Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on passing the first round of interviews at McKinsey!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

• Generally speaking, you seem to be prepared well to pass those last interviews as well, unless you have been given detailed feedback on where to improve. Continue practicing both the PEI and the case study part of the interviews and you should be fine.
• Still, I would advise you to research on your interviewers (on the official McKinsey website and social media) to find out what topics they cover and care about. Most probably, the case study will stem from their areas of expertise.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on what to expect in your final-round McKinsey interviews, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Congrats on making it to the final round!  Most important thing to do is relax.  At this point, the company is already seriously considering making you an offer.  Sure, there's still work to do, but you should have lots of confidence.

Aside from relaxing, the next piece of advise I usually give, considering my own experience as well as others, is don't overprepare.  The most common difference between more senior and more junior interviewers is that senior folks can go “off-script” a little more, which will cause you problems if you are so focused on your own script.  Practically, this means don't do too many cases.  Just quality cases.

Finally, make sure you get good feedback from your interviewers, both positive and negative.  Feedback from recruiters is typically diluted.  Discuss this feedback with someone who understands and knows practically what to do with it.  

So there you go: Relax, prepare but not too much, incorporate feedback.

Best of luck!

Allen

Hey there,

Congrats on progressing to the final round. :-)

In theory, the final round should not deviate too much from the first round. The same guidelines for interviewers apply.

However, partners and especially senior partners sometimes deviate from the script to ask questions based on their own experience.

You should expect everything from the normal interview format (case + PEI) to a fully flexible interview session, e.g. senior partner interviews sometimes are purely fit-based, not even necessarily PEI-based, or sometimes just a nice discussion about your motivation, the firm, their work, your work, etc.

Other times they do a standard case or focus on specific elements of the case, maybe on elements that were perceived as less strong in the first round.

What does that mean for you?

Not much to be honest.

1. Continue what you have already done before since it clearly worked out for you so far (cases, drills, PEI prep)
2. Spend extra prep time on your perceived weaknesses or feedback you received from round 1
3. Read the two articles I wrote on PEI (https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei) and case (https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview). There might be some new bits of information in there
4. In any case, attend the interview with an open mind, don't be shocked if the trajectory is different from what you expect, AND be confident (the biggest trait in my opinion that partners are looking for).

All the best!

Cheers,

Florian

If you have made it to the final rounds it means that you have performed well so far so there is less reason to be worried from a performance perspective.

Partner level rounds at McK are not the same as earlier rounds as partners have a lot more flexibility in questions to ask and the format to do it in. For example partners may spend a lot more time going over your resume and specific experiences there or they might give you case to solve but not necessarily in the same detailed format as what you had in the earlier rounds.

Overall you can 

• Work on any areas you found challenging in round 1
• Work on any feedback you received
• Continue to practice cases
• Focus a LOT more on PEI - in this round PEI matters a lot so be very good with your stories
• Know everything in and out about your resume
• Be prepared for a more conversational style interview

All the best and feel free to reach out if you have questions.

Udayan

Hi there,

Congrats on getting to the next round!

First, given that you are overwhelmed, I recommend you relax a bit and take some time off (a day or two). This should help you recharge, calm down, and focus better.

Then, work on any of your weaknesses. Whatever you struggle in or didn't perform well in for the interview, make sure to work through those.

Getting a coach to do a full assessment isn't a bad idea either.

Remember, there's nothing substantially different to this round from the prior round. Ultimately, go in ready for anything and not expecting any one thing - be flexible!

Good luck!

Hi!

I recommend investing time in your fit preparation and how you communicate.

Among other things, the Partners want to understand whether they can send you to a client or not.

Good luck,

Anto

You should focus on mostly on fit questions. And here I mean detailed questions on why you want to do this job and what are your long term aspirations / what do you want from life.

You should also be prepared for questions related to whatever is happening in the country or internationally in terms of business, economics and finance.

Other than that, preparation as usual.