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Pre-Joining Preparation for McKinsey

business analyst fellow Fresh Graduate McKinsey New Joiner offer
Neue Antwort am 2. Juli 2021
5 Antworten
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Anonym A fragte am 2. Juli 2021

Hi,

Thanks to preplounge based preperation & guidance, recently I was extended an offer to join McKinsey & Company as a fellow (Business Analyst). I join the McKinsey in November 2021.

From what I understand, the McKinsey 'up or out' culture demands high performance and I am extremely excited to begin my work at the firm. Given I have roughly four months before joining, I'd like guidance on what things one should prepare prior to joining.

These could include:

1. Proficency on tools such as MS Excel and Powerpoint - If you could elaborate on the depth of expertise expected and any resources where it can be acquired.

2. Problem solving ability & understanding - I come from a non-target school with no real consulting infrastructure so any guidance with this would be very benefitial.

3. Any other area which you believe to be critical to success at the firm and is useful to learn or begin the process of learning before joining.

Thank you for your consideration of this question.

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Ian
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 2. Juli 2021
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi there,

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 timeFind 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

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Florian
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 2. Juli 2021
Highest-rated McKinsey coach (ratings, offers, sessions) | 500+ offers | Author of The 1% & Consulting Career Secrets

Hey there,

Congrats!

If you want to make the best use of the time, do something you genuinely enjoy since you will have much less time in the future for these things.

If you are interested in preparing for your new role, I'd suggest the following:

When I got the offer some years ago I did the same. I reached out to people I knew in McKinsey and people who interviewed me to ask: what can I do to make the start easier? how can I prepare?

The answer from everyone was: Relax! Enjoy your time before you start and don't think about it. You will figure it out on the job. I followed that advice and it made sense to me once I joined.

When you start at McKinsey or any MBB really, there are 2 ways to learn:

  1. Formal training. The formal training sessions/ weeks/ days in the beginning, are nice, however, they are more for networking and meeting your peers. You learn some interesting concepts and get some useful tips from more experienced consultants BUT
  2. Constant and implicit learning on the job is where it's at. No matter if you are a newcomer or a veteran after 2 years, you will always find yourself on a steep learning curve. As soon as you barely mastered one skill or the skills needed for one level in the hierarchy, you will take care of things, which are expected from a more senior colleague. This cycle never ends. You are expected to learn on the job, learn from your colleagues, your mentors, sometimes even the client. So basically a newly promoted Engagement Manager has the same 'struggle' as a new-hire Business Analyst. They both need to work in a completely new environment and role.

Knowing that, if we now go back to square one in your MBB journey it makes perfect sense to enter the firm with a blank slate with a lot of curiosity and eagerness to soak it all up and quickly learn the ropes.

No book, no training, no coach can prepare you for your first day, your first week, your first engagement. Nothing matches the experience and the learning and this is a good thing (also the reason why ex-MBBs are valued highly on the job market).

You will learn everything you need to master while doing it. You will be thrown in the cold water and need to swim. However, your colleagues will always be happy to help you and mentor you. And for the rest, you will figure everything out along the way. The key here is always to ask for tips, shortcuts, feedback, etc. Don't be quiet if you get stuck.

Also, for every technical problem (IT, Excel question, etc) McKinsey has a Global Helpdesk and the rule is to call them for every problem you can't solve within 5 minutes. They will fix your computer, guide you through Excel formulas, etc. I reckon this is similar for others.

Lastly, if you have no domain knowledge about a certain industry or topic, read through the internal library of documentation (which is endless) and call some of the firm experts on the topic. Usually, they are happy to offer you a short call to get you up to speed.

Don't sweat the small stuff and enjoy the ride!

Florian

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Henning
Experte
antwortete am 2. Juli 2021
Bain | passed >15 MBB interviews as a candidate

Congrats, well done!!

There are a number of threats here that cover this question with good recommendations: here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-prepare-for-consulting-career-3164

But that aside: My strong recommendation - although you don't want to hear this - is to chill out and travel for a couple of months. The firm will ramp you up quickly, and if you'll look back 5 years from now, I'm willing to bet you're more likely to regret that you haven't travelled and enjoyed some time before the grind is starting, than not having spent enough time preparing for your job. ;)

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Ken
Experte
antwortete am 2. Juli 2021
Ex-McKinsey final round interviewer | Executive Coach

Congratulations! I am slightly concerned that you are not taking the opportunity to relax and enjoy life before you start. You have an offer - it means you are more than competent to perform well and succeed at McKinsey.

"Up or out" is something I feel is spoken about more outside McKinsey than within the Firm. It's also worth clarifying that it's not only about performance and also about your trajectory - i.e., you could be an amazing BA but you lack certain skills to be a strong EM or a great EM who can manage a project but not so great at developing clients as a Partner, etc.

Especially starting as a BA, there is no pre-requisite before joining. The expectation is that you will learn everything on the job whether it be how to structural an Excel model, sketching PPT slides, drawing issue trees to structure a client problem, etc. etc. If anything, I would invest in yourself - everyone (incl. clients) wants to work with someone who is interesting and has experiences and interests from outside the office.

Good luck! 

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Udayan
Experte
Content Creator
antwortete am 2. Juli 2021
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /6 years McKinsey recruiting experience

Wanted to second Ken's answer - please enjoy yourself before the job as once you join you will get all the requisite training to be a top performer. If you like you can read up on excel skills etc but I personally found that without an actual project to apply these skills to they just ended up being a waste

Udayan

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