Victor Cheng explicitly suggests to always start the case with a hypothesis. Is this something that we should apply in McKinsey interviews as well?
Hypothesis in McKinsey
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Yes, this is something that should be applied especially for McKinsey interviews. Because the interview format is less linear, and interviewers may abruptly move you from one section to the next, it is vital to verbally state your hypothesis + issue tree early on to allow your interviewer to know what your thought process and structure are looking like. I believe Victor Cheng confirms this in LOMS and his McKinsey practice cases. Hope this helps!
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I have been given feedback that stateing a hypothesis early in the case is not a positive thing, a weird rumour that started somewhere because McKinsey is a hypothesis driven firm but not true. Often you just do not have enough information to make a informed one but as you move on in the ase stating the So whats and interpretation of Data is going to be your chance to 'hypothosis' with real facts. I would suggest you connect with your case coach on this as each office seems to be different on this point.
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Thank you! :)
On that note: In a McK type interview, after stating the hypothesis and building an issue tree. Do you want to establish the whole tree at the beginning (and explaining why you add all (sub-)branches) without deeply analysing them? As I understand it, McK likes to see you unfold all possibilities and brainstorming etc. so if you start your issue tree and analyse while building your tree, they might jump to the next part of the interview before you set up your whole structure?