McKinsey Associate Operations

associate McKinsey Mckinsey operations
New answer on Aug 03, 2022
5 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Aug 02, 2022

Hello, i am being interviewed for McKinsey Associate Operations practice and i was wondering if my focus should be on operations related cases only? any advice in general? Thanks in advance

Edit: the position is part implementation practice as well

(edited)

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Allen
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updated an answer on Aug 03, 2022
Ex-McK Experienced Hire and EM - I show you how to perform at your best

The answer is not to focus on operations cases.

Two reasons:

  1. Interviewers get to pick their own cases.  Interviewers for the Ops practice are generally from the Ops practice, which means they are inclined to pick Ops cases, but they may not, and they may not be from the ops practice.  So good chance that you will not receive an ops case.
  2. The skills you practice through many types of cases will help you regardless of the industry, but if you focus on only one industry, you may not get all the practice you need.

All that being said, definitely brush up on operations topics, such as typical types of supply chain improvements, for example.

Hope this helps.  Contact me for more info.  I interviewed in the Ops Practice ;)

Best regards,

Allen

(edited)

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Ian
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replied on Aug 02, 2022
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Sofia
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updated an answer on Aug 02, 2022
Top-Ranked Coach on PrepLounge for 3 years| McKinsey San Francisco | Harvard graduate | 6+ years of coaching

Hello,

I would prepare to be flexible in your interviews, and prepare all sorts of cases, but place extra focus to operations cases. In other words, you are more likely to get an operations case, but it is not guaranteed, so it is best to cover your bases if you want to increase your chances of success.

(edited)

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Florian
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replied on Aug 02, 2022
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Hey there,

On the matter of industry-specific cases:

It will be a mix of cases in a domain-relevant context as well as cases set in a completely different context.

Be aware that frameworks were applicable in the 2000 years, the era of Victor Cheng and Case in Point. McK has long caught up on this and the cases you will get during the interviews are tailored in a way to test your creativity and ability to generate insights, not remember specific frameworks.

In fact, it will hurt you when you try to use a framework on a case that calls for a completely different approach. Also, it gives a false sense of security that will translate to stress once you figure out how your approach won't work during the real interview - I have seen this so many times...

Your goal should be to learn how to build issue trees, interpret charts, and perform math no matter the context, industry, or function of the case. I have a system for that, especially for McKinsey cases, that teaches you exactly this approach + a ton of exercises I give my coachees to progress their ability to come up with deep, broad, and insightful answers for each case individually.

Have a look here to get started: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/mckinsey-interview

Cheers,

Florian

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Francesco
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replied on Aug 02, 2022
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Hi there,

Most likely you will have at least one case related to Operations. However, you could have other types of cases as well. 

It is difficult to predict how many exactly - I helped candidates who had 1 case out of 3 and others who had all of them related to operations in a round.

In case you have other questions please feel free to PM me, I helped several candidates for the McKinsey Operation practice and know 15+ real questions they asked. 

Best,

Francesco

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Allen gave the best answer

Allen

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