Key elements you should practice for each of your Fit stories
Avoid the common mistake of not preparing for these 3 key elements
Many candidates are aware of the common fit questions they will likely be asked, and have various stories prepared. There are many different structures for practicing your fit stories, and several different styles of interviewing fit from the different firms. With that said, there are some common elements that I believe every candidate should prepare for each of their stories. Regardless of the dynamic or interviewer style, it is likely that these will come into play for each fit interview - sometimes all 3 will be used in a single interview.
The benefit of these elements is not only that you may directly use them in your fit interview, but that they will also help you think deeply about your experiences and stories as you prepare them. Below I provide an overview of each of the 3 elements, and try to provide some practical examples:
Single sentence newspaper headline. Imagine each of your stories as a newspaper article - what would the header be? Having this prepared for each will help you clearly and concisely communicate to your interviewer what the story you are about to tell is before you get into it. In some cases, your interviewer may explicitly ask for it (this is especially common in the McKinsey PEI). Now, a newspaper headline doesn’t just tell you what they story is about, it actually tells you what happened. Lets say for example the question is “Tell me about a time when you successfully convinced someone to adopt your point of view,” and lets say your story is about convincing your Ph.D. adviser to initiate a collaboration with another group. Your 1 sentence is not “I had to convince my Ph.D. adviser to initiate a collaboration to execute my Ph.D. research project.” This is incomplete, since it does not explain the result. Instead, it should be “I successfully convinced my Ph.D. adviser to initiate a collaboration that was critical for the timely completion of my Ph.D. research project.” Notice how this second example actual explains to the interviewer what you did and what the result is, all in a single concise sentence. Now, in the actual interview, after you are asked the question, you could make it more conversational by simply adding “I can tell you about a time when I successfully….”. The added benefit of this is that it provides the interviewer with an opportunity to guide you away from a story that may not be the best match for what the interviewer is looking for.
Implications for your future work. After you complete your story you probably know that you should end with the result (“This resulted in a 2-year collaboration that enabled me to complete my research project on time and submit our publication”). After this, you should also comment on the future implications for your work. This can address a number of questions, including: What did you learn from this? How will this impact the next time you encounter a similar situation? What are the implications for your work at consulting? For example, you may say “From this experience I learned that in order to convince someone of my point of view, I really need to invest upfront in understanding why they are resistant, and then develop arguments or evidence that specifically addresses their concerns.” This will really drive home to the interviewer why this experience makes you a better fit for consulting.
What you could have done differently. During and after your interview your interviewer will ask multiple questions. While you cannot prepare for all of them, there are some common ones that are worth preparing for each fit story. The most common follow-up question that the interviewer may ask is “if you could go back and do this again, is there anything you would do differently?” There are many ways to answer this, but the key is that it is specific to your story. For example, you could say “If I could back I would have anticipated some of my Ph.D. adviser’s concerns in advance, and would have addressed them during our initial conversation. This may have accelerated the process to convincing him to start this collaboration.” I don’t think there are right answers to this question, but you should be prepared to get this question for many of your actual fit interviews.
I am confident that if you push yourself to include these elements in each of your fit stories, you will be much better prepared for the actual interview. While certain interviews may differ in style (e.g., McKinsey’s PEI will feel very different from BCG’s Fit), nonetheless adding these will enhance your preparation and interview.
Bottom line: For each of your fit stories, be sure to prepare a 1-sentence newspaper headline, implications for your future work and ideas of what you could have done differently. Knowing these will make you know your stories more deeply and be better prepared for the interview.
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