I´m waiting for my First Round at McKinsey for quite some time now, and the recruiter keeps telling me that their consultants are super busy and it´s hard to find a spot.
I´m curious that how do they choose which candidate to interview first? Based on the application date or those profiles they are more interested in?
Thanks!
The overall key driver is the time of application. However, other factors can over-ride this, for example:
1) Candidate has an exploding offer with another firm: in this case, the recruiting team may do what they can to accelerate the process and interview the candidate ASAP
2) Candidate's compelling personal reasons: e.g. if a candidate is from a foreign country and will be leaving soon, recruiting may see this as a reason to "bump them up"
It is true that offices are super busy, and it can be very difficult to find time to interview candidates. I would definitely not interpret the delay to assume that it means you are a "low priority candidate" or anything like that. Just make use of the extra time to keep prepping!!
Best of luck!
Alessandro
1. Application date. They can simply have a backlog of applicants.
2. Availability of interviewers.
3. Candidates' preferences - some might ask to interview later (or in rare occasions earlier), so this might shift other applicants' interview date as well.
4. HR might introduce their own biases and put one candidate before another.
5. There might be urgent office needs in specific profiles, these candidates likely will get interviewed sooner.
In order to repeatedly demonstrate prerequisite skills under the pressure of a real case interview, you need to learn the basics and practice cases.
1 Q&ACase Interviews can be led by the candidate or by the interviewer: In Candidate-led cases the main challenge is the structure. In Interviewer-led cases the main challenge is to adapt quickly
Tell me of a situation where you had an opinion and no one seemed to agree with you. What was your goal when you decided to join university / work / clubs / a sports team? Did you have a goal that you were not able to reach? What did you do? What do you want to be remembered for and how are you ... Open whole case
Our client is SmartBridge, a nonprofit educational institution offering face-to-face tutoring services. The client operates in the US. The mission of SmartBridge is to help as many students as possible to complete studies and prevent that they drop from the school system, in particular in disadvant ... Open whole case
Espresso Whatelse is an Italian company that produces coffee and espresso machines since 1908. It is the Italian market leader and has a strong presence overall in Europe. In 2019, Espresso Whatelse has increased its revenues but it has seen declining profit margin. Your client wants to understand ... Open whole case
Problem definition: Our client is Korean Car Parts (KCP), a multi-national original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of car parts based in Korea. They've recently seen a decline in profits and have brought us in to understand how to address this falling profitability. Open whole case
During this exercise, we will deep-dive in 4 of the most common Motivational questions asked in FIT interviews: Why Consulting? Why this particular company? (McKinsey, Bain, BCG, others) Why this particular location? *Particularly relevant to people re-locating or choosing an office not ... Open whole case
Imbellus Test at McKinsey – Guide by Luca 
McKinsey Imbellus Game Secrets by Francesco 
The Secret McKinsey PEI Cheat Sheet by Robert 
Integrated FIT Guide for MBB by Clara 
Case in Point: The Perfect Preparation for the Case Interview in Consulting 
CoachingPlus 5 
Prep Guide for McKinsey PST by PrepLounge 
McKinsey PST #3 by Riccardo 
McKinsey PST #2 by Gaurav 
McKinsey PST #1 by PrepLounge 
