McKinsey & Company Reviews

Former Employee – worked at McKinsey & Company

Pros – -Fantastic group of very intelligent, diverse colleagues who are more than willing to teach newbies the ropes
-Good way to quickly build your resume and gain exposure to lots of different working styles and work environments, not to mention a good 2-year BA program for non-business undergrads looking to try something different or get a launchpad into the corporate world
-Amazing support tools and services--access to massive internal knowledge database and teams of industry/function-specific experts, incredibly smooth support services (e.g., HR, IT), helpful ways to make consultant teams run more smoothly
-Non-hierarchical environment on most working teams--junior members of the team are expected to freely provide their opinions during problem-solving and even run client meetings

Cons – -Long hours that aren't always necessary--no matter what anyone says when you start, you will be asked to suffer through long nights and occasional weekend work
-Politics are still an issue--the people who perform best and get the most opportunities are those who go out of their way to kiss up to senior leadership...if that's not your personality, be prepared to miss out (either not getting "cool" projects or getting lower ratings)
-Staffing model is inflexible--if your region is limited in projects overall or at least in industries that interest you, it's very difficult to gain visibility into what other U.S. regions or international offices have available
-Program rules change often (e.g., staffing processes, travel and expense policies, your ability to get an office)--your experience will be different from what other consultants tell you during recruiting, partly because it's based on chance (the people you work with) and partly because policies change often

Advice to Senior Management – The programs that exist today for incoming consultants are well thought-out and provide good opportunities; however, it would be more helpful if management provided greater transparency and warning when changes occur.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at McKinsey & Company

Pros – My experience was wonderful -- hilarious, wonderful, smart people -- interesting projects -- opened doors for me in my post-McK career. Overall, I really enjoyed my time there.

Cons – Not tons of autonomy in where you're staffed. Hours are long, and certainly bleed into weekends. Can be difficult to find time to take vacation.

Advice to Senior Management – Be more honest in recruiting -- not everyone is going to work to solve the world's problems while traveling all over the world and meeting CEOs. Also, hiring should be based less on GPAs, especially at top tier schools.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at McKinsey & Company

Pros – - Very well operated company with high efficiency in every aspect
- Very intelligent colleagues and good team environment
- Great learning opportunities and professional growth

Cons – - Hardly to maintain work & life balance
- High pressure, up or out policy
- Progress in the company depends on whether you can find your own support within a relatively short time period

Advice to Senior Management – Improve team work&life balance, incorporate EPR into the SAR process,

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at McKinsey & Company

Pros – investment in professional development, showing initiative is rewarded, challenging and interesting work, great colleagues

Cons – Lots of travel, which can be challenging to manage

Advice to Senior Management – Continue investing in professional development of employees, one of the best things about the firm.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at McKinsey & Company

Pros – - Distinctive people: Every individual you meed has a great story, and something unique and distinctive about them
- Exceptional access and exposure: At every client, one interacts with the most senior individuals providing a great opportunity to counsel and impact the way they run business, and also to learn from them (though not actively encouraged...as we "know it all")
- Skill building: Every situation provides an opportunity to learn and develop skills, whether it be to influence clients, build models, create pages and most importantly, the power to structure, synthesize and draw that valuable insight

Cons – - Not a caring meritocracy anymore: This is something that has taken a hit. The importance of people has diminished and the caring part vanishes especially if you need help. When I started 10 years ago, if you raise you hand people will rush to help. Nowadays if one puts the hand up, people rush, more often away from you
- A culture of push, push and push: Nobody joins McKinsey for lifestyle. However, the currently focus of partners seem to continuously push the clients and the team hard without any substance. In one case, we were working late in the night to prepare for a training program the next day, without a client team in place. This is leading to significant strain and excessive pressure on the associate ranks
- Struggle to balance expertise vs generalist: McKinsey is still not sure whether it wants to build experts or generalists and career paths especially within practices are still grey and your career depends on the partners you work for.

Advice to Senior Management – - Bring the caring back into the meritocracy: Respect each individual and don't consider each one the same and put them through the "Review Committee" grinder
- Demonstrate the risk taking and leadership McKinsey is famous for to walk away from work where we do not add value vs destroying client relationships and more importantly the morale of its frontlines

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at McKinsey & Company

Pros – Good compensation and exceptional benefits and perks
Exceptional professional growth and development
Collaborative environment - every is willing to help you - and limited competiton among peers
Fair meritocratic evaluations
Exceptional brand and alumni network

Cons – Up or out - need to continually improve on skills
Challenging lifestyle long-term - long hours and travel for most people

Advice to Senior Management – No real advice to leadership - they are doing a great job
It will be interesting to see how the company changes under Dominic in the years ahead

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at McKinsey & Company

Pros – The learning is unparalleled. You will get feedback about everything you can possibly imagine and if you listen to it, you will improve your capabilities as a business leader enormously.

Cons – One of the toughest places you could possibly imagine to work. Expect travel for 4 days per week, working until 10-12 every night, and occasional weekend work.

Advice to Senior Management – You should take upward feedback much more seriously. It is super clear that APs can get elected partner even with bad upward feedback from associates/EMs, which isn't the way it should be.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at McKinsey & Company

Pros – Intellectual horsepower of colleagues from all over the world
Values-driven global Firm
Opportunites to travel and learn from experts inside and outside the Firm

Cons – Impressions always - not just first impressions - are important
"Echo chamber" effect of holding and sounding same or similar views

Advice to Senior Management – Open up to new models of client service and knoweldge development
Nurture the apprenticeship model of people development
Embrace Web 2.0 wholeheartedly

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at McKinsey & Company

Pros – Impressive client base, interesting problems to solve (on average), strong training programs, good administrative and technical support (graphics, analytics, communications, survey design groups etc.), highest prestige in the consulting industry

Cons – Long hours, lots of travel, precedence of work&clients before personal life, limited social interaction between colleagues outside of work, excessive redundancy/repetition/revision of documents, work pace and adherence to formats stifles creativity

Advice to Senior Management – Don't take everything so seriously

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at McKinsey & Company

Pros – Work with brilliant peers in collegial environment. Closest thing to an academic environment in business. Focus, particularly at lower levels, is on serving clients not on the business end of consulting (i.e., billing for work).

Cons – Long hours and lots of travel are obvious issues. Consulting is not a great career, as fun as it is, for balancing family needs.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep serving clients well; ensure work matches the need for the highly expensive talent you recruit; don't worry about whiners.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend