Any ideas on the COVID-19 effect on the interview questions?

Hello,

You can very have fit questions related to COVID or a case relating to a recent project on the crisis or the exit from crisis.

1. On the fit, I would say that it is good to have an opinion of Covid-19 impacts for consulting

• In the short term, consulting firms, like other companies, had to adapt to confinement / lockdown and review the modes of interaction, internally and with clients. I observe that many good practices are emerging from this crisis: particularly around teleworking and collaborative digital tools. Many of these practices are expected to continue, and that’s a good thing!

• From a business point of view, the top priority for companies has been to manage the continuity of their activities while respecting health regulations to protect their employees. As a result of the crisis, the project dynamic slowed down and many consulting firms therefore observed a drop in the sales backlog after mid-March in Europe, a bit later in the US. However, once the brunt of the crisis has passed (soon hopefully), business transformation will not end and consulting firms will always be the best partners to help carry out these transformations. While the industry explosion of the past 10 years is likely to be a halt, I’m not particularly concerned in the medium term

2. On cases, it obviously depends on the theme but there are several fairly recurring elements to think about

• Effective crisis management (execution of business continuity plans, urgent implementation of new working methods, prioritization of the projects portfolio, external / internal communication, ...)

• Preparing for a way out of the crisis with all restructuring / cost reduction levers in the foreground (acceleration of initiatives to digitize processes, organizational review with exploration of levers for near / off shoring or outsourcing and finally the rethinking of the ways of working with the review of the office strategy; rental costs can indeed be reduced leveraving on telework which has become more democratic during lock down periods)

Hope it helps.

David

Hi,

You may definitely get this kind of question during your final round interview.

You may get 2 types of questions:

• FIT questions to check you general awarness 
• Case questions with COVID element (e.g. market sizing for COVID vaccine)

So I suggest that you should improve your “COVID AWARNESS” prior to the interview.

I would suggest the following articles to improve general awareness:

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk/our-insights/covid-19-implications-for-business

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/using-a-crisis-nerve-center-to-help-reopen-the-economy

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/telehealth-a-quarter-trillion-dollar-post-covid-19-reality

https://media-publications.bcg.com/BCG-COVID-19-BCG-Perspectives-Version6.pdf

Hope this helps!

Anton

Hi there,

I haven't heard of recent applicants having direct COVID-related questions.
However, if it comes, it would be what is the impact of COVID on industry X....and you would just need to re-assess the consumption patterns pre vs. post COVID in that industry. (very similar to any other market sizing question)

Now regarding FIT questions, I wouldn't be bad if you are aware of some information regarding the economic impact of COVID - consulting companies have flooded the internet with their "analyses" and "forecasts" on COVID/economy relationship - Just go through them just so you aware of the key comments.

I hope this helps

Khaled

Hello!

Preicsely, and since my coachees were asking me for one, I´ve created a COVID related case for PrepLounge (https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/intermediate/covid-19-impact-on-heathrow-airport-197)

It is structured as a normal case but precisely deep-diving on the impacts of COVID in a detemined industry: arlines! 

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,

I haven't heard and don't think the Covid-19 will influece of Covid-19 to a case questions significantly. I can only imagine that you might need to adjust assumptions in certain cases as appropriate (of course you should confirm if the case happen in a pandemic context or not).

For fit questions I see no harm in updating yourself with any percpective from the firm you are interviewing to understand their thinking. This might help you to have a good conversation with your interviewer.

Hi there, 

I don't think COVID would change the interview questions fundamentally. That said, worth taking note of the following 2 points:

1) Be mindful of the assumptions you make during case, whether the assumptions could change drastically due to COVID, and use reasonable judgement or double check with interviewer whether you should adjust taking into consideration of COVID. 

2) As Iman mentioned, would be good to take a quick look at the perspectives by the consulting firms (MBB have been sending out such reports quite frequently nowadays). 

Best,

Emily

Hi,

Overall, I think the impact is quite limited because most interviewers will already have their favoured case(s) that they are using with candidates and no real reason that this will change in most instances.

However, I think there is a chance that for more open-ended cases, especially in a partner round there could be questions related to the corona situation and how it's impacting the economic situation. For example, I had a mentee applying for Strategy& who got a question around what industries he expects to get most impacted by the COVID-19 situation in his country and which ones would be fastest to recover.

With this in mind, it would make sense to stay up to date with news and reporting about the virus along with reading some reports that the MBB are publishing frequently.

Hope that's useful!

-A

Hi there,

100%. I have already interacted with candidates who have received COVID-19 related questions.

You should be prepared to 1) Have considered the impact on your career, role, travel, etc. and 2) Understand the impact on business through Both a case directly related to COVID-19 and accounting for COVID-19 impacts in your framework, risks, etc.

I've created two cases that can help you prepare for this. Try them out here!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/brain-teaser/beginner/coronavirus-times-194

https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/intermediate/chinese-chess-191

Hi. I have received an offer from mckinsey this week. In both final round interviews we talked about the impact of covid on several industries. In the first Interview I told I had a lot of interest in aviation and we started talking about it until the partner asked me to estimate the size of the market before and after covid. What would be the biggest impacts on that industry. At the end he asked me what strategy I would adopt if I went for a project in that area (this was the case). The second interview had only one question related to the impact of covid on banking (mainly on credit models, which is something I was already working on). So I advise you to read a lot about the trends in the market.

Dear A,

Yes, you can actually expect more specific questions about the pandemic. For example:

- What kind of impact it will have on the industry/ on consulting industry/ as well as industry of the clients. 

- Also many assessment questions on how to calculate the impact. 

Hope it helps you,

Wish you best of luck,

André