Careers in Switzerland

With our excellent training programs, team-based approach, commitment to mentorship, and global presence, McKinsey offers your unequaled opportunities to develop your career. Working in small teams, you will have critical talent responsibilities from day one. You will learn constantly, with assignments that offer opportunities to develop your strengths and create new ones. The variety of projects and clients means that our consultants often take varied paths throughout their careers at McKinsey—and beyond. Our consultants usually focus on a specific function or industry that interests them, based on their experience. Working at McKinsey enables you to gain powerful leadership and analytical skills so that you can make your mark on clients, colleagues, and the world—whether you stay at McKinsey or choose a different career path.

McKinsey has more than 130 offices, so our consultants have lots of opportunities to see the world through client work, training programs abroad, office exchanges, and transfers. Working abroad is a great opportunity for professional and personal growth, bolstering cross-cultural problem-solving and people skills, as well as allowing you to craft a career that reflects your interests. Successful consultants have a chance to transfer to other offices around the world: our mobility team in the Zurich and Geneva office will advise you on your move, ease your transition, and coordinate with your receiving office.

We support flexible working arrangements, and many of our consultants work in part-time programs that provide space for family or pro bono commitments: for example, our My Time program allows consultants to take time off between engagements to pursue their personal interests and passions, including travel and further study. You can learn more about how meaningful our My Time program is to our people by watching and reading their personal stories on our global site.

Some candidates worry about balancing parenthood with work at McKinsey. To give our people more flexibility, we offer multiple options, from extended parental leave to flexible working times to the possibility of taking time off for longer periods. Read five reasons why a number of colleagues around the world feel that McKinsey is one of the best places for moms and dads.

What associates do

As an associate, you'll lead a key portion of a client project. You'll have direct contact with senior clients and work with a high degree of independence. You might conduct analyses, interview clients and their customers, plan and facilitate workshops, translate conclusions into recommendations, and help design and implement large-scale organizational-change programs. We'll provide extensive training to help you build core consulting skills. You will also receive ongoing feedback and mentorship from collaborative teammates.

After two or three years, you may move into the role of engagement manager and lead client projects, manage teams, coach less experienced colleagues, and take responsibility for initiatives within McKinsey.

What we are looking for

We seek people with different backgrounds, experiences, and passions. This includes a variety of academic fields and professions, such as financial services, life sciences, engineering, and humanities. If you are a professional with between three and eight years of solid work experience or you are currently studying for an MBA, you can apply for an associate role. If you have fewer than three years' work experience or have just completed doctoral research, you can also apply as an associate.

Our internship program, which runs about 10-12 weeks, is for students who want to gain firsthand experience of management consulting and learn about careers at McKinsey.

As an intern, you'll experience the day-to-day life of a McKinsey consultant. You'll be an active member of a consulting team and be responsible for specific parts of the project. At the same time, you'll get day-to-day coaching and a dedicated mentor. Just like the rest of the team, you'll work at the client site together with the client, but you'll also spend time with your colleagues at the Zurich and Geneva office.

What fellows do 

As a fellow, you'll work on client projects as part of a team and take responsibility for your own part of the problem solving. You'll play a key role in gathering and analyzing data, interviewing clients, and contributing to the team's recommendations. You'll work directly with senior client managers and have a voice in determining the team's working approach. Your ideas will be encouraged from day one.

What we are looking for

We look for exceptional people from a variety of academic fields and professions. If you have a master's degree, or are in the final year of your master's, and have less than two years' professional experience, you can apply as a fellow.

We recruit both generalist consultants and specialists for our functional and industry practices. Specifically, we are recruiting consultants with skills and experience in the following areas:

• Analytics
• Digital Technology
• Generalist
• Life Sciences
• Operations

The first step to a career with McKinsey Switzerland is to prepare your application. Simply fill in our online application form and attach your cover letter, curriculum vitae, copies of academic transcripts from high school onward, and letters of reference or certificates from past employment, if any.

For full-time positions, we have six application deadlines and advise you to submit your application at least six months before you are ready to start; see the section above for more information on application deadlines. Please note that applications are accepted on a rolling basis for full-time QuantumBlack and Operations Practice positions. If the proposed timelines don’t work for you, please get in touch with us, as we may have some flexibility.

McKinsey has two offices in Switzerland: Geneva and Zurich. If you are fluent in French but not German, we recommend you select our Geneva office on your application. If you are fluent in German but not French, we recommend you select our Zurich office. For both offices, you will need an excellent command of English.

If you are studying outside of Switzerland, please follow the application process relevant to your school.

Eligible applicants will receive an invitation to play Solve, McKinsey’s assessment game, and complete it within a set deadline. There is no preparation needed for this game.

After the application deadline we will extensively review your application, including your Solve results. We will reach out to you two weeks after the deadline with an update on your application status.

If you are invited to interview, you will be provided with multiple coaching resources to make sure you are prepared.

An interview is an opportunity to find out whether McKinsey is the right choice for you. You will get an understanding of what our consultants do and the kinds of topics they work on.

Your first round will consist of two one-hour interviews for internship positions and three one-hour interviews for full-time positions. These interviews will all be with McKinsey consultants who will walk you through a case study to assess your team skills and ability to solve problems. These wide-ranging discussions will enable you to share your insight, your intellectual curiosity, and your approach to situations you may not have been prepared for. You will also have ample opportunity to ask questions about consulting and working at McKinsey.

After receiving feedback, and in the case of a successful outcome, you’ll be invited to attend a second round of interviews—one one-hour interview for internship positions and two one-hour interviews for full-time positions. If you are successful in final round interviews you’ll receive an offer on the same day.

This process applies to full-time and internship positions, excluding candidates applying for full-time roles with QuantumBlack, roles within the Operations Practice, or those going through the application process on campuses outside of Switzerland.

We have created a comprehensive set of materials to support your interview preparation. You will find detailed information under “Interviewing,” including a video and tips for interviews.