Behavioral Questions

As the previous answers have highlighted, there will be no major difference between firms interviews. So the key here is to showcase the best version of yourself, so you can be ready for any question incoming

Showcase the best version of yourself, by crafting your experiences (personal or professional) in sharp and clear narratives. 

• The STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format is your best friend here. 
• Break down your experiences into these components to ensure your responses are structured and compelling.
• Each story should showcase a particular skill or quality relevant to consulting—be it problem-solving, leadership, teamwork, or delivering tangible results. 
• The clearer and more concise you can make these stories, the more impact they'll have during the interview.

Show that you've done your homework on the firm your applying 

Albeit day-to-day consulting work do not differ much between top firms, recruiters will still be interested to know why you choose their firm over another

You should at least be prepared to answer the following questions: 

1. Why consulting ? 
2. Why do you want to join our firm ? 

For 1., you would need to have 1-2 points to highlight that you understand what consulting is about, and why you think it will be useful for you (e.g., diversity of project, learn to structure complex problems, learn to communicate to C-suites executives)

For 2, again, you should have 1-2 points that shows your understanding of the company's culture (e.g., Bain's strength in PE, BCG moonshot on AI and Sustainability, Roland Berger experience on Industry in Europe, etc.) 

Best of luck with your preparation, and I'm confident you'll shine in the behavioral part of the interview!

Warm regards,

Florian 

Hi,

If we take a step back, I don't think top firms are looking for different traits/types of people. All top firms recruit from the same core pools (e.g. MBA, top undergrad). 

There is however some difference in terms of the style of questioning and expected response. 

• e.g. McKinsey's PEI 
• e.g. Bain's relatively new situational/scenario based questions

Plenty of great articles on Preplounge already on McK's PEI - you can read some good stuff written there already. 

But you need to keep in mind that the core experiences/stories that you need to draw on do not change, what changes is how you craft, frame and articulate them and address the interviewer's specific question style.

Lastly, in terms of ‘covering all possible behavioural questions’, this is probably not an 80/20 use of your time. Sure you can come up with a list of ~50 different questions and prepare for all permutations, but what if the interviewer happens to ask a question that just so happens not to be in your list? 

Thus I would suggest instead to

• Focus on the few core themes that are similar across firms
• Prepare for some second priority type questions (e.g. personal or motivation type questions)
• Learn how to be a structured thinker and communicator so you can apply this on the spot to a ‘new’ question you haven't prepared for

Hi there,

I agree with the previous sentiment. All of the Tier 1 and 2 consulting firms are essentially looking for the same types of people (in terms of skill set, academic/professional track record, etc.). 

The personal fit interviews usually all try to explore the same sort of behavioral themes. Individual firms may have a different structure on how to go about asking these questions, but you will need to talk about things like motivation, leadership experience, conflict resolution, teamwork, drive for excellence, dealing with failure, etc. everywhere.

You will need to think through personal examples for these different dimensions in your preparation for all of your consulting interviews. With that in place, you can easily adapt to specific intricacies/expectations indivual firms may have as to how a candidate should structure their answers.

Best of luck

Hi!

Theoretically, yes. Practically, no.

Theoretically, they each outline the areas they are assessing on their website. They have their own names for each dimension and what they specifically look for. 

But practically, they all assess for pretty much the same stuff, which is what consultants need to do the job: emotional intelligence, creativity, resilience, etc. 

I usually coach people on the McK framework and then work with them to adjust the stories from there. Similarly, I would recommend that you start from a fixed point and branch from there rather than randomly trying to develop a set of stories for each firm. 

Good luck!
Cristian

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Hi there,

Yes and no. They do, but the variance between interviewers is greater than the variance between firms.

Ultimately, try to avoid the “prediction” game. Rather, practice answering any question period!

Three questions that you definitely want to prepare for are the 3 Whys. Here's some reading to help:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question

They don't have a different focus. But they value things differently.

You need to consider the company's specific culture. Look into their mottos, their typical cultural sentences ("a Bainie doesn't let another Bainie fail"; mckinsey's “obligation to dissent"; Bain's ”true north")… they are all slightly different. 

If you are able to press their buttons the right way, you increase the chances of getting an offer.

Hi,

I have compared the grid from MBBs, in fact they are looking for the same qualities with maybe a different name. The good news is that you can prepare with a coach a few stories that fit for every questions.

Cheers,

Alexandre

Hi there, they are different yet related. Ping me a DM to get a quick rundown on more details. Warm regards, Freddy