Planedge Consultants Planning Engineer Interview Questions and Answers

Topics to prepare for McKinsey & Company Junior Engineer interview:

• Data Structures and Algorithms
• Computer Networking
• System Design
• Operating Systems
• OOPS

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - There's limited time for the live coding round infront of the interviewer(around 20-30 mints). Try to complete the brute force algorithm first bfr trying for optimizations.

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - research very well be authentic and curious during the process

Interview preparation tips for other job seekers - Your communication skills are very important. Be very clear why do you want to join a consulting firm, if you are already not working in consulting. Brush up your basic statistics and analytics concepts if you are looking to join the analytics team.

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: Test
Experience: McKinsey has an aptitude test, but the test results don't have a significant weight in final decision. 
Resume shortlist for consulting companies is perhaps the most competitive among all firms and therefore,
in the interest of meaningful utilization of time, it's best to start case study preparation only after the shortlist is out. There's typically little more than a month between then and placement day, which is more than enough to prepare for any interview.

General Tips: Application process to all companies starts typically with a resume shortlist and therefore it is of utmost importance to write a good, impressive resume. A lot of people with great credentials fail to make this initial mark because their resume is poorly organized. It's good to have resume points, but it's equally important, if not more, to write them properly. Writing a perfect resume is an art that needs to be learnt
and God bless McKinsey for conducting an amazingly helpful workshop on resume writing.
It's a great idea to attend the workshop even if you are completely sure of never joining McKinsey.

Resume-writing is an iterative and time consuming process. So, best start a fortnight before deadline. Remember that it's a one-time effort. Once a good resume is ready, it can be used throughout the placement season with minor modifications. Do it once and do it correct. It took me about four or five iterations to end up with my final resume. It's a good idea to show the resume to lots of colleagues and seniors and challenge them to tear it down word-by-word.
College Name: IIT MADRAS

Round: HR Interview
Experience: Was asked to stop, look back and formalize everything done and summarize what was done. I related TV advertising rates to a online revenue for ads model I developed in my internship on which a worldwide patent was filed. Any questions? Asked about how an EM chooses whether to become a partner vs becoming a CEO/senior manager at a corporation. Asked if McKinsey had a standard way of solving business problems in engagements and if so how one retained one’s creativity

College Name: IIT KANPUR

Round: Resume Shortlist
Experience: Build the best resume, for getting shortlisted.
Tips: Your resume is the first impression you make for yourself on the company or the interviewing panel. Most companies have a resume shortlist for their interviews where they reduce the field from roughly 600 applicants to 20-30. So, your resume is of utmost importance.
Different companies look for different things in the resumes of their applicants. 
For example, the consulting firms look for people who are all-rounders and have spikes or achievements across the board. Other firms like people who are strong in the Positions of Responsibility department specially.

Round: Case Study Interview
Experience: Mckinsey & Company had 3 rounds of interviews in total. 
Each interview consisted of a small case followed by a personal interview section. 
The cases that were asked were across the board. 
They varied from pricing new products to helping automobile companies improve their bottom line.

Round: HR Interview
Experience: The personal interview section in Mckinsey I felt was quite important. 
They really wanted to know what my long term and short term plans in life were and how Mckinsey figured in them.

College Name: IIT MADRAS