Fit interview

I assume you are talking about an MBB firm. If so, all first and second round recruiters gather together to take the final hiring decision. They will look for consensus and anyone has voice to veto your progress to next round. Recruiter is also present in the decision call to make sure everyone has equal weight in the final decision.

You can check how the recruiting process works from an internal MBB perspective here:

MBB Hiring Hacks - Behind the Curtain Secrets

Best,

Alberto

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Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Hello,

This is quite typical in final rounds where the firm has already tested your cognitive abilities in initial rounds and they want to understand what kind of a consultant can you be. In my opinion, they test the following skills:

1- Ability to think on your feet - this is tested by asking you questions that you are unprepared for clearly. This will prepare you for dealing with difficult clients.

2- They want to get to know you as a person - will they get along with you? how will you fit in the team that they already have? You do not NEED to be anyone but yourself.

3- They want to see if consulting is truly a good fit for you - and that you will not quit a few months into the job.

4- Lastly, they want to see if you have clarity of thought and clarity of communication. Are you able to clearly articulate your motivations? Are you able to structure your opinions before you speak?

All the best!

Rushabh

At the partner round, they are reasonably confident that you have the IQ and skills required to do well at your role. So, the focus turns towards assessing your fit with the firm. They are most concerned with whether you will be a team player and work with everyone to achieve the project goals (vs only doing things your way/focusing on your part) and if you are coachable given that there is a steep learning curve involved.

Things that they look for

• Thoughtfulness of your answer - if they are asking about career moves etc. it is to see if you have thought about how to approach your roles or just jumped from what seemed exciting at one time to another
• Ability to communicate - can you clearly articulate your reasoning without waffling and can you paint a story that others are interested to follow
• Ability to engage - can you create a bond with the interviewer by being engaging and building a connection which is a key skill at a client facing role
• Overall presence - do you bring you full authentic self to the interview and other interactions or are you pretending to be a version of what you think a consultant should be like

Hope the above helps,

Best,

Udayan

It's usually positive to have such a case structure, in my experience.
It may happen with senior partners that they prefer to see you as a person, then test your math, in particular, if you have done other cases and they know about it and if you have a quite analytical background and/or some relevant work experience. 

Hi there,

1) How do the partners usually make their decision?

This question is a bit too generic. The interviewer looks for specific elements depending on the question. What they look for in a fit question is not what they look for in a math question. So it would be better if you could specify the exact question for which you would like to know more.

2) And now I wonder what qualities have been assessed and how to evaluate my own performance?

Getting a lot of fit questions is not necessarily a bad sign. In one of my interview rounds I had only fit questions with the interviewer without any case, as we had a good connection, I then moved to the next round.

Good luck!

Francesco

I'm so glad you posted this.

It's why I constantly (annoyingly) preach that you cannot predict interviews.

So many people ask “for x country, x role, x company, x channel, what can I expect”. Nothing!

Your experience is more typical than you might think (in that it is “atypical”).

Here is my “sentence of an optimal candidate". If you did this, you did well:

"Someone who can approach a complicated problem and think + communicate in a structured way in the right context+objective of the problem/question, while being personable, adaptable, and coachable, so that, ultimately, the interviewer can see themselves working with this individual and putting them in front of a client."

Hi there,

Partners are the final filter to confirm that you fit into the culture under their purview, are personable, can think on your feet and that you are presentable internally and externally (to clients).

I have heard about and seen situations where the partner actually didn't care much about giving a case to the candidate because solving cases had already been tested sufficiently leading up to the final partner interview. On the subject matter side, the meeting turned more into a discussion about the industry area the partner was focused on. 

Evaluating your own performance is tricky at this point. If the conversation felt authentic and genuine, I would say it's usually a good sign. But you'll unfortunately have to wait for the official feedback.

Best of luck

Well done on getting through to the final round! Partner interviews are often more focused on the fit element - so this isn't surprising! It's impossible to say without knowing which company you were interviewing for exactly what they were looking for - so my honest suggestion is to try to put it to the back of your mind and not try to guess the outcome. It's equally as impossible for you to know as it is for us to guess. 

Good luck!

Hi there,

The method of assessment and the factors interviewers care about differ from one person to the other. However, typically partners look for individuals they would be comfortable putting in front of their clients (mature, confident, well spoken, structured and smart). In addition, it's important to have a strong business acumen.

Mario