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    McKinsey & Company Business Analyst Interview Questions

    Interviews at McKinsey & Company

    475 Interview Reviews

    Experience

    Experience
    72%
    21%
    7%

    Getting an Interview

    Getting an Interview
    47%
    38%
    9%
    4
    1
    1

    Difficulty

    3.9
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    Interviews for Top Jobs at McKinsey & Company

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    Business Analyst Interview

    Anonymous Interview Candidate in San Francisco, CA
    No Offer

    Application

    I applied through college or university. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (San Francisco, CA).

    Interview

    Campus hiring. Resume submission and then was called for the first round of interviews to their office in SF. There is a test and then two one on one interviews.

    Interview Questions

    • Their style of judging your leadership skills is different.   Answer Question

    Other Interview Reviews for McKinsey & Company

    1.  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Employee
      Accepted Offer
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company in March 2011.

      Interview

      Great process; people from the company try to help you prepare

      Interview Questions

    2.  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Washington, DC
      No Offer
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Washington, DC) in October 2012.

      Interview

      Applied through campus portal. Was called in for the first round of interview at DC.
      Two rounds of interviews and a PST.

      Two interviews similar in content and structure. A behavioral question, followed by a business case.

      Interview Questions

      • The process was pretty much as described in the pre interview information sessions conducted by the HR.   1 Answer
      3. Join the McKinsey & Company team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3.  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Employee in New York, NY
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Average Interview

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (New York, NY) in September 2012.

      Interview

      International student, who is currently completing a masters at a target university.
      McKinsey came on campus and introduced itself through various lunches and company presentations.
      First round interview was held at local office and included a logic test and two interviews.
      Final round was held in New York and consisted of 3 interviews.
      The whole application process lasted less than a month (2 weeks online application, 2 weeks for 2 interview rounds and offer the next business day).

      Interview Questions

    4.  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Boston, MA
      No Offer
      Positive Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Boston, MA) in January 2010.

      Interview

      I applied to a program for sophomores interested in an early start into the consulting world. I went for the three interviews on-site in the offices in Boston. The first interview was a case after a quick resume review. I was asked to predict sales estimates based on a few graphs given to me. The second interview was on public schools ($ coming in, leaving, etc.) and the last one was a brief resume review and a skills test.

      Interview Questions

    5.  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Boston, MA
      No Offer
      Negative Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took a week. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Boston, MA) in February 2012.

      Interview

      called in a week before interview date. two 45 minute interviews with principal and engagement manager.

      Interview Questions

      • describe a time where you were given a tough task that you were unsure of how to do, and how you went about fulfilling the task   Answer Question

    6. Helpful (1)  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate
      No Offer

      Application

      I applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company.

      Interview

      The written test is sort of useless, especially since what they really seem to be looking for are people who can think intensely and strategically about a problem (not math geniuses). One case interview was about CPGs; the second was harder, about forming a city in the middle of the desert. The qualitative part of the interview is more important than people usually think—they base a lot of decisions on how one presents oneself.

      Interview Questions

      • In the second case, about building a city in the middle of the desert, the interviewer wanted me to get to how to price water, and when I wasn't getting there, she started pressing hard. It was disconcerting.   Answer Question

    7. Helpful (5)  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in San Francisco, CA
      No Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 5 days. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (San Francisco, CA) in October 2010.

      Interview

      SF Office, 2nd Round Interview. Two one-on-one case interviews with Engagement Managers. First one more technical, second more experience-based.

      Interview Questions

      • A turnaround-like question that ended up being a question about market share. In particular, they asked me to list the relevant factors to consider in evaluating whether or not to introduce a new product. The case ended up focusing on market share of existing products.   Answer Question

    8.  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Interview Candidate in Boston, MA
      No Offer
      Neutral Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Boston, MA) in October 2011.

      Interview

      After I found out I got a first-round interview, the Recruitment Coordinator for my campus set up a conference call with other interview candidates and some McKinsey consultants to walk us through the first round interview process. I was then contacted by a McKinsey "coach" who spent 45 min on the phone with me preparing for the case interview. Night before the interview I took a problem solving test with other first round interview candidates at my school. The actual first round interview consisted of two 45 minute interviews. Each was about 15 minutes of fit, then half hour case. The fit portion was very specific; one interviewer asked about a leadership experience, while the other asked about a time when I had a disagreement with someone. They then both asked many follow-up questions to get every detail of the situation I was in. There weren't any questions about why consulting/why McKinsey, which I found surprising. The cases weren't too bad, more specific and interviewer-led than other firms.

      Interview Questions

      • How would you calculate the annual carbon emissions from electric versus gas vehicles in the EU?   Answer Question

    9. Helpful (40)  

      Business Analyst Interview

      Anonymous Employee in San Francisco, CA
      Accepted Offer
      Positive Experience
      Difficult Interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 4+ weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (San Francisco, CA) in September 2011.

      Interview

      Like everyone else, I began by applying online. They don't require a cover letter, but you are dead-on-arrival if you don't take the time to write one. For example, at my university, about 400 people apply in a given year, and 24 are selected for first rounds.

      My first round was similar to what else you can read here. I took the Problem Solving Test. I definitely recommend you work through the examples online beforehand. You'll get a sense of the types of questions and data sets you'll be dealing with. The key with the test is to prioritize; I'm pretty some problems are designed to take 10 minutes to solve-- a big waste of your time. You are not penalized for guessing, so only focus on the questions that seem doable.

      Next part of the first round was two interviews, each 50 minutes total-- 20 minutes on behavior/experience and 30 minutes on a case. The behavioral questions are often overlooked in the preparation process, but I strongly encourage you to prep well for them. McKinsey wants to see that you've excelled in four key areas: problem-solving, achievement, leadership, and personal impact. I would prepare two answers for each of these categories. McKinsey will go very deep on each experience you share.

      During the case portion of my first round, I was given the "good cop, bad cop" treatment. My first interviewer was pretty tough on me, never seeming impressed. He also repeatedly tried to get me to change my answers on questions. The key here is to remain calm, methodically explain and defend your position, without coming across as defensive. If you do this well, you'll get huge points with them. My second interviewer was very genial and helpful, so I had no concerns about that half of the day.

      About 24 hours later, I received a call informing I had been selected for a final round, and that I was going to be flown out to a different office. They put me in a nice hotel, took me and the other candidates out for a nice dinner, and all-in-all, were extremely hospitable.

      The final round consisted of three interviews in the same format as before. These were with two partners and the office director. I felt like these only went 'OK'; my interviewers were not terribly responsive or supportive with my answers. However, I projected confidence, remained structured with my answers, and didn't really screw up the math. I got a call about an hour after it was all over.

      Overall, I was incredibly impressed with how professional the firm was throughout the process. Before each round, I was assigned a case prep 'buddy' (a current BA in the firm) to do a practice case with me. McKinsey strives to help you perform your absolute best during the evaluation process. I've never been treated so well during a recruiting process.

      Final thoughts: be thoughtful and structured with your answers during the cases; be ready to go very deep on your past-experience questions; project confidence even if you are less confident about your answers; and above all, try to have fun with the process. The cases are a great example of what it's like to be a consultant, and if you want to become one, you should enjoy the cases at some level.

      Interview Questions

      • Tell me about a time where you had a build consensus within a large group.   Answer Question
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