McKinsey & Company Junior Associate Interview Questions, Process, and Tips

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Be prepared on case interviews and case frameworks. Try to be MECE and structured

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case was on a joint replacement product. As mentioned, it was without pen and paper so focus was all the more important.Not being familiar with healthcare at all, I think what worked was taking time to understand the product and the market. Also, the case became more like a conversation which helped me solve the case well. The guesstimate was tricky to do only in the head but in the end he was looking only for the approach and not the actual market size figure.

Skills: Guesstimate Skills, Case Solving Ability
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Bargaining power, occupancy ratios, original ticket costs for standalone routes-Range for Lufthansa is INR (15,000-30,000) & Range for United Airways is INR(35,000-45,000). My questions resulted in me getting details about the occupancy ratios of the two airlines, competitor airlines, routes travelled by both the airlines, preference of passengers etc. The right questions and numbers helped me clarify relevant points & discuss some economics concepts which the interviewer wanted to see.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: No clear-cut answer in this case. Was tested on general understanding and ability to tap as many levers as possible. I was not given any data or prior information and hence had to make assumptions and clarify my logic at each stage. Started with 3 scenarios-worst, expected & good. Went on to explain why demand in this industry would always grow & hence supply should be the focus. Delved into India’s dependence on imports, bureaucracy issues, treaties with other nations-India-Afghanistan pipeline, political scenario of OPEC countries & other oil rich nations like Iran, geologists & their ability to tap the right oil fields, Risk Analysis-Probability & Severity of finding oil in India (this point fetched me great review) & of course, not to forget the regulatory environment in India & Public-private players in the Industry.Some substantial arguments were discussed and I came up with some other parameters & a conclusion.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Again, case involved numbers and exploring several factors. I don’t remember the exact answer but the revenues came to approximately 5 crores annually, not too sure. In order to understand the case, I questioned about the revenue levers and what I think was the business model-different shows-main v/s others, footfall, income through business besides shows, peak season etc.
Tips: -Do not give up at any point in time during any case. Sometimes the case may not be your comfort area but you need to drive yourself till the end & that matters
-When numbers are thrown at you, keep your cool and work it out without being under any pressure. It’s better to get the right answer than mess up simple math
-Practice cases and be clear about HR answers. Nothing should precede the other, give equal importance to both

Skills: Case Solving Ability, Case Analysis, Problem Solving Abilties
College Name: IIM Lucknow

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Client is a philanthropic foundation with a corpus of $ X million. It wants to invest in India with a view to help curb AIDS spreading (Patient Care was ruled out). Help it decide: HOW + WHERE + HOW MUCH

Facts provided when asked:
- Estimate of population afflicted on a Pan India basis
- Main Source of infection was STD and hence for the purpose of the case I was to concentrate on this alone
- Estimate of segment sizes ( Sex Workers, Wives and Migrant Labor/Clients of Sex Workers) and the percentage afflicted
- Which Indian states is it concentrated in?
- What is the cost of a detection test?

Analysis
Stuck to the structure provided by the question of How, Where and How Much?

It was more of a discussion where I suggested different plans for 2 of the segments (Sex Workers and the Clients, Wives ignored as it was agreed that using protection after marriage was not acceptable by most men in this strata).

Testing in the ‘Sex Workers’ was to be shelved for the first part of the plan as the incremental benefits were small given that they had a very high percentage of affliction.

Suggested that the plan be rolled out 5 states to begin with and in areas having brothels near construction sites (migrant labor) and highways (truck drivers were a major part of the clientele)
How much?

To be tackled by setting milestones that the foundation set to achieve in terms of ‘slowing down spreading of AIDS’ in terms of spread after program introduced vs. spread with natural rate) using some publically available estimates of expenditure involved in such programs.
Tips: Take your time. Don't rush.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Client is a PSU Bank; savings account opening takes 60 mins.
(Entire Chain of Activities was given as an Exhibit with time and sequence involved) Reduce this to 15 mins.
It was a 10 mins case.

Analysis
1. Identify Critical Path
2. See which activities can be moved off/performed simultaneously/ performed by customer (perhaps at home)/performed beforehand (printing of cheque books)/performed by others (outsourced)
3. See which activities can be simplified, e.g. Form filling took 15 mins (It was a 15 page form, so simplify and shorten form)

NA: Why do we need the teller? Why can’t the officer do the work for the teller? (This would mean slashing off 6 mins of the process as the officer would not need to verify again)
Tips: Be honest in all your PI answers, as the inconsistencies are very apparent on the other side of the table even if you have rehearsed
your answers to perfection.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Client is a bank looking to set up a 100 ATM network or operate it on a contract. What would be your advice to the CEO?

Additional facts provided when asked: Real Estate + Machine + IT Network + Utility Costs on a monthly basis when owned and run by the bank as well as the annual management contract fee when outsourced.

Analysis
To study the differences in Costs between ‘Owned and run’ and
‘Outsourced’ (Owned and then leased out to different banks was not an option)
It was just a numbers case after the basic costs were identified, from the costs angle alone ‘Owned and Run’ was a better option.
Interviewer: Other than the compelling numbers, what might be the advantage of ‘owned and run’ over ‘outsourced’
Me: Maintenance and service levels can be controlled more effectively.
Interviewer: For what reasons would you favor outsourcing over owned and run?
Me:
a. Fact that cost estimates are current and these could be revised downwards as the outsourcing vendor acquires scale
b. Not a core function/the usual outsourcing arguments.
Tips: Take your time. Don't rush.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case
Estimate Gasoline Consumption of Cars in Mumbai in one year.

Estimation involved:
- Population of Mumbai
- Average Income
- Number of Cars ( This was estimated using an ‘affordability ratio’ –-> using the average price of a car, average life of a car and fuel and service expense required, an average operating expenditure p.a. on a vehicle was found. And this operating expenditure would be less than 20% of Household Income, hence assuming a normal distribution of Income, an estimate of number of cars was found)
- Average Distance Traveled per vehicle
- Average Mileage

Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This was a pure case round I didn’t had any PI. One small question was tell me about yourself and what does my name mean.

Recommended Approach
I started the analysis first with the branch experience. I laid down the steps in detail to identify all possible interfaces with the customers when he enters the branch Access to Branch (Location) >>entering the branch >>waiting/ self-service/no. of counters to attend customer grievances>>availability of the people at the counter/no. of breaks they take>>overall time and efficiency/how friendly the staff is etc.
He looked pretty satisfied with that and asked me if they should have the same branches for HNI as well as the masses. I told that some branches should be there. However, Economies of scale could not be achieved by keeping separate branches. Therefore, I suggested giving the HNI special treatment in the same branches, like a separate lounge to relax while waiting, a dedicated representative when they come to the branch etc. He then asked me how we can do the same kind of discretion in an ATM. I told that when a customer comes to the ATM and enters his ATM, we can use that info to check if the customers are HNI or not. After that the screen experience can be different based on better products offerings, more facilities etc. He seemed to be very impressed by this suggestion. After that talking to him became very easy.

Guesstimate: He asked me to estimate the no. of marriages that will happen in India next year I started by taking India’s population and divided it into rural (70%) and urban (30%) and solved for each individually with similar approach. I will elaborate the general steps ( Assumptions might vary based on your own discretion and also what the interviewer is comfortable with) Population>>potential age group for marrying >>removed the already married people>>filtered the one who want to marry >>filtered who will actually get married with some probability>> finally divided the no. by 2 as it’s a couple affair He seemed satisfied with this as well and said great
Tips: Developing a repo is very important. I was able to do that here. He seemed very interested in talking to me after that. My interview also got extended by 10-15 min because of the same. After this interview , I really had a very positive feeling.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: This round was with a very senior partner. He started by giving his introduction and told me that he has been with McKinsey almost for 2 decades. However, I was quite scared of him as he never smiled, was always looking into the newspaper. I realized that it would be quite stress full as I was not able to develop any repo with him. He asked me general questions about walk me through resume and a little bit about my work at Deloitte. One strange thing that I thought he asked me was that if my parents have given me enough freedom to travel, and work in a industry like consulting and we had a short discussion around that.

Recommended Approach
I started the analysis by drawing the whole value chain of these spare parts and tried to explore possible reasons at each step Supplier >>Manufacturing >>Dealers>> retailers>>Customers
After further questioning , I figured out that the problem of spare parts is directly originating from the Supplier itself

After that I started exploring the reasons as to why the supplier is not interested in supplying. I listed down the possible reasons 1. They are getting inputs from somewhere else – this cannot be the reason as the same problem would have otherwise occurred when they were supplying for the new vehicles as well
2. Set up time – Spare parts may be required less in no. and therefore, it takes a lot of time to do the whole setting again and again for such small nos. On this he said that’s not the issue. Assume no set up time needed
3. Capacity Issues, as most of the capacity goes in making parts for new vehicles. On this he said capacity is good enough. However, the supplier is just not interested in making just spare parts
4. After this, it clicked me that the supplier might be finding it expensive to just supply the spare parts. Therefore, I started listing down the cost elements
•Cost of raw materials - same as new parts, means parts for new vehicles
•Cost of production - Same as new parts
•Cost of Packaging - Eureka!! (I felt, when he said yes that was significantly different :)
•Cost of transportation also I asked for completeness sake but that was also not the issue

He then asked me to summarize the issue, and suggest a plan of action in 30 seconds as if I were to present the solution to the CEO of the company I told him that the manufacturer is facing this issue because the packaging cost is very high for the supplier in case of spare parts. Therefore, either he can share. those costs as it is important for customer satisfaction. Also, he can consider order pooling by ordering in bulk and keeping extra inventory so that the supplier can also package in bulk.
Tips: Developing a repo is very important. I was a bit stressed in this round as I was not able to. Don’t ask too many questions. Also, majority of the scoping should be done initially itself Even while leaving the room, I was not able to figure out much how have I done as Ramesh still didn’t give me any slightest of the hint of weather he is happy or not. Therefore don’t jump into conclusions if something like this happens. You can still get hired

Round: HR Interview
Experience: This was a pure PI round and was very light and conversational.He was really sweet and kept me at ease for the whole of 20 minutes of our interaction. The only discussion I had with him was about my name, how it came, what’s the meaning, what are my likes, dislikes etc. I think the idea was to understand my communication skills and energy levels
Tips: Energy levels were really important. It became very important for me to be very lively, smiling and keep him interested in what I have to say because there was no case in this round


Round: HR Interview
Experience: This was the deciding round in my case. A mix of a bit of HR as well as a small eco concept.
I was a bit nervous as I also knew that this will be the deciding round. Also, I had read the previous casebooks in which I was really scared with people’s experiences with him. He asked me about all my academic achievement, the meaning of my name. I thought that this was it, when he suddenly said that lets do a case He asked me to draw the average cost curve of any industry. Initially, I was not able to understand what exactly am I supposed to do and asked a lot of questions to understand to that he got a bit annoyed and I thought, now I am gone !. To my surprise later, I had drawn the curve correctly. He said fine and after a while I got the offer .Life at peace. Restlessness over
Tips: I think in this case the make or break was to understand exactly what he wanted even if it meant for me to ask 10 questions and not give up. I think I was being tested on that here


Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Mainly PI with a small case let. This was a discussion primarily on technology.
General Gyan:

1. Resume: I do not come from a stellar pedigree (read ‘no IIT’), do not have a brand name company, do not have a stellar CGPA (above average). I still got a shortlist. I believe what matters is the way you show your accomplishments. Spikes are good to have definitely. At the same time, if you are showing consistently good work throughout your time till ISB, that will also work. You need to work hard on showcasing them on the resume. RESUME preparation is critical. Make sure to spend sufficient time (start 4th term onwards). show it to alums who are in these firms. Use the alums who come on campus to get reviewed. They are extremely helpful. (It also helps you establish a rapport). At the same time, no need to try and become best friends with the alums who keep visiting. They cant help you on interview day (thats my opinion). Only your performance will.

2. Case Prep: For these top 2-3 firms, you will get close to 4-6 weeks of time to prep. You can quickly glance through the Case in Point book in 3-4 days but don't spend too much time solving those cases. Start case solving with ISB casebooks. They are available all the way from 2005. I would suggest solving the later years while reading through the earlier years just to make sure you have covered most topics. One thing I did was focus on MCK cases only (only shortlist) as interview date approached. Try to form more than one group (3 people is sufficient per group) preferably after short-lists are out (otherwise incentives are misaligned). More than one group allows you to cover more case types, prevent lack of preparation due to time conflicts among members, etc. Try to understand the frameworks and use your own structure. This gives originality. Mock cases and buddy sessions are important. Use them as an opportunity to iron out your case solving abilities. get the buddy to have PI session also.

3. Interview: While cases are very important, the PI interviews made the difference. Cases could have been handled by any of the shortlists. the shortlist to conversion could be any where between 2:1 to 3:1. It is this discussion that will set you apart. If you are able to engage the interviewer in an intelligent manner, you are through. Read up on your area of expertise. Use opportunities to draw the interviewer to topics of your interest. Be thorough with material on your resume. Put a lot of thought into the PI qs and maybe try saying it out loud to one of your study mates. This will allow you to get a reaction, understand the time you are taking and give you better clarity. Finally, I think you should not be too rigid. Be calm, have fun, add humour if you see fit. Good Luck and feel free to reach out to me if you need any guidance.
Tips: I had met Somnath(Interviewer) during the dinner and had had a good conversation on the Internet of Things phenomenon. He remembered that and we were able to continue that conversation. This was more of a fit interview and whether I can hold my ground on technology discussions. It helped that Somnath also had a 2-yr old kid (like me) which allowed us to discuss non-work related concerns about consulting also.

DOs:

Be relaxed and have fun during this kind of an interview. As soon as you perceive it to be a generic discussion, I would suggest be confident and bold. Have strong opinions with sufficient backing (examples, data, experience, etc).


Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Partner had been told to test me on case. During Q&A, I asked him about how Mckinsey treats innovation (since I come from an R&D background). He found the Q different. Was able to engage with him on that and had a healthy chat. My second Q completely resonated with him. I asked him how Mckinsey treated candidates with above avg exp. To that he talked about his own story (had joined consulting after 10 yrs industry exp.) and how it just changes the ramp rate. This question set up a good rapport between us and I could sense some good vibes at the end.

Recommended Approach
I took my time to come up with a structure. Start with population of city, segment it into 2 parts working professionals and non-working people (housewives, students,etc) I suggested I would estimate the # of people in each segment and then estimate the total # of rides they would take and based on the average time taken for an auto ride, I will find the total # of autos in the city. Sameer was OK with this plan. I started with Mumbai and said Sion and ahead autos were not allowed. So I suggested we should use only 50% of the population (around 7.5 million) to estimate # of autos. He was pleased that I used some practical knowledge also. From there on it was relatively straightforward. One place I made an assumption that 15% of working professional would use an auto. He wanted to know how I made this assumption. I realised that was a mistake on my part to make such an assumption. I then split the working professional segment to different income classes and then put a % for each to figure out how many from each sub-segment would take an auto.

The final # for working prof segment came around 50000 autos (assuming around 30min for a one-way ride, and on average 50% of autos have a single passenger and 50% have 2 passengers). He told me to double it to include the other segment. He asked whether this 100K was a reasonable estimate and what single question I would ask to see if this was reasonable. I was suggesting Qs which would not directly answer and more elaborate. Finally I suggested we could look at # of taxis in the city to get a comparable. He wanted one more question. At this point I was drained out. He helped me arrived at the question. (look at another city with comparable population) In retrospect these look trivial but I was unable to think so simple.
Tips: DONTs: Do not make assumption without any reasoning behind it. Don't think complicated. Keep your though process simple. Most of the times the interviewer is asking for fundamental stuff, nothing complicated

DOs: Lay out the structure especially in guestimate with as much detailed layering as possible before you crunch the #s. The interviewer will tell you how much detail he wants you to focus on. Engage the interviewer in the discussion as at every point he might give you some data to simplify your calculations.

Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Case Narration
Client is planning a new city on the outskirts of an existing city in the Middle East and planning the water utilities is one aspect of this plan. 1.What are the different aspects you would need to consider while deciding whether to have the water utilities as a private/public/partnership? 2. Estimate the demand for the water utilities if we know that 10 years from now there will be 70000 jobs in the city. 3. If the utilities owner has the option to charge a fixed monthly bill or a variable bill based on usage plus a fixed services bill, how much would the variable rate be? 4. What are the advantages/disadvantages of the above options?

Overall, I felt I had performed barely OK. But I suppose Rahul felt otherwise. He was very encouraging and preferred that I engage him in the analysis. He was looking for more of a discussion rather than an answer and that I believe is true for consulting interviews in general. Be ready to engage the interviewer even when you are tired and are ready to give up. Secondly, I dint use any specific framework as such. Not to discourage you from using one, but it is better to use the structure u learn from FW rather than the actual FW itself. At the end of the day, if a particular interviewer interviews, say, 5-6 candidates with the same/similar case, I guarantee you would be better off by using a custom structure than a typical ISB casebook FW.
Tips: DOs: Use your experience to personalise the discussion. That is the only way the interviewer is going to remember you at the end of the day. It could be during the case, initial questions or Q&A. Make sure you stamp your identity somewhere.

DONT: Do not have memorised answers for the standard questions. You need to have the structure thought out but it needs to flow spontaneously

Skills:
College Name: Indian School Of Business (ISB)