McKinsey Experience Hire

Question

Hi, I recently interviewed with McKinsey Implementation team and finished my 1st round case interview with EMs at the end of June. The feedback i received was positive and HR confirmed they would arrange the 2nd round for me soon. But in mid July i was told by HR that as the projects are not very urgent at the moment and the Partner in the area decided not to progress with final round and suggest to wait a bit. HR said she would contact me once there is any update.

I would like to ask, in this case, do i still have the opportunity to go to final round; if so, how long it will usually take; and how i should follow up with HR and what frequency should be. Many thanks!!

Answer 1

Hi there,

Yes, it does sound like you are still in the running! Unfortunately, they don't have enough demand and don't want to bring you in right now as you'd just be sitting on the bench.

I'd advise patience here. The working HR used is very important…did she say “wait a bit”? Or did she specify weeks/months.

You should follow up based on her indications. If she's saying exactly “a bit” I would wait probably 1-2 months before reaching out again. Furthermore, when reaching out, I'd just directly ask when she thinks would be a good time to touch base again.

Answer 2

Hi there. The short answer is YES. There is still a very good chance you will be invited to a final round interview. In terms of how long it will take, based on the situation you described, it really depends. I would say it can go anywhere from 1 month to 6 month, even 1 year.

If you really want to join McKinsey, I would suggest you try the following:

1. Follow up with your recruiter every month to see whether headcount has opened up.

2. Network with people from the office you're applying to, to see whether it's possible for you to join another practice other than implementation. From my experience, a lot of the times implementation consultants work as generalist like everyone else.

My other advice would be, don't waste the time while you wait as it's really uncertain when would the headcount open. Try exploring other good opportunities or spend the time learning consulting related skills. In this case, you'll be ready for whatever comes next :)

Answer 3

Hello,

This seems like a somewhat unusual situation, but I would take them at their word: it seems that they are interested in you and would like to invite you to the final round, but as of now there is not a lot of demand with projects, so, as Ian pointed out, they don't want to hire you just to end up putting you on the beach/bench for months. I would recommend being proactive and politely reaching out to HR to ask for an update and ask these questions if you haven't heard anything in 1-2 months.

Answer 4

Hey there,

That is unfortunate and a bit unusual. Is this office/ region very small?

You are definitely on the short list should interviews and hiring resume. I would follow up every 2-3 weeks to stay in the loop.

Cheers,

Florian