McKinsey final round interview

Hi there,

Yes, final round interviews are not easier but success rates are indeed higher. 

The reason is simple: Candidates who reach the second round have already been pre-selected and passed the first round. Their skills have been tested and assessed by 2-3 interviewers in the initial round.

Since the same skills are tested in the second round, they have a higher chance to pass the second round as well. :-)

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

this is pretty much the case for most of the consulting companies because of the selection funnel they use in recruiting - only the “fittest” usually reach the final round. Often times, partners don't even bother doing a formal case during the final interview since they figure that candidates have been sufficiently tested on this in the previous rounds. However, there is never a guarantee on that so don't be shocked if you end up getting a case nonetheless.

Good luck

Yes. The success rate increases at every stage of the recruiting process due to the laws of probability. There may be 500 applicants per open position but only 50 may be screened by HR. Of those 50 maybe only 10-12 get invited to the first round and only 2-3 to the final. So your odds of getting a job go from 1/500 at the time of application  to ⅓  or so during the final round (depending on the number of open roles). 

Quite simple.

1st round: “Can this candidate solve cases well?”

2nd round: “Is this candidate consistent at solving cases?”

Only candidates that had the right performance level in the 1st round (with maybe a few exceptions) make it to the 2nd round. As such, if one passed, chances of getting an offer are positive.

Hi there,

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

• First of all, yes, the success rate of the final interview round is higher at virtually all consulting firms (as well as in any other industry) than of the first interview round because the candidates who have passed the latter have already proven that they have mastered the more technical skills required in consulting and therefore have a lower probability of failure.
• Moreover, however, please keep in mind that the focus of final-round interviews is usually slightly different, which I have written about in detail in this article.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming interviews, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen