Hi Anonymous,
I replied to your questions below:
My understanding is there will be two 1-hour first-round interviews and therefore my first question is as I really screwed up the first one, do I still have any chances? If so, do you have any advice for me to prepare for the upcoming one, which will be in a few days?
It is difficult to predict, but McKinsey sometimes invites candidates who are borderline to a third first-round interview. Thus if you have an excellent performance in your next round, you may hope to end in that situation. It is unlikely they will move you directly to the final if you really performed badly in one of the interviews.
Given the limited time, the best way to improve quickly would be to have a mock interview with a former consultant, someone you know who already landed an offer or a coach to assess your weaknesses and understand how to fix them.
Secondly, how do MBB assess the two interviews? What's the weigh allocation of them individually?
The interviews have the same weight, but both the interviewers should agree on your performance to move to the next round. If they are uncertain, as mentioned at McKinsey they sometimes schedule a third interview as part of the first round.
Best,
Francesco
Thank you, Clara!