Going to call a McK recruiter - how do I go about it?

Hey guys,

I'm preparing to break into management consulting from a big 4 advisory background (I've been working at big 4 for a year now - coming from top public school, econ + math, 3.8+ gpa). I got in touch with a friend at McK and she helped pass on my resume to a recruiter at her office. The recruiter contacted me the next day and we scheduled a phone call just tomorrow afternoon. She said she'd be happy to talk to me about the process.

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions as of how I approach this phone call? What questions should I ask? Just overall how I should go about it.

Thanks a lot!!!

 
Best Response

This is really just a call to help orient you to the process. At McKinsey it is a Process, capital P. They believe in providing guidance and a central point of contact throughout the process, as you'll likely be interacting with 10-20 different McKinseyites.

Ask questions about the process. You may need to take McKinsey's standardized exam (not joking). You might want to ask questions about that. Also, say that you've heard that McKinsey has a unique approach to the case interview and ask her to talk a little more about that. She will rattle off some BS that sounds like:

"What we're looking for in terms of behaviorals is judgment, influence, and leadership. The case interview is an opportunity for you to display clarity of thinking and the ability to solve problems on the fly. We're really just looking to get a sense for how you think; there are no right or wrong answers. Your case interviewer is there to be a resource...."

At some point after your eyes have glazed over, she will stop talking. This is your cue to ask another question. If she doesn't stop after half an hour, you say, "Well, I really appreciate it, but I don't want to take any more of your time. That takes care of all my questions for now. I look forward to the process and I'll be sure to let you know when I have more questions."

 

Thanks bankerella! I think I have a couple of questions in mind other than the case interview part. It's the experienced hire route (with only 1 year of experience) that's unique about my situation, so I'll focus on that as well.

Happy (almost) labor day weekend!

 

Relax, McKinsey barely does any phone screening of your resume. If someone inside the firm passed on your resume and your background is decent they'll basically send you straight to Round 1 or the McKPST (the math exam). She'll call you to explain the process, schedule a McKPST, and once you pass that, to schedule a practice case interview before you head off to Round 1. Don't worry about it. You don't have anything special you need to achieve, show that you're interested, don't see this as the opportunity to mention how you were an Eagle Scout in high school, just explain, if they ask, why you want to do consulting and ask them about the process.

 

This one is pretty relaxed... it's exploratory, if they've said they'll call you, most likely they'll interview you too. You can adopt a positive but relatively passive vibe, treat it as an opportunity to learn more about the opening, and you'll do great.

 

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