Hi there,

Chances are, everything will be by the book. However, with increasing seniority comes a higher likeliness for ‘non-traditional’ interviews. This can really throw people off, especially in case of McKinsey, which is otherwise highly standardized.

Here's some things to consider:

• PEI: Whatever happens, just play along. You may get roped into a conversation or get asked a bunch of seemingly random questions. Importantly, you should demonstrate your ability to hold a conversation and keep it interesting! Secondly, you should not forget the skills that McK are looking for, and by that I mean the soft skills hiding behind the high-level dimensions i.e. CC/ED, PI, IL. If you don't know what they are, get in touch and we can discuss. You must make the Partner understand that you have what it takes, irrespective of format. It's very easy to forget about this when you're in an unexpected situation.
• Case: In many cases when the interview is off-script, cases are candidate-led with a ridiculous prompt. Imagine being told the following: “The government of made up country X recovered a living and breathing alien body from a UFO crash site, which nobody other than them is aware of. They're unsure what to do and asked McKinsey's help with this. What would you do?”. Besides reacting adequately (this is a huge sensation), you should define the objective and confidently run with the case yourself. Importantly, you must do so by proactively showing off the key hard-skills for McK as you would in an interviewer-led case.

If you need help, I'm happy to support. Best of luck!

Moritz

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Hello,

Congratulations on making it to the final round, that's terrific! 

Regarding curveballs that the partners can throw at you, really anything is on the table…here's some advice to tackle anything they throw at you:

1. Remember the key traits that McK is looking for - personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, inclusive leadership, and courageous change. Even if you get a slightly odd question, try to think about how you can showcase some of those qualities in your answer.
2. Be personable and ready to have a genuine conversation (rather than just regurgitating answers that seem pre-rehearsed)! If partners go off the script, so to speak, this is probably what they are going for. Remain calm, steer away from cliche answers, and do your best to engage with them as they wish.

That said, yes the partner interviews can sometimes feel a bit more fluid and less structured than the earlier rounds, but by and large the questions tend to be similar. It's good not to go in with any expectations, but there's also no need to expect that they're going to be trying to catch you out with curveball questions or anything like that.

Best of luck! 

Hi there,

in general, for final round, you can still expect that McK interviewers will dwell on the same qualities the firm is generally looking for (→ PEI dimensions). "Curve-balls", as you call them, can happen anytime, though, esp with very senior interviewers. 

Given the ambiguity, I'd not suggest to spend a lot of time to prepare for those - rather focus on the basics and keep in mind the values the firm stands for (check with current / exMcK or on the company website, if unclear). It's perfectly fine when you haven't thought through a certain question before. Senior interviewers will want to see if you can think on your feet, not whether you're good at rehearsing.

With that in mind, suggest you focus prep on what you can anticipate - PEI and casing.

Hope this helps. Wish you all the best!

Regards, Andi

Woohoo! So glad to hear! Congratulations!

Here's a curveball (hint: anything):

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