Final round interview

Hey there,

Congrats on passing the first round!

95% of partner rounds are just as standardized as the first round, yet be prepared to expect everything. Sometimes they are more conversational and friendly, only with light-touch evaluation, other times they are more challenging. Usually, they are the same and cases are not more difficult or follow a different path.

The reason why you read about freestyle partner experiences is that they deviate from what people expect, hence they post about it more frequently online, hence giving others the impression it is much more common. Also, a lot of case interview prep websites group cases into first and final-round interview cases which is total BS (telltale sign that they have no clue).

Additionally, partner rounds are often perceived as more challenging, just because it's a partner sitting across the table rather than a more junior colleague. It is purely based on the impression and not on the content. :-)

If there are any deviations from the standard interviewer guidelines, expect them to be in the following realm:

• Focus on one or two areas where you were perceived as not as strong in round one, which can be specific case questions or fit questions (or PEI for McKinsey)
• Only doing a case, only doing fit instead of both
• Doing two shorter cases in quick succession
• Challenging your answers more
• Not providing any time for you to think about the answer, making it more conversational

In any case, the most important thing is not to be startled by this and just keep working on the case and fit in a calm manner. 

All the best for your second round!

Cheers,

Hi there,

final partner interviews vary depending on company, region, office and the individual partner of course. However, it is not uncommon that partners won't go through a case exercise with the candidate again but rather test their suitability in terms of business competence, team fit and perceived presentability to clients. 

At the partner stage, candidates will have gone through a series of successful case interviews already. Partners still need to “validate” this pre-selection. While some might like to do brain teasers or small cases, they also tend to favor talking about the industry/functional area they are active in. They try to see how the candidate is able to engage with those topics and often even try to sell the candidate on the firm during the final round.

When preparing for such interviews, it makes sense to research the interview partners up front (if their names are provided) and check what recent publications and/or conference contributions they might have. It is also good to know about the main trends and drivers in their respective industry/functional areas. Other than that, everything you did to prepare for the previous rounds still holds true.

Hope that provides additional perspective.

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with the Big Four firm thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, thank you for the great feedback on my expert article about the final interview round.
• Moreover, while I can't give any specific examples, you can assume that the partners might bring in current issues or topics that they are facing with their clients.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming final round interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

In most cases, with Big 4, it is more a conversation to confirm motivation and fit with the firm than a technical interview.