How McKinsey training programs help me be at my best

I joined McKinsey Implementation to be challenged. After years in brand management and strategy, I was attracted by the diverse experiences McKinsey Implementation offered because I knew they’d push me out of my comfort zone. I didn’t realize how much the firm would help me rise to the occasion through training and mentorship.

Janine
Janine

I’ve enjoyed innumerable memorable experiences here with colleagues and clients. I’ve been courtside for warm-ups at a Toronto Raptors game, attended the Houston Rodeo, studied mixology, enjoyed sushi dinners, and spent time getting to know my teammates and clients. Yet the international trainings stand out as some of the best experiences because they most helped me develop. Each one pushed me and showed me how we bring the best of the firm to our clients around the world.

A few weeks after I joined as an associate, I was off to Shanghai for our new–hire training Embark. I’d never been to China and I didn’t speak the language. I learned more about the commonalities and differences among McKinsey colleagues worldwide than I thought possible. Similarly, trainings in Thailand, Cambridge, and Austria introduced me to new people, geographies, and cultures while teaching me how my counterparts around the world approach their lives and careers. I’ve celebrated new lifelong friends eating papaya salad at a local Thai restaurant; toasted with German beers and local wines in Austria; and punted on the Cam river. These are experiences I wouldn’t have had without McKinsey, and I would not trade them for anything.

With more trainings on the calendar in the coming months, I find myself reflecting on how these experiences have pushed me to be a better client counselor, friend and mentor to my teammates, and global citizen. I’ve gotten exactly what I wanted when I joined, and I’m excited for the years to come.

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More about me

After getting my MBA at Wharton, I worked in strategy and brand management for several food & beverage companies. Now as a marketing & sales–focused implementation consultant, I focus on portfolio strategy and product development for consumer companies. Outside of work, I love exercising, cooking, spending time with my husband and cat, and enjoying life in beautiful Denver.

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