How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?

When you join McKinsey, you become part of an organization that prioritizes the development of its people through mentorship, on-the-job apprenticeship and strengths-based feedback, as well as world-class learning and leadership development programs that begin the moment you walk in the door.

Our learning portfolio offers experiences in different formats and content that is adjusted to your needs and background. Ranging from an onboarding program for all new joiners to Business Essentials to help candidates advance their business acumen to programs tailored by office, tenure, practice / interest area, or affinity group – we empower our colleagues to learn key skills and practice model behaviors through a variety of scheduled and on-demand courses. See below to get a better feel for the learning opportunities you can expect as you progress in your career.

As you join the firm

Everyone who joins McKinsey, regardless of role, goes through One Firm Onboarding during their first week here. In this program, you will learn and practice the foundational skills necessary for success in your first year at McKinsey and beyond. You will learn about our culture, values, and ways of working, such as how to apply McKinsey’s problem-solving approach, give and receive feedback, implement solutions, and build trust-based relationships.

For Gracie, who rejoined McKinsey as an engagement manager in San Francisco amidst the pandemic, virtual One Firm Onboarding was a great way to reconnect to the firm and catch up on recent changes. She shared:

How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?
How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?

“The content was helpful and engaging. I met lots of new people and feel like I’m getting back into the swing of the McKinsey community and way of working. The training materials leveraged great visuals, including well-produced videos that introduced parts of the company that were new to me, like design, agile, and advanced analytics. Working on case studies in small teams kept the training engaging. Once we were in the small break-out sessions, the types of questions we were working on, the skills we were learning, and the dynamics didn’t feel much different from the in-person training I remember in 2011.”

If you’re joining us with industry experience and subject-matter expertise, you’ll also attend an introductory workshop created specifically for our experienced hires, as well as coaching and mentoring sessions. You’ll have opportunities to participate in MasterClasses and network with people in your office, practice, affinity group and more so you build your integration toolkits.

Developing your expertise

One Firm Onboarding is just the start of your development journey at McKinsey. Over time, you will have many opportunities to deepen your technical skills in areas like data science, analytics, and design, if you wish. Some are fully self-directed online; others, like our Digital and Analytics (DnA) Tech Week, help you build new capabilities through a multi-day program comprised of self-paced learning modules and applied experiences that you can tailor based on the areas you want to develop, such as agile, product or cloud.

How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?
How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?

Rebecca, a professional development manager from Denver, shared this story: “An associate in my office was excited by tech-enabled studies, so she jumped at the chance to sign up for DnA Tech Week. She felt it was important to break into this space, learn more about the firm, and make some new connections among peers and faculty. I advised her to talk to her mentor about planning a week between studies for learning and was glad to see her accomplish that goal.”

As you progress in your career, your McKinsey Learning journey continues to adapt to help you succeed. For instance, if you have less than two years at McKinsey, you can enroll in an L1 (Level 1) program to explore one or more of our industry, function, or growth platforms, like operations, marketing and sales, finance, or digital.

I’ve learned how power plants work, how frozen pizzas get made, and how McKinsey thinks about establishing innovation hubs. It’s so great! I feel like a kid in a candy store

an engagement manager in Washington, DC about our L1 program

After spending time on a variety of client studies, colleagues are expected to deepen their knowledge of a specific industry and/or functional area through the L2 (Level 2) program. It also helps you connect with colleagues doing similar work. Many of our practice learning experiences come with credentials that make the consultant’s emerging areas of expertise more visible to others at the firm.

How do those experiences set you up for success?

Read below for some feedback notes we received about our L2 program.

How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?
How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?

Relationship-driven learning

Of course, the fabric of our development culture is woven from more than formalized programs alone. Apprenticeship, feedback, mentorship, and peer-to-peer connections happen every day—in the team room, over coffee, in the office, over Slack, or through specialty communities like tech guilds and affinity groups. At McKinsey, we invest in and empower our people, so they can bring the most innovative capabilities and expertise to our clients.

How do I learn and develop at McKinsey? - Mallory
How do I learn and develop at McKinsey? - Mallory

Our colleague, Mallory, a product manager in our Operations practice in Chicago, spent a week in Cambridge for training (pre-Covid). She was astonished by the diversity of her class: “More than a third of us were team leaders in non-client facing roles, and we hailed from all over the world. I made connections that opened new doors. One colleague pulled me into a design project for a client. Another invited me to shadow his consulting team on an upcoming engagement at a mining site; and, a third is joining one of my upcoming concept sprints for an internal project. This experience challenged me to take control of my career, build my own path, and embrace entrepreneurship within the firm.”

How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?
How do I learn and develop at McKinsey?

Tanya, a Beijing-based product manager, adds: “McKinsey is a great place for people who seek constant learning, are curious, and enjoy pushing beyond their limits to solve problems. The firm turbocharged my learning. I gained more business skills than I ever imagined. I was nervous, knowing that business skills like top-down communications and breaking down problems were areas I needed to develop when I joined. A mentor spent time coaching me and trained me on the consulting methodology.”

During a time of hybrid work, our colleagues can choose from live, instructor-led sessions (adapted for virtual settings) and digital, self-paced learning programs from internal and external resources. Whether colleagues are looking for protected time to grow and develop between client studies, quick skill refreshers, an introduction to new topics, or fulfilling longer-term growth, McKinsey has learning options for every colleague.

One of the most memorable moments of my learning program was meeting my small group from around the world. We were all going through similar experiences and sorting through similar questions as we were transitioning into the team leader role. I was pleasantly surprised by how, even remotely, we formed connections and built relationships and trust very quickly.

Mimi, an engagement manager in Stamford

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