McKinsey candidates can now practice problem-solving for interviews using AI before sitting in the actual interview.
In April, the global consulting firm launched an AI tool to help candidates prepare for interviews. Ideally, candidates don’t feel like they need to pay for an expensive consulting coach.
Marie-Christine Padberg, co-leader of global talent attraction at McKinsey, told Business Insider that the tool will be available globally to people applying for entry-level positions at the company, typically business analyst or associate roles.
The AI practice tool allows candidates to try an unlimited number of quantitative case studies, or hypothetical business scenarios similar to their work as McKinsey consultants, that they would face in an interview.
Padberg said the tool is helping McKinsey “democratize” preparation by giving everyone access to all preparation from the same starting point for free.
The company receives about 1 million resumes a year and has offered jobs to about 1% of applicants in recent years, a spokesperson previously told Business Insider.
McKinsey has long provided candidate preparation materials, including sample cases, video explanations, and guidance on expectations from current employees.
But in recent years, a cottage industry aimed at helping competitive young candidates land jobs at companies such as McKinsey, Bain and BCG has also grown alongside the official route. Courses and preparation support range from a few hundred dollars to more than $2,000.
Padberg said the company has had problems with its services misguiding candidates, often by over-preparing candidates.
“We don’t want people who are over-prepared. We want to really get to the depth of their skills and abilities through connection and conversation. And we don’t want people who are over-rehearsed,” she says.
Example of problem solving
If an interview is offered after the initial screening, candidates will have access to a preparation website to prepare for both the personal interview and the problem-solving interview they will face in the next stage.
Before April, there might have been only three or four practice cases. Now you have unlimited opportunities to drill case questions and math.
A tab on the website gives candidates access to AI preparation tools. McKinsey
The tool, which provides examples across 15 industries, appears as a pop-up tab on the website and generates new example-style questions each time a candidate uses it. It starts with a simple client scenario and the numbers needed to answer the question. Once the test taker has entered their answer, the correct answer will be displayed and calculation instructions will be provided.
Padberg said 10,000 people used the AI assistant in the first month. McKinsey doesn’t track how candidates use it or know how good their answers are, she said.
Example case study for AI Prep Tool. McKinsey
Even in an AI-enabled workplace, the quantitative component is particularly important, she said, as consultants need to understand how the numbers fit together and what they mean.
This tool also addresses a very human part of the interview process: nerves.
“This is an element that often makes people very nervous, because it’s one thing to do something quantitative and it’s another thing to do it with someone watching,” she said.
Recruitment with an eye to the future of AI
Across professional services, companies are using AI to automate some of the tedious tasks once performed by junior employees, from research to first draft analysis, while focusing on judgment, communication, and the ability to work with AI tools.
KPMG said it wants junior consultants to have more control over AI agents, rather than doing all the grunt work themselves. Dan Diasio, EY’s global consulting AI lead, recently told Business Insider that AI is making junior consultants more creative, turning them into “creators of new business models, creators of new opportunities for clients, and perhaps creators of new products.”
Regardless of the outcome, it’s clear that AI is making candidates nervous, Padberg said. Even top candidates are increasingly asked questions about what AI means for entry-level jobs.
He said McKinsey’s pitch is increasingly less about job security and more about “career security,” meaning that the company’s training, networks and problem-solving toolkits remain valuable even as the labor market changes.
Padberg said McKinsey is looking for people who can ask better questions, make better decisions, build trust, be curious and adapt to changes in their work, something that AI can’t easily replicate.
The company is also applying AI to other parts of its recruitment efforts. Padberg said the company introduced an interview component last year that asked candidates to use publicly available generative AI tools to address hypothetical customer problems.
McKinsey also uses AI simulators to train interviewers and has begun piloting AI interviewers as an initial screening for some roles that benefit the company, such as visual graphics and technical positions.
Padberg said the goal is to screen more talent without being constrained by a recruiter’s capabilities, while also giving recruiters more time to build relationships with candidates. But, she added, it’s not like McKinney would outsource hiring decisions to AI.
“At the end of the day, we’re hiring people. You’re joining a company of people,” Padberg said. “We believe that face-to-face interviews are absolutely critical.”