PEI Connection story McKinsey

Connection (McKinsey calls it Personal Impact) is the PEI dimension people get most wrong. What it really tests is whether you can win someone over who wasn't on board, especially when you have no authority over them. Not "I worked well in a team," but "someone pushed back and I turned them around through how I handled it." The persuasion is the whole point.

So a strong story needs three things: a real person you had to move, genuine resistance, and a deliberate step you took to bridge the gap. The result should come from your influence, not luck or your title.

As a grad, work examples are great (a tough client, a resistant colleague), but they don't have to be. A skeptical teammate, a student society, a sports team all work. Just pick the one with the clearest resistance and the clearest action you took.

On scoring, they dig deep. Expect 8-10 follow-ups on a single story, all circling "why did you do that, how did they react." Depth beats a flashy headline every time.

Best way to practice: take one story and drill the why behind every move you made.

Hi there,

That's a tricky one indeed. 

Connection is about how you persuaded somebody. It's about your ability to understand somebody else's perspective, and even if you disagree, jointly create something together. 

If you're preparing for the PEI, I've built a guide that is targeted at that:

• • Video Course: Master the McKinsey PEI

Best,
Cristian 

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your questions:

• First of all, a situation from work is totally fine. McKinsey does not care about the title or the size of the project, only about what you personally did and the influence you had, so I would advise you to pick the situation where you really changed one person's mind, not the one that sounds most impressive.
• Moreover, the Connection dimension is specifically about winning over one concrete person who was not on board, for example a skeptical manager or a client. A strong story shows the real gap between the two of you, the deliberate steps you took to understand and move that person, and a clear outcome, so I would advise you to build it so that most of it is what you did, said, thought, and felt, not the background.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming McKinsey PEIs and McKinsey interviews in general, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi,

let me take the recent-grad worry off the table first: a story from your uni job or gap year is completely fine. McKinsey cares about what happened, not your job title.

Connection is about winning over one specific person, e.g. a manager, a client, a colleague who wasn't on board. A strong story shows a real gap between you and them, and something deliberate you did to read them, build trust, and move them.

So, choose the story where you actually remember the back-and-forth (what you said, how they reacted, the moment it wasn't working and you changed tack). The PEI is a drill-down of it, so don't pick the most impressive story, pick the one you remember in detail.

And that's also how to practice: write it tight, then have someone interrogate you on the follow-ups until you stop reaching for answers. Prep the questions, not the monologue. That's what actually gets tested.

Happy to look at your shortlist if you want a second pair of eyes.
Best,
Franco

hey happy to practice stories! :) 

Connection in on how you convinced someone!

Alessa