McKinsey Personal Experience Interview practice, one story, told in detail
McKinsey asks you to discuss important experiences in detail, focusing on your own role and key actions. Pick a prompt, plan the story, tell it against a timer, then answer follow-ups. Free, with no sign-up.
Free and runs in your browser. Soreno is independent and not affiliated with McKinsey & Company. The prompts are original practice questions, not McKinsey's. The 7-day free trial includes 2 mock interviews and 3 drills.
Tell one story, then take the follow-ups
Eight original prompts, two for each of the four areas McKinsey names on its careers page. Choose one, plan it with a STAR-style outline, tell it out loud and review yourself.
Tell me about a time you had to work closely with someone who saw a problem very differently from you.
Original practice prompts written by Soreno, not McKinsey's questions. Use a real example from your own experience.
A PEI rewards depth on one experience, so spend most of your time on the Action and Reflection boxes. Jot a few words for each part. Notes stay in your browser.
Situation and stakes
- Where and when, in one or two sentences?
- Why did it matter, and to whom?
Your role and the challenge
- What exactly were you responsible for?
- What was the hardest part, and why?
Your actions and reasoning
- What did you do, in order? Say I, not we.
- What did you say or decide at the key moment, and what did you rule out?
Result and reflection
- What changed because of what you did? Be honest about what did not work.
- What would the other people involved say about you? What did you learn?
Tell the story in about 3 minutes. McKinsey does not publish how long a PEI lasts or how many questions you get, so this length is our own practice target. Speak, do not read your notes.
0 of 6 checked
Tell the story, then answer each follow-up out loud before you move to the next. These follow-ups are our own, written to test how well you remember and understand your own story. They are not McKinsey's questions.
What exactly did you say in that conversation?
What the difference sounds like
An invented example for the Connection prompt, so you can see the difference in detail. It is not a model answer to copy: your story has to be yours.
Tell me about a time you had to work closely with someone who saw a problem very differently from you.
Weak answer
In my last internship we had a disagreement on the team about how to run a report. We talked it through and in the end everyone agreed. I learned that communication is important and that it is good to listen to other people's views. The report was delivered on time and my manager was happy.
- No named person, decision or stake, so the interviewer has nothing to probe.
- Says we and everyone, so your own actions are invisible.
- The lesson is generic and could attach to any story.
Strong answer
I was an analyst at a regional grocery distributor, and our supply planner, Marta, wanted to cut the weekly demand forecast from 40 products to the 12 biggest. I thought we would miss the slow movers that cause stockouts. I asked her to walk me through the last three stockouts. Two came from the 12 products and one from a slow mover, so her point was stronger than I expected. I proposed keeping the 12 weekly and moving the rest to a monthly check, and I built a one-page test using her own stockout list. She agreed to a six-week trial. At week six we had two stockouts on the 12 and none on the slow movers, and we kept the split. I learned to start from the other person's evidence before I defend mine.
- A concrete decision, with both views stated fairly.
- Shows what the candidate did to understand the other side, using her data.
- A specific proposal and a result with an honest number, plus a lesson tied to the story.
The people, firms and numbers in these examples are invented for illustration.
Connection, Drive, Leadership and Growth
McKinsey's careers page lists four areas with a short description and a preview question for each. The descriptions below are in our own words, and each question is paraphrased from McKinsey's preview.
- 1
Connection
Delivering the right answer for clients takes respectful debate and relationships built on trust.
McKinsey's preview question, paraphrased: A challenging situation where you worked with someone who held an opposing opinion.
- 2
Drive
Overcoming obstacles and reaching hard goals takes resilience, creativity and judgment.
McKinsey's preview question, paraphrased: A time you worked hard to achieve excellence in particularly tough circumstances.
- 3
Leadership
Making the most of diverse perspectives takes leadership grounded in understanding, and the ability to empower and motivate people.
McKinsey's preview question, paraphrased: An example of working effectively with people of different backgrounds despite challenges.
- 4
Growth
Growing as a professional takes constant learning and openness to feedback and change.
McKinsey's preview question, paraphrased: A time you had to learn something new quickly to handle a challenging situation.
What the employer says, and what it does not
Here is what McKinsey says about the Personal Experience Interview on its own careers page, and what it does not publish.
Stated on its own pages
- For most client-facing roles you have a personal experience interview, followed by a problem-solving interview. Depending on the role there may also be expertise interviews, and your recruiter confirms the details in advance. McKinsey: Interviewing.
- In the PEI McKinsey wants to hear about your experiences, both accomplishments and challenges, to find skills that will help you thrive there. It asks you to come prepared to discuss important experiences in detail, focusing on your specific role and the key actions that were critical to success. McKinsey: Interviewing.
- McKinsey suggests coming prepared with two personal examples that show your impact in each of four areas: Connection, Drive, Leadership and Growth. It also asks you to share the challenges and the specific actions you took. McKinsey: Interviewing.
- Using AI to practice interview questions is listed as encouraged. Generating real-time answers during an interview, exaggerating achievements and using AI during assessments (unless permitted) are listed as not allowed. McKinsey: Interviewing.
Not published
- How long the PEI is, how many questions it has, or how many follow-up questions to expect. Figures you see elsewhere come from candidates and prep companies, not from McKinsey.
- How the PEI is scored, what separates a strong answer from a weak one, or how it is weighted against the problem-solving interview.
- Whether each interviewer covers one of the four areas or how the areas are assigned to interviewers.
Sources, read October 2026
Soreno is independent and not affiliated with McKinsey & Company. Processes change, so check the employer's pages and your invitation for the current format.
Then practice it with an AI interviewer
These are features that exist in the Soreno app today. They help you practice behavioral answers out loud. They are general behavioral practice and do not reproduce any employer's questions or scoring.
- 1
Behavioral questions in the library
Soreno's library includes behavioral questions. You pick one, answer out loud, and the AI interviewer asks follow-ups.
- 2
Follow-ups on your own story
The interviewer asks about the specific story you told, the way the follow-up drill on this page does, so a thin answer shows up in practice instead of in the real interview.
- 3
A scored report
After the session you get feedback with quotes from your own answer and a plan for the next attempt. Check it against what really happened; it is AI coaching, not an employer's rubric.
Keep going, then do it out loud
Read the longer guides, try the other free practice pages or compare ways to practice.
McKinsey PEI questions guide
The longer written guide: questions, how to choose stories and what to avoid.
McKinsey case interview practice
The other half of the process: a free interviewer-led sample case.
BCG and Bain fit interview practice
Fit and behavioral practice for the two other big strategy firms.
Tell me about yourself practice
A 90-second answer with a structure template and checklist.
Behavioral interview practice
Six free questions with STAR prompts, a timer and a self-review list.
Compare practice options
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Pricing
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