How would you answer this question in your Personal Fit interview? Receive feedback on your answer and browse through the Q&As to review the approaches of other applicants and experts.
Hi!
To answer your question directly: Your interviewer expects that you provide very concrete and clear examples of leadership in a difficult situation to show. So here's what you need to do:
All the best!
Hi there,
There are some great insights from coaches and candidates already!
Nonetheless, I wanted to recommend having a look at some resources that might be helpful with FIT questions during the interview.
1. Our interactive stress question tool – Here you can go through more than 110 possible questions that could come up during the personal fit part of your interview.
2. Also, I would like to recommend Clara’s Integrated FIT Guide to you. It provides an end-to-end preparation for all three MBB interviews, as well as other consulting interviews, combining key concepts review and a hands-on methodology.
3. Further readings that can help you prepare for your FIT Interviews:
If you have any further questions in terms of helpful resources for your FIT interview or the interview in the consulting industry in general, don't hesitate to reach out! I am happy to help!
Best,
Christine
PrepLounge Community Management
Hi there,
As a consulting coach, I understand how crucial it is to nail the personal fit interview and effectively convey your leadership skills and ability to drive teams towards ambitious goals. This particular question provides an excellent opportunity to showcase your leadership capabilities through a concrete example.
Before we dive into potential answers, let me first commend you for recognizing the importance of preparation. Many candidates overlook the significance of the personal fit component, focusing solely on the case interviews. However, top consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG, and Bain place equal emphasis on assessing your problem-solving abilities and your interpersonal skills, leadership potential, and cultural fit.
Now, let's discuss how you could approach this question effectively:
Choose a relevant and impactful example: Select a situation where you took the lead in guiding a group, whether in a professional, academic, or extracurricular setting, to achieve a challenging goal. Note that : In the order of impact interviewers with prefer Professional over academic over extracurricular story. The more substantial the goal and the greater the obstacles you overcame, the more compelling your story will be.
Provide context: Set the stage by briefly describing the scenario, the team's composition, and the specific goal you were working towards. This context will help the interviewer understand the stakes and the difficulties involved.
Highlight your leadership actions: Clearly articulate the specific leadership skills and behaviors you demonstrated throughout the process. Did you inspire and motivate the team? Did you delegate tasks effectively? How did you navigate conflicts or differing opinions? Did you adapt your leadership style to the situation or team dynamics?
Quantify the impact: Emphasize the tangible results achieved by the team under your leadership. Use specific numbers or metrics to illustrate the extent of your success, whether it's a project completed ahead of schedule, a fundraising target exceeded, or a process optimized for increased efficiency.
Reflect on lessons learned: Share any valuable lessons or insights you gained from this experience about yourself as a leader and about effective teamwork. This self-awareness and openness to continuous improvement are highly valued in the consulting world.
Here's an example answer to illustrate this approach:
"During my final year of university, I led a team of eight students in developing a sustainable business plan for a local non-profit organization. Our goal was to propose strategies that would enable the non-profit to become financially self-sustaining within three years.
From the outset, I recognized the diverse backgrounds and skill sets of my team members, ranging from finance to marketing. I took the time to understand each person's strengths and assigned responsibilities accordingly, fostering a collaborative environment where everyone felt valued and invested in the project's success.
As we delved into the research and analysis, differing opinions arose regarding the best approach. I actively listened to all perspectives and facilitated constructive debates, ensuring everyone had a voice. Ultimately, I made tough decisions when needed, clearly communicating the rationale and aligning the team behind a unified strategy.
Throughout the process, I kept the team motivated by celebrating small wins and reminding them of the potential impact our work could have on the local community. I also adapted my leadership style, providing more hands-on guidance to team members who needed additional support while empowering those who thrived with autonomy.
In the end, our business plan was not only well-received by the non-profit but also implemented successfully, enabling them to achieve financial sustainability within two years, exceeding our initial three-year target. This experience taught me the importance of leveraging diverse strengths, fostering inclusive collaboration, and making tough decisions while bringing people along through clear communication and inspiration."
Notice how this answer paints a vivid picture of the candidate's leadership journey, highlighting specific actions taken, challenges overcome, and the measurable impact achieved. It also demonstrates self-awareness and a commitment to continuous learning.
As you prepare your own answer, feel free to browse through the Q&A examples provided by other applicants and experts. Tailor your response to showcase your authentic leadership style and experiences, and practice delivering it with confidence and enthusiasm.
Remember, the personal fit interview is your opportunity to let your unique personality and potential shine through. With thoughtful preparation and a well-crafted narrative, you can make a lasting impression on the interviewer and position yourself as a strong candidate for the role.
At UK Dissertation Writing, I had the opportunity to lead a team of writers and editors to complete a particularly challenging project. A client needed a comprehensive dissertation on a complex topic within a very tight deadline. The task required extensive research, precise data analysis, and flawless writing, all while adhering to strict academic standards.
As the project manager, I organized the team by assigning specific roles based on each member's strengths and expertise. I developed a detailed project timeline and set clear, achievable milestones. Regular check-ins and open communication were crucial to ensure that everyone was on track and any issues were promptly addressed.
One of the key challenges was the depth of research required. To tackle this, I coordinated with our in-house research experts to gather the necessary data and ensure its accuracy. Meanwhile, our writers focused on crafting high-quality content, and our editors meticulously reviewed each section to maintain consistency and coherence.
Despite the tight schedule, the team remained motivated and dedicated. I fostered a collaborative environment where everyone felt supported and valued, which boosted morale and productivity. In the end, we successfully delivered the dissertation on time, exceeding the client's expectations and maintaining our reputation for excellence at UK Dissertation Writing.
This experience demonstrated my ability to lead a team through a difficult challenge, ensuring that we met our goals while upholding the high standards that UK Dissertation Writing is known for.
I would help my family with the debt they have and help my little sister get into her dream school. I'd invest some of the money, and also use some to travel the world.
This past semester I was involved in a group task for one of my final year courses. We had to create a strategy to solve the sanitary dignity problem in South Africa. As a female, this issue is close to my heart but it was difficult to get input from my male colleagues. I took the position of team lead and was able to get the boys in my team to contribute in a way that they were comfortable with but that also allowed them to engage and appreciate the cause at hand. Our final project is something the team was very proud of.
Hey all! Please find my example & how I would tackle that question below:
Situation: In my previous role as a project coordinator at a non-profit, we faced a significant challenge in raising funds for a community development project that was crucial for underprivileged families.
Task: I was tasked with leading a team of volunteers to design and implement a fundraising campaign within a tight timeframe of just two months.
Action: Instead of the typical approach, I decided to leverage the team’s diverse skills by conducting a workshop to brainstorm creative ideas. We transformed the campaign into a series of community events that not only raised funds but also built awareness about our cause. I assigned roles based on each member's strengths and interests, ensuring everyone was engaged and invested in the outcome.
Result: We exceeded our fundraising goal by 40% and fostered a strong sense of community among participants. The project received local media coverage, which further enhanced our visibility and support. This experience taught me the power of collaboration and creativity in overcoming challenges.
Hope this helps and provides an out-of-the-box approach!
Alessa
I was the leader of a groupwork in market research class. we were a group of 6 which made it not easy to find time and work together. Being honest, open and confident helped me to get everyone together and work effieciently. The final exam was a successful presentation. I think especially my awareness of myself helped the group to success, because I knew when I had to interfere, when I had to lead and when I had to let everyone do their own work.
I had this chance many times in mylife but the most i can remember was during our annual concert for the scout group it s a concert that we do every year on Xmas where we invite an orphonage and give them out of our time with the presence of people who paid tickets for us to be able to make this concert give money for the orphonage and get presents for those children it was an event of 700 people and a TV covarge and the scout group with 200 member it was challangig enough for me and i was able to make this year's event one of the best for years
led a core team of 6 and trained a larger group of 30 directors to hold a conference that saw 300 attendees
In my opinion, difficult goal means 1) led a group without knowing the objective or 2) the tasks are too many but need to be complete in the short time.
For number 1, I have to clarify the objectives and priorities, after it clear then I will determine how much time that we need to complete, for number 2, if the time too short then I will ask which the most prioritize task.
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Situation: I coordinated a team of business developers, researchers, project manager etc in 5 countries, reaching from Scientists in the lab to chamber of commerce. We all together were in an EU research project, all bits and pieces had to come together for a successful project and good ranking.
Problem: The team was very diverse in skills, age, seniority, culture etc. Also the outcome is not set in a research project and you need to stay flexible. This was especially seen in communications and expectations. I had to manage those separately while keeping the main goal in mind.
Action: We had a rough project and budget plan, I asked for expectations and input, merged this into a detailed plan with ambitious goals, communicated it continuously and concise. I gave everyone room for their tasks while giving enough guideline to meet the end goal, I gave public credit to all members in the consortium which they very much appreciated because they benefit from public appearance too. With managing the resources carefully, I could fill in the gaps where needed, pushing for better results.
Result: We manage to go beyond expectations, won a price for one of the best research projects in the region and got additional research projects. Overall, this job drew my attention to differences in the team which is also now very valuable working with a international team.
In my first days at my first job I had to work in a project that was failing early on due to bad project management. I took over the time all the project management responsibilities to me without taking the credit for it, just to make it work. The project needed better planning, strict goals, sticking to the agile structure
Hi there,
you have a lot of good content below.
I would just add, from my experience of ex MBB interviewer,
1) Most candidates over-spend time on the Situation & Task part (using the STAR framework), whereas the strong interest from the interviewer's side is to talk about your action and results
2) You should really focus on isolate YOUR contribution, not in general what the team did or how the project progressed … . It is needed from the interviewer to understand how YOU work (also in the context of a team)
As a chess coach , i were with a group of 15 kids on a competitiom. It helped a lot when i find the write words and calmed everbody down. It was important that everybody used there strengths and i helped them to get aware of these . 2 of 3 Groups won and everybody learnd that they cant do everything perfect but if they use their strength they played very interesting matches.
A project where I led an initiative to accomplish given set of asks from 6 department heads
During my last job as a supervisor I had many situations where I had to encourage my team to reach a difficult goal like a deadline, supervise 3 teams at differnet sites. So I had to motivate the Teams and tell them about the importance of our job and of our teamwork. That the work of every person is important for the team and the common goal.
In my previous work I work as a project manager with 5 to 7 team members leading projects to achieve project goals whithin given given time frame.
We had a difficult project and many diferent meanings.
So I reset the goal and went backwards - from the goal the beginning - step by step.
ju
St. Gallen
being in charge of study projet
I provided the team with number of alternate approaches to a problem which led the team to find a solution with reduced time complexity by a factor of 4 and cost by a factor of 10
Communication
Where i supervised a group
For our Accounting & Financial Analysis, we had to work on a study project, which was about financial analysis of a chosen stock-listed company in form of a 50-slide PowerPoint presentation. From the start, I took the role as the organizer and set up a work schedule where we assigned tasks including deadlines to every group member. Throughout the project, I was the one keeping track of our work schedule to ensure that everyone delivers things on time. If somebody did not meet his/her deadline, I did not penalize him/her, but instead, we tried to find a solution together, like assigning a second person to that task. During the first two weeks out of four, I was not satisfied with our performance as a team and so I told the group that we have to increase our workload and should work in pairs on certain parts to improve the quality of work. In the end we did manage to work effectively and delivered well on time. The final result was 8.8 out of 10, which was among the top three in class.
Usually, I am a person that holds back when the team is homogenous and works effectively. But whenever I notice that my team is deviating from achieving a set goal, I jump in and take the reins by reorganizing the team and the work schedule so that we can achieve our goal.
Hello!
On top of the insights already shared in the post, next week will be pusblished in PrepLounge´s Shop material related.
In concrete, the "Integrated FIT guide for MBB". 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.
Hope you find it useful!
I have led an international team, post M&Aintegrationg services between south america and central europe, meeting two weeks objectives for the transition, with 20 services for the transition, where team has no instructions and scope was not precise, any delays to the timeframe would tigger additional fees.
During one of our research projects, we had to get a scale up facility ready. There was a lot of inertia within team members as we required permissions from the HSE officer, Fire officer and this needed a lot of documentation. We also had to procure equipments and materials and were facing CapEx crunch.
I delegated one goal to each of the team member. I also set up a meeting with the HSE officer who agreed to get the paper work done with the Fire officer and help with documentation.
Myself and the member responsible for purchase of material and equipment discussed with the purchase team as what are the possible routes we can have to complete the necessary purchase. They suggested on going with online purchase within a stipulated amount for whatever we can and make the other purchases with already registered vendors.
Within a span of 2 weeks we had the facility to scale up to 200 litres of production.
I am thinking about my first university group project during my exchange program in Korea when I had to deal for the first time with classmates coming from different countries. They had arguably a complete different approach to the whole process of project anlysis and problem solving. Instead of get mad and push my ideas like the others (and like the impulsive "me" would have definitly did) I made a step back trying to include all the different perspectives from the very beginning of the analysis in order to start the project all together. We end up spending more time on the "framework" compared ot other groups but we achieved a very smooth process for the rest of the project ending up with a result that first of all was really outsanding and secondly was satisfactory for everyone.
CFA Challenge
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complete database:
1) timing management
2) support
3) team work
acheived the goal
see answer
Being a CPO I managed to cooridinate 5 SCRUM teams, who were located at different places to finish the first ever release train in their live.
I led the Indian team through the SAP implementation phase and built the bridge between the German and Indian team
structured approach, b
I was elected by my fellow students as the team leader for a consulting case during my undergraduate. I was responsible for organising the different work streams. The client was very demanding and I had to keep the overview over all different teams. We were a team of 15 students.
I led a sucessfull grant application for EU project. My role was to act as a liason connecting all 20 institutions that were part of the project.
I was chairman of my final year design project in university, where I had the responsibility of leading a team of 7 members. We were one of the first groups to finish the project before the tight deadline that was set, and that was mainly due to our teamwork and efforts.
Verantwortlich für eine interantionale Gruppe an Consultants für ein Proposal für die European Commission. Zeiten, Können und Verfügbarkeit wurden eingeschätzt und Verteilt, der Überblick behalten und hat so zu einem erfolgreichen Abschluss des Proposals geführt.
Leading the debate society. Arranging tournaments etc.
Guided the client through 16 high intensive strategy workshops
I have led multi-division project team to deliver sort of work that my company never did before, with coordination of 6+ departments on the client side
When I was working as a project administrator, I kept communicating project objectives and motivating the team to achieve the goals
in the integrative seminar
Situation:
I scaled X to 3 countries: Ghana, Brazil, and Uganda - had to manage all 3 simultaneously while working with partners on the ground.
Actions:
Invested heavily up front to build the capacity of our partners on the ground - robust training in our curriculum, toolkits, systems, and culture
Built relationships, getting to know them on a personal level - gaining their trust & respect
Set performance milestones & a dashboard
I held weekly check-in calls to encourage accountability, gauge progress, advise, and help solve problems
I conducted in-person visits that focused on key activities that would drive success & sustainability - observed them in action & gave feedback, trained them & helped prioritize & make plans
Often times, I would jump in to help them in times of urgent needs. For example, one time a partner submitted their work late to me and needed to deliver training the next day, so I stayed up all night to help them edit & finalize it to make the deadline. This demonstrates solidarity with my team & commitment.
I would offer emotional encouragement & remind them of the greater vision & the reason for their efforts.
Result
As a result of this work, X experienced successful market entries into three new geographies & exponential growth in revenue, impact and funding.
I organized a conference in China
During a group presentation I was recently part of I made sure everyone felt appreciated, leading to a great presentation.
w
As I was active in the student club named VSNE, I was responsible for creating and running a concept for the first startup idea competition organized by the organisation. As part of this, I was leading a team of 7 members. The challenge was not only because of it being the first competition ever organized, but also because we are all students who are not 100% available for the project and each of us has a different level of experience in working in project. However, thanks to spending time to know my team by talking to team member, I was able to assign tasks according to their experience and preference and was able to came up with an all-rounded program for the whole project including recruiting juries and drafting evaluation sheets for them, recruiting mentors for the startups and creating mentoring content for them and finally keep the juries and mentors in touch to provide a foundation for further events and projects of the student club.
durch motivation und Anführen, Team auf den letzten Metern nochmal motiviert und zum erfolg gebracht
I was in charge of organizing a tournament for my sports club.
1) I stressed, that we first agree on aims of how it will look
2) I made a roadmap based on these points how we will achieve them. I talked with people to make sure that we don't miss anything.
3) Assigned people to do work packages.
When Airbus switched from MS Office to G-Suite, there was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. In order to be part of the transformation and take advantage of the opportunities and the dual students network, I founded a G-Suite team and organized training for teams and the upper management to support the transition.
When we hosted a week of intro to fresh students and a students mother passed away. Keeping morale and ensuring everyone got the best out of the week, with me in charge is an example
Situatie: Non-financial kpi’s om talent journey van Randstad te meten
Taak: Samen tot een plan van aanpak komen, expert interviews afnemen en bevindingen met steerco van RvB-leden te delen
Actie: Door veel eigenaarschap bij teamleden te leggen, vragen te stellen & kwetsbaarheid tonen waardoor ik benaderbaarder wordt als leider. Hierdoor ook teamlid dat zich open durfde op te stellen, delen dat prestatie minder was door opa in het ziekenhuis met operatie, kans op overlijden.
Resultaat: Tevreden steerco en CFO voor deel 1 van het project
i was working with my team and they were stuck in solving the onboarding problem at my firm. I suggested that we meet for a brainstorming session and collaboratively we were able to put various stakeholders in a room and thus come up with innovative ways to solve the problem.
When everyone left, there were clear action points and timelines on when to feedback to the team as well as the execs
I jouned the team in the middle of M&A deal and they had issues with audit. The auditor did not have an answer to the fundamental audit issues. I studied the subject and the team. did it fast since we were really pressed for time. realised that the question was incorrectly formulated and when the question changed I only needed to find the right person to get the right documents with city authorities. The guy was not in the team but I identified him and motivated to help us go through the audit predicament.
I presented a new Solution to integrate the P2P process and invirted the stakeholders, asked them for pieces of the solution
By creating a common goal and put this down on a goal for each person
University integration week for fresh highschool graduates
On a Sunday during a flu epidemic, I lead the stocking team in my supermarket as a team lead, and half of my team had fallen ill. The situation was pressing, because my team was heavily understaffed that day and the work needed to be done before the end of the day - as I knew that Monday would bring new challenges to my colleague team lead.
I decided to remain calm, explain the urgency of the situation to the employees present, and ask each of them personally how they were willing to support me and contribute to the situation. I explained the need for that day and asked what I could do for them in return. The team was surprisingly supportive, as if they felt that their contribution was important. Next, I decided to lead the stocking by example, let administrative things down for that day and stand beside my team to get the shelves stocked. It actually turned out fun to be on the adventure together, and we managed to process the full stocking volume that day.
Hi - great question!
The biggest trap I see candidates fall into with these types of questions is giving a scripted answer. The personal fit interview is intended to do exactly what its name suggests - understand how you will personally fit into the world of consulting.
Because consulting is dynamic and challenging, you will never be able to survive the actual job using scripted answers alone.
What we want to see in your answer to this type of question is 3 things:
1) That you genuinely reflect and provide your own authentic answer
2) That you have a level of self awareness and self reflection (e.g. you are able to analyze how you handled situations and look objectively at both the positives and negatives)
3) That you have built up some experiences that you can leverage
So my advice is not to script your answer, but to think of a time you led a group (university group assignment, high school sporting team, group of friends, family event… I am sure you can find an example) and to genuinely reflect on what you did well to help lead the group to overcome any challenges that came up.
I did have to lead my football team to a rough season
Hi,
There are lots of really good answers in this thread about ‘how’ to answer the questions (start with ‘I’, be clear about what you did, etc) and about what sort of examples make a compelling narrative.
My perspective here, having ran recruiting in my local office and spoken to hundreds of applicants, is that these fit answers are incredibly hard to stand out with.
They have a habit of all sounding the same after a while (example: I delivered a really hard project, I managed a team through a difficult phase, etc etc).
My approach was to also have a few examples/stories from my personal life that were fun/unusual/memorable and were malleable to many different question types (e.g. leadership, team player, etc). I found that using a mix of professional and personal examples gave a more memorable experience to the interviewer.
Did it work? Yes, most of the office knew me as the guy who drove a tuk-tuk across India before I had even started there.
Of course, how you deliver the answer is very important and I generally agree with the thoughts on this thread. I would simply encourage folks to make themselves as memorable as possible.
Food for thought…
B.
