Hello,
on November 23rd I will go through the final round for a job at McKinsey Implementation in Dubai.
Do you have suggestions in terms of most common PEI and cases questions for the practice in Dubai?
Can you also tell me if you have any idea about the possibility to pass from Implementation to generalist in the future?
Thank you very much!
Hi,
In the final round, I would expect a bit more structured and demanding approach to the fit part. The partners in the last round are more experienced and they will challenge every single detail of your story. So make sure that you have a couple of backup stories. Thus:
1) Make sure that you've prepared everything: A story about yourself, motivational questions and the main FIT stories. Also, don't forget about your questions to the interviewer - you'd rather have an interesting conversation and score some point instead of a simple Q&A session
2) Then go through each story and think of the additional questions the interviewer may ask. It’s important since additional questions will take up to 50% of the interview. Try to remember the main details and facts and make sure that you know how to explain the key concepts quickly. Test your stories with your friends, ideally consultants, and ask for their feedback. There can be multiple groups of additional questions:
3) Now work on 3-6 backup stories. During your interviews, you can then use these stories or adapt these stories to the additional questions your interviewer asks you.
You may be interested, why you need to prepare several stories for each question? At the end of the day, it's not that easy to come up with all of these stories. I've answered here: Repeating Fit Interview Stories
As for the cases - Partners and Directors have their own favorite cases and may even want you to lead the case. The key difference:
It may seem to you that these 2 types of cases are different, however, the interviewer-led type is just a simplified version of the interviewee-led case. My advice is to always prepare in the interviewee-led format so that you could solve both easily.
Best
Hi Giuseppe,
Vlad has covered the main points in his answer. At this stage they already like you and want to ensure that the strengths observed in the first round are real and that you are indeed a strong candidate for the role. A lot more focus on PEI here as well as they want to ensure you will be a good fit for the role culturally and can handle the demanding nature of the job.
In terms of moving from implementation to generalist based on my personal observations this isn't something that I have seen happen. The primary reason being that the people applying for the implementation role have a very different skillset and different career ambitions to consultants. They are more interested in the execution aspects of the projects and are staffed for much longer (up to 2 years if needed) at a client site.
Hope that helps,
Udayan
Hello!
For FIT:
On top of the insights already shared in the post, 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.
Feel free to PM me for disccount codes, since we still have some left from the launch!
Hope you find it useful!
Best,
Clara
Dear Giuseppe,
the structure of the final is the same (fit + case+ your questions); however there is more emphasis on communication and fit to the company.
Specifically, the main difference you will find in a final round with partners is that at that stage they:
spend more time on fit questions and your alignment with the company - I am sending your attached FAQ for different companies
check more closely your communication (eg how you react to challenging questions)
may not have a “proper” structured case to present – during one of my MBB finals I had one interview which was made by two market sizing questions and a brainteaser, without any business case. That's because during the final they know you can structure and crack a case (you passed 1 or 2 rounds already) and are more interested in your logic, personality and fit with the company
So in order to prepare I would concentrate on:
Review in detail your personal fit stories – they will matter more than in the first two rounds. In some finals I had almost exclusively behavioral questions
Work on your communication (reaction under pressure is extremely important, how to gain time when you do not have a structure ready, connect with the interviewer, etc). This is something you can do with peers or with me.
Prepare cases as you did for the first rounds. More market sizing practice may be useful to think out of the box if you get unusual questions.
In case you need help with unusual cases please feel free to PM me, I do a specific session on them (eg How would you estimate the effect of the Coronavirus on the economy in the Middle East)?
Best,
André
(editiert)
