Kearney and McKinsey share a 1926 ancestor. Tom Kearney was the first partner James O. McKinsey hired, and after McKinsey died in 1937, the firm split into pieces. Marvin Bower took one piece and built the McKinsey & Company we know today. Tom Kearney took another piece and renamed it A.T. Kearney in 1947. Eight…
Read more
The Kearney application funnel runs four stages and rejects somewhere between 95% and 98% of applicants depending on the office. Most candidates fixate on the case interview because that’s the most-discussed stage. The honest reality: the case interview rejects fewer candidates than the application screen and the Kearney Recruitment Test combined. Most rejections happen before…
Read more
A Kearney case interview is candidate-led, runs 25-40 minutes, and skews heavily toward operations, procurement, and supply chain. Roughly 80% of cases I’ve seen Kearney deliver across coached candidates fall into one of four archetypes. If you can recognize the archetype in the first minute, your structure choice and analytical priorities are already set. If…
Read more
The Kearney fit interview is not a behavioral interview. It’s a culture-fit screen wearing behavioral clothing. Kearney recruits aggressively against three specific cultural traits — humility, grit, and collaboration — and the questions you’ll face exist primarily to reveal whether you embody those traits, not to test storytelling polish. Candidates who treat the fit interview…
Read more
Updated May 7, 2026 | By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Kearney was founded by Tom Kearney, the first partner James O. McKinsey ever hired. After the founder of McKinsey & Company died in 1937, the firm split into pieces. Tom Kearney took his half, renamed it A.T. Kearney in 1947, and built it…
Read more
Florian spent five years at McKinsey as a Senior Consultant and is a highly experienced consulting interviewer and problem-solving coach. Having conducted interviews with hundreds of candidates, he understands exactly what top-tier firms look for in successful applicants.
He founded StrategyCase.com to make top consulting careers more accessible by providing tailored, up-to-date insights into the recruiting process. Recognized as the most successful case and fit interview coach, Florian has helped his clients secure 700+ offers at MBB, Tier-2 firms, Big 4 consulting divisions, in-house consultancies, and boutique firms over the past four years.
He is the author of “The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview,” “The 1%: Case Interview Workbook,” and “Consulting Career Secrets”, all available on Amazon.
