Monday, October 26, 2009

Advice on Nailing the McKinsey Case

Today I had a talk with my "McKinsey buddy," the consultant whom I was paired with to help answer some of my questions about the interview process. This was actually a very helpful conversation from which I learned a few things about the case interview:

1) The process is much more important than the final answer (although the final answer is still important)
2) Add as much detail as possible-be specific in your analysis
3) Be creative...show you are thinking beyond a standard framework or canned answer

I'll give a little more detail as to what I mean above. First, structuring your answer is VITAL. The interviewer needs to see how you are working and understand your logic in order for them to assess your ability to solve a problem. This is what I mean by process...they want to understand how and why you arrived at a specific answer more than they care about what answer you arrived at. Interestingly, the same can be said for the personal interview...they don't care about the end result as much as what you specifically did to drive an issue forward (i.e. the process).

I was also told to add more specifics and more detail to my answers. The particular case involved an online video retailer that sold streaming movies through the internet. I would be asked about how to increase revenue and would say, "we could explore alternative revenue streams or charge for advertising on our website." A better answer would be to detail the exact types of advertising we should be seeking...for example, we are an internet movie distributor...people who watch movies may also play video games or may enjoy staying at home so we should look to target advertising towards these groups. The end message is be as specific as possible and try to make your suggestions applicable to the SPECIFIC case that you were given.

Think outside of the box a little bit. At the end of the case, you will probably be asked for a recommendation of some sort. In this particular case that I did, I recommended that we not invest in a particular company because it wasn't profitable. I was then asked what kinds of things I could think about to help make the company more profitable...it is here when you can try to really show some creativity beyond just the standard P=(R-C)x V framework.

As an aside, the consultant that I have been paired with was actually a student in the mini-MBA class that I taught this summer...kind of a small world when you think about it.

19 comments:

  1. You have provided some pretty insights into what McKinsey is looking for in the case interview.

    Thanks KR, keep up the good work!

    Tom Spencer

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  2. This a great blog. Thanks. I am in the same boat as you. I have an MBA but have been out of school for over a year now. They have invited me for a second round (penultimate round) interview and to my surprise I will be taking the PST as well. I need a lot of case practice. If you or anyone else is looking to practice some case interviews on the phone, shoot a quick message here. Good luck to everyone going through the process.

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  3. If you are in the Boston area, Harvard case practices are Wed. night's at Harkness building cafeteria at the Law School and Monday night's...4th floor of TMEC building at the Medical School.

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  4. Unfortunately, I am not in the Boston area (though will be interviewing there). What is your interview date?

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  5. Anyone in the Stamford, CT area looking to practice cases this weekend? I am willing to travel to NYC as well if anyone is interested and can also do phone interviews.

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  6. Considering Consulting:
    You mentioned frameworks in one of your posts. I have gone through Case in Point and I am not really happy with the frameworks there. They are not MECE for sure. How did you build your own frameworks? Did you find any material online?

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  7. The frameworks in Case in Point are a great place to start; however, you'll find a lot of cases don't really lend themselves to one strict framework. For example, you may be asked to determine if a new product will be profitable. This type of question requires you to fluidly combine a new product framework with profitability analysis. You might want to develop your own MECE framework for a question such as this.

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  8. Thanks Considering. What are the casebooks you are doing cases from? I have a Wharton one (2006), a Tuck one and a Michigan one. That's it.

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  9. I've done cases from Case in Point, Wharton, Tuck, Michigan, UNC, Columbia, HBS, Kellog, and Cornell. Right now I'm going through all of the case books and picking out some "McKinsey style" cases to work on.

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  10. Considering, Would you mind mailing me any of the Columbia, Cornell, Kellogg or UNC casebooks? I would really appreciate that. Please let me know. Thanks.

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  11. I don't think I can do that. It is password protected material that isn't to be distributed outside of our club.

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  12. Considering: Thanks. Didn't realize it was only meant for your club's members.

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  13. Hi Considering,
    I believe you have cleared the PST round of McKinsey interviews. In my case I will have a PST as well as two case/experience interviews on the same day. I have already done the sample PST on McKinsey's website. Were you able to find any other practice material on PST?
    Also, will this be your final round? How many itnerviews do you have scheduled?

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  14. No other PST material that I'm aware of...I looked and looked for more practice cases. I think doing general GMAT and LSAT problems may help some. Beyond that I don't know how else to prepare.

    I would still have to clear 2 more rounds before receiving an offer...so there is still a LOT of work to do.

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  15. Yes I am in the same boat except that I need to clear the PST as well as two rounds of interviews. It's not an easy process :)

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  16. hi! is anyone still left who might wish to practice case interviews? and how did all of your interviews go? did you get offers??? or if you bombed it would you be able to tell us what went down?

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  17. Hi Anonymous,
    I have my PST interview coming up on 28 Jan, you still looking to practice cases? I am looking for people to practice cases with...

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  18. Hi Student- I'm also taking the PST this week and hopefully on to case interviews after. Still looking to practice?

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  19. Hi guys,

    I'm also in the same boat as you. I found some sample PST tests here: http://www.preplounge.com/de/bootcamp.php/interview-first-aid/which-companies-are-currently-using-written-tests. Anyone here still looking for a practice partner?

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