Should I reschedule MBB Final Round interview?

Question

I just got my MBB final round interview, though its scheduling is concerning for a couple of reasons:

1. It is on the same day as my other mbb interview. I am concerned that (despite there being 2 hours in between) I will be burnt out. However all of the undergrad final rounds for this office are that day and the recruiter didn't seem receptive towards rescheduling.

2. It is on Friday at 3pm. I am scared that the partner will have already picked a couple of people to give offers to and check out for me since I am later in the day before their weekend. Is there any validity to this?

Answer 1

I personally think 2 final rounds in one day is extremely challenging. You are right to be concerned about the burn out.

Pick the interview with the firm you are most keen on and try and reschedule the other interview to a different date. You cannot control whom they give offers to and when. You need to solve for giving the best performance at the end of the day.

Best,

Udayan

Answer 2

Yes, you should reschedule. For 2 reasons:

Assuming they are physical interviews, you might not get out on time from the first one. Depending on what position you are interviewing for and which office, some offices make the decision on the spot, then surprise you with a bottle of champaign, give you an office tour, etc...This might throw a wench into your planning
These itnerviews are mentally exhausting. I generally don't recommend having them on a Friday afternoon, let alone 2 in a row.

Your convern about not giving offers because they might have given a few already is not an issue. They are better in planning that to be surprised by the quality of a candidate that just happens to get the latter time slot.

Answer 3

Hi there,

Two finals the same day could mean 6 interviews – you will likely feel it around interview 4 even if you are resilient. It would be great if you could reschedule.

I don’t think your second concern is really an issue – partners make the decision at the end of the recruiting day. In any case, you cannot control the interviewer timeslot, so there is nothing you can do on that point.

Best,
Francesco

Answer 4

Dear A,

Agree, 2 final rounds per day is challenging.

You can ask to postpone one of them to be sure that you will be nicely performed at both.

As for the partner, you can't control or somehow calculate or foreseen this process.

Wish you best of luck,

André

Answer 5

Hi there,

I'm going to be a bit of a contrarian here :)

I personally had case interviews with THREE companies (tier 2s) on one day. For my BCG interview, I flew to Boston quite sick (how times have changed...would never again), completed my interviews (2 case+fit rounds) and flew back home. As you see from my profile, I moved forward for all of them. I did not reschedule because it just looks so bad (for school recruiting).

Now, I'm not saying this is advisable. I was indeed tired. But, it's 100% do-able. And, this sort of thing is definitely expected once you're on the job anyway! (back to back workshops, land from a 4 hour flight and go straight to the client site for a 12 hour day, etc.).

So, think about you and your abilities. Reflect on whether you think you can do it or not....I gaurentee you've done worse (4 final exams at university in a day sort of thing). Adrenaline and coffee are powerful things :)

The reason I ask you to reflect, is, there is huge downside risk to trying to reschedule for school recruiting. They have a set day, and you need to stick to that day. They know if you're re-scheduling for another company and it's a bad look. I have heard of sutdents getting their interview invitation rescinded because of this. Note: This advice is for school-based recruiting NOT experienced/off-cycle recruiting (in which case rescheduling is fine).

Answer 6

Hi there,

In general MBBs can be flexible for rescheduling, especially if you inform them well in advance. There are some situation when they do not accept that, and that applies to campus recruiting when they have a group of interviews to conduct in 2-3 days before moving to the next stage.

I would advise you to reschedule based on the interview stage (final round Vs round 1) and the firm of interest.

All the best,

Mehdi

Answer 7

Hi Anonymous,

Re-scheduling as such is no big deal at all. Pre-covid times I even had candidates sent back home from their on-site interviews after flying in, as they were not 100% healthy and thus certainly not in the ideal state to show their best during interviews. Just to illustrate how irrelevant re-scheduling usually is.

From a consulting firm, it would be a huge waste of money, brains and time to have several highly paid consultants interviewing view, when it's clear you won't bring the best performance to the table if you are already exhaused by previous interviews that day.

So really don't worry about that, it's daily business for HR to re-schedule, just call them and arrange accordingly!

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Answer 8

On 1), try to ask nicely but be mentally prepared that you might not get it if the firms want to stick to the schedule.

On 2), I wouldn't be too concerned about Friday 3pm. In consulting we are all used to long hours. 3pm is not late at all. And they won't decide until they finish all the interviews.

Answer 9

Hi A,

First of all, congratulations on making it to the final round!

Of course, you should reschedule the interview if you are able to do this. There is no necessity to exhaust yourself.

Nevertheless, be prepared to have a very challenging day if you don't succeed in rescheduling and try to do your best in both interviews.

Do you need any further help?
GB

Answer 10

Hello!

Congrats for moving to final round!

As it has been outlined, its very similar, but :

Cases you can expect are more "free riding" - less organized than the ones your found in the 1st round or most prep pages
Stronger emphasis in the FIT part, as outlined before by other coaches.

If you are interested in deepening your knowledge and preparation on the FIT part, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Furthermore, you can find 3 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

- Intro and CV questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/introduction-and-cv-questions-fit-interview-preparation-200

- Motivational questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/motivational-questions-fit-interview-preparation-201

- Behavioural questions (ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE) >https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/behavioral-questions-entrepreneurial-drive-fit-interview-preparation-211

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes for the Integrated FIT Guide, since we still have some left from the launch!