McKinsey PEI - Same incident/story for Courageous Change and Inclusive Leadership

Question

Hi all,

I have done one McKinsey interview wherein I was asked Personal Impact for PEI. Moving forward, I have a story from a certain volunteering experience that I wish to tweak and use for Courageous Change and Inclusive Leadership. It's a different lens to both - in the former I speak about myself adjusting to change in the initiative and the latter I speak about stakeholders I had to lead, the final goal of both, however, is the same because it's the same volunteering experience. I have the 4 different interview rounds format, with 3 more to go now and am wondering if this will be acceptable by the interviewer(s). Please advise.

Answer 1

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on the progress in the application process with McKinsey thus far!

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

Using the same experience for multiple McKinsey PEI dimensions usually results in a “Frankenstein's monster” of personal fit. While it might still work, the stories you tell will most likely not be as crystal clear when it comes to the specific dimensions, and it could also raise questions with your interviewers when they discuss your performance.

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

Answer 2

If you know how to adjust the story the right way, you can have the same story for multiple dimensions.

It's a bit more risky, but if you don't have a lot of time left before the interview and you feel like you wouldn't be able to come up with equally strong stories, then it makes sense to go for it.

I call these swiss army knife stories and typically recommend candidates to practice them across all the possible iterations so they're not taken by surprise during the interview.

If you're preparing for the PEI now, you might also find this guide helpful:

Video Course: Master the McKinsey PEI

Best,
Cristian

Answer 3

Hi there,

Agree with Udayan.

Don't come up with stories that would fit multiple dimensions. The outcome is a big average that works okay for each dimension but does not “wow” any interviewers.

The PEI dimensions are scored and evaluated on relatively narrow criteria so you want to make sure you hit those exactly with the right stories and traits.

If you want to learn more, please read this article: Personal Experience Interview

All the best with the upcoming interviews! :-)

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 4

I would strongly recommend you draw from a diverse range of experiences for your pei stories and not just from one experience.

Answer 5

Hi there,

Q: Am wondering if this will be acceptable by the interviewer(s)

If you have the option, I would recommend choosing different stories for each dimension. Usually, a story works best for one particular dimension, so in general, picking different stories should help to match more clearly the dimensions asked.

Good luck!

Francesco

Answer 6

Having just one story to fit all aspects is usually not the best practice.

Also, if you have the same start-point and end-point - then you are considering the whole episode to be the story - which is also not a recommended practice.

Ideally, your stories should belong to different timeframes/projects. And also, your stories should focus on a very small portion of the experience that allows you to be laser focused in expressing the relevant qualities that are tested in the particular dimension.

Happy to help you out in crafting the stories - let me know.

Answer 7

Hi there,

If you truly explain the same story with a different lens, it is a different story at the end of the day, just with similar context :)

Per my experience, this is perfectly acceptable in McKinsey interviews.

Best,

Alberto