McKinsey's careers site describes a process with three main parts for most consulting roles: an application, Solve (an online, gamified problem-solving assessment) and interviews. The interviews pair a Personal Experience Interview (PEI) with a problem-solving interview, which McKinsey says is sometimes called a case interview. Technical and internal roles follow different routes.
Everything below comes from McKinsey's own careers pages, linked as we go. One part comes from a candidate's account published on McKinsey's careers blog, and we label it as such. Where McKinsey doesn't say something, we say so rather than guess.
The McKinsey hiring process at a glance
| Step | What happens | Who it applies to | What McKinsey says about timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Application | Apply online through McKinsey's careers site. | All applicants | Not published |
| 2. Solve | A gamified assessment of problem-solving ability, taken online on a PC or Mac. | Most consulting roles | Length is stated in your invitation email |
| 2a. Technical assessment | A hands-on test of skills such as programming, data analysis or system design. | Technical roles | Not published |
| 3. Interviews | Personal Experience Interviews and problem-solving (case) interviews, plus expertise interviews for some roles. | Most client-facing roles | Your recruiter confirms the details |
| 4. Decision | The recruiter decides based on multiple factors, including your application and assessment results. | All applicants | Not published |
What is the McKinsey interview process?
For most client-facing roles, you take part in Personal Experience Interviews and problem-solving interviews, and some roles add an expertise interview. McKinsey's interviewing page says your recruiter will confirm the interview details in advance. It calls interviewing "a Two-Way Process": McKinsey gets to know you, and you learn what you could do there.
McKinsey doesn't publish how many interviews or rounds there are, or how long each one lasts. One candidate's account on McKinsey's careers blog, from someone who applied in 2019, reports that every interview had at least two parts, a personal experience conversation and a case, with a first round and then final rounds. She also reports getting specific feedback after round one. That is one person's experience from several years ago, so ask your recruiter how your process is set up.
McKinsey says it looks for "smart, driven problem-solvers" from any discipline, and that what matters most is your ability to think critically, tackle complex challenges and create meaningful impact. It adds that it is "particularly excited about people who resonate with our values".
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How does the McKinsey application process work?
You apply online for a specific role through McKinsey's job search. McKinsey's Finland office page, for example, describes an online application form with the required documents attached. McKinsey doesn't publish how long it takes to review an application.
For consulting roles, McKinsey says it may ask you to complete a test or a game as part of the application, depending on the client-facing role. Internal roles vary: McKinsey says several include an online assessment, a writing test or a group exercise.
McKinsey's interviewing page also sets out how it sees AI in applications:
| Use of AI | McKinsey's position |
|---|---|
| Polishing your CV or practising interview questions | Encouraged |
| Asking AI to explain concepts or frameworks as part of your preparation | Encouraged |
| Exaggerating or creating achievements that aren't yours | Not allowed |
| Generating real-time answers during an interview | Not allowed |
| Using AI during assessments, unless specifically permitted | Not allowed |
What is the McKinsey online assessment (Solve)?
Solve is McKinsey's online assessment for most consulting roles: a gamified test of your problem-solving abilities. McKinsey's Solve page says there's "no need to prepare", and that your result is considered together with the rest of your application and any other assessments.
What McKinsey's Solve FAQs (September 2026 edition, linked from the Solve page) say about the format:
| Question | McKinsey's answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need business knowledge or gaming experience? | No |
| How long is it? | The length is stated in your invitation email |
| Are there instructions? | Each task starts with an untimed tutorial on its objective and how to navigate it |
| What device do I need? | A PC or Mac only, not an iPad or phone. A tech check runs before you start |
| Do I need sound or a mouse? | Sound isn't needed and a mouse is optional |
| Which languages? | English, Spanish (Iberia or Latin America), Portuguese (Iberia or Latin America) or Japanese |
| Do two candidates get the same test? | No. McKinsey says the scenario data varies so no two people get the same parameters |
| Is the decision based on Solve alone? | No. It's weighed with your application and any other assessment results |
| How often can I take it? | Scores are valid for one year, and you can take Solve once every 12 months |
McKinsey also says you may be asked at random to take an extra task in person or to explain the logic you used, and your recruiter will tell you if so. Prep sites name the individual games and give timings, but McKinsey doesn't publish its task list, so trust your invitation over any outside description.
The rules are strict. Unless McKinsey has approved a disability accommodation in writing, you can't use applications, websites, AI tools or pre-prepared notes, record the assessment or take screenshots, and you must take it alone. McKinsey says breaking these rules may lead to exclusion, a rescinded offer, limits on future applications or legal action. If you hit a technical problem, contact the support team named on the Solve page at the time it happens: McKinsey says it can't reset your link later if you didn't.
If you want a feel for game-based assessments in general, our guide to Pymetrics games covers a different, widely used format.
Technical assessment for technical roles
If you apply for a technical role, McKinsey may invite you to a hands-on technical assessment in areas relevant to the job, such as programming, data analysis or system design. Your recruiter shares a Candidate Preparation Booklet for these roles.
What is the McKinsey Personal Experience Interview (PEI)?
The PEI is a detailed conversation about a few experiences that mattered to you, used to assess skills that help people do well at McKinsey. McKinsey asks you to focus on your specific role, "lead with reasoning, not actions" and be prepared to have a conversation about it.
McKinsey suggests preparing two personal examples for each of four themes. The interactive module on its interviewing page lists them:
| Theme | Short name | What McKinsey says it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal impact | Connection | Respectful debate supported by trust-based relationships |
| Entrepreneurial drive | Drive | Resilience, creativity and judgement to overcome obstacles and reach hard goals |
| Inclusion leadership | Leadership | Leadership grounded in understanding, getting people with different thinking to be at their best |
| Courageous change | Growth | Constant learning and openness to feedback and change |
McKinsey asks you to be ready to talk about the details of each experience. Pick experiences where your own part is clear, and be ready for follow-up questions on what you thought, said and decided at each point.
What is the McKinsey case interview?
McKinsey calls it the problem-solving interview: the interviewer presents a typical McKinsey client scenario as a business case and evaluates how you approach a complex problem. McKinsey says "there is not one logical solution", so listen carefully and give a solution tailored to the case over a standard framework.
McKinsey publishes five practice cases with the logic, thought process and suggested answers. You'll find them on its interviewing page:
| Practice case | The question in brief |
|---|---|
| Beautify | Should a global beauty company train in-store consultants to reach customers through virtual channels? |
| Diconsa | Can a store network in Mexico offer basic financial services to the rural poor? |
| Electro-Light | How should a beverage company launch a reduced-sugar sports drink? |
| Transforming a national education system | What's wrong with a country's education system, and how can it improve? |
| Talbot Trucks | Should a European truck maker invest in electric trucks? |
McKinsey doesn't publish who leads the case, how long it lasts or how it is scored. Under its assessment integrity expectations, you may only use pen and paper for notes and calculations, with no calculator, and the interviewer may ask to see your notes to understand your thinking.
The expertise interview
For some roles, McKinsey runs an expertise interview to understand how your experience and skills will help you do well in the role. It doesn't describe the format further.
What happens after the McKinsey interviews?
McKinsey's careers pages don't describe the steps between the final interview and an offer, or how long they take. Ask your recruiter what the timeline looks like for your office and role.
Common McKinsey interview questions and how to answer them
The first four questions are McKinsey's own published PEI samples, one per theme. The case-style questions after them follow McKinsey's practice cases, so they are topics a McKinsey interviewer is likely to cover, not confirmed questions.
1. Explain a challenging situation you encountered when working with someone with an opposing opinion.
This is McKinsey's sample for personal impact (connection). Show how you understood the other person's view, built trust and still moved the decision forward. McKinsey values respectful debate, and it tells candidates about its "expectation to engage and dissent", so it's fine to show you held your ground where you had good reason.
2. Talk about a time when you worked hard to achieve excellence in particularly tough circumstances.
This is the sample for entrepreneurial drive. McKinsey names resilience, creativity and judgement, so choose an example with a real obstacle. Explain why you chose each step before you say what you did, which is what McKinsey means by "lead with reasoning, not actions".
3. Share an example where you worked effectively with people with different backgrounds despite challenges.
This is the sample for inclusion leadership. Focus on what you did to help each person contribute, and what the group achieved that it wouldn't have otherwise. You don't need a formal leadership title for this.
4. Revisit a time when you had to rapidly learn something new to tackle a challenging situation.
This is the sample for courageous change (growth). Be specific about what you didn't know, how you learned it quickly, any feedback you acted on and what changed as a result.
5. Tell me about yourself and why McKinsey.
McKinsey describes interviewing as two-way, and the Jo account says the conversation covered her aspirations as well as her experience. Link two or three choices in your background to the problems you want to work on at McKinsey, and name what draws you, such as a practice area or its culture of apprenticeship.
6. Should our client launch this new product?
This mirrors the Electro-Light practice case. Clarify the client's goal first, then lay out the questions that decide the launch, such as the market, the customer, the competition and the economics. McKinsey asks for tailored solutions, so build the structure around this client's situation.
7. Should our client invest in this new technology?
This mirrors the Talbot Trucks case. Set out what the investment would need to deliver, then test it against costs, demand and risks. State your assumptions out loud and adjust when the interviewer gives you new data.
8. Work out this number without a calculator.
McKinsey's integrity rules allow pen and paper only, so practise quick maths by hand. Round to easy numbers, write your steps clearly (the interviewer may ask to see your notes) and sense-check the result.
9. What would you recommend to the client?
Lead with the recommendation, give the two or three reasons behind it, and name the main risk and the next step. McKinsey says there's no single logical solution, so a clear, well-supported answer matters more than a "perfect" one.
10. How would you improve a public service, such as an education system?
This mirrors McKinsey's national education case and the Diconsa case, which show it uses public-sector and social-impact problems as well as commercial ones. Diagnose the problem before proposing fixes, and think about who is affected and how you'd measure success.
11. Do you have any questions for us?
McKinsey tells candidates to bring questions, and invites them to explore its values with interviewers. Ask about the work, how people learn on the job or how the values show up day to day. Skip anything the careers site already answers.
For more "tell me about a time" practice, our list of behavioural interview questions has a bigger bank.
How to prepare for the McKinsey hiring process
- Read the job description and McKinsey's interviewing page, including the AI rules and the assessment integrity expectations.
- Take Solve as McKinsey advises: no special preparation, a quiet slot with no interruptions, a PC or Mac, and support contacted straight away if anything breaks.
- Prepare two stories for each PEI theme: personal impact, entrepreneurial drive, inclusion leadership and courageous change. Make your own role and reasoning clear in each.
- Tell your stories to someone who doesn't know them. The candidate on McKinsey's blog says this helped her explain her thinking clearly.
- Work through McKinsey's five practice cases, then practise more cases out loud with someone who will push back. Our STAR method guide helps with the PEI side.
- Practise mental maths with pen and paper only, since calculators aren't allowed.
- Set up for a virtual interview if yours is online: a quiet space, camera on, no virtual background, one screen and any AI note-taking tools switched off.
- Run a mock interview and get honest feedback on how clearly you structure answers.
Applying across consulting firms? Our guides to the BCG hiring process and the Bain hiring process cover how those firms' assessments and interviews differ.
Practising realistic work tasks
Interviews reward prepared stories. Cases and assessments reward judgement, and that improves with practice on realistic tasks. Cohesyve, which publishes this guide, runs practice job simulations for your role, with a scored report on where you lost marks. It isn't affiliated with McKinsey and doesn't use McKinsey's assessments or questions.
FAQs
Does McKinsey have an online assessment?
Yes. Most consulting roles include Solve, a gamified problem-solving assessment taken online on a PC or Mac. Technical roles may have a technical assessment, and some internal roles have an online test, a writing test or a group exercise.
How long is McKinsey Solve?
McKinsey doesn't publish one length. Its Solve FAQs say the length of your assessment is stated in your invitation email, and each task starts with an untimed tutorial.
Can I prepare for McKinsey Solve?
McKinsey says no preparation is needed and no business knowledge or gaming experience is required. The tutorial at the start of each task explains what to do.
Can I retake McKinsey Solve?
McKinsey says Solve scores are valid for one year, and you can take the assessment only once every 12 months from your completion date.
How many interviews does McKinsey have?
McKinsey doesn't publish a number. It says most client-facing roles include Personal Experience Interviews and problem-solving interviews, and your recruiter confirms the details in advance.
Can I use a calculator or AI in a McKinsey interview?
No. McKinsey's integrity expectations allow only pen and paper for notes and calculations, and ban calculators, generative AI, other apps and prepared notes unless an accommodation has been approved.
How long does the McKinsey hiring process take?
McKinsey doesn't publish a timeline. Ask your recruiter, as it depends on the office and the role.
Sources
McKinsey's own careers pages, checked 27 October 2026:
- mckinsey.com: Interviewing at McKinsey, including its embedded PEI themes module
- mckinsey.com: Solve, McKinsey's assessment game and the Solve FAQs (September 2026) linked from it
- mckinsey.com: Assessment integrity expectations
- mckinsey.com: How to prepare, McKinsey Finland
- mckinsey.com careers blog: Making the most of your McKinsey interview (May 2020, one candidate's account)