Nadja Peters, Director of Recruiting Germany at McKinsey & Company, tells you how to make the leap into the consulting business.
Why is McKinsey the ideal first employer?
McKinsey & Company offers exciting challenges and diverse topics, especially for career starters. Hardly any professional field is more dynamic and offers committed academics steeper learning curves than top management consulting. This means that young employees have the opportunity to advise the top management of top international companies when they first start and are immersed in a wide range of industries and sectors in their projects.
What qualities and skills should a young applicant have? What impresses you?
In addition to academic achievements and analytical skills, relevant selection criteria include practical experience and commitment that goes beyond the curriculum. These can be internships, but also, for example, sporting or social engagement. This should also be made visible in the application documents, especially in the CV. Social skills such as communication skills, team spirit and empathy are also important for constructive work in a team and with the client. Management consultants are often deployed internationally. Foreign language skills and international experience are an advantage if, for example, you work in an international team or want to do a project in Asia. In principle, however, good English is sufficient for daily use.
Are “breaks” in your CV a no-go for you?
No, not at all, on the contrary. But such “breaks” should be understandable. Overall, interesting experiences are more important to us than completing your studies at top speed. That's why, for example, we also advocate a sensibly designed gap year between bachelor's and master's degrees. We even offer a special program for this.
Students and graduates in which disciplines are you looking for?
What makes a management consultancy strong is the diversity of its employees. Our consultants have very different academic backgrounds, most of them bring a combination of scientific working methods, interdisciplinary thinking and practical orientation. There are entry-level options for both generalists and specialists. In general, we are looking for graduates and doctorates from all disciplines: engineers, natural scientists and mathematicians as well as economists and humanities scholars, doctors and lawyers. At McKinsey, only half of the consultants have a business background. We are currently trying to attract applicants with a scientific or engineering background in particular.
When is the best time to get started? After your bachelor's or after your master's?
For us, starting after completing your master’s degree is the most common option. There is also the option of joining us as a Junior Fellow after completing your Bachelor's degree. An internship at McKinsey is a very good opportunity to get as accurate an impression as possible of the project work and to see whether the management consultancy is a good fit for you.
What does the selection process consist of? What tasks do applicants have to face?
If the written documents are convincing, the applicants will be invited to a selection day. Interested parties can expect several discussions lasting approximately one hour each with a consultant. Part of these conversations is the discussion of a case study. Since consultants are constantly confronted with new questions, great flexibility in thinking and acting is essential. That's why the most important thing in discussions is a logical approach and the ability to come up with original solutions. Applicants often receive personal feedback on the same day. However, the selection day is not an assessment center and the candidates are not exposed to a classic competitive situation.
If the consultants are convinced and interest continues on both sides, an interview with a senior partner follows. If this also goes well, an offer is usually made straight away. Since consultants are constantly confronted with a wide variety of questions, great flexibility in thinking and acting is required. That's why the most important thing in the discussions about the respective case studies is the logical approach and the ability to show original solutions.
How quickly do career starters work independently? How do you get support at the beginning?
Each new colleague initially receives a mentor and a one-week introductory training in the basics of consulting work. In addition, he is intensively coached by his colleagues and the project manager in the team on his first project. New consultants then very quickly take responsibility for their own project strand. The degree of personal responsibility increases from project to project and can vary greatly across different projects. This is also the appeal: you can always prove yourself in a new role with new challenges and therefore develop quickly. Career steps at McKinsey are also very transparent. As a rule, you make a career move every one and a half to two years. McKinsey also invests a lot in the personal training and further education of its consultants. In the first two years alone, each consultant receives up to 50 days of training. In addition, every consultant can take advantage of individual coaching.
What does a consultant’s day-to-day work look like?
Since our consultants work on a project basis, there is no classic working week. The week usually starts with the arrival to the client. Typically you are on site with clients from Monday to Thursday and in the office on Friday. On a typical working day, you often coordinate with the team in the morning about the upcoming tasks and then carry out e.g. B. Conducts interviews with the client's employees or conducts research and analyses, prepares a workshop or a presentation for the board with the interim results of the project. Friday offers a great opportunity to exchange ideas with other colleagues outside of the project team.
“Consultants work around the clock and have a poor work-life balance” is a common cliché. What do you say about such prejudices?
Working as a top management consultant is certainly not a 9-5 job. The problems and questions that need to be solved for the client are usually complex and we have high standards for the quality of our work. However, our consultants usually manage to keep weekends free and project work also offers many advantages in terms of flexibility. In order to meet our employees' desire for more time for private interests, we have, for example, introduced the “Take Time” program: Each consultant can take up to two months off per year between project phases in addition to their annual vacation. He will continue to receive his salary on a pro-rata basis and all insurance will remain in place. This leaves room for private projects, such as spending the entire summer vacation with the children, a concert tour or a social commitment.
How many new employees do you hire per year?
For 2015 we would like to hire 260 new consultants and 110 interns.
What advice would you like to give to students and graduates?
I advise interested parties to simply apply and not spend ages wondering whether their profile fits McKinsey. Women in particular should be aware of their own strengths. Many people don't even apply because they think management consulting is a male domain. But we have many exciting women with a wide variety of backgrounds who are given the freedom to advance their own topics and develop quickly. Our events or an internship are ideal ways to get to know us.
Nadja Peters, Director of Recruiting Germany at McKinsey & Company, tells you how to make the leap into the consulting business.
