Kate | Careers | McKinsey & Company

Careers

A Doctorate, a Honeymoon, and McKinsey

I was doing a doctorate in English, and getting toward the end of it, I couldn’t see myself fitting in with academia at all. I wanted to learn the most I could as fast as I could, and McKinsey fit that goal better than anyone else. I went to recruiting presentations and felt that the people here were so much more excited by their jobs than anyone I’d met. I came away thinking, These are people I’d like to work with. I got an offer, finished my doctorate, got married and started at McKinsey four days after returning from honeymoon!

Early Training

My first training was the mini-MBA training course, a three-week introduction to business for those who come in without a business background (I’d never even used Excel before I joined). The first week we did a crash course in microeconomics taught by Harvard professors, then a week on corporate finance and a week on strategy. My peers were doctors, lawyers, ex-academics, and people from the armed forces, from all over the world.

Teamwork Mentality

The biggest surprise for me was how helpful everyone is and how much everything really is a team effort at McKinsey. Coming from academia, where I saw my supervisor three times a year and did almost everything completely on my own, the adjustment was a bit difficult. But what I really love now is the team orientation: You discuss, have a go, discuss again …there’s constant interaction, and you can’t say necessarily who’s done what bit. It’s an effective way of producing high-quality work, and everyone is involved.

Diversity of Work

I had a three-month banking study in Abu Dhabi about six months after I joined. It was fascinating to go and work somewhere that in some ways is culturally similar to London and in other ways is very different. Another memorable project was a mining study. Construction was hit very hard, and the client was in a position to have to shrink their workforce to survive. Working with the senior clients to restructure the company when they were so personally involved was a humbling experience that ultimately has made me better at doing my job.

Rewarding Relationships

Earlier this week, we were dealing with a senior client who came into a meeting with us on Monday and was very stressed and grumpy. We couldn’t figure out why. That evening we got in touch and asked if he was okay. He came back and was honest with us—he said it had been the worst day of his career; a whole load of things had gone wrong—but also that we were making great progress and had done great work. This was rewarding in terms of client relationships, first because he told us about his bad day, and second because ultimately we knew our work was helping him when he needed it most.

What I Do in My Free Time

Nearly all my holidays are spent in the mountains. In the summer I take a two-week mountaineering odyssey around the Alps. The most wonderful thing is setting out at 3 am in the pitch black, climbing up over the snow and rocks, and watching the sun rise, pink over all the snow. In the winter I do a lot of skiing; I’m just back from a fabulous week in Austria.

My Five-Year Plan

When I joined, I had in the back of my mind that McKinsey would give me the greatest future opportunities when I was ready to leave. But I’m really enjoying it, both the work and the people. My current plan is to stay and make partner. I could see myself in 5 years in the London office, at McKinsey, doing interesting work with great teams, and still continuing to learn. Every time I have a role that I think I’ve gotten the hang of, someone throws something else at me—McKinsey is constantly new and exciting, and an incredibly cool place to be.