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McK first round interview

McKinsey
Recent activity on Dec 09, 2016
3 Answers
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Anonymous B asked on Dec 06, 2016

Hi everyone,

I have a first round interview for McK coming up. I have no consulting exp prior to this and come from a science backgroung applying for a Oil and Gas analysis position. I would love to get some advice as to the kind of prep I could/should be doing and perhaps some directions towards good resources?

Thank you!

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Francesco
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Content Creator
replied on Dec 07, 2016
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi Anonymous,

A good preparation for a consulting interview will likely move through the following areas:

  1. General understanding of the process: get a general idea on what a consulting interview is about
    • Resources: Case In Point, Victor Cheng free videos, PrepLounge Resources section
  2. Learning structures and main fit questions
    • Resources: Case in Point, Victor Cheng Look Over My Shoulder, MBA Handbooks, PrepLounge Resources section, Expert sessions
  3. Practicing with live partners to apply knowledge and improve communication
    • Resources: PrepLounge P2P interviews, friends preparing for consulting
  4. Final review for clearing mistakes
    • Resources: PrepLounge P2P interviews (experienced users), friends working in consulting, Experts sessions

As for the preparation, you may want to follow the usual steps for case interviews, preparing on:

  1. Fit questions (eg Why do you want to work for our company?)
  2. Cases (eg Our client is a commercial bank losing money, how would you increase profits?)
  3. Your questions at the end for the interviewer.

As for the McKinsey interview per se, I have recently replied in another post with some information on the first round, you can find the answer at the below link:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mck-first-round-interview-336

Hope this helps,

Francesco

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Anonymous D replied on Dec 09, 2016

Hi
My first round at McKinsey consists of two rounds with a partner each. Each
round consists of:

1. Fit questions are always first (sometimes partners have traveled a
lot before they interview you, thus they might seem slightly aloof,. Don't
get unsettled by this, its up to you to engage them and make them feel that
you are a great person to work with and can be put in front of client)
2. 35 minutes of case (1st round cases are pretty straightforward)
3. 5 minutes for your own questions to the interviewer (they are really
looking for honest, non-pretentious questions about McKinsey, so don’t go
with the mindset of trying to impress them with the questions, they don’t
like it)

The case is interviewer led, so you have to be pretty comprehensive in the
beginning when you are presenting your framework, you can’t really go back
to it from there, so make sure this first step is done correctly and covers
all the relevant points!

- Introduction: Explain to the interviewer, a brief summary of the case,
try not to do literally verbatim but ensure that you cover the essential
grounds
- Structure: here you should really think about the specific case and
not try to fit any framework just for the case, it’s very easy for them to
ding you JUST FROM THIS! Can explain why your framework/thinking would be
pertinent to this particular firm/industry
- Graph analysis: Flow: point out obvious parts, then explain what it
implies and what does this implication mean overall to the case objective
- Math: Talk through it slowly, get into the mentality of a math teacher
teaching a student
- Sum up: Practice those 30 seconds type conclusions to hone your
summarizing of conclusion into concise form.

They would also consider your body language and style of communication,
always present yourself as calm, composed (try not to be too loud or free
with the hand gestures) and PROFESSIONAL.

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Anonymous replied on Dec 09, 2016

Thank you for your help. I am finding it incredibly difficult to organise myself over my notes at the moment as I'm being bombarded with infromation and there is a lot of overlap, expecially considering I only had about 2 weeks to beigin preperation and now 9 days left.

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Francesco

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