McKinsey PEI

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• The three criteria per dimension are part of McKinsey's internal interviewer guide and they are not published anywhere, so I would advise you not to spend your energy on hunting for the exact wording. Candidates who try to tick boxes in their stories usually end up sounding mechanical instead of convincing.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare for your upcoming McKinsey case study interviews and PEIs, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Hi,

The three criteria per dimension come from McK's internal interviewer guide and are not published anywhere. To figure them out you have two options: either find a former interviewer willing to disclose them, or leverage the information available online. For example, here you have a quite extensive overview of the 4 dimensions and what gets tested in each of them: https://www.preplounge.com/en/blog/consulting/interview/mckinsey-pei

That said, I would not build your stories around those criteria too rigidly, as they risk coming across as unnatural.

Hope it helps and good luck with the prep!

Federico

hey there :)

McKinsey doesn't publicly disclose the exact evaluation rubric, so there isn't an official list of the three criteria per dimension. However, based on interviewer training and candidate feedback, the PEI is typically assessed along these lines:

For Personal Impact: influencing others, handling resistance, and achieving meaningful results.

For Entrepreneurial Drive: taking initiative, overcoming obstacles, and showing resilience.

For Inclusive Leadership: leading others, developing collaboration, and creating an inclusive team environment.

Interviewers also pay close attention to how personally involved you were, whether your actions were decisive, and how clearly and specifically you tell the story. They want to understand exactly what you did, not just what the team accomplished.

Best, Alessa :)

Hello ! That is correct, there are 3 criteria for each of the 4 dimensions, and for each of the 12 (4x3) we give candidates a score out of 4.

These are not available online, but I / former McK interviewers can help you navigate them 

Candidates overthink the McKinsey PEI criteria. The core dimensions check three specific things: 

whether you personally drove the outcome, how you handled interpersonal friction, and the depth of your individual actions. Interviewers use deep probing to strip away generic team speak like "we decided." They want to hear exactly what you said, thought, and did when things got difficult.

Focus less on internal rubrics and more on structuring tight, honest stories with zero fluff.