Posts: 1,832
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2013
Reputation:
35
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 04:02 PM
Quote: (03-20-2013 03:55 PM)WestCoast Wrote:
I am not saying your wrong.
My comment about showin up drunk was not a joke.
I know it wasn't. That's a legit move. I've been out to scripp clubs with some older VP's that have families and shit but never a MD. It's funny to see how the older guys get such a kick out of a night out like that. They have their hall pass from wifey and are itching for that pay-for-play.
"...it's the quiet cool...it's for someone who's been through the struggle and come out on the other side smelling like money and pussy."
"put her in the taxi, put her number in the trash can"
Posts: 513
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2012
Reputation:
21
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 04:06 PM
McKinsey employees get INSANE vacation time. ABSOLUTELY INSANE AMOUNTS. And I am talking about employees in the country the OP is from. If your down with the long hours and then being rewarded with big vacay payouts I'd say do it.
Posts: 479
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2013
Reputation:
5
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 04:56 PM
What are the benefits? Do you get anything but the salary?
“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
-Socrates
Posts: 3,852
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2011
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 06:29 PM
I used to work at a consulting firm that shared a building with McKinsey -the only other company in the building. It's a brand name consulting firm that recruits heavily from the Ivies here in the US. Many kids coming out of the Ivies get lured into consulting for the big check and are able to hack the long hours while they're young and impressionable. However, I'm not sure how an office in Sweden would compare with one in the States.
Assuming it's similar to the office culture here, at 35 you really don't want to be grinding it out in the rat race. You should be on autopilot at that stage in your career IMO. It doesn't even sound like you want to become partner so you probably won't be able to stomach the grind.
I would do as Westcoast said and get an offer in writing to present to your current employer to get them to make a counteroffer.
But to offer more specific advice I'd need more details about the position and probably other info you may not want to share publicly. PM me if you want.
Posts: 1,203
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2011
Reputation:
7
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 07:37 PM
Like a lot of others said here, an opportunity to work at McKinsey is much like an opportunity to attend Harvard. I'd strongly consider the opportunity if it becomes an actual offer. Aspire to make partner and work that angle as long as you can do it sanely. Once you exit out of the firm with a few years of partner-level money you can probably straight up retire out of the corporate world. At that point you can probably use capital to live out your dreams and maybe start your own business somewhere (like a beachside bar or restaurant or something else lol).
Otherwise as others stated, use this as leverage at your current firm.
Posts: 805
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2008
Reputation:
14
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 07:51 PM
Take the impression you have of McKinsey and list the pros and cons. Now take away half the pros and you have an accurate picture. I'm a consultant and trust me, we are full of shit, especially when we're recruiting. McKinsey are the best bullshitters among us. They're not any better than BCG or Bain, but they've done a damn good job at making people perceive them as somehow better, cooler or more prestigious.
I'm still glad I took a consulting job, but it's only about half as great as I thought it would be. In the long-term, I plan to start my own business. WestCoast had the best advice.
I've got the dick so I make the rules.
-Project Pat
Posts: 159
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2013
Reputation:
0
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 08:09 PM
Read this thread with interest.
At first I Was like 'whoa McKinsey'
That lasted about 5 minutes.
Fuck all that shit. Keep the nice agreeable gig and enjoy all the different areas of life.
Posts: 756
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2013
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-20-2013, 10:48 PM
Look at it like this. It isn't really 4-5 years of your life, because odds are you'll be pushed or burn out of any MBB consulting job in 1.5. For that, you'll probably learn more and rub up against the right people more than any single other gig you take. Worth it? Up to you. I'd go in with your exact exit option in mind - and there's a 90%+ chance it ain't further up the McK ladder.
Posts: 639
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2011
Reputation:
10
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 01:13 AM
I know people in McKinsey and the other firms. I also interviewed there before but didn't have enough work experience for the role at the time.
Here's my impression. The people are very smart, some smarter than they think they are but on average pretty smart. Then you can break it down to people who are tools that take themselves too fucking serious and people who are actually legit cool. Frankly, the people is probably the best part of the job and frankly the only thing that really appealed to me.
The problem is the culture and client is everything mentality. You will work for X days on a project. It's going to not be enough to finish, and you will have to work late and weekends without billing that time. When I met with the partner he said he normally worked a 11-12 hour day and that's better than the 15-16 hour he used to do when he was grinding up the ladder. It never really gets that much better on hours. Unless you make partner, you will not make that much money. I would have had to take a pay cut to go to McKinsey actually.
And while everyone thinks about how great traveling is, that shit wears on you really fucking fast. I'm in a decent but not great consulting firm right now and I fucking hate working outside of London. I couldn't imagine having to fly cross-country every day. I work with consultants at my current client right now that do that and they fucking hate that. At least McKinsey from what I heard pays for the weekend so you can stay in your country without flying back if you want to but you're probably too busy/exhausted to enjoy it.
That said, you will have great opportunities after leaving the firm and you can probably network the shit out of that. McKinsey is like gold on your resume but I sometimes think it gets overrated on that part. The thing is, you would have decent opportunities if you worked at any decent company. Back at the F500 internet firm I worked for, half the people there were former consultants but only like half of them had worked at a known consulting firm. The fact headhunters are trying to place you in Mckinsey shows how unnecessary it is for your overall career. But to be fair, the head of Europe was a former Mckinsey partner. Within the corporate world, a top consulting firm will really help you but it's not the be all end all.
If I were in your shoes in the mid-30's, I'm 30, I would be have a hard time choosing to take it or not. I've debated about applying again to those firms but I've never really pushed too hard to go for them again. My current gig pays way too much for how little I work, it's actually been a good base for me to get my start up going with my friend. Working for yourself is so much more rewarding than working for the man doing shit work. That's the thing about prestigious companies, if it wasn't prestigious you wouldn't do the shitty work otherwise. I don't miss doing endless powerpoint and excel models back at my F500 internet firm. I know people in other internet known firms that could get me a role there but I just freeze when I think about doing that shit work again.
But first, get the offer before you make any life choices here.
Posts: 587
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2008
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 08:40 AM
You definitely should go to the mckinsey recruitment process.
With that said I met a chick that worked in Mckinsey Poland. She wanted to rent a woman to conceive her child, so that she wouldn´t have to stop working.
Anyway if you have an oportunity to work there do it, for at least 1 year. Just for the line in your resumé and some know how and lingo.
I have my own office, and a lot of time the question I get asked from new clients is: "what´s your background?" In my opinion Mckinsey is a good background.
I´ve made the recruitment process to Mckinsey when I finished university and failed. The tests are hard. Nowadays it would be really hard for me to work in a closed environment with someone giving me orders. Maybe one year just to extract more know how.
Posts: 3,852
Threads: 0
Joined: Nov 2011
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 10:02 AM
If you're being considered by firms like McKinsey you clearly have some valuable skills that you could shop around to either smaller firms or companies that are not in consulting but need consultants. In other words, with your skills and at this stage in your life, I think it's much better to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big one.
One of my best friends from college works as a management consultant at Genentech (biotech firm in Cali) after honing his skills at a full service consulting firm. Genentech gives him $365/day spending allowance just on food! He only eats at michelin star restos when he travels for work. They send him to cities like Paris, Zurich, Bern, Sao Paulo, Lima, and Istanbul. Not a bad a life!
So, even if you do take the offer, think outside of just the partner track being the main opportunity. Even with just two years in at McKinsey, that brand name experience will make you more marketable for different opportunities, even those outside of consulting.
Posts: 2,109
Threads: 0
Joined: Aug 2012
Reputation:
70
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 10:57 AM
@OP- forget this mckinsey job. Sounds like the "prestigious lawyer jobs"- work 90hrs/week get 100k dollar salary. Really your just treading water. Better work 40 hrs/week for 50k and side-hustle. W/the 90hrs work-week, your health, life, sex will decline.
Westcoast has the best advice. This is a leverage opportunity. Sidenote, Westcoast IRL is pretty humble, fairly quiet. So don't have the exact attitude he is portraying on the forum.
Just be firm and polite- "Listen boss, I have this offer from McKinsey. They really want me to go there. I like working here, but they are tempting me w/a salary bump and the "McKinsey prestige bump". I would like to stay. What can WE do about this?"
Play both sides. Win. Squeeze this lemon for all the juice you can.
WIA- For most of men, our time being masters of our own fate, kings in our own castles is short. Even those of us in the game will eventually succumb to ease of servitude rather than deal with the malaise of solitude
Posts: 4,074
Threads: 0
Joined: Sep 2010
Reputation:
56
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 11:00 AM
There is no offer, so there is not much to talk about at this point. McKinsey interviews are no joke, it's not like "what was your greatest challenge in the last five years."
Posts: 3,153
Threads: 0
Joined: Mar 2012
Reputation:
85
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 11:09 AM
Use the perception that you are a wanted man from the top company in Consulting no brainer man.
Example again: "hey I got a job from Citadel, what can we do about this? At slightly smaller hedge fund?"
People want prestige where your goal is you want more responsibility. That creates trust = even more responsibility. What's more impressive? A 21 year old VP at say booze Hamilton or a 21 year old junior McKinsey consultant. The answer is be VP and you know it.
The dumbasses IRL follow the plan, leverage bro.
Obsession with prestige is obsession with people's perception of you
Posts: 573
Threads: 0
Joined: Jun 2010
Reputation:
12
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 12:03 PM
I interviewed with McK, first was the PST exam, it was HARD.
After that a case interview, I had studied so I could pass it.
The night before the final case interview we had a little cocktail to know the other "competitors", most of the people there were nerds, overachievers, etc:
"3.9 GPA from a STEM degree from a good university, in my part time I climb mountains and build houses for the poor children" Dafuq!
Final case interview I rocked one, I blew up the other one and the fit with the partner was not that good.
They rejected me and I can't apply in 2 years.
Posts: 5,050
Threads: 0
Joined: May 2011
Reputation:
74
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 12:25 PM
This is for McKinsey Operations (Lean) so it's going to be all about the case interviews.
Posts: 80
Threads: 0
Joined: Apr 2012
Reputation:
0
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 01:04 PM
Think long and hard about how much of your enthusiasm stem from the fact, that they headhunted you. Not saying you necessarily are, but it is easy to get flattered by the fact that people actively wants and seeks out you. The more value we have assigned to the seeker, the more we tend to try and live up to their expectations.
Don't go living someone else's dream.
Just a thought - good luck with your decision.
Posts: 1,917
Threads: 0
Joined: Jan 2013
Reputation:
23
Just got headhunted for McKinsey - Advice needed
03-21-2013, 04:40 PM
I'd exercise some caution if you get around to asking your current employer for a counter offer. Some employers will make the counter offer to keep from losing you short term but immediately start looking for your replacement and you'll be gone in 6 months. Instead I wouldn't even mention the McKinsey offer and just state why you deserve a promotion/raise/whatever. If they give it to you great. If they don't give your notice and walk. There's an implicit threat in asking for a promotion and good employers will recognize it without making you show your full hand.
