Final round interviews

Question

Hey everyone, going into MBB finals here and a good case partner of mine has been scheduled for 3 interviews in the final round. Oddly though, I'm applying for the same role in the same office and have been scheduled for 2 interviews. Does anyone know what could be the reason behind this difference? Very puzzling to me.

Answer 1

Hi there,

final partner interviews vary depending on company, region, office and the individual partner of course. The number of interviews often depends on how many partners are available to interview a candidate at a given time. However, it is not uncommon that partners won't go through a case exercise with the candidate again but rather test their suitability in terms of business competence, team fit and perceived presentability to clients.

At the partner stage, candidates will have gone through a series of successful case interviews already. Partners still need to “validate” this pre-selection. While some might like to do brain teasers or small cases, they also tend to favor talking about the industry/functional area they are active in. They try to see how the candidate is able to engage with those topics and often even try to sell the candidate on the firm during the final round.

When preparing for such interviews, it makes sense to research the interview partners up front (if their names are provided) and check what recent publications and/or conference contributions they might have. It is also good to know about the main trends and drivers in their respective industry/functional areas. Other than that, everything you did to prepare for the previous rounds still holds true.

Hope that provides additional perspective.

Answer 2

Hi,

There might be a couple of reasons:

Different roles that you and he might be pursuing
Something in his background they might want additionally check
Scheduling issues (i.e. you'll have one more interview later)
Worse performance of your friend

Best

Answer 3

Hey anonymous,

There might be several reasons to explain that... for instance, your colleague performance in previous round(s) could have just been poorer and that's why they are adding an extra interview to clear any doubts.

Best

Bruno

Answer 4

Hello!

Congrats for moving to final round!

As it has been outlined, its very similar, but :

Cases you can expect are more "free riding" - less organized than the ones your found in the 1st round or most prep pages
Stronger emphasis in the FIT part, as outlined before by other coaches.

If you are interested in deepening your knowledge and preparation on the FIT part, 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.

Furthermore, you can find 3 free cases in the PrepL case regarding FIT preparation:

- Intro and CV questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/introduction-and-cv-questions-fit-interview-preparation-200

- Motivational questions > https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/motivational-questions-fit-interview-preparation-201

- Behavioural questions (ENTREPRENEURIAL DRIVE) >https://www.preplounge.com/en/management-consulting-cases/fit-interview/intermediate/behavioral-questions-entrepreneurial-drive-fit-interview-preparation-211

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

Answer 5

Hi,

I have rich experience in preparing candidates specifically to the final round, so I want to say the following:

•. Final round is about 'depth' and not about 'breadth'. Initial round interviews are broad. Several fit questions, cases with multiple analysis etc. Because the intention is to test the candiate on as many aspects as the interviewer can. Final round is different. It is about testing the depth. Partners typically ask very few quetions but probe every answer to a great depth.

• Candidate needs thorough preparation to tackle 'why-how-translatability' probing questions by partners. Candidates need to be ready to justify their answer in a consulting compliant way.

• Final round is 'unpredictbale'. Final round interviewers, Partners, are known to throw curve balls. There have been interviews where Partners have just taken fit questions and business discussion, on the other hand there have been interviews where Partners have given detailed cases to the candidates. You never know what Partners can pull out of their hat.

Candidates need to be extra prepared. Especially, for question formats that they have not encountered in earlier rounds viz. Partner converting project from candidate's CV into a case, partner starting discusion on recent business event, advice seeking on business issue that the Partner says he is facing. Through all these variety of discussions, Partners try and test the candidature thoroughly.

Was it helpful for you?

If you need any further help, feel free to reach out.

GB