The application screening. Good luck with your preparation! If you are applying as a working professional, interviews will take place at the McKinsey office that you are applying for. Well go through each step in the interview process so you know exactly what to expect. Many people that dont receive invites for these exclusive events still receive McKinsey interviews and offers. The internet holds hundreds of example cases. Lastly, you cant use a calculator or anything else, just your natural abilities. We have 9 years of consulting experience with McKinsey & Company. Your McKinsey first round interview consists of two separate 40- to 60-minute interviews. How do you get a job at McKinsey, one of the most prestigious management consulting firms in the world? The McKinsey PST lets recruiters only see answers, not how they were arrived at. BCG Online Case (+ Pymetrics, Spark Hire), Bain Aptitude Tests (SOVA, Pymetrics, HireVue), Together we have spent 9 years at McKinsey, The McKinsey evaluation and interview process, Solve, McKinseys assessment game (Imbellus or Problem Solving Game), McKinsey Case Interview / McKinsey Problem Solving Interview, The McKinsey Technical Expertise Interview, McKinsey Digital Data Scientists QuantHub Assessment, McKinsey Operations, McKinsey Implementation, Orphoz, application document prep packages or resume and cover letter screenings here, McKinsey Imbellus Problem Solving Game Guide, McKinsey Phone Case Interview preparation guide, The McKinsey Personal Experience Interview: a detailed guide, The McKinsey Case Interview: the insider perspective, Case interview frameworks: How to structure MBB cases. In short, keep your resume to one page and quantify the impact of your accomplishments in your work experiences and extracurricular activities. How much time would you recommend I take to prepare? The McKinsey Problem-Solving Test (or McKinsey PST) tests your ability to complete these tasks well. As I write in Tell Me About Yourself: How to Answer This Question, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. He started StrategyCase.com with the goal to make top-tier consulting firms more accessible for top talent, using tailored and up-to-date know-how about their recruiting. If you need help on this, check out our Ready-for-McKinsey video academy, where we give examples of bad and excellent Personal Fit stories and explain how to build your stories to make sure you succeed in this part of the interview. At McKinsey, we strive to create an unrivalled environment for exceptional people. Those dimensions are: Again, even though 90% of candidates devote most of their preparation time to prepare for the Business Case interview, Personal Fit is as important! Should the Mexican government leverage a chain of convenience stores to deliver basic financial services to inhabitants of rural Mexico? After the screening process, there is a selection process, which consists of multiple interviews. Our interviewers are trained to examine candidates' past accomplishments in depth in order to determine if the skills they possess would position them well for a successful career at McKinsey. Are you coachable and easy to work with? Please find the McKinsey interview timeline below: The McKinsey Technical Expertise Interview, in short TEI, is an interview format used for recruiting technical experts It focuses on specific areas of technical or domain expertise and evaluates a candidates expertise in a given field. The McKinsey recruiting process is a relatively regimented process that is designed to narrow down the candidate pool from >200K applicants. What should I expect future round of interviews to look like, given I will be working as Data Scientist doing lots of Coding in Python! During many of our interviews, you will learn more about what this value means in practice at McKinsey. These interviews are usually conducted by non-partner level consultants (senior associates to associate principles), however, they are no less challenging than second-round interviews, which are conducted by partners. Situation: Provide a brief overview of the situation and any context that is needed to understand the story better. Hence, be prepared to go into details and to explain the options you had, the decisions you made (and why), what was difficult, what did you enjoy the most, etc. Check out our McKinsey Imbellus Problem Solving Game Guide for more details, the best preparation approach as well as the most effective test-taking strategies (including 4 videos and Excel templates). Interviewing Interviews Your interview experience will differ depending on the role for which you apply. Are your cover letter and resume ready for applications? The skills that are assessed are the same, yet the evaluation differs slightly. I have a question about the application timeline, however. Thanks in advance : ), Hi Sonia. Fit questions are used to evaluate whether a candidate will thrive within a specific consulting firm. They may touch on our formal and informal apprenticeship and mentor programs. McKinsey consultants then spend time and resources interviewing candidates to find the most promising future consultants. Next, Why McKinsey? : This question evaluates your motivation to join McKinsey. Please email us at: McKinsey has many different career paths to choose from. If you are interested in McKinsey careers beyond consulting, you can learn more about the assessment process for our internal roles here. Ill provide you with techniques to stand out at every step of the recruiting process. From the time you apply until the moment you accept the job offer, you will have to progress through a series of steps in the McKinsey recruitment process. Or they may share examples of how we use the obligation to dissent. In the second part of the test, you would need to play a tower-defense-like game that assesses your ability to sift through large amounts of information and think systematically. Attending these events is not required. For reference, Harvard's acceptance rate is ~5%. In short, the case interview will begin with the interviewer reading you the case background information. The McKinsey interviews are one of the most challenging job interviews out there. Fall 2019 candidates were the first cohort to play the McKinsey Problem Solving Game as part of the interview process assessment. You can find the dates of the information session through McKinseys website, your schools career services center, or through your schools consulting club. Since your school is not a school that McKinsey targets, McKinsey recruiters spend much less time looking at applications from your school. When given the PEI, select the story that is most relevant. Germany). Not sure where to begin? I can help you prepare in as little as 4 weeks. McKinsey Interview Experience for Software Associate Internship Difficulty Level : Hard Last Updated : 13 Aug, 2021 Read Discuss Courses Practice Video Mckinsey has visited the college campus on April 2021 for an Internship (Jan-Jul 2022) for the role of Software associate. McKinsey interviews (2022): the comprehensive insider guide, How to interpret charts and data in case interviews, McKinsey Personal Experience Interview: comprehensive insider guide, Case interview examples (2022): a collection from McKinsey and others, McKinsey Solve Game (2023): How to prepare and ace the Imbellus, 2023 | Contact: +43 6706059449 | Your recruiter will inform you on what questions you will be asked so you can best prepare. What happens is that a McKinsey partner plays a client, and you need to play a McKinsey consultant. Id really appreciate any insight! I interviewed at McKinsey recently for a Technical Role in Operations Analytics. The jury is out on if there is a McKinsey blacklist. We look at talent through the lens of who they are and their potential. Here are some ideas for great questions: Make a connection with your interviewer. There are two goals you should focus on in these networking events: 1. Theyll ask you several questions including quantitative questions that require you to make calculations and qualitative questions that require you to use your own business judgment. It is therefore not the single critical factor in the future of healthcare digitization. Highlight distinctive awards, honors and fellowships. The first technical interview in the process was conducted by a Digital Specialist. However, it's always a good idea to check with the McKinsey recruiting team to confirm their . Different people would come your way and how you deal with them depending upon situations is how you answer this very question. Final round The final round of interviews will take place in the office in which the candidate will ultimately work. Do not include personal references or summaries of your research papers or copies of journal publications. I want you to succeed, too. The results of the phone case interview are presented to a consulting interviewer, who makes the decision whether or not to progress you to the next round. The McKinsey Digital Interview Process for Technical Positions Roles in Digital McKinsey that require technical skills include data and product engineers, experience designers, engineers, product managers, data scientists, and core consultants. Offered an interview but not feeling ready? The McKinsey Recruiting Podcast aims to inform listeners about who we are and what we do. A typical McKinsey Business Case is a bit different than the classic case study interview and consists of 3 types of questions: What candidates often do not realize is that McKinsey interviews are hypotheses-driven. These business problems can be anything that real companies face. This is not required to get a McKinsey interview. She came through our recruitment process in the fall of 2019 while pursuing her PhD in applied physics from Rice University. While you move through the game, you are evaluated based on cognitive processes by capturing telemetry data. Personal Fit in the second round is similar to round one you will need to tell your stories according to the relevant McKinsey dimensions. Hi. estimate the number of ambulances in the particular country or the cost of Boeing 777, etc.). The business cases in the second round are similar to the ones in the first round. For all candidates, we encourage you to review our interview preparation guidance. However, you should always confirm with the recruiter whether or not you will need a cover letter. Some candidates we coached recently reported that instead of the tower defense game, they had to identify a disease that is haunting an animal population based on a large date set. Approaches may vary by location. Candidates need to be prepared to discuss their most important experiences in a very detailed way, focusing on their specific role and describing their actions that were critical to success. We have compiled a list of relevant case interview examples here. The format is a bit freer than in the first. We strive to provide individuals with disabilities equal access to our website. If you do not attend a top-tier undergraduate or MBA school, these networking events will be much more important. This means that you must prepare strategically. The whole process usually takes 2-3 months to complete, for a job starting about 6-12 months after application. It also ensures that you spend most of the time talking about the specific actions that you took and the impact that you had. The main distinction is that case interviews for the McKinsey Implementation Group may be more focused on execution, implementation, marketing, sales, or operations. The entire McKinsey Personal Experience Interview takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Other consulting firms, such as the Boston Consulting Group or Bain and Company, use candidate led case study interviews, which require the candidate to lead the discussion toward a final recommendation without a formal question format. In short, there are many reasons you can give for why you are interested in consulting: Select three compelling reasons why you are interested in consulting. If you have not heard back in a week, you can send a follow-up email with the recruiter to ask if there are any updates. Founded in 1869, McKinsey has worked with some of the biggest names in business, from IBM to McDonald's. McKinsey is known for its rigorous and demanding interview process, which can be challenging for any applicant. The McKinsey Problem Solving Game is currently being rolled out globally and has not yet been introduced in all the countries. Your resume is far more important in determining whether or not you will get an interview, so make sure to focus the majority of your time on optimizing your resume. The McKinsey interview process has five major steps. Pingback: Why Consulting: How To Answer This Question - Career in Consulting, Pingback: How to answer Why McKinsey?, Why BCG?, or Why Bain? questions - Career in Consulting, Really Helpful, one edit would be the duration of imbellus test is not 2 hours, its actually 60-75 mins. For UK APD candidates, interviews are always hosted in the London office regardless of the candidates' destination office. This will most likely be the office that you will be interviewing for. If you attend a top-tier undergraduate or MBA school, these networking events are less important. In the first half of the test, you would need to build a sustainable ecosystem (e.g. Each interview will include a business case interview to test problem solving, and an experience interview to test other skill areas. If you are applying as a working professional, you likely wont have the opportunity to attend a McKinsey lunch or dinner event. Say it! High grades (if you are an undergraduate), Brand name companies that youve worked for, Significant impact in your work experiences, Leadership roles at work and in your extracurricular activities, Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond what was required, Give me an example of a time when you had to persuade someone, Describe a situation in which you handled conflict while working on a team, Give me an example of a time when you tried to accomplish something but failed, Describe a difficult or complicated problem that you faced, You want to make a significant impact by working with billion-dollar companies on their most challenging business problems, You enjoy solving business problems across multiple different industries and functions, You see consulting as the quickest way to develop the skills to be a business executive, You enjoy working closely with teams on tough, challenging business problems, You value the mentorship and personal development that consulting provides, You find fulfillment in working with and servicing clients, You are excited to travel around the world for work, State that consulting is your top career choice, Reiterate that consulting best fits your professional needs and goals, Youve really loved the people that youve met from McKinsey and would enjoy working with them, McKinsey has an empowering work culture where you would grow and thrive, McKinsey has deep expertise in a particular industry or function that you are passionate about, McKinsey has a strong presence in a particular country, which you are interested in working in later in your career, McKinsey places a heavy investment in mentorship and personal development, which you valuetremendously, McKinsey has a global staffing model and you appreciate the opportunity to work in different countries, Several of your mentors that you respect and look up to have worked at McKinsey and they have highly recommended working there, State that McKinsey is your top choice consulting firm, Reiterate that McKinsey best fits your professional needs and goals. Joining us means youll have unparalleled opportunities to learn and grow. Youve made it through the behavioral and case study portions. If you attend a top-tier undergraduate or MBA school, McKinsey will also invite high-potential candidates to join them for a nice lunch or dinner. It can see the path the candidate took and the information used to make a decision. Did you take the imbellus test? Improving internal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for a US-based retail company. McKinsey believes the best way to assess your problem-solving skills is to discuss a real client scenario with you. Make sure that the actions center around what you specifically did. If you attend a top-tier undergraduate or MBA school, McKinsey typically hosts one large information session in which they bring 20 30 consultants to give a presentation. How was it? Learn more about what we look for in candidates. As a Business Analyst at McKinsey, you will spend a lot of time reading and analyzing data (from a graphical chart or an excel spreadsheet). APD students in other regions of the world will go through interviews with individual hiring teams and the process may vary. Interviewing is a two-way processit gives us the opportunity to learn about you as a potential colleague, and allows you to learn about McKinsey and what you could do here. This problem-solving test can either be the McKinsey PST or the Imbellus assessment. During information sessions, McKinsey will often tell candidates that they do not need to submit a cover letter because they will not read it. Similarly, if you are applying to McKinsey as a working professional, networking events are much more important. Success in this round earns you an invite to the final 2 interviews. 258 questions and/or answers were updated by Kevin Downey on October 1st, 2022. Now, the interviewer asks if you have any questions. Interview questions and answers were first added on November 8th, 2019. However, do not spend time on focusing on content or industry of business cases, but rather focus on practicing the types of questions we discussed above (structuring, exhibit analysis, math).