Typical McKinsey PEI questions?

Hi Anonymous,

the PEI at McKinsey is structured around three key dimensions, leadership, impact and drive. I have provided a description for them below:

1) Leadership is about leading a whole team in a challenging situation and showing team management skills. Questions include:

1. Give me three examples of a time that you lead a group. 

2. What are some key lessons you have learned about motivating people? 


Here you want to emphasize how you overcome a difficult situation leading a team.

2) Personal Impact is mainly based on persuading someone about doing/not doing something. Questions include:

1. Tell me about a time that you persuaded your boss to go along with an idea you had.
2. Tell me about a difficult situation where you had to rely on your communication skills. 


Here you want to emphasize your influence on someone else, usually in disagreement with you.

3) Entrepreneurial Drive is about implementing something overcoming major difficulties. Examples include:

1. What was a situation where you set a major goal and been able to achieve it?
2. What has been your major accomplishment so far?

Here you want to emphasize the achievement you reached and the process that led you there.

Besides the previous dimensions, common questions also include:

• Tell me about yourself
• Why consulting
• Why McKinsey
• Why should we hire you

Best,

Francesco

Hi,

The interviewer usually asks 3 sets of questions:

1) “Tell me about yourself” or “walk me through your resume”- this is how Consultants usually begin the interview. It's an opportunity for them to learn about you and to pick some interesting facts. Don’t lose this opportunity since the 1st impression is usually the strongest.

2) “Why consulting?”, “Why McKinsey” questions are used to assess your motivation to be a consultant in general and to work in that particular firm. They will check how you have done your homework and what you’ve learned about them. They also want to make sure that you have a clear intention to work in consulting. "Why consulting" is a question about you and your career path. "Why McKinsey" is more about a particular company and even particular local office.

3) Next, the interviewer will also ask you to provide examples from your background:

• Leadership
• Personal impact (How you persuaded someone)
• Achievement / entrepreneurial drive (depending on the office)

At the end of the interview, you will also have an opportunity to ask your questions to the interviewer. Most of the candidates disregard this part in the preparation, while it is a great chance to demonstrate the intellectual capacity and build some relationship with the interviewer.

Best!

Hi there,

Here is a quite similar thread: https://www.preplounge.com/de/consulting-forum/typical-mck-pei-question-for-each-dimension-1502

In addition, I wrote a more exhaustive blog post on that subject here:https://pei.consulting-case-interviews.com/blog/typical-mckinsey-pei-questions/

Hope that helps!

Robert

Hello!

On top of the insights already shared in the post, next week will be pusblished in PrepLounge´s Shop material related.

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Here I leave you the link > https://www.preplounge.com/en/shop/tests-2/integrated-fit-guide-for-mbb-34

Feel free to PM me for disccount codes!

Hope you find it useful!

Best,

Clara

Hi,
 
They will be asking the following:
 Tell me about yourself (Walk me through your resume)
 Why consulting
 Why McKinsey
 The story about leadership (How you've taken an initiative and led the people
to achieve something)
 The story about Personal Impact (How you persuaded people)
 Entrepreneurial Drive (Innovative solutions that you are proud of most)
 Your questions to the interviewer
In "Tell me about yoursef" you should be talking about your career path till now.
You can finish this story with an argument about why consulting is the next logical
career step.
 
I would recommend the following structure:
1. Start with a 1 sentence summary of your background, why you are relevant
for McKinsey and what's your unique selling point

2. Talk about 3-4 of your roles (may be professional, education,
extracurricular), 3 sentences each. The more experienced you are the more
you should speak about professional roles. It can be also the distinct roles
within the same organization.

Typical structure: 1) What was the company 2)
What you were responsible for 3) Greatest achievement in that role, that will
stay in the memory of the interviewer (E.g. While working at Adidas supply
chain I was personally responsible for the delivery of soccer balls to the
Worldcup in Africa)

3. The main reason why consulting (or this firm if you were a consultant before)
is the next logical career step for you

Best,

André

Hey there,

I have written a detailed insider perspective on the PEI that covers all aspects and will help you prepare strong stories here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/mckinsey-pei

Cheers,

Florian