Hello all! I recently got an offer from McKinsey for BA position and I will start in March. However I come from non traditional background (philosophy) and all the business knowledge I have is basically cases I did rigorously in prepping process. As a result I feel extremely nervous about the job itself even though I had zero problems about the job or doing the job in preparation. I saw many talented and smart candidates getting rejected and I got in. I even felt like there might be some error in the application process. Anyways my question is I don't know how to be functional for the team or what to do when I start. I know that there's an onboarding process where you get to learn essentials and so on but still I have some serious doubts. I specifically wrote McKinsey but I appreciate other MBB experiences as well. Thanks in advance!!
Hi!
First, rest assured that your offer was not a hiring error. It is common to feel imposter syndrome early in your career. While it's true that many smart, qualified candidates are denied, this in no way means your acceptance was undeserved.
Second, problem solving and critical thinking skills are paramount in consulting, and always trump any prior skill or experience. This is especially true at entry levels. The reality is even folks with "traditional business" backgrounds learn little in school that is directly applicable to client case work. Real projects are messy, dynamic, and value delivery at MBB requires creativity and ingenuity- thinking qualities that cannot be taught in a classroom. I managed 200+ consultants in individual contributor roles and 50+ managers at BCG, and I assure you that educational background had very low correlation with performance. As an analogy, I would've staffed someone who is adept at learning languages but already knew few over the reverse any day.
To directly answer your headline question, when you first start you'll have about 2 weeks of general onboarding, after which you'll be staffed on your first case. My best advice to you if you're still feeling doubts at that point or anytime thereafter is to not be afraid to ask for help or ask the "dumb" questions. The BA level consultants who distinguish themselves are the ones who consistently seek to challenge themselves, push the envelope on creativity- all of which is enabled and accelerated when you have a steep learning curve. Best way to get there? Be a sponge- with your formal managers, informal mentors (seek folks you want to learn from proactively and early on), and with the experienced consultants on your teams, all of whom were sitting in your shoes not too long ago.
Congrats again on your offer, and best wishes as you begin your journey!
First off, congrats! There was definitely no hiring mistake. The recruitment process is incredibly rigorous and assesses you across stringent dimensions. You earned your spot.
Your start will generally follow three phases:
- Onboarding week: You will start with a onboarding week to meet peers and learn the essentials (values, IT tools, internal portals, and PPT/Excel basics) - There is also a specific "Business Fundamentals" training designed exactly for non-business backgrounds like yours
- 1st Staffing: You’ll likely hit the "beach" briefly before being staffed on your first engagement, ideally matched to your preferences
- Training week: Typically within the first 1-2 months, you will attend a fun, highly practical training week to simulate client situations, engage with other peers from various locations and solidify the McK operating model (esp. from more senior colleagues)
Rest assured, many of us (myself included) invested heavily in prep and felt that same anxiety. It will subside once you settle in and get a couple of projects under your belt. Enjoy the ride!
P.S. Specific prior business knowledge only helps to a limited degree anyway. Every project requires you to learn new, situational knowledge and adapt to the specific client context.
