Diversity within procurement

I was interested in joining McKinsey even as an undergraduate student in computer science. The high caliber of people and interesting projects appealed to me. Unfortunately, when I applied, I did not pass the first screening; after earning my MBA and working for several years, I was called by a McKinsey recruiter. This time, I received an offer. I knew I would love working at the firm because the interview cases were challenging and exciting and the people I met throughout the process were so humble, real and fun.

Marc W inline
Marc W inline

I’ve been with the firm’s Operations practice, based in Hamburg, for more than two-and-a-half years. I like the diversity of projects, even if my focus is strongly on procurement. I have been to a chrome mine in South Africa, supported a public sector client in Germany, worked for pharma in Switzerland, and served a multinational company in London and Singapore. I’ve had amazing teams and lots of hand-on experience helping clients solve real problems.

My most interesting engagement was a big working capital optimization where we prolonged the payment terms of 15,000 suppliers. The project team was spread across three countries and three functions: procurement, finance and IT. On the go-live date we sent more than 20,000 emails to the suppliers and changed the respective information in the client’s SAP system. It was intense but every hour was worthwhile because the change was successfully executed.

Outside of work, I love to play sports. As a former professional athlete, I like to go for a run to see the city where I am working. On weekends, I run with my wife or we enjoy gardening together. In the future this might change some as we are expecting our first baby.

I’d encourage everyone who is passionate about supply chain management to consider joining McKinsey. See if you enjoy the interviews; they convinced me to join. The learning experience is amazing and everyone is very supportive. You have nothing to lose.

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