Hello
I applied to the RB Riyadh and fortunately, I have passed the two rounds of interviews, and now I have the partner's interview.
I would very much appreciate your support and guide on this as it's my first time doing one.
I asked a couple of colleagues who passed the interview and all of them say not to worry about it as it's generally a friendly interview and my chances are really high of passing it.
Let me know please if you have any advice for me as that would help me so much.
Thank you
Hi there!
Super congrats on passing your first rounds! Now head down to the final one, I am sure you can do it if you put the right effort into it.
“I asked a couple of colleagues who passed the interview and all of them say not to worry about it as it's generally a friendly interview and my chances are really high of passing it.”
I think this statement can take both positive and negative turns, so it depends on how you act on it:
- Negative: it makes you feel overconfident, like you have already made it and you do not prepare well enough before your next round.
- Positive: you feel confident and you show this confidence and calm attitude during the interview. This can help you incredibly in giving a storng first impression to the partners that are going to interview you!
My suggestion is to stick to the positive and work on the negative, which in turn will strenghthen the positive even more because being well prepared can only increase your confidence.
How should you work on the negative? Partners normally focus less on technical skills and more on strategic thinking, communication and your fit with the company's culture. Thus, you should:
- Keep up the case interview preparation, with a focus on cases that let you train your strategic thinking skills.
- Train your communication skills, from 2 different points of view: (1) the way you will interact with your interviewers during the entire interview (e.g. trying to build rapport) (2) the way you will present your cases (e.g. final recommendations).
- Review your personal fit stories and make sure they bring a strong growth attitudine and shows your adaptability.
Of course, review you weaknessess from your previous rounds and fix those to the best of your possibilities. And remember to always expect the unexpected. You could have a stress interview (it happened to me in a last round with partners), unconventional cases, unconventional fit questions. Just be mindful of your preparation, remain calm and show that you can deal with difficult questions. You absolutely can if you prepare for it!
Best of luck,
Francesca
Hi there,
Q: I have passed the two rounds of interviews, and now I have the partner's interview. Let me know please if you have any advice for me as that would help me so much.
In general, in a final round the interviewers may:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To prepare, you can work on the following:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Extra reading:
▶ How to Prepare for a Consulting Interview
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Good luck!
Francesco
Hi there!
Congrats! That's an amazing achievement!
Yes, a few things to keep in mind for last round interview:
Best,
Cristian
———————————————
Practicing for interviews? Check out my latest case based on a first-round MBB interview >>> SoyTechnologies
Hello Cristian Thanks for your detailed comment I appreciate it. I have a question though, I heard a lot on being structured and communicate in a top-down approach. Do you have any advice on how to do it? Also, is it helpful to research the partners profile and see their publications to see what are their interests and establish better communication with them? Thank you
Hi there,
Congratulations! Just getting an interview and passing the first round says that you are a strong candidate - well done!
#1 Fix any weaknesses from the prior interview
#2 stay flexible/adaptable
#3 be mindful that the 2nd round might have more unconventional cases/questions (hence point #2).
Here's some reading to help you as well!
https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/pitfalls-case-interview-preparation
https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case
https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/dos-and-donts-in-a-case-interview
https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/candidate-led-cases-what-to-expect-and-example-cases
Hello Ian Thank you and thanks for you rich comment, I appreciate it. Luckily, I have passes the second round interview already and all that is left is the partner interview. So, if you can give me some advice on how to deal with the partner and how to communicate with them clearly it would be very helpful. Thank you
Hello,
Congratulations on passing the first two interview rounds!
Substance-wise, the partner interview is very similar to the initial rounds. You will (most likely) solve a case and answer some behavioral questions. So you should expect to prepare for similar kinds of questions as you have been doing so far.
A couple of additional pieces of advice:
Hello Francesca Thanks for your great comment, much appreciated. Regarding making stories, for me I am a fresh graduate and I am shifting away from my major in Chemical Engineering. The reason for that is I believe consulting offers a way more better, exciting, and rich career than an engineer working in a chemical plant. In fact, when I did my training in the plant I didn't really enjoy it as I have thought of it as a routine work done on the computer with less interaction with people ( I am a very social person who loves to connect with new people and spend hours with them with no problems ) and much less development for the career. So I have felt disappointed by the really of chemical engineering. Now, how can I explain what I have experienced to the partner and convince them that I am suitable for the consulting world and I can fit with the team. Thank you
You can use this story to highlight two very important points: (1) your passion for learning (2) the fact that you love to work in team. Feel free to book a free introductory call with me to further discuss about this!