McKinsey & Company Business Analyst Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Dont apply if you cant wait for teams to move quickly

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - try to practice as much math as possible

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: 20-30 people will be shortlisted.
Tips: Mckinsey looks for 3-4 spikes in your resume. For instance, Leadership Extraordinary papers Good at academics Music, Arts, etc.Shortlisting happens through resume. You have 30 seconds to impress the HR. Make a 1 page resume giving your key achievements. Contact seniors from the firms if you’re interested. Start preparing your resume in the month of August. Proofread and make 68 drafts till it becomes perfect. Do not write things which you’re not confident about. Explain achievements in a single line

Round: HR Interview
Tips: 15 minutes – general questions/conversation (about yourself, on resume points)

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Two cases would be given. The possible solutions and views should be discussed with the interviewer. It is more like a conversation between the interviewee and the interviewer. They check on the approach to the given problem.  Mainly break down your problem, take your time and don’t bounce onto the solution. Discuss the problem with them and move it like a conversation. Mckinsey interviews are interviewee driven. Move it in the direction you are comfortable with.
Tips: They would request you to ask one question to them – ask sensible questions such as growth curve, feedback about the interview, etc.

General Tips: Do not lie. Be confident and focus on a maximum of 2-3 sectors during placements.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: After I finished answering my first case she went on to ask if I would like to run a coaching class someday. Then she asked me about the kind of job I would like to take up and why.
She finally asked if I had some questions for them and I asked 2-3 questions. I thought I did really well and came out confident

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: I asked him a couple of quetions on the same before jumping into the case. Didn't let me finish the case, just saw the approach and left it at that.
The next half hour was a discussion on how to make career choices and how he chose between 3 consulting firms he interviewed with through IIMs.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: I said I liked power and he asked me about power industry in India and about what I thought about possible products etc.
Then he asked me about my views on India's potential as a manufacturing superpower vs China. I presented my views and then he corrected me massively with his ideas. He went on to explain the kind of work Mck does and how it can help in my long term career objectives.

Later, he asked me about my perception of consulting firms and the reason behind it.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: No questions. Just a discussion on how I should make career choices and what factors I must consider.
He told me a little about his experiences with the firm etc.
Tips: 1.It is important to dress up bright and early on the interview day.
2.Dress up well. It adds immensely to your confidence.
3.Make sure you appear energetic and excited about the job.

General Tips: RESUME: Start working on this early and keep making improvements by taking inputs from seniors/friends.
PREPARATION HELP:
1.Prepare typical HR questions.
2.Prepare your resume well.
3.Prepare cases. Brush up DI.
4.Do your groundwork on the firms interested in.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: HR Interview
Experience: They had 4 interviews.
McK1: Have faint recollections. However I remember I did well on the case and had loadsa HR involved specially in my work on internships and research paper.

Round: Technical Interview
Experience: McK2: The interviewer was a PhD in Chem Engg from Stanford followed by an MBA from Harvard. I found this before going in and got real nervous. He started off with some Chemical Engg questions and soon realized it was no use! (He did even comment that I had not learnt anything in Chem engg in the 4 years). We then moved on a case of petrochemical industry where a new player wanted to enter an oversaturated market. I concluded that scale is important and the entry has to be below the existing market price. Some HR including my question to him. Had a long discussion on Foreign MBA vs Indian MBA. At the end of the interview, I guess I had done a good enough job (surprisingly after the start I had) and was called in for the next 2 interviews..

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: McK3: This was a disaster! And a big one. I was given an extremely easy case on nuclear reactor vs coal reactor economics. Simple mathematics which I screwed up because of just 1 simple error. I realized the same pretty late and pointed it out. He said it was ok. No HR

Round: Other Interview
Experience: McK4: The whole interview was a discussion on my BTP and seminar. BTP was related to Phosphoric Acid production. The discussion revolved around whether phosphoric acid should be produced in India or whether we should produce it outside from where we import ore. Then we moved on to my seminar which was related to Kyoto Protocol. Finally I asked question on how different is a foreign MBA vis a vis an Indian one. Very peaceful and fun interview!
Tips: The single biggest mistake I committed was going in a haste into the McK 3rd interview. I got involved in some placement work between the interviews and forgot to carry my folder or even a pen. This is probably why I did not do well on the case (which was probably the easiest of all 8). Its very important that you take 5 minutes off before walking in, get your composure and stop worrying about other things and just attend to the interview on hand. Key learnings included the fact that it is relatively difficult to come back if you don't start well. Thus its is better to take something like 5 seconds before you answer the first 2-3 questions to recollect thoughts, organize them and frame them well. Also that you need to be comfortable with everything on your resume. I appeared for 8 interviews and never mentioned/was asked anything related to MI which I thought was the most important point on my resume. Instead I was questioned on my hobbies. Smallest points on the resume could be the ones you are grilled most on. Another very important thing about case interviews is the fact that the interviewer will be guiding you all through to the final solution. Any thing that he speaks should be heard and taken notice of. Most of the times there will be a small hint given at some point and all you need to do is catch on to it! Structuring your answers is extremely important. One more important thing to keep in mind is that all your answers should kind of show to the company that you can FIT into the company, the job and the culture. It is also important you walk in with the feeling that you can get the job. Specifically in cases, if you get stuck, take some time off to think. Structure your solution well, it carries the maximum weight.

General Tips: Firstly suit up only in case you are comfortable in it. It makes no sense to wear it and be uncomfortable throughout. And in my opinion even if you do not wear one, it never goes against you (at least consulting). For companies like FMCG/Tech its better not to suit up because it doesn't go with the company cultures. If its IBanking, it is good if you wear one. It is very important that you have some questions for the interviewer for any given company. And it is more important that the questions are intelligent and genuine. Attending PPT/ reading up website is a must for the same. Most importantly you should not talk to any other candidate on interview experience before your interview. The interview changes for every candidate. If say for example you hear the case beforehand, the company is bound to find out which would ruin your chances for sure. Further talking to people who have already appeared increases the nervousness. Posture is something that you have to take care of. People have a tendency to relax which should not be the case. You should seem eager for both the interview and the job. While answering any question the most important things to keep in mind are • Take 5 seconds off before venturing into any answer. Compose your thoughts real well. Then start. Its better to get the whole thing in a impactful way then to miss out on certain points. It also doubles up as giving the interview a feel that you are thinking before answering.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY

Round: Interview
Experience: There were four interviews, with a case study and some HR questions in each. 
The first interviewer was an IIT Delhi alumnus and asked me a case on whether a telecom company should go for exploring the 3G license option. He provided me with information as and when I asked for it. Later during the interview, I asked him about his experience with McKinsey. 
The second interview involved a case on acquiring land for a B-School. The case was mainly qualitative and the HR questions were also straightforward. Giving a thought to goals and aspirations helped. 
My third interview was with a partner. Again, standard PI questions: something about yourself, why consulting, what if not McKinsey, important attributes of a good leader, why should we hire you etc. The case was on the design on entry and exit gates for Delhi Metro. 
My final interview was again with a partner and there was no HR part. It started with a case, and then there was nothing else to discuss. Anything and everything that could possibly go wrong did. I did badly in the case and towards the end made errors with simple calculations as well.
Tips: It is important to think on your feet even if you are not able to make much headway with the case. This case had sealed my fate.

General Tips: Most of the times, things go on as they are supposed to, we do what we are assigned, meet deadlines and get it over with. Knowing what to do after four or five years of study at IIT is one of those deciding phases where we have to do something out of routine, think about what we actually want, what we can get from where we are. 
Here is an account of how I went about making my decisions and preparing for it. In one of those routine placement talks, a speaker remarked, ‘there are two ways you can choose a career- by extrapolation from what you have right now and by interpolation from your long term goal’. This helps one realize the importance of identification of long term goal. In my opinion, once a person is convinced about that, it is easy to pull off an interview; more importantly, it is easy to identify which options to prepare for. 
I’d eliminated higher studies at around the middle of fourth year and was convinced to sit for McKinsey and core companies. Resume preparation began at around August with the master resume followed by a resume for core electrical companies which come to campus. Later I made a one page resume for McKinsey. Preparing for McKinsey helped a great deal in preparing for the HR section of the interviews. After McKinsey results, I revised the electrical courses required for the companies which were coming to the campus.
The first day was hectic with a whole lot of companies lined up. One had to be prepared for
all the companies because the shortlist came just the night earlier.
College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: CASE 1:
I started by trying to get the prerequisites of going global demand, type and size of market, capital, project differentiation, management, logistics. My major mistake was delving too much into depth.

CASE 2:
He asked how you increased revenues?
I said....Everything depends on the elasticity of demand. You might want to increase sales or increase prices and reduce sales. Then he said, we increase prices or demand and assume the other to be constant.

How do you increase prices?
I said you just quote a higher price. Then he said that there are different seats in an airplane. That kind of tinkering you can always do even if you want to keep the revenues same
Tips: 1.In the about yourself questions you can either give an overview of your resume or tell them something more general.
2.You will be asked about your biggest academic achievment.
3.Don't be so cool to the extent of being casual.
4.Don't prepare answers.

General Tips: 1.Attend PPTs and listen very carefully.
2.Be sure to find out what you will be doing in the company.
3.Don't try and squeeze too much in your resume.
Skill Tips: 1. For case studies thereis a lot of stuff on the LAN and on the internet.
2. It's better to do these in groups.
College Name: IIT BOMBAY