Life as a consultant

At McKinsey, our work is at the intersection of deep industry expertise and extensive funcitonal capabilities. We serve clients at every level of their organization, in whatever capacity we can be most useful, whether as a trusted advisor to top management or as a hands-on coach for frontline employees.

We continually seek to improve our client service. For example, McKinsey Digital develops rapid prototypes, builds custom apps, and embeds recommendations in existing platforms. Our data experts build an maintain advanced data models for our clients to generate insights and make better, faster decisions. Turnaround executives from our RTS Practice help distressed and failing businesses reach long-term financial health.

Whether we serve the leadership of a corporation or a country, work at McKinsey tends to make a real and measurable difference – to the world, to the client, and to you. Indeed, helping you succeed and grow will be one of our main goals right from day one.

While in the first years, the aim for you is to go broad, explore, and experiment, we leave you the choice whether to specialize, in what, and to what extent. Colleagues have found pleasure in introducing the best practices from the private sector to a public office, having their voice heard and respected at steelworks, putting their engineering education to use at an FMCG company or letting their interests reach their prime in affiliation with McKinsey Digital.

Your options are limitless. You can choose. We will be there to help.

People are our most valuable asset, and we invest heavily in attracting and retaining the exceptional ones. Through formal training programs, on-the-job coaching and mentoring, we help our consultants reach their full potential.

As a newcomer, you will participate in an introductory training program to get familiar with the basics of problem solving, case studies, teamwork, communication, and our core values. But that is just the beginning. To further help you strengthen your skills, you will enjoy an average of one week of formal training per year in addition to a variety of local and practice-related training opportunities.

In order to help you to have the best start possible, we will assign you a senior consultant who will act as your development group leader. He or she will coach you, monitor your professional development, and help you in balancing your professional and personal life. We will also find you a junior consultant to be your “buddy” and help you settle in.

Working abroad is a great opportunity for professional and personal growth–bolstering cross-cultural problem-solving and people skills, allowing you to craft a career that reflects your interests.

McKinsey has more than 100 offices across every region, providing plenty of opportunities for our consultants to see the world—through client work, training programs abroad, and office exchanges and transfers. Last year, consultants from the Prague office worked in some 30 different countries on six continents.

We cherish diversity. As professional problem-solvers, we have known for a long time that it helps to consider an issue from as many different angles as possible. In line with this approach, everyone is welcome to apply: psychologists, lawyers, economists, engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists… If our consultants are anything to judge by, your background is not what determines your success.

Naturally, diversity means more than different backgrounds. We have a significant ratio of women among our consulting staff. We actively support them with formal initiatives, and informally by encouragement and mentoring, and we are inspired by their success.

Like any fast-track career, working at McKinsey is intense. Our clients rely on us during their most challenging times, and we go to great lengths to exceed their expectations. That said, meeting our commitments doesn’t mean putting our personal needs and interests on hold. We support flexible working arrangements, and several of our consultants work with part-time programs at McKinsey, providing space for family or pro bono commitments.

Last but not least, McKinsey Prague is a lot of fun! Not only at work, but also beyond the office, our people like to connect and spend time together. Our Junior Consultants Club organizes a variety of local events every month such as sports tournaments, field trips, retreats, and parties . On a more serious note, the Club has also become a meaningful supporter of selected charities.