Mckinsey PST and other Consulting tests

Hey,

@Community and Mina: I fell the need to correct your information as it is highly inaccurate on two dimensions.

firs, masters degree in most of the countries just give access to BA position (not associate), the few exceptions are some Escandinávia countries! Only MBA gives access to Associate role in most of the countries worldwide.

second, the requirement for doing PST or not is not, as I stated before, as straightforward as you suggest: there are some people who is exempted to do PST even if applying to BA (very few exceptions but exist), and on the other hand most of experienced hires who apply as Associates still need to do the PST.

i feel it’s really impetrant to guarantee that people are not misinformed about this!

Best

Bruno

Hi there, 

McKinsey does not require candidates applying to the Associate position to take the PST. To qualify to enter as an Associate, however, you typically need an MBA or several years of work experience in industry. If you are applying to McKinsey after your undergraduate degree, the firm would bring you in as a business analyst and require you to take a PST.

So essentially,

Undergradute degree-Business Analyst- PST required

Masters degree- Associate- PST not required

Hi All,

I agree with Bruno: there is not a written rule regarding requirements for taking pre-interview tests. Nevertheless, MBB generally use written tests for entry-level candidates.
On the other side, I have personally gone through the McK recruiting process for a Senior Engagement Manager position (at a European office) very recently and I was not asked to take any test but I started straight with the case interviews. That is the general rule for experienced hires but exceptions might exist depending on geographies or your background (in my case I had previous consulting experience). You could confirm that by contacting the recruiting team of your target location.

Cheers,

Jacopo

Hey anonymous,

Never heard of such thing in any McKinsey office! PST is (very) rarely waived and mostly due to participation in McKinsey organized case competitions or other official events before, not based on GMAT

Best

Bruno

Hi,

Based on what I know:

• Analysts have to write a test
• Experienced Hire Associates may or may not write a test. It really depends on their tenure, however, there are no strict guidelines
• MBA grads doing on-campus recruiting don't have to write a test (top schools)
• MBA grads doing off-campus recruiting have to write a test
• McKinsey case competition winners may not write a test. (In reality, they have to write a test but their results don't count. Or at least they are told so)

Best