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This is a great/tricky question! It's a disguised "weakness" question :) The key here is two-fold: 1) Your weakness isn't really quite a weakness in the right context (e.g. I get really committed and sometimes forget to take care of myself); 2) You've learned (from some interesting experience) how to tame the weakness.
The traditional track at McKinsey from bottom to top is Analyst > Associate > Engagement Manager > Associate Partner > Partner. Moving from one position to the next normally takes 1 to 3 years. Each one of the previous role develops from Junior to Senior (e.g. from Junior analyst to Senior analyst).
For all the fit interview questions, it is important to have a proper structure to apply in the answer. A good framework would be the following: 1) Say which is a "good" weakness, that is, a weakness which is not a red flag; 2) Say what you are doing to improve it.
Your career sounds very interesting! In general, the criteria McKinsey is looking at for business students are the following: 1) Being among the top 5% in Bachelor or/and Master degree; 2) Type of business school/university; 3) International experience; 4) Professional experience; 5) Any social activities
Here are my thoughts on travel: 1) Associate & EM: Usually, traveling engagements would make you be out from Monday morning to Thursday nights. Occasionally more for workshops; 2) Partner: Much more travel expected, not only to touch base with the different teams but also to attend client events, etc.
A good structure doesn't need to be rigid. What matters is that you capture the key aspects of the issue, which requires you to be flexible and customise as needed. The branches in your structure can totally include creative ideas. You just need to get your creativity communicated in a structured way.
Use a simple, yet powerful CV plan: education, professionnal experience, projects and business games (optional), additional capabilities (languages, technology, extracurricular). Keep it simple: Two colours maximum. Highlight the important parts. Do not mess with bold and italic.
If you are into video games, you are in luck! If not, it might be a time to start. Candidates report that the Imbellus assessment reminds them of the popular category of “tower defense” games, in particular, Kingdom Rush and Planet Zoo.
Building confidence is always a tough thing in consulting where everyone is super smart around you. My 2 pieces of advice are: 1) Focus on your strengths. What makes you unique? 2) Don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness. It reflects the leadership and ownership mindset that you have to possess.
1) Be specific; 2) Make sure your answers reflect what matters as a consultant; 3) Don't focus on the glamorous aspects of the job; 4) Mention instances where you think consulting has had a big impact on a company or industry and why this is important to your decision making process.
There are many different ways one can approach this problem. I typically approach this following way: 1) What is the total demand for gas stations?; 2) What is the demand for one gas station?; 3) -> Find the total number of gas stations.
As an ex-Mckinsey consultant and part of recruiting team, here is my perspective: Keep the following things in mind while preparing for the Partner interview: 1) Better synthesis and conclusions; 2) Comfort with less structured case discussion; 3) Consistent stories and deep dives.
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