I applied through college or university. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (New York, NY) in Jan 2012
Interview
by mid-January: Submit resume and cover letter through university recruiting website
by late-January: McKinsey notifies you by email that you've been invited to interview. They give you one week's notice. The first round of interviews includes:
a one-hour, 26-question multiple choice test. Not knowledge specific, but I recommend doing a practice one before hand so you're up to speed with doing math quickly and ready to recognize where some of the questions are headed.
The next day you have face-to-face case interviews - two, each one lasting for one hour. You introduce yourself, launch right into a business case for 40 minutes or so, and conclude by discussing one in-depth personal anecdote that illuminates your leadership qualities.
As far as the cases go, McKinsey's have a certain flavor. Start out broadly, then the interviewer will guide you to a specific, number driven problem, then you back up and discuss implications.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
about a commercial bank - where to expand client base? Among wealthy clients or students?
Did the Solve game but got rejected. Pretty complex if this is your first time doing consulting whatsoever. Was not moved to second round and it is pretty hard to find resources online to prepare for Solve McKinsey game
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a time you worked on a team toward a common goal.
I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (New York, NY)
Interview
there was an initial resume screening, an online Solve assessment, first round of virtual interviews (two 1-hour interviews back to back), final round of in-person interviews at their office (I did not make it to this final round)
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Give an example of a time you worked on a team to solve a problem.
I applied online. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (New York, NY) in Sep 2025
Interview
The interview process consisted of multiple rounds, each combining a personal experience interview (PEI) with a case interview. The PEI focused heavily on specific examples of leadership, impact, and problem-solving, with the interviewer asking detailed follow-ups to understand how I approached difficult situations.
The case interviews followed the typical McKinsey style — very structured, math-focused, and interviewer-led. I was expected to break down ambiguous problems into clear components, run through quantitative analysis, interpret data from charts, and communicate insights concisely. There was also a short brainstorm or creativity component toward the end of most cases.