Career & Application at McKinsey & Company

Yes it can. I referred a friend for a specific practice role although they had been rejected for the generalist track. But applying for the same role just with a referral this time might not be enough unless your referral is Partner level and a really strong one

Look I don't think the impact is driven by geography/region. Impact is driven by demand and supply. So for example there are a lot of candidates who would like to work in NYC and as such NYC will favor students from top schools

Offices in locations that are not as popular will be open to high achieving students from non-target schools regardless of where that school is.

Finally yes as you get more experience - your education will become less important and virtually any sort of transfer is possible for high performing consultants

Hi!

As usual - instead of just outlining topics and buckets à la Victor Cheng (which have no explicit inherent logic), the key to an outstanding case performance is laying out the precise logic according to which you will answer the question!

In PE cases, the current purchasing price is only of secondary importance! The only thing that really matters is whether you believe that you can resell the company after a couple of years at a price that exceeds the current asking price by the minimum ROI percentage.

For example, if the asking price is 100MM USD and the PE fund has a minimum ROI requirement of 35% and wants to hold the company no longer than 4 years, then the only thing that matters is whether you believe that this company can be sold for more than 135MM USD in 4 years!

So you have to understand/find out how valuation works in this industry. If, e.g., there is a pertinent industry multiple (say 10), then this mens that if you believe you can get the target company to annual profit of more that 13.5MM USD, then this will make sense financially.

So the task is then to analyze, whether it is realistic to bring the target company to this profit level of 13.5MM USD per year.* If yes, this is a good deal based on the financial analysis.

Cheers, Sidi

*: So you will need to check the Status Quo, how far is the target company away from the required annual profit, and how can profits be brought to that level. This is an embedded diagnostic question within a larger strategic go- or no-go question. The analysis is done with the usual instrument: a driver tree which disaggregates the focus metric (profit) in order to identify optimization potential.

Hi!

There is a whole lot of great questions you can ask. My best advice is to really think through what interests you most about the job, the firm, or the industry! If you have a particular interest (industry sector, nonprofit area, social engagement, etc.) you can ask if there are touch points/adjacent areas in the firm you could explore. Also, make sure to relate your interests and questions to your background and/or career/life objectives.

That being said, here are a couple of example questions – but by no means exhaustive:

1. "Can you tell me about your background, and in particular how you ended up as a BCG consultant?" (if the interviewer has a rather exotic professional/educational background)
2. "I’d be interested to hear what your most challenging case has been thus far in your career?"
3. "What do you think are the biggest misperceptions that applicants have about consulting?"
4. "I’m really interested in [particular interest, such as public sector consulting or renewable energy]. I’d be interested to hear what you know about that area at BCG."
5. "I’ve heard from various people who say your firm is [something good about BCG] but also that [something bad about BCG]. To what extent is this impression accurate?"
6. "If the interviewer has enough tenure: From your position, how do you think the economic cycles have affected the consulting business over the years?"
7. "What was your perspective on BCG before you came in, and how was that changed in your time there?"
8. "If you could recommend 2 books that all prospective management consultants should read, what would those be?"
9. "When you think back to your university days, what would be the 2 or 3 things that you wish you’d learned that would have better prepared you for the job today?"

Cheers, Sidi