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Feedback on Interview

McKinsey
New answer on Aug 16, 2022
3 Answers
975 Views
Anonymous A asked on Aug 15, 2022

Hello there! I've made it to the 2nd (hopefully last) round of interviews and I got to know the news via a phone call. However, the interviewer told me what he liked about me, but also mentioned I need to develop my structure and make it a bit more “out-of-book", even 3-4 phrases would be enough if it's original and creative enough.

My question: Does that mean my structure was bad yet for other factors they give me a chance to pass to the next round?

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Best answer
Emily
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Aug 15, 2022
Ex McKinsey EM & interviewer (5 yrs) USA & UK| Coached / interviewed 300 +|Free 15 min intro| Stanford MBA|Non-trad

Congratulations on making it through to Round 2! You should take a lot of comfort from this - it means that you've met the ‘bar’ for the interview and it's now a question of whether you can ‘out score’ the other candidates to receive the offer.

Interviewers will always try to give you feedback on where you can improve - so the feedback doesn't mean that your structure was necessarily bad. What it sounds like happened (and what is really common) is that you tried to fit a generic structure to the case. Consulting Firms know that people can learn multiple structures and so are coming up with increasingly inventive cases which will defy any of the structures that you've learnt. 

A common mistake that candidates make is taking a non-standard question (e.g., if you drive a taxi are you better off driving around the town hoping to be flagged down or going to the airport to wait to pick up a passenger?) and trying to use a standard structure to answer it. In this example you'd probably think about fixed costs, variable costs and revenue - but you might not think about other things such as the safety of the driver (what time of day is it? If it's night time are you more prone to attack if you're in town?) etc., 

My advice is to practice non-traditional cases and stepping back to think about yes how the frameworks can help to inform you answer, but what else do you need to consider to fully answer the question. You can then merge the two to essentially either tailor the framework to the question or, if the question is completely non-traditional, create your own structure on the spot. 

Good luck! 

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Sophia
Expert
replied on Aug 15, 2022
Top-Ranked Coach on PrepLounge for 3 years| 6+ years of coaching

Hello,

Congratulations on getting a second round interview!

It is very normal for interviewers to give you feedback about your performance on these calls, which will usually involve a component of something you could improve on. It means that there is still room for you to improve your structure. However, other things about your performance stood out sufficiently to get you a second round. This isn't a bad thing at all - all candidates will have better and worse aspects to their performance, so it is helpful to know what you can still work on.

I would advise you to take this feedback on hand and work on it closely. The interviewer would have flagged that your structure needed some work in their notes, so it may be something your second round interviewers watch out extra keenly for. Make sure to work on improving your structure before the second round, and best of luck!

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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Aug 16, 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

You need to make sure you fix this! If they made this comment they will be thoroughly assessing it next round.

Frameworks/structure need to not just be MECE but they also need to be tailored and objective-driven. Try to not just say structures/frameworks you've memorized. Get rid of market, company, price, revenue, etc. and actually talk about the problem/situation.

Happy to coach you in this - it's not easy!

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Emily gave the best answer

Emily

Content Creator
Ex McKinsey EM & interviewer (5 yrs) USA & UK| Coached / interviewed 300 +|Free 15 min intro| Stanford MBA|Non-trad
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