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McKinsey Pre-Screening Call

McKinsey McKinsey & Company mckinsey 1st round interview pre-screening interview
New answer on May 16, 2022
3 Answers
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Anonymous A asked on May 13, 2022

Hello McKinsey Aspirants,

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.

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 14, 2022
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.

Furthermore, you can find 3 FREE Expert Articles on PreLounge, in a sreies dedicated to preparing for the different parts of FIT:

1. https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/cv-interview-questions

2. https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/motivational-fit-interview-questions

3. https://www.preplounge.com/en/behavioral-interview-questions

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

Hope it helps! 

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Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 14, 2022
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

First, good luck!

  1. 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.
  2. 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

Here are some questions to be prepared for: https://www.preplounge.com/en/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

And here is a great prior Q&A: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinseys-phone-screening-case-9161

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Florian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 16, 2022
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

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

  1. Structuring
  2. Case Math

If you want to learn more about that, check out the article I wrote here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview

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:

  1. Why consulting?
  2. Why McKinsey?
  3. Guide me throw your resume?
  4. What experience do you have that would contribute to the role and practice? 

Cheers,

Florian

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