Back at McKinsey, doing recruiting interviews was an integral part of a consultant’s job. I interviewed hundreds of candidates, mostly back at my business school (INSEAD). When interviewers ask a question, they are most of the times not trying to figure out whether you can produce the 100% right answer. Instead you want to check out:
- How a person is thinking and reasoning
- Whether something that is claimed is actually true or not, by forcing the conversation into some sort of depth/details
- What the integrity of the person in question is, is she lying/talking her way out of things or willing to admit that she does not know
- How it is to work with someone.
Potential investors or customer will do the same. If you copy some fancy charts, or put in some buzzwords / hollow statements, a few questions will quickly lay bare your actual understanding of a situation.
“[Approach A] is much better than [Approach B]” “Really, I did not know that?, can you give me a few examples of companies that tried Approach B and failed recently?”
Solution one, don’t put the charts in. Solution two, read up and do your homework and form your own opinion.