Interview Questions

1) Describe a time where you were given a tough task that you were unsure of how to do,
and how you went about fulfilling the task
2) One case interview was about CPGs; the second was harder, about forming a city in the
middle of the desert. In the second case, about building a city in the middle of the desert,
the interviewer wanted me to get to how to price water
3) In particular, they asked me to list the relevant factors to consider in evaluating whether
or not to introduce a new product. The case ended up focusing on market share of
existing products.
4) The fit portion was very specific; one interviewer asked about a leadership experience,
while the other asked about a time when I had a disagreement with someone. They then
both asked many follow-up questions to get every detail of the situation I was in.
5) How would you calculate the annual carbon emissions from electric versus gas vehicles
in the EU?
6) McKinsey wants to see that you've excelled in four key areas: problem-solving,
achievement, leadership, and personal impact. I would prepare two answers for each of
these categories.
7) What is the biggest mistake you've ever made?
8) Tell me about a time when you faced a challenge in a team.
9) What is a time you had a disagreement with someone while working on a group project
and how did you resolve it?
10) Give me a time where you lead a group? What did you do?
11) Give me an example of how you handled a crisis?
12) Provide an example of where you have left a lasting impact on an organization.
13) Case based question around manufacturing process with the ultimate crack the case
moment being that the manufacturing facility equipment was very wasteful.
14) Company A is a luxury boat manufacturer and is debating offering a financing option to
customers in order to stimulate sales. (From here it gave a brief overview and some
financial data and then asked you to infer based on this data whether this would be a
sound decision and what the returns expected might be given different scenarios. (The
return has to cover your cost of financing, SG&A, any other overheads + profit%)
15) How many golf balls fit in an airplane
16) "Tell us about a time where you had to convince a colleague to take a point of view that
was different from where they were starting out."
17) Disagreement. Challenging team situation. Proudest accomplishment
18) Determine the profit margins for this company for each year of the next three years
(assuming constant annual growth).
19) How could you have avoided your greatest failure?
20) Estimate grocery store yearly revenue in two different ways.
21) They wanted very specific details during the behavioral about your life: what did you do
then, how did that person react (they seemed to want the exact words they said). They
were clearly trying to catch anybody who had inflated their resume.
22) What is something that you have been thinking about recently? (Philosophically,
something about what's going on in the world)
23) Market analysis for an online order and delivery grocery service to determine if and
where they should expand in Europe.
24) What is not on your resume that I should know about you?
25) "Why do you want to be a consultant?"
26) The most difficult question was regarding reducing CO2 emissions with electric
vehicles. The answer the interviewer was looking for was not too complex, but I was
thrown off by the unexpected subject
27) Tell me about a time when you dealt with a difficult team member.
28) What was a time where you where a group was underperforming and you helped turn it
around?
29) Questions drove deep about specific experience and what you specifically did in each
scenario
30) "why McKinsey" How McKinsey is different from other consulting firms?
31) How to make operations of a transport loading hub more efficient (accompanied by
moving diagrams on an iPad).
32) The case interview was standard - it had something to do with a beer company in
Australia and its falling market share (in terms of growth). The first set of questions had
to do with estimating the market size (standard numerical estimation). The next set of
questions had to do with diagnosing exactly why the market share was diminishing. The
most difficult part, for me, was the conclusion, i.e. recommendations for growing market
share.
33) Describe a situation in which you were faced with a difficult problem and how did you
solve it.
34) Tell me about a challenging situation and how your react to the situation
35) What are your thoughts on the up-or-out culture in professional services?
36) Give a recommendation on sales increase strategy for market leader
37) What are your strengths?
38) When did you convince a team to do something differently and how did you persuade
those who did not agree?
39) Tell me about a time when you had to lead a group of people through difficult times
40) Tell me of a situation where you had an opinion and no one seemed to agree with you.
41) What was your goal when you decided to join university / work / clubs / a sports team?
42) Did you have a goal that you were not able to reach? What did you do?
43) What do you want to be remembered for and how are you achieving it?
44) What is your typical way of dealing with conflict?
45)