I just had my final interview and realized I messed up the math to my final answer. the conclusion should still be the same but I was off by a bit much. How heavy is this weighted in the overall interview?
Thought everything else went well
thanks,
Hi there!
Congratulations on getting to the final round and finishing the process!
Firstly, a math error on its own is not a huge mistake. It is a part of an overall evaluation. However, your recovery and coachability through the interview are what is quite important. Generally, I have felt that partners are more forgiving on math errors, and concentrate more on the bigger picture. But this obviously depends from individual to individual.
That being said. You have gotten through the process this far and given your best and done whatever was in your control. Now it is up to the decision-makers and the margins can be very fine sometimes. Do not get disheartened in case you do not get the offer as you are already doing well given that you are in the final round with BCG.
If I were you, I would focus my energy on the next interview as you have done what you could for this one! Keep doing all the things that are going well and find ways to improve on the minor mistakes you might have made.
Good luck mate! Hope the offer comes through :D
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Hi - great question and congratulations on making it that far!
Others here have covered well your question about how much it counts, so I'll come at it from a different angle.
To help yourself keep sane during the process, I'd encourage you to focus on what you can control and forget about what you can't control. If you made a mistake then so be it, your energy is best spent on being mentally ready and fresh for any interactions going forward rather than beating yourself up about the mistake.
You should also keep in mind that in some instances, interviewers might deliberately lead you into making a mistake to see how you react under that pressure.
Hope this helps and good look with the next steps!
Hi there,
Were you told anything after 1st round with regards to quant?
You see the difference between the two? Hence, the same error may weigh differently depending on prior performance. Let's hope you had a quant spike in 1st round and all will be well!
Best of luck!
Hi there,
I wouldn't worry about it: I was off by a factor of 100 in my calculation during my final BCG round - because I was trying to make the calculation while talking, was nervous, etc., yet I still got the offer, because my reasoning was correct. Partners understand that while mental math is a skill that can be easily trained, it is much more difficult to teach someone logic skills or business intuition.
By the way, if you were looking for mental math training recommendations, I personally use the app Elevate, which allows to improve mental calculations in a game format.
Good luck and let me know how it went!
(edited)
Hello!
Really hard to tell without having been there.
What I can tell u is that the solution is not the most important thing in the case: sound logic and good problem solving are more important.
Best of luck for your outcome!
Cheers,
Clara
Hi there,
It's not a no-go, but it's also not a great sign :)
I also made a couple of mistakes in my final interview and still got through. Your performance doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to make the mark. Rejections are almost never based on one mistake.
Hi there,
the answer to this question is - it depends as there is no black or white answer to this. How much Maths errors weigh is really subjective to the specific interviewer - from my own experience as an interviewer, some may let you get away with it, for others it's an absolute deal breaker.
In any case, it's no longer in your control, so would not bother too much and just wait for the result.
Wish you all the best and hoped it worked out!
Cheers, Andi
Hi there,
If you did well in the rest of your case, it should be fine (most decisions are made within the first 5 minutes by the way). However, it's hard for us to say whether you're through or not - there are a lot more factors at play than just that 1 math mistake!
If everything else went well then I wouldn't worry too much!
