When will candidates hear back after a McKinsey final round?

Question

I finished my McK final round interview on a Friday afternoon (which is the day before yesterday - today is Sunday). I applied to the NYC office, and my final round interviewers were one senior partner from the San Francisco office and two junior partners/partners from NYC office.

I thought I did extremely well with the SF senior partner, well with one of the NYC junior partners and not so sure about my performance with the other NYC partner (we did not chitchat at all at the beginning - he dived right into PEI; he also didn't ask any follow-up questions during my PEI and I had to go on with my monologue for about 2 -3 minutes, and then he quickly decided to move on to case... during the last calculation question in the case, I initially did not understand his question and he had to guide me through... but when I eventually understood and told him where my previous misunderstanding was, he said that he potentially phrased the question wrong at the beginning (he's not a native English speaker). So that was roughly the situation of my final round.

I haven't heard anything back since the interview and am wondering how long it normally takes for candidates to hear back after the final round? I am also wondering if there are disagreements between partners about whether to hire a person (which I think is highly likely in my case, given that my performance was at different levels during the three interviews), what would happen?

Thanks!
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi there,

before offer decisions are communicated after the final round, they have to be aligned between HR and the interviewers in the process. This can sometimes take time for various reasons. A few common ones are listed below for a general overview:

internal scheduling conflicts between HR and the interviewers, especially when partners need to be involved
the firm is still conducting more final round interviews with other candidates and they might want to wait for that to play out to look at the full candidate picture before extending final offers
offers have been extended to “first choice” candidates and the firm is trying to keep “backup” candidates on hold until they know who accepted and who declined their first batch of offers
holidays or year-end shutdown delay the decision-making and communication process
there is uncertainty internally around budget and the exact headcount they can actually hire so they are trying to buy time

I know that this is unsettling and every candidate wants to have clarity on the status sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, you'll always have to wait for the official word. It is legitimate, though, to politely follow up for an update after not hearing back for two weeks.

However, it is best to just assume a rejection and continue with the recruiting efforts with other firms until you have a written offer in your hands. That way you at least won't lose time.

Best of luck

Answer 2

Hi there,

You normally hear back from them on the following 2 business days, so in your case if would probably be Monday or Tuesday. There are some exeptions from time to time when of the interviewer is super busy and they have to delay your debrief session by one or two days, but in general they are very quick in giving feedback. I case you do not hear from HR for 1 week after your interview, then you can email him/her asking about updates.

As for your last question, when there is a profound disagreement between Partners (2 have positive feedback and 1 is not sure about it), they might invite you for a final interview with another Partner to make a final decision. This happens from time to time but it is not super common. In general, the decision is made after your final round with 3 Partners/Associate Partners!

I hope you get some good news soon!

Mehdi

Answer 3

Hello!

No need to worry at all, is super soon!

Usually, you will hear from them in the next week.

Think that they need to get a suitable spot for all partners with HR, which is not always easy, and this can puh back the decision.

Hope it helps!

Best,

Clara

Answer 4

Hi,

You'll hear back next week. No need to worry. Keep calm and concentrate on something meaningful meanwhile

Best

Answer 5

Dear A,

I'm sure, you will hear soon, on this week.

As for the possible disagreement between 2 partners. If it takes place, than you might be invited for one more final interview.

Wish you best of luck.

André

Answer 6

Hi Anonymous,

Based on your description nothing to worry about - most likely it's just a logistical issue to get all relevant people to the table.

If disagreements occur it might delay the process in addition, but usually even this disagreement is resolved on the spot once the relevant persons come together.

Hope that helps - if so, please be so kind to give it a thumbs-up with the green upvote button below!

Robert

Answer 7

Hi there,

Woah! Calm down there :)

Honestly, you interviewed just before the weekend and it's the first day of the workweek!

You should be prepared to wait even 2 weeks. It may not take that long, but just assume it will.

I highly recommend you stop thinking about things you can't control and move on with more productive/enjoyable parts of your life.

It sounds like you have a 50/50 shot, but none of us here can really properly evaluate. In reality, you'll find out when you find out!

Answer 8

Hello,

Don't worry about it, delays can sometimes happen. Some people hear the day of, but for others it can take a week or more!

Answer 9

No worries!
I'm sure, you will hear from them in a next week.

Wish you good luck,

GB

Answer 10

They typically get back within a few business days. If they didn't after a week you should ask about the status.

Answer 11

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Answer 12

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Answer 13

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