McKinsey & Company Consultant Interview

Interviewed Oct 2009 in Philadelphia, PA (took 2 weeks)

I am a PhD student and I applied online through McKinsey's APD program. I did not know what to expect from the interview process. I was invited to the "Interview Workshop and Initial Assessment". At the IWIA I took a written 26 question 60 minute test, then went through two case studies. We did the case studies in groups of 3-4 applicants with a McKinsey consultant leading each group. The written test required analysis of cases and basic math skills; it was pretty similar to the practice test on the website. Overall, McKinsey has a very professional process, they provide a lot of information,and they make it clear what to expect. I did not make it through the initial workshop, so I don't know much about the later rounds. I did find that the people who really wanted a job in management consulting seemed to have a much better idea of what to expect than I did - they had done practice case studies, etc.