Case Interviews
How do I ask for thinking time in a case without sounding scripted?
The request for a couple of minutes to structure my thoughts always sounds a bit rehearsed to me. I don't want every transition in the interview to feel robotic. How would you naturally ask for that time while still respecting the normal flow of a case?
Ian’s Answer
Thetre's a delicate answer to this one. Yes, you don't want to be robotic, and too often people memorize specific steps etc. This is bad because 1) As you mentioned, it's obvious 2) They crumble if the script changes (i.e. I respond "No, you can't have time. Just tell me what you're thinking now).
On the other hand, there is a sort of flow that's expected. It probably depends on the company+office in terms of their cultural expectations, but I always "shortened" my requests. And I absolutely gauged my interviewer
I would normally say the first half of the sentence and almost trail off.
Such as "Could I have a minute?" or "I'm just going to gather my thoughts here". I do agree that the "Do you mind if I just take a couple of minutes to gather my thoughts so that I can then come back to you with a plan to meet this objective" gets very tiresome :)