What can you bring to the company?

Question

Hi everyone,

I had a phone interview with McKinsey for their mentorship program (pathway to Business Analyst). At the end, the consultant asked me :"If you get selected, what can you bring to the program?". I faltered a bit. He already asked about my experience and skills in the first half of the interview. Hence, I wasn't sure what he wanted to get out of this and my answer was not very satisfactory.
Anyone able to shed some light on this?

Answer 1

Hi Anonymous,

this question is very similar to “Why should I hire you”. I would structure the answer as follows:

Step 1: Be ready for an immediate reply. You cannot show you have to think for this question. If you don’t know immediately why they should hire you / what you can bring, you cannot expect they will consider you positively. This not only means you should prepare in advance, but also that you should break the ice immediately. Something like the following would work “That’s a great question. I think you should hire me/have me in the program for a couple of reasons, related to [MENTION THREE SKILLS]”
Step 2: Start presenting the first skill. “A first element I believe I can bring is the ability not only to work in a team, but also to bring a team to reach its goal”
Step 3: Provide a clear example of the skill. “As you can see from my CV, I have played in competitive football in the last years; more specifically [EXAMPLE SHOWING LEADERSHIP]. “
Step 4: Remark why that could be useful for the company. “I know consultants work constantly in teams and the team performance is what matters to achieve the final result. If you hire me/have me in the program, I believe I can contribute in the team to that, as I showed in my past sport experience”
Step 5: Repeat Step 2-4 for other two skills

As examples of good skills, everything related to leadership, drive, impact would work well for McKinsey. At the link below you can find an explanation of the meaning and differences for each of them:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-pei-difference-drive-and-personal-impact-918#a1780

Best,
Francesco

Answer 2

I would suggest to think of the question as going beyond your practical skills and knowlege to what your role tends to be when working in a team. Think of patterns that you might have noticed when working previously with other peopl: are you the one that's very good at outside the box thinking, at quickly assessing viability to bring focus, at benchmarking vs. similar cases, etc.

In terms of helping you prepare for the questions beforehand, on top of thinking about past experiences, you can try looking at your MBTI profile. And if you can link it to a specific experience you have I would say even better (Example: I've been rockclimbing since I was 10, so I've really learned the importance of mapping out your route ahead of time, this is something that I've carried with me in my professional life. I'm usually very good at planning out the steps needed to complete a project and I'm sure this is something that I could contribute to the company).

Answer 3

Since, admittedly, entry-level hires can bring only a limited set of hard skills to the table and since those, at this level, are usually considered table-stakes, what I usually look for in the answer to this question is:

willingness to learn and continuously improve
passion for the job/industry
positive attiude and stamina
ability to work in group
humbleness

Hope this helps,

Andrea

Answer 4

Hello!

On top of the insights already shared in the post, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB" has been recently published in PrepLounge´s shop (https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34)

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.

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes, since we still have some left from the launch!

Hope you find it useful!

Best,

Clara

Answer 5

This question is very similar to the motivational set of questions, which includes:

Why consulting?
Why this region?
Why X firm?

First, go on their webpage, read how they present themselves, network to get some information from insiders.

This is not a common question, but you can asked it, so be ready for it to answer. To answer properly, I would recommend you this formula:

To show you understand of what kind of person interviewers are looking for (defining the problem)
Present yourself as a best solution
Give 2-3 reasons why you

Does it make sense to you?

GB

Answer 6

The main difference really is the risk at stake. Entrepreneurial Drive is more about having initiative and driving th... (read entire answer)

The main difference really is the risk at stake. Entrepreneurial Drive is more about having initiative and driving things forward, but Courageous Change is about making the hard... (read entire answer)