Expert track positions at McKinsey

Question

Dear all,

I have an opportunity to interview for an expert position in operation practices at McKinsey, which is equivalent to associate or EM. Can't find too much information about it. I would love to hear your experience and opinion on following aspects.

1. Interview

I was told it's still going to be the case interview, but should I expect higher likelihood of the cases from that practice? Should I expect some non-case discussions on the practice-related topics, especially in 2nd round?

2. Task and Career

Are experts staffed also as globally as generalists?

Do you have a chance to be involved in a part of the project that is not operation-related? Are there many experts switching to generalist track and vice versa?

What are the advantages and disadvantages in general for experts, comparing to generalist? I suppose the exit option for experts will be much more limited?

Really appreciate your input.

Answer 1

Hi,

1) Yes for both questions. Feel free to reach out - I have a lot of ops cases from real McK interviews.

2) Yes for the first two questions. No for switching. McKinsey recently implemented an expert Track to the partner

3) It's easier to get hired as an expert if you have a decent prep. Exit options depend on how you sell yourself. Generalists become specialized starting from EM level anyway, so they would not differ tath much. However, generalists will have a slightly more diverse experience