Should I give up the interview from McKinsey ?

Question

Applied for the capability&insight analyst position and got a response from HR basically one day after to schedule a phone screening call. I heard that capability&insght analyst does not make as much as the consultant and I asked for an 85k annual base salary didn't expect the HR said: “it is doable”. After the call, I got my first-round interview invitation which is 7 days away and I did not prepare for the case interview at all. I sent an email asking to postpone but got rejected. I wonder is it still worth struggling to swallow all the materials and practice for the following 7 days? I mean McKinsey is my dream since undergraduate but I think it will be wise to quit earlier if there is not much chance to win. I did not expect such a small time gap between the application and the first round

Answer 1

Hey there,

If you have never done a case and only a week to prepare it's going to be tough, especially for McKinsey.

I'd approach it the following way:

Ask them politely to reschedule again since you are not prepared yet for the interviews. Usually, McKinsey HR is very accepting of that, especially since they don't want to waste interviewer resources either. If they don't agree, you could also ask them to wait for another intake for that specific position. The benefit is that you would not be banned for 12-24 months once failing the interview but just a couple of months once the position becomes available again.
Get a coach. I once coached a guy from no-case experience to McKinsey offer in 4 days, going through 5 sessions in total. It can work if you are a fast learner and dedicate all your 7 days to the task.

Have a look at the following two articles that I wrote, specific for McKinsey interviews:

Case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview

PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

All the best!

Florian

Answer 2

Hi there,

That’s unusual as consulting companies are normally flexible with their interview timeline. I would call HR and explain the situation over the phone, possibly they may be able to give you at least another week if you explain the situation.

If you cannot postpone, I would still go for the interview – there is no benefit for you not to attend. Worst case, you are going to get the same outcome as if you withdraw.

In terms of how to prepare, you can find some tips below:

▶ How to Prepare for an MBB Interview with Limited Time

Best,

Francesco

Answer 3

Hi there,

I wouldn't quit because of the little time left for prep. Even if you fail, you can always reapply and failing can be a great learning experience.

What I don't really understand if why were you rejected with postponing? It's always better to claim some undisclosed personal reasons, or worse comes to worse, medical reasons - things that they can't argue against. Now it might be a bit late to pull that thread though.

One thing you could do to accelerate your trajectory is to do sessions with other candidates and especially with coaches (the latter is likely to bring you the furthest in the short time available)

Answer 4

Hello!

In this case I always give the same advice: ask for more time. Is hard enough when you are ready, but when you are not, is impossible. Give them good reasons for it, and they should accept.

Postponing my interviews was the best decision I could possibly make, and my only way to make it.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 5

Hi there,

Sorry that they rejected your request to postpone!

Honestly, at this point I don't see why you wouldn't still go through with it. I had a candidate recently who managed to get a McKinsey offer after just 1 week of prep. Granted, I don't advise this, and we did have 5 coaching sessions to get him ready, but it's still do-able!

Worst case scenario is you “practice”, see what it looks like, and then can apply again in a year.

Good luck!

Answer 6

I would just ask for more time. If you don’t feel ready, it’s already an uphill battle.