The scholarship that opened the door from law to the public sector

If you are a female student in your penultimate year of an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in Australia or New Zealand, please apply for our Women in Leadership Scholarship. The recipient will receive $15,000 and an internship in one of our Australian offices in 2020 (timing negotiable). Please apply online by 30 June 2019.

Melissa Ann Embark
Melissa Ann Embark

In my final year of law school, I decided to apply for McKinsey’s Women in Leadership Scholarship to learn more about management consulting. After completing an internship and working full-time at the firm for nearly three years, I can definitely say it was the right decision. I’ve learned a lot about myself, my passions, and my potential for leadership. I’ve built useful skills I can take with me wherever I go and a supportive community of diverse and talented colleagues and friends.

On the day of my first interviews for the scholarship, I remember standing in the elevator demonstrating all the visible signs of an arts/law student who was about to have her problem solving and arithmetic skills tested: sweaty palms, wild gesticulations, pounding heart, etc. During the interviews, my nervousness gave way to excitement. I worked through cases covering a range of topics. I learned more about my interviewers who came from a host of different backgrounds – a former surgeon, a mining engineer and an investment banker. I was amazed by the breadth of their careers and the difference they had made in their respective fields. Instantly, I fell in love with this seemingly crazy idea: maybe I didn’t have to pick one area of focus, and maybe maintaining broad interests would put me in a better place to solve some of world’s most challenging problems.

Melissa Ann London
Melissa Ann London

In my roles as a business analyst and now associate, this idea has been continually reaffirmed. I’ve worked across sectors, industries and functions. With each engagement, I’ve learned new skills or built on existing ones I wouldn’t have developed so quickly without such broad, varied exposure and the support of my colleagues to help me through each new situation.

I’ve reached a point in my career when I’m focusing more on my passion: achieving meaningful reform in the public and social sectors. I’ve worked with a host of federal departments in Australia, and within the public sector in the UK. This year, I joined Generation, a project run by the McKinsey Social Initiative, a not-for-profit global organisation founded by McKinsey. We’re designing and launching a program to tackle youth unemployment in Australia in a start-up environment. Next year, I’ll work on earning my masters of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Apply for the Women in Leadership Scholarship

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