Werde aktiv in unserer Community aus über 448.000 Gleichgesinnten!

Verabrede dich zum Casen über das Meeting-Board, nimm an Diskussionen in unserem Consulting Q&A teil und finde gleichgesinnte Case-Partner, um dich auszutauschen und gemeinsam zu üben!

I have been invited to Mckinsey PEI. How do I go about it (details below)?

behavioral interviews McKinsey McKinsey & Company McKinsey PEI
Neue Antwort am 26. Juni 2021
5 Antworten
2,9 T. Views
Anonym A fragte am 4. Mai 2021

Hi. I have been invited to an interview as an Insight/Research Analyst. I have cleared the PSG and the Technical/Case round as well. The HR informed me that there will be 2-3 rounds of Behavourial rounds after the tech/case round. Can I expect case study and guesstimates on these rounds as well or are they purely behavioural or a mix of both?

Übersicht der Antworten

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Datum aufsteigend
  • Datum absteigend
Beste Antwort
Francesco
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 5. Mai 2021
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

It would be very unusual to have 2-3 rounds of behavioral questions only. I would expect cases as well, but you can clarify with HR just in case.

Market sizing and estimation questions (I guess that's what you mean by guesstimates) are relatively rare at McKinsey but there are still present in some countries (eg Italy), in particular in final rounds.

The PEI at McKinsey is structured around three key dimensions: inclusive leadership, personal impact and entrepreneurial drive. Normally, you receive a question for each dimension in each interview. Since 2020, McKinsey started to use the wording “inclusive leadership” to specifically address the leadership question as related to a diverse team.

Below you can find a description of the three dimensions:

1) Inclusive leadership is about leading a diverse team in a challenging situation and showing team management skills. Example:

  • Tell me about a time when you lead a diverse group of people in a challenging situation.

Here you want to emphasize how you overcome a difficult situation by leading a diverse team.

2) Personal Impact is mainly based on persuading someone about doing/not doing something. Example:

  • Tell me about a time when you persuaded your boss to go along with an idea you had.

Here you want to emphasize your influence on someone else, usually in disagreement with you.

3) Entrepreneurial Drive is about starting and implementing something overcoming major difficulties. Example:

  • Tell me about a time when you set a major goal and been able to achieve it, overcoming major difficulties.

Here you want to emphasize the fact you started something and achieved it, with details on the process that led you there.

Besides asking questions on the previous PEI dimensions, they may also ask questions like the following:

  • Tell me about yourself
  • Why consulting
  • Why McKinsey
  • Why should we hire you

Hope this helps,

Francesco

War diese Antwort hilfreich?
Ian
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 4. Mai 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

Congratulations in getting past the first few hurdles!

Now, for the PEI you'll need to be prepared with "Resume Walkthrough" "Why Consulting" and "Why McKinsey" answers. Feel free to PM for guidance here.

In terms of the PEI deep-dive questions, you need to have stories be prepared AND practice going into detail with them (across a range of questions). These stories should be against the Leadership, Personal Impact, and Entrepreuneurship themes.

Step 1 - Categorize the main stories

There are 5-10 "themes" you need to prepare for. i.e. Leadership, teamwork, challenge, etc. Figure out this list and make sure your stories cover this range (PM me and I can provide you with a template for this list)

Step 2 - Create FLEXIBLE stories that cover a range of categories

You need to create 4-6 stories that each cover a range of topics. They need to be powerful stories that can be adjusted and adapted based on the question asked.

One of my "core" or "killer" stories was usable for Initiative, Achievement, Leadership, Challenge, Change of direction, AND Persuasion.

Write down these stories along STAR or similar format...use bullet points

Interview questions notes

Step 3 - Organize these stories so you know which ones can be used for what and PRACTICE

Make sure you cover the whole gambit. Then, practice getting asked a question and thinking of which stories apply. I can assure you, no-one is coming up with full stories in a few seconds. Rather, they have practiced how to adapt an existing story to the question asked.

Interview stories notes

War diese Antwort hilfreich?
Florian
Experte
Content Creator
bearbeitete eine Antwort am 17. Aug. 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there,

You should expect each interview to consist of both 

  • Problem Solving Interview
  • Personal Experience Interview (PEI)

Now for the PEI, you need to prepare stories to discuss three specific personality traits. Below are the three dimensions plus some ideas on what to include:

1. Entrepreneurial Drive

  • Set a goal for yourself and pursue it relentlessly against all odd
  • The focus here should be on overcoming obstacles, showing ambition and dedication as well as ingenuity

2. Personal Impact

  • Persuade a group or individual to adopt a certain idea or plan of yours
  • The focus should really be on the influencing tactics you used to reach your desired outcome

3. Inclusive leadership

  • Show that you can manage a diverse team, leading it to a successful outcome
  • The focus here should be on all traits that make a great leader (e.g., inclusiveness, mentor, mediator, go-to person, people person,...)

Now for each of those dimensions, it is important that

  • you draft two stories each to always have a backup story in case the interviewer rejects the first story
  • you are aware that the interviewer might interrupt you a lot to ask detailed questions, which means your stories need to go very deep as you should be ready to answer very focused questions such as ''what did you say at that moment?'', ''How did he react'', etc.
  • create catchy headlines for each story that already convey the main message
  • you create content for each story to be able to talk freely for around 10 minutes
  • focus on yourself and your own role all the time
  • keep the context brief and really focus on your own actions (context 2 minutes, your actions 8 minutes)

DM me if you need more details or help with an objective McKinsey perspective on the stories you have prepared. I can help you craft them that both content and communication will resonate with the interviewers.

I have written a detailed insider perspective on the PEI that covers all aspects and will help you prepare strong stories here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

Cheers,

Florian

(editiert)

War diese Antwort hilfreich?
Udayan
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 26. Juni 2021
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /6 years McKinsey recruiting experience

Hi,

Congratulations on making it to the next round! Since you asked about PEI - To really be well prepared for McKinsey PEI, you need to master the following 4 steps :

Go through the 3 PEI story types and understand what exactly is being asked

All of your PEI stories will fall into one of 3 buckets

Entrepreneurial Drive - the focus here is on demonstrating where you have used your own drive to solve a challenging problem (not a problem someone asked you to solve)

Personal Impact - Focus here is on how you used your soft skills to influence someone else's decision (always someone more senior to you not someone junior)

Inclusive Leadership (Note this used to be Leadership before - do not make that mistake) - This is a new one. The emphasis here is on demonstrating inclusive leadership in a professional setting. Think about situations where someone has struggled because of who they are and how you helped them be heard etc. Do not talk about volunteering for a ause here, that is the most common mistake candidates make.

Once you know what is being asked - focus on what past experiences you can draw from

Prioritize experiences in the following order

  • Professional/Work related experiences

  • Volunteering experiences where you had a lot of responsibility

  • Experiences from extracurricular/leadership activities at college (if recent)

  • Experiences from extracurricular/leadership activities outside college

Do not rely on the following

  • Personal stories - avoid anything that has to do with personal achievements

  • Outdated experience

  • Helping family business outside of formal employment - if this is your only experience then its fine but typically you want to focus on other experiences

  • Most importantly do not fake it! Very easy to tell when something is not real

Try and select at least 2 experiences for each of the 3 PEI buckets

Now the focus is on creating the stories themselves. The following is critical

  • BE STRUCTURED  - Do not assume you will be able to wing it during the interview with a few bullet points. Follow a systemic structure that works. I highly recommend using the Situation, Complication, Resolution framework. It is simple and also favored at McKinsey.

  • Use TOP-DOWN communication - read up on how to communicate using a top down framework. This will help you in staying focused and communicating clearly

  • Write down everything in detail - Once you write down everything in detail, you will be able to notice the issues and fix them quickly

After you have 5-6 stories

Practice practice practice - practice in front of a mirror, record yourself on video and definitely practice with others

Get feedback - we are all biased and like to do things a certain way. It is very important to get feedback from people that know what a good story sounds like. Ask people at the firm or coaches to give you feedback and incorporate it into what you do

All the best to you, feel free to reach out to me for more in-depth understanding of the points above

Udayan

War diese Antwort hilfreich?
Clara
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 6. Mai 2021
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

If you want to deep dive on the topic, 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 5 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

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

War diese Antwort hilfreich?
Wie wahrscheinlich ist es, dass du uns einem Freund oder Kommilitonen empfiehlst?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Nicht wahrscheinlich
10 = Sehr wahrscheinlich