I was reading through case in point, and saw that during the interviews, they would interrupt you and say “let me tell you why you're wrong” to test if you can defend yourself/change your mind.
How common is it for interviewers to ask you this during the case interview? Also when they ask you this do they always have the intention to test your reaction to getting thrown off course? How would you recover if you fumble and cannot give a strong answer - would it be the end for you?
Thanks
Hello,
I have never deliberately asked someone a question with the intention of throwing them off course. This does not simulate the real world very well, so would not make for a good interview question.
Rather, I would challenge someone to consider new information or a different perspective. For example, if the candidate says that an investment makes sense, I could say, “Let's say the client doesn't want to invest under any circumstances. What would you do next?”
This challenge is about dealing with new information, making strong arguments, and demonstrating conviction, something that every good consultant should be able to do. Not every good consultant needs to worry about being thrown off course intentionally.
Finally, there's no such thing as “the end for you." The interview is long and sophisticated enough that even if you do poorly in one small part, you can sometimes compensate in another part. So keep your practice up and don't worry to much about this!
Hope this helps,
Allen
Hi there,
Honestly, this is pretty silly and shouldn't happen. That said, I'm a strong believer in being ready for anything, so preparing for this is worth it!
Ultimately, what an interviewer is more likely to say to test you is “ok, why do you think that” or “are you sure?” or “Have you also considered x”, etc. but I have never heard of them saying “let me tell you why you're wrong”
Hey there,
From a McKinsey perspective, such questions are not part of the interview. I could imagine some over-eager senior partner trying to challenge you a bit in the final round but that would be an outlier case.
Can't answer for other firms.
Cheers,
Florian
Most interviewers are nice or at least try to be and wont challenge in such a blunt way. But, sometimes they may do or throw a challenge your way in a nicer way. You must be prepared, receive the challenge and respond to it in a calm way. Dont get sensitive or thrown off track.
In real client situations, this does happen every now and then.
At McKinsey you are specifically asked to ensure that interviewees have a good experience while interviewing. Things like this would be highly unusual and frowned upon in general. In fact for all MBBs I would be very surprised if this came up at all as it is neither professional nor helpful for the candidate.
Hi,
my opinion: this is part of the typical “Case-in-Point-Nonsense” that generations of candidates have fallen victim to. Don't commit the mistake of taking the content of the book at face value! It gives you a certain orientation, but it is in large parts VERY distant from what you will experience in real MBB interviews.
Cheers, Sidi
No, they will not ask that question. If they do, they aren't supposed to. The interview is not supposed to be an aggressive situation towards the candidate.
What they will do (and I do this in most interviews) is to give you information that suggests you may be wrong. Then it's up to you to either accept it as valid information and update your anwer, or to reject it because you had a more valid way of thinking. Both of these are acceptable. What is not acceptable is to just accept the information as the new answer, or to completely dismiss is because you “want to be right” at all costs.
In the first situation because you don't hold your ground and are “fishing” for the right answer. You are reaching conclusions based on authority not on evidence, and this is not acceptable.
In the latter situation, because candidates that are always right, regardless of the facts are not seeking the right answer (just want to win the argument no matter what) and are usually not coachable.
None of those candidates get the job.
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