McKinsey Business Analyst Interview Experience
McKinsey · Entry level
Interview process
The process was structured and fairly demanding. After the initial application, I completed the Solve assessment and then had two rounds of interviews. Each interview had two main parts: a Personal Experience Interview (PEI), where the interviewer went deep into a specific leadership/impact experience, and a case interview based on a client problem. The cases tested structuring, quantitative analysis, interpreting exhibits, brainstorming and synthesizing a recommendation. The final round followed a similar format but was with more senior interviewers and felt a bit more conversational and open-ended.
What went well was that the process was very consistent with the preparation materials McKinsey provides, and the interviewers were engaging and gave me room to explain my thinking. I also received useful feedback between rounds. The biggest challenge was the intensity of the PEI — interviewers go much deeper into one story than in a typical behavioral interview — and some of the cases were less standard than the ones I had practiced. Overall, though, I thought the process was well organized and gave a good sense of the actual problem-solving style at McKinsey.
Interview rounds · 3
- 1
Recruiter screen
- Q1. Why do you want to work at McKinsey?
- Q2. Why consulting?
- Q3. Why you?
- 2
Online assessment
- Q1. Interactive problem-solving game
- 3
Final / onsite round
- Q1. Case interview
- Q2. Fit interview
Tips from the candidate
Solve many cases - I solved 90. Find partners and prep
Outline your fit stories. You should have at least 2 stories per each of the three story types (entrepreneurship, personal impact, leadership)
Company culture
Everyone is very structured. People are in general friendly. They in general don't do stress interviews, but I had a partner who decided to do so!