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Gaming related PEI Stories

Hello, I'd like to ask if stories related to online gaming would be taken seriously or not.

I have several stories from my time playing as a team leader on Tibia, which is a heavily politics oriented kind of MMORPG, which every decision had high impact on the game (one could lose 3 years of gaming in a single political dispute)

Do you think that stories like leading a team in times of "war" and dealing with political matters(personal disputes) would be well seen by interviewers?

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Top answer
on Mar 31, 2024
#1 Rated & Awarded McKinsey Coach | Top MBB Coach | Verifiable success rates

Lucas, this could work well. I like it because it's not the typical interview story, so they will definitely be listening. Make sure, though, that you also have stories that have more of a professional background to balance things out. 

For anyone else who is preparing for the PEI component, I've created a video course with my 6-step storytelling framework that has helped my candidates get distinctive feedback on the McKinsey PEI. You can find out more about it here:

Best,
Cristian

Sidi
Coach
on Jan 07, 2019
McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 400+ candidates secure MBB offers

Hi Lucas,

I would be cautious with such stories. The main reason being that there is a high probability that your intervieweer just can't relate to the story and struggles to understand the context and challenges. It might also be interpreted as a bit "weird" to answer a question for your personal experience with a story that is embedded into a "virtual reality" context. So I would personally advise against this story, unless you are able to explain it extremely well and understandable to any non-gamer!

Cheers, Sidi

on Jan 07, 2019
Ex-MBB, Experienced Hire; I will teach you not only the how, but also the why of case interviews

Yeah, agree w/ Sidi. I read this (as opposed to hearing it in an interview) and STILL can't wrap my head around what you are talking about -> even if the story is amazing (I'll trust you that it is), it wouldn't make for a great interview story.

PS: Perhaps you can simplify a bit and remove some details? One of my guys at work played professional poker for a year for example, which I and everyone around finds both fantastic and fascinating.

L
on Jan 07, 2019

Long story short about context: on one bad political move one could cost over 15k hours of gameplay, 1~2k $ (I was 17 at the time...) and a lot of sentimental value on your "virtual" alter ego.

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Clara
Coach
on May 11, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

On top of the insights already shared in the post, next week will be pusblished in PrepLounge´s Shop material related.

In concrete, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB". It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Here I leave you the link > https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes!

Hope you find it useful!

Best, 

Clara