, resilience and self-motivation. This will help to improve participants’ confidence as they build networks and connect with recruiters.

Each day of Final Year Future Week will feature several sessions, including speakers from local businesses and SMEs, and will include a focus on non-linear pathways and portfolio careers. There will also be sessions to advise students on how to find regional graduate jobs in Manchester and elsewhere, how to relocate for work and find new housemates and accommodation, and how to ‘survive and thrive’ in the first few weeks of employment.

Across the semester, the university also runs regular pulse surveys to help determine what support final-year students and graduates need the most, which enables the Career Service to tailor provision accordingly.

Manchester Metropolitan University

Manchester Metropolitan University is funding opportunities for final-year students and recent graduates to intern for 10 to 12 weeks at a local SME or university department. The university is covering 50 per cent of the SMEs’ costs to run the internship – supporting post-pandemic local economic recovery, as well as providing graduates with a valuable chance to develop their CV and employability skills.

Manchester Met has also allocated £20,000 to an employability fund to support graduates looking for work. They can apply for financial help toward expenses such as travelling for an interview or putting together a portfolio. The fund will particularly benefit students from underrepresented backgrounds and those experiencing financial hardship.

The university has also separated its alumni pathways to provide more specialist support to early-career graduates, recognising that their needs often differ from those of alumni in established careers. It has funded and resourced a dedicated team to support early-career graduates just after they have left university, who are at a crucial point in starting out in their careers.

Newcastle University

Newcastle University offers tailored support to finalists and recent graduates through the ‘Get Ready to Graduate’ programme (GRGP), an online programme of live and recorded events. GRGP helps students successfully make the transition from university to graduate life and provides a range of specialist career resources and next step support.

Part of the GRGP is a dedicated Graduate Recruitment Week, which offers sessions with employers offering immediate graduate vacancies commencing in summer 2021. Themes include diversity and inclusion, sustainability, local and regional opportunities, and the non-profit sector.

As well as helping prepare graduates for the job market, GRGP will raise awareness of lots of other ongoing support from the Careers Service, including careers guidance, application advice, interview preparation and help with starting businesses – available for up to three years after graduation.

Prior to the end of term, the university will be writing to all graduating students to promote this package and to ask whether graduates require any additional support from the Careers Service. All students requesting help will then be called in early summer by a dedicated call centre team, so that graduates can be triaged to the most appropriate support.  

Contact: www.ncl.ac.uk/careers/about/contact/

Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) runs the Innovation Community Lab, a six-month development programme for graduates. The programme places graduates in an SME, then supports them to proactively innovate for their employers, driving business growth and encouraging long-term job retention.

NTU has run three successful cohorts of this programme, supporting over 130 graduates. In 2017, 77 per cent of managers said the programme had a direct impact on their capability to innovate as a business. NTU is developing the programme by shifting the focus to sustainability; soon it plans to launch a Sustainability Community Lab, to equip graduates with the skills and tools to develop sustainable business practices in their future employment.

The Digital Marketing Academy is a collaboration between NTU and the University of Nottingham. The academy works with local employers to address skills deficiencies identified by Nottingham City Council. In its third year, the academy attracted over 400 students and recent graduates, offering online workshops and courses and Insight Days hosted by digital marketing agencies.

Sheffield Hallam University

Sheffield Hallam has designed a ‘Class of 2021’ offer, specifically to address the challenges that final-year students will face as they graduate into a potentially challenging economy and to address underemployment. It brings together a range of opportunities, activities and resources aiming to support all students, with a particular focus on those who are less engaged or most disadvantaged, in whatever way works best for the individual student.

Part of the Class of 2021 offer is the Next Steps Programme. This programme asks students to rate their confidence in different aspects of their development, from academia to careers planning and wellbeing. The students’ individual ranking results in a tailored recommendation of next steps, which might include internships, wellbeing support and the Graduate Readiness Award.

Over 2,000 students have engaged with the Graduate Readiness Award within the first four weeks of its launch. It supports development in leadership, including decision making, collaboration, adaptability, and job wellbeing. Sheffield Hallam has committed to providing lifelong careers and enterprise support and ongoing wellbeing support, as students transition towards being a Hallam alumnus.

Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University has adapted the delivery of its showcase exhibition for finalists, GradEX, by moving the event fully online. Digital access allowed the class of 2020 to showcase their final year projects and interact with global industry experts. Across a three-month period, the portal was accessed by over 46,500 unique users across 63 different countries, including the USA, China, Brazil and South Africa, with student engagement up 27 per cent compared with previous years. In addition to the crucial sharing of expertise, lots of students were offered roles, work shadowing and work experience opportunities. Moving forward, GradEX will continue as a digital showcase, accompanied by a standalone face-to-face celebration event.

As part of its broader mentoring programme, Staffordshire University has launched a professional and alumni mentoring strand, which will provide all final-year students with access to an industry expert mentor. Mentors and mentees will engage for up to one hour a week for a 12-week period, to work on mentee-led career-based goals and skills development. This will offer students a chance to explore their next steps with a working professional, while also giving alumni the opportunity to develop management and leadership skills. The hope is that mentees will go on to be the professional mentors and engaged alumni of the future.

University of Southampton

To support and empower graduating students, the University of Southampton is running a two-day virtual festival aimed at final year students. Attendees will benefit from presentations and panel talks across the two days with alumni and business experts, who will share insights on a range of work life topics, including workplace wellbeing and impostor syndrome.

The university has also adapted its Student Innovation Project (SIP), in which local businesses including small and medium-sized enterprises pose challenges or problems for teams of Southampton students to solve over a six-week period alongside their studies. The SIP is now being delivered virtually and as a rolling programme, to offer more flexibility and maximise student engagement. The programme offers students the opportunity to gain valuable experience working on a real-life business issue with other students across disciplines.

An intensive summer edition of the SIP scheme will also be piloted this year, which will see participating students engage with large national companies and organisations, drawn from across the university’s corporate strategic partners. The scheme is designed to help students recognise and develop the many transferable skills they will have learnt during their time at university and apply them in a business context.

University of Warwick

The University of Warwick has developed My Summer Opportunity, a student opportunity employer engagement initiative running over the summer term. The aim is particularly to support final-year students nearing graduation who want support in their next steps.

The programme will begin with a preparatory phase, ‘Get Ahead’, focused on sessions such as making the most of your summer, video interview masterclasses, and digital networking for career success. This will be followed by ‘Get Hired’, a ‘pop-up’ virtual employer event engaging a wide range of employers offering ‘bite-sized’ sessions, including hints and tips on gaining work experience, the art of resilience, and sessions for international students.

Warwick is also running the Sprint women’s development programme, a three-day immersive programme designed specifically for female students, in part to help address the gender pay imbalance and to equip them with the skills required to enable them to accelerate their potential.

University of Westminster

The University of Westminster’s Spring Into Your Future programme offers final-year students virtual workshops and courses to help refine their skills. It encourages graduates to be confident and remain motivated, as well as helping graduates build their digital presence and prepare for interviews. Westminster graduates can also benefit from university partnerships with the Bright Network and Forage, who offer virtual work experience opportunities.

Those with ambitions to become freelancers or entrepreneurs receive tailored support from Westminster’s Creative Enterprise Centre. Across all its activities, ,2,191 attendees have been recorded. In 2021 the Big Idea Competition, the university’s annual student business competition, received 87 applications across the three categories – ideation, freelance and acceleration. Next year, Westminster will offer a Postgraduate Certificate in Enterprise, which will help support 2021 graduates build on the skills they have gained during their studies.

The university has also recently opened its successful 125 Fund to class of 2020 graduates. The 125 Fund provides graduates with up to £1,500 to help launch a project and support their professional development, including specialist equipment for new business ventures or training programmes to hone their skills.

University of York

Students who are due to become graduates this summer can access the university’s Student Internship Bureau for the opportunity to secure short-term, high-quality work experience projects, either on campus or with local businesses.

Those considering self-employment can apply for the university’s Accelerator Scheme, which provides funding and coaching for businesses to establish themselves over the summer months.

York’s ‘work exposure’ programme also allows final-year students to gain work experience. Local employers provide a business challenge to teams of graduates; each team gets to work on finding a solution, for which they receive feedback from the employer and York’s careers team.

York has extended its support for final-year students from underrepresented groups who have not yet had a chance to gain internships or work experience. These students can receive tailored help from an external recruitment coach working in conjunction with York’s own careers advisors.

To support the delivery of services, York’s team uses data analysis to identify the students who will most benefit from each opportunity and scheme. With this extra layer of insight, York can provide bespoke support to each student.

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7 Case Interview Tips To Help You Land a Consulting Offer

• Last Updated October, 2020

Rebecca Smith-Allen

Former McKinsey Engagement Manager

Does it feel like there’s too much you need to do to prepare for your case study interview?

If you’re taking case study interview preparation seriously, it can feel like you’re drinking from a firehose of information!

But taking your case interview preparation seriously will set you apart from many candidates.

In this article we’ll cover:

• The Key to Acing Your Case Interviews
• Our 7 Case Interview Tips
• Links to Articles that Provide Further Consulting Interview Tips

The Key to Acing Your Case Interviews: Structured Problem-Solving

The most important thing to remember as you prepare for case interviews is that the answer to the case problem is not the most important thing.

If your interviewer asks you about a problem you read about in the Wall Street Journal that morning or one you have a perfect textbook answer for, these textbook answers will not get you a second round interview unless you also show the structured problem solving used to arrive at that answer .

Every consulting client is different and every business situation is unique, so a profitability problem could be driven by pricing or unit volume sold, fixed costs or variable costs. 

This is why you need to break the problem down and consider each of the possible components, and only once you’ve considered each, move on how you’d address the problem.

With that in mind, here are our 7 case study interview tips:

views allow you to get a good sense of what types of problems consultants solve and what a consulting case looks like from beginning to end. 

You’ll also get a good sense of the skills you need to succeed in consulting and learn how to exhibit your skills and experience in the best light possible in your resume and cover letter and during your interviews.

7 Case Interview Tips

1. start early.

You can learn to case in as little as 2 weeks, but don’t put that pressure on yourself if you don’t have to. Get an early start so you’ll have plenty of time to practice.

See our video, How to Pass the Case Interview without Spending 100+ Hours Preparing to jump-start your case interview prep.

2. Focus on the Most Common Cases Types First

If you were studying for English exam would you (1) go to Dictionary.com and learn all the words in the English language or would you (2) figure out what the most common questions on the exam would be?

Similar to how you wouldn’t prepare for an English exam by cramming everything there is to know, there is no reason to cram everything there is to know about business ahead of your case interviews.

Focus on what is most important and what comes up the most often. 

To find those common types, you can find them here on the Common Case Interview Question Types page.

3. Master the 4-Part Approach to Answering Case Interview Questions

The 4 parts to answering a consulting case interview are:

• Opening – Make sure you understand the client’s problem.
• Structure – Brainstorm all factors relevant to the problem and organize them to ensure you address them in a complete and logical manner.
• Analysis – Gather data to identify which of the factors related to the business case are the most important. You’ll use this data to create a recommendation for your client.
• Conclusion – Present your recommendation to “the client” (your interviewer), in a well-structured and persuasive manner.

Breaking a case question into its 4 parts will make it feel less overwhelming and ensure you don’t jump ahead to an answer without showing your problem-solving skills.

See our Ultimate Guide to Case Interview Prep for more on the 4-part approach to answering case study questions.

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

4. Take Good Notes on Case Facts During the Interview

It’s important to be clear on the facts of the case.

Jot down any financial figures and other key facts. Also, make note of key aspects of the case you outlined in the structure part of the interview.

Case interviews can be long and involved—twenty-five minutes or longer.

You don’t want to forget to analyze an important aspect of the problem or fail to address key conclusions you reached when you get to the recommendation phase.

During a case interview, you’re allowed to use paper. Use as many sheets as you need to stay organized.

Watch Video 2 on our Consulting 2020 Bootcamp series for more on why taking good notes is important.

5. Pause Before You Launch into Your Analysis

When you are asked a question in an interview, it’s natural to want to start talking about your answer right away.

Take a second to think through the things you want to address to make sure you don’t forget a major issue.

It can feel awkward to have silence during an interview, but during this part of a management consulting interview, it’s totally expected.  

6. Practice with a Case Interview Partner

It can be tempting to read through all the examples of case interview questions and answers you can find as you rush to be as prepared as possible for your consulting interview.

Don’t!  Remember, it’s not about the answer, it’s about how you structure the problem.

You need to practice coming up with a structured way of breaking down a business problem, going step-by-step through the analysis, and then summing up your findings in a recommendation.

You won’t learn to do this by reading case questions and answers, you’ll only do this by practicing case interviews live with a partner or coach and getting feedback.

Case Interview Practice: Tips on How to Be Efficient & Effective has more on what to look for in case partners and where to find them.  

7. Practice Case Interview Math

You are not allowed to take a calculator into consulting interviews, but math frequently comes up in business cases and market-sizing problems.

You can use a pen and paper or just do the math in your head.

Even people who are normally comfortable doing math in their head may not be comfortable doing this during an interview under time pressure.

Practicing case interview math will help. See our article on Case Interview Math for more on what to practice.

Other Articles that Will Make Your Case Interview Prep Efficient & Effective

• Our Ultimate Guide to Case Interview Prep is the place to start your preparation. We discuss why management consulting companies use case interviews and break down the 4-part approach to answering a consulting case in even more detail.
• Case Interview Examples. We have links to dozens of consulting firm and consulting club casebooks you can use to practice.
• The McKinsey Case Interview . Find out what’s different about a McKinsey case and how to ace it.

Still have questions?

If you still have questions on our case interview tips, leave them in the comments below. We’ll ask our My Consulting Offer coaches and get back to you with answers.

Help with Case Study Interview Prep

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3 Top Strategies to Master the Case Interview in Under a Week

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We are sharing our powerful strategies to pass the case interview even if you have no business background, zero casing experience, or only have a week to prepare.

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How to Write a Case Study - All You Wanted to Know

What do you study in your college? If you are a psychology, sociology, or anthropology student, we bet you might be familiar with what a case study is. This research method is used to study a certain person, group, or situation. In this guide from our dissertation writing service , you will learn how to write a case study professionally, from researching to citing sources properly. Also, we will explore different types of case studies and show you examples — so that you won’t have any other questions left.

What Is a Case Study?

A case study is a subcategory of research design which investigates problems and offers solutions. Case studies can range from academic research studies to corporate promotional tools trying to sell an idea—their scope is quite vast.

What Is the Difference Between a Research Paper and a Case Study?

While research papers turn the reader’s attention to a certain problem, case studies go even further. Case study guidelines require students to pay attention to details, examining issues closely and in-depth using different research methods. For example, case studies may be used to examine court cases if you study Law, or a patient's health history if you study Medicine. Case studies are also used in Marketing, which are thorough, empirically supported analysis of a good or service's performance. Well-designed case studies can be valuable for prospective customers as they can identify and solve the potential customers pain point.

Case studies involve a lot of storytelling – they usually examine particular cases for a person or a group of people. This method of research is very helpful, as it is very practical and can give a lot of hands-on information. Most commonly, the length of the case study is about 500-900 words, which is much less than the length of an average research paper.

The structure of a case study is very similar to storytelling. It has a protagonist or main character, which in your case is actually a problem you are trying to solve. You can use the system of 3 Acts to make it a compelling story. It should have an introduction, rising action, a climax where transformation occurs, falling action, and a solution.

Here is a rough formula for you to use in your case study:

Problem (Act I): > Solution (Act II) > Result (Act III) > Conclusion.

Types of Case Studies

The purpose of a case study is to provide detailed reports on an event, an institution, a place, future customers, or pretty much anything. There are a few common types of case study, but the type depends on the topic. The following are the most common domains where case studies are needed:

• Historical case studies are great to learn from. Historical events have a multitude of source info offering different perspectives. There are always modern parallels where these perspectives can be applied, compared, and thoroughly analyzed.
• Problem-oriented case studies are usually used for solving problems. These are often assigned as theoretical situations where you need to immerse yourself in the situation to examine it. Imagine you’re working for a startup and you’ve just noticed a significant flaw in your product’s design. Before taking it to the senior manager, you want to do a comprehensive study on the issue and provide solutions. On a greater scale, problem-oriented case studies are a vital part of relevant socio-economic discussions.
• Cumulative case studies collect information and offer comparisons. In business, case studies are often used to tell people about the value of a product.
• Critical case studies explore the causes and effects of a certain case.
• Illustrative case studies describe certain events, investigating outcomes and lessons learned.

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Case Study Format

The case study format is typically made up of eight parts:

• Executive Summary. Explain what you will examine in the case study. Write an overview of the field you’re researching. Make a thesis statement and sum up the results of your observation in a maximum of 2 sentences.
• Background. Provide background information and the most relevant facts. Isolate the issues.
• Case Evaluation. Isolate the sections of the study you want to focus on. In it, explain why something is working or is not working.
• Proposed Solutions. Offer realistic ways to solve what isn’t working or how to improve its current condition. Explain why these solutions work by offering testable evidence.
• Conclusion. Summarize the main points from the case evaluations and proposed solutions. 6. Recommendations. Talk about the strategy that you should choose. Explain why this choice is the most appropriate.
• Implementation. Explain how to put the specific strategies into action.
• References. Provide all the citations.

How to Write a Case Study

Let's discover how to write a case study.

Setting Up the Research

When writing a case study, remember that research should always come first. Reading many different sources and analyzing other points of view will help you come up with more creative solutions. You can also conduct an actual interview to thoroughly investigate the customer story that you'll need for your case study. Including all of the necessary research, writing a case study may take some time. The research process involves doing the following:

• Define your objective. Explain the reason why you’re presenting your subject. Figure out where you will feature your case study; whether it is written, on video, shown as an infographic, streamed as a podcast, etc.
• Determine who will be the right candidate for your case study. Get permission, quotes, and other features that will make your case study effective. Get in touch with your candidate to see if they approve of being part of your work. Study that candidate’s situation and note down what caused it.
• Identify which various consequences could result from the situation. Follow these guidelines on how to start a case study: surf the net to find some general information you might find useful.
• Make a list of credible sources and examine them. Seek out important facts and highlight problems. Always write down your ideas and make sure to brainstorm.
• Focus on several key issues – why they exist, and how they impact your research subject. Think of several unique solutions. Draw from class discussions, readings, and personal experience. When writing a case study, focus on the best solution and explore it in depth. After having all your research in place, writing a case study will be easy. You may first want to check the rubric and criteria of your assignment for the correct case study structure.

Read Also: ' WHAT IS A CREDIBLE SOURCES ?'

Although your instructor might be looking at slightly different criteria, every case study rubric essentially has the same standards. Your professor will want you to exhibit 8 different outcomes:

• Correctly identify the concepts, theories, and practices in the discipline.
• Identify the relevant theories and principles associated with the particular study.
• Evaluate legal and ethical principles and apply them to your decision-making.
• Recognize the global importance and contribution of your case.
• Construct a coherent summary and explanation of the study.
• Demonstrate analytical and critical-thinking skills.
• Explain the interrelationships between the environment and nature.
• Integrate theory and practice of the discipline within the analysis.

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Case Study Outline

Let's look at the structure of an outline based on the issue of the alcoholic addiction of 30 people.

Introduction

• Statement of the issue: Alcoholism is a disease rather than a weakness of character.
• Presentation of the problem: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there.
• Explanation of the terms: In the past, alcoholism was commonly referred to as alcohol dependence or alcohol addiction. Alcoholism is now the more severe stage of this addiction in the disorder spectrum.
• Hypotheses: Drinking in excess can lead to the use of other drugs.
• Importance of your story: How the information you present can help people with their addictions.
• Background of the story: Include an explanation of why you chose this topic.
• Presentation of analysis and data: Describe the criteria for choosing 30 candidates, the structure of the interview, and the outcomes.
• Strong argument 1: ex. X% of candidates dealing with anxiety and depression...
• Strong argument 2: ex. X amount of people started drinking by their mid-teens.
• Strong argument 3: ex. X% of respondents’ parents had issues with alcohol.
• Concluding statement: I have researched if alcoholism is a disease and found out that…
• Recommendations: Ways and actions for preventing alcohol use.

Writing a Case Study Draft

After you’ve done your case study research and written the outline, it’s time to focus on the draft. In a draft, you have to develop and write your case study by using: the data which you collected throughout the research, interviews, and the analysis processes that were undertaken. Follow these rules for the draft:

Use Data to Illustrate Key Points in Your Case Study

Even though your case study is a story, it should be based on evidence. Use as much data as possible to illustrate your point. Without the right data, your case study may appear weak and the readers may not be able to relate to your issue as much as they should. Let's see the examples from essay writing service :

‍ With data: Alcoholism is affecting more than 14 million people in the USA, which makes it the third most common mental illness there. Without data: A lot of people suffer from alcoholism in the United States.

Try to include as many credible sources as possible. You may have terms or sources that could be hard for other cultures to understand. If this is the case, you should include them in the appendix or Notes for the Instructor or Professor.

Finalizing the Draft: Checklist

After you finish drafting your case study, polish it up by answering these ‘ask yourself’ questions and think about how to end your case study:

• Check that you follow the correct case study format, also in regards to text formatting.
• Check that your work is consistent with its referencing and citation style.
• Micro-editing — check for grammar and spelling issues.
• Macro-editing — does ‘the big picture’ come across to the reader? Is there enough raw data, such as real-life examples or personal experiences? Have you made your data collection process completely transparent? Does your analysis provide a clear conclusion, allowing for further research and practice?

Problems to avoid:

• Overgeneralization – Do not go into further research that deviates from the main problem.
• Failure to Document Limitations – Just as you have to clearly state the limitations of a general research study, you must describe the specific limitations inherent in the subject of analysis.
• Failure to Extrapolate All Possible Implications – Just as you don't want to over-generalize from your case study findings, you also have to be thorough in the consideration of all possible outcomes or recommendations derived from your findings.

How to Create a Title Page and Cite a Case Study

Let's see how to create an awesome title page.

Your title page depends on the prescribed citation format. The title page should include:

• A title that attracts some attention and describes your study
• The title should have the words “case study” in it
• The title should range between 5-9 words in length
• Your name and contact information
• Your finished paper should be only 500 to 1,500 words in length.With this type of assignment, write effectively and avoid fluff

Here is a template for the APA and MLA format title page:

There are some cases when you need to cite someone else's study in your own one – therefore, you need to master how to cite a case study. A case study is like a research paper when it comes to citations. You can cite it like you cite a book, depending on what style you need.

Citation Example in MLA ‍ Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing, 2008. Print.

Citation Example in APA ‍ Hill, L., Khanna, T., & Stecker, E. A. (2008). HCL Technologies. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing.

Citation Example in Chicago Hill, Linda, Tarun Khanna, and Emily A. Stecker. HCL Technologies.

Case Study Examples

To give you an idea of a professional case study example, we gathered and linked some below.

Eastman Kodak Case Study

Case Study Example: Audi Trains Mexican Autoworkers in Germany

To conclude, a case study is one of the best methods of getting an overview of what happened to a person, a group, or a situation in practice. It allows you to have an in-depth glance at the real-life problems that businesses, healthcare industry, criminal justice, etc. may face. This insight helps us look at such situations in a different light. This is because we see scenarios that we otherwise would not, without necessarily being there. If you need custom essays , try our research paper writing services .

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What Is A Case Study?

How to cite a case study in apa, how to write a case study.

Daniel Parker

is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

is an expert in nursing and healthcare, with a strong background in history, law, and literature. Holding advanced degrees in nursing and public health, his analytical approach and comprehensive knowledge help students navigate complex topics. On EssayPro blog, Adam provides insightful articles on everything from historical analysis to the intricacies of healthcare policies. In his downtime, he enjoys historical documentaries and volunteering at local clinics.

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How to Succeed in a Case Study Interview

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Instructor: Jena Viviano

You’ve nailed the first few rounds of interviews, and now you’ve been invited to participate in a case study interview. Curious about what this next stage of the process looks like? In this course, Jena Viviano breaks it down for you, explaining the basic components of a case study interview, how to prepare, and what to do to project confidence and engage your interviewer. Learn how case study interview questions are used and why employers find them beneficial. Discover the key elements that interviewers use to evaluate your answers. Plus, learn how to formulate key questions to dig deeper into the case, develop your own framework for every case study answer, and craft a conclusion with supporting rationale that’s concise and clear. Jena also provides tips for quelling your performance anxiety, as well as sample case study questions that give you a better understanding of what to expect.

• career developmenttips job seekersinterviewing

Case-style Interviews

Case interviews have been popular with management consulting firms for years, and in recent years they've become more commonly used by employers in other industries. Those considering a career in consulting, finance, operations and supply chain, and others who've learned that cases are used in that industry should prepare to tackle a case interview along your job search path.

Many organizations use case interviews to test a candidate's communication, critical thinking, and analytical skills. They will want to see that you can listen well, respond quickly to issues, and summarize your results clearly. It also allows them to see how candidates respond to situations that they may face every day in their field. As a consultant, you may be asked to visit a city to meet with a new client about a business problem. How will you respond in that situation? Will you be able to ask good questions that will provide you with the information needed to resolve the issue? Can you listen well enough to the client to hear the true problem? Your success in a case interview will demonstrate your ability to take on such tasks in your work.

In a case interview, you will be given a business problem or scenario that generally falls into one of three types: the brainteaser; the guesstimate; or the business scenario. While most problems don't have one "right answer," it will be important for you to ask appropriate questions, analyze the situation accurately, and formulate a clear and concise response. Be creative in your thinking, but realistic in your assumptions.

Generally, you will get your case question verbally from the interviewer and will work on it alone. You may receive your case before the interview, allowing you time to prepare, or be asked to work on it in a group setting. If you are in a group interview, you may be judged on your ability to work on a team and your leadership skills.

According to Vault.com , the consulting industry looks for the following skills in a case interview:

• Presentation

Types of Case Questions

There are three basic types of case questions that you may encounter in a case interview.

Brainteasers

Riddles or puzzles that will showcase your ability to think logically. Some brainteaser cases may be timed. Remember to stay calm and think creatively when faced with this type of problem.

Examples : "If we call oranges 'orange' why don't we call bananas 'yellows' or apples 'reds?'" or "Why are manhole covers round?"

Business Scenario

Questions may be based on real or hypothetical situations. They may test your common sense and your ability to ask appropriate questions to ascertain relevant information. Always make sure that you know the specific problem to be addressed and take into account general business issues, such as market share and competition.

Examples : "A small airline company based out of Cleveland wants to add a new route between Cleveland and New York. The CEO wants your advice on whether they should go forward with service to the new destination." According to Vault.com, there are generally eight types of business scenario cases:

• Falling Profits
• Introducing a New Product
• Entering a New Market
• Entering a New Geographic Market
• Selecting a Location to Site a New Facility
• Handling Mergers and Acquisitions
• Preparing a Competitive Response
• Responding to Change in Government/Regulatory Environment

Guesstimates

Require you to answer "how many? or "how much" of something. Remember that your goal is to reduce the huge problem into smaller, more manageable parts. Rough calculations are accepted, as long as they are realistic, and you don't need to get the exact answer (although you should be close).

Examples : "How many CD's were sold in the United States last year?" Or, "How much money is spent each year on hair gel in Ohio?"

Preparing for a Case Interview

In preparing for your case interview, make sure you are familiar with the three basic types of questions you may be asked. Many students have found it helpful to form a group and do case studies together, many of which can be found online or in books. Through consistent practice with your peers, you will become more confident in your interviewing and presentation skills. You will also want to make sure that you remember how to do some basic math calculations, such as averages and percentages, without using a calculator. As with any interview, arrive on time, which means about 10 minutes early. You may want to bring with you something to write with, paper, a watch to keep track of time, and a calculator, which you might not be able to use, but will be very helpful if you can.

During the Case Interview

One of the most important things you can do in a case interview is to listen to the question being asked so that you know you are addressing the right issue. Take notes when the interviewer is telling you the case and summarize the highlights for your interviewer. You will also ask clarifying questions about the case, such as company type, market share, competition, long term and short term goals. Be sure to break down the problem into manageable parts and prioritize them. Think about the issues before speaking. As you are responding to the case, write down or chart your answer. This will help you recall some assumptions you made along the way and keep your response organized and logical. It will also show the interviewer that you are making logical assumptions that can be supported by calculations.

Keep an eye on the clock to be sure to cover the case fully and remember to summarize your response at the end. The interviewer may provide you with some feedback at the end of your case - be sure to listen. If you feel like you made a huge mistake in responding to the case, don't panic. Ask the interviewer for feedback and ideas on how the case could have been answered better.

Additional Resources for Case Interview Prep

Listed alphabetically by title:

• Ace Your Case: The WetFeet Insider Guide to Consulting Interviews - An introduction to the case interview, with explanations of the most common question types and how to answer them. Detailed examples of good and bad answers. Each books contains different sample cases.
• Case in Point9: Complete Case Interview Preparation , by Marc P. Cosentino - Focuses on the skills you will need to handle a case interview confidently. Includes recently asked case questions and Ivy case drills.
• Case Interview Secrets: A Former McKinsey Interviewer Reveals How to Get Multiple Job Offers in Consulting , by Victor Cheng - Step-by-step instructions on how to dominate the case interview, considered by many to be the most complex, most difficult, and most intimidating corporate job interview in the world.
• Crack the Case System: How to Conquer Your Case Interviews , by David Ohrvall
• Vault Guide to the Case Interview, 8th edition - Frameworks for constructing and handling case questions, plus practice questions. Vault has an entire series of guides dedicated to the field of consulting and the case interview.

Consulting/Case Interview Prep Online

• Management Consulted - Post-Graduate Planning and Experiential Education maintains a subscription, this site, with content from former MBB consultants. MC provides access to 500+ cases and their solutions, 90+ hours of video content on case interviewing, personal experience interviews, mental math, Excel and PowerPoint for consulting, and more. Request an account by logging in to your Handshake account, clicking Career Center, and selecting Resources. The account request link is there.

Each of these sites has high quality case prep resources. Portions are available at no cost, and all of these have additional resources available for sale.

• CaseInterview.com - Site of Victor Cheng, author of Case Interview Secrets. Sign up for their informative daily newsletter.
• CaseQuestions.com - Site of Marc Cosentino's, author of Case in Point.
• ConsultingCase101.com - Library of practice cases.

Consulting Company Websites

Listed alphabetically; many contain not only solid interview advice but sample cases, written and video.

• Bain & Company
• Boston Consulting Group
• Deloitte Consulting, LLP
• McKinsey & Company
• Oliver Wyman

Using Case Studies to Teach

Why Use Cases?

Many students are more inductive than deductive reasoners, which means that they learn better from examples than from logical development starting with basic principles. The use of case studies can therefore be a very effective classroom technique.

Case studies are have long been used in business schools, law schools, medical schools and the social sciences, but they can be used in any discipline when instructors want students to explore how what they have learned applies to real world situations. Cases come in many formats, from a simple “What would you do in this situation?” question to a detailed description of a situation with accompanying data to analyze. Whether to use a simple scenario-type case or a complex detailed one depends on your course objectives.

Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision.

Common Case Elements

Most “full-blown” cases have these common elements:

• A decision-maker who is grappling with some question or problem that needs to be solved.
• A description of the problem’s context (a law, an industry, a family).
• Supporting data, which can range from data tables to links to URLs, quoted statements or testimony, supporting documents, images, video, or audio.

Case assignments can be done individually or in teams so that the students can brainstorm solutions and share the work load.

The following discussion of this topic incorporates material presented by Robb Dixon of the School of Management and Rob Schadt of the School of Public Health at CEIT workshops. Professor Dixon also provided some written comments that the discussion incorporates.

Advantages to the use of case studies in class

A major advantage of teaching with case studies is that the students are actively engaged in figuring out the principles by abstracting from the examples. This develops their skills in:

• Problem solving
• Analytical tools, quantitative and/or qualitative, depending on the case
• Decision making in complex situations
• Coping with ambiguities

Guidelines for using case studies in class

In the most straightforward application, the presentation of the case study establishes a framework for analysis. It is helpful if the statement of the case provides enough information for the students to figure out solutions and then to identify how to apply those solutions in other similar situations. Instructors may choose to use several cases so that students can identify both the similarities and differences among the cases.

Depending on the course objectives, the instructor may encourage students to follow a systematic approach to their analysis.  For example:

• What is the issue?
• What is the goal of the analysis?
• What is the context of the problem?
• What key facts should be considered?
• What alternatives are available to the decision-maker?
• What would you recommend — and why?

An innovative approach to case analysis might be to have students  role-play the part of the people involved in the case. This not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters. Videos or even field trips showing the venue in which the case is situated can help students to visualize the situation that they need to analyze.

Accompanying Readings

Case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case. The amount of emphasis placed on the use of the reading during the case discussion depends on the complexity of the concept or method. If it is straightforward, the focus of the discussion can be placed on the use of the analytical results. If the method is more complex, the instructor may need to walk students through its application and the interpretation of the results.

Leading the Case Discussion and Evaluating Performance

Decision cases are more interesting than descriptive ones. In order to start the discussion in class, the instructor can start with an easy, noncontroversial question that all the students should be able to answer readily. However, some of the best case discussions start by forcing the students to take a stand. Some instructors will ask a student to do a formal “open” of the case, outlining his or her entire analysis.  Others may choose to guide discussion with questions that move students from problem identification to solutions.  A skilled instructor steers questions and discussion to keep the class on track and moving at a reasonable pace.

In order to motivate the students to complete the assignment before class as well as to stimulate attentiveness during the class, the instructor should grade the participation—quantity and especially quality—during the discussion of the case. This might be a simple check, check-plus, check-minus or zero. The instructor should involve as many students as possible. In order to engage all the students, the instructor can divide them into groups, give each group several minutes to discuss how to answer a question related to the case, and then ask a randomly selected person in each group to present the group’s answer and reasoning. Random selection can be accomplished through rolling of dice, shuffled index cards, each with one student’s name, a spinning wheel, etc.

Tips on the Penn State U. website: https://sites.psu.edu/pedagogicalpractices/case-studies/

If you are interested in using this technique in a science course, there is a good website on use of case studies in the sciences at the National Science Teaching Association.

UCL Careers

• Recent Graduates

Alisha Ciaffone

Cameron fairrie, harry bremner, jeffrey chiu, masamba senghore, sabelle adjagboni, wei yu chan.

Recent Graduate Case Studies

Whether you're a current student seeking inspiration or a recent graduate interested in the action plan of fellow grads, each case study offers a glimpse into the unique experiences, choices, and strategies employed by individuals who have transitioned from undergraduate and postgraduate study at UCL to the professional world.

In this curated collection, these stories provide a candid and insightful look at the realities of launching a career in today's fast-paced and ever-evolving job market, showcasing the successes, challenges and lessons learned by recent graduates across various fields. 

Harry is the founder of Tuggs, an award-winning pet wellness startup, and one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in Europe for Retail & Ecommerce in 2024.

Jeffery is a Consultant providing project management services to businessnes like Network Rail and Battersea Power Station Development Company.

Sabelle is a Planning Officer for Haringey Council working on a range of sites, from single residential houses, apartment buildings and commercial units.

Masamba is an Investment Associate at a venture capital fund, supporting a portfolio companies, and sourcing new companies to invest in.

Alisha is a Crisis Management Officer in the U.S. State Department, outlining and drafting diplomatic goals and policy in the most dangerous posts/countries.

Wei works with a Financial Institution Sales team (Africa) at a leading global bank, to provide cash management and trade finance solutions to financial institutions across the continent.

Ria is a Civil Service Fast Streamer in the UK government’s accelerated leadership development scheme, gaining experience through postings in various government departments and agencies. 

Lieutenant Fairrie is currently an Air Defence Troop Commander in the British Army, briefing senior commanders on air defence asset capabilities.

Graduate destinations data 

For more information on the destinations of UCL graduates, check out our destinations dashboard. You can use this data to find out what sectors, jobs and employers our graduates go into 15 months after they leave UCL to understand just some of the potential options to you.

• Search by department, level of study, individual degree course and more

Graduate destinations dashboard

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