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How to be more structured in the FIT part of the interview?

FIT story-telling Structure
New answer on Aug 30, 2022
5 Answers
2.7 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Sep 17, 2019

Hello, I don´t really understand how to become more structured when telling stories/experiences in the fit part of the interview.

Thank you.

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Udayan
Expert
Content Creator
updated an answer on Sep 17, 2019
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /12 years recruiting experience

A framework I find that works well is the 'Situation, Complication and Resolution (SCR)' framework

Situation - explain what the context in one or two sentences

Complication - the part of the story that explains the issues you faced (or the reason you needed to do what you did)

Resolution - How did you act to resolve the issue and what was the end outcome

Hope this helps,

Udayan

(edited)

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Vlad
Expert
replied on Sep 17, 2019
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

Here are some structures:

Tell me about yourself / walk me through your resume

  1. Start with a 1 sentence summary of your background, why you are relevant for McKinsey and what's your unique selling point
  2. Talk about 3-4 of your roles (can be professional, education, extracurricular), 3 sentences each. The more experienced you are the more you should speak about professional roles. It can be also the distinct roles within the same organization. Typical structure: 1) What was the company 2) What you were responsible for 3) Greatest achievement in that role, that will stay in the memory of the interviewer (E.g. While working at Adidas supply chain I was personally responsible for the delivery of soccer balls to the Worldcup in Africa)
  3. The main reason why consulting (or McKinsey if you were a consultant before) is the next logical career step for you

Why consulting / company

  • Provide the three reason in a structured manner: First of all... Secondly... Finally...

Stories

  1. Start with a one-sentence summary of the story
  2. In Situation, you should briefly provide the context, usually in 1 or 2 sentences
  3. The problem usually includes 2 or 3 sentences describing the problem and your objective.
  4. Then you provide a list of specific actions you took to achieve the goal. It should take 1 or 2 sentences per action (Usually 3-4 actions). Note that the interviewer can stop you any minute and ask for more details.
  5. The results part should have 1 or 2 sentences describing the outcomes. This part is finalizing your story - make sure it can impress the interviewer and stay in the memory.

Best!

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Gaurav
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Content Creator
replied on Jan 29, 2021
Ex-Mckinsey|Certified Career Coach |Placed 500+ candidates at MBB & other consultancies

Hi there,

In addition to all the answers given before, i'd like to say that basically, the goal when answering these questions is to show the interviewers your critical thinking and problem solving skills and how suitable you are for the job.

Behavioral questions can be like:

  • Why consulting? / Why company XX? / Why are you the perfect fit for this position?
  • Describe a time when you disagreed with a team member
  • Tell me about your biggest mistake at workplace
  • Name three improvements you made in your most recent position
  • PEI questions
  • Etc.

You can find other questions online, just pick some of them and start answering them in a way that makes sense:

  • Keep it short (1.5 minutes max)
  • Use storytelling techniques (Structure your speech!)
  • Try to get the interviewer to participate, e.g. while telling about your experience in place XX, ask them whether he has been there

The more questions you practice, the easier it becomes for you to come up with a nice and suitable answer.

Hope it helps,

Cheers,

GB

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jul 06, 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, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

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.

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes, since we still have some left from the launch!

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Simon
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Aug 30, 2022
50+ successful coachings / Ex-Mckinsey JEM & Interviewer / Industry + Engineering background

Dear A,

in general a good structure can be evaluated by a certain depth and breadth. The “depth” should be at least 3-4 levels while the “breadth” should cover the entire solution space. You can cross-check this with the MECE principles (For details see respective article on Preplounge), but the CE (collectively exhaustive) part is basically defining your breadth.

Finally, make sure to check for inter-linkages in your structure and point them out.

Simon

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