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McKinsey associate

I would like to know the difference between McKinsey associate and associate - operations in terms of:

1- job description 

2- case interview questions (does operations associate cases have more focus on operations only)

3- salary ( is there a difference in salary between the two titles)

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Top answer
Andi
Coach
on Apr 30, 2022
BCG 1st & Final Round interviewer | Personalized prep with >95% success rate | 7yrs coaching | Experienced Hires

Hi there,

1. Job description 

No real difference - same JD, just different project focus / types

2. Case interview questions

Generally speaking, quite the same. be ready for generalist cases but of course, given nature of the role, also some more operations-specific case questions. Make sure you deep dive your prep on the latter, as expectation will be a bit higher on that. 

3. Salary 

Should be same exact.

 

Hope this helps.

Regards, Andi

Ken
Coach
on Apr 26, 2022
Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach

1. Similar role but a focus on operations projects where there will be an expectation for you to be building expertise 

2.  Exactly.  For some offices, the process is identical 

3.  Salary range is the same and more dependent on your background (E.g., MBA, experienced hire, etc.)

Ian
Coach
on Apr 27, 2022
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi there,

1- job description 

Essentially the same, just different industries/project types

2- case interview questions (does operations associate cases have more focus on operations only)

About the same, but you'll also want to make sure you understand operations well. Be prepared for generalist/non-operations cases AND operations cases

3- salary ( is there a difference in salary between the two titles)

Should be the same

Florian
Coach
on Apr 26, 2022
1400 5-star reviews across platforms | 600+ offers | Highest-rated case book on Amazon | Uni lecturer in US, Asia, EU

Hey there,

1+3. Same job, same tasks, same salary, same benefits, same working style, same travel requirements, same career trajectory; different project focus (more operations-focused, yet not exclusive; depends on supply and demand of projects)

2. Yes and no. More focus yes, but not exclusively. Usually, it's around 50% of cases focused on the practice or function, and 50% non-domain relevant cases. I also had coachees that had no case that was relevant for the practice they applied to. Interviewers care about how you solve the case including your thinking and communication rather than being able to discuss domain-specific topics.

Have a look at the following two articles that I wrote:

Case: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-interview

PEI: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

Cheers,

Florian

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