Hemant | Careers | McKinsey & Company

Careers

MD to MBA to McKinsey

I studied medicine and practiced it for some time, until I got restless and bored by the idea of doing only that and decided to get an MBA. One of the things I liked most about medicine was the diagnosis process. You have a set of information, which is never complete, and you start diagnosing what the problem is based on that information. Based on this limited information, you have to make decisions on the diagnosis and treatment. Going through those steps and dealing with this imperfect information in a limited amount of time is what was exciting about medicine. This is exactly what you do in consulting, which was a key reason for my decision to switch careers.

An experience I didn’t expect

On one of my first projects, we worked with the chief minister of a big state in India where we tackled a variety of issues including state legislation, infrastructure development, and car racing. My job for three months was to go from one place to another watching car races and understanding how this very complex business worked behind the scenes. As I would sit and advise the chief minister, or walk through the paddocks at the racetrack, I often caught myself thinking, “Wow, I didn’t expect to be doing this two years ago when I was a doctor working in a government hospital in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity.”

McKinsey offers me experiences and choices

McKinsey just keeps giving you different experiences and challenges. I’ve worked across geographies (India, United States, Europe, Russia, Brazil) and across sectors (pharma, telecom, natural gas, automotive). I never get bored. It’s also very important to me to not have a “boss.” At McKinsey, you have the right and the ability to choose the kinds of things you do and the kinds of people you work with. I choose them rather than being forced to work with them. Over the past few years, I’ve worked with a lot of wonderful people and that has been one of the best things about McKinsey.

The obligation to dissent

At McKinsey, you have an obligation to dissent no matter how junior or how senior you are. We constantly push ourselves to question if we are doing the right things for the client, for the team, and for ourselves. McKinsey’s goal is to create an environment where there is a long-lasting relationship with the client, and where we have people who are working here because they can defend what they believe in, and change things they want to change, while enjoying the work they do.

Why I've stayed at McKinsey

When I joined, I promised myself that I’d leave in 2 years. Four years on, I am still here, because McKinsey is not one job. I love that about this place. The continuous ability to reinvent myself makes me feel more alive than in a regular job.

Writing and wines

I am passionate about reading and writing, and one day hope to have something more to show for it than just “half a page of scribbled lines.” Like other things, I get restless with hobbies. My current favorite is wines (tasting, drinking, and buying), much to my girlfriends’ chagrin. Maybe I will buy a vineyard and become a vigneron next.