2. You Freeze When the Interview Goes Off Script
Final-round interviews can sometimes be less structured than R1.
- For example, partners may interrupt your structure, challenge an assumption, ask unusual follow-up questions or turn the case into more of a business discussion rather than a series of typical case interview questions
- For example, some partners may ask extremely unconventional questions, or even deviate entirely from the standard case interview format
This can expose candidates who have become too dependent on the standard case interview format, and I’ve seen many candidates panic or freeze – basically unable to respond to the questions or deviated format in a convincing way.
Needless to say, if you aren’t able to give a strong answer or response to the senior interviewer, you are likely not going to pass. If your performance drops significantly as soon as the format changes, that is usually a sign that you have learned how to solve a particular type of case rather than how to actually think critically and solve problems in the way consultants do.
3. Your Business Judgment Is Not Strong Enough
Partners tend to care a lot about business judgment and "common sense" because this is ultimately at the core of consulting.
- For example, you can have a perfectly MECE structure, but may give weak or poor business judgment in terms of what would be interesting or a priority to investigate
- For example, you can come up with a response to a brainstorming question, but fail to realize the broader business dynamic that the interviewer’s question is actually asking
Clients don't pay consultants to merely frameworks or perform some calculations. Any framework or calculation needs to be contextualized and reasoned with the right logic.
4. You Don't Get to Insights
The more senior the interviewer, the more they will care about insights. Candidates that are not able to push the discussion beyond the superficial often end up failing the second round.
- For example, you think you are interpreting a chart or graph well, but you are actually only making observations or stating the obvious, rather than getting to the insights
- For example, you are able to perform your calculations correctly, but are unable to think strategically and elevate the meaning of the numbers
An weak/avearge candidate is someone that only makes observations, a strong candidate gets to insights. This means being able to go beyond the obvious and explain the ‘so what’.
At the end of the day, clients expect consultants to tell them something new – to tell them some insights. This is arguably the most fundamental to consulting and something that senior interviewers will be on the look out for.
5. Your Performance Is Not Consistent Enough
Sometimes, you simply got a little lucky in R1.
- For example, perhaps you received a case in R1 you had seen before in an industry you knew well or exactly the type of question you had practiced.
- For example, in your normal practice, you already know that sometimes you do well and sometimes you don’t
Consistency is key – all it takes is for 1 interviewer in the final round to fail you. You need to be able to perform to a high standard for both the final round interviews. This is why the number of cases you have completed is not necessarily a good measure of readiness. Therefore, the more important question is: Can you perform consistently regardless of what case you get?
Practical advice to prepare for the final round
To ensure that you will crush the final round, I suggest the following practical steps:
1. Ask for Feedback After R1
Don't assume that because you passed, everything went perfectly. Try to understand both your strong and weak areas from R1, so you can understand what the interviewers may want to validate further.
The reality is that not every firm/interviewer will provide detailed feedback. If they don't, critically assess your own performance. Where did you struggle? Where did the interviewer push you? Which answers were least convincing?
2. Get Targeted Practice on Your Weak Areas
Once you identify your weaknesses, work specifically on them. Simply doing another 20 full cases is not always the most efficient preparation.
Note that some aspects are significantly easier to practice by yourself or with peers (e.g. calculations, brainstorming). However for the more challenging aspects such as structuring, critical thinking and getting to insights, this is where you really need to get quality feedback from an experienced interviewer if you want to improve effectively.
3. Get a Realistic Partner-Level Simulation
Try to experience at least one partner style interview mock where things don't go according to plan.
Ideally, practice with someone senior and experienced enough to understand what a Partner-level interview actually feels like and know how an MBB Partner might think. Peers and junior consultants can be great practice partners for R1, but it is difficult for many aspiring consultants to simulate an interview if they do not already have experience dealing with senior level stakeholders in consulting and in client facing work.
4. Make Sure Your Fundamentals Are Strong
Ultimately, many of the reasons above come back to the same issue: weak fundamentals. The skills being tested in R2 are not fundamentally different from R1. You still need to structure well, analyze information, demonstrate business judgment, communicate clearly and generate insights. What changes is how those skills might be tested. If you can only structure when explicitly asked to build a structure, or only solve cases that follow a familiar format, then your fundamentals are probably not strong enough.
You cannot prepare for every unusual question a Partner might ask. Instead, build your underlying skills to the point where it shouldn't really matter what question you are asked or how it is asked.
That is the most foolproof way to prepare for the final round.
