Hi there,

Q: I am preparing for McKinsey final round and have a question: how do you suggest me to prepare? Do i have to focus on something different with respect to the first round?

The final round has the same structure as the first (fit + case+ your questions); however in a final round, partners may:

1. Spend more time on fit/PEI and your alignment with the company
2. Ask questions related to the areas of improvement you got feedback on after the first round
3. Not use a "standard" case. In some countries for example you may have market sizing questions, which are uncommon at McKinsey. Having said that, in most offices cases remain standard in finals as well

To prepare, you can work on the following:

1. Review your PEI stories. Be sure to have at least one backup for each dimension.
2. Work on the areas you got feedback on, if any (eg. structure, creativity, PEI)
3. Continue with your case prep. If you are tracking your performance, do drills for the areas where you are struggling the most / review cases where you made mistakes instead of doing just random cases

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Extra reading:

▶ 4 PEI Dimensions You Should Know

▶ 4 Ways McKinsey Interviews are Different

▶ How to Prepare for a Case Interview

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Bonus point: partners often give cases related to the industries they cover. If you know their sectors, it is a good idea to review those industries / read their research papers on that / do cases related to that sector.

Best,

Francesco

Hey there,

Congrats on the 2nd round - almost there :-)

The first thing that you should know is that you have what it takes and you can go confidently into the 2nd round. The 2nd round is just to confirm what has been noticed during the 1st, yet with a different set of eyes from more senior firm leaders.

Now to your questions:

McKinsey is trying really hard to create an objective and standardized interview experience for all candidates, across offices, practices, and interviewers. As a result, you should expect exactly the same interviewing format as in the first round

• 25 minutes PEI
• 25 minutes case
• 5 minutes for your questions at the end of the interview

You will be evaluated on the same criteria, and metrics, with the same types of cases and questions.

Now, that's the theory. :-)

Quick reality check!

That being said, partners still often employ their own way of doing interviews based on their personal preferences, which means that sometimes the final round with them can be less predictable.

Some focus on the case, others focus solely on the fit part (and deviate from the traditional PEI to ask other personal fit questions), and some stick to the standard format. I had a candidate recently who had to go through two cases and one of them was made up on the spot, which made it very tricky.

In general, the more senior the partner, the more likely are they to deviate from the standard interview format because they a. can b. have their own way of doing things. :-)

So now you know the practice.

What does this mean for you and your preparation?

Nothing much.

Continue with your preparation, meaning

• Rehearse and finetune your PEI answers with a coach or peers who know what they are talking about
• Hone your case interview skills that are relevant for McKinsey (structuring, math, exhibit interpretation) with coaches and drills
• Prepare for some traditional fit questions (Why consulting, why McKinsey, etc.)
• Pay special attention to the areas where you received negative feedback in the first round. Second-round interviewers are aware and will dig deeper into these specific areas

During the interview

• Stay cognitively flexible
• Do not be surprised if the format deviates from what you expect
• Stay calm and collected no matter what happens
• Stay enthusiastic, and engaged, and portray the impression that you are happy to be here (partners love that...)

If you managed to pass the first round, you should have it in you to pass the second round as well.

Fingers crossed and let me know if you need some help with McKinsey! 

Feel free to read some of the articles I wrote here about the process:

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

Cheers,

Florian

Not really, just act upon the feedback you got in the first round and repeat the things you did well in the first round.

Moreover, if you know who is interviewing you, look at their bios and read up on their area of expertise, because partners and associate partners tend to give cases from their own area of expertise.

The final round is very similar to the first round in that it'll consist of a case and the PEI. 

Partners tend to focus more on the PEI, so I'd work on getting some stories which are great stories and where it's very clear what the ‘challenge’ is. You want to make it very clear why the situation is very challenging for you. 

Then the case is more likely to be a ‘non traditional’ case as the partners want to test your ability to think through a problem rather than repeat a framework. So practice thinking through structuring questions which don't fit into neat buckets. You can get these easily from the news - read the headlines and think about how you'd structure the problem. E.g., how would you roll out a covid vaccination programme to a country; how would you ensure fair voting in a country etc., 

Good luck!

Hi there,

You do not need to do anything majorly different. Ultimately, you need to stay flexible/adaptable/agile so keep testing yourself in unique situations. If there were identified weakness from the 1st round, make sure to address these.

Here's some general case prep reading: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation

Some casing reading: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

And some fit reading: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

The things being tested are the same. You should be particularly prepared for fit, though, as partners are particularly focused on this.

Everything you did to prepare for the first round still matters. 

Sometimes partners like to discuss their areas of expertise so it helps to read up on some trends and drivers in focus industries if you already know about your interviewer's background (also check if they have any recent publications).

Compared to round one, you should also reflect on your questions you might have for your interviewer. Avoid any tactical topics that any recruiter could answer for you. Try to meet them more at the strategic/visionary level