McKinsey Adaptation

Hi there,

Congratulations on the offer! The first weeks/months indeed are usually tough, in particular if you come from an environment with low pressure. In terms of your main questions:

Q:  What would you suggest for fast adaptation to the work environment and lifestyle?

I would recommend the following.

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FIRST WEEKS

This is what I would recommend for the first weeks – you are probably familiar with most of them, but could be good to review:

1. Take notes during meetings/discussions with your manager – this will help you to remember details and will show you care about them to the team.
2. Always double-check. The first impression is very important when you join a new company: if you show you are reliable from the beginning, you create a reputation of a reliable person. Double checks should be done on expectations for your job, your Excel analysis, your slides – basically everything.
3. Define priorities before starting any set of tasks. The majority of the results usually come from a subset of activities – this is true also for your tasks in consulting. You have to identify which they are and prioritize them – the application of the so-called 80-20 rule or Pareto Principle. Alignment on priorities and expectations is particularly important with your manager at the beginning of the project.
4. Socialize with your colleagues and start to build a network. You should build a good network within the company. A good start is key to develop good relationships long-term. More difficult to do during COVID – but there may still be opportunities for virtual gatherings. Try to take advantage of as many as possible to build connections.
5. Organize your private life activities. You want to organize your calendar to leave some space for personal activities (sport/ friends/ family). This is not easy but can be managed if you organize well, and long-term will be critical to keep a balance between work and private life. Also, it is better to align with your manager/teammates from the beginning on your core needs, so that there are no surprises later­ on.
6. Ask for feedback every two-three weeks – this will show you are proactive and willing to learn.
7. Ask for help when you don't know what to do – better to let know you are in trouble with meeting a deadline than missing the deadline.
8. Be social and respectful with the support staff – these people are great and influential as well in the company.

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IT TOOLS

You are probably ok with the basics of Excel and PowerPoint, if not you can take a quick course to review the basics. You can check in advance with your office if they recommend training on any other tool, such as Alteryx or Tableau and if so, do some prep on that.

One of the most important things you can learn with any IT tool is shortcuts – they will increase substantially your productivity.

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INDUSTRIES

If your office specializes in specific industries where you would like to work, it would be good to get a minimum knowledge of them in advance. You will still learn the most during the job so this is not strictly necessary.

You can find some tips on recent consulting trends here:

▶ 11 New Consulting Trends You Should Know

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READING LIST

In case you have time before starting, a good way to invest it is to… read. You won’t have much time to do this later and reading is one of the most undervalued growth opportunities available today.

Personally I don’t have much time to read, so I listen to books – Audible is great for this. You can easily listen to a book per week with minimum effort. You absorb books differently when you listen, so you have to check if this works for you.

The following are some books I would highly recommend to develop a growth mindset – key in any industry with high pressure. You can expand the list with anything you want to learn – just try to find a few really good books on that topic.

• The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy (great book on long-term planning)
• Tiny Habits – BJ Fogg (excellent, science-based book on habits formation)
• The Mediations – Marcus Aurelius (written ~ 2000 years ago but incredibly actual – the personal diary of the most powerful man in the world at the time)
• The 80–20 Principle – Richard Koch (very smart life tips from one of the founders of LEK)
• Peaks and Valleys – Spencer Johnson (crisis management tale – from the same author of the famous “Who moved my Cheese”, I personally found this book a lot more interesting and applicable)
• The Gap and the Gain – Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy (excellent book in terms of mindset for happiness)

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All the best for your new job!

Francesco

Hi there,

Congrats on the offer!

I'm going to answer your question, and then provide some additional advice I tend to provide for this type of question :)

What would you suggest for fast adaptation to the work environment and lifestyle?

1. Optimize time. Find everything you can to make things easy (healthy food delivery, automate payments, automate receipt tracking, have x # of identical shirts, always use x card for x and y card for y, always use x airline and x ride-hailing app)
2. Learn on others. Learn from everyone around you. Get help from your peers (emphasis: peers, not manageres)
3. Cut yourself some slack. You won't be perfect. Even after 20 years there. There will always be feedback. Have a learning and improvement mindset.

How was your experience? Did you have any cultural shock or felt anxious during first days?

It was terrible at first! First 10 months were so hard! Then, I learned and got used to things. Everyone feels this way…know that every single person around you feels inadequate, feels imposter syndrome, and has a dozen improvement areas. Realize that this is just the process and it's how we improve…

OTHER ADVICE BELOW

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MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know that no-one can perfectly prepare for the job and that's the point: You will mess up, you will learn, you will be trained and supported. That's OK!

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First: I have a consulting survival guide handbook with 25 key tips for surviving the consulting world. Feel free to message me for it!

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Second: In terms of things you can learn/do to prepare beforehand:

1) Daily Reading

• The Economist, The Financial Times, BCG/Mskinsey Insights

2) Industry deep-dives

• Learn, in-depth, how the industries/companies your office advises, work. (PM me for an industry overview template)

3) Analytics tools

• Alteryx, Tableau, etc.

4) Excel

5) Powerpoint

• Best practices/standards
• Different layouts
• Quickly editing/updating slides
• Thinking in PowerPoint

6) Presentation skills / sharp communication

• There are some online/virtual classes for this

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Third: In terms of doing well in your role when you're there:

1) Understand the context/prompt (what role are you in, what company, who's watching, etc.)

2) Understand the objective (what, specifically, is expected from you...both day to day, and in your overall career progression)

3) Quickly process information, and focus on what's important - Take a lot of information and the unknown, find the most logical path, and focus on that.

4) Be comfortable with the unknown, and learn to brainstorm - think/speak like an expert without being one

In summary, there will always be a flood of information, expectations, competition etc. and not enough time. Find out which ones matter when. (i.e. be visibile and focus efforts on the things that people care about)

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Fourth: Here are some great prior Q&As for you!

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/what-makes-a-good-consultant-how-to-get-a-good-review-6790

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-hard-is-it-to-excel-in-top-consulting-firms-6762

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-become-an-engagement-manager-and-partner-quickly-6722

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/need-to-learn-skills-in-the-ample-free-time-before-starting-at-an-mbb-what-should-i-do-6774

Hi there, 

It makes sense to worry about what's ahead. It's also good to know that no preparation will make it feel like less of a shock. You'll manage though, like pretty much everybody does. 

A few things that might help:

• Set your expectations low. You won't have much control over your lifestyle in the beginning when you join. You won't know your team, your skills won't be great and you won't know how to negotiate your workload. So don't press yourself so much for not handling all these things
• Try and build a network early. If you like working with some people because they have similar values and approach to work, then make sure that you perform well on their projects so they want you on their next ones. 
• Stick with a topic or industry. Lots of the long hours and stress in the beginning come also because you don't know much about any industry or topic. If you stick within a similar topic area within your first projects the learning curve won't be that steep. 
• Find mentors. This could be your EM, but it could also be a couple of Partners from your home office. Make sure you have someone to go to when you need some support and guidance. 

Best,

Cristian

Great question! Transitioning from industry to consulting can feel daunting, but it doesn't need to be. There's a lot that you can do to get your bearings & position yourself to succeed once you're at McKinsey. Here are some suggestions that worked for me:

- Prepare for projects before they start. I always spent the Sunday before a project reading through all past client work and getting oriented with the industry. McKinsey has great resources in its internal knowledge library to help you get up to speed. Doing some pre-work will help you work less over the life of the project.

- Focus on building PPT/Excel skills as soon as possible, and take advantage of extra trainings. Your learning compounds over time, and if you perfect these skills early you'll work less down the line.

- Be friends with your analyst class. Everybody else is feeling the same way you do, and your start class can provide you with the emotional support you need to keep grinding.

- Remember that it gets better. As your tenure as a BA grows, you'll become much faster at your job. I started at McK working 80/hour weeks, and within a year rarely worked over 55 hours for the rest of my tenure.

- Strike a balance between work and your personal life. Spend Thursday nights with a significant other or your friends. Log off at 5pm on Fridays. Don't look at your phone on the weekends. If you can do these things, the job becomes a lot more sustainable.

Overall, you probably won't feel like you're settled until 6 months in, maybe later. But you'll feel a hell of a lot more confident with every project under your belt, and it's only a matter of time before you start to feel like you're at home at McKinsey.

Hi there,

You concern is valid but keep in mind that many others have made the move before you, and ended up being just fine eventually. Here are few tips for you:

1- Find your close circle as soon as possible

McKinsey hours are long and tough indeed so might as well spend them with good people who are nice to work with. As soon as you join, try to meet as many people as possible and try asking around to find a set of managers and teams who you would feel comfortable with (they are nice, they don't crack under pressure, they manage the clients well etc)

2- Balance intense and basic studies

Although consulting projects are mostly intense, some are way too intense (e.g., due diligence, transformations, PE etc.) and some are lighter (e.g., probono pieces, internal study). In intense projects, you can prove yourself and gain supporters while in others you can recharge your battery. Balance both to ensure you progress well without burning out.

3- Take breaks frequently

The good thing at Mck is that most projects are relatively short. I used to always block a week off after the project to ensure I recover before the next one. They also offer ‘take time’ which are unpaid leaves of 5-10weeks that you can claim each year. Benefit from those and ensure you never start a project if you're drained.

Best of luck!

Be prepared mentally for the worst in terms of work load. Just know that you can physically handle it - as long as you are motivated to do it. 

Three suggestions. 

One of the difficultues is adjusting to the pace, which is much faster in consulting. If you can practice working “under stress”. I.e., trying to have very strong focus for 1-2h in a row, that may help you adjust to a higher stress level.

The other, is to look at your personal life, and see what you can automate / simplify in order to make your life as easy as possible when you are not working. Meaning that you are more efficient in the daily “bureaucratic” taks that you need to do (higiene, eating, commuting, laundry, shopping, …).

Learning a bit about powerpoint and excel (particularly shortcts and most common functions) can help you in the first weeks. Don't worry too much about this, as you'll get training and nothing replaces real work. I.e., just make sure you are not too much of a “noobie” in those tools.