Mckinsey Interview Process

Interview Process

McKinsey has a distinguished competitive hiring process and is widely seen as one of the most selective employers in the world. Less than 1% of people that apply to McKinsey will receive a job offer.

We are here to assist you in knowing the whole procedure and strategy to crack McKinsey and put you in those 1% of applicants.

McKinsey uses four filters to select candidates:

• Application Resume and cover letter screening
• McKinsey Problem solving Test
• Recruiter Screen
• Two round of interviews

McKinsey Recruiting Cycle:

McKinsey has two main cycles for recruiting: on-cycle and off-cycle. Undergrad, MBA, and APD recruiting are generally on-cycle. Professional hires generally go through off-cycle recruiting and can interview for McKinsey throughout the year.

McKinsey Problem-Solving Test:

The PST is a 26-question quantitative and business reasoning test that you have an hour to finish. The test is famously difficult and intended to separate the wheat from the chaff, so make sure you do several practice tests. McKinsey offers practice tests on their website.

McKinsey Recruitment Resources:

1. McKinsey recruiting podcasts answers common questions of candidates.
2. McKinsey recruiting videos give overview on interviewing at McKinsey, personal interview experiences, overview of case interview.
3. McKinsey Case Interviews gets you prepared for challenging case interview questions

Time period of McKinsey Recruitment:

The McKinsey recruitment process generally takes place within one to a few months, depending on the route that you are taking. On campus recruiting is generally shorter.

Now that you have a clear picture of what to expect in terms of recruiting process and timeline, let's turn our attention to the skills that McKinsey will be testing you on during case interviews.



Interview Rounds

Typically, you will have two rounds of interviews. The number of interviews by round may vary but it is usually between 2 and 4. In total, you will therefore have between 4 and 8 interviews before getting a McKinsey job offer.

First Round

PST and one/two group interviews and/or a one-case phone screen.

One aspect of the process that's quite specific to McKinsey is that 1st round interviews are sometimes conducted over the phone, or a video-conferencing software.

Second Round

One/two one-on-one case interviews, with around five minutes of a ‘fit’ interview (to see how well you’d fit into the company based on your previous experience).

To prepare for the McKinsey Personal Experience Interview, you’ll want to develop a list of five different stories or examples that cover leadership, problem solving, personal impact, and resilience.

Third Round

Two one-on-one case interviews with around 15 minutes of fit interview and one deep-dive fit interview.