What are typical reasons why you reject interviewees?

Hi,

I would list a number of things:

Case interview:

• Not listening to the interviewer (Forgetting the information provided, not listening to the interviewer's tips, answering the wrong question)
• Poor structure (not enough levels, not seeing the big picture, a structure not answering the question / answering a wrong question)
• Using "book structures" (3c, 4p, etc) or structures not tailored enough for the case
• The candidate is not structured enough (you are structuring in the beginning, but fail to structure during the case)
• Math mistakes (one may be ok, more than 1 - no go)
• Not communicating the math properly (you don't communicate the way you do calculations and stay silent)
• Lack of creativity (candidate cannot brainstorm creatively on solving the problem)
• Lack of top-down communication (candidate does not apply the pyramid principle in his communication)
• lack of business judgment (candidates ideas are too general / do not reflect the specifics of the industry / function)

Fit interview:

• Can the candidate talk to the client right now?
• The candidate does not look mature (outfit, behavior, language)
• The candidate is too nervous (Being a bit is ok, shaking is probably too much)
• Candidate can not provide the examples of certain traits (e.g. leadership).
• Candidate fails to answer additional questions about his stories (i.e. the story was made up)
• The candidate is not friendly / enthusiastic / shows no emotions
• The candidate stories do not differentiate from the others (e.g. Leading a team in a case competition as a lead story)

Best!

The most common and critical mistakes are:

1) Not claryfying / asking the details of the business model in the begining

2) Not claryfying / quantifying objectives in the beginning

3) Using common frameworks and not adapting them to the case specifics

4) Not diging deep into the root causes of a problem and switching to other parts of your framework

5) Geting some data and not applying it (i.e. you should compare with previous periods / benchmarks / breakdown further into segments)

6) Slow math / math with mistakes / not stating clearly what you are trying to calculate and why

7) Providing a strong conclusion having limited data

8) !!! spending a lot of time on cases, having no fit interview practice

Hi Anonymous,

over the last couple of years, the level of preparation among candidates has increased significantly. However, even amongst candidates who obviously had prepared quite intensely, there were frequently recurring issues that I encountered as an interviewer.

The top three issues I found with candidates over the last couple of years at McKinsey:

1. Lack of clear and structured approach to address the specific question at hand (most candidates use pre-memorized "Business Situation Frameworks" without rooting it in a central question to answer and employing an explorative instead of hypothesis-driven approach)

2. Insufficient depth of thinking, especially in terms of linking back gained insights to information received earlier in the case and deriving implications

3. Issues with communication / failure to take me along in their though process

Cheers, Sidi

On the reasons above I would add math mistakes. Had too many candidates making avoidable math mistakes multiple times during the case that made me question their attention to detail and therefore penalized an otherwise excellent performance. It’s more important to do math correctly rather than fast (within reason).

Hope it helps.

andrea

In reverse order of importance (to me) -- i.e. if you meet item #N+1 onwards but not #N, you are rejected "outright", but if you meet N and not N+1 onwards, then "it depends":

1. Analytical weaknesses (can't interpret graphs, data, do simple math)

2. No executive presence (lack of confidence, mumbles, poor personality, unpolished)

3. Ability to handle stress, pressure

4. Team work - collaborative

5. Arrogance, bad hiegene, etc

6. Lack of business knowledge / insights into the market

Hi,

The most common and critical mistakes are:

1) Not clarifying / asking the details of the business model in the beginning

2) Not clarifying / quantifying objectives in the beginning

3) Using common frameworks and not adapting them to the case specifics

4) Not digging deep into the root causes of a problem and switching to other parts of your framework

5) Getting some data and not applying it (i.e. you should compare with previous periods / benchmarks / breakdown further into segments)

6) Slow math / math with mistakes / not stating clearly what you are trying to calculate and why

7) Providing a strong conclusion having limited data

8) !!! spending a lot of time on cases, having no fit interview practice

Best

Hi Kay,

thank you for asking your question! 

We're happy to see that you are tapping the full potential of our Consulting Q&A! 

If you haven't already, you may also want to check out the following threads on common mistakes candidates make in case studies: 

What are common mistakes you make in case studies?

What are typical reasons why you reject interviewees?

Keep up the great prep and best of luck for your upcoming interviews!

Astrid

PrepLounge Community Management

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Welcome Anonymous A,

thanks for joining PrepLounge and asking your question on our Consulting Q&A!

I found some old Q&As that might contain useful information for you, since you just started your case preparation.

A lot of our users have questions about brainstorming at the beginning of the case study. In one of our Q&A, our experts give advice on how to come up with the right ideas. 

Ignacio says:

Brainstorming creatively in a structured/MECE way when under pressure is one of the hardest things to do. [...] Once you have gone through a few ideas and have structured them into sections/buckets it is good practice to select the best ones according to some parameter. For instance, select ideas which have high impact and high implementability. It is important to note that every case is different and so you must always put a lot effort into customising the answer and prioritising what is most relevant.

Vlad: 

1) Ask an interview for a minute to think

2) Think of several buckets of ideas (e.g. organic growth / non-organic growth / differentiation). Remember to think as big as possible

3) Narrow down to each bucket and generate as much ideas as possible

4) Present the structure (buckets) and then your ideas

For the full Q&A, check the following link: Brainstorm more ideas?

Other relevant Q&As are:

• How do I become a good case partner?

• Getting unstuck during cases

• Recovering from mistakes in interviews

• Engaging the interviewer. How?

This is just a selection, feel free to browse through some more old threads with the tag "Case Interview" and you will find more relevant info :)

Best of luck for your prep!

Astrid

PrepLounge Community Management

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