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

Hi,

It will be up to a week. Don't worry and keep calm

Best

Hello,

From my perspective, when asking these types of questions, the interviewer is assessing your self-awareness and desire to learn more than the actual weaknesses themselves. Being a consultant means constant feedback - and taking feedback on board is essential for progressing at the expected pace of a consultant. These questions are very much about attitude; everyone has weaknesses, but do you have the mindset to take feedback on board and improve on them?

It is important that your answer is specific to you; you need to spend some time looking honestly at your own skills and experience, assessing for gaps and areas for improvement. In the eyes of the interviewer, if you are unable to recognise your own weaknesses, you may not respond well to feedback.

Additionally, rather than viewing this question as a “negative” area, you can then reframe it to talk about everything you want to learn while working for them. By displaying this passion for learning and self-development, you will come across as someone who will thrive in the consulting environment, not losing your energy or confidence from feedback, challenges or mistakes.

Depending on the seniority of your starting level (grad or post-grad), there are certainly attributes that are expected from a consultant which are fairly easy to research online (feel free to message for more detail). While you want to be honest in your answers, possible “red flags” would be weaknesses that directly conflict with these attributes, and are not easy to overcome (e.g. a bad attitude or an unwillingness to learn!).

Hello!

For instance, in the Madrid office -where you work in Spanish mostly with local clients- the PST is in English but parts from the interviews are in English (could be the FIT or a part of the case, totally up to the interviewer)

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

Hi,
here you can find some useful links to simulate PST:
- https://mconsultingprep.com/free-practice-mckinsey-pst/
- https://igotanoffer.com/pages/mckinsey-problem-solving-test
- https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Careers%20REDESIGN/Interviewing/Main/Problem%20Solving%20Test%20PDFs/practice-test-A.ashx

Here some free link to practice with quantitative part of SHL test
- https://www.gradtests.com.au/test/starttest/TestType/2/TestId/45/practice/1
- https://www.wikijob.co.uk/aptitude-test/verbal-reasoning-practice
- https://www.practiceaptitudetests.com/sign-up/programme/shl
- https://www.shldirect.com/en/practice-tests
- https://www.jobtestprep.co.uk/jobtestprep/testPlayer.aspx?atr=1&skinid=9&localeSetting=en-GB&sLanguage=en-GB&test_id=E_FreeSHL_Numerical&mode=timed&template=FreeTestTemplate&endURL=%2ffree-shl-numerical-test-results-page&endURLName=Exit+Test&cancelURLName=Exit+Test&cancelURL=signout.aspx&ReturnURL=%2fmaster-ceb-shl-numerical-test&layoutype=1&layoutype=1&testTitle=Free+SHL-Style+Numerical+Test&adPageID=&itemCode=E_FreeSHL_Numerical

Best,
Antonello

Hi,

If you don't get the offer the major consulting firm don't let you to re-apply before 1 year. Unfortunately it doesn't mean that you will receive for sure an interview: you will have to reapply and they will evaluate again your profile also considering their needs.
The only advantage is that, as you said, the PST score is valid for 24 months and you dont have to retake it.
Anyway, if you arrive to the 2nd round, it's likely that they will give you another chance.

Best,
Luca

Hello! Personally, having done all of them, I believe they are a very good "copy". However, test are always changing to incorporte new concepts, so they don´t become obsolete (and copied by the webpages), so don´t be surprised if the real one at the McK offices is slightly different (which doesn´t mean more difficult)

Cheers!

Hi Anonymous,

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 that 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,

Yes, to the best of my knowledge (based on what I hear from my trainees), McKinsey is still asking candidates to take PST globally. I heard a few exceptions where some candidates were not required to take PST as they were lateral hires.

Best,

Deniz

Hi,

1. Increased by 10% = 50% * 1.10 - correct

2. Increased by 10% points = 50% + 10% - correct

3. It is 6% lower = 50% - 6% - depends on the basis. If the basis is in absolute terms (e.g.1Bn), then 6% lower is 1Bn * 0.94. If the basis is 50%, then 6% lower is most probably 50% - 6% (also 6% point lower)

Best

Hi,

The PST is part of the standard recruiting process of McKinsey, so if it enforced in US, you would definitely have to do it, even though you are from a target school.

However, in a few countries (I don't know if it is the same in US as well) the PST has been substituted with a much easier online test. Maybe that could be the reason why you haven't heard about it.

The test is made of a part of "true/false/can't say with the provided data" part (basically a few questions with 5 lines each and a statement that you have to say to be true/false/not inferable) and a math part with graph understanding, currency changes, tables, ...

If you are not sure about the presence of PST, I would definitely suggest you to directly contact the HR and directly ask them. Don't be shy to contact the HR in advance, they are always happy to answer questions from their candidates and see them better prepared to become possible consultants. It would be seen as a sign of interest and much appreciated from their side :)

Source: Fishbowl - Consulting Memes

Hi there,

Welcome to PrepLounge and thanks for asking your question in our Consulting Q&A!

Have you already checked out the following PrepLounge resources?

• Battle against McKinsey’s PST - 10 Essential Tips to Get Outstanding Results
• Fast Math: How to Master Mental Math
• Mental Math Tool

Hope this helps!

Best of luck for your test preparation,

Astrid

PrepLounge Community Management

Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | twitter

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

Follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | twitter

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