Katherine

Associate

Tell us a bit about your career before McKinsey?

I have a psychology degree. After university I decided a career in clinical psychology was not for me. I pursued my interest in business roles by undertaking an accountancy apprenticeship within professional practice and I am now a qualified chartered accountant. Post qualification I spent three years with KPMG, one of the “big four” accounting firms. In total, I spent 6 years in client facing accountancy roles.

I joined Bupa, working initially in a commercial role, centered on costs within the UK division, this was followed by a role managing the strategic and financial planning and analysis for 5 BUPA businesses in the UK.

Finally, when a full strategic review project was launched, I was asked to join the team as finance lead. I helped progress the project work through to organisational redesign and then change management within marketing and sales.

What made you decide to leave your corporate career to join McKinsey?

I had been working in project roles for around eighteen months and realised that I wanted to broaden my experience beyond pure finance. I wanted to be someone who could drive a piece of work through to it’s conclusion including both the financial aspects of it rather than being a finance person with a broad role.

The colleague who managed the strategy review at my last business was a McKinsey alumni who identified that problem solving was one of my core skills and that I would suit a job in consultancy. The way she talked about McKinsey inspired me to apply here specifically as my first choice firm.

I have definitely made the right choice.

What training and support have you received since starting?

I joined in a cohort of 30 people including other associates but also business analysts and associate principals. We all had two weeks of initial training together.

The first week focused on learning the basics of consultancy and the McKinsey approach. The course used a variety of learning approaches including teaching, research and external environment experiences but the core theme was our group solving a simulated McKinsey case all the way from client proposal, through role plays of client situations and final meetings and presentations. It was a fantastic way to learn.

The second week enabled us to negotiate the London office and all the tools we have on offer as consultants to help us.

Those two weeks not only prepared me for work but also gave me a huge support network of colleagues in the office (and people to meet for lunch/drinks and social events).

Since then I have completed 6 functional courses covering the main areas in which McKinsey works, a personal impact workshop and some voice coaching. There are also numerous research documents and webex sessions that you can attend on technical content areas when you get free time.
The training that McKinsey offers is incredibly high quality and the teams I have worked in are all committed to ensuring the continued development of their colleagues. The majority of learning happens however, while you are working. There are such a diverse range of clients, types of study and people from different backgrounds here that everyday there is a new way to develop.

What did you find most challenging about the interview process?

The interview process at McKinsey is not like anything I had experienced before and that alone makes it challenging!!

I think the most challenging part however is that it is a very long process. I was invited for interview on the basis of my CV and covering letter. The first half day session included a problem solving test and three hours of interviews. Each hour was split into a question about my background and solving a client type problem. If each of the first three interviewers are happy with your answers there is a second half day of interviews.

My advice would be to practice case interviews, they are handed in packs to American business school students so there are plenty of examples out there to get stuck into.

What have I worked on recently?

So far I have worked on two different studies in completely different industry sectors and different functional disciplines and neither of them have used my finance skills, which is just the way I like it just for now!!