No PEI or behavioral at McKinsey interview?

This is neither good nor bad! And a great opportunity to shed some light on the difference between McKinsey 1st and final round.

• 1st round: Generally conducted by Associates and EMs, who tend to follow the interview protocol to the letter. This includes PEI and Case as agreed with HR. Very few candidates have surprises at this stage!
• Final round: Generally conducted by APs, Partners, and even Senior Partners. They are supposed to follow the protocol, but often don't (I've got some good stories… ultimately, who's going to tell them off?). Also, based on feedback from previous rounds, they might want to focus on testing some very specific areas. Hence, PEI or Case may not always be what candidates expect or may not even be covered at all, as was your case. Wouldn't read too much into it!

Hope this helps a bit to calm the nerves! Fingers crossed!

Hi there,

I don’t think you can derive any insight from the fact you didn’t have fit questions. 

Partners may not follow the usual format in the final round, meaning:

• Greater likelihood of high-level questions (eg “How would you solve [BIG PROBLEM] in [COUNTRY]” – this format was used in a few real McK final rounds for candidates I coached)
• Possibility that they skip the fit part

Good luck!

Francesco

I really would not worry. Interviewer styles and preferences are very different. Do not read anything into it, anyway nothing can be changed about it. Stay positive, super well done for having made it this far already. Surely it will either work out with McK or you will find another great firm to work for. ;) Don't let it bother you and just wait for the result. Of course we feel best with interviews if we had the chance to build a connection with the interviewer, but sometimes it is just not in and this is nothing to worry about.

Hi there,

It means nothing!

It's best to not go into interviews expecting any specific format/topic/flow. - every interview is different.

As long as you performed well you should be fine.

It doesn't mean anything. Some partners don't feel the need to do these questions because the whole case interview is already a Behavioral and FIT interview. 

To be honest, I don't find much value in most of the behavioral questions that cannot be taken from the typical 3 questions (why you, why consulting, why us?), the case interview, and candidate's time to ask questions.

As long as you gave your best and you know this, you are fine. Dont read too much into what happened or did not happen. Dont try and predict interviewer behaviors. This is a waste of time and energy. Your job is to focus on giving your best and enjoying the process. Let things happen.

Hi there,

in the final round, they usually test the area where they are not 100% convinced with your performance yet. So they test specific areas based on the feedback of the previous round(s). 

In your case, it might be that you already convinced them that you will be a good fit. In my last interview, I only had a short case and no PEI at all. 

Hi there,

This can happen in the second round IF your PEI stories in the first round were perceived as excellent.

No need to worry, rather something to be proud of and celebrate.

Fingers crossed for an overall positive outcome!

Cheers,

Florian

It really depends on the situation where I would read into it.  Fingers crossed!