All questions tagged PrepLounge: Personal Fit - Consulting Q&A - PrepLounge.com

the last time i told a lie was when discussing with a friend whether listening to a book was the same as reading a book. while i dont believe it is, i understand that he has struggled to get back into reading books, and while it may not be true for me, some people actually learn better by listening than by reading words on a page. because i was excited for him to get back into reading, i said that i do think it is equivalent.

Passion, personal interest or working goals are good arguments to deep dive.

Best,
Antonello

My grandmother.

She was raised in an orphanage after WW 2 and therefore had no ressources to make a success in her life.

With hard work, taking responsibility, being willing to learn and lifting others up she managed to build her own company as a tailor, by employing other young women from the orphanage and learning the required skills herself.

Here is your chance to talk about your failures.

Essentially, failure experience is regarded very positively by MBB: if you failed, you took risks, i.e. you have proven your entrepreneurial nature. So, do not be afraid to talk honestly about the times you failed.

However, an important thing to focus on in your answer to this question is what you have learnt from your failure. And I would try to turn these “lessons learnt” into something valuable for consulting. For example, you tried doing everything by yourself and after this failure you really started understanding the importance of team work and really improved on this front. Or, you tried doing everything perfectly and after that failure you understood that it’s important to have trade-offs and to compromise to achieve the results you want (80/20 or “better done than perfect“).

So, be honest, talk about your failures, but remember to highlight some lessons learnt to give your story an overall positive twist.

That’s the question to test your creativity and ability to innovate – a some version of that question can be a part of McKinsey Entrepreneurial Drive Dimension.

It’s good to give a work example here and highlight the following:

• Before you came things were always done in this old conventional way – then you saw it and you came up with a better idea how to do it
• You then executed on it even though nobody asked you to (it was your own initiative)
• People recognised the value of your solution and found it helpful

Best,
Daniel

This question can be two-fold:

• Competitors of consulting company you are interviewing for – then just name them, you probably applied for all of them anyway ;)
• Competitors of any company they name – this question is for sure not asked in MBB, but can be asked in Tier 2-3, so to prepare for that question:

1. Make a list of the industries they work in
2. Identify biggest companies in your region in those industries – this way you will already know the names once you go into that interview

Hope this helps!

Best,

Daniil

Every time a candidate would put a word “reading” into the hobbies section on their CV, I really loved to ask this question. I am myself a voracious reader, and I love a good discussion on books – so, I would definitely ask a candidate in the beginning of an interview what is his or her favourite book or what is the good book that they’ve read recently. So you better have an answer for this, or don’t put it on your CV :)

As regards to what to reply – of course, there is no right or wrong answer here. Just be honest and authentic, do not make stuff up or mention a book you’ve never read (because your interviewer might have). So, if you enjoy non-fiction and topics like biology and genetics, talk about it. But also if you enjoy adventure novels or modern crime fiction, talk about it. In the end what matters is that you are able to show a bit of who you are. MBB are looking for unique personalities – people who are interesting to talk to, people whose company both clients and the colleagues would enjoy, people who can inspire by their uniqueness. So, do not be afraid to show it :)

Hi,

The answer to this question is similar to "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" (https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/where-do-you-see-yourself-in-five-years-4830) . Please find below my answer to the question:

This is a tricky question. The safe response is that you say that you see yourself working as a project leader/principal at the office of your application. If you already have a specific interest, you can elaborate on which functional topics and industries you plan to specialize in the future.

Surely, in order to be honest with the interviewers, you can also say that you see their company as a platform to better understand how you want to shape your career. However, I would refrain from saying things such as "I see myself in working in the industry after working at your company for 2-3 years". With this question, they want to test your commitment, thus you need to further elaborate on that.

Best,

Deniz

This question tests your ability to do things 80/20. What is 80/20? It’s a rule which basically states that 80% of the results come just from 20% of your efforts.

So, in practice it means that during the stressful situation you need to be able to prioritise and make trade-offs to complete more work in a given time vs striving for perfection in one specific task.

The 80/20 principle is very important in consulting industry, because in most cases you don’t have time to do things perfectly (there are literally not enough hours in a day). So, when preparing for your personal fit interviews make sure you think about situations where you had to make sacrifices along the way (meaning applying 80/20) and make sure to bring those situations up during the interview.

Answering this question, it’s important to name reasons which fit well into the MBB narrative and a job of consulting – and obviously avoid the reasons which do not. Good reasons to name would be:

• Your tegridy – you are not comfortable with the work this client is doing (e.g. tobacco or weapons manufacturer), so you are not going to work for them
• You feel that the positive impact of the project on the client is not as significant and is not worth your fees – the client would be better off doing it without you
• You feel that the project is badly scoped – the resources available for the project would not bring the results promised to the client

All in all, answer thinking about your client’s interests first and your personal interests second (except in the case of tegridy, because this money can’t buy)

A full-charged kindle with hundreds of books and the most powerful bower bank on earth are good 2 options: you could read for weeks and weeks, also something about surviving in a desert island :)

Best,
Antonello

This question is a part of McKinsey personal fit Leadership dimension. Here it’s important to focus on a few things while telling your story:

• Highlight your interpersonal skills, i.e. focus on how you felt, what you thought about how other people felt, and why you thought other people acted some way or the other (vs focusing on content of the problem);
• Show that you are able to take initiative, also in a difficult situation like this one;
• Demonstrate that you can efficiently work with all kinds of people, no matter how difficult they are.

Best,
Daniel

Safe choice would be to name at least some personality traits, which are required in consulting. Here is a long list, you can choose those, which work for you:

• Structured
• Rational
• Forward-thinking
• Creative
• Team-player
• Passionate to get things done
• Confident in what you do
• Realistic
• Motivated to stay on task no matter what
• Flexible
• Patient
• Personable

Hope this helps!

Best,
Daniel

I would try to describe the typical traits of a consulting company (e.g. talk about meritocracy, fast learning curve, brilliant colleagues).

Best,
Antonello

That’s again your chance to let your personality shine. Try to choose something, which highlights what kind of person you are. I would, of course, choose something which is acceptable in a work-place, but do not hold yourself back too much. By the end of the day, consultants are looking for the future colleagues with whom they will be locked up for lots of hours in a day, so letting your fun side out when this kind of question is asked, is not a bad idea.

Best,

Daniel

This question is a part of McKinsey personal fit Leadership dimension. Here it’s important to focus on a few things while telling your story:

• Highlight your interpersonal skills, i.e. focus on how you felt, what you thought about how other people felt, and why you thought other people acted some way or the other (vs focusing on content of the problem);
• Show that you are able to take initiative, also in a difficult situation like this one;
• Demonstrate that you can efficiently work with all kinds of people, no matter how difficult they are.

Best,
Daniel

A some version of that question can be a part of McKinsey Entrepreneurial Drive Dimension.

It’s good to give a work example here and highlight the following:

• Before you came things were always done in this old conventional way – then you saw it and you came up with a better idea how to do it
• You then executed on it even though nobody asked you to (it was your own initiative)
• People recognised the value of your solution and found it helpful

Best,
Daniel

Do not invent. Be sincere about your passions.

Hobbies can further demonstrate your abilities in a non-working context.

• Music (e.g. playing an instrument): creativity, ability to play with others
• Sport (especially if made in team): ability to plan and act, collaborate with others
• Writing (e.g. do you run a blog, ...)
• Student Associations (could be the consulting club of the university or other)
• Freelance activity (e.g. worked as a designer, developer, tutor, ...)

Hope this helps!

Good luck with your preparation.
Federico

Empathy; trust; open and honest feedback; clear team norms.

Best,
Antonello

Hi!

Please emphasize how you enable the people around you to overcome obstacles. This corresponds to McKinseys exact definition of "Leadership".

Cheers, Sidi