Associate Partner Interview

Hi Micheal,

In general, the structure of the round is the same (fit + case+ your questions); however in interviews with Partners there is usually more emphasis on communication and fit.

Specifically, the main differences you may find in a final round with partners is that at that stage they:

1. Spend more time on fit questions and your alignment with the company
2. Check more closely your communication (eg how you react to challenging questions)
3. May not have a “proper” structured case to present – during one of my MBB finals I had one interview which was made by two market sizing questions and a brainteaser, without any business case. That's because during the final they know you can structure and crack a case (you passed 1 or 2 rounds already) and are more interested in your logic, personality and fit with the company

So in order to prepare I would concentrate on the following:

• Review in detail your fit stories – they will matter more than in the first round. In some finals I had almost exclusively behavioral questions
• Work on your communication (reaction under pressure, how to gain time when you do not have a structure ready, connect with the interviewer, etc). This is something you can do almost exclusively in interviews with peers.
• Prepare cases as you did for the first round. If you got feedback on a specific area, focus more on that part.

Bonus point: partners focus quite often on cases in the industry they cover. If you know the sectors they focus on, it would be a good idea to review those industries / do cases related to that sector.

In your particular case, it will be more likely that you get a PE case compared to a generalist application, but that won’t be necessarily the case.

If you need help please feel free to PM me, I helped several candidates to get offers from BCG (also from their PIPE practice) and have 90+ real case questions they asked specifically in final rounds in different offices.

Best,

Francesco

Hi Michael,

The short answer: Any!

Be prepared for literally anything!

That said:

1)Be ready with your “Resume Walkthrough”, “Why Consulting/PE” and “Why BCG”. Read more here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

2) Be ready with your personal stories

3) Be ready with PE/Financial-specific questions (testing domain knowledge)

To add on to other coaches: make sure you are reading the business news headlines and have an idea of what's happening in financial markets, relevant transaction, and also the most relevant business issues right now.

Hi!

Partners deep dive into the fit part of the interview more than Managers. Therefore, focus on it!

The case typology doesn't change significantly from the first to the second round.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Anto

Hi Michael,

the cases will be similar in nature, but don't fixate your mindset too much - keep it open. 

Associate Partners are frequently lateral hires who grew up in industry / a different consulting firm, so they often do interviewing a bit differently. Make sure to look at their CV upfront.

Moreover, as they are topic experts, not generalists, Associate Partners tend to a) give cases from their specific area of expertise and b) put a bit less focus on detailed structuring but more on business acumen and diving deep on industry topics. 

Hope this helps.