4 Steps to Get an MBB’s Offer in 7 Weeks
Tags: Management Consulting, Consulting, Career Advice, Case Interview, Mckinsey

2. Practice

Step 2.1) Practising with partners (est time 40 hours or 20 cases)

Now that you have a clear understanding of the different dimensions of case interviews, time to put it into application! First step, do a mock interview with a partner ASAP to, again, get the sense of it. Once the partner finished interviewing you, interview him/her. The order doesn’t matter.

… What should an interviewee do in the mock interview?

Smile and relax. Don’t get nervous or insecure about getting judged.

… What should an interviewer do?

Spend at least 30 minutes to read the case prompt carefully. Ideally, you have done the case before. The reason why is such that you are capable of guiding the interviewee along the way should he/she struggle. Use your smartphone and time the session: Lap 1 for the candidate to structure his thoughts, Lap 2 to lay out the structure etc. The reason is to identify which part of the case the candidate struggled with the most. Make notes along the way: the initial framework, answers to follow-ups, and red flags you notice. Try to keep the session below 50 minutes by pushing/stress-testing the interviewee: asking him to directly explain his answer for a follow-up rather than allowing extra time to structure. In real interviews, consultants do that all the time. After the case is closed, do 3 things:

a. Ask the candidate what he felt about his performance. The reason is to get his perspectives and see whether they aligned with yours. Oftentimes I thought I bombed the math part, but my interviewer thought I did it well, and my main issue was I appeared too uptight.

b. Provide feedback on what you think the candidate did very well on. Try giving 3. This is to positively motivate him and put him/her at ease with the next bit.

c. Provide constructive feedback on what you think he/she could’ve done better.

List the weaknesses, together with the actionable steps to take so he/she can improve. Remember: simply saying he/she did Part A badly without offering help to improve = toxic not constructive.

d. Dive deeper into each component of the case, ie: the follow-ups.

… And most importantly, how does a good partner look like?

He wants you to succeed. Avoid salty, toxic partners who are only casing you so that he can be cased. It’s very easy to tell! He provides quality feedback. If he’s your regular partner, he can effectively track your progress and make sure you have improved on your weaknesses exhibited in the last case: for instance, you used a ton of filler words like “like, basically, ya’ know, urghh, hmmmm” in the last practice, but have you resolved this issue and used fewer filler words now? He brightens your day. It is not an easy journey — find a thoughtful partner.

Actionable items 2.1.1:

Find partners either via consulting clubs at your university or platforms like Facebook Group and Preplounge.

Treasure the good partners! Smile a lot on Zoom, buy them meals, and share good articles you’ve stumbled online.

… Now that you have done one or two mock interviews and have gotten a feel of it, start planning your schedule to beef up your number of cases done. “Numbers don’t matter”, “I have only started preparing two weeks before my McKinsey interview”… these advise applies only to the rarest candidates and is not suitable for all. Try doing at least 20 cases before your real interviews such that:

You are technically prepared to perform well. By having done 20 cases, you have touched on a multitude of industries, case types (market entry to brainteasers), and exhibits’ style (bubble chart to table with overwhelming text), and with that in mind, you will recall and perform. You are physically prepared. You have endured at least 20 hours of cases, sometimes back-to-back, and now you have the stamina to take on the hour-long interview. You are mentally prepared. You know in your mind that you are no longer an amateur and ready to crush the upcoming case.

… Ok, so 20 cases as a goal. How should you reach it?

For your first 5–10 cases, do the common or typical cases including market entry, profitability, product launch, M&A to make sure you nail the basics. Once you get a hang on the frameworks, and more importantly the big picture of such typical cases, move on to less common cases in less common industries (insurance, hotel chain, parking lot etc). Refer back to Crafting Cases’ lessons and tips for all cases done.

… While doing the cases, make sure most, if not all, of them are of high quality. A quality case could be:

You learned about a new industry and revenue model. You improved on one of your weaknesses. You learned a newfound weakness — so that you can improve it later.

… Once you have exceeded 20 or so cases and felt that you’re rather well-versed in casing, practice more but don’t overpractice. Numbers are no longer a factor now, and you should focus only on quality cases and having the right state of mind.

Actionable items 2.1.2: