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Behavioral Interview Guides

Top 20 Behavioral Questions

10 min read

Most behavioral questions across MBB and Big Tech fall into six recurring themes. If you have a strong story mapped to each theme, you can answer ~90% of behavioral questions you will ever face. Here are the 20 most common, organised by theme.

Leadership

  • Tell me about a time you led a team through a difficult situation.
  • Describe a time you had to make a high-stakes decision with incomplete information.
  • Tell me about a time you set an ambitious goal and drove your team to achieve it.
  • Give me an example of when you had to adapt your leadership style for a specific person or situation.

Teamwork and Conflict

  • Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a teammate and how you resolved it.
  • Describe a situation where you had to collaborate with someone whose working style was very different from yours.
  • Tell me about a time your team was not working well together. What did you do?

Influence and Persuasion

  • Tell me about a time you convinced someone to change their mind.
  • Describe a situation where you influenced a senior leader or key stakeholder without formal authority.
  • Give me an example of building consensus among a group with conflicting opinions.
  • Tell me about a time you had to sell an idea that faced strong initial resistance.

Problem-Solving

  • Tell me about a time you identified a problem before anyone else did.
  • Describe a situation where you had to solve a complex problem with limited resources.
  • Tell me about a time you had to change course mid-project because your initial approach was not working.

Failure and Resilience

  • Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn from it?
  • Describe a situation where you faced a major setback and how you recovered.
  • Tell me about a time you received critical feedback. How did you respond?

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Motivation

  • Why consulting?
  • Why this firm specifically?
  • Tell me about a time you went above and beyond what was expected of you.

The McKinsey PEI (2025 Update)

McKinsey's Personal Experience Interview (PEI) updated its four dimensions in mid-2025: Connection (formerly Personal Impact), Drive (formerly Entrepreneurial Drive), Leadership, and Growth. Unlike standard behavioral interviews that cover multiple short questions, the McKinsey PEI goes deep on a single story for 10–15 minutes and carries roughly equal weight to your case interview.

Build a story coverage matrix. List your 5–6 prepared stories across the top and the six behavioral themes down the side. Mark which themes each story can cover. Aim for every theme to have at least two story options, you may be asked for a second example if an interviewer has already heard about a particular situation.

Many candidates prepare extensively for cases and spend almost no time on behavioral prep. At McKinsey, BCG, and Bain in the final rounds, fit interview performance carries as much weight as case performance. Do not treat behavioral prep as a 30-minute afterthought.

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