Mckinsey interview plan

Yes, I always recommend to postpone interviews if candidates are not fully "ready"! No problem with that. Your eventual interviewers will not even be aware of it, since they have nothing to do with the administrative side of recruiting.

Hi there!

Yes, it's definitely possible to reschedule a planned interview date - quite a few of my coaching candidates actually did this already after a coaching session recognizing the harsh truth and difficulty of McKinsey cases and the PEI.

If you think about it, McKinsey invests quite a lot of money into your interviews (mostly considering the opportunity costs of consultants spending time with you, but also travel cost etc.) - it's just a waste of money, brains and time for both you and McKinsey if you show up to interviews, knowing you are not yet prepared well enough.

In addition, I have had candidates even already being on-site for their interviews not being perfeclty healthy (like having caught a cold etc.) - even in this case the interviewer sent the candidate back home and asked to reschedule the interviews, because the candidates were definitely not in their best shape - and McKinsey wants to see the very best from you.

The only recommendation I give in addition is to think of a solid and clear argumentation why your preparation is lacking behind in time - most likely you won't even need it, but be prepared just in case.

Hope that helps!

Hi,

I don't think it is "bad" for you to reschedule your interview (especially considering you have three weeks before the interview); but, you need to consider a few things when you're rescheduling.

1) If possible, make sure you suggest alternative times / days that work for you. By doing this, you're making scheduling easier for them. Just make sure to be available during those days.

2) Avoid rescheduling more than once. It's okay to change an interview once, the firm will understand that personal matters could arise at any given time; however, if a candidate reschedules more than once, then it complicates things for the recruiters (not to mention EM's or partners that will interview you have to set time aside for interviews). 

3) Whenever appropriate, be transparent about why you're rescheduling. Without going too much into the details, by stating the reason(s) why you are unable to attend you allow the firm to be understanding of your situation and make accommodations for you (remember, we're human at the end of the day). With that being said, avoid saying that you want to extend the time because you're going out with friends the night before, preparing for other interviews and won't have time for McK, etc.

In short, try to notify them as quickly as possible and suggest times that work for you. Make sure that your email is concise and clear, too.

Hopefully this helps, feel free to reach out if you need any help and / or have any additional comments.

Best,

Carlos

Hi Anonymous,

There is no point going there if you are not ready and prepared. I would just let them know that I need a bit more preparation and would like to ask about opportuniies of re-scheduling, and if yes when is the next cycle ? In addition, it's alsor fair to ask them to clarify the position (if they can, sometimes the RH assistant can't) for you to optimize your preparation.

Hope this helps

Best

Benjamin

Hi,

Not dangerous at all:

1. Interviewers are EMs or Partners who will not even know
2. Even if they knew - they don't relly care

Feel free to reschedule

Best,

The only thing i would add to the other comments is that if you do postpone, be prepared for it to really get postponed a long time.

I was not ready/available for the first date they suggested and it has now been over 2 months for my next interview. 

Sometimes, having too long can be as hard as having too little with cases. You can really start to burn out + seem over-rehearsed...therefore it is crucial for you to manage this if you do postpone. 

Hi,

Pls reschedule the interview. You can't imagine how many people failed just because they didn't take enough prep. There is absolutely no penalty for rescheduling:

1. Interviewers are EMs or Partners who will not even know
2. Even if they knew - they don't relly care

Best,

Hello!

 Some extra guidance for the PEI side:

On top of the insights already shared in the post, 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.

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

Hope you find it useful!

Best,

Clara

Hi Anonymous,

I always recommend to postpone interviews if candidates are not fully "ready"!

No problem with that. Your eventual interviewers will not even be aware of it, since they have nothing to do with the administrative side of recruiting.

Cheers, Sidi

Hi Anonymous A.,

I've attached below a thread where this matter was robustly debated. The take-away is clear: you should almost certainly re-schedule!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/mckinsey-interview-plan-1936

To answer your other questions:

1. Try not to baldly state that you are asking to re-schedule due to a lack of preperadness.

2. What do you mean by 'verticle'? If you perhaps mean vehicle, I would resist on pushing this point. It makes you seem like you're shopping around when you project uncertainty about their offer to interview at this early stage. Surely your prior communications with them and the language in the invitation e-mail sheds light on this?

3. What do you mean by SOP? If you intended to say standard operating procedure, what you have stated above is not standard. It can happen, but it is the rare exception.

Hi,

First of all, you absolutely should reschedule your interviews if you are not ready. Otherwise, you will just miss your interview opportunity.

Secondly, rescheduling the interviews is not dangerous at all:

1. Interviewers are EMs or Partners who will not even know
2. Even if they knew - they don't really care. There is no penalty for that

Finally, since you have not discussed the verticle by this point, I assume it will be the generalist role. There are not that many dedicated practices in consulting and usually, they mention the reasons for interest in your candidacy from the beginning.

Best!