Ten Casey mistakes that cost the offer

Casey's scoring is opinionated. The same handful of mistakes show up across hundreds of candidates and reliably drop the score.

The ten

1. Recycled frameworks. "I'd use the 4P framework" tells the scorer you haven't thought about the prompt. Build structure from the objective, not from memory.

2. Restructuring mid-case. Once you've submitted the issue tree, work within it. Re-opening it signals indecision.

3. Ignoring the footnote. "Excludes Asia" or "indexed to 2019" changes answers. Read it.

4. Calculator-style math. Casey wants estimation comfort. If you can't multiply two-digit numbers mentally, drill until you can.

5. No sanity check. A profit figure 100x larger than market revenue should be flagged before you submit.

6. Burying the recommendation. Lead with the answer in the synthesis. Casey's grader scrolls.

7. Vague risks. "Market risk" is meaningless. "Three competitors could launch a price war in 6 months" is a risk.

8. Apologetic language. "I'm not sure but maybe possibly..." Use confidence, then qualify with evidence.

9. Skipping the video. Even a mediocre video beats no video. The scoring penalty for skipping is steep.

10. Treating Casey like a human interviewer. Don't ask "is that okay?" or "should I continue?". State your answer and move on.

The pattern underneath

Most of these mistakes share a root cause: candidates use Casey to practice a real-interview style, when Casey's grading rewards a different style — compressed, numerical, and decisive. Adjust your practice to the format.

How to self-diagnose

After every mock, score yourself on these ten in 30 seconds. The pattern reveals itself in the third or fourth attempt. Targeted fixes — not generic "more cases" — move the score.

What good looks like

A high-scoring Casey transcript reads like a memo: short paragraphs, numbers in every quantitative reply, a clean recommendation at the end. There are no apologies, no restatements of the prompt, and no frameworks named.