Another interview with McKinsey Digital after final round?

Question

Hello community,

So I have finished the final round of McKinsey Digital interviews, with good performance overall on ¾ of the interviews. One on the final round that did not went 100% well.

I got a call from the HR today before the holidays, telling me that you did pretty well on all your interviews, and interviewers are happy with your performance, however we want you to do another third interview to check on giving you an offer.

The thing is, I asked for feedback, and yet they did not give me anything in specific but they said “you did well, no recommendations nor suggestions from our side its just the interviewer had some negative points on your performance.

they also said that its going to be with one of our “leadership” in the region, and its going to be in the same format as the previous ones with focusing on McKinsey's leadership aspects.

would love to hear from you guys on this matter.

thanks

Answer 1

Hi there,

I've seen this plenty of times while interviewing at Digital McKinsey. If you didn't get any specific feedback, my hypothesis is that they want to check something on your PEI / fit part.

You are very close to the offer! I am happy to help you to prepare this final interview (I've done dozens of those while I was Associate Partner McKinsey). Just send me a message.

Best,

Alberto

—

Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Answer 2

Hi there,

They almost never give feedback. Even when they do, it's rarely helpful. That's why getting assessed by a coach is so important.

There's not much to “think” on this matter. You did not perform as well as you needed to to get an offer. But you didn't perform so poorly that they knew they don't want you.

You need to crush this final interview.

Whatever you struggled in or didn't perform well in, fix it! If you're not sure (and, even if you are), your best and safest bet to ace the interview is coaching!

Here's some further reading to help:

The Most Common Pitfalls in Case Interview Preparation

Dos and Don'ts in a Case Interview

How to Shift Your Mindset to Ace the Case

Candidate-Led Cases: What to Expect With Example Cases

Answer 3

Hi there,

Q: Would love to hear from you guys on this matter.

This sometimes happens at McKinsey if they are not 100% sure about your performance but you did well overall.

Normally you have the same format as the other interviews and they might check specifically the areas of improvement for which they have doubts.

To prepare, I would recommend the following:

Review your PEI stories. Be sure to have at least one backup for each dimension.
Work on the areas of improvement. In your case, they did not provide specific feedback, which is unfortunate, but you might have noticed some areas where you might have performed better.
Continue with your case prep. If you are tracking your performance, do drills for the areas where you are struggling the most / review cases where you made mistakes instead of just doing random cases.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 4

Congrats!

It's amazing that you already got this far.

It's really frustrating when the feedback isn't clear because you don't really know what to focus on.

What I'd recommend you do is to reflect on what you believe are the 3-4 things you should work on. Then, consider discussing them with an expert or experienced consultant to figure out how to improve on them.

Aside from this, here are a couple of other things to consider for final rounds:

Expect less structure. Senior interviewers already have the confidence that you are a decent candidate, your skills having been already vetted by their younger colleagues. They are rather more interested in your as a person and your way of thinking. So they might present you with an unusual case, or one that is created on the spot or no case altogether. Expect anything.
Focus on excellent communication. Senior interviewers care a lot about how clearly you communicate and how you manage to forge a connection with the interviewer. It's important to be top-down and concise as much as possible with your answers, while allowing the conversation to flow in a natural way.
Put yourself in their shoes. The one question senior interviewers are asking themselves throughout the interview is what will happen when they'll put you in front of a client they've groomed for years? Make sure that even based on this first impression you seem somebody who can be trusted and who can work with any client regardless of how difficult they might be.

Best,
Cristian

Answer 5

Hello,

Congrats on getting that far, now time to close the deal!!

This happens quite often now for them to add an “extra validation” step / last case after the normal process.

If you received no new feedback → I would focus on the feedback you received after round 1 + your perception of what when less good during the so-so interview. But overall, if you made it there that means you know what to do already so don't overthink it, be strong on the process and don't stress during that last step (too much stress might lead you to botch the interview - I know easier said than done).

Best of success for you !! Hope you get it in the bag !!
Cheers

Answer 6

Hi,

An additional interview is a pretty usual practice when the firm is on the fence about giving you on offer. You're close but not quite there yet.

You should expect the same interview structure with an emphasis on the areas which you didn't excel in during the previous interviews. Those can be structuring, calculations or personal fit, for example.

Good luck!
Nick

Answer 7

I don't think anyone can add to what you already know. Your last interview was not good enough to get an offer, but good enough (combined with the rest) to provide you with a second attempt.

You need to reflect on what went wrong and improve your performance, and make sure you that on the interview day you are performing at a higher level!