Kearney Case Interview Practice: Free Case and Prep Resources
Kearney publishes one free practice case, promotional planning, with good and great answer guidelines, and a mock of the 60-minute online test its Romania, Czech Republic and Poland offices use, with an answer key. Unlike McKinsey's Solve, a game McKinsey says needs no preparation, Kearney's test is multiple-choice math, verbal and chart questions you can rehearse.Kearney (opens in a new tab), read ; Kearney (opens in a new tab), read ; McKinsey (opens in a new tab), read
Try a free Kearney-style case now: Bumper Lead Time. No card, no signup.
Free, no signup: 2 worked cases with model answers. Free, no card: your first full practice case with an AI interviewer. Paid: Pro $49/month for every case.
Updated ·By Esteban Ronsin·Founder · former Deloitte and Accenture Strategy consultant
Built and reviewed with former McKinsey, BCG and Bain consultants and interviewers.
Free Kearney interview prep resources
Kearney interview prep resources: what you get, whether it is free or paid, and the link
Resource
What you get
Free or paid
Link
Kearney practice case: promotion planning
Kearney's own practice case: a grocery and drug store chain gets less sales lift from promotions than its rivals. The facts, the question and Kearney's step-by-step answer guidelines
Kearney's mock of the 60-minute online recruiting test its Romania, Czech Republic and Poland offices use: logical counting, statements, verbal logic, reading, and table and graph questions, with an answer key
5 library cases matched to Kearney's case types, run out loud with an AI interviewer or step by step and scored on 7 skills; start with Bumpers R Us
Free + paid. The case list and a worked excerpt are public; a free account includes 1 full AI-graded case in voice or guided mode; Pro ($49/month) adds every case
Corvane Air: operations case with answers Industry: Airlines. Difficulty: medium.1 math question.
Why are a regional airline's overnight maintenance checks finishing late and delaying morning flights, and what is the cheapest way to fix it? 6 questions, 4 exhibits, a model answer for each
Free. The whole case and every model answer, no account; the practice button opens a live case like it
Pinecrest Cold Storage: investment case with answers Industry: Logistics. Difficulty: hard.2 math questions.
Should a cold-storage operator invest about $60 million in a new temperature-controlled warehouse, and at which of two sites? 7 questions, 3 exhibits, a model answer for each
Free. The whole case and every model answer, no account; the practice button opens a live case like it
Kearney fit and behavioral questions answered out loud, with follow-up probes and structured feedback (choose Kearney on the page)
Free + paid. 1 behavioral or Learning Mode session with a free account; Behavioral Unlimited ($39/month, behavioral and PEI only) or any Pro plan adds more
Firm-style cases are practice cases written for Road to Offer or adapted from university consulting club casebooks, not the firm's own cases. Road to Offer is independent and not affiliated with Kearney.
Try a free Kearney-style case now: no card, no signup
An original practice case written by Road to Offer in a Kearney-style format, not Kearney's own case. Everything stays in your browser.
Bumper Lead Time: A bumper maker's slipping delivery time
Written to Kearney's own case tips: clarify the client's objective, think top down instead of forcing a standard framework, then test a hypothesis with numbers. Operations, because Kearney's one published practice case is an operations problem. The full version is Bumpers R Us, our library case adapted from the Duke Fuqua consulting club casebook. Kearney (opens in a new tab), read
1Step 1: Read the case
A plant in the southeastern US makes plastic car bumpers for one customer, a carmaker's assembly plant 360 miles away. Over six months its delivery lead time has grown, and the carmaker has warned of fines and lost contracts unless it returns to 29 hours. The general manager can spend up to five million dollars. Why has lead time grown, and how do you bring it back?
2Step 2: Ask clarifying questions
Open a question to hear the interviewer's answer.
What does lead time cover?
Interviewer: The whole flow: molding, painting, bonding and assembly, then the truck to the carmaker's plant. Before the slip it was 29 hours.
How long is it today?
Interviewer: You will get the stage times once you have a structure. For now: it has grown over the past six months.
Has the carmaker's demand or its mix of parts changed?
Interviewer: We don't have that data yet.
Have our raw material suppliers changed or slowed down?
Interviewer: We buy raw materials globally. We don't have data on supplier changes yet.
What are the limits on a fix?
Interviewer: Up to five million dollars, spent once. There is no fixed date; the carmaker wants 29 hours back.
3Step 3: Structure your answer
Take two minutes. Lay out where the extra hours could come from, then say where you would look first and why.
2:00
Show what a strong structure covers
Plays the goal back: back to 29 hours within five million dollars, a delivery problem rather than a profit one.
Internal process: each stage's time, the machines and their capacity, breakdowns and downtime.
People: headcount, shifts and skills on each stage.
External: the carmaker's demand and part mix, raw material supply from global suppliers, and the truck leg.
Starts with the process, because lead time is the sum of stage times, and asks for each stage's hours.
Sets up the decision: any fix is judged on hours saved for the money, within the budget.
4Step 4: The interviewer's next question
The interviewer shows the process: molding takes 9 hours, painting 16, bonding and assembly 6, then 360 miles by truck at 60 miles an hour. What is today's lead time, and what do you conclude?
Show what a strong answer does
The truck takes 360 / 60 = 6 hours, so 9 + 16 + 6 + 6 = 37 hours, 8 above the 29-hour target. Painting is the longest stage and the first place to look for savings, but a strong answer says the data has no history, so it cannot yet prove painting caused the slip, and asks what changed.
Kearney's case tips say not to force your solution into a standard framework: it only has to fit the problem, the business and the objectives. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Measurable, lasting results.
Kearney asks for a solution with tangible, measurable, lasting results and warns against searching for a silver bullet, since complex problems rarely have simple solutions. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Operations and sourcing roots.
Kearney says it has been at the forefront of strategic sourcing since day one, so give cost, supply chain and operations cases extra reps alongside growth cases. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
A test before interviews, in some offices.
In Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland, a 60-minute online test comes first and only candidates who pass are interviewed; Kearney links a mock with an answer key. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Five values in the fit interview.
Kearney says the behavioral interview gauges curiosity, generosity, boldness, solidarity and passion, and suggests answering with the STAR method. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: Kearney, read Nov 9, 2026.
Key facts from Kearney's own pages
One official practice case.
Promotional planning: a grocery and drug store chain's promotions lift sales less than its rivals'. Situation, question, extra facts and good and great answer guidelines. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
A five-step flowchart.
Review the details and identify key issues, formulate a hypothesis, validate and refine it, synthesize findings, then develop and present recommendations. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Forty questions in 60 minutes.
The full online test has six sections, five points per right answer and minus one per wrong one; the mock has twenty questions for about 30 to 40 minutes. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
After the test, Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland run two rounds of two interviews, each with behavioral questions and a case. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: Kearney, read Nov 9, 2026.
Kearney's practice case, mock test and interview pages, item by item
Everything Kearney publishes to prepare for its interviews, each opened on 9 November 2026. Each line is our summary of the item's own page. Read on Kearney's site .
Kearney's practice case, mock test and interview pages, item by item: level, area and what each one is, linked to Kearney's page
Kearney's one practice case: a national grocery and drug store chain with the same prices and promotion timing as its rivals gets a smaller sales lift from promotions. The question, extra facts on how stores and distribution centers order, and two-step answer guidelines with a good and a great answer. Worked below.
Kearney's five steps for a case, shown under the practice case: review details and identify key issues, formulate a hypothesis, validate and refine it, synthesize findings, develop and present recommendations.
Ten case interview tips, from listening and clarifying the objectives and thinking top down to knowing your limits and thinking creatively from the CEO's seat.
Twenty multiple-choice questions in the online test's six sections, for about 30 to 40 minutes, with the scoring rules and an answer key (letters only).
The 60-minute online test, its six sections and the rule that only candidates who pass are interviewed, for roles up to associate; links the mock test.
Two interviews with consultants on one day, then three with Partners and Principals; you can ask for a coffee chat or a practice case to prepare.
Worked: Promotional planning, in Kearney's case study flowchart
A national grocery and drug store chain runs high-low pricing: regular prices a little above everyday-low-price rivals, then deep, advertised discounts. Its promotions lift sales less than its high-low rivals' do, although its prices, discounts and promotion timing are virtually the same. Kearney asks how you would increase the lift, and rules out switching to everyday low pricing. Read the official case (opens in a new tab)(read )
How you might work it is ours, not Kearney's answer key.
1
Review case details and identify key issues
Play the goal back: more sales during promotions, inside a high-low strategy that stays. Then use the fact that prices, discounts and timing match the rivals': the gap cannot come from the offer itself, so it must come from how many shoppers see it, come in and find the item. That splits the issue into demand (awareness, store traffic) and supply (the product on the shelf).
2
Formulate your hypothesis
Pick the one the facts lean on: promoted items run out, so shoppers who come for the deal leave without it. Say what would prove it wrong: normal stock levels through promotion weeks, which would send you back to advertising and traffic.
3
Validate and refine your hypothesis
Ask the questions that test it: how stores size promotion orders (past orders and the manager's judgment, not past sales), how fast a store can reorder (next morning, if it notices in time), and what distribution center buyers base their supplier orders on. Each answer points to orders that miss real demand, so the hypothesis holds and narrows to forecasting and in-promotion visibility.
4
Synthesize findings
One sentence first: the chain matches its rivals on price and timing, but it loses lift because promoted items are not on the shelf, since orders are sized on habit instead of what sold last time. Then the two supporting facts, and what it costs: lost promotion sales plus shoppers who may switch stores.
5
Develop and present recommendations
Recommend one change you can measure: size each store's promotion order from what sold in past promotions, and give that forecast to the distribution center buyers before they order from suppliers. Weigh the risks, as Kearney's flowchart asks: overstock and spoilage on perishables, and store managers who trust their own judgment. Pilot it in one region and compare the lift with the rival's before rolling it out. Then open Kearney's good and great answers and see what yours missed.
In the behavioral interview Kearney is curious about your purpose, passions, interests and personality: “what makes you uniquely you”. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Not the loudest candidate
Kearney says it is “not looking for the loudest candidate or the one who uses the most consulting buzzwords”, and treats the interview as a dialogue. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Coachable, but firm
Kearney's case tips ask you to be coachable and integrate feedback quickly, and at the same time to “be firm about the things you believe in”. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Say when you are stuck
If things aren't going well, Kearney says not to tough it out: acknowledge you are stuck, ask for more information or try another logical path. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Think like the CEO
Kearney says logic is not enough: adopt the CEO or shareholder perspective, challenge conventions and be willing to be different. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Each arrow opens the source: Kearney, read Nov 9, 2026.
The Kearney interview process, and what trains each step
1
Application
Apply to an advertised position with a CV and cover letter; Kearney's Belgium page asks for both in English. The recruiting team screens your application and tells you whether you are invited to the recruitment process.
Kearney's Romania, Czech Republic and Poland pages describe a 60-minute online test of analytical, quantitative, verbal and structuring skills for roles up to associate; only candidates who pass are invited to interviews, and Kearney links a free mock test. Kearney's global page says some roles add a competency assessment, so follow your invitation.
Four to five interviews, mixing behavioral and case
Kearney's global recruiting page says general consulting interviews are run by consultants and typically number four to five, combining behavioral and case interviews; the exact mix varies by role. Office pages split them into rounds (see the FAQ below).
A get-to-know-you conversation about your past experiences and who you are: purpose, passions, interests and personality. Kearney says it gauges your curiosity, generosity, boldness, solidarity and passion, its core values, and suggests the STAR method (situation, task, action, result).
For consulting and specialist candidates: a new business challenge to solve. Kearney's tips are to listen and clarify the client's objectives, think top down rather than force a standard framework, form and test hypotheses, and present a clear recommendation; it wants the solution you believe is best, not the one you think it wants to hear.
Missing from Kearney's pages: who leads the case (candidate or interviewer), how long each interview lasts, how case answers are scored, whether offices outside Romania, the Czech Republic and Poland use the online test, and when offers are made.
13 Kearney-style interview questions
In our words, not Kearney's, grouped by the five steps of Kearney's case flowchart, plus the online test and the behavioral interview, with what a strong answer does.
Step 1: Review case details and identify key issues
Kearney: help the client clearly express the objectives it expects your recommendation to reach.
1A regional hospital's operating rooms run late most afternoons and surgeons complain. The COO asks you to fix it. What do you clarify first?
What a strong answer does: Pins down what late means and how it is measured, what the COO is after (more operations a day or less overtime) and what cannot change, then states a first hypothesis and stops asking.
2A food distributor's delivery costs rose by a fifth in two years while the volume it ships stayed flat. What is the real problem?
What a strong answer does: Splits cost per delivery from the number of deliveries (smaller, more frequent orders or higher rates) and asks for the client's target before building the structure.
Kearney: hypotheses broad enough to cover the scenarios, specific enough to be tested.
3A packaging maker's cost per unit is above its rivals'. Give me your first hypothesis and how you would test it.
What a strong answer does: States one testable hypothesis, such as raw material bought above market price, with the data that would confirm or kill it, instead of reciting every cost bucket.
4A discount retailer's gross profit has fallen sharply in two years. Where do you start, and why there?
What a strong answer does: Splits gross profit into price, volume and cost of goods, picks the branch the facts point to first and says what number would change its mind.
Kearney: identify the questions that confirm or refute each hypothesis, and be ready to pivot.
5A plant runs three stages in a row taking 4, 10 and 3 hours, then a 2-hour truck trip; the customer needs 15 hours. Two fixes on the middle stage save 3 hours for 1.2 million dollars and 2 hours for 0.6 million, and the budget is 1.5 million. Can the plant hit the target?
What a strong answer does: Adds the stages first (19 hours, 4 too many), sees that only both fixes save enough and that together they cost 1.8 million, over budget, so says no and asks for another option or more budget instead of forcing a yes.
6An exhibit shows a store chain's out-of-stock rate in promotion weeks at three times its normal weeks. What does that do to your hypothesis?
What a strong answer does: Reads the axis and base first, says the chart supports empty shelves over weak advertising as the cause, and asks for the number that sizes it: sales lost per day out of stock.
Kearney: summarize the evidence that supports your hypothesis and draw the conclusion.
7You found that a warehouse's picking errors cluster on the night shift, which has the most new hires and the least supervision. Give the CEO your synthesis in thirty seconds.
What a strong answer does: Leads with the answer, gives two supporting facts with numbers, and ends with what it means for the decision rather than a recap of the analysis.
Kearney: actionable solutions, weighing feasibility, risks and benefits.
8A regional airline's overnight maintenance checks finish late and delay morning flights. Do you hire more mechanics or change how the hangar works?
What a strong answer does: Picks one with the number that decides it, names the main risk and how to manage it, and gives a measurable target with a date, the tangible, measurable result Kearney asks for.
9A manufacturer can close one of two plants to cut cost. Which one, and what could go wrong?
What a strong answer does: Compares the plants on the cost saved and the cost of moving volume, chooses one, and names the risks to customers and delivery with a step that limits each.
Online recruiting test (Romania, Czech Republic, Poland)
Kearney's mock: tables, graphs and logic, five points per right answer and minus one per wrong one.
10A table gives employees in thousands and annual revenue in millions for five product lines. Which line earns the most revenue per employee per week?
What a strong answer does: Divides before comparing, keeps the units straight (thousands, millions, 52 weeks) and estimates first so the exact sum is needed only for close calls.
11A rate rises from 6% to 8% in one market and from 10% to 12.5% in another. Which rose more in relative terms?
What a strong answer does: Separates points from relative change: both rose about two points, but the first rose by a third and the second by a quarter, so the first.
Kearney gauges curiosity, generosity, boldness, solidarity and passion, and suggests the STAR method.
12Tell me about a time you challenged the way something had always been done.
What a strong answer does: One situation, your action, a result in numbers and why you were willing to push: it shows the boldness Kearney names, without sounding like a rebel for its own sake.
What a strong answer does: Names something specific, such as its sourcing and operations work or an office's focus, links it to something you have done, and stays under a minute.
Kearney's tips say the solution only has to fit the problem, the business and the objectives. Build the structure for the case in front of you. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Kearney asks you to acknowledge you are stuck, seek more information or take another path. Silence while you hope reads worse than a clear reset. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
Practicing the test untimed
The full test is forty questions in 60 minutes, 90 seconds each, with a point off per wrong answer. Take Kearney's mock against a clock. Source: Kearney, read (opens in a new tab)
How should I prepare for the Kearney case interview, and which free resources should I use?
Start with Kearney's own free material: its promotion planning practice case with answer guidelines and, if your office uses the online recruiting test, its mock test with an answer key. Then train the two interview types Kearney names, behavioral and case. On Road to Offer a free account includes 1 full AI-graded case, such as Bumpers R Us, our Kearney-style operations case; Corvane Air and Pinecrest Cold Storage are worked cases with a model answer for every question and need no account; case math and chart drills cover the numbers. Firm-style cases are practice cases written for Road to Offer or adapted from university consulting club casebooks, not the firm's own cases.
Where can I practice Kearney-style case interviews for free?
Kearney's careers site has one free practice case, promotion planning, with answer guidelines. On Road to Offer, Bumpers R Us is a Kearney-style operations case you run out loud with an AI interviewer or step by step, one of 5 library cases matched to Kearney's case types; your first full case is free with a free account. Corvane Air (operations) and Pinecrest Cold Storage (warehouse investment) are free to read with a model answer for every question, no account. Our Kearney practice cases page also works the six cases in Kearney's older candidate casebook.
Does Kearney publish a practice case or mock test, and how should I use them?
Yes, both. Kearney's practice case is "Case example: promotional planning" on its crack-the-case page: a grocery and drug store chain whose promotions lift sales less than its rivals', with extra facts and good and great answer guidelines. Answer it out loud in Kearney's five-step flowchart before you open the guidelines, then compare. The mock recruitment test is a PDF linked from Kearney's Romania, Czech Republic and Poland careers pages: twenty multiple-choice questions for about 30 to 40 minutes, with an answer key. Take it timed, score it the way the real test does (five points per right answer, minus one per wrong one), and redo the sections you lost points on with math and chart drills, since the key gives letters, not worked solutions. Kearney Netherlands also says starters can ask for a practice case. The interview guidebook PDF some answers cite returned a 404 error on 9 November 2026.
Does Kearney have an online test?
In some offices. Kearney's Romania, Czech Republic and Poland careers pages describe a 60-minute online recruiting test of analytical, quantitative, verbal and structuring skills, and only candidates who pass are invited to interviews. Kearney's mock says the full test has forty multiple-choice questions in six sections (logical counting, statements, logical text, a reading passage, a table and a graph), five points per right answer and minus one per wrong one. Kearney's Belgium and Netherlands pages name no test, so follow your invitation. Road to Offer has no Kearney test simulator; the closest practice is our case math and chart drills.
Should I guess on the Kearney online test if I am not sure?
Usually yes, once you can rule out an option. Kearney's mock gives five points for a right answer and takes one off for a wrong one, with five options per question in the samples. A blind guess is then worth about a fifth of a point on average (a one-in-five chance of five points against a four-in-five chance of losing one), and every option you eliminate makes it worth more. The real cost is time: forty questions in 60 minutes is 90 seconds each.
What fit interview questions does Kearney ask?
Kearney calls it the behavioral interview: a conversation about your past experiences and who you are, your purpose, passions, interests and personality. Kearney says it gauges curiosity, generosity, boldness, solidarity and passion, its core values, and suggests answering with the STAR method. Prepare one story per value plus why Kearney and why consulting, and say each out loud; Road to Offer's Kearney fit practice asks the questions with follow-up probes, 1 session free with a free account.
How many interview rounds does Kearney have?
It depends on the office. Kearney's global recruiting page says general consulting candidates typically have four to five behavioral and case interviews. Its Belgium page describes three rounds of two interviews: with an SBA or Associate, then a Manager or Principal, then a Partner. Its Netherlands page describes two interviews with consultants on one day, then three with Partners and Principals. Its Romania, Czech Republic and Poland pages describe the online test, then two rounds of two interviews, each with behavioral questions and a case.
Is the Kearney case interview candidate-led or interviewer-led?
Kearney's pages don't say. Its tips describe a dialogue: the interviewer gives an initial set of facts like a client, and you clarify the objectives, form hypotheses and test them with more questions, which works in either format. Kearney's own practice case gives one open question and extra facts, closer to a candidate-led case. Our Bumpers R Us case is interviewer-led, so practice driving the case yourself as well.
Does Kearney want a framework in the case interview?
Not a standard one. Kearney's case tips say to avoid forcing your solution to fit a standard framework, because it only needs to fit the problem, the business and the objectives, and to resist relying on frameworks in favor of a creative, CEO-level view. Build a structure for the case in front of you and say why each branch matters.
How much math is in a Kearney interview?
Enough to practice under time pressure. Kearney's interview tips tell consultant candidates to practice case studies, business problems and mathematical calculations under pressure, and the online test some offices use has number, table and graph sections. A consultant quoted on Kearney's ace-the-interview page adds that interviewers care more about how you approach a problem than whether every calculation is perfect, so say your setup out loud before you compute.
Where is the Kearney interview guidebook PDF?
The interview guidebook PDF that older guides and AI answers link returned a 404 error when we checked it on 9 November 2026. The same advice lives on Kearney's live careers pages: the recruiting process, ace the interview (its values and the STAR method) and crack the case (its case tips and the promotion planning practice case).
