Getting a job at McKinsey & Company is no small feat. The company has long been known for recruiting top talent from top schools and leading industry professionals.
But AI is forcing companies to rethink CEO Bob Sternfels talked about the types of applicants he considers during the hiring process.
Speaking on Harvard Business Review's “IdeaCast” podcast this week, Sternfels said the company used AI to analyze hiring data from the past 20 years to understand where it may be missing out on the class of partner talent it covets.
company found that applicants who bounced back after experiencing setbacks were more likely to become partners. So Stenfels said the company is now looking for resilience in its interview process.
“We found that there was some bias in our system,” he said, adding that the company focused too much on whether candidates received “perfect scores” rather than how they bounced back from difficulties.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the firm promoted about 200 employees to partner in December. This is one of the smallest classes in years, he said. In 2022, approximately 400 people will be promoted to partner.
McKinsey partners typically earn a base salary of less than $500,000, but can expect to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars more in bonuses and profit sharing.
McKinsey receives approximately 1 million resumes a year. The company told Business Insider it plans to hire about 1% of applicants in 2023.
A company spokesperson also said at the time that the company is looking for “high-achieving students just beginning their careers,” as well as professionals in industries ranging from technology to finance to law.
The company also looks for strong problem-solving skills, which are assessed through a game-based assessment called Solve.
To help candidates prepare, the company provides resources to candidates in advance.
“This allows candidates from all backgrounds to bring their uniqueness to our process, whether or not they have been exposed to resources like Consulting Club,” the company told Business Insider.
