Postponing McKinsey interview

Here is a helpful and recent thread on a similar question. If you’re unprepared, it is always smart to ask for more time. Their recruiting team has already given you a timeline though, so you may not have that much flexibility. I would ask if it’s possible to schedule for mid-December and double down on case prep with high-quality efforts:

1. Mock interviews with coaches (feel free to reach out) and experienced peers — you need thoughtful feedback and guidance to prep in a 2-3 week timeframe
2. Drills and self-study: there are a lot of different ways to use 15-45 mins here and there in your day for effective practice on fundamental skills (e.g., structuring, case math, recommendation, etc.)
3. Fit interview prep: don’t forget to carve out time to build a compelling narrative on yourself and your experience and capabilities 

Feel free to reach out for a free consultation. I’d be happy to offer a free session to diagnose where your starting from and to map out a plan! 

Hi there,

Congratulations on landing the interview!

With the timeline they’ve given, options to postpone may be limited, but it’s still worth reaching out to ask. If rescheduling isn’t possible, aim for a slot in week 3 to give yourself a bit more prep time.

It’s great that you already have a solid foundation in the fundamentals and some intermediate case practice. At this stage, remember that it’s about quality, not just quantity. Here are some key areas to focus on:

1. Build mental flexibility – Train yourself to handle any case without relying too heavily on pre-set frameworks. This will help you adapt quickly in the interview.
2. Master the basics – Be confident with core skills like math calculations and chart interpretation, as these are often tested.
3. Showcase your personal fit – Highlight who you are and why you’re a strong fit for McKinsey during the personal fit portion of the interview.
4. Mindset matters – Approach the interview with confidence and a positive mindset. This often forgotten in the training prep and I guarantee will make a big difference.

I also offer a free initial chat to see if coaching together could help refine your approach and identify any targeted drills you might need. Feel free to message me if that’s of interest.

Best of luck!

Hi there,

1) Is it possible to postpone the interview. If so by how many weeks is sensible? 

It is totally fine to ask, in the worst case, they will say that’s not an option. You can estimate the hours of extra prep you need, and calculate the weeks accordingly. Most candidates need 100+ hours to be offer-ready when they start from scratch, so you could consider that as a benchmark.

2) If not, what next steps do you recommend me to get up to speed very quickly?

I would recommend the following:

1. Define a calendar for your preparation. Identify how many hours you have before your interview and allocate a time slot for preparation in your calendar accordingly.
2. Start by reading good MBA Consulting Handbooks. You can find several for free online (INSEAD is a good one to start). Read the cases and try to apply your structure to solve them. Whenever you see something is missing, upgrade your structure with the new insights. Try to read at least a new case per day – in this way, you will absorb the information better with constant learning.
3. After the first 5-10 cases in books/handbooks and basic theory, start practicing live. PrepLounge can be helpful for connecting with other candidates for that. There is a relevant part of the interview score that is based on your communication, which you cannot practice at all if you only read cases.
4. Keep track of your mistakes and see which ones you are repeating. If so, try to identify the source of the mistake (feedback from experienced partners would be particularly useful for this). Be sure to focus on both the behavioral part (called PEI at McKinsey) and the case part during the mocks. The case part should also cover math and graph analysis.
5. Before the interviews, be sure to prepare your questions for the interviewers – a great way to show that you prepared in advance and to connect with the interviewers for a good final impression. Ideally, try to get information on who they are and study their profile to have good questions to ask.

Good luck!

Francesco

Congrats on the McKinsey invite—great milestone!

Postponement:

It’s possible to request a delay, but expect McKinsey recruiter to push back as they have hiring milestones to meet. If you do ask, be specific (e.g., request 2-3 extra weeks) and mention your desire to be fully prepared.

Quick Preparation Tips:

1. Sharpen Structures: Focus on MECE frameworks
2. Address Weak Spots: Drill down on any weak areas like math or frameworks.
3. PEI Stories: Prepare strong authentic stories 
   
   Thanks Ashwin 

Hi there,

If you can postpone or not depends on what basis the interviews were scheduled:

If it's rolling recruiting, then it would usually be possible. If there is a deadline (as it sounds like in your case), there would be very little wiggle room to re-schedule (maybe a couple of days max).

In that case you need to maximize your prep effort:

The key reason why candidates fail their case interviews and don't improve with practice is because they never learn the right approach and techniques to begin with. They might go through 30-40 cases, just repeating the same mistakes over and over again. There is often no strong baseline.

• So even if your timeline is compressed, make sure you understand and learn the basics for each part of the case (structuring, charts, math), which is

  • A replicable step-by-step for each part of the case interview

  • The right thinking techniques around the individual parts (e.g., what's a framework, what is evaluated, how can I ensure I think about it the correct way, what are some shortcuts to get to the answer quickly, etc.)

  • Simple communication templates to help you communicate your insights as well as ask for data in the right way to drive the case forward

• There are several approaches you can take, such as hiring a skilled coach, reading the right materials, or enrolling in relevant courses. For example, while some chatbots may suggest a list of books, my book, The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview, provides direct guidance tailored to modern case interviews. It covers all the essential points mentioned here, and more, while also offering a detailed preparation plan. You can find it on Amazon

• Avoid generic advice and framework memorization approaches. This will only hurt your performance and waste a ton of time (why -> check out the first post here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-goodrelevant-is-the-case-in-point-book-for-case-prep-1984)

• Once you have that baseline it's time to practice and internalize the skills to create the right profile, polishing your strengths and lifting your weaknesses to a robust-enough level

• Practice drills alone (structure, chart, math) and practice full cases with other excellent candidates that know the right habits and approach. It is crucial that you are practicing with really good peers, otherwise, it's a waste of time. Practicing drills on your own is a huge effectivity and efficiency booster since you can go over many more questions in a shorter amount of time compared to practicing with peers. Do both in parallel! You want to spend your time where it is most useful, e.g., if you struggle with math focus on math drills, etc.

• Focus on quality over quantity. Doing 50+ cases does not mean much if you are not applying the right habits to score high and do a detailed debrief after every case to improve. You want to move from bad to good for your weaknesses and good to great for your strengths --> use the feedback from your previous experience and tailor your prep accordingly

• Consider booking at least an initial coaching session to get a detailed and objective evaluation of your performance + learn the right habits for every case regardless of context and framework + get a tailored preparation plan out of the session that will set you up for an effective and efficient prep.

• Don't forget the fit interview part. Prepare answers for all the typical PEI questions and stories (3-5 hours) and rehearse them a couple of times (5 hours)

2. When to stop

Stop doing cases when you can solve every case and drill thrown at you with relative ease. If you follow the above - depending on the starting level - this should be happening between 50 and 100 hours of practice.

Have a look at the following two articles that I wrote:

Case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview

PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

All the best! Reach out for help!

Cheers,

Florian