Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Interview Partners to connect and practice with!
Back to overview
Question merged
This question is read-only because it has been merged with
Can I reuse PEI stories I discussed in my first round McKinsey interview during my final round interviews?

McK PEI - Variation

Hey PrepLounge,

I'm mid-way through McK finals and curious to see if anyone has experienced variation / specific requests on PEI from partners before? So for example on conflict, a partner might request a story involving a specific counterparty such as your boss, or subordinate, instead of allowing you to pick a story within the conflict context. All thoughts welcome!

2
2.5k
0
Be the first to answer!
Nobody has responded to this question yet.
Top answer
Vlad
Coach
on Apr 09, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

It does not depend on the round and may happen even with the managers. If you have time I would recommend to have 1-2 backup stories per question. For example, there may be the following variations in the personal impact story:

  • Team conflict
  • Personal conflict
  • Conflict with the boss
  • Changing someone's mind
  • Overcoming difficulties
  • etc

Other reasons to have multiple stories:

  1. "This story does not fit. Do you have another story?" - an interviewer can easily say something like this if he is not convinced that your story is good enough or the story does not fit his criteria for some reason.
  2. It is essential for you to prepare at least three stories for each area so that in case you get the same question by a couple of interviewers you are not telling the same story. I personally had 3 interviewers asking me exactly the same story. Originally the three of your interviewers are supposed to ask the different questions. In reality, interviewers don't often have a chance to meet before the interview, and sometimes they are urgently replaced by the colleagues. Of course, you can use the same story, but it is much better to demonstrate a diverse experience.
  3. Finally, the interviewer may ask you the questions you didn't even expect. It's always good to have some backup stories and adapt them to answer those unexpected questions.

Best

Deleted
Coach
on Apr 10, 2018
NOT AVAILABLE

Hey anonymous,

Just wanted to add a word of caution related with conflict stories (I'm commenting on this, as it's one of the most common mistakes I've seen people doing while at PEI interviews): a conflict story can actually be used to test two different dimension - personal impact and leadership - depending on the wording (with a peer/boss is for personal impact; with a subordinate/team you're leading is for leadership), so be really careful in order to make sure you address the right story and, especially, communicate the right skillset :)

Hope this helps

Best

Bruno

Similar Questions
Consulting
McKinsey vs T2 offer Riyadh
on Jul 21, 2024
Global
6
1.8k
Top answer by
Mamoun
Coach
Prepares you to crack ALL cases | Interviewer with recent cases, 150+ interviews, 6+ years exp (France, MENA)
36
6 Answers
1.8k Views
+3
Consulting
how to answer question from Mckinsey partner
on Aug 23, 2024
Global
5
1.3k
Top answer by
Anonymous
53
5 Answers
1.3k Views
+2
Consulting
McKinsey Solve Game - post game thoughts + mini rant
on Aug 01, 2024
Global
1
1.6k
Top answer by
Florian
Coach
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 600+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU
34
1 Answer
1.6k Views