McKinsey & Company
Headquarters: New York
Locations: 84
Come to the world's premier consulting firm, and this is what you'll get: a chance to work with the preeminent institutions around the world, amazing leadership opportunities, great pay, high standards, and some almighty principles. Or so claims a sampling of overachievers from McKinsey's rank and file.
"You will be stretched to your limit in every application of the concept," says a partner who specializes in IT strategy in the insurance sector at McKinsey & Company. "You will get phenomenal learning and growth opportunities, fascinating and challenging work."
As it has in previous years, the 79-year-old firm has garnered high marks from its consultants in the career development category. It's a fair, performance-oriented firm where individual and team achievements get recognized. Consultants get a hefty dose of formal and informal training and mentoring, including a weeklong course for new consultants. The firm, which is increasingly focused not just on delivering recommendations but also on supporting rollout, has offices in 45 countries. Geographic mobility as well as the small client teams also provide additional exposure and opportunities for personal development.
"You are constantly being placed in new roles that stretch and develop you," adds an operations expert who joined the firm 12 years ago. "That growth and constant sense of achievement is very fulfilling. Self-development and developing others is a fabric of our organization, and this produces an incredibly rewarding environment."
McKinsey's core values are a critical element that makes the firm unique, consultants claim. Professionals are measured by their impact on their clients rather than on billable hours or the revenue they generate. They are also judged on the support they provide to their colleagues, their contributions to the firm's knowledge base, and their leadership abilities.
But the caring meritocracy element of the firm takes a little getting used to. It's no secret that up-or-out is practiced here and that consultants who are tracking below the firm's vaunted standards are asked to leave. Yes, a partner may drop everything to give an overwhelmed consultant a statistics refresher or may advise another on how to polish leadership style. However, sometimes the feedback is brutal. Those who realize that colleagues are trying to develop them into the best they can be fare the best.
"Positive momentum drives you upward quickly, but one mistake will stay with you for a long time," confides a Texas-based manager.
If there is a downside to working at McKinsey, it's the long days at the client site; when it comes to travel, you won't find much moss gathering on these wingtips. Still, McKinsey's rolling stones have the option of working from the home office on Fridays. Type A personalities are urged to take control of their own work/life balance.
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