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

McKinsey R3

Hi, 

Has anyone experienced the Values & Purpose interview for R3 at McKinsey ? 
I don't really know what to prepare... 2 stories that regroup the 3 values of McKinsey ? or 2 stories for each of the value ?

Thanks !

8
600+
21
Schreibe die erste Antwort!
Bisher hat niemand auf diese Frage reagiert.
Beste Antwort
Hagen
Coach
bearbeitet am 7. Feb. 2025
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 8+ years consulting, 8+ years coaching and 7+ years interviewing experience

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the (presumed) progress in the application process with McKinsey thus far!

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

  • First of all, I would like to assure you that this is a relatively new format for the personal fit part that McKinsey is using in specific regions and countries.
  • Moreover, I would advise you to prepare two situations for the McKinsey value in the same way you did for the other dimensions that are normally asked in the PEI. Moreover, please have a look at https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/overview/our-purpose-mission-and-values to learn about what the value entails in order to spark your inspiration.
  • Lastly, and contrary to what other coaches have said, you seem to be free to choose any value you want to talk about in the interview.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

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

Best,

Hagen

Evelina
Coach
am 8. Feb. 2025
EY-Parthenon (6 years) l BCG offer holder l 97% success rate l 30% off first session l free 15' intro call l LBS

The Values & Purpose interview for Round 3 at McKinsey is designed to assess your alignment with the firm’s core values: Adhere to the highest professional standards, Improve our clients’ performance, and Create an unrivaled environment for exceptional people.

How to Prepare:
    •    Two well-structured stories that showcase your personal values, leadership, and decision-making under ethical or high-impact situations.
    •    Each story should ideally demonstrate multiple McKinsey values rather than one per story.
    •    Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method to structure your responses.

Key Focus Areas:
    1.    Integrity & Professionalism: A time you faced an ethical dilemma or upheld high standards.
    2.    Impact & Problem-Solving: How you drove meaningful results for a team, project, or organization.
    3.    Collaboration & Leadership: How you helped others grow or contributed to a high-performing environment.

It’s less about rigidly mapping stories to each value and more about showing who you are as a leader, decision-maker, and team player. Authenticity is key!

Happy to help you prepare your answers - feel free to DM me.

Best,

Evelina

Eric
Coach
am 6. Feb. 2025
Principal at BCG | 100+ decision round interviews | BCG case bank contributor

As a general rule, preparing separate questions for each value is ideal to avoid duplicated stories across different rounds or interviewers. 

However if there is only one last interview left, then you can consider combining it. Again, the goal is to avoid duplicated stories as much as possible

am 6. Feb. 2025

Good question! For the Values & Purpose interview at McKinsey, the best approach is to have two strong stories that demonstrate the firm’s core values—leadership, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial drive. Ideally, each story should touch on multiple values rather than trying to force-fit one per value. Using the STAR method can help keep your answers structured and impactful. Be ready to dive deeper if the interviewer asks for specifics!

6
Alessa
Coach
am 7. Feb. 2025
xMcKinsey & Company | xBCG | +200 individual & group coachings | feel free to schedule a 15 min intro call for free

Hey!

The Values & Purpose interview is designed to see how well you embody McKinsey's core values, so rather than trying to force one story to cover multiple values, it's more effective to have a dedicated story for each value that clearly demonstrates your alignment and experiences, drawing on specific moments that highlight the principles they care about; based on my experience as a interviewer at McKinsey & Company, I can say that authenticity and clarity in your narratives are key, and since I teach many people how to approach this interview, I'm happy to help if you have any more questions.

Alessa :)

Thabang
Coach
am 11. Feb. 2025
Ex-McKinsey Consultant | McKinsey Top Coach & Interviewer | Special Offer: Buy 1 Session Get 1 Free (Limited time!)

Hey there,

Sadly, too many responses here are misinformed. 

When I was a McKinsey interviewer, I was trained and coached on this new dimension and have interviewed candidates on this. There are a couple of specific items McKinsey is looking for here, but ultimately it is about alignment between your stories (i.e. your behaviour and character) with one of McKinsey's values. So it's important to know what McKinsey's values are when trying to find a successful match with your stories

For more strategic implementation on how to be successful in this dimension, please speak with coaches that really know how you'll be graded an assessed on this dimension. I'd be more than happy to help with this. DM me and we can work to get you successful here

All the best

Mariana
Coach
am 6. Feb. 2025
You CAN make it! | xMckinsey | 1.5h session | +200 sessions |Free 20-Minute Call

Hi!

Find a similar question to yours with good responses here.

Best,

Mari

Florian
Coach
am 7. Feb. 2025
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 600+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU

Hi there,

McKinsey is using this format for 2+ years now in a couple of offices. 

Approach it the same way as you would with a PEI interview: https://www.preplounge.com/mckinsey-pei

  1. Think of relevant situations using the SCORE framework
  2. Create engaging stories as I describe in the article with a focus on their values related to one of their pillars, eg., their meritocratic value (third pillar).:
  • be nonhierarchical and inclusive
  • sustain a caring meritocracy
  • develop one another through apprenticeship and mentoring
  • uphold the obligations to engage and dissent
  • embrace diverse perspectives with curiosity and respect
  • govern ourselves as a “one firm” partnership

3. One story per pillar should be fine. Discuss the overarching theme and then examples of how you display it by going into the individual values

Cheers,

Florian

Ähnliche Fragen
Consulting
McKinsey: Probability of getting an offer after the unsuccessful final interview
am 22. Nov. 2024
Europa
7
4,0k
Beste Antwort von
Hagen
Coach
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 8+ years consulting, 8+ years coaching and 7+ years interviewing experience
108
7 Antworten
4,0k Aufrufe
+4
Consulting
Guidance for prep for McKinsey interview in 1 week
am 21. Okt. 2024
Europa
8
3,1k
Beste Antwort von
Hagen
Coach
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 8+ years consulting, 8+ years coaching and 7+ years interviewing experience
77
8 Antworten
3,1k Aufrufe
+5
Consulting
Got invited to an interview but....
am 30. Jan. 2025
Europa
6
2,5k
Beste Antwort von
Hagen
Coach
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 8+ years consulting, 8+ years coaching and 7+ years interviewing experience
31
6 Antworten
2,5k Aufrufe
+3
Wie wahrscheinlich ist es, dass du uns einem Freund oder Kommilitonen empfiehlst?
0 = Nicht wahrscheinlich
10 = Sehr wahrscheinlich
Vielen Dank für dein Feedback! Deine Meinung hilft uns, PrepLounge noch besser zu machen.