Careers in the Netherlands

With our excellent training programs, team-based approach, commitment to mentorship, and global presence, McKinsey offers you unequaled opportunities to develop your career. Working in small teams, you will have critical client 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 plenty of opportunities to see the world through client work, training programs abroad, office exchanges, and transfers. Last year, consultants from the Amsterdam office worked in over 50 different countries on six continents. 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 will advise you on your move, ease your transition, and coordinate with your receiving office.

McKinsey is a highly diverse organization. In the Amsterdam office, our consultants are drawn from at least ten nationalities and have an incredibly wide range of knowledge, backgrounds, and life experience. Women make up around one-third of our consultants and 40 percent of new recruits, and our women’s network provides coaching and events to support professional development and connectivity. Our global LGBTQ+ consultant network promotes equality and respect in our firm, our clients, and our societies.

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 Take 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 Take 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. 

McKinsey helps the world’s leading organizations solve complex societal challenges in global health, economic development, education, philanthropy, and climate change. Recent social initiatives of the Amsterdam office include Women Matter, which aims to increase the proportion of women in top management; New Venture, an annual competition for entrepreneurs, with McKinsey consultants providing one-to-one coaching; and 21minuten.nl, an online survey to help increase public involvement in political debate. In 2020, it was more important than ever to deliver on our purpose and help create positive, enduring change in the world. Learn about the progress we have made so far in our ESG report.

The fellow internship program, which runs about 10 weeks, is for students who want to gain firsthand experience of management consulting and learn about a career at McKinsey. We welcome your application if you will be completing your university or postdoctoral studies within the next 18 months.

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 Amsterdam office.

Apply now - fellow intern or associate intern

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.

In the fellowship program, you’ll spend about 2 years developing broad business skills; then you can take educational leave to obtain your MBA (financially supported by McKinsey), gain further work experience for one year in your chosen industry or in a nonprofit organization, or move directly into an associate role.

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 2 years’ professional experience, you can apply as a fellow.

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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 2 or 3 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, experience, 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 3 and 8 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 3 years’ work experience or have just completed doctoral research, you can apply as a junior associate.

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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:

• McKinsey Digital
• McKinsey Implementation
• Operations
• Marketing & Sales
• Transformation
• Sustainability

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Your interviews at McKinsey could be the start of an enriching personal and professional journey of growth and opportunity.

The first step in joining McKinsey’s Amsterdam office—whether you are a student or an experienced professional—is to prepare your application, which should include the following elements:

• a curriculum vitae detailing your academic performance, previous jobs and internships, professional experience, extracurricular activities (sports and associations), and hobbies
• your language-fluency level in Dutch and English (and any other language you know)
• your end-of-academic-year results (grades and percentage ranking) for each year in university and high school, as well as relevant work references

Apply online

When you are ready to apply, use our online application form and attach your curriculum vitae, as well as transcripts of your grades. After your application, you will receive an email from us within a few days with more details on our problem-solving game and your personal link to play the game.

You will receive feedback on your application within two weeks after your application. Please get in touch with us if the timelines don’t work for you, since we can offer some flexibility.

Prepare for your application

Apply online

When we receive your complete application, we will send you an automated email acknowledgment. Applicants that are eligible to apply will receive an invitation to play our McKinsey Problem Solving Game, to be completed within a set deadline.

There is no preparation needed for the problem-solving game. Learn more about the McKinsey Problem Solving Game.

We will extensively review your application, including your McKinsey Problem Solving Game results. We will reach out to you within two weeks after your application. If you are invited for our first round of interviews, we will schedule a preparation call with you, in which we will discuss the next steps extensively. The recruiting team will be there to support you throughout the process.

In case you complete the first round of interviews successfully, you will be invited to a second round in the weeks thereafter. If you complete the second round successfully, you will receive an offer to join us.

If you have any additional questions about the application process, get in touch with us (AMS-Recruiting@mckinsey.com).