Hi there,

LOVE this breakdown and reflection!

Especially love your line: "This was with a senior consultant and this was a very unexpected interview. An interview which I was not hoping to face."

Alas, the 2 struggles you're facing (Frameworking and Case Leadership) are the two most common AND the two hardest to fix on their own. I do highly recommend coaching if you can.

Here's some reading for both:

How to Shift Your Mindset to Ace the Case
 

Candidate-Led Cases: What to Expect With Example Cases

Preparation for Final Interviews: Based on my experiences, what adjustments should I consider for the upcoming interviews? Any specific areas or strategies to focus on would be highly appreciated.

Definitely frameworking and case leadership. Learning to zoom out.

Insight on the Second Interview: Has anyone encountered a similar interview scenario? I'm curious if this approach is a common practice.

100%. In fact, you're lucky you had 2 “classic” case types. Get ready for unconventional cases!

High-Level Thinking: I'd like to deepen my understanding of "high-level thinking" and how to apply it effectively. Suggestions on refining my problem-solving strategy to be more structured and MECE (mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive) are welcome.

Ultimately, coaching. This is something that's really hard to just type about. You need to zoom up/out.

Feedback Request: Given the lack of detailed feedback from Kearney, would it be advisable to proactively request it? I believe insights from the first two rounds could be invaluable for my final preparation.

There was not a lack of feedback! That's pretty “standard”. They said case leadership and frameworking. 

I can try to ask, but I wouldn't expect too much.

(editiert)

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with Kearney thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your situation:

• First of all, I would advise you to have a look at the guide on final interview rounds I wrote: How to succeed in the final interview round.
• Moreover, yes, I would highly advise you to proactively request feedback of the first interview round. To be frank, this is not necessarily good practice from that specific Kearney office to not provide meaningful feedback.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

(editiert)

Hi there, 

Congrats on getting this far!

Yes, a few things to keep in mind for last round interview:

1. Work on the feedback provided in the previous rounds. Most firms communicate the feedback from the previous rounds to the final interviewer. It's important then to show the final interviewer that you have a growth mindset and are reactive to feedback. This matters immensely. Make sure you are clear on your development areas and that you get the right support to polish them before the final interview.
2. Expect less structure. Senior interviewers already have the confidence that you are a decent candidate, your skills having been already vetted by their younger colleagues. They are rather more interested in your as a person and your way of thinking. So they might present you with an unusual case, or one that is created on the spot or no case altogether. Expect anything.
3. Focus on excellent communication. Senior interviewers care a lot about how clearly you communicate and how you manage to forge a connection with the interviewer. It's important to be top-down and concise as much as possible with your answers, while allowing the conversation to flow in a natural way.
4. Put yourself in their shoes. The one question senior interviewers are asking themselves throughout the interview is what will happen when they'll put you in front of a client they've groomed for years? Make sure that even based on this first impression you seem somebody who can be trusted and who can work with any client regardless of how difficult they might be.

Best,
Cristian

Hey there,

Congrats on passing the first round!

95% of partner rounds are just as standardized as the first round. The reason why you read about freestyle partner experiences is that they deviate from what people expect, hence they post about it more frequently online, hence giving others the impression it is much more common.

Additionally, partner rounds are often perceived as more challenging, just because it's a partner sitting across the table rather than a more junior colleague. It is purely based on the impression and not on the content. :-)

If there are any deviations from the standard interviewer guidelines, expect them to be in the following realm:

• Focus on one or two areas where you were perceived as not as strong in round one, which can be specific case questions or fit questions
• Only doing a case, only doing fit instead of both
• Doing two shorter cases in quick succession
• Challenging your answers more
• Not providing any time for you to think about the answer, making it more conversational

In any case, the most important thing is not to be startled by this and just keep working on the case or the fit in a calm manner.

All the best for your second round!

Cheers,

Florian

It's impossible to give you advice in one paragraph that would make you instantaneous better. You need tailored preparation support.