Public sector, development and nonprofit
When there is no price and no profit, the question is what each unit of budget achieves for the people the organisation serves. This lesson covers mission measures, budgets and stakeholders. Its worked example chooses between two programmes.
Firm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.
Key takeaways
- In government, development agencies and nonprofits, the number at the top is not profit.
- Write the maths of the goal.
- Use what you know about the service.
Key idea
In government, development agencies and nonprofits, the number at the top is not profit. It is an outcome for people, such as children kept in school, patients treated or jobs created. It is measured per unit of a budget that is usually fixed. The five moves work the same way once you name that outcome.
What follows describes common patterns, not any one employer's process, unless a source is named. Steps differ by company, country and level and change from year to year. Read the job advert and the employer's own careers page for the exact steps.
Here are two examples from primary sources, both from the United Kingdom. First, UK Civil Service hiring uses Success Profiles. These have up to five elements: behaviours, strengths, ability, experience and technical. The government says not every element is used for every role (GOV.UK, page updated 29 January 2025). Second, HM Treasury (the UK finance ministry) publishes the Green Book, its guidance on appraisal. It describes appraisal as assessing the costs, benefits and risks of different options for achieving government objectives (GOV.UK, page updated 5 February 2026). Other governments, development banks and nonprofits use their own methods and hiring steps. Read those on each organisation's own pages. Across them, hiring often includes questions about behaviours and past experience, written exercises, and sometimes a case.
The five moves, in a public or mission-driven organisation
- 1Pin the question. Whose outcome, which mandate (the job the organisation has been given), which budget, and by when? Ask who must approve it and what they will be held to account for.
- 2Write the maths of the goal. Extra outcomes = budget / cost per person reached x the extra share helped. The extra share is the share of people reached who would not have been helped anyway. Then compare options on cost per extra outcome.
- 3Use what you know about the service. How is it delivered, by whom, and where is money lost on the way? Industry knowledge still matters: a health programme runs on clinics, staff and supplies.
- 4Find the facts that decide it. Look for evaluations that compare people who got the programme with similar people who did not. The extra result above what would have happened anyway is called additionality.
- 5Say so what. Give a recommendation that ministers or trustees (the board of a charity) can approve. Staff must be able to deliver it and the public must be able to understand it. Say how success will be measured.
What is different from a consulting case
- Mission measures. Outcomes for people replace profit. Agree the measure first; it is often contested.
- Budgets. Money comes in fixed yearly amounts and often cannot move between budget lines. Unspent money may be lost.
- Stakeholders. Ministers, officials, frontline staff (who deal with the public directly), unions, donors, citizens and the press all have a say. A good answer shows who wins, who loses and how you will handle it.
- No price signal. Demand for a free service does not tell you its value, so evidence from evaluations matters more.
Worked case
A state education department chooses between two programmes
The prompt
Fictional and illustrative. A state education department in India has INR 20 crore (INR 200 million) to reduce the number of students who drop out of secondary school. Programme A, after-school tutoring, costs INR 4,000 per student. Evaluations suggest it keeps an extra 6 percent of the students it reaches in school, above those who would have stayed anyway. Programme B, a travel allowance, costs INR 2,500 per student and keeps an extra 4 percent in school. Which should it fund?
The structure
- Extra students kept in school = budget / cost per student x extra share kept in school
- Programme A: tutoring, INR 4,000 per student, 6 percent extra kept
- Programme B: travel allowance, INR 2,500 per student, 4 percent extra kept
- Beyond the count: learning, fairness, delivery and stakeholders
Working it through
1. Students reached by A
The whole budget of INR 200 million at INR 4,000 per student.
Students reached by programme A:200,000,000 ÷ 4,000 = 50,0002. Extra students kept by A
Six percent of the students reached.
Extra students kept in school by A:50,000 × 0.06 = 3,0003. Students reached by B
The same budget at INR 2,500 per student.
Students reached by programme B:200,000,000 ÷ 2,500 = 80,0004. Extra students kept by B
Four percent of the students reached.
Extra students kept in school by B:80,000 × 0.04 = 3,2005. Cost per extra student, A
Cost per student divided by the extra share kept.
Cost per extra student kept, A (INR):4,000 ÷ 0.06 = 66,6676. Cost per extra student, B
The same for B.
Cost per extra student kept, B (INR):2,500 ÷ 0.04 = 62,500
The recommendation
Fund mainly the travel allowance, but keep a measured share for tutoring. On the main measure B is a little better, because it keeps about 3,200 extra students in school against 3,000 for A. That is about INR 62,500 per extra student against about INR 66,700. The gap is small, under 7 percent. I would still fund some tutoring, because both figures come from evaluations with their own error. Tutoring may also raise learning, which this count ignores. So I would put most of the budget into B. I would run A in a smaller set of districts with a proper comparison group: similar districts that do not get it. Next year I would decide on both dropout and test scores. Teachers' groups and district officials should hear the plan before it is announced.
Risks: Evaluation results from other places may not hold in this state; Allowances can be hard to stop once started.
Next steps: Agree with the finance department whether money can move between the two budget lines next year; Set up the comparison districts before the school year starts.
Using this in the interview
- Ask: what outcome, whose budget, what is the evidence on each option, and who must approve?
- Calculate: people reached, extra outcomes above what would happen anyway, and cost per extra outcome.
- Say: the choice, the outcome it buys in one number, the uncertainty, and how you will bring stakeholders with you.
The industry brief on the public sector covers how governments raise and spend money, how public projects are judged, and partnerships with private companies.
Public sector briefAn evaluation finds that 70 percent of students in a programme finished school, and 66 percent of similar students without it did too. What is the programme's extra effect?
Why compare programmes on cost per extra outcome rather than on total spend?
Sources, checked on 2026-10-02. Official pages only. Hiring steps change, so confirm them on the employer's own page before you rely on them.
- GOV.UK, Cabinet Office, "Success Profiles: candidate overview", page updated 29 January 2025 (official government source): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles/success-profiles-candidate-overview
- GOV.UK, HM Treasury, "The Green Book: appraisal and evaluation in central government", page updated 5 February 2026 (official government source): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-green-book-appraisal-and-evaluation-in-central-government/the-green-book-2020
Sources for this lesson (3)
- Recognized public explanations of case-interview concepts and terms
- GOV.UK, Cabinet Office, "Success Profiles: candidate overview", page updated 29 January 2025 (official government source)
- GOV.UK, HM Treasury, "The Green Book: appraisal and evaluation in central government", page updated 5 February 2026 (official government source)
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