Posting my timeline because I had a hard time finding current data when I started. This was for a business analyst (post-MBA associate equivalent) role, process completed Q1 2026.
My timeline: LinkedIn recruiter reach-out: Day 0 Recruiter phone screen: Day 8 (scheduled about a week out) McKinsey Problem Solving Game (Imbellus): Day 15 (link sent same day as screen, had 1 week to complete) First-round interview (2 interviews, same day): Day 34 Wait for second round invite: ~12 days Final round (2 more interviews): Day 47 Verbal offer: Day 51 Written offer: Day 57
Total from first contact to written offer: about 8 weeks. Which felt long but apparently is normal.
The unpredictable parts:
The wait between first round and second round was the most stressful. No communication for almost two weeks. I eventually emailed the recruiter asking for a status update, which was the right call. I heard back within 24 hours that I'd moved forward. They're not radio silence for drama reasons, they're just scheduling a lot of people at once.
The Problem Solving Game (the gamified assessment they use) is not optional and not trivial. Look it up before you do it. There's enough information online. I did not prep and I think it showed. I passed but it was not comfortable.
Offer timeline: There's an exploding offer situation that others have described. My verbal offer had a deadline to accept, and that deadline came before I was done with another process I was running. I asked for an extension and got one week more. They said no to a second extension. So be aware of that dynamic if you're juggling multiple pipelines.
If anyone has questions about specific stages, happy to go into more detail.