Hey there,

Cannot comment on the UK specifically but I knew a couple of colleagues in Germany and Austria, who did not live close to any McKinsey office.

It worked well for them. There are two disadvantages:

• More travel from your home to the client location (if you live in a smaller city, chances are your commute will have 2 instead of 1 flight).
• Less involvement in the office life. Friday's are often spent in the office for socials and networking. Usually, those colleagues were less connected to the office since they spend most Fridays - understandably - at home.

Cheers,

Florian

It's not impossible but it's extremely rare especially at entry level. The only exceptions I am aware of are for EMs and above or practice-affiliated (e.g., Operations) consultants who work exclusively outside London. Either way, at entry level, you would be expected to cover your own travel/accommodation expenses when staying in London. The general policy for McKinsey London consultants (it may have changed in the last year or two, especially with COVID/remote working) when not assigned to a project is to be within the M25.

Hi there,

The short answer is: Ask HR! There's not harm to reaching out to HR to get an answer here. It's a fair networking question.

That said, these setups are rare. The lower down in the company at which you are entering, the harder. I will say the new WFH world helps, but it's still tough. Additionally, if it's your choice to live up there then you better bet you'll have to cover all expenses to make it work! 

If you want to be off to a great start at McKinsey, which is a hard thing to do, you will want to be able to focus 100% on the job. That’s not possible in your scenario, albeit technically possible.

What you’re suggesting will cause so much extra strain and you’ll be burnt out within a year, trying to balance some office life and internal networking with being at home in Manchester.

Bottom line is that setting yourself up for success means moving to London.

Hope you find a way forward that works!