McKinsey PEI: Typical questions, good answers, and common mistakes
Through many years of interviewing as a McKinsey partner, I’ve seen a lot of people that didn’t make the cut because they did not prepare enough or more often did not prepare correctly to answer McKinsey PEI questions.
The McKinsey PEI, which is the behavioral interview where you are asked about personal experiences, is just as important for the outcome as the case interview. In this article, I will discuss a number of common McKinsey PEI questions, how to answer them to demonstrate specific qualities that the interviewer is looking for, and how to avoid mistakes that many candidates make.
Note that in our PEI digital course, we elaborate further on the topics discussed in this article, provide examples of PEI interviews and suitable stories as well as answer questions that we frequently receive from candidates.
As you might already know from McKinsey’s career site, there are 4 core skills that the Firm is looking for: Problem solving, Entrepreneurial drive (being gradually replaced by courageous change), Personal impact, and Inclusive leadership. The last three skills are tested through McKinsey PEI questions. Let’s discuss them one by one.
Entrepreneurial drive: McKinsey PEI questions and how to answer them
McKinsey’s definition of Entrepreneurial drive
“Overcoming tough challenges and achieving goals requires an innovative mindset, an openness to new approaches, and a continuous quest for learning and growth”.
List of McKinsey PEI questions about Entrepreneurial drive
As a part of the McKinsey PEI interview, you will be asked to tell a story from your career or life that highlights the required skill. Examples of McKinsey PEI questions that will kick off your Entrepreneurial drive story are
Tell me about a time when you had to achieve a challenging objective.
Think of a situation where you had to work hard to accomplish a goal that was out of your comfort zone and that you set up for yourself.
Tell me about some episode in your life when you had to work extra hard to achieve something you really wanted to achieve.
I want you to tell me a story about when you had to deal with a challenging, individual goal at a certain point of your career highlighted in your CV.
Once you start telling the story, don’t be surprised if the interviewer interrupts you and starts asking follow-up questions, sometimes leading you in a different direction. You should expect a lot of “digging” into your motivations, rationales, emotions, and the authenticity of your story (You can further explore dynamic of the PEI interview in the interview example videos). Take time to answer them carefully. The discussion would typically last between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the interview.
How to answer McKinsey PEI questions about Entrepreneurial drive
When answering McKinsey PEI questions on Entrepreneurial drive and the interviewer’s follow-up questions, you need to clearly demonstrate that
You identify opportunities to improve things
You identify opportunities to improve things without being prompted to do so (you look for them yourself and take proactive initiative)
You have the energy and stamina to drive change to achieve these improvements
You do that in an efficient way
You don’t give up when things are tough
It is important that you understand why you need to demonstrate the above qualities when you answer McKinsey PEI questions, so that you know what is on the interviewer’s mind and what they look for in your Entrepreneurial drive stories:
Management Consulting culture is not about doing exactly what you are told to do. You might know the desired outcome, but the “how” is not given and it is your job to figure it out. As a consultant, you will never get a perfect guide on how to get to desired goals provided by your managers. Instead, you are expected to see the opportunities, come up with your suggestions on how to do things better, and present them to leaders and clients. Everyone, no matter their position in the firm, must constantly look for opportunities to improve things for their clients and take ownership to drive those. Show in your story that you can see opportunities and set up a goal for yourself to capture those.
When you look for opportunities to change things and take ownership of those, you might find yourself overwhelmed. Hence, you need to learn how to deliver desired outcomes in the most efficient way (good old “work smart, not hard”), which is about learning how to prioritize what is most important. In Management Consulting you always do things 80/20, which means you focus on the 20% of work that delivers 80% of the outcome. Demonstrate that you prioritized effectively instead of going brute force and doing everything.
Finally, the entrepreneurial drive is about getting stuff done. No matter the pressure, no matter how tough your task is. Show in your story that your accomplishment was tough for you, otherwise your goal wasn’t challenging enough.
McKinsey Entrepreneurial drive interview example
Personal impact: McKinsey PEI questions and how to answer them
McKinsey’s definition of Personal impact
“Working with clients on challenging issues requires the involvement and support of many individuals. Interacting effectively with people is key to creating positive, enduring change.”
List of McKinsey PEI questions about Personal impact
As a part of the McKinsey PEI interview, you will be asked to tell a story from your career or life that highlights the required skill. Examples of McKinsey PEI questions that will kick off your Personal impact story are
Tell me about a time when you had to convince another person to adopt a different opinion
Think of a situation where you had a conflict with a person and successfully solved it.
Tell me about a situation when you successfully resolved tension with someone you had to work with
Describe a situation when you had to collaborate with someone who had a different opinion from yours on how to do the work
How to answer McKinsey PEI questions about Personal impact
When answering McKinsey PEI questions on Personal impact and the interviewer’s follow-up questions, you need to clearly demonstrate that
You get an in-depth understanding of a person’s opinion
You “read between the lines” and get a sense of the underlying reasons for what the person is saying (needs, beliefs, fears etc.)
You can influence a person’s opinion, or you can find a way to reconcile your views
You do that no matter the seniority of the counterpart
Again, important that you understand why you need to demonstrate the skills above and what is on the interviewer’s mind when they ask you Personal impact McKinsey PEI questions:
When working with clients, you will find that on many occasions they look at you and they might not see why you are there, and what it is that you know that they don’t know after many years at the job. You might often find that they have high guards. Clients are of course right when they think that they are better experts at the job than you are. What you bring is your outstanding problem-solving ability. You need to find a way to leverage both your client’s expertise and your problem-solving skills. To do that you will need to listen and probe to build an in-depth understanding of their rationales and perspectives. Demonstrate in your story that you can do that.
Once you diagnose your client’s problem and suggest a solution you might face resistance; in most cases, change is uncomfortable. Can you find a way to overcome this resistance by influencing people? If so, show that in your story and expect to dig into how exactly you do that.
You will face the above situations with clients on all levels, from very junior ones to CEOs, and you will not have hierarchical power over anyone. It is important to be able to sustain calm confidence (not arrogance or defensiveness) in any conversation and your ability to influence others, no matter the seniority of your counterpart for your work to have a meaningful impact.
Inclusive leadership: McKinsey PEI questions and how to answer them
McKinsey’s definition of Inclusive leadership
“Harnessing the power of diverse thinking to drive results requires the ability to lead people with different backgrounds and create belonging where everyone can be at their best.”
List of McKinsey PEI questions about Inclusive leadership
As a part of the McKinsey PEI interview, you will be asked to tell a story from your career or life that highlights the required skill. Examples of McKinsey PEI questions that will kick off your Inclusive leadership story are
Tell me when you had to work towards a common goal with someone who you felt did not contribute
Tell me about a time when you led a group of people to achieve a challenging objective
Can you remember a situation when you had to work in a group, and together you had to overcome difficulties to achieve a goal?
What was the greatest leadership challenge in your previous role?
How to answer McKinsey PEI questions about Inclusive leadership
When answering McKinsey PEI questions on Inclusive leadership you need to show that:
You can lead a diverse team to achieve challenging goals
You can lead a team both in a formal and informal capacity (not being officially assigned to be a leader)
You lead through empathy
You can motivate others
You are a good collaborator and team player
What is what is on the interviewer’s mind when they ask Inclusive Leadership McKinsey PEI questions? As we discussed before, in management consulting you will be working a lot with other people, both clients, and fellow consultants. At some point, you will start leading teams formally, but even before that, you are expected to be able to lead. What can “leading” mean in this case? Let’s say someone on the team is falling behind. Someone finds it hard to deal with stress. There might be thousands of reasons that could create a difficult situation and prevent a team from achieving its goal. Taking the lead means that you should be able to utilize your empathy to uncover and understand hidden motivations, fears, needs, and beliefs behind the actions of others. Once you understand them you need to be able to figure out how to use this knowledge to motivate others, help resolve challenging team situations and help others by helping them overcome their fears, feel empowered, and supported. Try to find a story that illustrates how you helped someone to achieve challenging goals by making them feel stronger, by giving them a reason to continue.
Now that we discussed we discussed McKinsey PEI questions and how to find the best answers by picking the right stories let’s talk about how to avoid the most typical mistakes that the candidates make when telling their stories.
Courageous change: McKinsey PEI questions and how to answer them
McKinsey’s definition of Courageous change
“Embracing change with courage and positivity and being adaptable to unexpected situations enables you to learn about yourself and grow as a professional”.
List of McKinsey PEI questions about Courageous change
An example of a McKinsey PEI question that will kick off your Courageous change story is
Tell me about a time when you experienced a significant change or encountered an ambiguous situation and share the actions you took to adapt to the new circumstances
Tell me about en episode from your life when you identified a need for change, how you navigated through it, and what the outcome was
How to answer McKinsey PEI questions about Courageous change
This a new dimension that is being gradually rolled out to potentially eventually replace Entrepreneurial Drive. Though Courageous change has a lot in common with Entrepreneurial drive, there are a few nuances that are important to keep in mind when preparing your stories. Below we discuss Courageous change dimensions that you need to clearly demonstrate together with an explanation how they are different from Entrepreneurial Drive
When facing a changing environment, you can see and focus on opportunities instead of challenges
It is easy for you to cope with change, and you help others cope too
You take initiative whenever there is an opportunity to drive change without being prompted to do so
You have the energy and stamina to drive change
When creating change, it is important for you that it is lasting
As you can see, just as in Entrepreneurial Drive, McKinsey is looking for your ability to take initiative and have stamina to drive positive impact. But Courageous change puts emphasis on a few other dimensions too. The initiative that you take should be a response to a changing environment. It should illustrate that it is easy for you to adapt and cope with a changing environment, but also that you can see opportunities to benefit from it. Also, you care about bringing others along and make sure that the impact you create is lasting.
Here is what the interviewer will likely have in mind when digging into your Courageous change story.
The world around us is quickly changing (digitalization, pandemic, war, recession and likely a lot more to come), which leads to a lot of companies taking defensive positions, focusing on survival. McKinsey teams need to help clients not only survive, but thrive, see opportunities in change and not be shattered by it. Are you someone who can help them?
Change is never easy, particularly when it happens fast. The one who drives it needs to have a lot of resilience and be able to focus on what matters the most, applying the good old 80/20 principle. Show in your story that you can do that.
To make sure that the impact of your work is lasting, you need to help others not only cope with change but make them see and believe in the opportunities that change presents and support them on this journey. If you don’t achieve that, after the project is done your client might “slide” back into the old ways of working. Try to demonstrate that you can bring people along and create enduring impact.
You can find many more examples and detailed descriptions of courageous change in our digital course here
How to avoid common mistakes when answering McKinsey PEI questions
Focus on soft skills, not hard skills
It needs to be about you, not about “them”
Stay authentic
Focus on soft skills, not hard skills.
The goal of the McKinsey PEI questions is to assess a candidate’s soft skills, not hard skills. Hard skills, such as analytics and problem solving are assessed within the case part of the interview.
It might sound obvious, yet this is the most common mistake that candidates make. A lot of stories that we hear are focused on overcoming a challenge or achieving a goal through hard skills.
We often hear stories about candidates joining new teams, projects, and employers, quickly figuring out how to improve things or processes, suggesting a change to their managers who happily adopt the proposed solution, and immediately delivering impact.
The problem with this story is that what the candidate is trying to show is that he or she achieved something by applying better problem-solving skills and this is not what the interviewer is looking for in your answers to McKinsey PEI questions. Instead, the interviewer will start digging into what happened between proposing a new solution and delivering the impact. How did others react? Was it difficult to convince them? How did you convince them? Or was it just your boss telling them to do things differently? You need to demonstrate qualities that the interviewer is looking for (see above) and all of those focus on your soft skills.
Review the drafts of the stories that you prepared carefully and write down what each of the stories mostly highlights. If it mostly highlights your problem-solving skills, it is the wrong story or it is the wrong way of delivering it.
It needs to be about you, not them.
When answering McKinsey PEI questions, you want to talk about a situation, where your contribution was big. Not the contribution of your team or working group, but your personal contribution. It is much better if the total impact is small, and you delivered most of it than if the total impact is big, but your role was not significant. If you decide to go for a story where you delivered something as a part of a team, you need to be laser-focused on what YOU did.
For example, a candidate was telling us about a career fair that his team arranged. It was a very big and successful project, with appropriate challenges and a diverse team.
However, when the candidate was asked about his specific contribution, it became apparent that he was not particularly involved in solving the challenges discussed in the story. It is not that he didn’t encounter any challenges as he was managing finances for the fair and it was quite stressful. His challenges seemed less meaningful to him and as a result, he decided to not focus on them.
For the interviewer, it is not important if the career fair delivered by the team of 20 people was successful. But it is very important to hear how the candidate personally dealt with stress and challenges related to managing finances and how he utilized the qualities discussed above. The candidate should have focused on how he delivered impact in this specific role instead of spending almost a full interview talking about the team.
Review your stories and honestly ask yourself: How big is your role in this story? How much do you use “I” instead of “We”? How big was your contribution to the final impact? If it is too small, change the accents of your story, allocate more time to your actions and results, or pick a different story altogether.
Stay authentic.
Be yourself. At the end of the day, the person who is hiring you will most likely end up working with you. Take flights together. Spend late nights working side by side. If you were in their shoes, wouldn’t you want to hire someone you would enjoy spending time with?
There is nothing worse than listening to a never-ending-chain of buzzwords or fancy terms from a candidate who is trying to sell themselves. As a PEI interviewer, I want to understand who the person in front of me is. What are her values and motivations, how does she make it through the low points in life, how does she celebrate the high points? Can I rely on her? Can we have fun together? Can I learn something from her? Does she inspire me?
Treat the interviewer like a peer, let them see how it will be once they work with you. Show your emotions. Don’t be dull, generic, or fluffy, don’t use cliché words and phrases.
Here are a few suggestions on how to make your answers to McKinsey PEI questions sound more authentic:
Use specifics, such as dates, names, and specific descriptions. Imagine that you paint a picture of what was going on around you at the time. However, make sure that you don’t overload the interviewer with details to the extent that it gets hard to follow the main messages.
Don’t tell your story in a way an outsider who observed the events would tell it. Tell your story from your perspective. Don’t shy away from talking about your reactions, emotions, and feelings. Not only about the positive ones – feelings of stress, uncertainty and anxiety can often be a sign that the situation you are describing is meaningful enough.
Lead the interviewers through your internal decision-making so that they can understand what drives you, what gives you energy, and what scares you. For things that scare you or you need to work on, show that you are aware of them, and demonstrate how you deal with them.
Review the stories and try to remove all the buzz words. When answering McKinsey PEI questions, make sure they demonstrate your emotions. Enrich them with specific details. Practice telling your stories to your friends and observe if they are genuinely interested and if it is easy for them to follow your thinking and feeling process. And just be yourself. Seriously, if you pretend to be someone else because you are worried that you don’t fit into the culture of your new employer you will quickly find yourself miserable once you join.