Joining McKinsey after an initial professional experience
My name is Karim Doulaki. I am 35 and I joined McKinsey a year ago to work in the Operations Practice, particularly in product development. I graduated from Supélec and during my studies I took a year off to work in the social sector. Wanting to follow my passion for IT and product development, I then joined a software company. I started as a software developer and worked my way up to product manager. In this capacity, I launched a number of new Internet products. Since the products were designed to help clients develop their own solutions, there was an underlying continuity in my subsequent move to McKinsey.
Working at McKinsey
I didn’t know a lot about McKinsey or what consultants did. I got an initial sense by searching the Internet and conversing with contacts and friends. I wanted to join McKinsey to give my career a boost—to accelerate its development—but also to take on more important responsibilities and, most of all, to work with top people on critical issues. Today, I have many contacts with those responsible for R&D in big companies. I work with them to understand their problems, decide on how best to approach them, and implement plans to resolve them.
Daily life
I have a passion for singing and fulfill it by singing in professional choirs. At first I was afraid that my working life would prevent me from pursuing my singing, which for me is a real source of positive energy. Even though compromises have to be made from time to time, I am very happy that I have managed to find a balance between my work and this time-consuming passion.
For me, what makes McKinsey special is the truly remarkable people who work here. The firm is an immense network of individuals, each one of whom is distinctive and has something interesting to say, share, and show. I particularly value the international nature of this rich network. Our projects take us to different places, to discover new people and new things, which I find fantastic.