MBB London tolerant to French speakers ?

Hi PT,

Congratulations on the McKinsey offer! In terms of your question:

Q: Do you have any advice about what to do from now to June to strengthen my speaking?  Is it possible to perform well and to get promoted in the MBB when you are not working in your native tongue?

Good question! I am studying a few different languages and definitely understand the struggle. Here are my 3 top tips:

1. Find a teacher. I am personally using preply.com, another alternative is italki.com. You can filter teachers based on languages, reviews, budget, availability, etc, similarly to PrepLounge coaches. I am using it for a couple of languages and it works really well. In your case, you should probably target teachers willing to help you with business terms. Working with a teacher is relatively cheap and helps enormously if you manage to stick to a weekly class.
2. Study daily new words. I recommend the app Anki, which uses the SRS system, which I believe is the best way to learn new words. Focus on the words critical for your job – usually, if you master the 1000 most important ones, you can talk and understand relatively well your niche.
3. Gamify your learning. I tried a few apps and the one I liked the most in terms of gamification is Memrise (focused mainly on building vocabulary) – you should probably target a course based on business terms in your case (you can add for free one of those created by the other users, besides the official ones offered by the app).

If you work in advance on your language skills there should not be problems with your performance at work.

BONUS: find a good business book on Audible, check if you like the style of the speaker and listen to it during breaks/downtime. You will learn new things and improve your English at the same time.

Best,

Francesco

Hi there, 

Congrats on the offer!

It might sound obvious, but just try and speak to other people as much as possible, i.e., immerse yourself in the language. 

Aside from this, try reading some of the publications from the MBB you got hired by. This will educate you not only on the work that they do, but also on the sort of language they use. 

Best,

Cristian

Hi PT,

First of all, congratulations on the offer from McKinsey London!

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• As a non-native English speaker, it's completely normal to have concerns about communicating effectively in a professional setting. However, it's important to keep in mind that you've already succeeded in the interviews with McKinsey, which suggests that your English skills are more than sufficient for the job.
• That being said, it's always a good idea to continue to work on improving your language skills, and there are many resources available to help you do so. Some suggestions include:
  • Practicing your speaking with native English speakers as much as possible. This can be done through conversation exchanges with friends, colleagues at university, or language partners.
  • Listening to English-language podcasts, news broadcasts, and other audio content to improve your comprehension and pronunciation.
  • Reading English-language books, articles, and other written materials to improve your vocabulary and grammar.
  • Joining an English-language conversation group or taking an English course at university to practice speaking in a supportive and encouraging environment.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best prepare your upcoming internship, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

(edited)

Hi there,

I don't think it will be a big problem unless you make it one. Remember.

You made it through the MBB interviews all the way to the end, IN ENGLISH! That fact alone should put you at ease as 99% of native speakers don't get there…

That being said, if you want to work on your English, I'd focus on material that is relevant for consultants. 

Instead of watching a movie in English, read books like the Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto (ex-McKinsey) on how create strong and convincing arguments.

Trust me, you already have a strong enough level and it will only improve from here.

Enjoy your time with the firm!

Cheers,

Florian

Salut!

D'abord il faut savoir que vous allez apprendre rapidement et au fur et à mesure vous s'y aller mettre plus à l'aise.

Remember that MBB is full of foreigners and the UK in particular is well accustomed to non-native speakers. 

Now, how can you improve before getting there? Here's what I use:

1. Brainscape app - the best for flashcards/vocab
2. Hellotalk - the best for conversational practice
3. Podcasts - “listen” on low volume while you sleep
4. Italki - best for cheap tutors/teachers

Good luck!

Hi there,

Well done on getting into McKinsey!

I can speak from experience how tough this can be when you're not a native speaker since I am German and joined McKinsey in Chile, which is Spanish speaking and that definitely wasn't my strength.

When I started, I barely spoke Spanish and was way behind you in your current situation. I felt awful at first but I also got plenty of encouragement from the firm because rather than focusing on my weaknesses they were much more focused on leveraging my strengths i.e., my unique experiences and skills that marked me out from the rest. 

Hence, I focused much more on leveraging my strengths and merely mitigating my weaknesses, which is McKinsey's entire people development philosophy, also reflected in their strengths based feedback approach.

Hope this way of thinking helps you, too!

Best,

Moritz

You still have a few months until your summer internship. While doing your MBA, you should make sure that you are fully immersed in an English-speaking environment. All day long.

I've seen people whose English did not improve significantly during their MBA, while being in an English-speaking country, they would spend most of the time with people speaking their own language, or did not make much of an effort to speak…

If you do this, after a few months you'll be “good to go”. In any case, as other said, your english was good enough to get an offer at Mckinsey…