McKinsey final round, made it. The partner case in detail.
Signed McKinsey associate offer last Friday. Posting the partner round in detail because the case prep guides don't really prepare you for what happens in that room.
Background: career switcher from product at a mid-stage saas, 1 year program, MBB was the goal from day one. 3 firms, 2 finals, 1 offer. McKinsey was firm 3.
First 3 rounds were standard. PEI, market sizing, profitability, growth. Frameworks held, math held. I knew I was passing those as I was doing them, you can feel it when the partner stops probing and starts nodding.
Partner round, 60 minutes. One partner, one associate observer.
PEI first, 15 minutes. Leadership question, then personal impact. Stories prepped for both. On the second one he asked what the team thought a year later. Hadn't prepared for that follow-up. I said something like "two agreed in hindsight, one still thinks I was wrong and honestly I think they have a fair point about the timing." He nodded and moved on. I think the willingness to give the third person credit was what passed me on that one.
Case, 35 minutes. Regional grocery chain considering a private label expansion. Standard profit case on the surface, two curveballs underneath.
First curveball, minute 20. He slid over a chart with no axis labels and asked me to tell him what was going on. Sat with it 30 seconds, took the swing first, told him I thought it was unit sales by category over time based on the relative scale. He said yes. The actual trick was being willing to commit to a read and then ask one clarifying after, not before.
Second curveball, minute 30. Risks of the rollout. I had 4 ready, he pushed for a fifth. Had to actually think on screen. Said the own-brand supply chain capacity wasn't proven and a recall in the first 6 months would destroy the channel forever. That one he wrote down.
How I used cluely: PEI portion and case framing/brainstorming buckets. Off for the math, because math is too fast for an overlay and it's the easiest round to spot a tool on (you go silent when you're computing). On PEI the STAR structure stayed visible. On the case it surfaced 2 of the 4 risk buckets I delivered for the second curveball, the other 2 were mine.
What it didn't help with: the unlabeled chart was reading the partner's face and committing. And the math, which is just practice.
Closer, 10 minutes. He asked what would make me leave consulting in 2 years. I said a really good product role at a company I cared about. He laughed. Offer came Monday.
Happy to take case or PEI questions.