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How to get finance background at McKinsey?

McKinsey training Training and Development
New answer on Nov 29, 2019
5 Answers
1.9 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Nov 28, 2019

I will be joining McKinsey as an undergraduate full-time hire in the fall. I'm interested in potentially entering PE afterwards but have no knowledge of finance at this point. While I'm hoping to learn this on the job, I can't imagine I would be staffed on any modeling intensive cases without any knowledge of finance.

So how can I get the background I need? Will the general BA class training be enough? What does that general training even consist of?

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Clara
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Nov 28, 2019
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Congrats of the offer in the 1st place! :)

Rest assured that a BA job in McKinsey can be the perfect training for going to PE afterwards (I know personally people who have done it successfully, PM me and I can give you the contact of the person to follow up). You need to ensure that you are staffed in heavy analytical engagements, ideally, due diligences. Like this, not only will you train a lot your Excel modelling and analytical skills but also will learn so so much about the industries, different stakeholders, processes...

In my 2.5 years in McKinsey, I did 3 M&A DD´s (and I did not have any previous experience what so ever), so for sure you will have the chance!

Best of luck!

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Antonello
Expert
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replied on Nov 28, 2019
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi,
do not place your trust in training courses: if you are lucky you will have once per year.

To create an attractive background for PE I recommend being staffed as soon as possible in due diligence projects and remain in the team. There are lots of chances even for generalist consultants with a non-financial background. After 2 years you be ready to join a PE (you will interact with them even during your DD engagements)

Otherwise an MBA will help you in it

Best,
Antonello

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Deniz
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Nov 28, 2019
5+ Years at BCG & Kearney Dubai & Istanbul | 400+ Trainees | Free 15-min Consultation Call

Hi,

Usually, in-person trainings are not enough to ramp you up fully for specific topics, they are usually provided to provide you with the basics of consulting i.e. slide writing, storytelling, client engagement etc.

Based on my experience, the best way is to learn on-the-job, but if you like to get more background on certain topics, MBB has a wide range of online courses available at your disposal.

Best,

Deniz

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Francesco
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Content Creator
replied on Nov 29, 2019
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.000+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success (➡ InterviewOffers.com) | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi Anonymous,

congratulations on your offer! The best way to get a PE background is to actively look for projects related to due diligence and mention your interest to HR/try to connect with your future colleagues of that practice. You may not always be staffed on them but HR tries to accommodate requests of this type when possible.

Learning on your own won’t help much as the PE firms screening you in the future will be interested to see experience in PE/due diligence in your CV.

Best,

Francesco

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Vlad
Expert
replied on Nov 29, 2019
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

You will not get any of this knowledge on training. There are multiple options:

  • Taking time off and visiting courses like Traning the street
  • Trying to get staffed on Due Diligence projects and learning on your own
  • Getting an MBA degree

Best

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