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Is it bad to tell two different stories about the same experience for McKinsey?

Hello,

I'm wondering if it is bad to tell two stories about the same experience for McKinsey PEI. I only have two to three past experiences on my resume in the past few years, but one of which I've worked on for the past two years. Is it a bad practice to take different situations in one of those experiences to answer two different PEI questions in the second round, if there are three total interviews? Will that be looked negatively upon as having few experiences, or will they understand the longetivity in the position? 

Thanks everyone. 

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Top answer
Clara
Coach
on Oct 26, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

This is precisely one of the "frequently asked questions" that are responded in the  "Integrated FIT guide for MBB", that has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

Usually, it´s not best practice. At the end, you need to try to show as many sides of you as possible -same way as, when you are selling a house, you should try to show pictures of all rooms. If you only show the kitchen, even if the kitchen is amazing, people are going to wonder if the bedrooms are horrible-. 

You can find all the info about this in the guide: it provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Furthermore, you can find 2 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

  • Intro and CV questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/introduction-and-cv-questions-fit-interview-preparation-200
  • Motivational questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/motivational-questions-fit-interview-preparation-201

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes for the Integrated FIT Guide, since we still have some left from the launch!Integrated FIT Guide for MBB

Ken
Coach
edited on Oct 27, 2020
Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach

Broadly speaking, no! More breadth is often "perceived" to be more beneficial but I feel it comes down to the merit of the experience and how applicable it is for your interviewer to get conviction that you will be a successful McKinsey consultant. The breadth is also something that has been assessed during your CV screening which you have already passed and so I wouldn't be too worried where there also isn't much you can do at this point. McKinsey can not penalise you for focusing on 2-3 experiences over the last 18-24 months which could have been much more meaningful than 8-10 experiences with less challenge and impact.

Specifically, what is most important is that your story is relevant to the specific PEI question and are also unique stories within the same experience. You should NOT be using the same "when I dealt with a difficult team member in a university club" as your leadership AND personal impact story. Instead, trying to convince the VP Finance that club should not accept donations from companies who are not promoting diversity and inclusion even if it means less money (i.e., personal impact), vs. stepping up to organise a club event when the lead organiser had to step down (i.e., inclusive leadership).

Good luck!

Anonymous A
on Oct 27, 2020
Thank you very much for this answer! Very helpful.
on Oct 26, 2020

Half (3 of my 6) interview stories for McKinsey came from the same work experience. However, the task and goal was not the same for all of them. This means the "headline"/background that I was using to describe the situation was very distinct.

If you do talk about the same role you had, make sure that the actual events you're describing are distinct. This was one of the major reasons my colleague got rejected from the first round recently; they mentioned it in their call to him.

7
Robert
Coach
on Oct 27, 2020
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi Anonymous,

No problem - you can use the same underlying context for more than 1 PEI story without any worries. Especially in your case of longetivity of your last position this will also be obvious for your interviewers.

So the context can be the same, and you can focus on completely different aspects within one certain context, according to the respective PEI dimension.

(On the contrary, re-using the exact same PEI stories don't provide any value.)

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Gaurav
Coach
on Oct 27, 2020
#1 MBB Coach(Placed 750+ in MBBs & 1250+ in Tier2)| The Only 360° coach(Ex-McKinsey+Certified Coach+Active recruiter)

Hi A,

Do not worry, it is not bad having just a couple of experiences. That should be totally understandable for the interviewers regarding your position longevity. 

According to the specific question asked, you can definitely share different stories within just one experience. Try to clearly differentiate them, so they can be considered full-fledged, independent answers.

Do you need any further help?
GB

Deleted user
on Oct 27, 2020

Repeating stories is OK if several of your interviewers asked for the same skill, but try to have sufficient stories to chose between several of them. Having 3-4 stories for each skill (they can overlap to a certain extend) gives you the comfort of not having to repeat one.

0
Ian
Coach
on Oct 29, 2020
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi there,

The best way to reconcile all of the feedback you're received is to do the following:

Absolutely have multiple stories from 1 experience BUT don't make it sound that way. So, when providing the context of each story, you don't need to provide the same context. What I mean is, don't start all 3 of those stories with "So, when I was in x role at x company". Rather, say 1) "I had a difficult both when completing x assignment" and 2) "I decided to take initiative on x project" and 3) "I had a lot of trouble on x topic"

You don't need to explicitly state that they're all from the same experience!

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