associate

business analyst

engagement manager

executive assistant

senior business analyst

McKinsey & Company

Don't believe the videos they send you to watch before you interview, this is NOT the most fulfilling and empowering job of your life!  You will spend your day mostly scheduling and rescheduling calls and meetings, unless that's your calling in life prepare to be unchallenged.  The people you support will vary from nice busy folks who genuinely appreciate what you do for them to prima donnas who enjoy blaming other people when they drop the ball.  Your coworkers are mostly nice, the screening process weeds out most of the people who aren't sharp enough for the job but the lack of management presence means the younger EAs are free to roam around socializing at their whim, so sometimes the person you really need to speak with is at her friend's desk shopping online while you're trying to set up a call with an unhappy client.  

Managers (team leads) seem to be chosen more for how much their coworkers like them than for leadership abilities.  Some of them are helpful and knowledgeable IF you can find them, for upper management seems to schedule frequent "meetings" that keep the TLs away from their desks.  Training is uneven at best; you are expected to rely on the people who sit near you more than on your TL or on training and since there's not always a set process for handling issues, this is a problem.  As mentioned above the lack of TL presence also means some employees spend more time talking than supporting their executives.

The benefits are the best part of the job and frankly the reason why most people stay; the PTO policy is excellent and there are many other perks like free lunches, snacks and beverages, many interest groups so you can socialize with people, opportunities to do community service and such.  I have met some great people here but overall it's just not what I was hoping for.

This could be a great company. However most of the year you are just worrying about finding things to put on your end of yea review. You aren’t focused on you actual job, which is to provide the best possible service to your supported colleagues. You are worrying about having to write an “impact statement”.  If you don’t get this right, you don’t get any kind of raise. And you can get a very high rating only to get locket change at the end of the year. Our job description has become convoluted and unnecessarily complicated. The powers that be insist on bringing us into the office, where we ignore each other and try to do our work. The same work we do more efficiently at home, using no gas. Do not work here if you expect the firm to keep with its tenets. Integrity? No, they have none, there is no integrity to laying off yoru workforce while spending flagrantly on leases and expensive Friday lunches, Purposeful presence? No. There is no purpose in being present at a job when you do not even work in the same location as those you support, Holistic impact - just a buzz word . Being an EA is stressful, low paying, under appreciated over analyzed and over scrutinized.  There are still unnecessary positions, and an EA can never get promoted. Team leads serve no purpose,  operations managers serve no purpose. You cannot climb any sort of ladder as an EA, you will always be an EA.  Upper management uses a game of telephone to send messages down to the peons. Of course, then the message is broken and convoluted, Tips- perfect job for the self flagellating individual. The reason I stay? Insurance. Typical day will involve answering requests from supported colleagues and performing those tasks. Though your team lead will tell you if you want to get a “distinctive rating” you have to find the cure for cancer. The culture is freakishly woke. Yes we had to mandatory vax, or lose our jobs. DEI, ESG is the mantra yet they do not welcome diversity of thought, only skin color. They also say ESG, but force us to commute, some people long distances. 

Pros
- Great benefits (although they are shrinking in a bit) 
 
 - Well-known firm
 
 - You will work with many smart people. 
 
 - You will learn if you take charge of your development. 
 
 - Some of your co workers will be AMAZING, kind and reliable. 
 
 - Work life balance doesn't exist unless you set boundaries EARLY. Depends on the team and manager.

Cons
- Mediocre pay if you aren't a Consultant. NO bonus if you aren't a CSP. Shop around. 
 
 - Many get paid to just make slides. LOTs of slides.
 
 - There is no career progression unless there's an open role - then it's who you know. 
 
 - FSP's are treated like second class citizens and it's felt throughout. 
 
 -ERG groups inclusion efforts are a joke. They are too large to be effective and aren't really tangible for FSPs' - no development specific to them. 
 
 - There is a general lack of diversity throughout the FSP side and recent layoffs have deepened this. Barely any males. Barely any POC. Very weird. Very catty.
 
 - No one will tell you how this firm works and how to get ahead. It's an unwritten rule, but once you figure it out you'll be fine. You'll get bad reviews until you figure it out on your own though!
 
 - You'll work with smart people, but you'll also work with several who are not very smart, but knew someone who knew someone. 
 
 - CSP side is very arrogant and sometimes down right NASTY. It's rewarded so it will continue.
 
 - Very toxic work culture.

Advice to Management:

Care. Listen. Seek improvement and leave the echo chamber. The firm is falling behind. Creating an inclusive environment is more than just numbers and stuffing people in...then laying them off. Lots of work to do at this firm.

McKinsey is a very competitive company to work for with well brand name in the industry. The firm is putting a lot of effort toward improving work life balance which is probably the toughest aspect of the job. Expect to travel extensively will staffed on an engagement with typical scheduled being travel from Monday from Thursday every week. Depending on industry focus and office location travel can be reduced if clients are locally based.

Your experience in the firm can be quite variable given the staffing structure. Your experience of the firm will be greatly structured by the teams you work with, so making the time to develop deep relationships with teams you enjoy working with is very important in your progression at the firm. The firm is also experimenting with many additional career paths from the traditional generalist consultant.

Job security/advancement is unique to the firm/industry. Opportunities for advancement are plentiful and expected. However, it comes with a steep performance curve which is also expected. Falling from the growth expectations will eventually lead to "counsel to leave". Turnover is very high compared to other industries.  On the flip side, the experience gained from working in McKinsey should lead to great employment opportunities outside the firm

McKinsey Implementation (MI) doesn't look for the standard Ivy league undergrad or top 5 B school applicant. Instead, since MI focuses on driving real lasting impact with clients (as opposed to traditional high-minded strategy problem solving), it looks for candidates with real work experience (generally at least 6 years) that know how to get things done. As a result, MI consultants have an extremely wide range of backgrounds and experiences. Additionally, the learning and development opportunities are immense. My initial training was better than almost any training I received in the military (and was located in Santiago, Chile!). Most importantly, while MI strives to provide the greatest impact possible for each and every client, it does so with a mind toward a sustainable lifestyle for its consultants. Each study begins with team members stating their lifestyle goals and boundaries, and the team works from there.
Overall McKinsey Implementation has been a great career choice for me coming out of the Navy.

McKinsey & Company is one of the top companies to work for but beware that this only applies if you have a career as a Consultant, Engagement manager, etc and working on the Client side.  However if you're working in Operations, Reconciliations, Card Service, Purchasing, Procurement... you won't have a life, you will be humiliated, yelled at and you will put in more than 50 hours a week. Yes you'll have great benefits and vacations but you'll work during your vacation or expect a call from your manager.  If you leave on vacation, you'll pay the price when you return.  It's a nightmare.  Some that have been there for several years, are use to this type of treatment and think this is normal. Leaving that place was the best thing I've done!!  The only positive thing was to have McKinsey in my resume which it landed me a great job with great people who actually treat me with respect. I want people to know so they won't go through the same nightmare I went through. If you land an interview, please ask the right questions, make sure this place is for you.  Ask the employees questions about their supervisor, manager, etc, ask them if there happy, ask about work & life balance. Think twice about it if you have a family and kids... because you won't be spending much time with them.

I've been with this company for over five years and have seen the good and bad of the integrative consulting side of the company (aka traditional mgmt consultants). 

It's a good stepping stone for new joiners though the attractiveness of MBB is a lot less now to recruiters than it used to be.

This is a big company rooted in meritocratic, capitalist ways of working. This means if you know how to play the "game", you will be rewarded. It will also mean that the company doesn't care much about loyalty or pure hard work - at some point in the ladder, it all comes down to whether you are bringing in business or not (even if the economy is out of your hands). It also means that even if they've hired a significant number of people during the pandemic and realized they made the wrong decision to over-hire with the recent market downturn, they will quietly fire you rather than taking responsibility for their poor management. They will use your performance review as a way to say you're not meeting the bar for your next role and thus you have to turn it around or be counseled to leave. This has happened to many of my EM colleagues this year.

The longer you are at McKinsey, the more your skills continue to plummet.  Most of the EAs at McKinsey don't know how to use Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel and Word.  I was told by both partners who I support, to tell my manager that I am doing much less than I am, because they thought she was jealous of me - I think this perfectly describes the culture and the dynamic between EAs and the managers.  Favorites get the time off, and the non favorites get reprimanded for taking a sick day. The EA pool is a revolving door - I've been at McKinsey for five years, and have met over a hundred EAs who have come and gone. The chief complaint for those who don't stay is the EA managers and the company culture - it's us and them. EAs are often talked down to, they support partners who don't offer any background or input into their calendars, but will yell at you, cuss at you, and flat out call you stupid if you don't read their minds correctly. If you continue to complain about partners who are abusive and go to HR, the manager will retaliate and say your insubordinate and have a bad attitude.  This place is toxic and a dead end job.

3+ years at McKinsey right out of undergrad. Grateful for my experience but I've had enough.

Consulting is going through its own share of troubles recently with the "recession"... I was lucky enough to join the company in 2020 during the Good Covid Times when staffing and project budgets were bountiful and was able to experience a bit of what they sell you at on-campus recruiting. But right now, it feels like that 'dream' is basically dead - budgets and staffing are tight and mentorship has suffered a lot in the remote environment, so those of you looking to join consulting, proceed with caution.

All in all, McKinsey delivered what I generally had expected. I learned a lot of generalist business skills and was exposed to various business problems in a short period of time, but at the cost of sleep, exercise, and stress, most of which is mostly artificially generated. I've met some great people and wouldn't trade my experience for anything, but I definitely wouldn't do it again... It's not a job that is sustainable for most people and there's more to life than grinding a strategy deck at 2 am

Most management that work under Procurement- GPG- do not have experience in procurement. They are only there because they know someone higher up. It's a great company if you work on the consulting side and starting at the bottom will not get you there. They only hire consultants from top 10% in ivy league schools. If you work as an assistant in procurement, be careful who your managers are. Some will belittle you, yell at you in from of people over the most stupid thing and require you to take a test before being hired which doesn't apply to assistant work at all. Benefits are great if you are a full time employee and they won't let you take time off in the first year. Following year, approach with caution. This place is all about politics and favoritism. If you get on the wrong side of a manager, you won't get a promotion. They are experts are making you believe you will move up and when the time comes they will give you some excuse. They will try to give you the least amount of money and work you like a dog.
Only good to put on resume because of the name.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Associate 62 salaries reported	$196,274 per year
Business analyst 31 salaries reported	$115,710 per year
Engagement manager 32 salaries reported	$229,063 per year
Executive assistant 8 salaries reported	$52,550 per year
Senior business analyst 19 salaries reported	$149,053 per year

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