Meet McKinsey’s MBA Class Of 2017 - Poets&Quants

McKinsey & Company has been called the gold standard of management consulting. The largest and oldest of the “Big Three,” the McKinsey name is associated with prestige and expertise – the place where the top companies head for a sure-fire organizational fixes from future CEOs. For many, a stint at McKinsey is comparable to earning a second MBA; it is an accelerated learning lab where consultants are exposed to the best minds in the widest range of industries and business models.

It can be an intimidating pace at first. The 30,000 member McKinsey alumni network, whose ranks run from Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg to Morgan Stanley’s James Gorman, is a veritable who’s who of business, academia, and even politics. Despite its reach, scale, and influence, it is the McKinsey culture – a flat, future-focused meritocracy – that made it a go-to destination for top MBAs from the Class of 2017 to McKinsey. On average, 95% of summer MBA interns who receive an offer from McKinsey ultimately join – and it’s easy to understand why.

“NO BOSS, NO ORG CHART, NO PROBLEM”

Farah Dilber, a Haas graduate who works out of the San Francisco office, positions the appeal succinctly: “No boss, no org chart, no problem.” In other words the job is, in some ways, a “Make your own McKinsey,” where consultants are only limited by their imagination and ambition. “Even as an associate, we’re encouraged to have an ownership mindset – to pursue our passions, build out leading edge capabilities, or start a new venture,” Dilber adds.

What makes a McKinsey consultant? By the looks of the 2017 class, it can be anyone, provided they possess the requisite intangibles: the curiosity to look beyond the simple solution; the passion to take on the biggest challenges; the tenacity to work through ambiguity and complexity; the humility to work in a team dynamic; and the courage to make an impact. You’ll find those virtues at McKinsey whether consultants hold advanced degrees from Stanford and Harvard – or majored in history or studied at a football factory.

McKinsey consultants in the Sao Paulo office

The class may be bold and brainy, but they weren’t always dapperly-attired experts. Stanford’s Kate O’Gorman treated Halloween as a national holiday, decking herself out as a peacock, alien, and even a dirty fork. Molly Duncan, a Darden grad who works out of the Charlotte office, is a miniature golf aficionado; her idea of a honeymoon – a putt-putt tour – was nixed by her fiancé. Dilber had more than a brush with celebrity: she once served as the personal chauffeur for the rapper Ludacris. If you’re working in McKinsey’s New York office, consider it an honor if Kat Recto leaves a cookie on your desk. “I find baking therapeutic,” she says. “I have a secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies I bake for people I care about. If I bake for you, you must be special.”

FROM SCALING MOUNT KILIMANJARO…TO SURVIVING A CHICAGO WINTER

For many, business school represents a time to make a career change. Then again, INSEAD’s Pedro Franco has always been ahead of the curve. His first transition happened when he was just 15. Back then, he had his heart set on becoming a surgeon. While witnessing a surgery and shadowing rounds hardly dissuaded him, the final stop on his hospital tour gave him pause. “The dean of the med school decided to finish the tour in style: he opened a metal door in the basement and there, before me, were more than 30 bodies lying on tables, ready to be dissected by students,” he recalls. “A few weeks later, I decided I was going to become an engineer and learn how to build bridges and tunnels instead.”

….Or climb mountains. That’s one of Rafael Araujo’s passions. A Kellogg MBA, Araujo’s biggest accomplishment was hiking the legendary Mount Kilimanjaro. In April, Ellen Sleeman, one of Araujo’s classmates, will be running the Boston Marathon. Looking for leadership? Duncan spent her second year at Darden as the class president. Want impact? Dilber, a member of Teach for America before business school, takes her greatest pride in teaching a 4th grader how to read.

Then again, all of these accomplishments pale in comparison to what Shaina Milleman endured. “As a native South Carolinian, [it was] making it through five Chicago winters,” jokes the Booth grad.

A PLACE TO BREAK OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE – AND BLAZE A UNIQUE PATH

Currently, the Class of 2017 is busy on projects that run from optimizing supply chains to developing strategy on the ‘internet of things.’ What drew students to McKinsey? For Franco, it was a place to take calculated risks and grow. He notes that his first two projects involved developing a new operational model to break oil production battlements in West Africa and designing a strategy to help a European bank enhance its advanced analytics capabilities. Both came in areas where he had zero experience. ‘[They] placed me outside my comfort zone, allowing me to learn about subjects I had never heard of. That’s what I wanted – to stretch – when I came out of my MBA.”

Araujo doesn’t want to just stretch himself, He wants to upend the status quo entirely – a welcome sentiment in a traditional thought leader like McKinsey. “With the business world ripe for innovation and disruption, companies will be seeking help to develop strategies that disrupt the marketplace and adapt their business model to consumers’ changing behavior,” he explains. “McKinsey’s history and its efforts to develop capabilities in areas like digital, advanced analytics, and big data position the firm and our people really well for the days to come.”

McKinsey consultants discussing a study.

For Sleeman, McKinsey exemplifies two fundamentals inherent to every great business culture: growth and freedom. By growth, she means the chance to spend time with “exceptional” talent who are “bright, passionate, [and] interesting beyond belief” – a benefit that is amplified by “best-in-class” training and development programs. At the same time, Sleeman believes the firm is large and diverse enough to enable her to blaze her own path. “With the resources of McKinsey, the possibilities are endless,” she observes. “You can’t find this level of control over your destiny or this breadth of opportunity anywhere else.”

INFORMAL NETWORKS CREATE OPPORTUNITIES TO FOLLOW PASSIONS

In a February interview with Poets&Quants, Kristin Lostutter, manager of U.S. MBA recruiting at McKinsey, echoed Sleeman on the appeal of the firm’s deep resources. “Because of the scope and scale, we have a huge advantage. Students are coming into one of our 22 industry practices. We’re working in every business function, including digital, marketing, and the social sector. Beyond that, they’re also able to go into these growing areas of the firm like technology. Not only are students able to come in and take advantage of those opportunities, but we’re able to bring more to our clients to create that meaningful impact than ever before.”

Many times, these resources are available through informal channels. That was one of the biggest surprises for O’Gorman when she arrived at McKinsey’s Cleveland office. Due to the firm’s spread out structure, she wondered if she could really connect with peers who shared her interest in state healthcare systems and Medicaid. Within months, she explains in a March interview with P&Q, she had already plugged into a tight-knit subnetwork that stretched from California to New Jersey.

Go to Page 3 for In-Depth Profiles of 12 McKinsey Hires

McKinseyites hamming it up after work.

“Everyone in the group was working on similar problems,” she notes. “People were trying to develop different knowledge. What’s funny is that it was so easy to find this group of people. I came in and had said that this is something that I really want to work on. I thought it would be more difficult than that. I was surprised by how open the doors were.”

This reflects a larger trend at McKinsey, where industry practices work closely together and share knowledge to keep everyone on equal footing. In turn, this makes it easier for consultants to move into different industry projects or practices altogether. “I have a study where I’m learning a huge amount about automation work,” O’Gorman adds. “I am able to suddenly dive into the deepest knowledge in this field in support of our clients. Outside of that, if I am interested in Medicaid and healthcare, there is this whole broad network to explore that side as well. I didn’t necessarily expect to have access to experts from all around the world who work in every single industry. But I’ve found where my curiosity takes me, I’ve been able to dive deeply and bring the full power of the firm to me.”

THE CHANGING PROFILE OF McKINSEY RECRUITS

Each year, McKinsey brings on 400 MBA interns and hires 1,100 MBAs on average.  This scope and scale of McKinsey’s operations – coupled with the depth of breadth of service that clients now expect –requires the firm to recruit students from an array of backgrounds. Long gone are the days when consultants were plucked exclusively from the business ranks, Lostutter says. Instead, McKinsey has widened its net to bring in far different MBA candidate profiles.

The view from McKinsey’s San Francisco office.

“We’re generally recruiting for the general associate roles and the practice associate roles,” she explains. “Now, we’re also looking for implementation leaders in our implementation practice and people in newer areas like advanced analytics, our digital group, and various new ventures in the firm. We’re expanding the type of work that we’re doing for clients so what we are looking for is more diverse profiles than ever.”

Lostutter adds that business schools have been recruiting students with far more diverse backgrounds as well. As a result, she is seeing far more former teachers, veterans, engineers, and scientists being funneled into the firm. In fact, she believes the Class of 2017 may be the one of the most diverse ever – a necessity considering the ever-evolving nature of consulting work.

“YOU WILL LEARN FROM EVERY PERSON, ON EVERY TEAM”

“Here now, more than ever, we’re not just handing our clients solutions,” Lostutter adds. “Now, we’re helping to implement them. We also have, as I mentioned, these new ventures that are basically internal startups; they are businesses that are focused on technology or areas like advanced analytics and healthcare product design. These are incredibly exciting areas that we can now bring to our clients.”

The clients aren’t the only ones who benefit from this wide range of experiences. “The diversity of backgrounds and variety of interests among your colleagues are the most powerful sources of knowledge available,” Sleeman asserts. “You will learn from every person, on every team.”

According to Lostutter, McKinsey seeks distinct certain traits in new hires, notably an innate curiosity, problem-solving abilities, a global mindset, and soft skills. However, there is another skill that separates the success stories from the stall outs at McKinsey: Teamwork. It is a skill that many members of the 2017 Class credit to their business school. experience

“Definitely the ability to work in groups, often under tight time constraints, to share and allocate responsibilities and to respect and better understand cultural differences,” says Alessandro Perrone, who works in the Paris office. “As a team, both at INSEAD and at McKinsey, you establish team norms trying to accommodate everybody’s priorities at the beginning of each project. I found this process very useful as it creates transparency between teammates from the start.”

ON-GOING FORMAL TRAINING BUILDS TEAM COHESIVENESS

Recruiting is only part of the equation. McKinsey has also developed intensive formal and informal mechanisms to onboard hires and build their skill sets as their careers progress. Formally, Lostutter says, the firm spends millions of dollars a year in training. And that doesn’t count the investments made in knowledge documents or on-ground support personnel in areas ranging from analytics to technology.

The formal training begins with a week-long program called EMBARK, which covers the different resources and problem-solving styles at McKinsey by simulating the study experience. Taught in groups of 20-25, EMBARK also features an invaluable social component that eases the transition into McKinsey.

McKinsey recruiting session in the Singapore office.

“It built a cohort experience,” says O’Gorman. “I feel like any time when I’m running into a problem, I have 25 classmates whom I can ask, ‘What do you think?’ Just from a programmatic standpoint, it felt like EMBARK built the class spirit and I had a team that I could turn to.”

The formal training doesn’t stop there. Each year, consultants are taken off their studies to complete a week-long program aimed at their focus or role. For example, engagement managers – consultants who move into a leadership role – are sent to the United Kingdom for EM College. Here, they work with firm leaders and thought partners on how to transition to managing downwards with associates and upwards with partners and clients, according to Lostutter. In addition, McKinsey maintains a summer associate experience, where interns are treated as full-fledged associates. Aside from planned development and social activities at their site, interns also attend a summer conference, which exposes them further to the company culture and potential colleagues.

A MENTORING CULTURE TOP-TO-BOTTOM

Informally, McKinsey is a mentorship culture, with heavy emphasis placed on coaching and support –

particularly from partners and engagement managers. O’Gorman first experienced this support during her summer internship. When she arrived, her peers would quickly introduce themselves and immediately offer to help. At the same time, O’Gorman adds, her engagement manager would never hesitate to pick up the phone, whether it was 8 a.m. or 11 p.m., to answer her questions or offer guidance. By the same token, partners have been heavily invested O’Gorman’s development – even partners who work outside her Cleveland office.

“This winter, I worked with a Chicago partner on a study,” O’Gorman details. “After going through our regular problem-solving session, she’d pause and say, ‘Kate, I know that you’re new here, so let me unpack why I’m thinking this’ or ‘Let share a couple of tips-and-tricks that I’ve learned about the firm during my tenure here.’ That was something that she didn’t have to do, especially since we were so focused on the problem at hand. But she knew that it was important for me to build my knowledge here. She made sure to make the time for that. Ultimately, it made me a far more effective team who made a greater impact.”

Indeed, “the people” has been the Class of 2017’s refrain for what they’ve enjoyed most about McKinsey over the past year. Dilber describes her peers as “whip-smart, unassuming, a little quirky, and engaging.” Milleman takes it a step further, calling her McKinsey peers “people whom I greatly admire and want to be like one day.” O’Gorman herself admits that the people were the driving force behind why she joined the firm. It was a differentiator she noticed from right from the get-go at her interviews.

Go to Page 3 for In-Depth Profiles of 12 McKinsey Hires

McKinseyites at San Francisco GLAM Private event.

A STANFORD STAPLE FINDS ITS WAY TO THE CLEVELAND OFFICE

“As someone who graduated from Stanford and moved back to Cleveland,” I spent a lot of time explaining why I wanted to return home,” she recounts. “When I started talking to McKinsey folks, they were no longer asking, ‘Why would you want to move back to Cleveland?’ They just started helping me plan to make that happen. It made it feel as though I was bringing on a larger team that would help me develop and get to my main goal rather than just an employer that was determined to have me fit inside some wheel they were building.”

For O’Gorman, the McKinsey culture is encapsulated by the sense that everyone is in this together. This has fostered a certain fellowship in the ranks. In the Cleveland office, for example, everyone – even partners – make it a point to be on-site for a scheduled Friday lunch each month. Here, selected peers will stand up and share important bits about their lives, including their values and how they ended up at McKinsey.

“That was a very familiar type of thing when I think about TALK at Stanford,” where students do the same thing. That added so much to my Stanford experience, really being able to understand why people were excited to be here and what defined them. To see that in the Cleveland office just made me feel that much closer to my colleagues.”

INTERN GETS PERSONAL THANK YOU…FROM THE CEO

McKinsey team selfie

Culture is often transmitted through such stories. When it comes to their “Most McKinsey Moment – an event or epiphany that revealed the values that encapsulated the McKinsey difference – the Class of 2017 had plenty of stories to share. Recto, for one, learned first-hand about McKinsey’s culture of dissent, where associates are encouraged – even expected – to speak up when client performance may potentially be compromised.

“I was in the middle of a meeting where I was the most junior member of the team,” Recto remembers. “The meeting was not directly related to my workstream, so I stayed in a corner of the room expecting to just listen in. The partner on my study moves his chair to the side and motions for me to join the circle. He also passes me a note encouraging me to speak up when I was comfortable doing so. That was a simple act that made a lasting impression on me and spoke volumes about this truly encouraging environment. People are inclusive and want to see you shine. Everyone has a voice, no matter your tenure or depth of expertise.”

The class’ interactions with senior management also taught them some key lessons. Near the end of his summer internship, Josh Durodola learned the value of humility and appreciation – from the CEO himself at a small reception. “[He] walked up to me and a couple of McKinsey colleagues and said to us: “Thank you, without you, we probably wouldn’t be here today, we wouldn’t even have our jobs,” recalls the Berkeley MBA.

A CALL FOR HELP IS ALWAYS ANSWERED

Lostutter experienced a similar moment a few years earlier. “This stuck out to me, maybe because I’m on the recruiting side, but my very first hire eventually made partner at McKinsey. Before partner election results were announced, he called to thank me. He said, “You were such a driving force in getting me into the firm and been so supportive throughout this entire process.” That’s just another reason that keeps me here. It’s incredibly rewarding when you get to see those incredibly talented people get promoted.”

Others were surprised at how serious McKinseyites can cut loose outside the office. Youssef Rifi, a Dubai-based consultant who studied at the London Business School, struggled to reconcile how peers with “bulletproof reasoning” could spend the day solving the toughest problems and then play football together when it was all done. In Chicago, Milleman found herself rocking out to the McKinsey band during happy hour. “It made me stop and realize it doesn’t matter what the activity is or subject of discussion, someone around you is going to be amazingly and unexpectedly good in a really inspiring and energizing way.”

Teams meet for drinks after work.

And accessible too! That was the big takeaway for Franco when he reached out to partners over pricing and benchmarking issues. “The fact that all of us feel comfortable to express our ideas, independent of our tenure, is extremely motivating,” he asserts. “People are collaborative to the point that you can just shoot out an email to anybody in the firm to ask for a problem-solving session. I have talked with colleagues in Nigeria, America, Germany and Brazil. People you have never met make themselves available to discuss and contribute to a topic.”

DON’T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS

What advice does the Class of 2017 for getting into McKinsey – and thriving once you arrive? Dilber urges MBA students to focus on their strengths during the interview process. “I was never going to impress McKinsey with my analytical skills,” she admits. “So, I got my case math to a passable level and then doubled-down on being crisp, clear, and calm in my communication—a skill that came far more naturally after years of teaching. Not only did my interviewers get a clear sense of the value I’d bring to my teams, but I also felt more confident throughout the day.”

Along those lines, Clarisse Liguori, a senior implementation coach operating out of the Sao Paulo office, advises candidates to be who they truly are – and let the rest happen naturally. “The personal interview is very important to express what you value most, how you see the world and what makes you tick,” says the INSEAD grad. “The personal interview also shows you what McKinsey values the most, how we see the world and what makes us tick. Being a cultural fit is as important as being a great problem-solver.”

For Milleman, the best path may be something she learned quickly as an MBA student at Booth. “Be willing to put your pride aside and admit when you need help,” she says. “Everyone in business school has an impressive background and a natural area of expertise. Depending on the class, you may be a rock star or you may be the person who feels like the only one hearing about a concept for the first time. Despite a little hit to my pride, I found I learned the most when I sought help from my classmates in subjects in which I had the least experience. At McKinsey, the pace of work is fast and the expectation to deliver is high – if you are struggling in a particular area, the sooner you admit it and ask for help, the more successful you’ll be.”

DON’T MISS: WHAT McKINSEY SEEKS IN MBA HIRES or BEST CONSULTING FIRMS TO WORK FOR IN 2018

For read the profiles of newly-hired MBAs at McKinsey, including their advice on how to get into the firm, click on the links below. 

Name	Office	Hometown	MBA Program
Rafael Araujo	Sao Paulo	San Salvador, El Salvador	Northwestern (Kellogg)
Farah Dilber	San Francisco	Atlanta, GA	U.C.-Berkeley (Haas)
Molly Duncan	Charlotte	Greensboro, NC	University of Virginia (Darden)
Josh Durodola	Atlanlta	Jos, Nigeria	U.C.-Berkeley (Haas)
Pedro Franco	London	Sao Paulo, Brazil	INSEAD
Clarisse Liguori	Sao Paulo	Belo Horizonte, Brazil	INSEAD
Shaina Milleman	Chicago	Charleston, SC	University of Chicago (Booth)
Kate O’Gorman	Cleveland	Cleveland, OH	Stanford GSB
Alessandro Perrone	Paris	Rome, Italy	INSEAD
Kat Recto	New York City	Manila, Philippines	Northwestern (Kellogg)
Youssef Rifi	Dubai	Casablanca, Morocco	London Business School
Ellen Sleeman	Chicago	Atlanta, GA	Northwestern (Kellogg)

Rafael Arauj

McKinsey Office: Sao Paulo

Hometown: San Salvador, El Salvador

MBA Program: Northwestern University, Kellogg school of Management

Undergraduate School, Major: Universidade de Sao Paulo – Computer Engineering

Focus of current engagement: Bank branch transformation

Why did you choose McKinsey? With the business world ripe for innovation and disruption, companies will be seeking help to develop strategies that disrupt the marketplace and adapt their business model to consumers’ changing behavior. McKinsey’s history and its efforts to develop capabilities in areas like digital, advanced analytics, and big data position the firm and our people really well for the days to come. In addition to McKinsey’s expertise and growth, its established values, and dedication to people were also key in my decision.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey?  One lesson is to always leverage other people’s expertise in solving a task you are not familiar with and to be unafraid to seek help. All the hard skills (strategy, finance, ops) are a requirement and will surely help, but if you know where to look and have the right attitude, you will surely be able to find someone within the firm to help you with ideas for the task at hand.

Another lesson is about learning to work with outstanding people from different background and encouraging a collaborative environment. The team room tends to be an intense workplace, where you spend a lot of time and debate topics. A collaborative and transparent environment makes the experience engaging and meaningful.

Tell us about an “Only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. Instead of a classic PowerPoint presentation, we delivered our diagnostic for costumer journeys in a big walking gallery and it turned out to be quite impressive. We worked with the client’s marketing team, McKinsey Digital Labs, and sketch artists to create an immersive experience where the client’s team could easily see the most relevant pain points for their customer, a list of 200+ opportunities, and concepts of an ideal customer journey. Working in a team with a diverse skillset was fun and challenging. Bringing the ideas out of the PowerPoint deck really helped the initiatives get buy-in from the client’s management team and spread the world about costumer focus and costumer experience, something the client really needed.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Sometimes, people focus too much on gaining case expertise and forget to reflect on their experiences and what they want for their future. Consulting clubs are masters in case preparation, and the challenge should not be underestimated, but the other parts of the interview are important as well. It is important for candidates to be able to articulate their past achievements, expectations for the future and create rapport with the interviewer.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? I expect to be influencing and leading the digital transformation of financial services in Brazil. It’s a highly concentrated industry that recently has been swarmed with start-ups and new entrants, so there are a lot of interesting things happening in Brazil. With the digital transformation and a greater focus on customer experience, lots of players are gaining or losing relevance based on their speed to deliver new capabilities for their clients. I am eager to take part in these changes

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…Very hard to pinpoint one specific accomplishment. The whole journey so far has been very satisfying, but hiking Kilimanjaro will for sure be a story I’ll remember.

A fun fact about me is…Before my MBA I worked with a colleague who had the same first and last name. Up to this day, people still mix us up and I hope they wrote their recommendation letters about the right person.

Farah Dilber

McKinsey Office: San Francisco

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

MBA Program:  UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Undergraduate School, Major: University of Virginia, Political and Social Thought

Focus of current engagement: Executive leadership team assessment for a global advanced industry company.

Why did you choose McKinsey? Consulting was the best way to get a lot of business experience in a short amount of time – a top priority as I transitioned out of education.  McKinsey was a no brainer for three reasons:

Impact: McKinsey has an unparalleled depth of expertise with its size, global reach, and investment in knowledge.

People: I just loved the people I met at McKinsey — whip-smart, unassuming, a little quirky, and engaging. They aced my airport test.

Make your own McKinsey: No boss, no org chart, no problem. Even as an associate, we’re encouraged to have an ownership mindset – to pursue our passions, build out leading edge capabilities, or start a new venture.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey?
My Power and Politics course was immensely useful in thinking through how I’d navigate client and colleague relationships. With clients, it was all about learning how to influence without authority. Within McKinsey, it’s about self-advocacy and influence in an environment where I have support but the onus is on me to seek out interesting staffing and stretch opportunities. Professor Sameer Srivastava, a former consulting partner himself, made clear that a “let-the-work-speak-for-itself” attitude wasn’t enough—you have to do great work and cultivate champions. With that in mind, my final project was a career development plan which laid out my approach to growing my network and personal influence. I still reference that plan today.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. Only at McKinsey would a partner, addressing a group of 100+ first and second year consultants, request the group stand up, raise their right hand, and pledge that we live everyday as if we’re trying to get fired—by ruthlessly protecting our time, taking months off to explore the world, and doing McKinsey on our own terms.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Lean in to your strengths. I was never going to impress McKinsey with my analytical skills. So, I got my case math to a passable level and then doubled-down on being crisp, clear, and calm in my communication—a skill that came far more naturally after years of teaching. Not only did my interviewers get a clear sense of the value I’d bring to my teams, but I also felt more confident throughout the day.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? Doing work I’m passionate about with people I love to work with in a role that challenges me. That could very easily be at McKinsey or as a non-profit operator. I’m setting-agnostic. What’s important to me now is developing a well-rounded business toolkit and a couple functional focus areas so that, in 5-10 years, I will have developed the enterprise orientation and functional expertise to be a senior leader…. or counsel them as a consultant.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…Teaching Devonte, a fourth grader, to read for the first time.

A fun fact about me is…I was once the personal chauffeur for the rapper Ludacris.

Molly Duncan

McKinsey Office: Charlotte

Hometown: Greensboro, NC

MBA Program: UVA Darden School of Business

Undergraduate School, Major: Davidson College, Psychology

Focus of current engagement: Currently working on a project within Recovery and Transformation Services

Why did you choose McKinsey? I really fell in love with McKinsey’s culture and with the Charlotte office. “People” is such a cliché reason, but that’s really what it came down to for me. I made great connections during recruiting with folks who have now become mentors, friends, and even partners on my projects. You spend so much time with each other that really enjoying the people I work with was critical for me when choosing a firm.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? Days at Darden were often very busy with a balance of academics, recruiting, social life, and club activities. Each day, you’re juggling those balls and learning the best ways to prioritize and what really works for you in terms of lifestyle and time management. Life at McKinsey is no different. There’s never enough time to do everything in a day, so it’s about figuring out what must be done and then turning to the things that give you energy, whether that’s working out, grabbing a drink with teammates, or helping with recruiting. Darden was great preparation for the juggling act that is consulting.

Tell us about an “Only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. I’ve definitely had a few pinch me moments, but one in particular stands out. Following Hurricane Harvey, we got to work with a client in a war room focused on how Harvey impacted their sales representatives, distribution, and pricing. Watching and supporting our clients as they navigated this moment of crisis for their employees and their business was an incredible experience.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Don’t underestimate the personal experience (or PEI) portion of the interview. While case interviews may require more practice, the personal portion matters just as much. The PEI is a great opportunity to showcase why you are special and what would make you a great fit. Make sure you know your stories well enough to be able to relax and focus on really connecting with your interviewer.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? I’m interested in so many different industries and functional areas that I don’t have a clear picture of the content I will be working on, but I know it will involve working on a team. I’m a true extrovert – all my energy comes from interacting with and being in the trenches with other people. I know any job I have in the future will be as part of a team.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…Serving as Darden’s Student Body President during my second year and working with a team of incredibly talented classmates and friends.

A fun fact about me is…I am a HUGE fan of mini golf (have played 40 courses as of January 1st). When I was younger, I told my mom I wanted to go on a putt-putt tour of the world for my honeymoon. I am getting married in June, but that idea got vetoed.

Josh Durodola

McKinsey office: Atlanta

Hometown: Jos, Nigeria

MBA Program: UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Undergraduate school, major: Howard University, Electrical Engineering

Focus of Current Engagement: Investment and cost optimization at a telecommunications company

Why did you choose McKinsey? At the end of the day, it was because of the potential for impact and meaning. Over the summer, I connected with a partner who unknowingly sold the firm to me. He talked about how one of his regrets was not doing a study with a penitentiary in New York. That, along with other studies I heard about, convinced me that McKinsey was a place where I could have huge impact on others.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? One of the big ones is being authentic and vulnerable with people – this has really helped me connect with McKinsey teams and clients, making the work more enjoyable and impactful.

Another has been applying lessons from courses I took. I used the things I learned in my Financial Information Analysis class on day 1 at my current client. I have also used some of the skills I developed in our Designing Financial Models that Work course.

Tell us about an “Only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. In summer 2016, I was part of a team that was working on a large-scale transformation. A week before the end of my internship, we had just completed a company-wide townhall. There was a small reception afterwards, and the CEO of the company walked up to me and a couple of McKinsey colleagues and said to us: “Thank you, without you, we probably wouldn’t be here today, we wouldn’t even have our jobs.”

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? At game time, on the day of the interview, stay present and laser-focused on the client situation or problem presented to you. It’s very easy and common for your mind to wonder or start assessing your performance on the case, but that’s the moment in which you need to be present in the client situation, and solve it like a problem a friend brought to you. Other than that, stay structured.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years?
That’s the million-dollar question. The range is helping small businesses in Nigeria in a PE-type structure, doing some sort of life coaching, helping clients at McKinsey, or just spending time with friends and family.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…I’m most proud of when I’ve been part of other people’s process… seeing my roommate in college initially struggle with calculus and go on to pursue a PhD in engineering, or motivating my prior manager on her journey to drink less coffee, or doing consulting interview coaching and seeing folks get offers.

A fun fact about me is…I wore a watch that didn’t work for 3+ years, and I’m on track to beat that record.

Pedro Franco

McKinsey Office: London

Hometown: Sao Paulo, Brazil

MBA Program: INSEAD

Undergraduate School, Major: Escola Politécnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Civil Engineering.

Focus of current engagement: Building a roadmap to improve bank employees’ advanced analytics skills.

Why did you choose McKinsey? I wanted to take the MBA opportunity to switch careers and geographies. After much reflection during the first half of my MBA, I decided I wanted to get into consulting and McKinsey became my target, given its global reach and the opportunities for meaningful work. I knew if I joined, I would constantly be challenged and get work on genuinely interesting projects.

In my first project I was responsible for developing a bottleneck analysis for oil production and extraction units, analyzing service contracts and designing a new operating model for an operation in West Africa. My second project involved designing a roadmap on how to build proficiency in advanced analytics within a European bank in the next two years.

Both projects were in areas I hadn’t worked before, and placed me outside my comfort zone, allowing me to learn about subjects I had never heard of. That’s what I wanted – to stretch – when I came out of my MBA.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? In the first four months at INSEAD, students are placed in groups of five or six with different professional backgrounds and nationalities – my group had an American, Australian, Greek, Russian, Indian, and a Brazilian. We went through the process of building a real working contract for our diverse group, setting up meetings, discussing cases, and going through an exam together. In this sense, the skills I gained from dealing with different personalities and understanding and respecting other people’s limits was important. This also helped me understand my own limits and I think this is what best prepared me for McKinsey.

Projects can be short and the teams are composed of people from different backgrounds and nationalities; the same way it happened at INSEAD. In the first session of the project, the team has a discussion about norms where we talk about our personalities, working preferences, learning objectives, and goals. For example, twice a week I try to be home early enough to have dinner with my kids and put them to bed. This is something I specified in my last two projects. This expectation was considered perfectly acceptable and, most importantly, has been respected by my colleagues. Being able to set reasonable limits and not feel guilty about them has contributed to a sustainable work-life balance for me.

Tell us about an “Only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. I am impressed by how horizontal and truly global McKinsey is. During my last project, I had calls with partners from around the world to discuss contract pricing and organization benchmarking. The fact that all of us feel comfortable to express our ideas, independent of our tenure, is extremely motivating. People are collaborative to the point that you can just shoot out an email to anybody in the firm to ask for a problem-solving session. I have talked with colleagues in Nigeria, America, Germany and Brazil. People you have never met make themselves available to discuss and contribute to a topic that will ultimately help a client.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? First, make sure you really try to understand McKinsey. Read the website and reach out to people at the firm to understand what the work is about. It’s important to know what you are getting into, and have an idea if you are going to like it.

Second, practice cases but don’t overdo it. From my experience, you should aim at practicing 15-20 before first round interviews. I saw many people start to practice cases in the first months of the MBA. Most managed to make it, but those who started a couple of months before recruiting season were equally as effective. The MBA is supposed to be fun as well, so don’t miss out on the travel, the epic parties, or working on cases for classes.

Third, the personal experience part of your interview is equally as important as the case study. Think carefully about what you want to share and take time to sit down with others to refine your stories to make them interesting and genuine. I spent many hours thinking about my stories and running them through my wife and five different colleagues. Spontaneity is good and should still be there, but remember you are competing against hundreds of people for a spot and you have one chance to stand out.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? I don’t think I can plan too far ahead. Three years ago, if someone asked me where I would be today, I wouldn’t have guessed I would be based in London and working for McKinsey after having completed an MBA.

This is one of the great lessons I learned from my MBA experience: anything can happen. I will prioritize working with people I enjoy spending time with, whom I can learn from and in areas that interest me. McKinsey is somewhere that gives me the opportunity to tick all these boxes. My background is in banking and now I have been working in projects that touch completely new subjects with a new way of working.

I hope in the next 5-10 years I will benefit from the experience gained from working in completely different industries and apply them in an industry or function in a McKinsey context.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…Managing to successfully move together with my wife and then two-year-old twin boys, which was coordinated (as a family) from Brazil to Europe for INSEAD. Both my wife and I attended MBA as students in the same cohort and neither of us felt we were giving up much. When we started planning, back in the second half of 2015, we wanted to change jobs and gain international working experience, but we gained so much more.

Apart from moving with my entire family and getting an MBA done in-between, both of us had to go through the application process, study for the GMAT, write all the essays, be accepted in the same school, and find nurseries and housing. When the MBA was ending, we both had to apply to companies in the same city, plan our definitive move from Brazil, and (again) select new schools for the boys and find housing. The whole process was an emotional rollercoaster with many ups and downs. Success for my wife sometimes didn’t mean success for me and vice-versa but, as a family, we got to know each other even better and grew stronger from this experience. I must mention that the boys helped us a lot –they were superstars at adapting to new schools and learning local languages.

A fun fact about me is…At the age of 15, I wanted to become a surgeon so my Headmaster booked me a visit to a hospital and med school in Sao Paulo. I watched a coronary bypass and spent a day with doctors doing rounds. But I changed my mind when the dean of the med school decided to finish the tour in style: he opened a metal door in the basement and there, before me, were more than 30 bodies lying on tables, ready to be dissected by students. This just didn’t appeal for me… and a few weeks later I decided I was going to become an engineer and learn how to build bridges and tunnels instead.

Clarisse Liguori

McKinsey Office: Sao Paulo, Brazil (Senior Implementation Coach)

Hometown: Belo Horizonte, Brazil

MBA program: INSEAD

Undergraduate School, Major: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Production Engineering

Focus of current engagement: Supply chain optimization in a household and appliances company.

Why did you choose McKinsey? It has always been very important for me to see practical and relevant results of what I do and initiatives in which I engage. I also have the desire to do meaningful and interesting work in different industries and different functions. I knew I would have the opportunity to do so at McKinsey. Another thing I looked for was to have exposure to highly motivated and skilled people because I will learn from every interaction with them – I was sure at McKinsey I’d be surrounded by people like that. Lastly, the fact that McKinsey has a bigger Operations practice than any other consulting firm in the world was a game-changer for me. That meant I would be in touch with the best people in the field and do meaningful work in the area I love.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? Business school helped me in two ways. First, it helped me learn how to transit between business and engineering/operations, my original field. During my previous experiences, I would be in touch with different areas of the businesses, but it was different to actually understand how each area generates value to the business. Just today, I was discussing accounting with a client while maintaining a perspective of operations – before business school I would not have been able to participate fully in that conversation and know my contributions are relevant. Second, at INSEAD we came from 66 nationalities. I find it very similar to my reality at McKinsey: different people, different cultures, different behaviors. I became very culturally aware during business school and I can translate that into comprehension and stronger relationships as a consultant.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. When I was interviewing with McKinsey, I kept questioning myself if there was a real possibility to make my own McKinsey. Ever since I joined, I noticed that it is for real and I find it amazing. I have been able to work in industries I was most interested in and on the engagements that most appealed to me. It’s been up to me to determine what opportunities I look for or lean in on and what path I’d most like to take.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? I would give two pieces of advice. It is important to prepare for case interviews – there is no showing up to interviews unaware of McKinsey’s assessment model and hoping for the best. In the process of preparing for a case interview, you learn if you like it or not.  If you enjoy solving the cases, odds are you will also enjoy life as a consultant at McKinsey. The second piece of advice is to remember the personal interview is very important to express what you value most, how you see the world and what makes you tick. The personal interview also shows you what McKinsey values the most, how we see the world and what makes us tick. Being a cultural fit is as important as being a great problem-solver.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? This is a tricky question for me as I prefer to, every once in a while, re-evaluate my life and determine whether I want to stay in my path or change it. In the short term, I just dive into my current plans. Right now I can imagine myself as an operations leader at McKinsey, advising the biggest and greatest companies in Brazil on how to be competitive and sustain healthy business practices. On a personal note, I see a beautiful family in my future – my husband and a child.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…In my previous job, I was invited to implement the operations of a new venture in Brazil in six months. The most challenging part was the short timeframe – from non-stop work for six months to learning how to handle my emotions. One day after the sixth month, I felt proud and fulfilled to see almost 600 people hired, trained and motivated to live the implementation I had built from scratch.

A fun fact about me is…My memory is not very reliable and I go through awkward situations because of it. My husband and I went to the same school; he was one year ahead of me. I met him early in the course, we even talked a few times but I completely forgot about him. A few months later, we met again during a friend’s get-together – we talked, but again I forgot about him the following day. I met him a third time during an exchange program – and that was when my memory was actually “introduced to him.” We’ve been together ever since.

Shaina Milleman

McKinsey Office: Chicago

Hometown: Charleston, SC

MBA Program: University of Chicago (Booth)

Undergraduate School, Major: Clemson University, Chemical Engineering

Focus of current engagement: Transformation – Operations

Why did you choose McKinsey? For me, it was simple: opportunity, resources, and people whom I aspire to be like. I knew by joining the firm, I could build on my existing expertise, while being rapidly exposed to challenges in industries and functions outside my experience. The firm’s resources are very focused on allowing consultants to do their best work – this means providing us with tools that make everyday tasks more efficient. Lastly, the opportunity to work with people whom I greatly admired and wanted to be like one day, and whom I knew would not only push me professionally, but also support me along the way.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? Be willing to put your pride aside and admit when you need help. Everyone in business school has an impressive background and a natural area of expertise. Depending on the class, you may be a rock star or you may be the person who feels like the only one hearing about a concept for the first time. Despite a little hit to my pride, I found I learned the most when I sought help from my classmates in subjects in which I had the least experience. At McKinsey, the pace of work is fast and the expectation to deliver is high – if you are struggling in a particular area, the sooner you admit it and ask for help, the more successful you’ll be.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. There are quite a few that come to mind, but a recent moment was jamming out to the extremely talented Chicago McKinsey band while catching up with my colleagues during our weekly Friday happy hour. It made me stop and realize it doesn’t matter what the activity is or subject of discussion, someone around you is going to be amazingly and unexpectedly good in a really inspiring and energizing way.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Be authentic. Be real with yourself on why you want to work at McKinsey and what makes you interested in a career in consulting.  Also, relax and enjoy the process. You have the opportunity to meet so many great people who are genuinely interested in getting to know you – at the end of the day, the interview process is about people talking to people.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? It’s hard to be extremely specific at this point, so I’ll give a more general answer. We all want to be impactful and find meaning in our work.  I want to look back and be proud of how I’ve spent my time professionally.  I hope that in 5 – 10 years, I will mimic those I admire so much today and be excited about each day ahead of me.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…As a native South Carolinian, making it through five Chicago winters.

A fun fact about me is…I recently survived a crash landing on the beach while hang-gliding in Rio. I was visiting Brazil to watch my friend (and now colleague) tie the knot.

Kate O’Gorman

McKinsey Office: Cleveland

Hometown: Cleveland, OH

MBA Program: Concurrent MBA/MPA at Stanford GSB and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Undergrad School: Barnard College, Political Science

Focus of current case: Internet of things strategy for an industrial client

Why did you choose McKinsey? Working on veterans’ policy in Washington meant I often saw great leaders and good ideas stalled by the inertia of organizations. I went to business school to understand when and how large organizations actually change. The cross-industry opportunity to explore this in consulting drew me immediately, but it was the intense curiosity of the people I met at McKinsey that brought me to the firm.

I remember early conversations where McKinsey colleagues would excitedly share what surprised them on their studies. That same curiosity brought to understanding clients’ challenges has helped me understand my experience and interests. I remember one team conversation in particular, where I mentioned my work on veterans’ employment. Suddenly we had 5-6 pieces of paper around us, thinking through the pipelines from the military to different sectors. That same curiosity surrounds me at McKinsey today.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? Two lessons stand out from GSB. The first is remembering to sequence the work learned in my negotiations courses. Focusing in on what will mean most early rather than flooding the zone with every issue has helped in problem solving, and also in working with teams and clients. Pausing to plan this well has been hugely helpful.

The other lesson, from Stanford’s famous Interpersonal Dynamics, is that you really can’t know what another person’s experience is. It’s easy to guess about the meaning of others’ reactions and attribute it to your own behavior, but Touchy Feely helped expose that no matter how intuitive you are, you won’t know the whole picture. Instead, leaning in and asking questions helps to break that down.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. During my summer at the firm, the Cleveland office held an event for Midwest summer inerns. At dinner, I found myself agreeing to take a colleague over to the Cleveland Museum of Art early the next morning.

I’d been to the museum maybe 100 times. It’s Cleveland’s pride and joy, other than LeBron James. We wandered through the Impressionists, and an exhibit on Middle Eastern art. On our way out, we passed the large touchscreen wall the museum had recently installed. My colleague, a digital experience expert, lit up. We explored the museum’s full collection, peppered the docent with questions on the wall, the art, and how kids were excited about this part of the museum. I left the museum knowing a place I thought I knew well far better.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Spend time thinking through your experiences to identify the moments that make you want to do this work. It was helpful in interviews, and it also helped me be purposeful about why I wanted be at the firm. I remember being so nervous about case prep that I tried to fit into a model of what I thought McKinsey wanted. Other times, I followed others’ advice about the multitude of opportunities available, allowing my own interests to become secondary. It wasn’t until I sat with potential new colleagues over coffee and spoke about family, or moments of joy and failure at work, that I clicked back into my purpose and felt I could bring myself into the interview.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? A significant part of what is challenging us today is the loss of faith in many institutions, be they government, political parties, employers, or the media. We’ve lost faith because many haven’t yet responded to new or evolving needs. I hope to be working with institutions closest to people’s lives, such as those in healthcare or government, to be more effective and more responsive to the people they serve and represent.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…In 2014, I worked on a campaign that resulted in new legislation and initiatives to combat veteran suicide. What I valued most was the chance to coach and support the veteran leaders who bravely spoke about their toughest moments. Seeing their continued leadership continues to give me pride today.

A fun fact about me is…As a kid growing up, I loved a wacky Halloween costume. One year, I was a peacock, another an alien, then a stop light. My favorite of all was the year I was a dirty fork.

Alessandro Perrone

McKinsey Office: Paris

Hometown: Rome, Italy

MBA Program: INSEAD

Undergraduate School, Major: Bocconi, Economics and Social Sciences

Focus of current engagement: Insurance

Why did you choose McKinsey? I knew McKinsey would help me structure the way I work in a way I couldn’t get any other place. During the interviews, each person I met made me feel comfortable and I established a great connection with people in the Rome office and around the firm. This made a tremendous difference. Furthermore, my INSEAD peers coming from McKinsey were very honest when describing the job, allowing me to better understand the attitudes and culture of the firm.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? Definitely the ability to work in groups, often under tight time constraints, to share and allocate responsibilities and to respect and better understand cultural differences.

As a team, both at INSEAD and at McKinsey, you establish team norms trying to accommodate everybody’s priorities at the beginning of each project. I found this process very useful as it creates transparency between teammates from the start.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. So far, what I found only at McKinsey is the quality and caliber of the people. It seems to me there is common denominator that allows us to have an honest relationship with anyone you meet at the firm.

Furthermore, the obligation to dissent that is rooted in McKinsey’s culture is a trait I have not seen anywhere else. It is not only useful internally as it will push the team’s boundaries in a problem-solving session, but with clients it creates transparency and helps build a more robust relationship over the long term.

I once openly disagreed with a client regarding some numbers. As I was sure about my figures, I knew I had to speak up. Disagreeing with a client can be tough, but both our leadership and clients appreciated the honesty, allowing us to have subsequent open discussions.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Be prepared both for case and personal experience questions. My inside tip is to try to think of two answers when an experience or fit question is asked to you as another interviewer may ask the very same question. Be sure to prepare and share very detailed stories that will make you stand out and be interesting in the eyes of your interviewer.

Don’t spend all your time on practice cases; you should be able to assess when your learning curve becomes flatter and flatter. The beneficial thing is you get a detailed feedback at the end of case in order for you to be able to track your progress.

The way you communicate is key. It will be your first lever to establish a connection with your interviewer. Be clear, solution-oriented and conversational.

Finally, if you are looking for a job to expand your knowledge on different industries, then McKinsey is the place to go. The variety of topics to which we are exposed is unmatched. A great way to understand if that is what you are looking for is to talk to people working here. Everyone you meet from the firm is more than happy to answer your questions.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? Two years ago, I couldn’t imagine myself at McKinsey. Therefore, planning what I will be doing in ten years is a hard question. My priorities are to keep working with extraordinary people, to expand the industries and functions I am exposed to, and to identify an area of interest in which to grow further. Fortunately, I believe I can achieve all these ambitions at McKinsey.

My greatest personal accomplishment is…to have moved across three continents with my wife and child within 18 months with twins on their way. It was hard, but we had an amazing time along the way.

A fun fact about me is…it is hard to be an Italian in France now that Italy is out of the World Cup, especially when your French colleagues are big football/soccer fans.

Kat Recto

McKinsey Office: New York City

Hometown: Manila, Philippines

MBA Program: Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Undergraduate School, Major: Ateneo de Manila University, Management Engineering

Focus of current engagement: Smart capex for a telecommunications company.

Why did you choose McKinsey? McKinsey offered the perfect combination: being in the Marketing and Sales practice; working in New York; an exciting and challenging environment; a culture of mentorship; and kind people I love working with every day. Coming out of business school, I realized I didn’t want to hone in on a specific industry just yet. I wanted to keep learning and exploring while developing expertise in marketing. The firm serves Fortune 500 clients in a spectrum of industries and functions. I love that my day to day changes. I’m constantly surrounded by talented people who are so willing to share what they know. I’m truly amazed by the work we do and by the people I work with.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? Don’t be afraid to ask for help. The people I met at Kellogg were as humble as they were brilliant. There were so many times when I felt like the person in the room who knew the least. At first, I found it uncomfortable, but I realized you are presented with an opportunity to learn from your friends. I find the same experience true at McKinsey. On any new project, you may come in feeling like you know nothing. There are resources available to help you do well such experts, best practices, and knowledge documents. I’ve had teammates willingly explain concepts I didn’t understand, even drawing them out on a whiteboard to make sure I can follow.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. I was in the middle of a meeting where I was the most junior member of the team. The meeting was not directly related to my workstream, so I stayed in a corner of the room expecting to just listen in. The partner on my study moves his chair to the side and motions for me to join the circle. He also passes me a note encouraging me to speak up when I was comfortable doing so. That was a simple act that made a lasting impression on me and spoke volumes about this truly encouraging environment. People are inclusive and want to see you shine. Everyone has a voice, no matter your tenure or depth of expertise.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Preparing for case interviews can be intimidating, especially if you’ve never cased before. Instead of feeling anxious about the process, try to think of it as a time to evaluate how much you will like the job. The more cases I did, the more I realized that this was something I would enjoy doing. Consulting prep takes time and simulates what we really do.

I would also advise you to connect with consultants at the office you’re interested in. Don’t do it for the sake of networking, but really get to know the people and the culture. These could be your teammates on a project or people you would hang out with after office hours. I met some of my co-summer interns and knew I had to accept my offer. They’ve been such a good support system in a city where I didn’t know a lot of people.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? I want to be a partner at McKinsey and create opportunities for women to rise to senior leadership. I see myself actively involved in recruitment efforts and ensuring we continually create a diverse, inclusive environment where people from different backgrounds can succeed. I see myself achieving work life balance – spending sufficient quality time with family, growing in faith, maintaining good health, and winning with clients and colleagues. I expect to still feel like myself and find something to smile about every day.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…It would be moving to New York the day after graduation and building all my furniture with my own hands. It’s not easy adjusting to a new city and overcoming homesickness. I finally feel like Manila and New York are both home. Yay!

A fun fact about me is…I find baking therapeutic. I have a secret recipe for chocolate chip cookies I bake for people I care about. If I bake for you, you must be special.

Youssef Rifi

McKinsey Office: Dubai

Hometown: Casablanca, Morocco and Paris, France (I’ve spent the half of my life in each city)

MBA Program: London Business School, London, UK

Master’s Degree: Ecole Supérieure d’Optique (Grande Ecole), Paris, France

Exchange Program: HEC, Paris, France

Focus of current engagement: Banking and Payments, Western Europe

Why did you choose McKinsey? I knew I was joining a place with high quality people who were both smart and kind. I was impressed by my LBS classmates who were previous McKinsey consultants from Singapore, London, Zurich, Bucharest, and Moscow. These were classmates who supported me during the preparation process and helped me become one of them.
Once at the firm, you can’t imagine the incredible people who surround you. They are sharp, wise, and able to build bulletproof reasoning, while remaining themselves. In one day, you can do one of the toughest problem-solving sessions in the afternoon and then play football with the same team in the evening.

Before my MBA, I ran my own company in mobile payments and worked with some of the most skilled and knowledgeable people globally in digital payments. For me, it was key to join a firm that will invest in building and stretching my skill set, and at the same time be with highly-skilled professionals who are self-driven and care about each other.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? For me, the key for a successful MBA and preparation for McKinsey interviews were the people you surround yourself with – professionals you will interact with, and the lifetime friends you make. You need to understand yourself and (at the same time) find groups of people with whom you share the same values, level of ambition, trust, and personal interests. This will help create a foundation for success.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far. When I joined the firm, I heard there were some payments gurus in Europe. Given my background, I wanted to meet them. I found out we had a number of partners with deep technical knowledge who understood all the forces shaping the industry. I showed my interest to my staffing team and now I’m on a project on another continent spending two days a week with the global McKinsey payments Jedi master, working with one of the most exciting players in payments.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? Try to crack cases and spend time thinking about what you are great at and articulate it.  Practice with people who will give you honest feedback. Also, remember to find balance and do things that make you happy.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? Being a partner in our Dubai office would be amazing! It has been great to see some of the recently elected partners using our Take Time program so they can succeed at the firm and also follow their passion, support pro-bono projects and spend quality time with their loved ones.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…My family. We all need both professional and personal fulfilment to be at our best. My wife and I are expecting our second child in the coming months and I will take eight weeks off when this little one arrives. Spending quality time with family and friends and making our children know they are a priority is extremely important to me.

A fun fact about me is…I really love patisseries… really, I’m the kind of guy who can walk or drive for an hour just to get to a nice bakery. In the last few months, I did just this several times, including when I was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and sought out the best Lebanese bakery and in Lima, Peru where I found an incredible bakery for dulce de leche cookies.

Ellen Sleeman

McKinsey Office: Chicago

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia

MBA Program: Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Undergraduate School, Major: Harvard, Psychology & Cognitive Neuroscience

Focus of current engagement: Consumer decision journey for a large financial institution.

Why did you choose McKinsey? Two main reasons: growth and freedom.

Throughout recruiting, I was consistently impressed by McKinsey consultants. Every person was exceptional — bright, passionate, interesting beyond belief — yet completely down-to-earth. I knew working with and learning from such an inspirational group of colleagues would be both an intellectual challenge and an unparalleled growth opportunity. Additionally, I recognized that McKinsey’s training programs and people development processes are best-in-class.

By freedom, what I mean is this – at McKinsey, you create your own path. Stay in Chicago and build a local network, or pursue a once-in-a-lifetime international opportunity. Explore different industries via a ‘random walk’, or specialize in your area of passion. With the resources of McKinsey, the possibilities are endless. You can’t find this level of control over your destiny or this breadth of opportunity anywhere else.

What lesson from business school best prepared you for your career in consulting at McKinsey? In business school, every student comes with their own individual set of experiences. This is one of the most valuable aspects of business school – the collaborative nature of the coursework and the interactions you have with your peers are as pivotal to the learning experience as the lectures. The same is true with consulting at McKinsey – the diversity of backgrounds and variety of interests among your colleagues are the most powerful sources of knowledge available. You will learn from every person, on every team.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far.  In the Wall Street Journal this fall, a photo in the business section caught my eye – there was Dom (Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of the firm), sitting with Sheryl Sandberg, featured in an article about women in the workplace and the road to gender equality. McKinsey has been at the forefront of the business world driving awareness around gender parity, undertaking research, partnering with Lean In — I remember feeling immense pride in the firm scanning that article. Only at McKinsey is the firm not only delivering impact for clients, as consultants do, but driving toward change on critical social issues.

What advice would you give to someone interviewing at McKinsey? First, be your authentic self during your interview (albeit, the most structured, insightful and intelligent version of your authentic self). There is no one formula that gets you to McKinsey, so let your personality shine through. Treat your interviewer as though they’re the partner on your case, and you’re live problem-solving in the team room. Engage them, as if you’re working through the problem together.

Second, get to know the firm, and have a handle on why McKinsey — and why consulting in general — is the right place for you. Be diligent in learning the nuances of different firms, and push to uncover the true differentiators rather than building impressions from the stereotypes you’ve inevitably heard.

What do you expect to be doing in 5-10 years? I expect to be solving interesting, challenging problems in an intellectually stimulating environment – and working on something for which I have a genuine passion. I want to be learning every day, and having fun every day. Based on my McKinsey experience thus far, there’s a definite possibility that I’ll still be at the firm… but who knows.

My greatest personal or professional accomplishment is…getting hired at McKinsey. Only kidding (…kind of). I’d say my biggest accomplishment is the fact that I’ve been able to successfully maintain balance between my personal and professional lives – one result has been qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which I’ll be running this April.

A fun fact about me is…I have a tenuous relationship with ‘fun facts’, and have never landed on the perfect go-to. For today, I’ll go with this – if I could try any job for one day, I’d want to put together the highlight reels that play before and during big sports games on ESPN.

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