McKinsey - PEI - Entrepreneurial Drive - Experienced hires

McKinsey PEI
New answer on Aug 17, 2021
6 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on Dec 30, 2020

Hi everyone,

Happy new year in advance :)

I have a question regarding my PEI story for entrepreneurial drive : given that I have been a strategic consultant for 3 years, do I have to have a story from my consulting years or could it be before my strategy consulting career ? None of my experiences include creating an initiative or a business, it is rather about a new approach and an unseized opportunity.

1) If it is possible to take an old experience : does coming up with a new approach to customer acquisition in a fintech company (building a common but customizable sales / marketing speech; underlying the ROI of the tool and the other qualitative advantages during first meeting instead of directly going into the tool) qualiify as Entrepreneurial Drive experience? ==> I will structure it using STAR and underlying the obstacles and results (not quantified however)

2) If I have to take an example from my recent experiences within consulting : does proposing a more thorough / quantified methodology on a project qualify for that? I am having trouble seeing what can be considered as Entrepreneurial Drive story within consulting...

Many thanks,

Have a great day

(edited)

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

Hello!

Honestly, both work very well. Use whichever fits better to the specific question you are asked.

On top of the insights already shared in the post, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, tackling each firms particularities and combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology. Following the book, the candidate will prepare his/her stories by practicing with over 50 real questions and leveraging special frameworks and worksheets that guide step-by-step, developed by the author and her experience as a Master in Management professor and coach. Finally, as further guidance, the guide encompasses over 20 examples from real candidates.

Furthermore, you can find 3 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

Intro and CV questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/introduction-and-cv-questions-fit-interview-preparation-200

Motivational questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/motivational-questions-fit-interview-preparation-201

Behavioural questions (ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE) >https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/behavioral-questions-entrepreneurial-drive-fit-interview-preparation-211

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes for the Integrated FIT Guide, since we still have some left from the launch!

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Anonymous A on Dec 31, 2020

Thank you Clara. I already purchased your guide, and I used it actually to come up and structure those stories. Thanks, much appreciated

Gaurav
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replied on Dec 30, 2020
Ex-Mckinsey|Certified Career Coach |Placed 500+ candidates at MBB & other consultancies

Hi there,

In my opinion, both stories would work, the dfference is only how you frame it. At the same time, for an interview at McKinsey you might wanna use your consulting experience.

Some tips for your PEI:

  • Storytelling is important. Gives your story a natural flow and it's easy to follow.
  • Make sure that your decisions/actions had a clear impact to the company, such as: more money / reduce cost / improved working conditions etc.

Whatever you choose, break a leg!

Cheers,

GB

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Adi
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replied on Dec 30, 2020
Accenture, Deloitte | Precision Case Prep | Experienced Interviewer & Career Coach | 15 years professional experience

Hey there,

Entrepreneurial skills - this doesnt always have to be starting a new business but an opportunity you spotted & executed that others missed which created value (as per below). This could be a small but impactful thing. I always advocate storytelling techniques to candidates to make this powerful. There are good courses on storytelling on Udemy or free ones on Youtube. Check out this thread too: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-start-an-answer-of-telling-a-story-about-past-projects-8188

In terms of value, think about how what you did helped:

  • Create more $ and/or
  • Reduce $ and/or
  • Improve wellbeing of people (happiness, engagement etc)

So both of your examples are good. Just tell you story correctly & impactfully.

Good Luck.

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Ian
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replied on Dec 30, 2020
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there and happy new year in advance as well!

Your proposed story looks great. I'd have to hear it and see it fleshed out, but if you built up a company on your own based on this concept, that absolutely fits.

In terms of "age", even 5-6 years old is ok for this type of experience. For reference, I interviewed when I was 27, and my entreprenurial/initiative story was from when I was 22 and launched a business...I didn't say it was from 5 years ago, and even if they asked it would have been perfectly fine!

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Anonymous A on Dec 30, 2020

Thank you Ian. But I didn't built up a company (I wish I had, my PEI stories would have been so much easier to develop). I was an "intern" (actually, it was an apprenticeship) during my master studies in a fintech. And I built a standardized commercial / marketing speech (and then approach), encouraging the pre-sales / sales teams to be more proactive (instead of waiting for tender processes) and start by underlining key elements of our solution (ROI, other benefits) before showing the tool (demos). Do you still think it may make a good story?

Anonymous replied on Dec 31, 2020

Hi,

Entrepreneurial drive does not always involve creating new business, it basically about identifying opportunity and follow up to make it happen. E.g. new ways of doing an analysis that implemented firmwide, an idea to sell more work to existing client based on your work and the partner(s) implemented it.

In my opinion it usually also does not matter how long ago the experiences.

Best,
Iman

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Florian
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replied on Aug 17, 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets
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Clara gave the best answer

Clara

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