Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Interview Partners to connect and practice with!
Back to overview

McKinsey cases - Questions on the 'opening' of a case response

Hi all, I am preparing for my evaluative phone case interview with McKinsey, as an experienced hire. I've done ~12 cases so far and here are some issues/questions that still persist, need some guidance:

1. Firstly, even when the case is being given, I am missing out some pieces of info as I am unable to jot down everything at the interviewer's pace. How do you folks capture everything the interviewer is saying (or most of it)? What short cuts or tips do you have for this piece?

2. In the interviewer-led format, after you clarify the case quesiton and objectives, do you actually get to think for a couple of mins to present a structure to solve the case, or do they immediately follow-up with their first question soon after presenting the case overview? 

Thank you!

1
3.4k
12
Be the first to answer!
Nobody has responded to this question yet.
Top answer
Robert
Coach
on May 21, 2018
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi!

ad 1) For sure it's just an educated guess without having had a coaching session with you - it sounds like you are taking down too many notes which you would remember without putting it down on paper. So try to distinguish between some specific facts (which might be worth noting down, particularly numbers..) and the narrative of the case outline (which you will remember without your notes as well).

ad 2) If you ask me for a rough guess, I'd say that in 9 out of 10 cases you also get in McKinsey cases some time to think about your structure (although for sure not a couple of minutes!) - since the first question oftenly is something generic like "How would you go about structuring this issue for the client" etc. However, it makes sense to also practice a case scenario in which you don't get any time for preparing your structure upfront, in which case you will need to develop your structure on the fly while discussing it with the interviewer. At the end of the day it's not that much of a difference, it's just not thinking about the structure in silence, but walking the interviewer through your rationale and thoughts in real-time.

Hope that helps!

Similar Questions
Consulting
Prep Materials for Mckinsey Solve Assessment
on Apr 15, 2025
Global
6
3.6k
Top answer by
Evelina
Coach
EY-Parthenon (7 years) l BCG offer holder l 97% success rate l 30% off first session l free 15' intro call l LBS
51
6 Answers
3.6k Views
+3
Consulting
McKinsey ban or blacklist
on Aug 19, 2024
Global
6
3.3k
Top answer by
Florian
Coach
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 600+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU
99
6 Answers
3.3k Views
+3
Consulting
Just did the Mckinsey Solve Game (January 2025) - got some questions/insights
on Jan 05, 2025
Global
5
6.3k
Top answer by
Hagen
Coach
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 9+ years consulting, interviewing and coaching experience
50
5 Answers
6.3k Views
+2