80/20 Thinking, 110% Execution - Why McKinsey Decks Are Often Warm

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One of my favorite McKinsey client quotes is "I like McKinsey decks - they're always nice and warm".  The reason McKinsey decks are often warm to the touch is because they're fresh off the printer.  It's common for McKinsey teams to be making edits and adding content until the very last minute, then scrambling to print documents and race to client meetings.  You also might see this behavior if you work with or for a former McKinsey consultant.  Here's why this happens...

McKinsey Interviews - 3 Tips For Selecting Your Location Preferences

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Prior to joining McKinsey, you will have 3 major decisions to make - 1) whether or not to apply for a job at the Firm, 2) to which location you'd like to apply, and 3) whether or not to accept your offer.  This post will focus on your location preference decision.

Cover Letters for non-Consulting jobs - 4 common mistakes

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As I mentioned in a previous post about consulting resume screens, cover letters are not critical when applying for a job at McKinsey.  However, in my pre- and post-McKinsey experience, I've found that non-consulting hiring managers rely heavily on cover letters to differentiate between candidates with similarly impressive resumes.  In this post I'll discuss the most common cover letter mistakes I've seen from candidates for non-Consulting jobs...

McKinsey Presentations: The Page Pull Deck and How to Build One

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There are many types of PowerPoint decks that your McKinsey boss might ask for.  One that is relatively common and easy to prepare is the "page pull" deck.  In this post I'll cover what it is, and how it's used...

T-shaped Problem-Solving at McKinsey and 3 Reasons Why It's Preferred

At McKinsey, there's a strong preference for T-shaped problem solving - making sure you've considered all of the applicable topics before going too deep on any of them.  This applies to problem solving a client engagement, case interviews, and working for a former McKinsey boss.

Interviewing with former McKinsey consultants - 5 tips for case-type questions

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Even if you're interviewing for a non-consulting job, there's a chance you'll be asked case questions similar to those used in consulting interviews.  In this post I'll share some tips on how to do well on those case-type questions...

McKinsey Case Interviews and Unit Conversions - An Easy, 3-step Method

One of the most common causes of math errors during case interviews is unit conversions.  Here's a method I learned as an engineering undergrad that helped me get through all of my case prep and interviews without making any unit conversion errors.  I've also used this method countless times at McKinsey and even after leaving the Firm...

MBTI - 3 ways McKinsey teams think about and (mis)use personality types

McKinsey teams use MBTI personality types as a short-hand for understanding individual preferences and team dynamics.  In this post I'll review a few ways McKinsey consultant typically think about MBTI.  These are not necessarily how an expert on MBTI would apply this framework, but the McKinsey person in your life still might think in some of these ways

MBTI - How your McKinsey colleague thinks of you in 4 letters (an introduction)

McKinsey consultants change teams frequently and must quickly understand new colleagues' and clients' personalities, working styles, and preferences.  MBTI is a 4-letter shortcut that the McKinsey consultant in your life uses to do just that.

In this post I'll give you a brief overview of how to figure out your own MBTI type and understand what they're talking about

McKinsey case interviews - 6 common math mistakes and how to prevent them

Everyone applying to McKinsey knows case prep, but I’m always surprised to see how poorly some of them prepare to do math during their interviews.  In this post, I’ll go over the six most common quant errors I’ve seen and some tips on how to avoid them