I’m a creative / tech innovator applying to McKinsey and the other big four. However, I’m now concerned my limited on-the-fly math skills will automatically count me out. Seems like the interview process weighs on that. Im wondering if I need to hire a math tutor to help me get up to speed. Or, wondering if those of us who are more creative can get away with less than ideal math skills. What’s the reality?

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Don’t think it’s about tutoring or creativity as much as it is practice. Download some math drill apps, do a bunch of practice peer cases and try things like rocketblocks. The math functions used themselves are simple, it’s about that combined with case comfort and being pragmatic on approach.

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Just to clarify the big four are McKinsey, Bain, BCG and Deloitte

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…McK isn’t Big4, just to clarify that. In my experience the math portion of these interviews is more about the way you get to the answer. That said, practice addition/subtraction/multiplication/division - you’ll be surprised how quickly those skills do come back. The math isn’t more complicated than that.

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It’s really about your problem solving thought process and confidence but you should be comfortable with basic math. Start practicing cases now and don’t doubt yourself, you’ll be fine - we have excel for math and formulas.

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I don’t think it is. I guess it depends what job. In the interview, if they ask “how much would you charge to clean all the windows in New York”, you wouldn’t try to multiple buildings times floors times blocks….you’d say “$10 per window”

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Cheers to all of you who replied. Super helpful.

I knew I wouldn’t do very well at any quick math. I have a PhD in life science so I would assume the expectation was that I’d be good at it. I learned what tricks I could but when it came down to it in the interview, I got most of my calculations wrong. But importantly, I aced the stuff I AM good at and took their corrections/redirections on math positively and collaboratively. They (we) want to see how you work as a teammate more than they want you to be a calculator. Good luck!

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