Mckinsey & Company Business Analyst interviews commonly pair PEI-style behavioral questions with structured consulting cases, with reports describing two to three rounds and increasing case difficulty.
$120K
Avg. Base Comp
$127K
Avg. Total Comp
2-3 rounds
Typical Rounds
6-17 weeks
Process Length
McKinsey & Company Business Analyst candidates most consistently describe an interview format that gives substantial weight to both personal experience interviewing and case work. Prepare PEI stories as complete, defensible narratives rather than brief examples. Candidates report follow-up questions that stay on one experience, including moments of leadership, disagreement, working outside a comfort zone, handling ambiguity, meeting a tight deadline, or convincing someone with a different view. Be ready to explain your specific actions, decisions, and impact clearly.
The case work is reported as structured, often beginning with a problem structure before moving into exhibit analysis or brainstorming and then quantitative work. Business Analyst reports include profitability and business-improvement prompts, such as investigating declining profits at a coffee-shop chain or optimizing a software business. Practice communicating a clean framework, interpreting the information provided, and completing mental math or financial calculations aloud.
Several candidates describe two rounds with two interviews in each, while another reported three rounds. Later conversations may involve more senior interviewers and feel more demanding, so maintain the same disciplined communication under pressure. One report included an online assessment and another a separate HR discussion about motivations and background; these may occur before the interview rounds. Reported timing varied substantially: one process took roughly six to eight weeks, while another lasted more than four months.
Synthesized from 10 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Real interview reports from people who went through the Mckinsey & Company process.
The hardest part for me was how quickly the cases ramped up. I went through two rounds, and each round had two interviews. In the first round, I met with two engagement managers, and each interview included both fit and a case. I also had a separate conversation with HR about my motivations for the role and for McKinsey, plus a walkthrough of my background. The second round was with an AP and a partner, again with fit and a case in each interview. The cases were moderately difficult overall, but they definitely got more challenging as I progressed, and the math portion was where I felt the most pressure. My interviewer was actually very friendly and helped guide me when I got stuck, which made the experience less intimidating than I expected.
For the fit side, I was given a PEI-style question in advance, and I was also asked to talk about a time I showed leadership. In another fit discussion, they used the START methodology, so I had to keep my answers structured and concise. On the case side, one of the prompts was along the lines of profits being down at a coffee shop chain and asking what factors I would investigate. That was really about breaking the problem down logically and showing a clean framework rather than jumping to a solution. Overall, the process felt rigorous but fair, and the interviewers were supportive throughout. I ended up receiving the offer, and my main takeaway is to prepare for increasingly difficult cases, practice mental math under pressure, and have a very clear, structured story for leadership and motivation questions.
Prep tip from this candidate
Practice structuring open-ended profitability cases quickly, especially prompts like declining profits at a coffee shop chain, and make sure your mental math is solid because the interviewer may guide you but still expects you to work through it. Also prepare a polished PEI/fit story on leadership and a concise motivation answer using the START framework.
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Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Mckinsey & Company
Write a function to get the month_over_month change in revenue for 2019 rounded to 2 decimal places
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| Flipping 576 Times | |
| Categorize Sales | |
| Hurdles In Data Projects | |
| User Event Data Pipeline | |
| Stick Break | |
| Deciding Between Solutions | |
| Client Solution Pushback | |
| Stakeholder Communication | |
| Kindergarten Feasibility | |
| Cross-Culture Reports | |
| Underpricing Algorithm | |
| Why Do You Want to Work With Us | |
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| Late Orders | |
| Statistically Significant Test | |
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Prime to N | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Find the Missing Number | |
| 500 Cards | |
| Employee Salaries | |
| Size of Joins |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Some Business Analyst candidates report an online test before interviews, while another had a separate HR conversation about motivations for the role and McKinsey plus their background. These steps are reported variations, so candidates may encounter one, both, or neither before formal interviews.
Candidates report first rounds with multiple interviews, often combining a PEI-style discussion and a case in each conversation. Behavioral prompts included leadership, ambiguity, disagreement, deadlines, and persuading others; cases typically started with structuring before analysis or calculations.
Business Analyst reports describe interviewer-led, structured cases with exhibit analysis or brainstorming followed by math. Examples included declining coffee-shop profits and software-business improvement. Candidates should expect to explain a framework, draw insights from information, and communicate calculations clearly.
Candidates report later rounds with senior interviewers, including an AP or partner in one process. Cases were described as becoming more challenging, and one candidate experienced a harder final discussion under pressure. PEI and case work continued rather than becoming separate final-stage formats.
