Applicant for job at McKinsey with questions about free-form application questions

I periodically receive emails from people who are applying for jobs at McKinsey & Company and, in those messages, I’m asked to provide an “inside track” on how to get an offer from The Firm. As an alumnus of McKinsey, I can see why folks would see me as a source for this kind of information, but it isn’t really appropriate for me to give details about the process. Plus, each applicant’s experience in the McK application process is based on so many moving parts that I have no notion for the specifics of what someone will see in his/her own recruiting cycle. As such, I always go for something general in a response or decline to respond at all.

The email below is one of those kinds of messages and, as always, I’ve erred on the side of offering general guidance and information instead of trying to give the “silver bullet” answer. I’m hoping that the writer or anyone else who sees this entry finds my general thoughts to be helpful in general (versus only when applying to McK).

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EA wrote:

Hi Marquis,

Just stumbled upon one of your articles. I applied to McKinsey and got feedback to fill out a form. I’m excited about it, though I know it’s just a RFI form.

I’m from [country in Africa] and would love to get into advisory and management consulting.

Kindly guide me on he best way to answer the free form questions.

see link: [Link removed]

EA

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My response:

EA,

Thanks for reaching out with your question.

It was interesting to look over the McKinsey application form that you sent over because I’ve never seen it before. Since I went through the recruiting process on-campus when I was in business school, my recruiting process didn’t include this form or any essay questions. With that in mind, I’ll do my best to offer some thoughts, but just know that I am doing so having never gone through the process in this way before.

I’m a little confused about the kind of guidance that you’re seeking on the free-form questions on the form because the questions are about topics that describe your experiences and insights. I can’t really tell you what to write in terms of content because The Firm is counting on you to provide responses that tell them who you are as a person and as a candidate. As such, instead of being specific, I’ll just offer some general thoughts.

Here are a few points of high-level advice on how to approach the questions on the form:

• Be honest: This should go without saying, but tell the truth in the responses to these questions. You’d be shocked at the number of times that I’ve looked at MBA application essays and immediately knew that the stories were too far-fetched to be reality. I believe that people get a thought about what an employer or admissions person wants to see and then try to embellish their own stories in a way to make them fit that mold. It’s pretty unfortunate because taking that approach looks dishonest and would immediately take you out of contention for the role. You’re always better off providing an honest answer when it comes to these sorts of essays.

• Answer the question: I have heard of several instances (usually in the context of answering a business school application essay) when a person write a long, drawn-out response to something and, in doing so, covered everything except for the actual question being asked. For these types of open-ended questions, I’m sure that each question has some kind of significance as part of the recruiting process and, if you don’t effectively answer the question, you’ll be coming up short. So, make sure that whatever you submit covers the question completely and doesn’t leave anything possibly left to the reader’s imagination.

• Be concise: The essay questions ask for a paragraph-length response, so make sure that that is what you give. There won’t be any bonus points for writing something that is too long and would require an extra page to be attached to the form. My guess is that part of what is being tested here is your ability to communicate a message fully while not being long-winded in doing so. Conciseness (along with completeness) will be a differentiator here.

• Demonstrate impact and leadership: Management consulting firms look for candidates who have the ability to lead and deliver impact if they were to be hired. A great way to demonstrate the potential for that is to show it through previous things that you’ve done in your life and career. As such, it would probably be a good idea to always think about ways to show that you are a leader and a difference-maker in any sort of essay, whether it is for a job opportunity (like this application form from McK) or for an application to graduate school.

I hope that my comments above were helpful to you. They probably aren’t as prescriptive as you may have been expecting, but, based on what is likely desired from the responses, I believe that my guidance is on point.

Take care and good luck with your application to McKinsey.

Marquis