Hi everyone,
I have a first-round McKinsey interview for London coming up for the business analyst position. Due to family reasons, I have not been able to prepare well. Will it look bad on my overall application if I ask to postpone my interview? Does anyone know if I would have to wait a year to do my interview or is there an off-cycle hire that they can fit me into? Will I risk losing the opportunity to be selected?
Thank you in advance
Hello!
It´s 100% fine to ask them to shift.
I did it myself, and had I not done it, I would be 100% sure that I would have sucked terribly at my interviews, since I was totally underprepared.
Hence, go for it, I am Exhibit A that indeed is the right way to go for most people.
Best,
Clara
Hello,
I would 100% ask and explain your rationale, too.
When I was an interviewer at McKinsey, we commonly had people ask for various reasons, the main one being that they need more time to prepare, and this is looked upon favorably. It demonstrates maturity and self-awareness. Also, we frequently advised people to take extra time to prepare because we wanted them to succeed and knew that they needed more time in order to do so.
Furthermore, if you give the strong reason that provided in your question, they will likely accommodate you even if they wouldn't otherwise do so (likely due to constraints within their annual recruiting cycle). Again, they want you to succeed and also to have a good experience.
So go ahead. I hope everything works out well for you!
Allen
Sorry to hear! I've been in a similar situation. It's typically not an issue at all to ask for a later interview slot.
Sorry to hear that you've had a challenging time recently. It definitely won't look bad based on the reason you have provided but they may encourage you to still interview in the coming weeks as BA offers will be going out in mid-December. If you feel that doesn't suit your required timeline then you should specifically request whether you can interview in the new year where you should still be able to join the same 2021/22 BA cohort if you are successful.
Hi Anonymous,
In the end, consulting companies are almost always flexible for these types of things. If you have a valid reason, it should not be a problem at all the move the date of the interview.
I would say that at least asking for it is completely risk-free, so please don't worry about it. :)
Cheers,
Pascal
Hi,
Please postpone your interview. There is absolutely no penalty for that and no one really cares. The recruiters are there to help you and the interviewers don't care about your interview dates.
Best
Hi, I was applying for McKinsey this year and was not prepared. Luckily, by a stroke of luck, they reached out to reschedule it a week later on the day before due to some technical errors on their end.
I now have the offer, but I cannot imagine the outcome had there not been that glitch.
I have been offered to interview as late as a month and a half in between getting my rounds, so it is definitely not the problem. Also, they were kind enough to find me a custom time when all the sign up slots did not fit my schedule.
Good luck! Hope to see you on the other side. McKinsey is a great firm and I hope you make good use of this opportunity!
Hi there,
You may as well ask.
Don't be verbose in your email/request...just be to the point and say that a serious family issue has prevented you from being able to prepare.
Now, I need to warn you, if you are part of the school recruiting cycle (i.e. you applied through the university and everyone around you is interview on the same date(s)), then it's very unlikely they'll allow you to move.
Hi there,
You can definitely ask HR to postpone your interview. It will not put you in a bad position.
So I recommend you postpone it as it would be very difficult to pass the interview without any preparation.
Do you need any further help?
All the best,
GB
Hi there,
As mentioned by Iman, you can definitely ask to postpone.
The worst that could happen is that HR will tell you that’s not possible due to the recruiting pipeline, or ask to wait some months. However there is no penalty for asking.
Best,
Francesco
Hi,
For sure you can postpone and it will not look bad on your overall application.
The risk are when you are ready the slot might already be fulfilled so you might need to wait a bit longer. However, if they staff required is not yet fulfiled you can just reach out to HR when you are ready.
Thank you Iman — on Nov 26, 2020
Hi, yes and I recommend doing it. It is far more important to arrive at your best rather than respecting the 1st schedule.
Best,
Anto
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I'm in a similar situation, can I ask you what was the outcome? thanks! — Anonymous C on Nov 27, 2020 (edited)
Hi there, they postponed my interview by two days. I believe this is because BA offers are given out mid December. Best of luck to you! — Anonymous A on Nov 30, 2020
Thank you - wish you the best! — Anonymous C on Dec 01, 2020