If you have ready my posts on Case Study Interview Frameworks, then you understand that there are a TON of concepts and questions to remember in order to crack a case study interview question. Even the brightest candidates can’t remember every detail, especially when there is an interviewer staring at you from across the table. 

My #1 tip for success in a case study issue is designed to help you remember your frameworks. In a nutshell, you don’t need to memorize them.  Simply write them down and take them with you into the interview. The key is how you write them so that the interviewer doesn’t see you referring to them. By the way, it is neither illegal nor unscrupulous to have written notes in an interview. In the business world everyone has notes to which they refer. You just don’t want to give the impression that you don’t have a strong grasp of the subject. 

So here is the tip:

1. Take a regular note pad. 
2. Rip the bottom half of the FIRST page off
3. At the top of the first page, write down your Profitability Case Study Framework
4. Go to page THREE of your notepad and rip off the bottom half of that page
5. At the top of page three, write down your Efficiency Case Study Framework
6. Go to page FIVE of your notepad and rip off the bottom half of that page
7. At the top of page five, write down your Market Strategy Case Study Framework
8. You should have a blank full sheet of paper in between each half page sheet with notes
9. When you are asked a question during the interview, you should quickly determine what type of question it is and turn to the appropriate half page.
10. Before turning to the page in your notepad, ask the interviewer, “Do you mind if I take some notes?” It is standard, even preferred, practice to take notes in a case study interview, so the answer is certain to be “Yes”.
11. You should have your notes on the top half of the page and a blank bottom section of the page. You can now take a quick glance of your framework and begin asking questions. 
12. Use the bottom half of the page as a worksheet. If you run out of space for notes, simply flip over the half sheet with your framework and use the top portion of the full page beneath

There it is. It’s certainly not brain surgery, but having your notes inconspicuously in front of you is a life saver.