Many candidates ask about the best way to tackle what I call motivational questions, such as “Why management consulting?”, “Why McKinsey?” and so on. Let me share some of the reflections from many years of interviewing at McKinsey.

First, let’s look at the examples of good answers to the question “Why management consulting?”. There are a lot of those, but here are some sample answers that reflect that the candidate has right motivations:

• “I know that once I join McKinsey I will work on a broad range of different problems, topics, and industries. It will give me an opportunity to learn about each of them and decide what I want to work with more in-depth”. Notice here that you are not saying explicitly that you will do it in depth at McKinsey. But you are also not stating that you will move on to your exit options as soon as you learn about those topics. It is important for the interviewer to know that consulting is a possible long-term career path for you, which means it is worth investing in you.

• “Joining management consulting will allow me to be exposed to a set of problems and organizational levels that I otherwise wouldn’t have been exposed to for years”. It is good to give examples of particular interest to you if you can.

• “At McKinsey, I will have an accelerated learning journey. I know it will come with a lot of hours and high intensity of work, but I truly believe there is no other place I can learn as fast as here”

• “In management consulting I will get opportunities to work internationally, which has been my dream for a while”

• “I am very interested in aerospace (or any other field) and I know that McKinsey (and this office in particular) does a lot of work in this area. I would like to get involved in aerospace projects and become an expert in this field”

• “I believe that McKinsey is a place that has a lot of talented and driven people brought together and I have heard good things about the culture. Working with those people is the main motivation for me”

• “I believe I am good at Problem Solving (or some other skill), and I enjoy it. I heard that I would get to use it a lot in management consulting, so I just want to do what I love”

• “I hear that there is a strong feedback culture which is a rare thing to find, and I like to self-improve and learn from others”

The list can be made longer. And the reality is that whatever it is that motivates you, it is probably a good answer. There are some exceptions though, and if those are your main motivations, you might want to rethink if management consulting is really the best thing for you. Here are some (not uncommon) answers to the questions “Why management consulting?” that I would question as an interviewer:

• “I hear that the career progression is really fast and that I will get a promotion at least every second year if I do well”. Of course, it is a good thing to look for new challenges and learning opportunities, but if career progression is the main target, you might be too focused on ticking the boxes for promotion instead of your learning and development. Or your main motivation might be money, in which case there are also better career options to consider.

• “McKinsey has such a great brand, and it was always on top of the list for me”. If you are a status hunter, there is a risk that you are also arrogant with clients and teams which is a big no-no.

• “I am dreaming about working in a certain company or an industry and I see McKinsey as a good step to get there”. Even though McKinsey (and other top consultancies) understand that most people stay 3-4 years in consulting and move on, and not everyone will make a partner, investing in someone who decided from the beginning that they will not stay is a waste of time and effort.

No matter which of those motivations are yours (or something else), when you answer “Why management consulting?” you need to tell an authentic, believable story. You need to be able to give examples and explain why and share some stories that bring your motivations to life.

Let’s look together at an answer to “Why management consulting?” question that I heard once. That answer has all the elements of an authentic story and the right motivations.

“Working in management consulting was not really my dream. In fact, I wanted to work in a global Consumer goods company and learn about the specifics of different markets. That is why I got into my MBA, - to open the doors to an international career with a focus on Consumer goods. At the beginning of my MBA program, there were a lot of people around me talking excitedly about management consulting, but I was not allowing myself to be distracted by those conversations as I was busy exploring opportunities in Consumer goods and Retail in Europe. As I was talking to them, I realized that being a candidate with experience from only one Asian market I don’t have that much to offer to them, compared to other MBAs with the same goals and better understanding of European markets. One of my friends suggested looking into strategy consulting as a stepping stone to get where I want to be. First, I started trying to solve cases. I realized that I was thoroughly enjoying the experience of Problem Solving and preparing for the interviews became a very interesting journey. Then I started talking to my fellow classmates that were already in consulting to get their perspectives about the job. That is when I realized that in management consulting, I can get what I was looking for in the first place, which is to work in Consumer goods in different markets. Moreover, I will be able to expand my expertise in the industry much faster and be exposed to a much broader set of topics. So, what initially was “a trampoline” or an interim step has now become a goal by itself”.

What is great about this story?

1. It is authentic. It is full of specific details that explain how the candidate arrived at the motivations.

2. It is believable. Because it is not perfect. The candidate maybe did not have the best motivations to begin with, but she is not afraid of saying that. But she was triggered to explore a career that she never considered before and as a result of it, a set of strong motivations were born.

3. It is memorable. Almost no one starts answering the questions “Why management consulting?” with “It was not my dream”. Not saying that everyone should do that, but it made the story stand out.

Wrapping up this article, a couple more reflections:

Motivational questions like “Why management consulting” can be asked in many different ways and it is helpful if you can recognize what you are being asked about. For instance, I would almost never ask this question explicitly. Instead, as a part of the interview warm-up, I would ask a candidate to talk about themselves. I would say “Could you give me a one-minute intro of yourself? I have already gone through your CV so there is no need to repeat your resume. Just tell me about yourself”.

When I ask this question, I don’t expect the candidate to come up with something extraordinary. I just want to set up an open conversation where we get into the candidate’s personality, character, and motivations. I try to get the candidate out of the “I am about to be given a case” box. If the candidate does not start to talk about their motivations, I would most likely ask a follow-up question “Ok, what brought you here then?”. Both “Tell me about yourself and “What brought you here” are equivalent of the “Why management consulting” question.

As a conversation starter, the answer to the “Why management consulting” or similar type of question, in whichever way it is asked, almost never has a specific opportunity for the candidate, meaning that it will not impact the rest of the interview positively. However, the answer to this question may have some pitfalls. Based on the answer, the interviewer may draw some negative conclusions early on that could impact the rest of the interview. Let us talk about them so that you avoid them in your interviews.

• Listen to the question. If you are asked to not talk about your resume, don’t. In most questions motivational questions are meant to focus on who you are and what drives you, not what you have done. The latter I have already read in your CV. Yet, that is exactly what many candidates still do and start telling me about their experience. As it happens, the candidate scores low on listening, which indicates that the candidate will have similar challenges with their clients and teams. Listening is one of the criteria assessed later in the PEI interview and the candidate has already got penalty points on it.

• If a candidate continues talking about their CV and what they did even after the follow-up question “What brought you here?” or “Why you are here?” or “Why management consulting?”, it becomes very clear that they had a plan on what they want to talk about, and they are just unable to adjust their plan, which is not the best quality for a consultant as on-the-job plans change all the time.

• If the answer to “Why management consulting?” or a similar motivational question is messy and all over the place it will get me thinking that the candidate is searching for the answer on the spot, which means that he or she hasn’t thought it through. The problem is not that they don’t have the perfect structure (more on that later), but that they are not clear on their motivations to work in consulting, which makes me question if they know what the job is about, if they would enjoy it and if it is worth investing in them.

Many candidates ask about how to structure their answer to the “Why management consulting?” question. For that, keep in mind that this question is most often not more than a conversation starter – don’t overthink it. You can do it top-down or as a story or whichever way you like, as long as you just tell it from your heart. It’s a warm-up.

And one last thing. I don’t believe in asking the question “Why McKinsey?”. There is no basis for most candidates to really know the differences between different consulting firms and they would most likely give me some nonsense answer based on hearsay. I believe that the question is applicable only to situations when the candidate is coming from another consultancy. Even then I would rather want to understand why the candidate is leaving and if McKinsey can offer her what she couldn’t find at the previous employer. So, if you are asked “Why McKinsey/BCG/Bain” don’t be afraid to say “In fact, I am interviewing for other consultancies too. And I hope to have an answer to why I should choose McKinsey by the end of the process once I have experienced interviews with my potential colleagues from all the companies”.

If you need help preparing for the McKinsey interview check out our PEI digital course or reach out for coaching with former senior McKinsey consultants.

Written by Anders Bärlund