McKinsey Australia Final Round

Hi,

It has no difference with the final round McKinsey interviews in any other country.

In the final round, I would expect a bit more structured and demanding approach to the fit part. The partners in the last round are more experienced and they will challenge every single detail of your story. So make sure that you have a couple of backup stories. Thus:

1) Make sure that you've prepared everything: A story about yourself, motivational questions and the main FIT stories. Also, don't forget about your questions to the interviewer - you'd rather have an interesting conversation and score some point instead of a simple Q&A session

2) Then go through each story and think of the additional questions the interviewer may ask. It’s important since additional questions will take up to 50% of the interview. Try to remember the main details and facts and make sure that you know how to explain the key concepts quickly. Test your stories with your friends, ideally consultants, and ask for their feedback. There can be multiple groups of additional questions:

• The interviewer may be interested in details about the context
• He may want to check whether this was your effort or more sort of a team effort. 
• “Have you faced any difficulties while implementing your solution?”- Typically an interviewer would like you to tell him how you’ve overcome those difficulties. 
• Your interviewer will check how real your story is. You should be ready to provide even more granular actions, key milestones and a breakdown of potential effects.

3) Now work on 3-6 backup stories. During your interviews, you can then use these stories or adapt these stories to the additional questions your interviewer asks you.

You may be interested, why you need to prepare several stories for each question? At the end of the day, it's not that easy to come up with all of these stories. I've answered here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/repating-fit-interview-stories-927#a1813

As for the cases - Partners and Directors have their own favorite cases and may even want you to lead the case. The key difference: 

1. You ask clarifying questions in the beginning and make a structure
2. You lead the case through the structure you've prepared a) asking questions and trying to identify the root-cause of the problem in the branch of your structure b) making a transition to the next branch c) proactively calculating the data and making data-driven conclusion from the data they give you d) Making a conclusion when they ask you to finish a case

It may seem to you that these 2 types of cases are different, however, the interviewer-led type is just a simplified version of the interviewee-led case. My advice is to always prepare in the interviewee-led format so that you could solve both easily.

Best

Hi Anonymous,

The main differences you will find in a final round with partners is that at that stage they:

1. spend more time on fit questions and
2. may not have a “proper” structured case to present – some cases may be based on a pure market sizing, for example. That's because at the final they know you can structure and crack a case (you passed 1 or 2 rounds already) and are more interested in your logic, personality and fit with the company.

Besides reviewing fit and market sizing, a good extra preparation would be related to the questions at the end for the interviewer. It would be great if you could get the names of the partners, and study their profile for more customized questions. As for the questions themselves, you can find a structure for the ideal ones to ask at the following link:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/open-house-at-bcg-311

Best,

Francesco

Hi there!

No expert here by any means but I think, since you are asking very specific questions, the best thing you could do is network with younger people in the office you are applying and discuss the same questions you just posted.

LinkedIn being perfect for that.

Hi Anonymous,

the structure for final rounds is the same (fit + case+ your questions); however there is far more emphasis on communication and fit. You may also have interviewee-led cases, so be sure to know how to proactively move to the next steps in the case if required.

Specifically, the main difference you will find in a final round with partners is that they:

1. Spend more time on fit questions and your alignment with the company
2. Check more closely your communication (eg how you react to challenging questions, both verbally and in terms of body language. They know that if they make an offer you will soon represent the company in front of the client, so that’s critical)
3. May not have a “proper” structured case to present – during one of my finals I had one interview which was made by two market sizing questions and one brainteaser, without any business case. That's because at the final round they know you can structure and crack a case (you passed 1 or 2 rounds already) and are more interested in your logic, personality and fit with the company

So in order to prepare I would concentrate on:

1. Review in details your PEI stories – they will matter more than in the first round. In some finals I had almost exclusively behavioural questions.
2. Work on your communication (reaction under pressure, how gain time when you do not have a structure ready, connect with the interviewer, body language, etc). This is something you can do almost exclusively in interviews with peers. Your communication will be far more important in the final compared to the first.
3. Prepare on cases as you did for the first round. More market sizing practice could be useful to think out of the box in case you get unusual questions.
4. Bonus point: Research the partners’ background. Ask to HR if it is possible to know who are the partners you will interview with, if not disclosed. Be sure to know very well your interviewers profile and prepare questions specifically for them (eg: sectors they worked, specific career path). This can be a big differentiator from other candidates and a big plus.

Best,

Francesco

No one? Not a word of counsel from ANYONE on here? :-(

I suppose it is a rather specific query relevant to a few, and experienced by fewer still.

Thanks all the same!  :-)

First round consists of 3x interviews normally depending on the position your going. The structure normally is:

15min - Personality / Fit part of the interview
30-45min - Case Interview
1 hour break between interviews

Hello!

 Some extra guidance for the PEI side:

On top of the insights already shared in the post, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes, since we still have some left from the launch!

Hope you find it useful!

Best,

Clara

Hi, 

I am about to have the full day of interviews soon with McKinsey in Paris.

I heard the first round consists of 3 interviews and the second round of 2 different interviews, pretty similar to the first round but with more senior : i) general fit about you (10'), ii) one story (key achievement) (15') and iii) business case (often partner cases).

Good luck !

Hi Anonymous A,

thank you for asking your question on our Consulting Q&A! 

I found some other Q&As that might be interesting for you on the differences between first and second/final round: 

Chern (received offers from McK and BCG):

The key differences between the 1st and 2nd interview rounds, besides the interviewers being principals or partners as you mentioned, are in structure, focus and selectivity. [...]

The structure in the 2nd round will most likely not follow the standard fit + case interview format. Partners may prefer to launch into a conversation about the latest developments in a particular business, industry or geography and talk about your motivations and life experiences later. Note they'll still expect you to layout your thoughts and communicate "top down" by leading with headline "insight" statements. This is the difference between being structured yet adaptable and being formulaic.

The focus in the 2nd round will likely be influenced by your performance in the previous round. The 2nd round interviewers will test on any areas where they perceived you needed to work on (e.g., more quantitative problem solving if you struggled with math in the 1st round, more creative brainstorming if you had difficulty coming up with tailored approaches and ideas to problems in the 1st round, etc.).

The selectivity in the 2nd round is much lower, as this is the round where hiring decisions are made. It may seem obvious but the stakes are higher and it requires all 3 partners to agree that you've met the bar, which explains the low acceptance rate (~1-3%) at the top 3 firms.

In short, the 2nd (final) round is more creative, yet structured, more focused on your development, yet still supportive (interviewers are there to help you succeed, not fail) and more selective, yet fair.

My recommendation is to practice unorthodox cases with a focus on your 1st round feedback and on preserving structure & communication no matter the subject or interview style, so that the interviews may catch you unawares but never unprepared.

Matteo (Mckinsey consultant focused on Digital & Technology applied to Business): 

from my experience I believe there are 2 key differences between a first round and a second round, at least regarding Mck, Bain and BCG.

1) during the first round the interviewers will be senior managers and/or junior partners, whether in the second round you will generally meet senior partners or directors

2) Therefore since the two profiles mentioned above have a different seniority during the first round it is more likely that you will be asked more analytical questions and the business cases will be more detaild (e.g. estimate the market share at the endo of the third year knowing that.. ecc.), on the other side in the second round the you might have to tackle more broad and strategical questions (e.g. what would you outsource in a marketing department)

For the full Q&As and further info, please check the following links:

• Bain&Company second round interviews
• Difference between first round and second round interviews?
• 2nd Round at McKinsey & Company

I hope this helps! If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask on our Q&A.

Best of luck and success for your last round interview,

Astrid 

PrepLounge Community Management

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Hi,

how did your interview go after all? I plan to apply for McKinsey Singapore in the next days and would be very curious about your experience.

Did you have any kind of "touch point" with the SEA area, such as internship experience in Singapore or a semester abroad? I have studied in Bangkok for half a year, but apart from that experience I studied and worked only in Europe and Middle East. Hence, I am a bit worried that they will directly refer me to their office in my home country (Germany).

Have you developed further insights after all to the questions you asked in this forum?

Thank you!

Hi,

In the final round, I would expect a bit more structured and demanding approach to the fit part. The partners in the last round are more experienced and they will challenge every single detail of your story. So make sure that you have a couple of backup stories. Thus:

1) Make sure that you've prepared everything: A story about yourself, motivational questions and the main FIT stories. Also, don't forget about your questions to the interviewer - you'd rather have an interesting conversation and score some point instead of a simple Q&A session

2) Then go through each story and think of the additional questions the interviewer may ask. It’s important since additional questions will take up to 50% of the interview. Try to remember the main details and facts and make sure that you know how to explain the key concepts quickly. Test your stories with your friends, ideally consultants, and ask for their feedback. There can be multiple groups of additional questions:

• The interviewer may be interested in details about the context
• He may want to check whether this was your effort or more sort of a team effort. 
• “Have you faced any difficulties while implementing your solution?”- Typically an interviewer would like you to tell him how you’ve overcome those difficulties. 
• Your interviewer will check how real your story is. You should be ready to provide even more granular actions, key milestones and a breakdown of potential effects.

3) work on 3-6 backup stories. During your interviews, you can then use these stories or adapt these stories to the additional questions your interviewer asks you.

You may be interested, why you need to prepare several stories for each question? At the end of the day, it's not that easy to come up with all of these stories. I've answered here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/repating-fit-interview-stories-927#a1813

4) Next step is talking to consultants. I recommend doing a couple of mock interviews, both case+fit. You can connect with consultants via friends, company events or even LinkedIn. Consultants are entirely opened to share their experiences, but the biggest problem will be the lack of time. Sometimes you’ll need to send a kind reminder to your request, but it pays off.

As for the cases - Partners and Directors have their own favorite cases and may even want you to lead the case. The key difference: 

1. You ask clarifying questions in the beginning and make a structure
2. You lead the case through the structure you've prepared a) asking questions and trying to identify the root-cause of the problem in the branch of your structure b) making a transition to the next branch c) proactively calculating the data and making data-driven conclusion from the data they give you d) Making a conclusion when they ask you to finish a case

It may seem to you that these 2 types of cases are different, however, the interviewer-led type is just a simplified version of the interviewee-led case. My advice is to always prepare in the interviewee-led format so that you could solve both easily.

Best

Hey there, although the experience is likely going to be similar to any other McKinsey office world wide, a look at glassdoor for McKinsey Australia might give you insights on some specific questions asked.

Cheers,

Alessandro