Asking for Suggestion

Hi there,

Many years ago, I was through a similar situation, and it felt awful. As candidate, I would follow up, while looking for other opportunities.

It is not required that a candidate excel at every aspect of an interview. Often it is required that your interview performance is good enough for the job, and you demonstrate your unique strength.

What we feel as a candidate, is not 100% what the interviewer perceives. There's still a chance that you pass. I was surprised when the interviewer called me back to say I'd move on to the 2nd round after I thought I just failed it.

Having said that, it is a general rule to build up an interview pipeline to increase your overall chance of getting an offer.

Cheers

Hi there and I am so sorry to hear you feel like this after the interview. 

As you probably know … it's impossible for anyone here to know how things will play out. Indeed, interviews are often challenging, and candidates feel like they messed up while still getting an invite to the next round. Sometimes they feel things went great and not get an invite. 

Try to remind yourself that anything right now is completely outside of your control. 

Typically consultancies are good in providing quick feedback, especially after 1st round, so you will know for sure soon. Even if answer is negative, you will have sufficient time to regroup and think of your next steps. 

I doubt there is much you can do about your career at large in the few days that you wait for an answer. If I were you, I would try to do something nice for yourself - I am sure interview prep and interviews themselves were hard and you worked a lot to get there. I think regardless of result, you deserve a bit of a break and a treat. 

Take good care of yourself! 

Ariadna  

Hi there,

I would always spread my applications to as many firms as possible to improve my chances and get some free interview experience on top of that.

As regards your sentiment, always tricky to say without being there. It could go both ways…

Let's hope for the best but also prepare for alternatives!

Fingers crossed,

Florian

Sorry to hear about your first round interview. The main thing I can say is that we are all our harshest critics, and often get interview performance wrong. Before you decide it's over, it's worth waiting to know the outcome from McKinsey. 

That being said, it's always best practice to apply to more than just one firm. No matter how strong you are, you should look at a few firms at a time to maximize you chances of getting an offer. 

Best,

Udayan 

You should always apply to multiple firms… like it or not, even great candidates who get an offer with Mckinsey are rejected by BCG and Bain, and vice-versa. And some great candidates get multiple T2 offers but not MBB.

So make sure you apply to multiple firms to maximize your chances.

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with McKinsey thus far!

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your situation:

• First of all, no one knows for certain except the interviewer. If you know that you have made some major mistakes, your chances of passing are very slim, but again, only the interviewer will assess that.
• Moreover, I would highly advise you to apply to other consulting firms straight away. The chances of getting a consulting offer are always slim, so it's just not a smart move to intentionally lower your chances of getting any offer.

You can find more on this topic here: How to deal with a rejection from a consulting company.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen