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What type of consulting does McKinsey do?
We are a top-management consulting firm that helps clients achieve lasting and substantial improvements in performance. We concentrate on matters of critical concern to members of the client’s senior management.
Our work focuses on strategy initiatives, organizational redesign, IT-enabled business solutions, mergers and acquisitions, as well as performance and productivity improvements.
As a firm our strength lies in providing holistic fact-based independent advice that draws on leading-edge management approaches. We do not offer any of the following types of services: auditing, legal advice, political advice, personnel assessment, system software or hardware.
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Can you describe what the typical team structure is for an engagement?
For each engagement, we put together a team of 3 to 5 consultants who work full-time with the client for the duration of the engagement, usually 3 to 4 months. An engagement manager is the thought leader for the team and is responsible for the day-to-day planning and distribution of tasks. Depending on the nature of the engagement, experts from the specific McKinsey Industry Practices will consult with the team as well. The overall direction of the team is steered by senior consultants, such as associate principals and principals. Our firm provides extensive support to engagement teams, such as research assistants who conduct information queries, communication specialists who interpret/translate and edit documents, and team assistants who provide secretarial and administrative support.
Client managers are obviously included in engagement teams, working side-by-side with consultants in doing detailed analytical work. This ensures their commitment to the team’s recommendations, as well as to build their own skills and knowledge for the benefit of the entire organization.
In order to clarify and focus our thinking, we regularly step back from the detailed analysis and think hard about its implications. This allows us to report back to the client in regular (often monthly) progress reports and bring up issues requiring senior client input.
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What kind of expertise do McKinsey consultants bring into specific engagements?
The expertise we contribute to a engagement runs along two main dimensions – the general problem solving skills our consultants apply in an engagement and the industry or function specific experience/knowledge with which we supplement our analysis.
We believe our unique, analytical approach to problem solving is the core asset we bring to our clients. In practice, these skills may, for example, involve our ability to handle a complex financial modeling, to assess economic value of a specific market strategy, or to structure a complex business problem into a series of simple, actionable alternatives. In order to build these world-class skills we seek to attract people who excel in problem solving, and invest a great amount of resources in developing analytical tools and frameworks that we then apply in our client work.
A deep understanding of a specific sector by the McKinsey team is crucial to the full success of the engagement. McKinsey provides this knowledge by continuously investing in research, training, databases and other knowledge development initiatives.
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What criteria does McKinsey use when accepting engagements?
Before accepting an engagement, we make every reasonable effort to ensure that there are opportunities for significant benefits to the client.
As a rule of thumb, we only accept engagements where the potential benefit to the client is several times the amount of our fee. However, since it is not always possible to determine in advance that such conditions do in fact exist, we agree that if at any time the client decides that the expected benefits are not likely to be achieved, the company is free to terminate the engagement. Likewise, we want to be free to withdraw from an assignment should circumstances arise which, in our judgment, make the objectives agreed upon unattainable.
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Do McKinsey teams work for competing companies?
Two different McKinsey teams may occasionally work for competing clients. However, there are very specific and time-proven directives for this kind of situation. A "Chinese wall” is established between the two teams, preventing them from exchanging information in either formal or informal settings. In addition to this Chinese wall, both engagements are considered strictly confidential, with no one outside the team having access to any information on the client or on the engagement.
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What sets McKinsey apart from its competitors?
We are a community of professionals who share a history, a common set of values, common goals for client service, and a common desire to help other McKinsey members in their efforts to reach their potential. We subscribe to the dual idea of serving clients so as to produce substantial, lasting benefits and simultaneously building a great firm. We subordinate commercial interests to these two overriding objectives, and have the confidence that we will be supported by other members of the firm in the pursuit of these objectives.
We believe that our commitment to and investment in the personal and professional development of our consultants gives rise to a culture and set of beliefs that is unique to our firm.
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What development opportunities will I have at McKinsey?
The growth and development of our people is truly the core of our business. Everything we do is built upon contributions from our people. We are committed to the highest standards of performance, but also to giving every firm member the tools and coaching to reach this level.
You will receive extensive formal and informal mentoring, coaching, and feedback. Formal reviews, which are conducted every 6 months and at the end of engagements, focus on contributions to improve client performance and strengthen the firm. The evaluation process is designed to help each team member determine his or her own development needs. Your personal preferences and development needs will be considered when staffing assignments are made, and you will receive extensive career counseling to build your career at McKinsey. Your success is our success.
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Can people specialize within McKinsey?
We will work closely with you to help you develop the career path that best suits your goals, background, and interests. Consultants have opportunities to concentrate on an area of expertise, or to develop into generalists capable of working on a variety of problems in several industries. Over time, some consultants develop expertise in several industries or functions. But whether you choose a role as a generalist or specialist, joining McKinsey will transform and enhance the way you think and work as you engage on interesting studies with colleagues, and serve a spectrum of clients.
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Why do people leave McKinsey and where do they go?
The skills McKinsey consultants develop are in demand everywhere. Most of our alumni leave the firm in order to take senior positions in management while others enter the public sector to pursue entrepreneurial ventures or return to academia.
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What is working at McKinsey like?
Almost all of our work is done in small teams. As a consultant, you will have the opportunity to work side by side with the firm's senior leadership, and to develop meaningful insights by working on-site with industry-leading clients.
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How much travel is involved and how many hours do consultants work?
McKinsey values working on-site with clients, leading to our strategy of locating near clients (we have 82 locations worldwide) tends to mitigate travel requirements. But if a client is out of town, three or four nights a week away from home may be required. Most of our consultants find working side-by-side with clients highly rewarding in that it enables our people to have richer relationships and greater impact than they might have otherwise.
On average, consultants work 60 hours per week but, of course, hours vary widely depending on the phase of the project. McKinsey is sensitive to lifestyle issues - namely, travel, long hours, and weekend work - and the effect these have on personal or family responsibilities and the physical and mental well being of team members. Many teams and consultants are finding ways of making lifestyle issues a more important part of their work plans. Some initiatives include "Fridays in the office", team outings, work style agreements limiting team members hours per week, more day trips vs. overnight stays, and so on.
Consultants are given a lot of responsibility for the way they manage their time. Taking work home, exercising in the afternoon, departing early for an evening commitment and arriving early the next morning are all examples of choices people make in their work styles.
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What are we looking for in a candidate?
Consultants must care about their clients and they must truly enjoy helping others. Consulting effectiveness stems from the ability to earn and retain clients' trust and from authority rooted in ideas rather than in hierarchy, from persuasiveness rather than power, from empathy rather than detachment.
Our consultants must also be capable of working with people at all levels of an organization - from the client team members with whom we work on a daily basis to the Chief Executive Officer whose understanding and acceptance of our recommendations is critical.
Because our teams often operate in uncharted - and difficult - territory, our consultants must be willing and able to take initiative and they must have a healthy tolerance for uncertainty and frustration.
The skills required for McKinsey consulting derive from the nature of our client work. At a minimum, we must match the problem-solving and managerial skills of senior managers at our most sophisticated clients.
In addition, our consultants must make significant contributions in a relatively short time. Consequently, we seek individuals with very strong records of academic, managerial or professional achievement who have the capacity for continuous development.
If these attributes and skills match your background, you may wish to explore further the possibility of a career with McKinsey. We can offer you the opportunity to learn from every assignment, to become an authority in your chosen field, to face challenging and often unstructured situations, and to work with exciting, talented people in a dynamic team environment. Also, go to Recruiting Process for more information.
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Can I be hired by an office in a country that I am not a national of?
Yes. However, it is a McKinsey policy to build the foundation of each office on people who are committed to the area and its businesses and who have the fluency of language and cultural understanding to operate freely within the business community. We do encourage transfers that allow consultants to work in a different office, including an office in a different country. A candidate will typically have working knowledge of the language and an interest in the local culture.
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Are my chances of being hired better in some offices than in others?
Our hiring criteria are consistent across all offices, so you should pick the office and city you are most interested in. Generally speaking, the similarities across offices out-number the differences. All offices were founded by McKinsey partners and associates and share a common philosophy. All take the same fact-based, hypothesis-driven approach to client service, embrace the same professional values, and use the same criteria in electing partners, recruiting consultants and evaluating their performance. We will work to accommodate your geographical preferences. It is unproductive for candidates to improve their chances of getting an offer by "playing the odds", and so we do not suggest sending applications to multiple offices.
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Does McKinsey offer the opportunity for geographic transfers on either a permanent or temporary basis?
We strongly support and encourage transfers. They help us leverage our accumulated skills and experience and can also accelerate a consultant's personal and professional development. As a means to this end we have established the Emerald Program. Participants in this program are typically first or second year associates and they spend about a year in one of the program's four host offices: Toronto, New Jersey, Cologne, and London.
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