Abhishek
Associate
The interview process got me excited about McKinsey
“This is McKinsey— if you take the initiative, the firm will support you in whatever you want to do.”
I was a first time job hunter loaded with all the stereotypical ammunitions one acquires for a successful interview. But the very first moments with the McKinsey folks on campus changed my impression and went on to change the course of my professional life. They did not just talk about my experiences and objectives, but focused on cases from their everyday work situations. It was not about just McKinsey assessing me, but through these cases I was given a chance to preview my role. That was my first and last interview with any organization. I have done several for different roles within McKinsey, not one outside.
A different path to becoming a consultant
I did not have the conventional entry to McKinsey as a consultant. I started off as a junior analyst in McKinsey’s Knowledge Center in India and my role was to research and answer all sorts of questions that consultants may need to solve client problems. My first day and the first question - “How many engineers graduate in the US every year, and what do they do afterwards?”. Interesting, but challenging as this obvious piece of data does not exist – it needed creative thinking to arrive at the number.
I had always dreamed of becoming a consultant, and after 6 years, I decided to explore the option of moving to the consulting track within McKinsey. I had several discussions with senior partners with whom I had worked. At first things did not look good. This sort of transition was rare and no one was clear on how to do it. I went through the standard hiring process for consultants and was then put on an “engagement loan”—playing the role of a full associate without actually having the position. Three months later, I was an associate with the Operations Practice. Once again it was not merely about assessing me, but giving me a chance to have a real flavor of what it meant to be a consultant. This is McKinsey— if you take the initiative, the firm will support you in whatever you want to do.
Satisfaction comes from seeing new behavior
During my engagement loan, I was helping a director-level client analyze the spend on a particular commodity. Initially, it was difficult for the director to understand why we were doing things the way we were. He saw little merit in changing the ways that his organization had been used to. But he had a great attitude and we kept at it, talking about the approach in meetings and over lunch. In a few weeks, he started understanding the reason and logic of the approach. By the end of the engagement, he brought me a document that thoroughly analyzed the problems and identified the best course of action using the tools and approach we had shared with him—and it was tremendously satisfying knowing that I helped make a lasting change.
Reaching out to find a mentor The firm will support you, in what ever you want to do, but you have to take the initiative to make it happen. Waiting for someone to approach you or being assigned a ‘help’ or ‘advisor’ is not how the firm works. Help can come from unexpected quarters and you have to reach out. To give an example, I’d worked with an associate 4 years ago and we kept in touch. He is now an associate principal and recently when I reached out to him on becoming an associate, he said “Let’s see how we can work together” and started acting as my mentor. My next study was actually with him in an area in which I always wanted to work.