I applied to a US office recently and the recruiter has invited me to chat to understand my interest in that particular office and probably the firm itself. The call is regarding the associate role, can anyone please describe their experience with this pre-screening call? Thanks.
The call is for 20-25 minutes, what should I expect? Please note I am from a non-target school.
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut
Hello!
Congrats, that is already good news!
These 20-30 mins recruiting calls with HR are similar to the FIT part of the interview, in particular, intro + cv questions and motivational quetsions (2 of the 4 types of FIT questions asked).
If you want to deep dive on the topic, 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.
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BCG | 100% personal interview success rate (8/8) and 95% candidate success rate | Personalized interview prep
Hi there,
First, good luck!
You need to be really clear on "Why consulting" as well as "why the company". You should also be ready with a resume walkthrough. More than that, you should be ready with questions of your own and be ready to talk through really any experience on your resume.
Generally FIT answers are longer and more in depth. "Why consulting" would be 1 min in an interview and 20 seconds on a screening call. Additionally, you need to have personal stories prepared for the FIT interview but not for screening
#1 rated McKinsey Case and PEI Coach | 5 years at McKinsey | Mentorship Approach | 530+ McK interviews in 2021
Hey there,
Some McKinsey offices for certain positions (e.g., North America for experienced hires) are using a phone screening interview either with
alumni
HR
They are usually the first interview within the application to make sure that candidates have a rough understanding of cases before moving on in the application process (i.e. not wasting current consultants' interview time if the candidate is not ready at all).
The phone screening interviews are usually a bit easier than the actual consultant-led interviews and there are no exhibits, yet you still will go through
If HR is conducting the interview, it will be usually a short fit interview and an introduction of the role and the interview logistics. For the fit, for all my coachees there were just 4 questions:
Why consulting?
Why McKinsey?
Guide me throw your resume?
What experience do you have that would contribute to the role and practice?
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The case study is the most important element of the case interview, which you'll have to nail in order to get into strategic consulting. Here you can learn the specific skills and concepts necessary to solve them.
Case Interviews can be led by the candidate or by the interviewer: In Candidate-led cases the main challenge is the structure. In Interviewer-led cases the main challenge is to adapt quickly
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