An Overview of the McKinsey Hiring Process From the time you apply until you accept the job offer, you'll have to move through a series of steps in the McKinsey hiring process. Most of the time, this process takes between two and three months, with an average of 14 days between each step. It would take you 2-4 months to complete the process. This depends on how close the next hiring campaign is and whether there's room for you to interview in this cycle (if not, you'll have to wait for the next round of interviews).
It's important to remember that there are a number of factors that influence the schedule and, as mentioned earlier, the time will differ depending on offices, positions, application cycles, and more. Working toward an advanced degree means you already have many of the skills and strengths you need to succeed here. In addition to boosting your applications, having close ties with insiders can help you get an idea of what it's like to work in these companies and what you need to do to increase your chances of getting hired. For example, according to McKinsey's former managing director, Dominic Barton, the company receives around 200,000 applications from interested candidates, but only about 2200 of them are hired.
These firms only work with the brightest minds and, as such, there is a lot of competition for those looking to be hired by one of these firms. To be hired at the MBB, you need to have an excellent academic record from a prestigious school, have been exposed to a wide range of activities, both academic and extracurricular, excellent communication skills and analytical capacity, and have an interest in many areas. In reality, most of the test cases come from previous McKinsey projects, so the test is an almost accurate representation of the type of conditions you'll face once you're hired. As in the case of PST, the purpose of case interviews is to find out to what extent you are capable of doing the work you are going to be hired for.
I hope that by making clear what you need to get hired at McKinsey, BCG or Bain, you're in a better position to start preparing for a career at one of these firms.
