Is it true that for mckinsey the interviewer has a list of 7 questions and they pick 3-4 out of these to test you on? So sometimes you may not even finish the whole case and that's fine?
Hi there,
This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:
In case you want a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your upcoming McKinsey case study interviews, please feel free to contact me directly.
I hope this helps,
Hagen
Hi there,
Please take an objective-driven approach with how you think about this prep! First, is your question about their questions or about not finishing the case? Second, does it matter how they get/choose their questions or does it matter how you can prepare for it?
Yes, they have a list, but this has nothing to do with how you should aim to perform! And, yes, you may not finish the whole case, but this has nothing to do with the PEI length! If you don't finish because the case was long, the PEI went long, or the interviewer was rushed, that's fine. But, if you didn't finish the case because you werne't objective-driven, precise/concise, and didn't drive the case effectively, then that is a problem!
Yes.
You can actually think of the interviewer as having a guideline for a case, but they don’t have to follow all the questions, nor do they have to give you that particular case (some come up with it on the spot). So don’t feel like you need to rush through the case. Aim to advance accurately and to forge a good connection with the interviewer instead. Good luck and feel free to reach out if you need some extra tips!
Hi!
Yes, they choose among a set of different questions per each interview.
This doesn't mean that you will not finish the case though. You should always aim to get to a final answer during the ca. 30 min of business case discussion.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Anto
The most important thing to keep in mind is that a McKinsey interviewer is testing for three things: structuring, conceptual thinking and quantitative thinking. That is typically why your interviewer should have three sections to cover with you.
McKinsey cases are written in a way where an interviewer has back up questions in case they want to cover but it’s not typical that one would do so, and you would never “finish” the full written case.
Not only that but also sometimes they will come up with new questions on the spot, depending on what you say.
And the objective there is not really to get to the end of the case - is to progress enough that the interviewer can have a good view on your skills (including the skill to be “to the point” and move at a good pace).
Hey there,
Yes, they have a list of prepared questions based on the 3 question types (structuring, charts, math).
The rationale is to have 2 questions per question type at hand to probe further should your initial answer not be good enough. In a normal case, you might manage to answer between 3-5 questions, depending on how fast you move through the case (faster is not necessarily better…)
If you want an insider view on the McKinsey case interview, check out this article I wrote: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview
or reach out for help! :-)
Cheers,
Florian
You are going about this very mathematically my friend. Try to ease-out a little bit. I would recommend focusing on proper case-prep - and not necessarily on these mathematical aspects of the interview.
Here is how you should really prepare:
Expert case by