After clarifying and summarizing the case in a Mck interview, should the candidate immediatly ask for some time to do a structure or should he/she wait for the interviewer to ask the first question which is usually: What are the key areas to explore to solve our client's problem?

McKinsey
New answer on Aug 31, 2020
3 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Sep 22, 2018

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Anonymous replied on Sep 22, 2018

Hey there,

Usually, as part of the initial prompt, the interviewer will also ask the first question (e.g. "how would you approach structuring this problem?"). However, if this is not the case, I wouldn't just "wait" for the interviewer to ask - if the first question is not 100% clear to you, at the end I would clarify - "OK, so I think I understand the problem. Should I start by laying out my approach to tackling this problem?"

Hope this helps - don't worry too much about this, the interviewer will be experienced and will know how to guide you so I doubt this will be an issue!

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Anonymous replied on Aug 31, 2020

Dear A,

You can ask interviewer for a minue to think about the structure. It's ok.

Best,
André

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Vlad
Expert
replied on Sep 24, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi!

You should ask something like "Can I have a minute to structure my thoughts?"

After that you continue with making a structure

Best

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