Mckinsey interviews: time to complete a case

Hey there,

This depends mostly on your performance and how much more the interviewer wants to see:

• If you show sufficient strengths in a short amount of time, the interview might be over relatively quickly (20-25 minutes)
• If you show strengths but are a bit on the slower side, it naturally takes a bit longer, same as if your answers are very exhaustive; we are getting to the 25 to the 35-minute territory. 
• The same is true when your performance is quite ambiguous and the interviewer has a hard time getting a definite read on you. That would be the case if the quality of your answers is varying a lot, hence, they would probe more and ask you more questions to get a more “definite” picture
• If your performance is really bad, it could be over relatively quickly or it might take a while (since the interviewer wants to provide you with chances to improve)

Of course, there are also other factors such as how long the PEI portion took, etc.

Have a look at the relevant articles here:

• Case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/mckinsey-interview
• PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

Cheers,

Florian

Hello Andrea, thanks for giving the opportunity to help you! 

The typical McKinsey interview timeline is this: 60 minutes, of which ca. 15 for the introduction and personal fit, 40 for the case and 5 for the questions from you to the interviewer. 

That said, as an interviewer at McKinsey I have sometimes bent the timings, in particular:

• Extended the interview by 5-10 minutes if I or the candidate weren't constrained afterwards to answer more of the candidates' questions 
• Spent more on the personal fit and/or the case to fully assess the candidate on all the expected dimensions

Good luck in your preparation! Don't hesitate to reach out to find out more about the secrets of McKinsey interviews.

Hello,

This depends on office, position, and round, but generally the case portion of the interview takes around 25-40 minutes. But there is no exact pre-determined time: it will depend on the case and how you progress through it, and the interviewer will guide you along too.

There are exceptions by office/role (e.g., some don't do PEI) but in general, an interviewer budgets 25-40 mins for the case.

Hi Andrea,

Careful “expecting” any one thing!

Generally you can expect it to be as quick as 15 minutes and as long as 45 minutes. On average you can expect about 30.

Ultimately, you need to adjust/react to the interviewer themselves.

Here's some additional case reading: https://www.preplounge.com/en/articles/how-to-shift-your-mindset-to-ace-the-case

Hey there,

30-40 mins are normally allocated for the case in Mckinsey interviews, but it also depends on the interviewer and how the conversation flows. 

Thanks

Ashwin