I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Boston, MA) in Oct 2011
Interview
After I found out I got a first-round interview, the Recruitment Coordinator for my campus set up a conference call with other interview candidates and some McKinsey consultants to walk us through the first round interview process. I was then contacted by a McKinsey "coach" who spent 45 min on the phone with me preparing for the case interview. Night before the interview I took a problem solving test with other first round interview candidates at my school. The actual first round interview consisted of two 45 minute interviews. Each was about 15 minutes of fit, then half hour case. The fit portion was very specific; one interviewer asked about a leadership experience, while the other asked about a time when I had a disagreement with someone. They then both asked many follow-up questions to get every detail of the situation I was in. There weren't any questions about why consulting/why McKinsey, which I found surprising. The cases weren't too bad, more specific and interviewer-led than other firms.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How would you calculate the annual carbon emissions from electric versus gas vehicles in the EU?
Gave assessment. Waiting 1st round. But, here the assessment and resume are scored together to reach next round. Might take 1-3 weeks for invite. Assessment has only 20% - 30% weightage.
The recruiter was great! 2 rounds of 5 interviews, first was 2 associates, second was 3 partners. My first round, the interviewers spoke absolutely broken English and made it extremely difficult to understand what they are trying to say. My second interviewer was extremely rude as well. Honestly comes down to who interviews you and the case selection that will determine your fate
I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (San Francisco, CA)
Interview
Interview was a straightforward case study, and a McKinsey-specific Personal Experience Interview. This was difficult but I was able to prepare, so it was not too challenging after preparation. The team was very kind throughout the process and I was able to request information on the interview style ahead of time.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about a challenge and how you overcame it?