Remote Case Interviews 2026: Every Rule Firms Publish

Who publishes a remote case interview rule, and which rule

Eight sources, and almost no overlap between what each one chose to write down.

The distribution is the story. Every source has an opinion about your environment. Almost none has published an opinion about what happens when the environment fails.

The two rules that can end it

Sova publishes the only connection requirement we found: "Minimum bandwidth is 600kbps (up/down) and recommended is 1.5 Mbps (up/down)." Dividing 1,500 by 600 gives 2.5, so the recommendation sits at two and a half times the floor. The publisher does not say what happens below the floor.

SHL publishes the harshest rule in the corpus, and it is automatic: "You are not allowed to open any other Browser / Switch between the Test Screen and other widows/ Minimize the Test Window. The Test will get locked permanently if a candidate is found switching through windows while taking the Test." The spelling of widows is the publisher's own. No appeal route is published alongside it.

Both rules attach to a platform rather than to a firm. Your invitation names the platform. If Sova or SHL appears in that email, the publisher's candidate pages are the governing document, and the firm's careers page will not mention any of this.

There is one softer publisher rule worth knowing. SHL also writes that "Preparation activities are timed and can only be accessed once." Opening the reading material to have a look is the same act as starting the clock.

Camera on, or camera optional

Two sources give opposite instructions, both live on the same day.

Capital One requires it: "Capital One requires that candidates use video for all virtual interviews. Please be prepared to remain on video for the duration of your interview(s)." The exception exists and has to be asked for in advance, through "your recruiter or interview scheduling coordinator as soon as possible."

SHL assumes the opposite can happen and plans for it: "Check your audio / video quality at the start of each live meeting. Note, if you experience a camera and / or microphone problem, you can still use the other live meeting capabilities, e.g. Chat, whiteboard, etc."

Device advice splits the same way. West Monroe lists a smartphone among acceptable devices. KPMG's United States page asks for something else, with its reason in brackets: "Try to use your laptop/tablet instead of a cell phone (to avoid the appearance of Face Timing a friend)." Sova recommends against a smartphone because "the screen may be too small to read important materials effectively."

Three positions on one question. The one that applies to you is in your invitation.

One link, several interviewers, and a break

West Monroe's virtual FAQ is the most operational page in this corpus, and it answers three things nobody else answers.

On the mechanics of the day: "you will get one link to a continuous "Zoom or Teams room." Your interviewers will cycle in and out for their sections, but you will stay on the entire time. Review the interview schedule ahead of time so you know how long each section will last."

On failure: "If you are unable to successfully connect after a few minutes, we'll call you at the number on your resume." And when the problem is theirs, "Sit tight and wait for your recruiter or interviewer to contact you."

On breaks, this is the only permission of its kind we found. A candidate who needs to step away during an interview loop is asked to say so, and the firm says it will accommodate it.

Three practical consequences follow. The number on your resume should be a phone you will answer. The schedule is a document you can ask for in advance. And a four-hour loop does not have to be four hours without leaving the chair.

Which case interview rounds are remote, and which are not

Seven firms publish the split, and they publish seven different splits. This is the section to read before you book travel.

BCG Switzerland puts one of its four case interviews on video, which is 25 percent of them. Oliver Wyman Latin America puts all of them there: "The entire recruitment process is conducted virtually, from assessments to final interviews."

Two words in that table deserve attention. Analysis Group writes that the first round is "typically" virtual, and Compass Lexecon writes inside its own job posting that "All interviews are currently being conducted virtually." Typically and currently are both reservations, and neither firm publishes what would change them.

Five checks before a remote case interview call

Every item below comes from a rule quoted above, with the source named so you can verify it rather than trust it.

1. Read the invitation for a publisher name. If it says Sova or SHL, go to that publisher's candidate pages. The bandwidth floor and the window-switching lock exist nowhere on a firm's careers site.
2. Log in early, by the published number. West Monroe says ten minutes to test internet, video and sound. Charles River Associates says five to ten minutes ahead of schedule. No other firm we read publishes a figure.
3. Fix the room before the webcam. KPMG Canada's list is seven items long and only one is about appearance: a tidy or virtual background, a quiet place, headphones, notifications off, a test run, and a resume and notes within reach.
4. Put a wall behind you. Charles River Associates is specific: use a simple virtual background if you need one, and "Interviewing with a wall behind you is ideal."
5. Ask what happens if it drops. Only one source in fifteen has published an answer. Getting yours in writing costs one email.

Once the setup is out of the way, what a video call amplifies is whether you say the answer before the working. Our structure rubric weights Coverage 45 out of 100 and our synthesis rubric weights Answer first 35, and a candidate on a laggy line who buries the answer loses both. Those weights come from our own code and no firm publishes anything comparable; the reasoning is on how an answer is assessed, and the drills run free and without an account from the tools page. None of them reproduces any firm's platform.

What fifteen sources leave unpublished about remote case interviews

The gaps repeat, and they are the expensive ones.

Nobody publishes who carries the risk of a dropped line. West Monroe promises a callback and says nothing about whether the interview restarts, whether lost minutes are returned, or whether the incident is recorded.

Nobody publishes whether an SHL lock can be lifted. The word used is permanent and no reclamation route appears next to it.

Twelve of the fifteen sources do not name the platform. That means the software you will be judged on is usually a surprise until the calendar invitation lands.

No firm publishes a bandwidth expectation. The only number in the corpus belongs to an assessment publisher, and it governs an assessment day rather than an interview.

And nobody publishes whether a camera left off is noted. Capital One requires video and does not say what a failure costs. For the audio-only side of the same question see consulting phone interviews, and for the sequences these rounds sit inside see the consulting interview process.