McKinsey Interview

Question

Hi all,

I’ve recently been coming across a new trend (at least for me) for McK interviews.

The trend is case questions such as, “the issue is xx, in the next meeting who would you talk to to solve it?” and “the issue is xxx, in the next meeting, what questions would you ask/want to know?”

What is the best way to approach these types of cases?

Answer 1

Hi there,

I got asked a similar Q in my McK interview, eons ago, so not such a new trend but a good question none-the-less.

This style of question traverses the structuring and analysis parts of the case interview and is essentially asking you to step beyond the structure and into how you would source data to answer the question.

Typically you’re given (or you ask for) data to answer the question and in this case the interviewer wants to know who in the organisation you’d get it from.

I’d approach the case as follows:

Listen to the case question and make sure you understand it, asking clarification questions where necessary;
Structure your approach. E.g. to expand into LATAM I would consider the following levers; (i) … ;
Diving deeper into lever (i) I’d like to know X, Y and Z and I would first go and see the [LATAM Regional Marketing Manager] for this info.

Hope that helps.

B.

Answer 2

Hi there,

Thanks for sharing!

This is not a new trend but has been part of McK cases for longer; it is just a twist on the typical structuring question.

It is also not just limited to a meeting context but to a general problem-solving context.

For instance:

“Our client, a cruise operator in the Caribbean is experiencing a drop in customer satisfaction. Who would you talk to to understand this issue better?”

The structure you then create would revolve around the stakeholders (e.g., ships crew, passengers, travel agencies) etc.

The similar principles apply for the structure (broad, deep, insightful), so you should not stop at the top level: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/mckinsey-interview

All the best,

Florian

Answer 3

Hey,

This looks like a question that tests you helicopter (CEO) view.

They want to see how you'd do on a real life consulting project. Knowing the organisational structure of a company in various industries can certainly help.

For example:
- The company is experiencing a revenue decline - talk to sales / marketing department;
- The company is experiencing an increase in raw materials cost - talk to supply / procurement;
- The company is experiencing a decline in NPS regarding its website and mobile app performance - talk to IT / Back End.

Hope this helps,
Nick

Answer 4

I love that people are starting to notice these sorts of questions more because they are by no means an exception anymore.

Gradually, they are becoming the new norm.

The story is that firms like McKinsey grew frustrated with candidates coming with pre-learned frameworks a la Company, Competitor, Market… so instead, they started creating cases that are unusual to genuinely see how candidates think.

The way you tackle these questions best is from first principles, which is what I work with my candidates on. You can read more about it here:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/coaching-packages-5/first_principles_structuring_masterclass

Good luck!
Cristian

Answer 5

Hi there,

Yes! This is one of about 100 things they can do….

For this specific one you need to have two answers/frameworks.

The “what questions would you ask” is your framework. You need to be buckets/structured here.

For the “who would you talk to” it might be 1 person, in which case you give the answer plus logic. Or, it might be a few people (i.e. workshop) in which case you need to give structure/organize them.