McK Partner Interview: Just 30 minutes?

Hi there,

Q: I received a very hard case (one I've zero experience with), and the entire interview lasted only 30 minutes. Is this a bad sign?

Not necessarily. Some possible options include:

• You did very well and cracked the case very quickly
• You did badly, the partner cut some parts because had enough information for rejection
• The partner already structured the case for everyone to be 30min
• The partner was busy that day and selected a few parts only of the case to evaluate you

In short, I would not consider this indicative of your performance.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hello,

This is not a bad sign at all - it just means that 30 minutes was the time allocated for the interview! Second round cases can often be quite tough. Best of luck and keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Hi there,

Not necessarily. 

Partners tend to be quite busy. What you can expect though is that they made their mind after 30 minutes. It's just unclear in what direction :)

Hope you hear back from them with good news soon!

Best,

Cristian

The better test for whether it is a good or bad sign is how engaged they were during the interview (vs the time it took to finish). Positive body language, strong eye contact, willingness to engage verbally are all great signs. More time spent is generally a good sign too but on its own it really does not mean that much.

Hi there,

30 minutes in-and-of-itself is not a bad sign. What matters is how you handled the case.

By the way, most cases nowadays are on topics you can't prepare for (i.e. “random” or specific industries). Casing (and consulting) is about hitting something you know nothing about and figuring it out in an objective-driven, calm, structured way.

Here's a bit more: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

Personally, I am a strong believer that you can never fully solve a case, especially with an experienced interviewer who can navigate across different key issues.  A McKinsey team wouldn't spend weeks or even months trying to solve a client problem if that was the case, even if a case interview is much much more condensed. 

I wouldn't read into the duration of the case/interview.  If you had a good discussion with the partner around the case then I think its likely positive.  Fingers crossed!

An interview lasting only 30 mins with a Partner is absolutely normal. Partners have very busy schedules and have to be extra conscious of time management.

As such, you may have the feeling that you were being cut short, but 30 mins is actually within the norm for a partner interview.

It just means that they had enough information in 30 mins! I gave an interview once where the interviewee was so fast that we finished in 30 mins and I had to make up questions for the rest of the 45 mins just so that he didn't feel anxious. Honestly, all it means is that they had enough info in 30 mins. 

Good luck!