Hey,
I recently applied for a summer internship with McKinsey. I just got an email saying that IF I get selected for an interview, there will be a problem solving test.
Does this mean they are considering me for an interview? Or is this email sent to EVERYBODY who applies to McKinsey? Or is it sent to people who they doubt has the analytical skills, but want to test them out and see? Or am I just over-analyzing everything?
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HA! I also got the email...but it's not for SA. I believe they only send it to those they r interested in and then they choose those who score the best.
They liked your resume, so you're invited for the test. Don't expect a call back if you've done bad on it. It's standard procedure, everybody has to do the test.
relax and eat a good breakfast. you can't study for this quiz.
wrong on every level IMO, you can prepare for these tests. I practised before going for a similar firm a few years back, as hitting the 70% or so mark, when it came to the real thing I was high 90's. Mental training, also if you spend lots of time on the internet puzzle sites, you can see most of the questions that can come your way, just with different nouns and adjectives.
Are we on the same planet here?
Have you ever taken the McK test? McK's team, whatever their merits or weaknesses, are not morons. They write the test specifically in a way that after you are given the situation, you absolutely have to compute and grind through all of the MC options. Your SAT elimination strategies will not work. And they design it so that if you had 2 min per question, even a lobotomized chimp will ace it -- but you have 1:30 -- and THAT is what makes it hard. None of the calculations or analysis is brainbusting by any means and if you need to practice dividing 1000 by 5, fine, but if you have trouble with that level of math you have much more to worry about than landing a McK gig.
This is absolutely not true. For a lot of the questions, you can use the numbers given, make estimations, come up with an answer and pick the one that closely matches yours. You do NOT have to grind through all the given choices.
In fact, this is the ideal way to approach the test. Read the questions first (before the passage), look for key information to answer that question in the passage, and make estimations in your calculations. Watch out though! They try to trick you on a couple questions; pay close attention to what exactly the question is asking.
You can DEFINITELY practice to improve your performance on the test. I know I did. I think there are like two sample ones online (kosher franks from their website, and one other one from somewhere else I forget)
Everybody has to take the test, but it's hard to say from your email whether or not you got picked. When I applied for the internship I think I got a similar email, then had a phone interview but didn't get invited in to do the PST and next round of interviews. When I applied full-time, there was a PST administration at my school, and the invitation to that was the first I heard from them.
There's some flexibility on the PST. If your school has a day for it, you take it there; if not, it's part of your Round 1 interview. It sounds like you got through the resume screen and have some sort of initial assessment from them, but I'm not 100% sure.
And trazer, that may be, but the McKinsey PST isn't a series of puzzle questions, and there's only one practice test. It's essentially a couple of case questions in multiple choice form; the people who made it from my PST to the first round interviews didn't study for the test because they knew that you can't study for the test.
My school has a specific day for the PST.
The main reason why I am freaking out is, why would McKinsey taunt me with this email telling me to prepare for a test if they're not going to give me a 1st round interview?
As for practicing for the test, some say you can practice, some say you can't (according to the responses I've gotten). As a humanities major, it's been a long time since I've done any serious math but I used to be pretty good at it. Hopefully it's like riding a bike but after taking their practice test, I definitely need to brush up. I'm still not even sure if i've gotten the interview, but I think I am going to assume that I will at least get a phone interview and prepare as such. 2x2, what was the phone interview like? was it a case?
Maybe things have changed, but I was asked to take the PST before my first round a little over a year ago, and it was made clear to me that based on my results, they would either invite me for a 1st round of not.
As far as studying/preparing, I recall there were 2 practice PSTs available online when I was preparing. One is official and I believe on the McK site, the other is an older version of the official that is floating around cyberspace somewhere. Google around and you should find it. The 2nd test was, I believe, for industry hires, as opposed to the official one which I think is for analysts. The real test was just like the official one, but the 2nd test is good additional practice.
Another thing - and this is extrapolated strictly from WSO, so take it with a grain of salt - only non-targets are asked to take the PST.
Good luck!
If you were invited to the PST it means that your resume was pulled from the pile and jusged "interesting" (i.e. you meet the standards for recruiting in terms of school, major, GPA, international experience, etc.).
The PST is the first step of the recruiting process. If you pass it, you will then make it to the first round of interviews. If you fail it you will be notified and the process will stop there. Timing varies by office. In my case the tests were evaluated immediately after completion, and results were communicated 15min after the end of the test.
In my opinion, besides the cases cited by other users, GMAT questions could help you to improve your quick math and reasoning skills.
Hope this helps. Good luck with the process!
Yeah, I don't think you can tell from the e-mail whether or not you got an interview. I think McKinsey sends that e-mail out to everyone just so that all applicants are clear about how the first round of interview process works.
As for the PST, I think you can definitely prepare by familiarizing yourself with the exam. Do the PST problem on the McKinsey website - if you really analyze the questions/solution, I think you should be able to detect some pattern in McKinsey's questioning pattern. Also, you should trying brushing yourself up on algebra and mental math a little. The exam doesn't give you a ton of time, and being fast with basic math will definitely be a plus on the exam.
At my school you only took the PST if you were also given a 1st round interview. The test was on campus and was the day before interviews. Meaning you found out about them at the same time.
You never see your score and from what I've heard (speculation), the test doesn't hold too much weight unless you score poorly.
PM me for more details.
C_B_89, the phone interview was identical to the in-person interviews: 10-15 minutes of experience/fit/etc., then a case. Also, my experience may be unusual in that McK formally recruits at my school for full-time but not summers (their list of target schools for summer internships is really short).
Dr. Joe, I don't know where you got that about non-targets - and you may be right for some targets - but I go to one of McK's full-time targets and had to take it when I applied for full-time.
Quest777, you can see your score if you get and accept an offer (i.e. if you actually go to work there), but short of that all you find out is whether you passed or failed.
So, I was recently notified that I was invited for a round 1 interview for the summer. I was told that if I passed this interview, I would be invited to a round 2 interview (obviously), during which I would be required to take the PST. Why does this not make sense to me?
Only you can answer that. All candidates take the PST at some point; for people who go to schools with an on-campus administration, they just take it there, but if your school doesn't have one (i.e. you're something of a non-target) or you're abroad or whatever, you take it in the office instead, and this may be after your first interview (for example, they might not want to bring you into the office from a complete non-target until you've passed a phone interview).
Im doing OCR at wharton and everyone I know who applied got that same email. Im almost positive it doesn't mean you'll be allowed to take the test.
not true, not everyone gets invited...only a select few
WhartonApe25, thanks for clearing that up for me. For a while there I was super-motivated and happy because I thought this was a signal that I passed the resume screen but now I guess it was just false hope.
Okay so I didn't get a mckinsey interview even though they made it seem like they'd invite me to take their test. douchebags. HOWEVER....I got invited to take an online problem solving test with Oliver Wyman!!!!! WOAHHH!!!! Now, this test says that I'll need a pen, pencil, and...CALCULATOR...which makes me think that it may be harder.
So, what's the OW PST like?
haha, nice! I had the exact opposite experience. Within 12 hrs of submitting my resume to OW, they shitcanned it but I'm taking my problem solving test with McKinsey this week.
Good luck!
Took the OW test. I only got through 15 questions, and of those 15 I only answered 7. However, I am fairly certain that I got those 7 correct...is this good? average? will I get an interview?
Just took the McKinsey PST this week
It's not fun. Nobody who took it thought it was fun. The consultants we all met with to work on case studies after the test admitted that it wasn't fun when they took it either. But I thought I'd shed a little light on my experience. Like everything involved in McKinsey's recruiting process, the details are very clear and up front. 60 minutes, 26 questions, how you do will determine whether you move on to round two of the interview process, and the case studies after the test are non-evaluative and for your benefit only. I don't believe you can really prepare for this test at all. By this time in your life, your quick but simple math skills aren't going to miraculously improve and the formatting of the questions is pretty straight forward so I'm not sure what doing GMAT questions would get you. Can you use logic, some math, and problem solving in a somewhat high pressure time-limited environment? If so, you'll be fine. If not, again, not sure you can do much to improve your performance by now. They are very up front that they'll inform you of your results the following day, which they did. Also, for me the process was that they invited me to take the test after reviewing my resume without a mysterious email suggesting they may invite me. Not sure what else to add but I'd gladly answer any questions about the process.
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