When did you have an "I am stuck!" moment on the job

Consulting life MBB
Recent activity on Feb 01, 2020
3 Answers
1.5 k Views
Anonymous A asked on Jan 29, 2020

Hi everyone!

I am soon to start at MBB as a junior and was curious if any of you more experienced folks remember some of your "panic mode" moments in the early days - on a project, when you simply got stuck, didn't know what to do, felt lost and how you resolved them. I am sure some of those would make for fun stories to look back on!

Or if you don't remember, what were some difficult task you faced daily (was it the modeling or the ppt).

Thanks so much and best of luck to anyone interviewing or starting jobs.

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Nathaniel
Expert
replied on Jan 30, 2020
McKinsey | BCG | CERN| University of Cambridge

Hello there,

Don't hesitate to reach out to people in the Firm, whether it's your EM, your seniors (associates / senior analysts), partners, your cohorts in other projects, experts (internal & external), DGL (your internal mentor / evaluator), and others.

The core of development in MBB is direct coaching on the job.
Hence, it is expected that you'll get stuck sometimes while getting your boots dirty, and it's completely normal to ask for help.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,
​Nathan

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous updated the answer on Feb 01, 2020

Hi there,

If you get stuck with a case specific problem, talk to your case manager for advice/guidance sooner rather than later. Because case work is very fast-paced and your manager connot afford to have a team member stuck and not making progress for more than a day (even less tolerance for short cases like DD). They would appreiciate when a newbie ask for help earlier.

If you get stuck with other issues, talk to your buddy, peers and/or mentor. The easiest option maybe is to talk to your peers first, e.g. those who are 1-2 years ahead of you. They might have just gone through the same pain not long ago and still have their memory vivid.

Best,

Emily

(edited)

Was this answer helpful?
3
Vlad
Expert
replied on Jan 29, 2020
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

The short advice is - talk to others:

  • Talk to your manager - he will help you a lot caching and guiding
  • Talk to the other people in your team and learn from them
  • Talk to the teams who previously worked on that client
  • Talk to the client (But be accurate here)
  • Talk to your mentor
  • Talk to the other people at the office

Believe me, everyone has the same issues

Best

Was this answer helpful?
Nathaniel gave the best answer

Nathaniel

McKinsey | BCG | CERN| University of Cambridge
3
Meetings
490
Q&A Upvotes
4
Awards
N/A
0 Reviews
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely