How long to hear back after Solve?

Question

Hi, everyone,

I applied for a Fellow Associate position at a McKinsey LATAM office in mid August. Got the invite for Solve the day after, which I completed 2 days later. Haven’t heard back.

I reached out to HR when it hit the 2-week mark, having read online that’s usually how long they take to get back to candidates. A recruiter replied saying they’d get back “in the next weeks”. It’s been almost a month since that exchange….

My application still shows up as “In Progress”, I’m just wondering if anyone’s had a similar experience in the same region or could provide any guidance as to what I should expect.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,

One month of silence is rather uncommon, but it does not necessarily mean it is a negative signal; one potential explanation is that they are waiting to review candidates in batches or to free up interviewer slots before communicating the outcome.

Since your first follow-up was about a month ago, a second short note to the recruiting team is entirely appropriate now, asking whether there is any update and what timing to expect. In the meantime I would keep preparing for the interviews, because once the invite comes things can move quite fast.

Good luck with your preparation.

Best,

Franco

Answer 2

Hi there,

Sorry to hear you've already been waiting for so long.

This does happen sometimes and there's not much that you can do about it. It sounds like you've already followed up once and you can do so again in 2 weeks or so.

In the meantime, the most impactful thing you can do is to keep on applying and working on your prep. You might find the following guide useful, where I wrote about how to develop an application strategy:

• • Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Answer 3

Hi there,

Sit tight - they'll get to you when they get to you!

Ultimately, plenty of people get invited to interview after multiple months (and plenty don't). All you can do in the meantime is keep case prepping and applying to other companies!