Can I apply to two different positions at McKinsey one after another?

Hi there,

I hope you are doing well!

This is generally not recommended. More often than not, hiring is consolidated under one HR department at a local McKinsey office. Thus, it is likely that your application might be seen by the same recruitment team. There is usually a 6-12 month period before you can apply again after your application is rejected, it might not reflect very favourably if HR sees your application again immediately, .

Think about what your medium-term career goals are. Being hired at McKinsey for any role is already a huge career boost. You can still accomplish very similar successes in any type of consulting role (whether generalist or specialist), so the important part is getting your foot in the door as the recruitment process is competitive for all candidates. 

Once you are hired by McKinsey in either role, you will have a lot of flexibility to guide your career path towards what you enjoy. Give yourself as many advantages as you can in the recruitment process 😊

Happy to answer any more questions,

Kind Regards,

Yousef

Hi there, 

Q: I would like to know if I can apply to different positions one after another. 

Normally, you can be considered for only one position at a given time, and if you are rejected, there is usually a ban period before you can apply again. For this reason, I would recommend choosing the position you consider better overall and applying for that particular position only.

Good luck!

Francesco

Hey there,

Unfortunately, that does not work!

Once you apply for one position you are in the running for that position. If you get the offer, great! If not, you are banned for 12-24 months for any re-application.

However, once you are in McKinsey, there are many ways to shape your own story and career path. That's what I would recommend!

Cheers,

Florian

No. 

Formally, you can only be in the recruitment funnel for one position at a time. 

I've seen exceptions happen just when the office was too big to have a common recruitment funnel and the candidate was applying for different practice that had different recruitment teams.

My recommendation is to have a chat with the recruiter and figure out what role would be best for you and then go all in on that one. 

The only other way you can manage your chances is to apply to other firms as well.

You can also leverage this guide on how to create an application strategy:

• Expert Guide: Build A Winning Application Strategy

Best,
Cristian

Best,
Cristian

I am reading the answers from the other coaches and to be honest I feel this to be rather strange. 

To be honest, I don't know what the real answer is - but can't wrap my head around this notion that if you apply to one role and are not accepted they would ban you for every other role. To me, this doesn't make any sense, and would put into question their good judgement.

So I don't want to give you bad advice in here. I suggest you actually approach HR and take this as an opportunity to network with them and “sell” yourself a bit.

If they confirm there's a ban if you fail at your preferred option, ask if they can at least have a quick view on your CV to check if you qualify at all, so that you don't apply to a role where you are 100% sure to fail.

Hi there,

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

• First of all, it is not possible to apply for two different positions at McKinsey consecutively due to the 12-18 month ban period after the first rejection.
• Moreover, I would highly advise you to properly assess the situation based on what you actually know about the jobs. I'm really not sure that you are able to properly assess your chances of getting an offer, as most likely anybody.
• Lastly, I'm sure that regardless of the job you originally decided on, there will be many other opportunities after you enter the workforce.

You can find more on this topic here: How to succeed in the final interview round.

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

Best,

Hagen

Can you tell us what are those different positions?

• If you are contemplating between a JA vs A - then applying to only one will be recommended. Discuss with your referee on what is the ideal level they will recommend. And if during the process McK recruiting feels they need to adjust your application level, then they can do so as well.
• If you are contemplating between different offices - then that can be done within one application ideally
• If you are considering between an expert role vs generalist role, then best to apply only in one role since the applications are consolidated by the same teams typically. And best to talk to your referee about which one to apply into.
• If you are considering between a consulting role vs a non-consulting role - then that's a case I haven't really come across and would be worth discussing in detail.