Every McKinsey project is something unique, difficult, and interesting
Having worked for McKinsey for 2 and a half years, I went to study at Harvard, where I had time to think about what I wanted to do next. After graduating, I asked myself whether I should come back to McKinsey and come to Russia. I chose Russia because here you find opportunities and large-scale projects. And I chose McKinsey because what you learn here in 3 years would require 10 to 15 years at another company. What’s more, this holds true at every stage of your career. Every McKinsey project and every turn brings something unique, difficult, and interesting. Every month you can look back and say to yourself that you know more than you did a month ago.
“McKinsey is a wonderful place to work for women. The firm pays a lot of attention to professional development for women consultants, with a large number of training programs and special events, even on topics such as balancing career and family.”
Today, models–tomorrow, movies
The most unusual project in my McKinsey career so far was developing a commercial strategy for a chocolate brand. We had to decide how to boost sales, manage distributors, where to supply the chocolates, etc. We were all familiar with the product since childhood and now we had to understand the behavior and thinking of customers to gain insights into the decision-making process. The result of our work was visible to everyone.
Another interesting experience involved a commercial bank that asked us to help develop an innovative path for future growth. It was a very creative project, developing a strategic evaluation of the entire market, studying new banking services worldwide in order to choose best practices to implement locally in Russia.
A quite distinct example was a comprehensive cost-optimization and profit-growth program that an aviation company asked us to help develop. There was a phase in which we interviewed passengers and recorded their flight experiences on video. Then we showed the video to management. Working for McKinsey is valuable for the diversity it offers, among other things. One day you create spreadsheets in Excel, the next day you shoot a film.
Everyone waits for you and welcomes you
McKinsey is a wonderful place to work for women. The project-based nature of the role makes it relatively easy to take long vacations and breaks. If I decide to have a family in future, I know the firm will be supportive. When women take maternity leave from banks or industrial companies they often worry that the company won’t wait for them to return or that they will have to return earlier than planned. At McKinsey, you return to the same position, and everyone waits for you and welcomes you. McKinsey also pays a lot of attention to professional development for women, with a large number of training programs and special events, even on topics such as balancing career and family. Many women at McKinsey successfully combine their career with family life. One of my mentors is a principal who has had three children during her McKinsey career, someone who I can talk to openly about these issues. She’s an outstanding example of what you can achieve at the firm while being a wife and a mother.