David Apaflo's Blog

In a bid to get into the world's number one consulting firm Mckinsey and Company, you typically start by completing an evaluation form which is analyzed and this determines whether you are called for a test. A while back I completed the evaluation form and the following were my answers. These answers were deemed good enough for me to be short-listed for a PST (Problem Solving Test). Describe an important and out of the ordinary achievement in your life I'm proud of the fact that I graduated on time with a first class degree while I got involved in student politics, volunteer activities, while also working part-time for two years in school. A lot of my classmates  weren't  involved in other activities asides school work or let their grades suffer. I believe the reason I got through it all was sheer determination and discipline; I never even let myself visualize anything but finishing on time and with good grades. So I firmly believe in the importance of a positiv

I first came to the knowledge of the STAR framework when I was preparing for my case interview with Mckinsey & Company . Read here , here and here to catch up. The framework was introduced to me by Seun Oyegunle who at that time was an MBA student at Wharton Business School. A framework simply means an organized way of tackling a problem. You can call it a formula. STAR simply means S - Situation : Give a brief description of the situation you found yourself in. T - Task : State the task you needed to carry out and the challenges you considered A - Action : Describe the specific actions you took to complete the task R - Result : State the result achieved with numbers to quantify the result. This framework is best used for competency-based questions you might be asked in an interview. Usually with these questions, you have to tell a story about your achievement(s). The trick is to weave the STAR framework into your responses without pausing or letting the intervi