All questions tagged PST - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

Hi there,

We took the time to thoroughly review the PST and here is our feedback to each point you have made:

• Q3: B is the correct answer since it explains clearly and without any extra assumptions why profits are different. Altough C and D explain revenue differences you would imply a cost assumption (for instance no costs) if you picked them as the correct answer. An answer that includes an implicit assumption (that you cannot clearly prove) cannot be the "best" answer to explain a certain fact.
• Q6: Very long indeed. The challenge here is about "picking the right battles". A good candidate deprioritizes answering this question and skips it for the moment.
• Q8: Answer C offers a possible explanation for this observation. However, it does not explain this observation the LEAST. "Only" implies that the current payment options are not as diverse as usual (but we agree that we could have made it more obvious. We will adjust the wording asap). If C would be correct you assumed that other companies have fewer payment options (as you said no credit card for instance). As such a thing is not stated anywhere that is a way "bigger" implicit assumption than assuming that "only" implies less payment options compared to competitors. Interpreting "only" as we did, will offer a good explanation for this observation. Since we are looking for a statement that explains this observation the LEAST, answer C should thus be omitted.
• Q10: Answer B is correct since - again - it involves less implicit assumptions than the other options do. It is clearly and explicitly stated that the CEO is highly concerned about profit setbacks that will be caused by drawing money from nuclear energy and fossil fuels. Since shutting down a nuclear power plant will exactly do that, this option is clearly not what the CEO is looking for. Although it could (not yet enough data to assess) be a viable option from an outside external perspektive, this question does not refer to an neutral outside-in view, but rather refers to what the CEO is looking for.
• Q14: Answer B does not need additional assumptions and thus is the correct answer. Building a brand that justifies higher prices implies that energy is not a commodity and prices can be set by a company (and is not set by the market).
• Q15: You are absolutely right. We will correct that mistaken discount. Thanks for reporting this.
• Q18: Again, you are right. We will be updating to the correct term "GWh" asap
• Q19: Answer C is correct since that is what the CEO explicitly stated. She wants to gain a better understanding of the underlying trends that drive the differences of revenues/profits between geographies. Thus she is asking for a financial analysis and a possible solution (meaning fixing profit losses). This is what answer C is about. Answer B is more about a general understanding (e.g. a market research and maybe a gap analysis). It does not explicity include a solution which is clearly desired.
• Q24: You implied that by "changing mixture between yoghurt and topping", SuperSandwich should increase the topping over yoghurt. That is not stated anywhere. In fact, answer C includes both possible scenarios: It might be beneficial to increase the yoghurt share, although yoghurt prices increased since yoghurt can still be cheaper than the topping. It could also be possible that toppings are now cheaper than yoghurt. In this case you would increase the topping share over the yoghurt. This is clearly stated in the answer sheet which says "Answer D is the best possible measure. Depending on which ingredient is more expensive, SuperSandwich should change the mixture of its yoghurts and use more of the cheaper component".

We hope that this cleared your doubts!

Thanks again for your feedback and for helping us improve our practice material!

Best,

Astrid

PrepLounge Community Management

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Hi Mirko,

the selection process for Master students in Milan is indeed based on SHL + interviews, the latter covering both behavioral and case interviews. The SHL has replaced the PST in Italy some years ago, thus you won’t have to do the PST as part of the application process.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Sara,

I suggest you trying a platform myofferprep.com

All the best,

Egor

You're more than ready to do the actual test

Hey,

There are a million ways to prepare for the GMAT! Especially given that you're excellent at the PST, I'm sure you just need a bit of guidance/practice on the GMAT before you do well. I'm not an expert on which GMAT resources are best, but a quick google and asking around should do the trick (I personally used Kaplan if that helps)

Hi Alex,

In the PST you face 3 business cases across 26 questions in 60 minutes (usually when English is not your native language they allow for 15 extra minutes).

If you think about the structure of question for each case, it closely resembles a project: understanding the scope; obtaining results; giving a final recommendation.

According to sources online the passing grade is around ~18 correct answers which roughly equates to 70% passing score.

When you look at number of submissions an office receives per year will be well into the hundreds (maybe even thousands). You obviously need some screening otherwise consultants wouldnt be doing anything other than interviewing people.

So, the screening starts by the CV/CL review, claiming victims ~2/3 or so. Than you move to a math exam which is very cheap for a company (some even have it online like OW), claiming victims ~2/3 of the remaining. So, in just to simple steps we are left with ~10% applicants and we havent even started interviewing anyone. These numbers are a bit exagerated but I would say real numbers would be more on the ~high 20s%.

So coming to your point, PST is so hard to screen out weak performers. You can then rebuttal and say "hey, but maybe some of the people that failed were possible top performers!". True, but when you get hundreds of applicants PER OFFICE PER YEAR you can definitely be willing to lose some.

As a reference point, I'm a senior consultant in a tier 2 consulting firm conducting final rounds in my office and we roughly give 1 offer per 100 candidates applying, MBB would be even lower.

Just my 2cents :)

Hi Gunner,

I think most of the questions have already been adressed by other experts in the following thread that you might find helpful:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-is-the-best-way-to-prepare-for-mckinseys-pst-3440

Good luck!

Best regards

Hi! Usually you are exempt if you apply with several years of work experience. When McKinsey interviewed me for a potential switch from BCG, I didn't have to do the PST.

Cheers, Sidi

Hi,

IR is the best proxy for GMAT so definitely do that. With the score lower than 10 you probably need 1-3 months to prepare.

Best

Hi there,

I can share some useful materials with you for free.

Please feel free to reach me.

Best

Serhat

Hi Omar,

Great to know that you have started your preparations. Some tips that worked for me when I was preparing for the PST (YMMV if you have a different learning style):

1. The first and most important tip is to try out different practice tests! Not just the official three on McKinsey website (though that would be the best representation), but there are a couple of other free tests around e.g. MConsultingPrep, IGotAnOffer, and other sample questions e.g. GMAT! You can also practice with the BCG sample tests online too which also test similar problem solving skills. Don't just practice them once! You can work through each paper a couple of times (2-3), identify how you can improve, and try to go through the various practice tests in a rotational manner so that you can get the best out of each paper. A "safe" target score would be 22 and above out of 26 (don't expect to get that in the first practice!).

2. Also, it'll be good to practice doing mental math fast! Some great tools include Victor Cheng's math training tool, GMAT tests, and just general day-to-day practices. For example, you can incorporate mental math into your daily routines, like estimating how much it would cost if you bought a plate of chicken rice and coffee for each of your 26 classmates (within 5 to 10 seconds). The key is to be fast and fairly precise (+/- 5 to 10% margin, the closer the better). Just right before the test, you can try out a few simple calculations and times table in your mind (what is 7 x 15, 9 x 14) just to get your brain prepped for the number crunching later!

3. Lastly, given that you have a lot of time left, it is important to give yourself and your brain some time for rest, and not overwork yourself, so that you do not burn out right before the PST. You should plan a schedule that allows you to do that. It is very important to do this, because you'd want to feel confident, happy, and energetic when you step into the PST testing room, to perform your best :)

Good luck!

It is a time-pressured gamified-environment test. Candidates are allotted 60 minutes, the recommended amount of time excluding cases of learner accommodation, to complete the three scenarios. It is done on laptop in a controlled environment.
Multiple scenarions have been developed by Imbellus, but the one i have been hearing about is a simulated world where there are species of animals and plants are dying to an unknown illness and you need to you to figure out what to do in order to protect them.

Here (just for fun reading) I shared the paper of the pilot test results they have done within McK: https://www.dropbox.com/s/77x9sxi3rye14je/EDM2018_paper_19.pdf?dl=0

Evaluation of your score will be done on these codified criteria:
1) Critical Thinking
2) Decision Making
3) Metacognition
4) Situational Awareness
5)Systems Thinking

No specific preparation needed. As general tips:
- Have a good sleep before the test
- Keep an eye on time

Best
Riccardo

Source: Fishbowl - Consulting Memes

Hi Anonymous,

McKinsey indeed moved from PST to SHL in some countries in Europe (eg Italy) although not in all of them; in other regions such as the Middle East and South-East Asia it still uses the PST. I would recommend to verify with HR the current status for the geography interesting for you.

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi,

The Bain test is heavy on chart interpretation with a few words, as well as numerical computation and reasoning. It is important that you are familiar with this type of question and practice consulting math on a regular basis.

My recommendation to prepare is to:

• Practice with the BCG potential test (it is very similar to Bain’s and will help a lot) and MCK test as well. You can easily find samples of these tests online and Preplounge also developed an interesting list here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/bootcamp.php/interview-first-aid/master-the-problem-solving-test/which-companies-are-currently-using-written-tests Also, do not hesitate to get in touch privately if you want some additional samples
• Train consulting math skills (there is a section on Preplounge as well)
• Time yourself while practicing (time is probably the biggest challenge)

As an additional note, Bain also uses two maths tests to screen candidates in some countries (and you might want to use them as a practice). One is largely based on GMAT and includes 15 critical reasoning, data sufficiency and problem solving questions to be answered in 25 minutes. The other one is very similar to MCK PST and BCG Potential Test and contains 2 business cases to be answered in 45 mins. These tests have been used only in South America so far. You can find some examples to practice here (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k4akdv138j7ma3d/AAAuKT3OyPWO0aZ8h2v8ZQo4a?dl=0) but I haven't heard them being used in Europe, North America, or Asia (yet).

Hope this helps,

Best,
Jacopo

Hi Abdulrahman,

as general practice for the PST, I would recommend the following approach:

1. Try to find at least 5-6 practice cases online. There are several available for free, if needed you can purchase additional ones
2. Do one of the tests immediately to check your score. As the passing score is around 70% and you have 26 questions, your target score should be above 18 (keep in mind you are likely to score a bit less in the actual test than your average score at home due to time pressure/nervousness). In the first test you are likely to score lower than that - don't worry, that's pretty normal.
3. Identify the type of questions where you made more mistakes. There could be different reasons why you are doing mistakes and there is probably a predominant type of mistake you are doing (eg slow math or weak critical reasoning). You have to identify the reasons for the mistakes and a way to fix them.
4. Continue the preparation with the remaining tests. After you have identified the main reason for mistakes, you can continue the preparation with the other tests before the interview - I would allocate them at a regular time distance, with an increase in frequency closer to the day of the test.
5. Go again through the questions where you did mistakes at regular intervals. Be sure to keep a "failure" spreadsheet, where you report all the mistakes and classify the reason for them each time.

The key areas where you may do mistakes and may need to practice are the following:

1. Time management. Commit to an amount of time for each question, and go on if you surpass that time. If you do not set discipline, you will end dedicating too much time to some questions (these tests are sometimes structured with questions which are supposed to be skipped and reviewed at the end). If time and test allow, you can then go back to the questions at the end.
2. Quick math. I would recommend practicing with online tools on a daily base to improve. It is better to allocate a small amount of time daily rather than to practice intensively few days only before the interview
3. Quick reading. Get a Harvard Business School case or an equivalent long one, give yourself 2 minutes and check how much information you can absorb. Then repeat until you get a sufficient level of accuracy. You can also check speed reading tactics (eg Tim Ferriss ones) and see if they work for you.
4. Graph interpretation. You need to practice on how to derive quickly insides from graphs. Take some random graphs, give yourself 30 seconds and check if you can get the main insides from them. Then repeat until when you get a sufficient level of accuracy
5. Critical reasoning. The GMAT critical reasoning section should be a good support as practice

Hope this helps,

Francesco

Hi Anonymous,

it seems like the PST has been largely abandoned in the German office. But honestly - the best strategy is to not ask here, but instead pick up the phone and call the recruiting ladies at McKinsey and BCG. They will be able to give you the most reliable information on the current process at their respective firm.

Cheers, Sidi