It really depends on the interviewer but if you are well-prepared and structured with your answer, then a 5-6 min monologue is absolutely fine. If the interviewer is frequently having to jump in at the beginning, its quite likely that they are struggling to understand the context of your story. On the other hand, it's very natural for them to ask lot's of clarifying questions as you go deeper into the 'challenges' you faced and the 'actions' you took to get a better read of what they are looking for.
In addition to structure and preparation, my suggestion would be to make sure your story is interesting (also an opportunity to differentiate yourself) and you are able to tell it in an engaging way (especially during the monologue). You will be surprised how often candidates share very similar stories (e.g., leadership role in a student club, school project, etc.). By no means am I suggesting they are inappropriate but it's worth thinking about what is interesting and unique about your story that makes your interview memorable for the interviewer.
Hello Mr Ken, thank you for clarifying on the monologue part. I try to have a STAR layout so it has some structured flow to it. Regarding the uniqueness of stories, let's say they ask you about a time I overcome a challenge - can I use a story on how I started skydiving to address my fear of heights? It's not work-related but it's interesting.
(edited)
In response to structuring (e.g., STAR) I wouldn’t use it religiously to my point around telling your story in an engaging way. It’s a great framework to prepare your stories so that it is framed around a ‘problem’ but it’s important to be able to navigate your story freely based on how your interviewer engages. I have had candidates who are overly focused on “presenting” their template answer then engaging in a conversation.
For your specific question on selecting an interesting story, the relevance is important too. At McKinsey, the question is often phrased more specifically - e.g., overcame a challenge working in a team, etc. which is a question that helps the interviewer get a read on how you would deal with a similar situation during a consulting project. The story definitely doesn’t need to be work related but I would avoid personal hardships that are more emotionally centred (e.g., overcoming death of family member). General rule of thumb for McKinsey is they are looking for stories around “problem solving with impact”. If your sky diving is example fits that then it could be a relevant story.
Thank you so much, Ken. Your answers are definitely very helpful and I'm glad you mentioned that I should be able to navigate the story as the interviewer requests rather than sticking to my template - I could have potentially made this mistake. One final question - when you say problem solving with impact, what does impact refer to? Is it impact for others or can it be a personal achievement? for example, in my skydiving case - it allows me to get over my fear of heights.
It's a great question - impact is often loosely defined and subject to personal interpretation. I personally think about it both directly in terms of the end outcome as well as the indirect actions/process to get there. Helping a friend/team member overcome a fear/challenge would be more appropriate than your own self development/learning. Not explicit but I do feel there is a bias towards impact being something beyond yourself.
(edited)