mckinsey problem solving test

McKinsey PST Dress Code

Are you going to take the McKinsey PST and do you want to make sure you’re not only prepared for the pen & paper test, but ace your overall presentation as well? Good: because it’s not just you analytical skills that are being tested during the Problem Solving Test, but your overall presentation as well.

Follow the advice from HR and/or recruitment

Often, your invitation from McKinsey specifies the dress code required for the occasion. It will often be either (business) casual or business formal: everyday attire or full suit and tie, respecitvely. If you want to make sure, you can always call to check what the dress code is for your McKinsey PST session or follow the rules below:

Only Problem Solving Test

If you’re invited for the McKinsey PST but there is no round planned following the test, you can assume that the attire should be (business) casual. Just wear a suit without tie, or conventional clothes that do not stand out and still look professional. But what to do if you are invited for both the PST and a (case) interview?

McKinsey PST and Case Interview

If a possible case interview round has been planned to directly follow up the McKinsey PST session, be sure to wear business formal attire: suit and tie for men, suit for women. Even if it is not specified, you can assume that business formal is the dress code.

McKinsey PST Dress Code: Final Words

It might not seem important “how you look” when you are going to take a pen-and-paper test, but dressing unprofessionally might disqualify you for further interview rounds. If you’re going to take the McKinsey Problem Solving Test, be sure to check the advice from recruitment or HR. When in doubt: wear formal business attire, because it can never be hold against you. Even if you are overdressed for the occasion, you can always remove your tie.

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McKinsey Test

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

The McKinsey Test is often referred to as the McKinsey Problem Solving Test or simply the McKinsey PST. Candidates who apply at McKinsey and get through the rigorous resume and cover letter selection are often invite to take the McKinsey Test afterwards. Though roughly 66% of candidates fail the McKinsey PST, the ones that pass are invited for a first round of case interviews. Only after a second round of case interviews a job offer is extended to the candidates that passed every test.

How do you beat the McKinsey Test?

One of the reasons that candidates fail the McKinsey Problem Solving Test is the fact that they underestimate how difficult it is or do not know that it is possible to practice for the McKinsey test. So one of the ways to ace the PST is to practice! This can be done in many different ways:

Reading: you need to read a lot during the McKinsey test, so knowing how to quickly parse data tremendously helps during the test. Reading business magazines for practice also improves your knowledge on business concepts and frameworks at the same time
Math: though not all questions features calculations, a lot of them do. Being able to quickly (and correctly) calculate helps a lot during case interviews as well
Sample Tests: the best way to practice is to use sample tests, both from McKinsey and provided by our site:
- The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged McKinsey test practice, including a complete answer guide and tips on how to approach written cases
- The Second Key to the PST: another full McKinsey PST practice, with a fresh set of cases to crack and improve your skills

Other McKinsey Test resources

You’ll find a lot of information on the McKinsey Test in the various articles on this site. We also provide great guides for case interviews and help to craft the perfect consulting resume. McKinsey also provides a lot of information on the PST on their own site, and even has an app to help you prepare for the PST.

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What happens when I fail the McKinsey PST?

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

When you are preparing for the McKinsey PST you might wonder what might happen if you fail the Problem Solving Test. Even when you prepare well, you might have a bad day or totally black out because of the stress. While you should certainly prepare well (as preparation will significantly lower stress), you cannot prepare for everything.

How many fail the PST?

We estimate that off all candidates invited to take the McKinsey PST, roughly 66% fails to make the cut. That might seem like a huge amount, but remember that only 10% of candidates are selected after every round of case interviews. With more than 200.000 applications a year, you are certainly not alone if you fail to get a job at McKinsey. But how can you make sure you beat the McKinsey PST cutoff score?

Practice the McKinsey PST

Luckily, you can increase your chances of making the cutoff score by practicing the PST. You can find a practice guide on the McKinsey website, but also by taking practice McKinsey PST tests provided by caseinterviewhq.com:

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

What if I do fail the McKinsey PST?

If you fail the PST, even after preparing for it fully, you will have to wait at least year to apply again. Whatever you do during that year, you should exhibit leadership and strive to excel at what you do. You’ll be starting over from the ground up the next time you apply, so they will take into account what you did during this year. Besides waiting for a new opportunity at McKinsey, you could also apply at other strategic consulting firms, such as BCG or Bain. You’ll find similar people and assignments at their offices, though the culture might of course differ.

Other than that, there’s not much you can do: McKinsey has the luxury to be superstrict when it comes to applications and they will no

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McKinsey PST Sample

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

Since roughly 66% of candidates fail to make the McKinsey PST cutoff, it is a good idea to practice with a McKinsey PST sample test. One of the reasons many applicants fail the McKinsey Problem Solving Test is because they underestimate the pressure generated by:

the amount of (financial) data they have to parse
the difficulty of the PST questions
the 60 minute time limit (meaning only 2 minutes per question)
the stakes at play (failing the PST means you’re out)

By making sure your skills are up to par and by knowing what you can expect, you can increase your odds of acing the McKinsey PST significantly.

How can you practice the PST?

If you want to make sure that you make the cut, you have 2 options: train the underlying skills required and practice with a McKinsey PST sample. To be able to train, you need to know the two basic skills involved in doing the McKinssey Problem Solving Test. We’ll cover them below:

(Business) reading: during the McKinsey PST you’ll be reading a lot of information on the cases, not all of which is relevant. Knowing what is important and what is not or being able to quickly determine this helps a great deal. Since you only have 2 minutes per question, you’ll also want to make sure that you “know your lingo” and have basic knowledge of all business & finance terms. Especially if you’re not from a Business or Finance background, it helps to do some background reading (start with Business Insider, the Financial Times or The Economist).
Math: since calculators are not allowed, you’ll have to do all computations by hand. If you cannot calculate in your head quickly (and correctly), don’t fret: it’s a skill and can be trained easily. Being able to do basic calculations on paper will help, but will cost significantly more time than being able to do these in your head. Read up in this article on case interview math if you want some sources of practice material.

But the best way to train yourself for the McKinsey PST might be to practice with a McKinsey PST sample. Before you take the sample PST on the Mckinsey website however, make sure that you practice your skills first. When you’re confident you can ace the test, set a timer for 60 minutes and take the sample PST. We recommend practicing more however: in our experience it takes 2 to 3 practice PST’s to really get a confident feeling during the real McKinsey Problem Solving Test. If you want to practice with more McKinsey PST sample tests: we’ve got you covered.

McKinsey PST Sample

If you want to make sure you’re well prepared and confident that you can ace the McKinsey PST, these 2 sample tests will help you improve your performance. Nothing beats extra practice!

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

McKinsey PST Download

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

Do you want to download the McKinsey PST to practice? You should! Roughly two thirds of candidates who take the PST fail. So if you want to ace the McKinsey Problem Solving Test it makes sense to practice and prepare.

Where can you download the McKinsey PST?

You can download the official practice cases from the McKinsey website. The exact page for downloading all material is right here. You’ll find:

Links to practice McKinsey PST cases
A link to the coaching guide
A link to the App store where you can download the McKinsey PST practice app

Though you might think that practice is unnecessary, a good score on the PST might affect your performance reviews during the later rounds of the interview process as well. A candidate with a great score on the PST is often preferred above a candidate with “a passing grade”. Practice makes sure you make the cutoff score, but also helps in preparing for life case interviews as well: many of the skills necessary for a great score on the PST also play a role during the later interview rounds.

How can I ace the McKinsey PST?

If you want to make sure you get to the first round case interviews, then it makes sense to prepare as well as possible. You can read up on the McKinsey PST or check out our article on McKinsey PST practice. Another way to make sure you get the highest possible score is to practice real McKinsey PST’s:

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

McKinsey PST Cutoff Score

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

A lot of the McKinsey application process is shrouded in mystery, including most of the information surround the McKinsey Problem Solving Test or PST. Many applicants (both those who succeeded in getting to the first round of case interviews, and those who did not) wonder where the cutoff score for the McKinsey lies. Though there’s no official word from McKinsey on how many correct answers you need to pass the McKinsey PST, we do have information from our own experience and the candidates we’ve helped through the years.

How many pass the McKinsey PST?

It is estimated that roughly 66% of all applicants who take the McKinsey PST fail. With the average level of intelligence and ambition that applicants exhibit, the bar is set pretty high. Many applicants underestimate how difficult it is to ace the PST and do not prepare sufficiently. Don’t forget: with only 60 minutes to answer 26 questions (and read through 4 cases), you have just slightly more than 2 minutes to answer each question.

What is the McKinsey PST cutoff score?

When talking to applicants who both aced the McKinsey PST and those failed, we estimate that the cutoff score is 19 or 20 correct answers. This also matches our own experience with taking the test. There’s no penalty for wrong answers, so of all the answers you give, there need to be 20 correct ones. This also means that you should answer all questions, especially if you run out of time.

There is no difference in cutoff scores in different McKinsey offices: everywhere the cutoff score for the McKinsey PST is the same. The cutoff score is also independent from the position you’re applying to: from summer intern to Business Analyst, you get the same PST and the same cutoff.

Practice the McKinsey PST

Luckily, you can increase your chances of making the cutoff score by practicing the PST. You can do this by brushing up on your math skills, but also by taking practice McKinsey PST tests provided by caseinterviewhq.com:

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

McKinsey PST Practice

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

Have your been invited to a nearby McKinsey office for your go at the McKinsey Problem Solving Test and are you looking for practice cases to make sure you ace it? Or are you considering a career in (strategy) consulting and want to make sure you know what is coming in advance? In either case: you’ve come to the right place for McKinsey PST practice.

How to practice the McKinsey PST?

The McKinsey PST is basically a written case interview: a series of questions on a company or non-profit firm to test your analytical skills. The questions are multiple choice, so you don’t have to write out your answers and can sometimes get away with educated guesses instead of exact calculations. There are lots of ways to practice the PST: both by brushing up the skills required during the Problem Solving Test itself as well as doing real practice PSTs (including the one you can download from the McKinsey website).

McKinsey PST practice: underlying skills

The McKinsey Problem Solving Test is meant to test your analytical and problem solving skills on paper. Since you cannot bring a calculator, it helps to train your mathematical skills as well. Though some practice is PST-specific, many of the skills necessary to ace the PST are also needed during the case interviews in later rounds.

Analytical skills: during the McKinsey PST you will be buried by facts and numbers, some of which are not relevant to answer the questions. You need to determine what is important and what not and analyse the important data. GRE and GMAT questions cover part of the skills required, as does practising real life case interviews with a partner.
Business Reading skills: you have to consume a lot of (financial) data on each case and it helps if you have a business “sense” that helps you discard the unimportant pieces of information and focus on what is truly important. Reading Business Insider, The Economist and similar magazines gives you the right mindset and increases your understanding of how business operate.
Mathematical skills: since you cannot bring a calculator, all computations have to be done by hand. The fastest is way to do these is by calculating in your head instead of on paper, but this required practice. For some great resources on how to improve your quantitative skills, click here.

McKinsey PST practice: practice PST’s

Another way to practice the McKinsey PST if by doing real practice Problem Solving Tests. Since 66% of candidates fail the McKinsey PST, it makes sense to prepare by doing real practice PSTs:

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

Rating: 9.0/10 (1 vote cast)

McKinsey Problem Solving Test (PST)

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

The McKinsey Problem Solving Test or McKinsey PST is the second hurdle applicants to McKinsey have to face when interviewing for this top-tier strategy consulting firm.

Interviewing at McKinsey: consulting resume and cover letter

When you apply at McKinsey, you are asked to send along your resume and cover letter. Both of these documents will “travel with you” during the interview process: every interviewer will have a copy of them at his disposal, and every live interview will have questions based on information you provide in these documents. These questions might be to break the ice (“I’ve also ran the NY marathon, in 2013! What was your most memorable moment?”) or to zoom in on strengths or weaknesses you have in your curriculum (“You have a PhD in Physics, but could you give me an example where you exhibited exceptional leadership?”). Roughly two-thirds of candidates are rejected based on their resume and cover letter, so you want to make sure you have the best consulting resume and that your cover letter stands out. Only one third of all applicants are invited for the McKinsey PST.

The McKinsey PST

The McKinsey Problem Solving Test or PST is a written case interview, where your analytical and business skills are put to the test under a challenging time limit. While not everyone is invited to take the McKinsey PST (proven analytical skills such as a Math or Physics PhD, or prior consulting experience at a top-tier firm might exempt you), most candidates are asked to do the test. It features 4 business cases and 26 multiple choice questions that need to be answered in 60 minutes. Of the 60.000 candidates that take the test worldwide, 66% fail the McKinsey Problem Solving Test. How can you make sure you are invited to the first rounds of case interviews?

McKinsey Problem Solving Test Practice

Many candidates underestimate the difficulty of the PST and focus their preparations purely on the case interviews. Though the skills required to ace the McKinsey PST and subsequent case interviews largely overlap, the setting completely differs. Many candidates are surprised by the how little time they actually have and finish only part of the Test. Others misjudge the amount of calculations you have to make and forget to brush up their math skills.

Time limit

With only 60 minutes to answer 26 questions, you have roughly 2 minutes per question. This seems like plenty of time, but you get a lot of data to parse: both text and financial data. One way to make sure you’re not surprised by the 60 minute time limit is by practicing the McKinsey PST. Either using the practice PST from the www.mckinsey.com or by using one of the practice PST’s we’ve made available.

Math skills

The McKinsey PST requires you to do a lot of calculations in a short amount of time. To make sure you calculate quickly and correctly you should practice your quantitative skills. There are plenty of sites and apps to test your mathematical prowess, and we’ve listed some in our article on case interview math. Don’t be put off by your initial performance: your skill will improve rapidly with daily practice.

McKinsey PST cutoff score

Many applicants wonder what the “passing grade” for the McKinsey PST is and we’ve talked with many candidates who both passed the test and those who did not. Based on our experience with the PST itself and our interviews of candidates, we believe the McKinsey PST cutoff is roughly 20 questions. This means that you need to get roughly 75% of all questions correct. This has implications for how you fill in the McKinsey PST: it’s better to guess answers if you’re running out of time (there’s no penalty for wrong answers) than to leave them open. Even better is to practice with practice PST’s, so you know what to expect.

Practice the McKinsey PST

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

Rating: 8.5/10 (2 votes cast)

McKinsey PST: How many pass?

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

When you are preparing to take the McKinsey PST you might wonder a lot about what your changes are: do you actually stand a change of gaining access to a case interview? And how can you maximize your chances? Have you already been invited, or do you still need to submit your resume and cover letter? Dominic Barton, the global managing director or head of “The Firm”, has recently said in an interview that McKinsey received 201.000 applications in 2012. Of those, only 2.100 (roughly 1%) received an offer.

The good news

The good news is that whether you pass the McKinsey PST or not is in your own hands: you can prepare for the mathematical and problem-solving aspects of the PST by using the free guides found on this site and the internet or by doing the practice tests from the ‘Key to the PST‘. Since you cannot bring a calculator, it helps to improve your math skills as well: practice makes perfect.

If you’ve already received your invitation to the McKinsey Problem Solving Test, there’s even more good news: it means you already got through the resume & cover letter scan. It’s estimated that only one third of the candidates get through this step and are invited to do the McKinsey PST. If you still have to submit your application, take a look at our articles on crafting the best consulting resume and cover letter to increase your changes of being invited.

The bad news

There is some bad news though: it’s estimated that roughly 66% of all candidates that are invited for the McKinsey PST fail the test. This is not surprising, as it is meant as a screening tool for potential candidates and McKinsey sets the bar in the consulting industry. This means only 1 out of every 10 applicants (21.000 globally in 2012) even gets to the first round case interview. Of these candidates, only 10% get an offer after the first and second rounds of interviews.

Practice the McKinsey PST

Luckily, you can increase your chances of getting to the first round of case interviews by practice. You can do this by brushing up on your math skills, but also by taking practice McKinsey PST tests provided by caseinterviewhq.com:

The Key to the PST: a fully-fledged practice PST with 26 questions and an extensive answer guide. In addition, it also features tips on how to ace the McKinsey PST both when preparing and during the actual Problem Solving Test.
The Second Key to the PST: an additional practice PST with a fresh set of cases and the same extensive answer guide.

Rating: 8.5/10 (2 votes cast)

Updated: Key to the PST

by Stephan Spijkers Leave a Comment

The best preparation for the McKinsey PST: now updated

The best book for your McKinsey Problem Solving Test preparation has been online for only three months, and it’s already being updated. Why? Well, let me share a secret with you about how the ‘Key to the PST’ came to be…

A request from a friend

When I finished writing my other book (“Cracking the Case“) I had asked some friends and colleagues to proof-read the book and distribute it freely if they wanted to help other friends with their case preparation. I received great feedback on my book and made some important improvements as a result.

One of my friends came back to me with a different kind of question: he was preparing for the McKinsey PST and found the section in “Cracking the Case” really helpful. He asked me whether I could write a whole practice problem solving test, so he could practice for the real PST. Since I just completed “Cracking the Case”, I did not really feel like writing another book so soon, but he kept asking and finally I gave in.

The Key to the PST

I drafted some extra questions and let him practice with it. I walked him through the answers and he later aced the ‘real’ PST. He then kept pushing me to share this book with the rest of the world, so I decided to polish the draft a little and put it online on CaseInterviewHQ. It was an instant success and I felt a little scared: it proved to be a great practice together with me walking you through the answers, but what if I wasn’t there in person?

The response I get from my readers however is great: it really helps people finish the PST with more confidence, more time left to review answers and better results. There were still some rough edges and I got great feedback from many readers: thank you! This resulted in the new version of the Key to the PST being released so soon: version 1.1 is available for download right now. It features more clear answer guidelines and some improved formulation of the questions, resembling the real PST even closer.

Thanks a lot for your great feedback (keep it coming) and good luck with your problem solving test and case interviews!

Best,

Stephan.

Rating: 8.5/10 (4 votes cast)