I was told I would have 3 one on one interview sessions with consultants and IF i pass I would have a 2 Final round interviews with Partners of the Firm. Now I was told to expect the invites soon within 2 weeks.
I'm panicking. I am new to case studies, and I was told I can't reschedule due to the need, nature and timing of the role/invite.
HELP !!
Hi Zadok,
I usually recommend the following to prepare (you may have already covered some of them):
If you want to spend few hours only instead of 100+ and cover everything mentioned above, I developed a program to do precisely that. I helped recently someone starting from almost zero to get a McK offer in around 2 weeks (you check the reviews of the program for references).
You can click on the following link to learn more:
https://u.preplounge.com/63phuq
After this program, you will know exactly what to expect in your interview, what to work on, and how to focus on the real differentiators to land a McKinsey offer.
Please feel free to PM me if you need more information.
Best,
Francesco
Hi Zadok,
First, please learn this valuable lesson: Prepare ahead of time for all opportunities...don't wait till the last minute.
Second, if you're going to get ready in time (2 weeks is incredibly short if you're starting at ground 0), you really need a coach. Get one ASAP...they'll make sure you ramp up as fast as possible (doing this yourself if going to be super stressful+challenging)
Yh. I didn't expect it to be this soon honestly. And the fact that I wouldn't be able to reschedule. Be honest with me, would a coach on here really help me since most people say I can't get prepared in 2 weeks. Is it wise to spend on a coach? I'm in panic mode honestly.
Hi Zadok, apologies but I just saw this. Short answer: Yes. I have prepared candidates in two weeks. It's not ideal, but I maximize time/value to make this happen.
Hey there,
Congrats on the opportunity to interview with McK! Here is my advice on structuring your prep, specifically for McKinsey:
1. Read up on what is expected of you during the interview (McK career website offers some useful materials and videos to familiarize yourself with the type of interviews they are doing).
2. Practice the McKinsey sample cases on their website to get a feel for their focus on creative, non-standard, and interviewer-led cases and their 3 question types (structure, exhibit, math).
3. Hire a coach for one baseline session. You want to make sure to maximize what you get out of your preparation efforts early on to not waste any time.
The latter covers several points:
4. Work on cases with peers, practicing the approach and structure learned. It is important you stick to interviewer-led cases during your practice and that the cases cover the actual McKinsey question types.
5. Work on the exercises recommended by your coach to improve on your own.
6. In steps 4 and 5, build your skills: Elevate your performance in areas of weakness to become at least solid and robust in your approach and methodology; elevate your performance in areas you already feel comfortable to an excellent level. That way, you make sure to establish spikes in some areas of the case and have a solid methodology and approach in others, which will result in a well-balanced candidate profile and interview performance. That way, you can also make minor mistakes during the real case interviews, which will not hurt your outcome. For instance, if you struggle with math, there is no excuse not to devote 2 hours a day for weeks to work through math drills and calculation exercises. At the same time, you can devote 1-2 hours a day to structuring or chart interpretation exercises or full case interview drills.
7. Consider sprinkling in professional coaching sessions every now and then to calibrate your performance, get honest feedback, and effective advice on changes to your prep strategy, and plan
If you want to fast-track your McKinsey interview preparation, I am happy to help. I developed this program to fast-track your McK interview preparation and elevate your chances to pass significantly: https://www.preplounge.com/en/profile.php?id=337437#coaching-package
All the best!
Cheers,
Florian
If you can fully devote these 2 weeks for prep, it's honestly not too bad so don't panic.
You need a coach to spend the time with. What you need in a coach:
- To be 100% sure that they are someone who was on an EM level with McKinsey
- Start as soon as possible
- Someone who can spend with you 2-3 hours per day (no more needed imo)
- Someone you can trust to not use you as a cash-cow (takes you anyway even though he/she is not sure they can really make your odds to pass reasonable) but a professional who can tell you " I can't" if they can't.
- Make a clear plan with them (on what to do per day .. etc)
Best of luck mate
(editiert)
On the plus side you know that you need to prepare at all costs for the first round in a short amount of time. I agree with Ian - a coach will help you pinpoint areas you are strong at and areas you need to work on in order to quickly get up to speed. Other than that there is a lot of advice here on how to prepare and what resources to use. Remember to not forget to focus on PEI - 50% of your score will come from there.
Best,
Udayan
