Meet McKinsey’s MBA Class of 2019

A CULTURE OF FEEDBACK AND SUPPORT

Informal training is equally prominent at McKinsey, with the firm adopting an apprenticeship model. Generally, McKinsey norms are taught through example, particularly the firm’s 5-10 client teams that often include a senior partner, engagement director, associates, and various experts and technical support. Each team, Dolan says, sets up its own sets of norms based on each individual’s goals and non-negotiables.

“It is also a culture of strong feedback, both in terms of the work being done and the way the work is being done,” adds Dolan. “Our culture helps people learn how to do the work of serving clients: conducting analysis, generating recommendations, making sure the rest of the team is being included in the right way, communicating effectively, and sharing what they’re learning – and what it means and what they are going to be doing about it to move the whole team forward. Any time there is that kind of interaction – whether it is an email, phone call, or team meeting – that permeates all of those interactions.”

Despite the support, MBAs enjoy the flexibility to ultimately determine their McKinsey experience. That’s one reason why the “Make Your Own McKinsey” slogan resonates so deeply within the firm. Bekinwari Idoniboye decided early to capitalize on her peers’ availability to talk. As a summer intern, she would schedule, at minimum, 2-3 coffee chats, phone calls, or lunches a week. She would rifle through the firm’s internal database to find people who shared a common interest with her. Not surprisingly, she found they were thrilled to share their experiences – and many kept in contact after her internship. That came in handy for Idoniboye, who decided to defer her start at McKinsey for a year so she could start a business in Kenya.

“When I went back Kellogg and then went to Kenya, I kept in touch with those people,” she tells P&Q. “I was also able to get the sponsorship of a senior manager at the firm and HR. So when I came back – even though it had almost been a year-and-a-half – they were the people who connected me very quickly into the firm and also helped me to staff. In many respects, that set a tone for me that McKinsey was a place where I make it our own.”

CALL THE CONCIERGE

MBAs can also make McKinsey their own through many of the benefits offered through the firm. Kevin Dolan points to the firm offering 5-10 extra weeks for consultants to pursue their passions. For example, Dolan plays in a rock band with an engagement manager who is both a trapeze artist and a classically-trained pianist. This individual, he says, takes time off each year to travel and compete.

“He worked out a model where half a year he was on sabbatical. And he would take that time to do things like joining traveling circuses and work on his craft there. And then he would take the second part of the summer and train as a pianist. Our firm is so much stronger for having someone that interesting. We are constantly trying to meet people where they are and what they need.”

That applies to parents in particular. Consulting, Dolan says, offers a great platform for expectant mothers and fathers. It is easier in a project-based environment, he notes, for parents to step away, take time, and then return so they can continue progressing in their careers. Dolan adds that McKinsey is extremely responsive to employee needs as they emerge, citing a woman in the Chicago office who wanted to foster children with her wife.

“We worked with family services in Chicago,” Dolan recalls. “They took up foster care for three children. Three weeks later, they adopted a newborn. They went from 0 to 4 children in the space of four weeks. That change happened way more quickly than our policies and programs. [Along with leave], we rallied and piloted a program where a concierge would come in and manage things in her life. One of her colleagues recently had his apartment flooded and had to find a new home. Because of this woman, McKinsey now has a concierge service that just takes care of things for people – like quotes from a general contractor. We are expanding what we can do and it helps everyone find balance.”

‘THAT COULD BE ME’

This “All in it together” mentality creates memorable “Only at McKinsey” moments – times when consultants realize just how distinct the firm really is. For Sergio Velasquez-Terjesen, McKinsey made one of his dreams come true. A long-time reader of the State of Fashion report, he was staffed on a project where he worked with fashion and luxury practice leaders to identify emerging trends. Ironically, many MBAs find that their world contracts as their knowledge and network grows. That was also the case for Bekinwari Idoniboye. A few years ago, she would read the McKinsey Quarterly in awe of the managing partners’ insights. Fast forward to now and her outlook has shifted by 180 degrees.

“I thought they were worlds apart from me and I could never be in their shoes. What I wish I had known is that everyone starts from somewhere and the only difference between me and a managing partner is time. Ultimately, what I have come to learn is that I can be that person engaging with clients and giving them thought-provoking ideas. That means I have to put myself out there.”

Kevin Dolan experienced his ‘Only at McKinsey’ moment during his MBA internship. Trained as a chemical engineer, Dolan became a product manager at Procter & Gamble. There, he took a personality test, with the results tracking him on teams with similar skills and mindsets. As a McKinsey intern, he experienced the exact opposite. Although one engagement manager shared his process-driven orientation, another seemed impulsive with his penchant for “changing things up” in real-time. Problem was, Dolan admits, both managers were wildly successful with their roles.

“Because of those range of styles, I also started to observe other different styles across the firm,” he adds. “Even though we had a similar culture of respect and common values, a lot of styles worked in it. If I was going to be a leader, I would learn a lot about leading and managing people here. That was a big insight for me.”

DISRUPTION ALL AROUND

Now, Dolan is looking ahead. As he pictures a future shaped by forces like analytics, artificial intelligence, and digitalization, he sees disruption on the horizon – the kind that signals opportunity for McKinsey. For one, the sheer volume of data, coupled with the availability of tools to maximize its value, is tailor-made for a firm like McKinsey, with its wide range of capabilities and deep reservoir of talent. At the same time, he sees the pendulum swinging between the globe being more integrated and less connected. As a result, clients are often flocking to learn how, for example, potential WTO actions might impact global trade. In addition, Dolan has noticed how all levels of companies are wrestling with increasing “consumerization” …with customers holding higher expectations for every point of contact.

“They are expecting it to look like Uber or Amazon,” he tells P&Q. “If they make a decision or buy something, they want it immediately. That has been a very big shift, particularly as younger generations are coming into the workforce. They’re digital natives – and the world of work, which was frankly built 30-50 years ago, hasn’t changed a lot. They’re both expecting it to be very different.”

Dolan also cites business model disruption as a trend to watch in consulting. He uses the example of an automotive client that supplies cars for people to drive. With the advent of Uber and Lyft, this client’s 50-year-old business model is suddenly in jeopardy. To stave off extinction, the company brought in McKinsey for insight.

“They will come to us and say, What do these trends look like when you put them together? Help us figure out possible future alternatives of what the industry could look like. Is everything going to become rental? If that occurs, who is going to fix cars? Will there be a set of services around managing a fleet of cars by providing parts services or aftermarket services? What could that look like? How do I make money in that world? Also, who else is thinking about this, and do I have the right to compete in this space? We’ll study the economics of a business to see who would be best placed to win in that space as the economics evolve.”

PERFECT PRACTICE

Dolan’s advice for MBA candidates looking to get into McKinsey? He reiterates that MBA should adopt a proactive mindset, one where they’re always asking what matters, what does it mean, and what they’re going to do about it. He also warns MBAs not to come into interviews with any preconceived notions. “We do try to be quite open,” Dolan adds. “Some people think we’re cutthroat competitive. It’s not true. There’s no limit to the size of our partnerships, no quotas, no forced curves; there’s none of that.”

In terms of the interview, Derek Debruhl offers some counterintuitive advice: Focus on your strengths. “I have found many people preparing for interviews spend a lot of time trying to build up areas of perceived weakness but spend far less time strengthening areas where they are already strong,” he writes. “McKinsey is a strengths-based environment so turning a relative strength into a “spike” would go a long way to showing interviewers what really makes someone distinctive.”

In contrast, Bekinwari Idoniboye encourages MBAs to reach out to the right people as part of preparation. “Perfect practice is better than just practice,” she concludes. “Sometimes, people want to hunker down in isolation. You can read as many case books as you want, but if you’re not doing cases with people who’ve actually succeeded – a 2nd year who summered at the firm or a person at McKinsey – you won’t really know if you’re doing well.”

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

Consultant	McKinsey Office	Hometown	MBA Program
Winny Arindrani	New York	Jakarta, Indonesia	Duke University (Fuqua)
Steven Avila	New Jersey	Palmdale, CA	New York University (Stern)
Derek Debruhl	Charlotte	Davie, FL	University of Virginia (Darden)
Rodrigo Giarola	São Paulo	Brasília, Brazil	INSEAD
Bekinwari Idoniboye	Chicago	Charlottesville, VA	Northwestern University (Kellogg)
Junji Okawa	Tokyo	Tokyo, Japan	London Business School
Masaaki Omachi	Tokyo	Osaka, Japan	Duke University (Fuqua)
Chika Ofili	Calgary	Calgary, Canada	Wharton School
Cherry Oracion	Tokyo	Manila, Philippines	INSEAD
Joshua Reuben	Toronto	Mumbai, India	University of Toronto (Rotman)
Joyce Tsuchiya	São Paulo	Presidente Prudente, Brazil	IMD
Sergio Velasquez-Terjesen	Houston	Houston, TX / Maturin, Venezuela	Harvard Business School
Vickey Xiong	Shanghai	Jiangxi, China	University of Chicago (Booth)
Jake Yihai Zhu	Tokyo	Toronto, Canada	Columbia Business School

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