Hi there,

This depends on the firm. 

What is important is to showcase how you can bring value to the role due to a combination of your experience AND your network. If you are joining at a higher level of your career, it will be carefully evaluated whether you can strengthen the partnership or dilute it.

That being said, many things are the same. Recently I was working with a Partner-level entry in McKinsey and large parts of the interview process are very similar (Case and PEI) in addition to more focus on the fit and experiences outside of the PEI. 

For EMs it is usually fully the same as for consultant level in terms of the steps. 

The main difference is that the more senior you get, expectations rise in the following:

1. Case: Need to demonstrate more experience and business judgment

2. Fit/PEI: The stories you tell need to be in an environment where you had more responsibility and impact (the evaluation criteria what makes a good PEI story do not change).

All the best,

Florian

Hi there,

Hmmm I've got to disagree with Gero here. 

As you go up the ranks it's less likely you'll get a classic case….or even a case at all.

It is more likely the interview will turn more “conversational” with a series of brainstorming questions (along a case topic/theme) and/or deeper conversations are your knowledge base/expertise.

I'm not saying you won't get a case, but it is more likely than in lower level interviews that you will get a “unstructured” interview.

Hi there!

Needless to say, it depends on the firm, role and the practice the role is for. 

I've coached several candidates for Principal/Associate Partner and Manager/Senior Manager/Engagement Manager roles. With all of them, the process was a bit different, but I noticed a few things that they had in common:

• Process consisted of multiple rounds (no longer only two)
• There was a much stronger emphasis on personal fit, cultural fit, value proposition, leadership experience and knowledge than on case (e.g., analytics, chart interpretation)
• The process resembled a personal vetting by senior leaders in the firm rather than an assessment of raw skills 
• The process was much longer 3-9 months
• The format of the personal fit / PEI varied from the regular, with a stronger emphasis on assessing values and value proposition

Hope this helps give you an insight into the topic!
Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

in my experience the evaluation of candidates with higher seniority has a larger emphasis on personal fit and actual practical matters rather than hypotheticals. 

Experienced hires are expected to have a functional or industry expertise so they will likely be tested on that (by other experts in those respective fields). It is pretty common to also dig through their experiences around managing teams, clients and overall engagements as well as assessing their ability to sell projects (especially for roles with sales targets such as principals).

The process will also consist of multiple rounds. The interviewers will at least be the same level of seniority as the role the candidate is applying for. So in these cases, the “partner round” is not necessarily the “final round”. More partners will be involved in the hiring decision compared to candidates at the consultant level.

Best

Hi there,

This depends on the firm and office. I have done interviews for all roles you mentioned at McKinsey and the interview format is exactly the same. 

I have done the same at Accenture and PwC and higher roles tended to be more focused on the fit part and industry experience.

Best,

Alberto

—

Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Hi there,

Q: How different is the interview process at the Manager / Principal level vs Consultant/ Associate Consultant level?

I helped a few candidates for Manager/Principal positions. In their case, compared to a standard case interview, they got:

• Questions about their specific industry.
• Questions about managing a project (eg how to organize team/proposals/first meetings).
• Not necessarily a case in every interview.

For other questions please feel free to reach out, happy to help.

Best, 

Francesco 

Here's my experience on being interviewed to manager / principal roles.

1. More depth in the experience interview part
2. Cases are similar. But more maturity is expected
3. Some questions may be more practical and “real job scenario” related (e.g. “how would you organize a workshop for this situation?” “how would do organize this project”, “how would you assign roles to the team members”)

Workstream planning probably not as, to be honest, that is part of the standard case interview (that is what the initial structuring is about)