For candidates to pass the several stages of MBB interviews, they typically have to demonstrate their (i) strong personal fit within the firm and (ii) efficient problem solving skills.
Generally, MBB interviews are know to be very uncertain (i.e., random pairing with interviewers and case selection) and luck plays a big factor for candidates.
However, a strong candidate can't base his chances on luck to pass the several stages of MBB interviews but they can be trained to excel under whatever situation they'd experience during their interviews journey and this can be done by focusing on two things:
1- Strong personal fit pitch
- The interviewer would see several candidates on a given day and would only remember and push for 1-2. The interviews would try understand (i) Does this candidate have the right drive and motivation to thrive in our demanding work style (ii) Can we send this candidate to deal with our clients? (iii) Would I enjoy working with this candidate ?
- To help the interviewer see all those, I will support the candidates to build their story to cover all those aspects
2- Efficient problem solving method:
- This is where I'd spend the most with candidates to hone their skills to be effective with four elements:
- Understand the problem at hand and what we are solving for
- Develop an efficient structure focused on the client's pain point
- Do the needed analysis and math as efficient as possible
- Come-up with logical and data-based recommendation
On top of this, I'd also share with the candidate some tricks on how to ‘manage’ the case flow