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Mckinsey 1-1 coaching

McKinsey McKinsey & Company Mckinsey interview
New answer on Jan 18, 2022
5 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Jan 17, 2022

I am going through experienced hire interview process in operations practice. Just wanted to know about any experience regarding the 1-1 coaching offered before the pass/fail case interview. I was scheduled for two sessions and in both the sessions no-one showed up. It was quite disappointing but HR sincerely apologized. Just wondering, are these sessions conducted by current McKinsey employee or alumni? Also, what do I expect from it? Do we simply go through a basic case and the coach provides some feedback? 

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Lucie
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 17, 2022
10+yrs recruiting & BCG Project leader

Hello there, 

I am experienced hire on an Expert career track so sharing from my experience how the recruiting process usually looks like:

- Only fit and business case experiences → total 4 interviews

Only the 1st business case was from my area of expertise, the rest as if I would be a generalist

- during the FIT interviews there are usually questions to understand the depth of your expertise

You have to demonstrate the same skills as a generalist, PLUS you have enough expertise. 

The last thing I wanted to share is the type of questions you will get regarding your expertise…. Still today I am surprised about, the questions I get, you won't ever get such a question in the industry! - that will be your life once you enter. As an expert 90% of your peers are generalists and they are not limited by the industry boundaries, they have no clue about it and their questions are completely out of the box ….

… the questions are usually exploration type (testing ideas) or finding a quick and effective solution to a very complex problem (when you think, “….but I need to know....” forget it, the information available is always not comprehensive enough) -> you must quickly take a few critical assumptions and think out of the box, be really able to structure your answer well and communicate in an easy-to-understand way. 

I would recommend practicing (out of box questions and ability to communicate in easy to understand way) with someone who has no clue about your industry/experience, but knows well what consultants usually solve for.

If you would like to find out more about the experienced hire, feel free to reach out, 

Wishing you all the best,

Lucie

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Florian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 18, 2022
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there,

A lot of misinformation here from non-McK folks about the role and content of this coaching.

This coaching session is non-evaluative and should basically accomplish two things:

  1. Figure out if you are ready to move to the interviews (some candidates don't prepare at all and then completely waste both the interviewers' and their time). This is the time to spot it.
  2. Get some tips and tricks from the coaches.

However, keep in mind that these coaches - in most cases - do not have the McKinsey interview training or at best, an outdated version of it.

In Europe, the coaches are mostly current employees who might be on leave of absence and have more time on their hands compared to active consultants. In the US, I have seen it often with my candidates that they are alumni of the firm, often with many years out of the firm (and a not so up-to-date view on the interviews).

Some of the coaches cover the case and some even include one PEI story in the sessions. Overall, the value of these sessions is not very high for two reasons:

  1. They cannot give you any insider tips because they don't want you to hack the interview
  2. Their feedback is usually quite high-level and therefore not super actionable, e.g., ‘’work a bit more on your structuring, you need to have more ideas…''

Reach out if you have more questions regarding the McKinsey interview or have a look at the two articles I wrote on it:

  1. Case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview
  2. PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/mckinsey-pei

Cheers,

Florian

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Moritz
Expert
Content Creator
updated an answer on Jan 17, 2022
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | 90min sessions with FREE exercises & videos

I was an Experienced Hire in the McKinsey Ops Practice and later coached people like yourself. This really should not have happened and it’s good that HR reacted the way they did.

People doing the coaching are volunteer consultants that don’t normally interview candidates. That’s because official interviewers know “too much” about the process and therefore can’t coach once they had the interviewer training. 

A likely explanation would be the crazy consulting schedule with a last minute priority client call or something. However, you should have absolutely received notice of this. Coaches at McKinsey take this role very seriously, as they should. I hope the next one works smooth!

As for content, coaches are really quite flexible as suggested by the others. You could run through a case/PEI or talk about specific questions you’re having. Pretty much depends on you.

Best of luck and feel free to get in touch if you’d like to learn more!

(edited)

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Allen
Expert
replied on Jan 17, 2022
Ex-McK Experienced Hire and EM - I show you how to perform at your best

Hi there,

This is a relatively new initiative, which did not exist when I was an experienced-hire candidate.  The objective is to help candidates better understand what is expected of them and the bar for good performance.  Most candidates know what a case interview is, but underestimate the challenge of a good answer.

In order to resolve this, the coach will usually give you a case, assess your performance with the actual McKinsey criteria, and then provide feedback, which will include a description of what you could have done better. 

However, it doesn't have to go like this.  You can likely use the coaches time for anything.  Meaning if you have a few specific issues with the case or FIT interview that you'd like to discuss, the coach should be fine with this.  As long as they're helping to prepare you, why not?

Don't be too nervous, since the session is targeted towards beginners so you should ask whatever's on your mind.  Just know that nothing is every 100% off the record!

Happy to explain more, just be in touch!

Best,

Allen

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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 17, 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

First of all, sorry to hear that no-one showed up for either - that's really quite unheard of.

In terms of what to expect, you don't need to expect too much. Just like a coaching on this platform, the session will likely be flexible based on your situation. You can tell the coach where you stand and they'll adjust accordingly. Enjoy!

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