What McKinsey looks for in its MBA hires

Consulting is one of the most popular careers for recent MBA graduates. In fact, the top business school programs of 2021 sent between 16% and 36% of their graduating MBA classes to work in the consulting industry, according to data from ClearAdmit, a website that provides resources for aspiring and current business school students, including admissions advice and information on MBA programs.

Consulting is not only one of the most sought after career paths – it is also one of the most lucrative for MBA graduates. Top consulting firms, including McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co. and Boston Consulting Group, pay $175,000 starting base salaries for MBA graduates, according to Management Consulted, a company that offers preparation and training for professionals entering the industry. Plus, these MBA graduates earn large signing and presentation bonuses that can total approximately $75,000.

While attending a top-ranked MBA program can certainly give applicants an edge, there is no guarantee of landing a job at one of the elite consulting firms. Condition sat down with Adriana Crespo, McKinsey’s Recruiting Operations Manager, to learn more about the company’s MBA recruiting process—and what it takes to make the cut.

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Condition: How is the recruitment process for MBA students?

Crespo: Typically, first-year recruiting for summer internships begins in late September or early October for most schools. That’s when we get into presentations, panels, coffee chats, all the wonderful things that help students get to know us – the day in the life, what it’s really like to be a consultant, all that stuff.

They meet the recruiters. They meet people from the offices. Then we start moving into the evaluation phase where we start talking about how the interviews work and how the shell works. Schools usually have counseling clubs that help them prepare and tell them what it’s like to interview. You need to prepare for our interviews because there is a business case that is presented during the interviews.

Once you pass the internship interview, they then get a set number of weeks to decide if they would like to join us for the summer. Within this phase, they come back to the office. We will tell them about professional development. We’ll throw them lunches and dinners and have a little fun — and show them more of what our culture is really like live and in person.

And then they accept their offer – hopefully, fingers crossed – and then they liaise with the offices and the office staff. Depending on their school calendar, some hires begin their summer internship between late May and mid-June.

What is he doing? summer internship looks like?

The interns are with us for 10 weeks. It’s a paid internship and they get the real deal. They are divided into teams. They own their own workflows. There is an expectation that you will present yourself like any other consultant, as if you just started working at the company. No one really knows your summer intern except your team. Customers don’t know because we want them to fully integrate and get a full experience.

What is the interview process like and what is your advice for dealing with it?

We have a problem-solving section to each interview and a personal experience section – both equally weighted. If you don’t hit both, it just won’t happen. We definitely want to give you a little more “at-bats”, in a sense. Not only should you have analytical skills, but you should also have people skills.

It’s a bit exhausting. I describe it as preparing for the GMAT or any other major exam you’re about to take. You have to put in the work to succeed. Our interview process is tough. Not only do you have to go through a business case, but you also have to answer questions about personal experiences.

Take time to prepare. You have to put in the work – you really do. This is true for anyone in any school, regardless of resources. Start the cases and use your friends first. When you feel confident that you’re practicing with those people, move on to practicing with maybe someone from McKinsey, maybe a friend, maybe someone you’ve connected with. Do a case study with them and then listen to their feedback. I’m not saying do 80 practices. I’ve heard of people doing this. Do it where you are comfortable.

For the personal experiences part, make a video and then watch it. If you were the evaluator or interviewer, how does that make you feel? We are our own harshest critics. I’m not saying be mean to yourself. But put yourself in the appraiser’s shoes.

What if an MBA student is not hired as an intern? Can they still be employed full-time?

We keep in touch with people. We tell them when to expect to hear from us again and then we’ll get back to them sometime in August and the process goes faster.

They have already gone through the process. They have already had many conversations. This is now mostly like reconnecting and dropping resume. Our full-time MBA application deadline is September 9 across all schools, regardless of the academic calendar. Then we do a selection of interviews and then the interviews are conducted and it’s all said and done.

Do summer interns have to reapply to be considered for full-time employment?

No, they don’t. If you were a summer intern, you get an offer to come back and are given a period of time to decide if you want to come back. At the end of the summer, if you performed well and did everything, you get an offer to come back.

How many MBAs do you hire each year?

For the summer internship, we hired our largest summer internship class of about 500 for MBAs alone across all schools in the US. It can range anywhere from places like Booth, HBS, Kellogg, Wharton, Stanford—to Rice, CMU, UT Austin, Notre Dame. A very, very healthy year this year. Then for full time, it just varies. I don’t remember last year, but again, it was a very robust process in terms of the amount we rented.

Our bigger sources are Wharton, Booth, Kellogg—we have great relationships with their career offices. We are also expanding our reach to many of the HBCUs. We’re building that relationship with careers services and we’ve been able to start recruiting people from those schools. We are excited about these opportunities.

What skills are most important to McKinsey?

Having leadership experience. You can be a leader in your community. You can be a leader in a club, you can be a leader in so many ways. That’s what I love about our process. People think they’ll just have to keep it to a business example or work example – and you don’t. We want to hear about all those other things that are going on.

Also entrepreneurship. You could be a parent and maybe start something for the kids at your kids’ school. This is entrepreneurship. You can show it to me in so many different ways. And teamwork again. It doesn’t always have to be in a work environment. You can shine in so many different ways, but I would definitely say leadership, teamwork, and entrepreneurship.

What other advice do you have for MBAs looking to work at McKinsey?

Be true to yourself. Really take a step back and really focus on the things you want to get out of the process, how you feel, and your original intentions. I think it helps a lot to do a little bit of that thinking beforehand.

In the end, everything will work out as it should. I’m sticking with you.