Hi everyone! I’ve spent the last few months working on a project with a fabulous team with a few members who were brand-new to McKinsey. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with them on their first client projects and to introduce them to the way we work.
I am so impressed with the talented people that we’re hiring, particularly because we have diversified our recruiting efforts so much. In addition to hiring candidates straight from university, we’re hiring more and more “experienced hires,” meaning people who are already in the workforce—and we had several of these colleagues on my team. I’ve found that in general, our experienced hire colleagues are very caring and thoughtful when it comes to coaching and mentoring colleagues—and their experiences from other work environments are invaluable.
Beyond having a mix of campus and experienced hires, our team comprised “generalist” consultants (like me) and members of our Advanced Analytics practice like Kaja, who joined us after working in marketing for several years. Our Analytics colleagues bring a special skillset to the firm, and they ask great fundamental questions that make us rethink our work and approach and really enrich our client service capabilities. It makes me so excited that we can offer this to our clients!
The transformations I witnessed in my new colleagues over the course of this three-month project were amazing. It really is incredible to see how much people can learn in a short amount of time, from learning how to use all of the firm’s assets to working with our clients. As we were wrapping up this engagement, it was also fun to talk to them about which opportunities would be good fits for their next projects.
The best benefit of working in a team-based environment is making new friends with every new project. I loved seeing how our team members connected and created a support group. This is what keeps many people at the firm—having a strong network of friends, mentors, and sponsors—and it’s fun to watch new colleagues experience these relationships for the first time.
Following this project, I took a trip to London to spend the weekend with friends from INSEAD. We visited the Christmas market, which was lovely, and I felt lucky to spend time again with the people who were part of the best year of my life. I’ve just kicked off a banking engagement and will report back on that next time.
All the best for 2019!
Anna
I am so impressed with the talented people that we’re hiring, particularly because we have diversified our recruiting efforts so much. In addition to hiring candidates straight from university, we’re hiring more and more “experienced hires,” meaning people who are already in the workforce—and we had several of these colleagues on my team. I’ve found that in general, our experienced hire colleagues are very caring and thoughtful when it comes to coaching and mentoring colleagues—and their experiences from other work environments are invaluable.
Beyond having a mix of campus and experienced hires, our team comprised “generalist” consultants (like me) and members of our Advanced Analytics practice like Kaja, who joined us after working in marketing for several years. Our Analytics colleagues bring a special skillset to the firm, and they ask great fundamental questions that make us rethink our work and approach and really enrich our client service capabilities. It makes me so excited that we can offer this to our clients!
The transformations I witnessed in my new colleagues over the course of this three-month project were amazing. It really is incredible to see how much people can learn in a short amount of time, from learning how to use all of the firm’s assets to working with our clients. As we were wrapping up this engagement, it was also fun to talk to them about which opportunities would be good fits for their next projects.
The best benefit of working in a team-based environment is making new friends with every new project. I loved seeing how our team members connected and created a support group. This is what keeps many people at the firm—having a strong network of friends, mentors, and sponsors—and it’s fun to watch new colleagues experience these relationships for the first time.
Following this project, I took a trip to London to spend the weekend with friends from INSEAD. We visited the Christmas market, which was lovely, and I felt lucky to spend time again with the people who were part of the best year of my life. I’ve just kicked off a banking engagement and will report back on that next time.
All the best for 2019!
Anna