Second round with AP and Partner?

Hi there,

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

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

• First of all, no, both the Associate Partner’s and the Partners’s feedback are considered equally.
• Moreover, it's essential to approach both interviews with the same seriousness and preparation. I would advise you to not prioritize one over the other, as you eventually have to convince both interviewers.

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

At McK for sure not. Same weight, if in doubt I'd say partners even rely more on judgement of APs who usually have a bit more attention span for the interviews. Best of luck! Frederic 

No, I wouldn't see it like that. 

The Partner has more weight if he's the ‘hiring Partner’ in that office. The ‘hiring Partner’ is usually the one who provides the final yes/no for that candidate. 

But aside from this, I wouldn't say there's a hierarchy between the interviewers. 

Best,
Cristian

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Hi there,

I assume you are talking about an MBB firm. If so, all first and second round recruiters gather together to take the final hiring decision. They will look for consensus and anyone has voice to veto your progress to next round. Recruiter is also present in the decision call to make sure everyone has equal weight in the final decision.

Good luck!

Alberto

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Check out my latest case based on a real MBB interview: Sierra Springs

Hi,

The partner’s opinion carries more weight.

But it's not really something you should waste your mental energy on right now, trying to calculate all the possible outcomes and predicting who influences who etc. Those things are beyond your control.

Instead, you should concentrate on the things you can control such as polishing your case and fit interview skills!

Good luck,
Nick

This is non-sense. You have to convince everyone. 

Yes, sure, if they are undecided between a couple of candidates, and the partners likes you more, you are in a better position to get the offer. But we are talking about outlier scenarios here. In practice, you have to convince both.

But it can be the opposite. You are assuming an authocratic leadership style here (the boss has the final word). But in many instances, the person who makes the call will actually rely MORE on other people's opinion than on their own (e.g. to avoid their own bias; to protect themselves from bad decisions, etc.).

So what is the takeway here? Just focus on performing well and forget these lateral considerations.

Hi there,

Moritz is exactly right here.

It is NOT 50/50. It's 100/100.

 As in, both have to fundamentally want to hire you. One might love you and another might be “ok” with you, which can work. But 50/50 is somewhat misleading.

And, moreover, this totally depends on firm, office, specific interviewers, etc. 

Finally, I couldn't agree more with Francesca: Who cares. 

Does this answer change anything about what you do? Nope

Therefore, you'd rather spend your time/energy thinking about this that focused on doing well in the interview, period?

Focus on that which you can control :)

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case
 

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/dos-and-donts-in-a-case-interview
 

https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/candidate-led-cases-what-to-expect-and-example-cases

Hi,

Having been part of the recruiting/interviewing team at BCG, I can say that both scores are equally weighted.

You need to excel at both interviews, to prove that you can perform consistently at a high level and therefore meet the bars set by the firm.

P.S. “Corporate hierarchy” also works abit differently in consulting, because of the way equity partnership works. It's not so straightforward as in corporate with direct lines of reporting ;)

Hi there,

Honestly, how is this information going to affect your interview preparation and success? You should obviously treat both AP and Partner the same way and be at your best in both interviews. If that happens, and you have a good preparation level, then you will succeed. 

So focus instead on doing everything you can to be at your best during this final round. You can absolutely do it if you focus your energies in the right direction!

Super good luck,
Francesca

Hi there,

The decision process is really quite rigorous and doesn't give much room to people's egos (this is different for the actual interviews, but that's another story…). 

The above being said, here's the bottom-line:

1. Anyone can veto a candidate (AP or Partner) 
2. No-one can single-handedly hire a candidate if there's vetos in the group (see point #1)

Hope this helps a bit!

Best of luck,
Moritz

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