McKinsey & Company Management Consultant Associate Interview Questions
Updated Jan 9, 2018
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Interviews at McKinsey & Company
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Found 43 candidate interviews
Popular
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- Most Difficult

Anonymous Employee in Netherlands
Accepted Offer
Positive Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI applied through an employee referral The process took 2 months. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Netherlands)
Initial screening interview with HR and a series of case study interviews: - 2 interviews with Associates; - 2 interviews with Engagement Manager - 2 interviews with Associate Partner and or Partner Final decision and offer
Interview Questions
- How many blue cars are running in Madrid now?

Anonymous Interview Candidate in Melbourne
No Offer
Positive Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Melbourne) in Feb 2017
The initial contact with the head of recruitment at which point you will be selected to start the main process. The process involved 2 different rounds of interviews. The first round is with two manager level staff who will ask behavioural questions as well as administer a case interview. The second round is the same but with partner level staff. All interviews are roughly 45 minutes.
Interview Questions
- walk through a time when you faced adversity?
Join the McKinsey & Company team

Anonymous Employee in United States
Accepted Offer
Positive Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI interviewed at McKinsey & Company (United States)
Very well structured. All interviewers were very friendly and helped when I was going on a different direction. Cases were different in topic and in difficulty. 1st round interviews were more quantitative and 2nd round ones more qualitative (but I think that's not always the case). I didn't have much time for questions at the end.
Interview Questions
- Challenge
Helpful (2)

Anonymous Interview Candidate in Chicago, IL
No Offer
Positive Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI applied through college or university. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Chicago, IL) in Oct 2016
Had 4 back to back interviews for the Operations practice. Even though it was 4 hours long, the process was actually pretty smooth. Be prepared with stories on Personal Impact, Entrepreneurial Drive, Problem Solving Skills and Leadership Abilities. Cases are interviewer led which are different from other companies.
Interview Questions
- Be prepared with stories on Personal Impact, Entrepreneurial Drive, Problem Solving Skills and Leadership Abilities.
Helpful (1)

Anonymous Interview Candidate in Perth, Western Australia
No Offer
Positive Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Perth, Western Australia) in Oct 2016
2 interviews followed by a PST Each interview consists of a personal experience portion, followed by case interview. The interviewer will ask you many follow-up questions in the personal experience portion, trying to encourage you to talk for at least 15 minutes. This will mostly be trying to uncover motivations behind certain actions and the result of those actions. There is also a chance to ask about working in the company in the last 10 minutes of each interview.
Interview Questions
- Tell me a time where you showed leadership in a team setting

Anonymous Interview Candidate in New York, NY
No Offer
Positive Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewThe process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (New York, NY) in Oct 2016
Asked details regarding past experience, main goal was to verify leadership skills and personality quality to make sure you have capability to overcome difficulties, especially in interpersonal aspects. The behavioral part took 20min, and then we went through case interview. It was quite typical McKinsey style of case interview, which you will find on their website.
Interview Questions
- Share your experience when you have a teammate is difficult.

Anonymous Interview Candidate in Los Angeles, CA
No Offer
Neutral Experience
Difficult Interview
Application
InterviewI applied through college or university. The process took 4 months. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Los Angeles, CA) in Sep 2016
Second round was a long process, half the day with breaks. Three total rounds, each with personal experience and then case interview. Fatigue over the course of the day can make the interview process harder depending on the duration of the breaks. Interviews were all with higher level personnel. No offer, but was notified the same day. The process, including initial reasoning test, first round, and final round, took about 4 months total
Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time you had trouble with a team member?
Helpful (1)

Anonymous Interview Candidate in New York, NY
No Offer
Positive Experience
Application
InterviewI applied through an employee referral The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (New York, NY) in Mar 2016
Two very well structured interviews with two engagement managers. Behavioral part first - they dug deep in the details of a specific experience and sought out implications. Structure mattered as much as creativity in thinking about the bigger picture (both personally and for the other people and organizations involved in the professional experience I was discussing). Case study interviews were very interesting - one PE-type investment project in a hypothetical water utility company in a new city; required both attention to detail ( eg calculating water volumes in cubic meters and translating it in other units to solve problem) and big picture creativity (eg political risk) the other was more market segmentation & revenue growth driven, more quantitative. Fantastic experience overall, despite making a number of mistakes in the quant side of the case study that lead to not advancing.
Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time when you worked in a team and faced a disagreement and how you went about resolving it.

Anonymous Employee in London, England
Accepted Offer
Positive Experience
Easy Interview
Application
InterviewI applied in-person. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (London, England) in Feb 2016
All projects are niche and focused on life sciences. If you come from a sciences background and want to keep that but work in a commercial environment then IMS Consulting Group is the perfect place for you. A lot of our hires have life sciences, neuroscience, biology, pharmacology or chemistry degrees. We also have graduates with business/economics degrees or Masters in Health Economics.
Interview Questions
- How would your friends describe you as a character? Name a time you negotiated

Anonymous Interview Candidate in Beijing, Beijing
No Offer
Positive Experience
Easy Interview
Application
InterviewI applied through an employee referral The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at McKinsey & Company (Beijing, Beijing) in Dec 2015
Phone interview, 30 minutes, directly to a case after introduction. The case was easy, as easy as it was supposed to be for a first round phone interview. Then a question for them.
Interview Questions
- A classic profitability case where the client want to increase the profit.
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