I applied through an employee referral. I was contacted by a recruiter who screened me over a 30 minute period, asking questions in regard to why I was interested in management consulting, my resume, my current position and why I was interested in McKinsey in particular. She then scheduled me for an over-the-phone coaching session for a case study. I was told it was non evaluative but that I should look over the cases on their website. I was not originally considering management consulting, and so had very little case preparation. I purchased Case In Point and reviewed and practiced 3 cases a day for 2 weeks, as well as completing the cases on McKinsey, Deloitte, and Bain's websites. I practiced 4 oral cases with friends/family. The coaching session went poorly. I struggled with the quantitative section, but being generally stronger in the other areas. I concentrated on quantitative skills for the next week before the evaluative case. The evaluative phone case was standard for McKinsey, I believe. The interviewer made no small talk, was not personable, and just wanted to finish the interview. He was not rude, but it was clearly an evaluation with little flexibility. I was contacted by the original recruiter over the phone 3 days later, to inform me that I had not performed strongly enough to continue to the in-person round. Overall the experience was positive and people were friendly. While I was upset at not having performed up to par, I was also aware that McKinsey & Co was probably not the best fit for me.