Questions on McKinsey final round

Great!

For anybody looking into this same topic, and specifically on the differences between first and second round, this is a quick summary of what to expect from final round:

1. Work on the feedback provided in the previous rounds. Most firms communicate the feedback from the previous rounds to the final interviewer. It's important then to show the final interviewer that you have a growth mindset and are reactive to feedback. This matters immensely. Make sure you are clear on your development areas and that you get the right support to polish them before the final interview.
2. Expect less structure. Senior interviewers already have the confidence that you are a decent candidate, your skills having been already vetted by their younger colleagues. They are rather more interested in your as a person and your way of thinking. So they might present you with an unusual case, or one that is created on the spot or no case altogether. Expect anything.
3. Focus on excellent communication. Senior interviewers care a lot about how clearly you communicate and how you manage to forge a connection with the interviewer. It's important to be top-down and concise as much as possible with your answers, while allowing the conversation to flow in a natural way.
4. Put yourself in their shoes. The one question senior interviewers are asking themselves throughout the interview is what will happen when they'll put you in front of a client they've groomed for years? Make sure that even based on this first impression you seem somebody who can be trusted and who can work with any client regardless of how difficult they might be.

Best,
Cristian

Hi there,

To your questions:

Q: What really changes now compared with the first round? Is it the intensity/complexity of the cases, is it more invoved PEI, etc.?

You are interviewed by APs or Partners. PEI questions are different. You need to sharpen even more your communication and structuring skills.

Q: Will the notes from my previous performances be shared with my interviewers for final round? In other words, will they try to test me on the specific feedback points that I received to see if I'm showing improvement on those points?

If any feedback drops some doubts on the interview process, you will be double checked on this on the second round. You might be even required to conduct an additional interview for proofing.

Best,

Alberto

A lot of things change from the first round to the second round.

1) First round interviewers are Senior Associates and Engagement Managers that have been through interview training and they are more focused on the mechanics of the case. They are hyper focused on things like structure. In the final round, you are meeting with Associate Partners, Partners and Senior Partners and many haven't had interview training. So, the interviews can't be quite different.

2) There's a lot of focus on fit ("Why McKinsey"). You have to remember that these Partners and especially Senior Partners have been at the firm for a long time and it is a special place for them. They want to know why you want to join there special place. You have to be VERY specific and not say things like "great brand", "good people", "good diversity".

3) Your PEI stories are also weighted more heavily and are often talked about disproportionately in the final round decision meeting. Be sure to bring out your best, inteject some personal stories and don't repeat any PEI stories.

4) The first round is more formal and the final round is much more personable. Try to make a personal connection any way you can.

Hi,

In the final round, I would expect a bit more structured and demanding approach to the fit part. The partners in the last round are more experienced and they will challenge every single detail of your story. So make sure that you have a couple of backup stories. Thus:

1) Make sure that you've prepared everything: A story about yourself, motivational questions and the main FIT stories. Also, don't forget about your questions to the interviewer - you'd rather have an interesting conversation and score some point instead of a simple Q&A session

2) Then go through each story and think of the additional questions the interviewer may ask. It’s important since additional questions will take up to 50% of the interview. Try to remember the main details and facts and make sure that you know how to explain the key concepts quickly. Test your stories with your friends, ideally consultants, and ask for their feedback. There can be multiple groups of additional questions:

• The interviewer may be interested in details about the context
• He may want to check whether this was your effort or more sort of a team effort.
• “Have you faced any difficulties while implementing your solution?”- Typically an interviewer would like you to tell him how you’ve overcome those difficulties.
• Your interviewer will check how real your story is. You should be ready to provide even more granular actions, key milestones and a breakdown of potential effects.

3) Now work on 3-6 backup stories. During your interviews, you can then use these stories or adapt these stories to the additional questions your interviewer asks you.

You may be interested, why you need to prepare several stories for each question? At the end of the day, it's not that easy to come up with all of these stories. I've answered here: Repeating Fit Interview Stories

As for the cases - Partners and Directors have their own favorite cases and may even want you to lead the case. The key difference:

1. You ask clarifying questions in the beginning and make a structure
2. You lead the case through the structure you've prepared a) asking questions and trying to identify the root-cause of the problem in the branch of your structure b) making a transition to the next branch c) proactively calculating the data and making data-driven conclusion from the data they give you d) Making a conclusion when they ask you to finish a case

It may seem to you that these 2 types of cases are different, however, the interviewer-led type is just a simplified version of the interviewee-led case. My advice is to always prepare in the interviewee-led format so that you could solve both easily.

Answering your 2nd question - notes are not shared

Best

Congratulations! Some thoughts based on your questions:

+ The assessment critieria is the same with the exception of the third PEI dimension which you weren't asked in first round. You may come across slightly more abstract cases and your interviewer will expect you to go much deeper with your insights across the case

+ First round performance is definitely included as part of the final decision on whether to extend an offer or not. McKinsey has a very strong feedback culture where that also applies to interviewing. If you had a hiccup in your first round maths and that was still a problem in final round then that would raise alarm bells whereas the opposite if you showed clear imrovement

+ Best tip outside PEI and Cases is to really build a rapport with your interviewers and make sure they can see you as someone working on one of the teams as well as a future partner at McKinsey (that is a deliberate question that is taken into consideration - do we see this candiate as a future partner of McKinsey & Company)

Good luck!

Hi there!

• the Partner round case discussions are less structured. Partners tend to give real-life case from their experience or sometimes they can also pick a situation from the candidate’s CV, make a few changes and turn it into a case;
• every partner discussion is different and the direction the conversation takes depends on role that you are interviewing for, feedback that the partner has got from earlier rounds and of course the Partner’s personality;

Keep the following things in mind while preparing for the Partner interview:

Better synthesis – Your analytical mindset has already been tested in earlier rounds. Partners would like to test your client readiness. Partners pay more attention to how you draw your conclusions, communicate your conclusions, how you synthesis etc.

Comfort with less structured case discussion – Partners love to test your creativity, out of the box thinking. Multiple times in the discussion they can ask you your opinion on the data point/clarification that you had asked, to check your business acumen e.g. you asked, what is the growth rate of our client; partner responds what number would you want to assume? or open ended questions e.g. tell me more, is there anything else?

Consistent stories and deep dives – Partners would want to know your story. They want to see whether your decision to join McKinsey is consistent with your career story. Whether the achievements you have mentioned on the CV are consistent with your project stories. Partners will drill down into your experiences and achievements to the extreme. They want to understand how you react to challenges and how you think and communicate about your past work.

Cheers,
GB

Dear A,

My congratulations!

Specifically, the main difference you will find in a final round with partners is that at that stage they:

1. spend more time on fit questions and your alignment with the company

2. check more closely your communication (eg how you react to challenging questions)

3. may not have a “proper” structured case to present – during one of my MBB finals, had one interview which was made by two market sizing questions and a brainteaser, without any business case. That's because during the final they know you can structure and crack a case (you passed 1 or 2 rounds already) and are more interested in your logic, personality and fit with the company

   Best,

   André

Hello!

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Best,

Clara