Hi there,

I am not sure in which country you will have your phone screen but I share my experience:

I had a quick friendly hello, how are you and then I offered to walk the interviewer through my experiences and why I think consulting and McKinsey is the right next step for me. He said, that's also a great idea and we took it from there. Duration: Maybe 90sec indeed. A few sentences, to the point ending with re-affirming the main point.

We had a very pleasant conversation, open dialogue about potential placement and I knew what I am getting myself into.

Bottom-Line: I was not aware that maybe the interview would want to lead the interview but I made a suggestion and asked if this would be appropriate. It was less a Q&A than a proper pleasant dialogue.

I had a few conversations with other McKinsey employees before and it just feels right; - McK needs more data to back up consulting and the gut-feeling, but it's a good way to start.

I had no Brain-teaser question or anything like it. And I received a job-interview invite.

So, just be yourself and know why you want to do consulting, why McK.

Good luck! :)

(edited)

On 1st question: 90 seconds/2 minutes. Make sure that you are not "just" telling the story of your life but instead that while you are telling it you highlight how each key action you took brought you to be on the phone interviewing for consulting companies (e.g. my learning curve is flattening and I want to continue to learn, I want to work on problems that are the core of each industry, want a more fast paced environment, etc). Even better would be if you explain why you are excited by McK and how it perfectly fits your profile.

On 2nd question, other areas recruiter/HR explore during phone screen are:

• motivation behind move into consulting/into a different firm
• expectations about role and job (type of work, hours, travel, career progression)

Hope it helps,

Andrea

90 seconds. Short and sharp.

1. 1.5-2mins max for overview depending on # of yrs of experience. Focus only on A+ stuff. Cut everything out ruthlessly.

2. Know your CV inside out, every deal, engagement, project.

Hello!

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Best,

Clara

Nothing could be easier than this questions, and nothing can be tougher. the easiest way to make it your answer unstructure is to go through your resume in a chronological way. Basically the question behind this question from the interviewer is to get an understanding how is your experience, skills and accomplishments make you an ideal candidate for that specific role.

So, to answer brilliant on this question take out from your resume the most relevant experience and structure your narration in a way that will reply to the following questions:

1. How led you to that role

2. What did you learn from that role

3. How did that influence your next steps

Does it make sense to you?

GB