McKinsey Imbellus Test

Question

Hi everyone,

I just did the McKinsey Imbellus Test and had both the Ecosystems and Plant Defense games. I found Francesco's guide for this was SUPER helpful and prepares you really well for the test. I would definitely look into playing Plants vs Zombies and other similar games to get you ready. I am proud of how I did on Plant Defense but I am not sure on Ecosystems. Everything looked like it worked but what are you supposed to see on the screen once you hit 'submit'? All the fish swimming in the ecosystem, just the predators? I'm just trying to gauge how I did. It all looked fine but my paranoia at this point has gotten the better of me!

Many thanks

Answer 1

Hi there,

Thanks for your kind words on the guide :)

In terms of your question: you will see an animation showing the chain you built and from the feedback I heard from candidates, it will be a mix of all the species, not only predators.

For any additional questions please feel free to write to me, I will reply within 12 hours.

Best,

Francesco

Answer 2

Hey there,

In earlier versions of the game, you could actually see a positive message if the eco-system you created was successful.

Since this led to a lot of confusion with candidates since there was no such message for the plant defense game, McK/Imbellus decided to drop this feature. It has been replaced with a simple animation, not giving away anything in terms of how you fared.

I wouldn't focus on it too much what happens after you submit. For the eco-system it is important before you press submit to test your hypotheses.

Calculate that kcal produced in one layer of the food chain > kcal depleted by the layer above
On top of kcal, ensure that the food chain works from a conditional perspective (not every animal or top predator can eat every plant or other animal, etc.). I have heard often from candidates that optimize kcal and then neglect this factor, leading to a rejection
Make sure that all 8 animals in your chain can survive in the given location (check quickly for each variable)
Check if your food chain and location fit with any additional boundary conditions (e.g. additional rules you need to consider when building your food chain and matching it with a location) which have been implemented mid-last year to make sure candidates have a harder time to prepare and some uncertainty of what to expect

Allocate 5 minutes at the end of the scenario before pressing submit to check for these 4 elements. If you can confirm all, you can be sure to have created a sustainable eco-system.

Source: I interviewed more than 150 test-takers from November 2019 onwards and constantly devise(s) new strategies to beat the game.

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 3

Hi there,

The animation at the end of the test doesn't really give you a result in terms of how well you did, it's just a general one based on the ecosystem you built.

On the other note, it usually takes up to two weeks to get results, not really that long until you know for sure.

Good luck!

GB

Answer 4

Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear the PrepLounge platform + material helped you!

Answer 5

Good luck :)

Answer 6

Hello,

Unfortunately there is no correlation between the animals showed at the end of the first scenario and your performance. If you want to be sure that you did the 1st scenario in the right way, I have written a detailed guide to ace the Imbellus test that contains also an Excel model with an algorithm to solve the first scenario and an hands-on example.

Feel free to text me if you are interested. You can find a screenshot of the excel model below.

Best,
Luca