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Are McKinsey Website Practice Cases Representative for What will Come?

MBB McKinsey McKinsey & Company mckinsey 1st round interview
New answer on Aug 17, 2021
7 Answers
3.3 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Apr 19, 2021

Hi, are the McKinsey practice cases on their website representative to the cases that you will get in your interview with them? Definition of representative being type of case question, level of detail in answer and info given, level of difficulty/complexity, approach and method in question and answer etc. They are quite simple and very straight forward.

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Florian
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Content Creator
updated an answer on Aug 17, 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there,

-----

UPDATE

I have written a detailed insider perspective on the McKinsey case interview here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview

-----

Let's break it down!

  • Type of case questions, difficulty, and complexity: Yes, you can see that McKinsey cases focus on creativity and cannot be solved with pre-existing frameworks (the whole purpose of the exercise)
  • Level of detail in info: Yes, accurate
  • Level of detail in answer/ approach/ method: Not at all representative and not even close. McKinsey cases need to be answered in a deep, broad, and insightful manner, all packed in a neat structure. The sample answers are very high level and basically show a certain direction the answer could go without going into details that are needed during the real case interview.

More on that here: https://strategycase.com/mckinsey-case-interview

So overall, it is a bit misleading based on the simple answers provided on the website (both content and how they are communicated).

Let me know if you need more insights!

Cheers,

Florian

(edited)

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Anonymous replied on Apr 19, 2021

Do they still have the sports drinks and the mexican payment system cases on their website? I remember practicing with them back then and they were pretty representative for what I got in my own interviews.

And tbh, it would be surprising if they weren't. All companies want people to be super-well prepared to not lose great candidates to a lack of preparedness. Bottom line: Pretty darn sure these cases are more representative than anything you'll find in a case book or here on prep lounge.

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Anonymous A on Apr 19, 2021

Thank you Henning - haha yes exactly those are two out of the six cases available. Thank you for taking the time to reply! What is confusing is that their answers to Question 1 in each and every single case is not a solution tree - just basically 'key factors to consider' with sub bullet points or discussion areas. Seems like I am not expected to draft an issue tree nor use one to guide me through the rest of the case. Makes me uncertain about what is expected of me here :)

(edited)

Ian
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Content Creator
replied on Apr 20, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

I agree with the other coaches - they are absolutely representative! Else they wouldn't be on there :)

Of course, recognize that the actual day of interview has a lot of variables to it, but the website practice cases are a great place to learn what to expect.

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Clara
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replied on Apr 21, 2021
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Yes of course, the website material is always 1st hand and a great resource

Cheers,

Clara

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Udayan
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Content Creator
replied on Apr 19, 2021
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /12 years recruiting experience

Yes 100%

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Anonymous B replied on Aug 17, 2021

As someone who just interviewed with McKinsey last week (and got the offer), I can confirm they are very representative of what you will face!

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Gaurav
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Content Creator
replied on Apr 21, 2021
#1 MBB Coach(Placed 750+ in MBBs & 1250+ in Tier2)| The Only 360 coach(Ex-McKinsey + Certified Coach + Active recruiter)

Hey there!

The website materials are very useful in your preparation for a particular company. However, they are "typical examples", just to make you acknowledged with the general framework.

If you have any other doubts - write to me!

GB

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Florian gave the best answer

Florian

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