returner_ren · 3 replies
I've been out of the workforce for about two years doing caregiving. I'm now looking at consulting and McKinsey came up as a referral opportunity. But I'm genuinely anxious about the PEI. My most recent strong leadership story is from 2022 and I'm worried interviewers will immediately go to "what have you been doing since."
Has anyone navigated a gap with McKinsey specifically? I know they say they're gap-friendly but I've heard that from a lot of places that then make it weird in the room.
Caregiving is something good interviewers understand. The PEI is about your stories showing the right behaviors, and those stories don't have an expiration date. A leadership moment from 2022 is valid. The framing matters: own the gap briefly and move to the substance. "I stepped away to care for a family member, which I'm proud of. The story I want to walk you through is from my time at X." Then go.
that framing helps a lot actually. brief + move on. I think I was scared of the gap taking over the whole interview but if I own it in two sentences there's nothing left to dig into
i had a gap for different reasons and the anxiety about explaining it was way worse than the actual conversation. most interviewers move on quickly if you do. the ones who dwell on it would probably be awful managers anyway.