Mckinsey & Company Software Engineer Interview Guide

I went through four interviews over two rounds, and the first half was actually pretty smooth. The first two interviews felt like standard coding assessments at an easy-to-medium level, and both interviewers were friendly, listened carefully, and seemed genuinely engaged. I left those rounds feeling optimistic. The process changed a lot once I got to the last two interviews in New York, though. One was online and the other was in person, and both were much more chaotic than I expected. The schedule was changed the morning of the interview, so I had to double-check the timing, and then when I arrived I was told the meeting had been pushed back 30 minutes at the last minute. That meant the interview was cut short and lasted only 30 minutes instead of the hour I had planned for, which made the whole thing feel rushed and dismissive. The second interviewer was also about 15 minutes late, and the tone felt more like an interrogation than a conversation.

What surprised me most was that I had been told the last two rounds would be case studies, coaching, and demo sessions focused on business topics, so I came in expecting something closer to consulting-style discussion. Instead, they were total technical interviews, and the domain knowledge they asked about was not the business side I had been led to expect. I didn’t have much background in that area, so it was hard to adapt on the spot, even though they kept emphasizing that you need to be agile and improvise. My main takeaway is to not rely too heavily on the HR description and to prepare for technical questions even if the round is described as business-facing. Also, be ready for schedule changes and tighter timing than advertised. I didn’t get an offer, and the experience left me feeling like the process wasn’t handled very respectfully.