Victor Rolfsnes

"Do not hesitate, challenge yourself, and get on with it. You are always good enough to try."

When were you an active case student at BI and at which campus?
During the second and third year of my bachelor’s degree, at BI -Campus Stavanger, 2014-2016.

Why did you decide to join BI’s case activities?
At the end of my first year, I was asked to join based on my academic achievements. The team needed a marketing specialist, and I had to be persuaded to join the first time, because I honestly found it a bit scary in the start. I was astonished by the learning outcomes resulting from my experience with cases during my second year. Therefore, I asked to join the case team also during my third year.

What was the name of your case team and how did you find your teammates?
Core Consulting (2014), and North Consulting (2015-2016). Members of the school’s staff handpicked the teammates.

Did you have a specific role on your team?
Marketing specialist and responsible for the slide deck.

Which case competitions did you take part in?
BI National Case Competition 2014 Stavanger, BI National Case Competition 2015 Bergen, and Belgrade Business International Case Competition 2016.

What is your best memory from your case journey at BI?
My best memory is the revelation I had during the dinner after the Kavli Case during BINCC 2015 in Bergen. We were exhausted, we had just used 24-hours to solve the case, handed in the slides, presented our solution for the board of directors, which included the CEO of Kavli. Me and my teammates had little confidence in our product right after we handed in the slides and were under the impression that “every other team probably have a better solution than us”. Nevertheless, we decided to present what we had in the best possible way.

During the dinner, when the CEO of Kavli announced that we made 2nd place we were filled with joy and the experience provided us with an important reminder: We often speak ourselves down, even when we have no reason to, and “everybody else” as one homogeneous group is something you should never compare yourself with. If you find the case challenging, it is likely that others find it challenging.

What are your top three takeaways from case training and competitions?

1. I found it highly rewarding to receive the opportunity to work with real-life business challenges, while receiving feedback from highly skilled professors and industry experts.
2. I learned a lot about myself – learning hard to achieve elsewhere – such as my role in a team, how I cope with stress, how I cope with a conflict, and how I approach problems, compared to others.
3. Two years of case-practice and three case competitions have increased my self-confidence and provided me with valuable experiences, which have proven to be highly useful during job-interviews and my daily work.

What skills did you learn from participating in case which were relevant to your development/career and how?

• I learned to apply theory to real-life business problems, became an experienced team player, better at working under pressure, and improved my presentation skills.
• I became much better at structuring complex problems and designing slides.
• My verbal and written English also improved significantly.

Do you have any advice to students who are curious about case?
Yes. Do not hesitate, challenge yourself, and get on with it. You are always good enough to try.