Eliane Röösli

“I’m a curious person who loves finding opportunities to learn, both professionally and socially.”

McKinsey Office: Zurich

Hometown: Cham, Canton of Zug, Switzerland

MBA Program and Concentration: INSEAD

Undergraduate School, Major: Federal Institute of Technology, Lusanne, Biomedical Engineering

What was your favorite thing about your MBA program? My favorite part was the people. The diversity and richness of my classmates’ backgrounds and the deep, meaningful connections we formed exceeded my expectations. The program’s global exposure, including study trips and studying on two continents, was incredibly enriching.

Can you describe your proudest pre-McKinsey accomplishment? Before joining McKinsey, I was involved in COVID research during my master’s thesis at Stanford University, leading to significant findings that were published in major journals. This research contributed to the global understanding of COVID and improved health outcomes for high-risk patients.

Why did you choose McKinsey over other consulting Firms or other industries? I chose McKinsey for the fast-paced team environment and the firm’s expertise in life sciences, which matched my background and interests. Consulting at McKinsey seemed like a natural match for what I wanted, especially compared to the slower pace of research or pursuing a PhD.

What are three words that describe working at McKinsey? Fast-paced, people-focused, and learning.

What were you most excited about when you accepted your full-time offer? What is something you didn’t know to be excited about then, but you are now? I was excited about the challenging projects and the opportunity to work with senior clients. What surprised me was the genuinely supportive and helpful nature of my colleagues. From afar, I had this view that consulting may be more cutthroat than research. I was unsure how collaborative the spirit would be working for such a big international firm compared to a small lab with a couple of people all very passionate about doing research together. But everyone is willing to help each other, just as much if not more so than in research.

Who at the Firm has been the most impactful mentor to you and why? I’ve had many mentors at different stages, each contributing unique insights based on their expertise. I also had the chance to work across many different types of projects and geographies while here. So, I work with a lot of people, which means you don’t build as strong ties with just one or a few of them. Instead, I have a large, global network of people and know how they could contribute their specific insights if I need them.

If you could go back in time and give your younger self one piece of advice during the interview process, what would you say? I was positively surprised by how nice and supportive the interviewers were. So, the advice I’d probably give to my younger self would be: Don’t be scared and trust in your abilities—the interviewers want you to succeed just as much as you do

In what area(s) do you have considerable knowledge or expertise? My engineering background provides many transferable skills, particularly with numerical analysis, which I’m naturally drawn to. Additionally, having grown up in the Swiss-German region of Switzerland and studying in the French-speaking part, I learned French. This skill proved useful during a project with a French client, where switching the meeting language from English to French minimized confusion and allowed me to effectively utilize my French, despite it being slightly rusty.

Tell us about an “only at McKinsey” moment you’ve had so far: One memorable moment was when, just a month into my job at McKinsey, I presented my workstream results to the CEO of an American biotech company. Despite being new and young, I was encouraged to lead the presentation on my workstream topic, which turned out to be a success and a very rewarding experience.

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