McChrystal Group Interview Questions
& Process

Went through a few rounds of interviews and was asked to prepare a case study presentation which took a couple of hours. Received good feedback but was completely ghosted by the team/HR despite following up multiple times. Don't waste your time interviewing here, their treatment of prospective candidates is extremely unprofessional.

The HR rep seemed really interested and told me I was moving on, both verbally and in writing. But then I had to chase them for a while to hear back. The next interview was with a senior executive, and it went great; they said I'd made it to the next stage. The HR rep contacted me again to set up another interview, and I gave them my availability. I never heard from them again after that. It's pretty unprofessional how they treated me, makes me question how they treat their actual employees.

My McChrystal Group interview experience wasn't great. It started with a phone interview, then a Skype interview, then a site visit with several interviews, and finally another site visit with more interviews. There were usually a few weeks to a month between each stage. The whole thing usually takes months, but for me, after the last interviews, they said I'd hear back in a few days and then... nothing for months. I even had to take sick days for it, which felt like a big HR mistake. But the interviewers themselves were nice, smart, and knew their stuff. They talked openly about the company, sharing both good and bad. I learned a lot from them about what it's like to work there. MG focuses on making companies more adaptable by improving knowledge and information flow, using academic insights and rigorous analysis to understand and optimize organizational operations. They also offer leadership advice based on their military background. Pros: Good core philosophy, open environment, impressive employee backgrounds, high pay, and travel opportunities. Cons: Leadership changes can be abrupt and common, long hours (60-80/week), some interviewers looked stressed, the interview process felt disorganized with scheduling issues and last-minute briefing for interviewers, criticism seems to be a part of the culture, and travel might be a con if you dislike it.

After getting referred, I got an email to set up a phone screen. I passed that and was then asked to write a white paper and tell them when I could come in for an in-person interview. I put about 50 hours into the white paper over two weeks and felt like I nailed the interview. They said I'd hear back in a few days, but it took 24 days and a lot of follow-ups to find out I didn't get the job. I asked for feedback from the recruiter, who was super helpful and nice the whole time. She told me the hiring manager and team only had good things to say about my interview, white paper, and how well I knew the company. They decided not to hire me because they didn't think I'd like the job. I actually really liked the whole interview process, even reading some of their books. But the weak reason for not hiring me and no real criticism made me surprised, frustrated, and like I wasted my time. On a good note, McChrystal Group has a really nice place and very smart, dedicated employees.