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I have a zoom meeting with a McKinsey HR recruiter tomorrow, what should I expect?

Actively preparing for upcoming interviews with Mckinsey Digital McKinsey McKinsey meetings
New answer on May 19, 2020
6 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on May 18, 2020

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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 18, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Be comfortably prepared with:

1) Why Consulting

2) Why McKinsey

3) Why this role

You need to have your story ready, and convince them you are passionate + serious about joining McKinsey AND that you are an impressive candidate that they would want.

Furthermore, make sure you know the company. I.e. What the service ops practice does, the Partners that run it, what some of their recent insights/projects have been, what the job looks like day-to-day, etc.

You can also take the opportunity to ask some quetions specific to their office, but make sure you're not asking silly questions that you should have found out before from some research! Demonstrate your interest, competence, and likeability.

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Anonymous replied on May 18, 2020
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Clara
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replied on May 19, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

Mostly expect open questions about your motivation, in concrete:

  • Why consulting
  • Why this MBB (McKinsey, Bain, BCG)
  • Why this particular location
  • Why this particular specialized business function

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Anonymous replied on May 19, 2020

Dear A,

Actually Zoom interview for the content is very similar to live interview. So be prepared for FIT question which Ian is already mentioned. From my side I would like to give you more technical recommendations:

1. Think in a advance about your internet connection and think about it in advance. Find nice place with a good light and calm surrounding.

2. Dress yourself as for the regular interview.

3. Don't hesitate and behave yourself as on a regular interview by smiling, and showing you structure.

4. Don't afraid to ask some clarifying questions, in case you don't hear smth because of connection problem.

5. Give some moment to interviewer to finish his/her question, because of internet connection there might be some delay.

Wish you good luck,

André

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Anonymous replied on May 19, 2020

Most likely a typical background questions and fit questions (motivation, why consulting, why McK...) and probably also share with you some knowledge on the process.

Good luck,

Emily

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Francesco
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 19, 2020
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ interviewoffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi there,

the most common questions you may expect are:

  • Tell me about yourself
  • Why consulting
  • Why McKinsey
  • Why should we hire you

You may not necessarily receive PEI questions, but just in case I would prepare as well the following (you will need to prepare them anyway later on):

  • Give me an example when you led a team (leadership dimension)
  • Tell me about a time when you had to convince someone not agreeing with you (impact dimension)
  • What has been your major achievement so far (drive dimension)

To prepare the stories, I would recommend the following checklist:

  1. Understand the difference between, leadership, impact and drive areas. You can find a link with their differences here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-pei-difference-drive-and-personal-impact-918#a1780
  2. Identify good stories for each area. Ideally you want to have at least two stories for each area.
  3. Use a structure for your story. I would suggest to use the STARR model (Situation, Task, Action, Rational for Action, Results)
  4. Identify for each story one sentence clarifying what the story is about and start with it. Think of it as the title of a journal article.
  5. Practice live, collect feedback from people listening to you, reiterate until when you get fluent and persuasive

Best,
Francesco

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Ian gave the best answer

Ian

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