Hey there,

It depends. In the end it's a simple question of supply and demand. While that leaves some offices at the more difficult end of the spectrum such as London (large supply of jobs, but insane demand), others have a more favorable S/D situation.

The supply of jobs also is related to

• the current state of the economy
• industry or functional focus of a specific office or geography
• time of the year (are the hiring goals of the year already achieved?)

From a McK perspective, leaving all these factors aside, as long as you perform at a certain level you should be handed an offer. The goal is to find suitable candidates and that is hard enough to fuel the ambitious growth targets.

Cheers,

Florian

Hi there,

Short answer: it might be easier to get through CV screening since they have more time to devote to the applicants. Bar and interview criteria are the same everywhere, so the interview will be still as hard as for a big office.

Also, there are people who aim lower and then try to get transfered into a bigger office after 1st year. Hence, smaller offices really check the candidates for cultural fit. If you decide to aplly to a smaller office, make sure to have a solid reasoning.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

GB

The more important factor for smaller offices is how they are performing which directly impacts the intake numbers. If it's a smaller office with a more niche requirement (typically local language) that also happens to be doing well with a larger intake then you have a much higher chance of getting an offer.

I know the official recruiting guideline is that the bar for each firm is the same across geographies which I personally disagree with having been a final round interviewer for more than one McKinsey office. There are offices that are far more selective than others but in principal the bare minimum bar is the same.

(edited)

Hi,

I haven't seen this being true for EU. The key criterion for choosing the office is the local language, thus your options are limited.

Best

Hi,

I'd say there's no "easier office" to get into. It depends on demand-supply, projects pipeline, etc.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Antonello

Hello!

Frankly, I dont think anyone here can tell you the true story.
These numbers and funnels are the best-kept secret by HR, and not what so ever public.

Cheers,

Clara

Hi there,

This is a bit of conjecture, but, based on my knowledge of data/analytics, I have to presume there is not a strong correlation between office size and ease of entry (in fact, larger ones may even be easier perhaps).

Rather, the forces of supply/demand for each particular office are at play (i.e. how desirable it is for candidates/applicants, and how strong the pipeline is looking).

I advise you to try not to play this game! Rather, apply where you have working rights, a history of work/study, speak the language, etc.etc.