Hello! 

First, congrats on making it to the Partner round!

I would say keep the line open with follow ups during the next few weeks but don't put too much pressure. As it is indeed holiday month, Partners might be out or not in “right mood” if they get pressured to do interviews anyway. You would rather have then when refreshed and ready to have good interview to maximize your chances. 

Context will probably not change over the holidays and if anything probably strengthen so role will remain (they don't recruit for right now but with a few month delay vs need anyway). 

I know it is frustrating but that is not in your control so I'd recommend: Stay sharp & ready and keep the communication on without being pushy (just checking in)!

Best of success! Let me know if I can help. 
Cheers, Nicolas 

Hi there,

congratulations!

It sounds like they told you that they will schedule something once the partner is available. That means the ball is in their court for now and I would recommend to let it sit there for a bit. 

The only situation I could think of where it would make sense to “push” at this point is if you had another offer and the deadline for the decision on whether or not to accept was approaching.

Otherwise, I would just use the extra time to prepare for the interview and follow up with them in early January if you don't hear back before then.

Best of luck

Hi there,

Nicely done!

When it comes to scheduling and your preferences, you're generally not pushing the envelope if you enquire about possible changes that are perceived as reasonable. For example:

• Reasonable: Move back or forth by a weeks, or even months, because you have legitimate professional commitments, concerns about your interview performance, difficult family issues, etc. This will be well perceived as you're trying to be a good professional/person and high performer.
• Unreasonable: Asking for a few months delay on your interview because you want to go on a backpacking trip to Asia. This may seem legitimate to some but the firm will likely just move on to the next candidate who shows actual commitment. 

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

Hi there,

This is a ‘typical atypical’ interview situation with a senior interviewer at McKinsey. I train this with my coachees at the offchance they encounter this situation, just as you did and I did when I interviewed with the firm.

Your best chance is to just roll with it and remember that despite the different format, you're still being tested with the same scoring criteria in mind. 

What you were being tested on were primarily your analytical skills and to some degree your conceptual skills. As for analytical skills, this is all about your ability to ‘create something out of nothing’. In other words, if you're being given a high-level situation with a high-level question/objective and you're generally expected to hypothesize as to:

• What could be important to analyze if you were on the project (you're not asked to actually analyze it - big difference)
• What could be some measures to turn things around
• What are some of the reasons that could have led to this situation

The important thing is when it comes to hypothesizing is that you don't build an actionable framework that leads to an analysis. Instead, you must give it your best shot and basically speculate based on educated guessing, trying to relate to as many of the crumbs of information you're being given.

In order to hypothesize, you should always imagine that you're being asked WHAT and WHY. For example: WHAT are some of the drivers that could have led to this situation and WHY? It's really the answer to the why that is your hypothesis as it fills your answer with life by justifying it. Just throwing out single words isn't enough.

I hope this answer resonates with you and your experience. Best of luck!

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Hi there,

Congrats on making it past the technical round!

You don't really have a choice here to be honest. If the Partner isn't available, the Partner isn't available.

Please don't push. They'll do what they will do and you have no control over it.

That said, interviewing in Jan isn't a terrible thing -you can have more time to prepare and even get a bit of a rest/recharge in between as well.

Use the time well!

Some reading to help in the meantime:

The Most Common Pitfalls in Case Interview Preparation
 

Dos and Don'ts in a Case Interview
 

How to Shift Your Mindset to Ace the Case
 

Candidate-Led Cases: What to Expect With Example Cases
 

Tell Me About Yourself – Interview Questions

Congratulations on making it through the technical round at Deloitte Middle East! It's great to hear that you're now moving on to the final round, although there may be a slight delay due to the holiday season. While it's understandable to be concerned about waiting until January, it's important to remember that the partner round is a critical step in the hiring process. It's best to wait for the partner to be available and ensure that you have the opportunity to showcase your skills and fit for the role. Deloitte is a reputable firm, and they value their hiring decisions. If you have any specific concerns or questions, I recommend reaching out to the HR team at Deloitte for clarification. They will be able to provide you with more information and guidance on the next steps. Good luck with your final round, and I hope you secure the role at Deloitte Middle East!

Hi there,

Q: I might have to wait till Jan’24. Wondering if I keep pushing the envelope or not in between? Am worried if I wait for Jan, things might change and this role not sure if it remains or not. What should I do?

Unfortunately, I don’t think you have real control of the timeline in this situation. 

The only option you have to try to accelerate the process is if you have another offer you can leverage. In that case, you can reach out and disclose the offer - they might help to accelerate the process and conclude it in December. Otherwise, you will have to wait for the scheduled time they will propose.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hi there,

you can definitely check in with HR to see if there is a way to accelerate the process. Do you have a competitive offer? This could create some positive momentum. Else, use the time to prepare for the partner round, it will be a different game vs. prior rounds ;-)… Warm regards, Freddy

Hi!

Congrats on getting to the final round. That's an achievement in and of itself. 

Yes, I'd definitely have other leads going at the same time. It's never good to depend on one. Even if the role stays available or the interview gets scheduled as discussed, it might still not work out which then is going to create some problems on your side. 

So keep applying, keep interviewing and ideally you have options rather than regrets. 

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

The best course of action depends on your priorities:

1) If you prioritise Deloitte, you may want to try and push the recruiter about scheduling a round this month. If you have another offer on your hand it's more likely that they'll go along with your request;
2) If Deloitte is not a priority for you right now, I would not bother trying to push the interview. Instead, you way want to keep interviewing with other firms in the meantime.

Good luck!
Nick