Title of position interviewed for: Support Staff Supervisor
Approximate date of interview: 1/2003
Location: USA
Submitted on: 04-Sep-03
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Job Title |
Interview
Survey |
| Support Staff Supervisor |
The interview process for this particular support staff position was
arduous. I responded to an ad in the local paper and received a call
from a contract recruiter (based out-of-state) with whom I spoke on the
phone for close to an hour. She then scheduled a face-to-face interview
with me for the following week. We met for several hours in a hotel
room
adjacent to the office. After passing the intitial interview test with
the recruiter, I had my first interview at the McKinsey office. The
first thing I had to do was take a test that seemed eerily similar to
the PSATs. I had to read several short essays and answer questions,
show
I could spell and alphabetize, and do some word definitions. The test
had several sections and was timed. The entire thing took about 45
minutes. I sat and waited while the test was scored. (I passed!). Once
I
had passed that, I interviewed with the HR Administrator. She was
helpful and informative in a general way, and asked many standard
questions. This took less than an hour. I was then introduced to the
Manager or Administration and spent several hours with her, including
lunch. I found that having lunch with an interviewer was a rather
disconcerting experience and I found it hard to focus both on our
conversation and enjoy lunch. My general feeling about this interview
was that the Manager was mostly feeling me out for personality and fit
in the office. At one point during our initial conversation, she
pointed
out a (bad) habit of mine whereby I would sometimes look over the
interviewers head as I formulated an answer to a question. I will
admit
that I was a bit horrified to have this brought to my attention, but I
have never forgotten her advice to be aware of it. After lunch, I met
individually with several other supervisors in other departments. Each
had their own individual interview styles. One asked me a series of
rote
questions such as: 'what do you consider your three greatest
strengths?'
and another struggled to make small talk with me for 30 minutes or so.
That first day of interviews took up about five hours I came back to
the
office on a second day to meet with three people in the department whom
I would supervise if I got the job. They were smart young people, all
college graduates, and asked very serious questions. I got the feeling
they were watching me closely for my reactions and judging my
personality. I also met that day with one of the senior consultants,
who did not grill me, per se, but asked some good, intelligent
questions and we had a pleasant conversation, lasting close to an hour.
I checked in again with the Manager of Administration and talked with
her some more. I left the office, having spent about three hours there.
Within a day or so, I heard from the contract recruiter who informed me
that the Manager of Administration was not convinced that I was the
right candidate for the position, that my not having had experience
with global consulting firms did not favor me. However, I also learned
that I was the only candidate for the position, and that I was only
competing against my own experience, not against other people. I wrote
a one-page letter to the Manager of Administration reiterating my
interest in the position, highlighting my years of on-the-job
experience, and stressing my understanding of management consulting. I
delivered this letter in person and within a day, I was asked to come
in to the office for another round of interviews. During my final visit
to the office, I met with the Office Manager (meaning, the McKinsey
Partner in charge of that particular office) and, again, the Manager of
Administration. My meeting with the Partner went well, we had a
relatively casual conversation in his office, and he was interrupted
several times by phone calls. I spent a long time, again, with the
Manager of Administration who asked me more questions about how I would
handle certain situations and asked a lot of leading question to
determine my leadership style. On this day, I spent close to three
hours in the office. All told, I figured I'd spent close to the
equivalent of three workdays interviewing for this position. I
received a job offer, finally, and accepted the position. It was a
grueling process, and I really felt that I had accomplished something
by surviving the gauntlet and passing all the tests.
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