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Florian Updated on 09/22/2023 Reading Time: 3 Minutes

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McKinsey Interview – Get Useful Advices from an Ex Consultant

The McKinsey Case Interview, called the Problem Solving Interview by the firm, is arguable the hardest
challenge for candidates in their recruiting process. Among all consulting firms, it is the most feared since
McKinsey eliminates a significant proportion of candidates during the case interview.

The case plays a crucial role in the evaluation of candidates, besides the Personal Experience Interview (PEI). In
fact, performing well in the case interview does not guarantee an offer. Rather candidates need to show clear
and consistent spikes in performance across all interviews. That is the reason why only a minute percentage of
interviewees will receive their desired offer and Forbes has ranked McKinsey as the toughest firm to interview
for.

Unfortunately, our coach Florian found that the information on the McKinsey application process and specifically
the case interviews is often wrong, outdated, or assumed to be the same as for every other consulting firm.

Consequently, the advice given is detrimental to your recruiting success with the firm.

In this article, I want to shed some light on this mysterious, often-talked about, even more often misunderstood
McKinsey interview by answering the following questions:

What is the McKinsey Problem Solving Interview?

What skills are assessed in a case interview?

What is the format of a McKinsey case?

What questions are typical in a McKinsey case interview?

How is the McKinsey case interview different from other consulting firms?
How should you prepare for a McKinsey interview?
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What is the McKinsey problem solving interview?

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What are typical questions?

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What Is the McKinsey Problem Solving Interview?

What Skills Are Assessed by McKinsey?

What Are the Main McKinsey Interview Questions?

Structuring/Exhibit Interpretation

Case Math
Importance of the Overall Picture

McKinsey Case Examples

How Is the McKinsey Case Interview Different from Other Consulting Case Interviews?

Interviewer-led vs. Candidate-led Case Interview

Structuring the Case

How Should I Prepare for a McKinsey Case Interview? 
Next Steps
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What Is the McKinsey Problem Solving Interview?

At the core, the McKinsey Problem Solving Interview is a case interview as it is employed by most consulting firms
to test the analytical capabilities and communication skills of applicants. The interview simulates a client
situation, where you are tasked to solve a specific problem that they are facing.

However, it comes with a twist. You will have to answer a succession of several questions rather than driving
the case yourself as would be the case in other consulting firms. Within the interview, which is a dialogue
between you and the interviewer, you need to iteratively

structure problems

propose concrete ideas

gather information

spot insights in data tables and charts

solve quantitative problems

deliver insights, implications, and test hypotheses

communicate in a professional and calm manner

The case is the hardest part for most candidates since it involves a number of different skills that need to be
demonstrated consistently across all questions and multiple cases in succession. Depending on the office,
applicants need to go through four to six case interviews before receiving an offer.

You need to convince the interviewers about your performance in all cases.

Let’s have a brief look at the different skills and the format of the interview.

What Skills Are Assessed by McKinsey?

Broadly, there are six skills that are assessed in a case interview and that you need to demonstrate consistently.

1. Structure: Are you able to derive a MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive) framework, breaking a
problem down into smaller problems, accurately covering all aspects of the problem?
2. Creativity: Do you think about a problem holistically, offering broad, deep, and insightful perspectives. Are
you able to come up with different angles to the problem (breadth) and draft rich descriptions that qualify
why these areas are important to investigate (depth)?
3. Analytical rigor and logical thinking: Can you link the structure to creative thinking? Are you using a
hypothesis-driven approach to your problem solving, i.e. have a clear picture of where you think the
solution of the case is buried most likely or where you want to go next? Do you qualify your thinking, follow
your structure, tackle (likely) high-impact issues first and lead the interviewer?
4. Mental math and basic calculus: Are you able to structure quantitative problems and comfortably
perform calculations? Can you derive the correct approach to calculate the desired outcome variable? Can
you plug in the numbers and perform the calculations, relying on basic pen-and-paper math, shortcuts, and
mental math?
5. Business sense and intuition: Are you able to quickly understand the business and the situation of the
client? Can you swiftly interpret data, charts, exhibits, and statements made by the interview? Are you
asking the right questions? Are you able to make sense of new information quickly and interpret it properly
in the context of the case? 
 6. Communication and maturity. Are you able to communicate like a consultant? Are you following a top-
down communication approach similar to the Pyramid Principle
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taught by Minto? Do all of your statements
add value, and do you guide the interviewer through your thinking with numbering and signposting? Are
you leading the conversation or are merely getting dragged along by the interviewer? Are you confident and
mature? Are you comfortable with silence while taking time to structure your thinking?

Now, these skills are assessed in a very specific interviewing format, which is not natural for most applicants
and needs significant practice to become second nature.

What Is the Format of the McKinsey Case Study?

A typical McKinsey case follows the PEI in a one-hour interview session. It lasts for 25 to 30 minutes in an
interviewer-led format, meaning that the interviewer takes the lead and guides you through the case. Your role
as the interviewee is to answer the questions asked by the interviewer before they will move on to the next
question.

That means that you should not be worried if the interviewer asks a question that goes in a different direction
than what you recommended or proposed.

While it is the interviewer’s responsibility to provide hints and move you through the different questions, you
should take the lead within each question and almost treat every question like a mini case within itself.

Depending on your performance and speed, you will be asked three or more questions. Only receiving three
questions is actually a positive sign since the interviewer was happy with your answers to each question. Going
above three questions usually happens when the interviewer wants to dig deeper into a specific question type
to see if your performance is consistent or was just an outlier.

Most candidates need more than three questions to convince the interviewer, so don’t be scared when your case
gets a little bit longer and consists of more than three questions.

Some offices also offer a phone case interview as a first screening device, which follows the same structure as
the in-person interview.

What questions are asked in a McKinsey interview? Let’s have a look!

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What Are the Main McKinsey Interview Questions?

Show Table of Contents
In a McKinsey case interview, you will have to answer three different question types – broadly speaking: 
Structuring/ idea generation
 Exhibit Interpretation
Math
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A case interview structure is used to break the problem you are trying to solve for the client down into smaller
problems or components. It is the roadmap you establish at the beginning of the interview that will guide your
problem-solving approach throughout the case. Idea generation on the other hand is a structured brainstorming
exercise that should generate a variety of concrete ideas with a specific goal in mind.

For chart or data interpretation, you are tasked to find the key insights of 1-2 Powerpoint slides and relate them
back to the case question and the client situation at hand.

Case math questions have you analyze a problem mathematically before qualitatively investigating the particular
reason for the numerical result or deriving specific recommendations from the outcome.

Structuring/Exhibit Interpretation

Now for structure and exhibit interpretation, there is no right or wrong. Some answers are better than others
because they are

broad

deep
insightful

hypothesis-driven, implications-oriented, and forward-thinking

MECE
well communicated (top-down, numbered & signposted)

That being said, there is no 100% that you can reach or single correct answers. It is important that your answers
display the characteristics specified above and are supported well with strong arguments.

Case Math

As for math questions, usually, there are answers which are objectively correct (not always 100% the same since
some candidates simplify or round differently – which is ok), and others that are wrong, due to issues with the

calculation approach
calculation itself

Importance of the Overall Picture

Now, for the interviewer, the overall picture counts. Small mistakes or ‘just-good’ performance in one area need

to be balanced by a strong performance in other areas. Bigger mistakes must be avoided at all costs (e.g.,
answering the wrong question, completely wrong calculation approach, several calculation errors, or taking 3x
longer than needed in math). Sign up for free 
McKinsey wants to see spikes in performance in certain areas and a good enough performance in other areas.
Just performing well in all questions is not enough.

Be aware that in 99% of McKinsey cases, there is no recommendation question in the end. The case just ends
with the last case question. This is something many candidates are surprised by when they get out of their
McKinsey interviews since they specifically practice for this.

If you answer each case question properly, you could almost say that the recommendation is included in each
individually.

Lastly, be aware that for generalist consulting roles you do not have to expect any technical interview
questions and you are not expected to have any relevant domain knowledge.

McKinsey Case Examples

Have a look at some of our interviewer-led cases from our Case Library!

Incos Pens
Unlock with Premium

Style: Interviewer-led (McKinsey style)

Topics: Market entry, Market sizing, Profitability analysis

Rating:  4.5

Incos is a global manufacturer of writing products with divisions in North America, Europe and South-East Asia. Their global
sales are $60 m and their profits amounted to around $30 m. Their European division who manufactures and sells disposable
pens is experiencing flattening sales and a decreasin ... (Open whole case)

41.0k Advanced

Times solved Difficulty

Baby Clothing Market Entry

Unlock with Premium

Style: Interviewer-led (McKinsey style)

Topics: Market entry, Profitability analysis

Rating:  4.1

Our client is a consumer packaged goods company looking for top-line growth opportunities. They are considering extending its
pre-existing baby products brand (e.g., Huggies) into a new product category – baby clothing.They are looking for this business
to generate +$300M revenue per year, begi ... (Open whole case)


 3.7k Sign up for free Intermediate 
Times solved Difficulty

Fairway

Style: Interviewer-led (McKinsey style)

Topics: Market entry, Market sizing

Rating:  4.5

Your client, Fairway, is a manufacturer and supplier of golf balls.The company is acting globally in almost every market.They are
now planning to expand to Portugal, but they do not have any information about the market there.Portugal is a small country
in western Europe with a population of 11 ... (Open whole case)

31.7k Advanced

Times solved Difficulty

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Consultant Do at McKinsey, Bain
and BCG?

McKinsey Internship – Apply for

an Internship at McKinsey
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How Is the McKinsey Case Interview Different from Other Consulting Case Interviews?

While there are many similarities in McKinsey interviews and interviews with other firms, McKinsey interviews are
interviewer-led, while other firms employ a candidate-led format.

Interviewer-led vs. Candidate-led Case Interview

McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and others’ cases have certain things in common:

The individual elements of the cases are the same. You will have to structure problems, interpret exhibits,
and work through some calculations, come up with hypotheses, recommendations, implications, next steps,
etc.

The skills that are assessed are the same. You need to exhibit strong problem-solving skills, creativity,
ability to work under pressure, top-down communication, etc.

However, there is one key difference:

In interviewer-led cases, you take ownership of every question and go into greater detail here, while the
interviewer guides you from question to question. In the interviewee-led case, you drive the whole case to
ask for the correct information to work with, analyze the problem to then deduct a recommendation in the
end

In a McKinsey case, the interviewer will guide you through a series of connected questions that you need to
answer, synthesize, and develop recommendations from, within each individual question. There are clear
directions and a flow of questions, which you need to answer with a hypothesis-driven mindset (prioritization,
implications, next steps). These are arguably easier to prepare for and to go through since the flow and types of
questions will always be the same.

In a candidate-led case interview, due to the nature of your role as an investigator, it is much easier to get lost,
walk down the wrong branch of the issue tree, and waste a ton of time. While the interviewers will try to
influence you to move in the right direction (pay attention to their hints), it is still up to you what elements of the
problem you would like to analyze first. Each answer should lead to a new question (hypothesis-driven) on your
quest to find the root cause of the problem to come up with a recommendation on how to overcome it.

Structuring the Case

Another common misconception between McKinsey and other interviews relates to the structuring part of the
case. The framework derived for McKinsey vs. a framework created for other consulting firms is usually quite
different.

At the core, McKinsey wants to see creative ideas communicated in a structured manner, the more exhaustive
the better.

Your goal should be to come up with a tailored and creative answer that fits the question. The framework
should - broadly speaking - follow these three characteristics:
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broad

deep
insightful / creative

At the lowest level of your structure, you need to showcase concrete ideas, qualify your answer with practical
examples and more details.

While for BCG, Bain, etc. you need to present your framework relatively swiftly within 1-3 minutes, to then dive
deeper into the buckets where you think the solution of the case is buried, for McKinsey, there is no single
solution (as discussed above).

In a McKinsey interview, you can take up to 5-8 minutes to present your structure, your qualification, and
hypotheses. This is due to the interviewer-led format that McKinsey employs. The interviewer will only ask 'what
else' if you

haven't gone broad or deep enough

did not explain your ideas well enough for them to stand out (again, you have time here)

The firm wants to see exhaustive and creative approaches to specific problems, which more often than not do
not fit into the classic case interview frameworks that were en vogue 10 years ago...

Again, this only applies if everything you say

adds value to the problem analysis

is MECE
is well qualified

includes a detailed discussion of your hypotheses at the end

The difference in format and way of answering a question is the reason why I recommend preparing very
differently for McKinsey interviews vs. other consultancies, which brings us to the last point.

How Should I Prepare for a McKinsey Case Interview?

Most candidates prepare by learning generic frameworks.

Do not learn case-specific frameworks by heart, expecting them to work for every case you will encounter.
There are no specific frameworks that will always work in a McKinsey Problem Solving Interview.

It is much more important to learn the right approach that will help you tackle all types of cases. While in 2021
this applies to all consulting firms, this is even more relevant for McKinsey interviews and the interviewer-led
format.

Tailored Case Frameworks
What you need to do is to study each individual question type, the associated skills in a case interview and learn
how to approach it, regardless of the client situation, the
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for free of the case, the industry, or function. 

Many candidates ask if there are specific cases for specific practices (e.g., operations) and then tailor their
preparation for that practice, i.e. just practicing operations cases and learning operations frameworks by heart.
The reality is that you will usually face a mix of cases in a domain-relevant context as well as cases set in a
completely different context from the role you are applying for.

Be aware that frameworks were applicable in the 2000 years, the era of Victor Cheng. McKinsey has long caught
up on this and the cases you will get during the interviews are tailored in a way to test your creativity and ability
to generate insights on the spot, not remember specific frameworks.

In fact, it will hurt you when you try to use a framework on a case that calls for a completely different
approach and fail to come up with creative and concrete ideas that are relevant, tailored, and actionable. Also, it
gives a false sense of security that will translate to stress once you figure out how your approach won’t work
during the real interview – I have seen this way too often…

Math And Chart Reading

Similarly, there is no math problem or type of chart that is typical for a McKinsey interview. As with the structure,
learn to deal with any math or chart problem that is thrown at you.

Your goal should be - no matter the context, industry, or function of the case - to learn how to

build issue trees for structure and idea generation

interpret charts, derive the key insights, implications and relate them back to the case

set-up approaches for quantitative problems, swiftly and accurately calculate with pen and paper, and
interpret the results, derive implications, and relate it back to the case

That is all there is, really.

Once you have learned an approach that works from a coach that is experienced with McKinsey interviews,
internalize the habits by practicing drills and live interviews with case partners and your chances of belonging to
the minute percentage of candidates that receive an offer will significantly increase.

Next Steps

Now that you have reached the end of this article and have collected a lot of valuable information on how
to crack the McKinsey Interview which allows you to further tackle your case interview preparation.

As Florian explained in his article, it is important to internalize the habits that are needed to ace the McKinsey
interview process by practicing with peers. On PrepLounge, you have the opportunity to schedule meetings with

peers and coaches at any time! Just accept a meeting on our Meeting Board or propose one yourself!
Alternatively, you can browse through the vast Candidate Listing to find a suitable meeting partner according to
your needs and wishes! If you feel like you need some more support during your case interview preparation,
there are a lot of ex-management consultants in ourSign
Coach Listing
up for 
free who are happy to share their knowledge with
you. So, make sure to schedule your meetings as soon as possible!

Of course, your preparation for mathematical tasks should not be neglected! Use our Mental Math Tool to train
your case interview math with respect to all basic operations. You can even compare yourself to the
performance of the whole PrepLounge community. This will help you to be prepared for any calculation in your
consulting interview. Lastly, make sure to practice your chart-reading skills by solving our Quizzes! The sooner
you develop this useful skill, the better!

If you still have questions after that, feel free to ask them in our Consulting Q&A. Our experienced coaches are
happy to share their personal experiences and have valuable tips for you at hand!

About the Author

Florian

#1 rated McKinsey Case and PEI Coach | 5 years at McKinsey | Interviewer

Experience | Imbellus Expert

Professional Experience: Bitpanda, StrategyCase, McKinsey & Company,

Kearney, Lufthansa

Languages: English, German

Location: Austria

Florian became the #1 McKinsey coach (based on recommendation rate) within the first month of starting on
PrepLounge. With 5 years at McKinsey, he knows the recruiting process inside out. He can help you ace the case
interview and the PEI exactly like McKinsey wants you to succeed. His coachees continuously receive feedback
from McKinsey interviewers that they seem to be much better prepared than other candidates. Interviewing
and coaching 100s of candidates, he has developed a system to tackle every McKinsey case and question type
successfully, regardless of the context, industry, or functional expertise. You will learn how to think like a
McKinsey consultant and not rely on pre-learned frameworks that would only hurt your performance in the real
case.

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