Had my final round this past Friday and got the call the same day. This forum was pretty helpful to me, so I wanted to pay it forward. If you're still in the process for McKinsey (or BCG, I also interviewed there) and have any questions, send 'em my way and I'll do my best to answer.
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Congratulations! I am also in the process for both firms at the moment. How would you say the interview process differs between the two companies? Also, any other general advice e.g. how many cases did you do in preparation etc?
McKinsey's interview process is pretty public on their website: PEI, then case. I'd say focus on your PEIs, because those are what really distinguish you from other candidates who can case. Two interviews with analysts/consultants in the first round, three with partners in the second.
BCG also does behavioral interviews followed by the case, but their behaviorals are much more standard. Again, two with junior personnel in the first round, but I only saw two partners in the final round.
If you're from a non-target, there may be additional steps: e.g. phone screen, the McKinsey PST, etc.
Hey I'm not OP, but I interviewed with them. I didn't interview with BCG, but I did with Bain and few others if you want more info on that.
McKinsey case interviews are very much interviewer led, so the biggest thing you can do is stay conversational/collaborative while maintaining structure. My first round feedback was that I should take more time for my initial structure to really make it exhaustive as well as keep the same structured mentally when brainstorming. Many of my friends got the same feedback because it's so easy to lose structure when you're not driving the case your self. As far as how many cases—that's totally up to you. At some point it won't be worth it to do full cases anymore—just target the areas you need to work on e.g. initial structuring for me.
Definitely don’t slack off on the PEI part. They tell you it's 50% of the evaluation, and I think this is really where you can make yourself stand out from the rest of the candidates. Each interviewer will likely give the same case every time, but your PEI story will be completely unique to yourself. Make sure you can comfortably talk about your stories for 15 minutes with most of the emphasis/time spent on your interactions/conflicts with other people. Make sure you have at least on more story prepared than the number of interviewers you will be talking to.
Thanks for the response. Was this for out of undergrad or bschool position? Couple of questions whenever you get a chance to answer them, that would be great:
1) When laying out your framework, I have heard mixed things on laying out a structure that covers every area/drilling down into each of them versus touching high-level on a couple. Would you say to go the complete exhaustive route or just keep it brief with key areas.
2) How did these cases compare to MBA case books (if you have seen those before)?
3) How was the math? Did you do it in your head or used paper? Are there weird calculations that you sort of need to know how to make or just knowing things like profit = revenues - losses enough ?
I'm about 1.5 years out of undergrad and hoping to recruit early 2019 for a entry-level/out of undergrad position at MBB as an experienced hire. Any pieces of advice in general that you found helpful/learned throughout the process would be great to hear. Congrats on your offer and best of luck at McKinsey! And thanks for doing this.
This is for post-undergrad.
When laying out your framework, you need to be exhaustive in the areas that are relevant. You don’t have to write everything out. For example, in a profitability case you will always have a financials or profit bucket. Within that bucket you have R/C and in those you have P/Q and FC/VC. The important thing here is to talk about why price is relevant to the case or why quantity is important e.g. “we need to look into the price—perhaps it’s gone down in order to capture market share, but now our margins are slim.”
Cases are completely different at McKinsey compared to the MBA books. There’s way more emphasis on quant in those books while the meat of your actual interviews isn’t. Also, the way you’re presented the case from your friends helping you prep will be nothing like an actual interviewer in that the interviewers general understand the case better. That said, they’re a great resource for practice!
Math is simple. Just make sure you layout the equation or how you’re going to do it so that the interviewer can follow along.
Apologies, should have been more clear in the original post - I'm a junior in undergrad and received an offer for 2019 summer.
I would say for McKinsey specifically, be pretty exhaustive in the structure - it's interviewer-led, so you may not get another chance to demonstrate how thorough you are in tackling the problem holistically. In general, though, hitting key areas is much more important than getting into the details. Being too detail-oriented can also risk your interviewer misinterpreting it as you getting lost in the weeds, so I would err on the side of always establishing a really good high-level structure before trying to get "exhaustive."
I've used a few MBA case books. They're fine - just that. Usually the real cases will involve a couple more twists and turns that require you to be creative.
Always write out your math and walk your interviewer through it step-by-step. It makes the interview more conversational, and gives them a chance to help you out if you mess up. What's important here is showing you have a basic fluency with numbers, and using some innovative methods to simplify the math (breaking down calculations into smaller ones is very helpful) will go a long way. No weird math is involved, but I'd say it's not so basic as P=R-C; often your calculations will be more like solving one of those "real world" word problems in math class, and the most important part is being able to set it up right.
I have no idea what the recruiting process is like for experienced hires so I can't really comment on that... Also, the math you are asked to do may be a little more advanced. I do wish you luck though!
Any international travel?
For the interview? Not for me.
Oh, I was actually wondering if you expect to do any in general for the job.
I'll play devil's advocate: why settle for consulting and not chasing the prestige/pay of IB and the buy side?
I actually declined an IB offer to go to consulting. You definitely can make more money in IB, but finance was never something I enjoyed a great deal. I don't really want to work for a PE firm or a hedge fund. Consulting appealed to me because 1. I love traveling 2. I get to work and get experience in various different industries 3. The pay isn't bad 4. The lifestyle is easier.
Although I will be doing banking full-time, consulting is more prestigious than banking (though less than top buy-side shops)
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If you don't mind sharing, which role did you get the offer for? I know that MBB is placing more focus on data science, so what digital/analytics skills do you think would help during the interview process for consulting roles?
I got the Summer BA Generalist position. One of the guys in my interview cohort for final round was interviewing for McKinsey Digital. He mentioned that the interviews are still very similar - PEI and case - but you do need to demonstrate some data skills on your resume. This is just something he said, so I can't confirm.
Starting salary?
How much of your recruiting was location/office focused? Target or non-target school?
I sent in an online application with my location preferences. Since I'm based in New York, I had my first round in their headquarters, then my final round at the office I ended up receiving an offer from. I'm from a target school. Hope that answers your question.
So I have a few questions, I'm pretty sure they can be answered with a simple search on MBB's websites (yeah, acc major, anticipated you and shut you down), but since you're offering your expertise I figured I'd leverage it.
Is there a difference in something like the "Financial Analyst" positions listed on McKinsey's website vs. a General Consulting Path? For example, is Fin. Analyst a stepping stone / part of the path to move on towards "Junior Consultant / Consultant" or is that a separate program completely? If they are separate and your goal is to be a Consultant what is the viability to Network / Interview into a Consultant position if you're a Financial Analyst at MBB.
I've been told many of the MBB offices act as their own self-sustaining "Companies" in a sense. I understand Pittsburgh office is heavily Healthcare oriented. I'd assume there are certain divisions, whether that be healthcare / financial services / consumer good / etc. that are more "desirable" than others. Did you get the feeling that movement between offices and more specifically, divisions, was possible?
If you had just said "so no need for your input, acc major" - then you would have shut me down.
However, seeing how you felt the need to enunciate that you "shut me down," that just lets everyone know that you're insecure about your posts and that you couldn't do it well enough so that it goes without saying. When I shut people down, I don't remark "you just got shut down..." I just say what I need to say, and end it there. So nice try, slugger :) lmao do better next time champ
In what world do you live where "shut you down" and "no need for your input" aren't synonymous, Champ?
I don’t think the Financial Analyst position is related to consulting at all, and going from FA to the generalist position is highly unlikely. If you meant being a consultant within the corporate finance function, then yes it’s consulting—just more function specific.
In terms of office differences, there is a slight emphasis in terms of industry, but that doesn’t stop you from trying out other industries—especially at McK and BCG. They staff you wherever you want to be staffed. Just know that if you’re into tech, it would be a massive pain to fly NYC->SF every week. It’s just that the partners at your home office will more likely be serving more local clients. Moving between offices is very easy if you’re patient. I know you can easily transfer after 2 years, but I’m sure you can make a case to move after a year.
As a side note, your home office for MBB firms should generally be wherever you want to live, and wherever you like your colleagues the most.
As far as I know, Financial Analyst is completely separate from a Consulting career path. I have no idea how easy it would be to switch over.
Certain offices do have certain emphases based on location and partner specialization. However, McKinsey uses a regional staffing model, so you will work on teams across the region - not just limited to your home office. Also, I would say that there is no division more desirable than the others - unlike at investment banks, where certain groups are known to be the strongest at the firm. Movement to another office is extremely easy and most people do it in their third year.
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