I applied through an employee referral. The process took 8 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Hanoi) in Aug 2011
Interview
Recruiting process at McKinsey is long and hard. I had to take the a test called Problem Solving Test (PST) where over 90% of applicants failed. And on top of it is 5 rounds of interview with 5 senior consultants (Engagement Managers, Partners, Directors..).
In interviews, behavioral questions are very lightly touched. Most attention was on the case interviews. My 5 different interviewers have 5 different cases but a quite similar style. All of them gave me the "Interview-drive" type of case. I guess you can read more on this type of case interview at www.mconsultingprep.com/case-interview
5 interviewers each independently evaluate my performance on a scale which looks something like: Strong hire, Consider, No hire. If you get any "No hire" from any one of the five, you are out. If you get more than 50% "Consider", you are also out.
The nice thing about this all is that once you get in, you will all be hanging around with smart people :).
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
To me, consulting case interviews are very predictable. If you study hard enough, there will be no surprise. Resources can very well be found online. No book or "special" training needed.
However, if I have to pick one most difficult question this would be one from my final round:
" We will have a case on your favorite industry. So what is it?"
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?