Partner Interview - Why EY Parthenon and not MBB

Hi Hugo,

Welcome to the forum ;)

You may choose three points out of those below to structure an answer:

• Sectors of interest: specific focus of the company in areas/products interesting for you
• People you met and culture: specific people of the company you discussed with, and the things they shared on the company
• Your growth opportunities: specific programs of the company you heard about to enhance your growth
• Company potential: how much the company grew in the last year, which is a good guarantee for your future career as well
• Size/reputation of the firm: smaller companies usually offer a more entrepreneurial culture, with higher growth potential internally. Bigger companies have more resources and support staff, and more prestige in terms of exit.

If you want to compare to MBB, you need to choose points MBB could not offer you at that level (eg specific focus on a sector, smaller office and faster opportunities to advance, etc)

Whatever topic you choose, you should apply a simple rule of thumb: if you can change the name EYP with another and the answer still makes sense, it means your answer is not specific enough and you need to provide more details.

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

You can use the same logic for any company - try to tailor your answer to the particular office / geography

Here are some other ideas that you can use to structure your thoughts:

• You can start with general facts about the local office. Something like “Sidney office is the fastest growing McKinsey office worldwide.”
• If you have an interest in a particular industry or client this may also be a great reason. For example, BCG can be the only consulting firm working with airlines in your region.
• You may address the different Global opportunities and office initiatives. E.g. international staffing can be a good opportunity to learn about business in a particular country
• Try to combine professional and Non-business rational. If you have friends working in that company, don’t forget to mention them and what you’ve learned from their experience.
• You may use your other personal experiences like working with this BCG, it's deliverables or as it's client
• You can provide your personal experience of working with McKinsey Alums
• McKinsey women / LGBT / etc. initiatives

Good luck!

It would be very unfortunate if that was explictly asked but as Adi has said, I do think it will need to be a very personalised answer, especially for a senior role. Although it's hard to speculate having no context of your background, examples I can think of are:

+ Option to transition directly into a senior role (which is less common in MBB)

+ Your specific area of expertise/experience is well established at EYP or vice-versa where it's an opportunity for you to build it, vs. MBB

+ You have an existing network/support group at EYP who will sponsor you to be successful (which becomes increasingly important the more senior you get) vs. needing to build a network from scratch at an MBB

Good luck!

Hi Hugo,

Apart from "MBB rejected me" :P there are a lot of reasons.

• Want to be part of a growing business (Parthenon is new)
• Appreciate being part of a larger firm which means there are a lot more opportunities for growth, networking, gaining experience and knowledge from a hugely diverse range of people
• Focus on x types of projects
• Parthenon's approach to teamwork, client work, and solving cases
• Culture
• People you've met
• Etc.

Good luck!

Hello Hugo,

You have a lot of different and valid alternatives to answer this question. I usually suggest to focus on:

• Growth of the company, that is both a proof of delivery quality and of the fact that you will have enough "space" in the pyramid to step up  
• Value of the individual, because in a smaller company you will have more chances to get known and show your potential. This means that you will have more chances to be valuated according to your results rather than in big and super structured firms as MBB

Feel free to contact me if you have any other concerns,
Luca

Hi, Hugo!

You should connect the answer to this question to your personal story and motivation. Try to explain how the values of the company are connected to your personal values and goals and which results you would like to achieve there. Also, you can connect it to your personal experience and spheres of interest.

Good luck,

GB

Hi Hugo,

The answer to this need to be specific & personal to you. The story of your life is in progress and why would EYP be the next step for you and not MBB or any other firm? Is it a better fit due to nature of work, industry focus, your values, risk apetitie and career aspirations...

So do some homework/research and practice a genuine/impactful answer.

Good luck with the interview.

Hello!

1st of all, I don´t think they will ask you that qustion -is not normally framed as a comparaison, particularly when they don´t "win" it-. 

Secondly, you need to build an answer based on your story and on their particular value proposition that answers that very tailored to them, without even mentioning other companies.

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

Hi Hugo, I would talk about the enthusiasm of EYP people you met, the practices of your interest, and the size of the office, more familiar and careful on the individuals

Best,
Anto

Hi there!

Try to think about specific points that are only true to EY-P. A framework you can use to think about this is:

Most of the answers have compared the specific differentiators. I would split this into a couple of factors:

• Brand Affinity 
• Type of work
• Types of clients 
• Renowned projects
• Culture
• Quality of talent
• Growth potential