Hello all,
I hear that a lot of candidates got cases about sustainability in their McKinsey interviews. Can someone share some sustainability insights or topics or maybe some cases about emission reduction? What’s the best way to approach them?
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Hi there,
This is an ever-increasing theme! That said, please be careful with your approach. You're saying “Mckinsey cases in x, therefore I need to prepare x”. But, remember, you can get any case. You are going down the classic route of trying to be prepared for everything (impossible), rather than training yourself to be prepared for anything.
Here's a case I've just completed on Sustainability: https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/candidate-led-usual-style/intermediate/hunger-warriors-270
I suggest you read this here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case
That said, If you want sustainability topics/cases, read BCG Insights and McK Insights! they have entire sustainability sections…they're literally cases.
Some examples:
If you'd like to work through the frameworks for any of the above (and dozens of other prompts/frameworks I've created), feel free to reach out!
Every single one needs its own approach/framework.
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Good observation - it also reflects topics increasingly present in the client work. While at McK, I used to give cases related to sustainability - I can't reveal any details here but in terms of preparations, I would familiarize myself with topics such as: energy (incl. various sources, conversion, storage, improving energy efficiency), raw materials (sourcing, recycling), use and pollution of air, water land.
Try to take a holistic view - without going too deep into technology but also including infrastructural, geopolitical and behavioral/social aspects. There are many publicly available resources available but to get more into consulting mindset you can try reading through some reports prepared by McK and other firms (e.g. on decarbonization).
I'm happy to work 1-on-1 on these topics if someone feels like they would like to address them more specifically.
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Hey there,
Interview cases always reflect the engagement experience of the respective interviewers. Since we are now seeing many projects with an ESG component, more and more cases are also centered around that theme. Five years ago the main theme was digitization…
What this means for you is two things:
For the latter, have a look at the article I wrote on the topic to learn more about McKinsey case interviews: https://preplounge.com/mckinsey-interview
Cheers,
Florian
Hello,
Looks like you got some great resources here already! My additional two cents would be to remember that case interviews are designed to test your analytical thinking, not your industry knowledge. While it could be helpful to read a few insights on sustainability topics, you should be applying the same tools to a sustainability case as you would to other cases. Of course, always make your frameworks and approach specific to the case at hand, but you shouldn't be approaching sustainability cases in any radically different way.
