Kearney publishes its own practice test, and almost nobody reads it
Kearney is one of the few firms that hosts a downloadable mock version of its recruitment test on its own site. That document is official practice material (published around 2021) rather than a spec of today's live assessment, which Kearney does not separately document. It remains the most reliable source available on the format, and it answers several questions that circulate unresolved on forums.
The test assesses "analytical, quantitative, verbal and structuring skills that you would need when working as a consultant." The full version runs 60 minutes. It is built from six sections in three blocks:
- Quantitative: logical counting, and statements
- Verbal: logical text understanding, and reading passages
- Case studies: table analysis, and graph analysis
The scoring rule that changes how you should sit it
Kearney's mock states it plainly: five points for each correct answer, minus one point for each incorrect answer, with exactly one correct answer per question. There is no partial credit and no reward for filling in blanks.
That single rule should change your behaviour on the day. A guess between two remaining options is still worth taking at a 50 percent hit rate. A blind guess across five options is not. Candidates who treat the test as a standard multiple-choice paper and answer everything tend to score below candidates who answer fewer questions carefully.
Kearney does not name a test vendor anywhere in its materials, and does not publish a pass mark, a question count for the live version, or whether a calculator is permitted. Its two published mocks contain 40 and 19 questions respectively, both labelled samples rather than replicas.
The interviews that follow
Kearney runs its recruiting through country teams, so the round structure is regional. The Belgium office publishes the most detailed version: three rounds of two interviews each, with an SBA or Associate first, then a Manager or Principal, then a Partner, preceded by a CV and cover letter screen. Other offices publish no round counts, so treat six interviews as one confirmed regional shape rather than a global standard.
Kearney also runs a "Road to Kearney" webinar and newsletter series for undergraduate and MBA candidates, and publishes case interview guidance from its own consultants.
How to prepare
The Kearney test rewards three things that respond well to practice: reading a data table fast enough to answer without re-reading it, doing arithmetic mentally under a timer, and knowing when to skip. Work through Kearney's own mock first under strict 60-minute conditions, score it with the real +5 / −1 rule rather than counting correct answers, and note which of the six sections is costing you time rather than accuracy. Those are different problems and they need different fixes.
Official sources: Kearney mock recruitment test (PDF) · Interviewing at Kearney · Belgium careers · About Kearney