In one round of 2 interviews, the interviewers the same behavior questions, should I use the same example?

behavioral interviews
New answer on Oct 22, 2021
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Anonymous A asked on Oct 06, 2021

In one round of 2 interviews, the interviewers the same behavior questions, should I use the same example?  Won't the team see a similar story from my answers?

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Florian
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replied on Oct 07, 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there,

It depends:

1. If the question is related to your motivation, you should have the same answer ready (e.g., why consulting, why firm x, guide me through your resume,…)

2. If the question deals with a specific character trait (e.g. for the PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei), have another story ready.

Cheers,

Florian

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Pedro
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replied on Oct 06, 2021
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

In principle, they are making their own independent judgements, not collecting additional information on that behaviour. 

But it may happen that they read the notes from your previous interview, so as a general rule it would be better if you had a different example.

However, sometimes you just have a great example, and the second option wouldn't be as good. Then go ahead and give the same example. 

The risk you have is that he already “heard” that example before and will ask for a new one. And that is why you should always have a second example ready!

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Ian
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updated an answer on Oct 06, 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

If you have equally (or almost equally) good stories, then use a different one.

If you have a 2nd story but it's not very good (say, 50% as good) then use the same one!

Essentially, we want variety but not at the cost of quality!

(edited)

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Hagen
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replied on Oct 06, 2021
#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi there,

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

  • In case you are interviewing with McKinsey, you are required to use a different situation for the same dimension - and at best across dimensions.
  • In case you are interviewing with a company different that McKinsey, it depends on whether you would have another equally strong situation for the same question or not. If not, I would advise you to go with the same situation since interviewers will most probably not compare situations (since there is no reason to do so) but make their assessment independently from each other.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on your answers to different behavioral questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

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Antonello
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replied on Oct 06, 2021
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi!

I would definitely change your story.

Good luck,

Anto

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Agrim
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replied on Oct 22, 2021
BCG Dubai Project Leader | Learn to think like a Consultant | Free personalised prep plan | 6+ years in Consulting

I have heard from one of my coachee that they were asked by one of the interviewers to use different stories for the second interview in the round, but reuse the stories in the next round if required.

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Cristian
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replied on Oct 08, 2021
#1 rated MBB & McKinsey Coach

Hi there! It's quite strange indeed that you got asked the same question. Usually the interviewers aim to cover different areas. Still, I would tell a different story, to show that you have multiple examples that you can rely on. Which is why it's always best to have 2+ stories for each category of behavioral question.

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Florian gave the best answer

Florian

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