| Topic Name: |
Characteristics of an interview that went well |
| Message Name: |
answer |
| Date Posted: |
03/23/2003 |
| In Reply To: |
I just went through my first interview in the consulting industry. Previously I've had a few Sales and Trading and Banking interviews but my first consulting interview was at McKinsey yesterday. My question is
assuming that the fit/behavioral part went well, how can you tell if the case part went well? I mean eventually I got what they were looking for in each case, but sometimes it felt like they were guiding me along the path. Is this something that is common or am I suppose to know what they want automatically? |
| Message: |
You can do a lot to guide the interview rather than letting them guide. For example, say that Ski Air Co has hired your firm to determine if it should start a Billings to Aspen route. You've been assigned the important task of figuring the break-even revenue per seat-mile. You can start out by saying the obvious (since it's a break-even case): "let's draw up a P&L for that route" and direct your interviewer by saying "would you prefer me to start on the revenue or the expense side?" You have just agreed priorities and allowed your interviewer to steer you clear of a minefield.
Let's say that you then start digging into the intricacies of the cost of flying a BAe-146 turboprop between these two cities. (You would ask what plane was being considered and, if needed, the relevant characteristics of that plane.) Tou'll first agree with the interviewer the biggest expenses and work towards the smallest: labor, jet fuel, the aircraft, overhead, airport costs, and so on. Eventually, you might say, "I feel comfortable with our jet fuel cost numbers - are my assumptions reasonable?" Again, the interviewer then has to tell you either that you can move on or that you've not yet got it right. Either way, you win.
One other word of note - don't fight your interviewer. For example, when the intervier says that he doesn't care about how to conduct a focus group to determine consumer acceptance of Billings to Aspen turboprop service (since that's not your workstream), don't continue to regurgitate your marketing 101 textbook chapter on consumer research, even though you vertually memorized it. Odds are the interview wants to see your pen and pad come out and begin crunching some numbers.
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