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How will the coronavirus affect MBB interns in the US?

McKinsey
New answer on Mar 23, 2020
7 Answers
2.7 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Mar 14, 2020

Will work be remote? Will it be harder to get a full time offer? I imagine there will be a recession as a result too so will that make everything harder too, or will they just give interns FT offers and do less FT recruiting?

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Robert
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replied on Mar 15, 2020
McKinsey offers w/o final round interviews - 100% risk-free - 10+ years MBB coaching experience - Multiple book author

Hi Anonymous!

McKinsey hiring is already on the way to slow down in some geographic regions (I don't know US specifically however) - but I definitely expect that.

Work already is remote to a large extent - many clients blocked all McKinsey consultants (and other external people) from their premises, and it will most likely increase in the next few weeks.

As long as uncertainty is very high, I expect recruiting will slow down significantly more; once it's a clear downward trend and uncertainty is reduced, also consulting projects will start to increase again (think of cost-cutting and restructuring). However, during recessions in general it's getting harder to get job offers....

Hope that helps - if so, please give it a thumbs-up in with the green upvote button below!

Robert

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Anonymous A on Mar 15, 2020

If hiring demands are lower due to a recession, is it fair to expect all interns to get FT offers as usual and the firm's do little to no FT recruiting then?

Robert on Mar 15, 2020

neither 'all' interns will get full time offers as usual, nor I expect FT recruiting near or to a complete freeze medium-term; McKinsey still wants the best people no matter which channel they come from.

Anonymous A on Mar 15, 2020

Isn't it typical for all interns to get FT offers in the US?

Robert on Mar 15, 2020

if you do a good job, yes - but definitely not all interns get a FT offer finally

Anonymous A on Mar 15, 2020

Got it, so you're saying it's not guaranteed this summer but the virus shouldn't make it much harder if at all to get the FT offer?

Daniel
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replied on Mar 20, 2020
McKinsey / ex-Interviewer at McKinsey / I will coach you to rock those interviews

Really difficult to say now

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Clara
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replied on Mar 15, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

At this point, the situation is evolving so fast that it´s difficult to predict, since the situation changes day after day.

Logic sais that, as well as clients are slowing down... so will consulting companies. This will inevitbly lead to a slow-down in hiring -but not a total freeze, as there was not a total freeze after the fall of Lehman-.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,

Clara

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Anonymous A on Mar 15, 2020

If hiring demands are lower due to a recession, is it fair to expect all interns to get FT offers as usual and the firm's do little to no FT recruiting then?

Francesco
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replied on Mar 15, 2020
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Hi Anonymous,

as mentioned by Luca and Udayan, it is still difficult to predict the future evolution (the stock market performance of the last few days shows how much uncertainty there is on future trends).

Having said that, I would expect the following:

  • Opportunity to work remotely whenever applicable until the situation gets better
  • If things get bad (eg no decrease of new cases in a couple of weeks), decrease in hiring/ higher degree of difficulty to convert an internship in a full-time offer

Best,

Francesco

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Anonymous A on Mar 15, 2020

If hiring demands are lower due to a recession, is it fair to expect all interns to get FT offers as usual and the firm's do little to no FT recruiting then?

Francesco on Mar 16, 2020

I would not expect all interns to necessary get an offer – it will depend on the performance of the interns and the needs of the company at the end of the internship period

Anonymous A on Mar 16, 2020

Would you expect fewer interns than usual to get an offer because of market conditions? In NA offices, it's not uncommon for 90% or more of interns to get FT offers.

Francesco on Mar 16, 2020

It is difficult to predict because it depends on the future evolution of the virus and the needs of the company then, and no one can predict how exactly the situation will evolve at the end of the internship period. Whatever the case, I would recommend you focus solely on doing the best you can during the internship. Whatever the company decision on this matter, the only thing you can control is your performance during the internship, thus that’s what I would recommend to focus on. You can find some tips on that here: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-prepare-to-start-at-mckinsey-accepted-offer-3510

Udayan
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replied on Mar 14, 2020
Top rated Case & PEI coach/Multiple real offers/McKinsey EM in New York /12 years recruiting experience

Hard to predict. In the absolute worst case scenario where projects come to a halt for a many months, the most likely scenario is a hiring freeze or extremely small class size for the next batch. It is unlikely they just give all interns a full time offer by default however.

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Anonymous on Mar 14, 2020

If it's a small class, it would be filled almost entirely with interns and next to no FT recruiting then?

(edited)

Udayan on Mar 14, 2020

Again very hard to predict. From what I know about the 2009 batch it was a mix of both. That's the closes data point I have

Luca
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replied on Mar 14, 2020
BCG |NASA | SDA Bocconi & Cattolica partner | GMAT expert 780/800 score | 200+ students coached

Hello,

No one can really know about the new hiring targets until we won't see which will be the impact of the corona virus on the economy. So far consulting companies are trying to move forward with the hiring process using the videocalls.
Regarding the projects, they will just follow their clients. If the client has stopped activities they stop the project, otherwise consulting companies are perfectly able to work remotely.
Anyway, even if a global crysis doesn't mean that you don't have projects (think about cost cutting or restructuring process and about all business plans that have to be reviewd) it's likely that they will slow down (but not freeze) the recruitments until they won't understand what is the real impact of the corona virus.

Best,
Luca

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Anonymous A on Mar 15, 2020

If hiring demands are lower due to a recession, is it fair to expect all interns to get FT offers as usual and the firm's do little to no FT recruiting then?

Luca on Mar 16, 2020

For sure interns can have a sort of priority, considering that they test you for a long time. It depends on what they are looking for in terms of seniority and it's not given that every intern will receive an offer

Antonello
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replied on Mar 23, 2020
McKinsey | NASA | top 10 FT MBA professor for consulting interviews | 6+ years of coaching

Hi,
unfortunately, nobody now is able to predict the precise effects on each business. The 2 true facts today are that interviews are taking place regularly but online instead than face to face, and that many new consulting projects are being paused. Therefore if this lockdown continues for long it can cause a shrinking in new hires.

Best,
​Antonello

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Robert gave the best answer

Robert

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