Imagine you’ve practiced your cases relentlessly.
You get to your McKinsey case interview.
You’re nervous.
You hope you do well.
You hear the case.
And then…
You solve it perfectly…
… and still get rejected.
It used to be that all you had to do was pass the case to get an offer.
Every few years, firms like McKinsey do an analysis of their performance review process and link it back to their recruiting process.
In one of these internal analyses, firms like McKinsey discovered that the consultants that clients liked the least, often had perfect performances during their case interviews years prior.
Client complaints were never about the consultant’s lack of logic, spreadsheet errors, or conclusions.
All the complaints were about how certain client members felt offended, excluded, or otherwise alienated by the consultant in question.
Since then, all the firms have gone back to revise their recruiting process to look for interpersonal skills.
For McKinsey specifically, this is called the “Personal Experience Interview.”
It’s a 15-minute, seemingly casual conversation between the interviewer and candidate.
It takes places either right before the case or right after.
During a 45-minute interview, the case will typically last 30 minutes, with the Personal Experience Interview for the other 15 minutes.
Most people spend dozens (in some cases, hundreds) of hours preparing for the case.
In contrast, most spent NO time preparing for the Personal Experience Interview.
It’s unfortunate because if you pass the case but fail the Personal Experience Interview, you will get rejected.
In contrast, an exceptional Personal Experience Interview performance can compensate for small mistakes on a case — especially during the early interview rounds.
Fortunately, the Personal Experience Interview is quite easy to prepare for.
You just need to spend a little time figuring out how to best describe your achievements in a specific format that McKinsey values.
To make this preparation easier, I’ve put together my Guide to the Personal Experience Interview with everything you need to prepare.
Click Here to learn more about my Guide to the Personal Experience Interview. Don’t overlook this important and often under-appreciated aspect of getting a McKinsey job offer.