During my MBA at Wharton, I learned about McKinsey and its office in Bogota. I had some doubts. Had I lived in the US too long? Would I be able to start again after leaving Venezuela years ago? Still, there was something appealing about moving back to Latin America. It was mysterious and exciting, and returning through a place like McKinsey seemed like a great way to get reacquainted with the region. I accepted a summer internship to see if it was really what I wanted to do.
Fast forward. A month ago, I landed in a Latin American country I’d never visited. We were coming to design an economic development plan to help this country grow faster. A few hours later, I sat next to a man during dinner; he introduced himself as the Minister of Finance. I felt intimidated, and also very happy. When you work at a place like McKinsey, you regularly meet prominent decision-makers. That’s how our work has so much meaning.
What started out as a summer experiment became the next step in my career. Somewhere between designing this growth plan and developing close relationships with my teammates through geeky debates on the future of AI, I knew I wanted to work at McKinsey. I also knew I wanted to live in Latin America again – a place where I quickly felt at home and found amazing opportunities to create change leveraging my former experiences.
More about Nelson:
Since starting as a full-time associate, I have felt supported in my quest to find my passion at McKinsey. Turns out, it’s helping companies on the brink of bankruptcy transform. Additionally, I love working on topics such as economic development in Venezuela. If you're interested in making a difference in Latin America, consider joining my colleagues and I and several other students and professionals in our new LinkedIn group, Global Connect: Latin America.