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Mckinsey interview plan

Recently talking with Mck to plan my interview. General question to the (Ex-)Mck, is it possible to postpone the planned interview date if I am not ready? Someone would like to share his/her successful experience with an individual chat? thanks!

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Top answer
Sidi
Coach
on Jul 02, 2018
McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers

Yes, I always recommend to postpone interviews if candidates are not fully "ready"! No problem with that. Your eventual interviewers will not even be aware of it, since they have nothing to do with the administrative side of recruiting.

Robert
Coach
on Jul 02, 2018
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi there!

Yes, it's definitely possible to reschedule a planned interview date - quite a few of my coaching candidates actually did this already after a coaching session recognizing the harsh truth and difficulty of McKinsey cases and the PEI.

If you think about it, McKinsey invests quite a lot of money into your interviews (mostly considering the opportunity costs of consultants spending time with you, but also travel cost etc.) - it's just a waste of money, brains and time for both you and McKinsey if you show up to interviews, knowing you are not yet prepared well enough.

In addition, I have had candidates even already being on-site for their interviews not being perfeclty healthy (like having caught a cold etc.) - even in this case the interviewer sent the candidate back home and asked to reschedule the interviews, because the candidates were definitely not in their best shape - and McKinsey wants to see the very best from you.

The only recommendation I give in addition is to think of a solid and clear argumentation why your preparation is lacking behind in time - most likely you won't even need it, but be prepared just in case.

Hope that helps!

on Mar 16, 2019
Hi Robert, if we were to reschedule, how would we explain it to HR in the most reasonable way possible? I'm assuming we can't just state we do not feel prepared enough right?
Robert
Coach
on Mar 17, 2019
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author
Yes and no. It's a waste of money, brains and time for both sides if you are not perfectly prepared, so it's a solid argument by itself if you don't feel fully prepared yet. Morever, the interviewer will most likely not even know about the re-scheduling, since this is handled by HR, so no disadvantage once you are on site. However, to be on the safe side, I suggest finding an appropriate explanation why to re-schedule, in a way that it does not reflect badly on your time management and organization skills (i.e. having an external reason for that which you could not influence).
Anonymous
on Jul 24, 2017
Originally answered question: Shifting schedules. How bad is it?

Hi,

I don't think it is "bad" for you to reschedule your interview (especially considering you have three weeks before the interview); but, you need to consider a few things when you're rescheduling.

1) If possible, make sure you suggest alternative times / days that work for you. By doing this, you're making scheduling easier for them. Just make sure to be available during those days.

2) Avoid rescheduling more than once. It's okay to change an interview once, the firm will understand that personal matters could arise at any given time; however, if a candidate reschedules more than once, then it complicates things for the recruiters (not to mention EM's or partners that will interview you have to set time aside for interviews). 

3) Whenever appropriate, be transparent about why you're rescheduling. Without going too much into the details, by stating the reason(s) why you are unable to attend you allow the firm to be understanding of your situation and make accommodations for you (remember, we're human at the end of the day). With that being said, avoid saying that you want to extend the time because you're going out with friends the night before, preparing for other interviews and won't have time for McK, etc.

In short, try to notify them as quickly as possible and suggest times that work for you. Make sure that your email is concise and clear, too.

Hopefully this helps, feel free to reach out if you need any help and / or have any additional comments.

Best,

Carlos

6
on Jul 10, 2018
ex-Manager - Natural and challenging teacher - Taylor case solving, no framework

Hi Anonymous,

There is no point going there if you are not ready and prepared. I would just let them know that I need a bit more preparation and would like to ask about opportuniies of re-scheduling, and if yes when is the next cycle ? In addition, it's alsor fair to ask them to clarify the position (if they can, sometimes the RH assistant can't) for you to optimize your preparation.

Hope this helps

Best

Benjamin

on Jul 10, 2018
Thanks, Benjamin. The internal contact I have there told me that they would be reaching out around the end of the month so I was pacing myself for that time frame and I don't want to have to deal with a situation where I have to start practicing multiple cases in a day. I feel that approach defeats the purpose of getting a quality prep. Based on the timefram I thought I had. I was pacing myself at about 1 case/day or every two days with the additional days to go over the particular case mechanics.
Vlad
Coach
on Jul 24, 2017
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School
Originally answered question: Shifting schedules. How bad is it?

Hi,

Not dangerous at all:

  1. Interviewers are EMs or Partners who will not even know
  2. Even if they knew - they don't relly care

Feel free to reschedule

Best,

Anonymous D
on Jul 03, 2018

The only thing i would add to the other comments is that if you do postpone, be prepared for it to really get postponed a long time.

I was not ready/available for the first date they suggested and it has now been over 2 months for my next interview. 

Sometimes, having too long can be as hard as having too little with cases. You can really start to burn out + seem over-rehearsed...therefore it is crucial for you to manage this if you do postpone. 

3
Vlad
Coach
on Jul 02, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

Pls reschedule the interview. You can't imagine how many people failed just because they didn't take enough prep. There is absolutely no penalty for rescheduling:

  1. Interviewers are EMs or Partners who will not even know
  2. Even if they knew - they don't relly care

Best,

Clara
Coach
on May 31, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

 Some extra guidance for the PEI side:

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Hope you find it useful!

Best,

Clara

Sidi
Coach
on Jul 10, 2018
McKinsey Senior EM & BCG Consultant | Interviewer at McK & BCG for 7 years | Coached 350+ candidates secure MBB offers

Hi Anonymous,

I always recommend to postpone interviews if candidates are not fully "ready"!

No problem with that. Your eventual interviewers will not even be aware of it, since they have nothing to do with the administrative side of recruiting.

Cheers, Sidi

Anonymous
on Jul 10, 2018

Hi Anonymous A.,

I've attached below a thread where this matter was robustly debated. The take-away is clear: you should almost certainly re-schedule!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-interview-plan-1936

To answer your other questions:

1. Try not to baldly state that you are asking to re-schedule due to a lack of preperadness.

2. What do you mean by 'verticle'? If you perhaps mean vehicle, I would resist on pushing this point. It makes you seem like you're shopping around when you project uncertainty about their offer to interview at this early stage. Surely your prior communications with them and the language in the invitation e-mail sheds light on this?

3. What do you mean by SOP? If you intended to say standard operating procedure, what you have stated above is not standard. It can happen, but it is the rare exception.

1
on Jul 10, 2018
Thanks, Tyrion. "Verticle" is a term used in banking to represent a line of business (Industiral, COnsumer & Retail, etc.). so what I meant was is it ok to ask when sector or practice area there were considering me for? or is it standard practice that they interview you and then tell you the practice area afterwards
Vlad
Coach
on Jul 11, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

First of all, you absolutely should reschedule your interviews if you are not ready. Otherwise, you will just miss your interview opportunity.

Secondly, rescheduling the interviews is not dangerous at all:

  1. Interviewers are EMs or Partners who will not even know
  2. Even if they knew - they don't really care. There is no penalty for that

Finally, since you have not discussed the verticle by this point, I assume it will be the generalist role. There are not that many dedicated practices in consulting and usually, they mention the reasons for interest in your candidacy from the beginning.

Best!

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