For experienced hires, work stories often provide the strongest PEI evidence, but relevant personal examples can also work.

Choose stories that clearly demonstrate the requested behavior, your own decisions and the outcome rather than treating professional experience as mandatory.

A difficult stakeholder negotiation at work may fit a conflict prompt, while organizing a major volunteer project could show leadership. Relevant industry examples may help you explain context, but the interviewer still needs to see independent reasoning.

Choose the story that best proves the requested behavior, whether it came from a client project, volunteering or life outside work. Compare your examples with the competencies in the McKinsey PEI guide rather than privileging professional stories automatically.

Most of my strongest stories are from work.

I have a volunteering story that's more personal though.

A volunteer crisis-response project taught me more about influence than a routine work assignment.

My personal story has clearer conflict and stakes than my recent project updates.