Interview Languages

Question

Hi everyone,

I am applying to McKinsey's Madrid office, and in preparation for the eventual interviews, I was wondering about the interview language. I have already lurked around the Q&A section and the official website, and I understand that the interviews will likely/mostly be carried out in the local language (i.e., Spanish in my case), which is not a problem in and of itself.

My question is: during a case, is it okay if I use business-English terminology (e.g., Revenue in place of Ingresos or Penetration Rate in place of Tasa de Penetración) instead of their Spanish equivalent?

I ask because I literally never had to use (nor work with) such words in Spanish, and I don't know whether it makes sense to learn all the business-English terminology in Spanish.

I look forward to hearing your insights, and thanks a lot in advance for the help!

Answer 1

If you're not a native speaker, that would be quite understandable, as it is specific technical language. I believe you wouldn't have a problem with it.

Another option, is to do the fit/behavioral interview in spanish, and then the case interview in English. That's what I did when I was hired by Bain in Madrid.

Answer 2

Hello!

Your post brought memories from when I was preparing for McK Madrid :)

It´s going to be in Spanish 80% of the time, and some parts in English.

And yes, some terms indeed would be so weird to be said in Spanish, English is used for technicalities all the time by consultants

Best of luck with Madrid!

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Answer 3

Hey there,

Good question! This is really no issue at all in my experience - Spanglish is widely spoken and understood.

I interviewed with McKinsey in Chile in English with a German Partner (I am German myself)… Prior to kicking off, we joked around a bit regarding the language mix. And sure enough, the interview was a wild combination of 3 languages.

Long story short - if you feel the need, make a point of it prior to starting the interview and do so with a bit of humor. This can be good for rapport building/ice breaking and preempts the issue.

Best of luck!

Answer 4

Hey there,

First of all, the interviews will be in Spanish but it's completely OK to include some Spanglish words.

We all - nonnative English speakers - do it all the time. In German, it's called Denglish. :-)

That being said, all the best with your prep. To guide you on your McKinsey prep journey, have a look at those two articles I authored:

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 5

Hi Carlo Alberto,

Q: During a case, is it okay if I use business-English terminology (e.g., Revenue in place of Ingresos or Penetration Rate in place of Tasa de Penetración) instead of their Spanish equivalent?

Yes that’s fine. Having said that, if you know you have improvements in business vocabulary, you can try to do cases in Spanish to get better there.

In terms of the application: if you are not in Spain/ have strong links with Spain, definitely look for a referral to strengthen your application as foreign applications have a disadvantage if not linked to the country. You can find more on referrals at the link below:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/hey-everyonehope-all-is-well-3176

Best,

Francesco

Answer 6

Hi there,

Yes interviews will be done in Spanish and Spanglish can be used. I networked extensively with the Mexico and everyone used a fair amount of English words.

That said, this is scenario based and depends on the country/office, interviewer, etc.

Use your judgement and please make sure you still learn the Spanish business vocab! Your default should be Spanish, in particular to be ready for any vocab that comes your way.

Answer 7

Hi there,

usually C1 is required for the local language level , but it is normal using English words in business, hence unless you speak the whole sentences in English because you are unable to speak in Spanish, you will be fine.

Mucha suerte!

Lucie

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