Is it normal for MBB first-round interviews to be cancelled?

Hi there,

First of all, I am sorry to hear about your negative experience with this strategy consulting company!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• First of all, based on the experience of my coachees and my personal network, unfortunately, McKinsey also canceled most of its recruiting activities at the beginning of this year (sometimes with the motivation to reapply in September 2023).
• While it does not seem to have been a well-considered decision to invite you in the first place when unclear about finishing the application process, if they told you to reapply in September 2023, you can generally expect this to be an honest invitation to do so.
• Lastly, while it is frustrating to be rejected in the middle of the application process, I would advise you not to dwell on it and apply to other strategy consulting companies.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi there, 

Wow, I'm rather surprised this happened. 

Would you mind telling us what office this was? 

This almost never happens. But if this is what they told us, then I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be true. What probably happened is that HR had more people in the pipeline than the hiring Partner / office was ready to take on. Or perhaps they received a top down quota short notice and had to adjust. 

Either way, sorry to hear. It must feel awful. 

My suggestion would be to go broader with the application process so you can diversify your risk. Review the following guide to understand how you could maximize your chances through the application process:

• How to get a job in consulting during an economic downturn

Best,
Cristian
 

Hi there,

Q: Was this just a nice way to let me off the hook? It seems very odd they would invite you to an interview and then just take back the invitation.

This is indeed unusual and seems to imply they are in a hiring freeze. Unfortunately you don’t have leverage to accelerate things at the moment. The only possible alternatives I see to reach out earlier are:

1. If you have a good relationship with the partner and you are flexible with the office location – ask if they would recommend to apply elsewhere
2. Apply to other firms, get an offer from competitors and reach out again to see if they might be interested to interview you given that

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

This was common in spring 2020 (when covid hit) and it is more common now. 

Essentially, when pipelines are low, hiring goes down and both interview dates and start dates get delayed.

This isn't necessarily bad news! They are not saying “we don't want you”. They're just saying “we don't want you now”.

Set a reminder to reach out to them in September to interview then. It's likely you will be brought in to interview then.

Ich finde das ganz super dass du so weit bist mit den interviews. Due interviews laufen bestimmt gut. Am besten strukturier deine Antworten und weiss viel ueber die moeglichen Angebote und wir du dich herausstellen kannst, du bist einzigartig  und kommst bestimmt weiter. Es gibt ganz viele Beispiele auf Preplounge und Du kannst auch mit Peers ueben.

Please divulge what firm this was so I can avoid them like the plague.

Can’t think of anything less professional than this.

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear about your situation, I imagine this is pretty frustrating. I would assume that you can take them at their word - if they just wanted to let you off the hook, they would have done so directly. I would advise reapplying in September (and staying in touch with recruiting + the partner who referred you, if you feel comfortable doing so, to let them know when you reapply), but also search for other job opportunities in the meantime.