Rejection rate at McKinsey

Dear [ ],

Of course there is a rejection rate in McKinsey's Decision Round. If there weren't, the round would be eliminated altogether as there would be no Decisions to be made.

That said, the rate is much lower than the First Round rejection rate (for obvious reasons), and, in my limited experience, tends to be lower than 50%. In other words, less than half of the candidates who get invited to Decision Rounds are ultimately rejected. When I reference a 'limited experience,' I refer specifically to two smallish sample sizes:

a) my fellow MBAs who applied for and received full-time offers with McKinsey, and, b) a small smattering of Experienced Hires who recruited with McKinsey at later stages in their career.

Here are two reasons why I believe the rejection rate tends to be lower than all other stages of the recruitment process:

1) Demonstrated skill: aspiring consultants who have made it through the CV selection, the Problem Solving Test, and two First Round Case and PEI interviews clearly have the skill set to be potentially good consultants. By the Decision Round stage, the more 'normalised' distribution of talent and skill has self-consolidated into the top decile, and a greater uniformity of superior skill sets are observable across candidates.

2) Reputation of Referees: To get to the Decision Round requires two Engagement Managers/Principals endorsing your potential talent as a future consultant to McKinsey's senior leadership. And that comes with a reputational stake for them. Your First Round interviewers would not dare put someone in front of a Partner whose potential for career success they held in any doubt.

The skills to close the deal in the Decision Round (in addition to all those demonstrated in previous stages) are: likability and presentability; emotional and professional maturity; client-readiness & crisp and effective communication; and a demonstration of sound business judgement.

Good luck!

Numbers will depend on the office and the year. Generally speaking though, think of the following ratios, loosely based on actuals at my (BCG) office a few years ago:

- 60 applicants to one position

- 15-20 get a 1st round interview

- 3-5 get a 2nd round

- 1 gets the job

If MBB brings you back for a 2nd round, they are basically saying you can do the job; now, it is a matter of deciding which of equaly (technically) competent candidates will get the node. You may get other cases, but the selection becomes much more geared towards the EQ vs. IQ. Btw - MBB knows they reject a ton of outstanding candidates every year, who go on to having very solid careers anyway; you could argue the whole exercise is simply designed to minimize false positives :)

Good luck on that 2nd round, pretty exciting stuff; as you can see from the numbers above, you have done the hardest part already!

Best,

G.

ex-BCG Dallas

Hi there,

These numbers are not disclosed, even for internal McKinsey recruiters.

Best,

Alberto

Hi!

To add on top of previous comments, none but HR knows these numbers, and they will never share them!

Cheers, 

Clara

Dear A,

I agree with Guennael rearding the numbers. But the real rate only HR know. 

Keep in mind also, that for the upcoming season there will be higher rejection rate.

All the details I will explain in my webinar https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/free-webinar-with-coach-andr-save-yourself-a-spot-7733

Feel free to reach me out for registration. 

Best,
André

Hello there,

in terms of rejection rate, it differs from one office to the other, this year it could change again. It's definitely lower than in the first round, if looking at it logically.

The fact that you know people who got the offer or didn't only means that there's always 50/50 for you.

Do you need any help with that?

GB