McKinsey IWIA Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi,
I have been invited to their first stage interview/test.
I would appreciate any advice anyone has about this process.
I know Voyager and TaipeiMort knew a lot about this process... but not sure if they are still around...

[Anonymous User]

Hi,
I have been invited to their first stage interview/test.
I would appreciate any advice anyone has about this process.
I know Voyager and TaipeiMort knew a lot about this process... but not sure if they are still around...

Took and passed stage 1, but got knocked out in stage 2. The written test for stage 1 is not too difficult if you remember some basic SAT math. It feels like a GRE / GMAT quantitative section, but presented in a case-study format. You don't get a calculator, but you can guestimate most answers without one. One tip, don't spend too much time trying to calculate precise numbers. You can get away with a LOT of rounding / estimating on the test if you're strategic about it.

In regards to stage 2, I really wish I prepped a lot more for the case interviews. Lots of people recommend "Case in Point" by Cossentino for preparation. I flipped through it and it seems full of lots of practice case interview questions, but to my demise I never actually got into them in-depth. I think ideally you should get a friend to go through some with you. If you have any friends that have gone through case interviews, they're your best bet.

Stage 3 is like stage 2, but with interviewers higher on the food chain. If this is your only bet for employment, please, for the love of God start preparing for case interviews now. It's easy to get slaughtered by one if it throws you a curve ball.

[Anonymous User]

Hi,
I have been invited to their first stage interview/test.
I would appreciate any advice anyone has about this process.
I know Voyager and TaipeiMort knew a lot about this process... but not sure if they are still around...

Took and passed stage 1, but got knocked out in stage 2. The written test for stage 1 is not too difficult if you remember some basic SAT math. It feels like a GRE / GMAT quantitative section, but presented in a case-study format. You don't get a calculator, but you can guestimate most answers without one. One tip, don't spend too much time trying to calculate precise numbers. You can get away with a LOT of rounding / estimating on the test if you're strategic about it.

In regards to stage 2, I really wish I prepped a lot more for the case interviews. Lots of people recommend "Case in Point" by Cossentino for preparation. I flipped through it and it seems full of lots of practice case interview questions, but to my demise I never actually got into them in-depth. I think ideally you should get a friend to go through some with you. If you have any friends that have gone through case interviews, they're your best bet.

Stage 3 is like stage 2, but with interviewers higher on the food chain. If this is your only bet for employment, please, for the love of God start preparing for case interviews now. It's easy to get slaughtered by one if it throws you a curve ball.

Thank you.
To pass on stage 2, is the test the only thing that matters, or should I also prep for their group sessions? Were those difficult? They imply from their e-mail that they care only for test.

Leadership/group experience? How judgmental are they on that? My previous job was kind of solitary (think accounting) and in college I worked so I was not a leader of any groups... will that hurt me?

[Anonymous User]

Hi,
I have been invited to their first stage interview/test.
I would appreciate any advice anyone has about this process.
I know Voyager and TaipeiMort knew a lot about this process... but not sure if they are still around...

Took and passed stage 1, but got knocked out in stage 2. The written test for stage 1 is not too difficult if you remember some basic SAT math. It feels like a GRE / GMAT quantitative section, but presented in a case-study format. You don't get a calculator, but you can guestimate most answers without one. One tip, don't spend too much time trying to calculate precise numbers. You can get away with a LOT of rounding / estimating on the test if you're strategic about it.

In regards to stage 2, I really wish I prepped a lot more for the case interviews. Lots of people recommend "Case in Point" by Cossentino for preparation. I flipped through it and it seems full of lots of practice case interview questions, but to my demise I never actually got into them in-depth. I think ideally you should get a friend to go through some with you. If you have any friends that have gone through case interviews, they're your best bet.

Stage 3 is like stage 2, but with interviewers higher on the food chain. If this is your only bet for employment, please, for the love of God start preparing for case interviews now. It's easy to get slaughtered by one if it throws you a curve ball.

Thank you.
To pass on stage 2, is the test the only thing that matters, or should I also prep for their group sessions? Were those difficult? They imply from their e-mail that they care only for test.

Leadership/group experience? How judgmental are they on that? My previous job was kind of solitary (think accounting) and in college I worked so I was not a leader of any groups... will that hurt me?

Group sessions don't directly impact your chances. You'll get invited to stage 2 if your written test score is high enough. That said, you should try to take the group sessions seriously because it's great practice for stage 2. You'll be going through actual case interview questions so you can get a feel for what they're like.

In terms of the "experience" interview, you should start brainstorming now. To be safe, you want to have three or four experiences that display: leadership, ingenuity / working past an obstacle, and working out a conflict with someone that doesn't share your viewpoint, etc.. If you took a screener, the question will sound very similar to the one you answered during the screener. The whole session will focus on one particular experience and they'll grind you down for every detail. They won't let you use the same experience twice, so having a good bank of them is advised. If you want more advice, they'll assign you a "mentor" of sorts if you pass stage 1. You should definitely hit them up about their advice on how to approach the experience question.