Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 448,000 Peers!

Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!

Sell yourself despite superficial personal fit questions

Case Interview Personal Fit
New answer on May 01, 2020
4 Answers
2.1 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Nov 25, 2018

Hi,

I would be interested in hearing your tips on how to sell your strengths in the personal fit part of an interview if the interviewer really only asks mostly superficial questions.

I just had a last round with two partners and both partners only asked for a resume walkthrough and then continued to do mostly superficial "small talk" questions like the favorite city I lived in, questions about the product of a company I worked at or some societal implications of a new technology I worked on.

There were no detailed questions about my motivation or situations at any of my previous internship experiences. Really nothing that dug into my qualificaitons specifically. I feel like my motivation and experience are really major selling points for me which I dilligently prepared for the interviews. As a result I feel the interviews did not go well and I was not able to leave a lasting impression.

Do you have any tips on how I coul prevent this in future interviews? Would you try to slip in storys about yourself into small talk or give some cues for questions to ask? I am quite puzzled on how I can make sure this will not happen again.

Thank you

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Guennael
Expert
replied on Nov 26, 2018
Ex-MBB, Experienced Hire; I will teach you not only the how, but also the why of case interviews

This is actually very standard. As Vlad suggests, this is a way to see if you can build a rapport with strangers. In one of my interviews for example, we ended up talking about health care because at one point he talked about a list, that made me thing of Atul Gawande, whom the partner had actually worked with, so I commented on how much I felt there was to do in that space, and he responded that ... before I knew it, the interview was over. Another interview had us talk about college rivalry and utilities and colleagues we happend to both know...

Neither of these interview had any real direction, but you can bet these guys were analyzing everything I was saying.

PS: I second the 'neaver eat alone' book, Keith Ferrazzi is a good writer and you'll be pumped after reading it.

Was this answer helpful?
Vlad
Expert
replied on Nov 26, 2018
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

How do you tell your story when it is not the official interview? How do you connect with people? Do you just share the generic facts, or you tell people exciting stories and interesting facts? Partners are basically trying to understand how you will talk to the clients. Will you tell the client your memorized leadership story? - I don't think so. The best way to have a good small talk is to talk not small at all.

A good book on this "Never eat alone"

Best

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous B updated the answer on Nov 26, 2018

I dunno... I don't think these were "small talk" questions.

The question on favourite city might gauge your affinity for the hiring firm. It might show what excites you, what makes you happy, your values or KPIs in choosing favourite city.

Questions on product? If you worked on a product, I'd want to know about what you did and how eager you are to tell stories about what you did re. said product. I know that I love to talk - lol :-) When I was with vendor, on more than 1 occasion, customer actually asked me if our product was really that good and if they should buy from us.

Social implications question was also valid. What are the implications of autonomous driving? Car is one thing. But what about commercial vehicles? Prime mover or truck platooning is getting mainstream, if not already there. What happens to truck drivers? Remember BJ Mckay? And his best friend, Bear? What will happen to the likes of them? Optimus Prime will be OK though - rofl! Here's another. UK high streets are struggling due to online shopping. Loads to talk about on this.

I feel you might have missed out on an opportunity to shine. If you have not heard back from them, good. Email a thank you note. Recap and highlight how you can add value to the firm and why they should hire you. Try and sound enthusiastic in your email. Why not? Nothing ventured...

(edited)

Was this answer helpful?
1
Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on May 01, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

On top of the insights already shared in the post, next week will be pusblished in PrepLounge´s Shop material related.

In concrete, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB". 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.

Hope you find it useful!

Was this answer helpful?
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely