McKinsey & Company

Role: Software Engineer (SDE)

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: August 2022

Interview Type: On-Campus, Full-Time

Result: Selected (Offered Internship + FTE)

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 4 rounds

Topics Asked: Coding (0/1 Knapsack variation, Bit Manipulation, Dynamic Programming), SQL queries, OOPs, OS, DBMS, CN, DSA (Spanning Trees, MSTs, Prim's, Kruskal's, Searching in a Rotated Sorted Array), DAA, Projects, System Design

Experience:

McKinsey visited the college campus in August 2022 for the Software Engineer role. The first round was a coding test consisting of two coding questions and two SQL queries. The coding questions included a variation of the 0/1 knapsack problem (return maximum quantity) and a medium-level bit manipulation question. The SQL queries were one easy and one medium. The candidate solved all questions and was shortlisted along with around 300 students.

Round 2 was a code pair round conducted in campus labs, where a McKinsey employee accompanied the candidate. A dynamic programming question was given: "There are several cities in a row, and two bus lines go between them. They both visit all cities in order, but one may take longer than the other to go between any two cities. Starting or moving to the blue line takes a certain amount of extra time. No spare time is required to begin on or move to the red line. Determine the minimum cost to move from the first city to each city." The candidate had to explain the logic and then write pseudo-code, which was approved before coding.

Round 3 was a technical interview. The interviewer reviewed the resume and asked about projects and OOPs questions. A medium-level SQL query was then asked, followed by a request for a high-level design for a given problem. DSA questions included searching in a rotated sorted array, for which the candidate provided all approaches. The candidate was called for the next round within 5 minutes.

Round 4 was the final round with the CTO of McKinsey India hub, focusing on computer fundamentals. The interviewer asked the candidate to rate themselves in subjects like OOPs, OS, DBMS, CN, DSA, and DAA. Questions included OOPs concepts like Multiple Inheritance - Diamond problem and Polymorphism. From DBMS, questions on various anomalies, minimal cover, and functional dependencies were asked. Spanning trees, MSTs, and algorithms like Prim's and Kruskal's were also discussed. The candidate was among 10 selected individuals and received an offer for both an internship and full-time employment.