McKinsey - the World's #1 strat consulting firm, driving change across the globe, and hiring from LBS this summer

On Friday, it was McKinsey’s turn to present to LBS first year MBAs on internship opportunities for 2012. Over 200 students crammed into the venue eagerly awaiting what for many, I suspect, was the highlight of our Corporate Partner Recruiting week.  They weren’t let down.

The presentation was led by Kevin Sneader – Director and London Office Manager – and what a difference from recent McKinsey presentations!  The things I found most noteworthy were a) how a different presenter giving much the same presentation can make such an enormous (positive!) difference, and McKinsey’s embracing of the imperative to change (radically? - J-P) what strategy consulting is, with examples such as data analytics being mentioned.

Practicalities – recruiting info:

• 15 January (Sunday) – Deadline for applications
• Apply online at www.mckinsey.com/lbs
• Complete the online application form and submit a CV
• Cover letter is optional (that means don’t bother unless you really really have something you need to explain – J-P)
• 20 January – Notification of shortlist
• 23-24 January – Problem Solving Test
• Following week – 1st round interviews
• 30 January – case workshops held in London office
• Final round interviews ideally within 3 weeks of first round, always organised by the destination office

Some important words on geography for your application

• Apply to up to 4 different offices
• Apply to where you want to work post-MBA, NOT just during the summer. Rarely can you change location if you secure a permanent offer post-internship.  This echoes BCG’s message earlier in the week – it’s not that hard, please follow it! J-P
• You must show a strong connection to the region you apply to – that means you have either lived, worked or studied there.  Establishing such a connection, where not obvious in your CV, can be a good reason to write a cover letter. This represents a dilution of previously articulated policy, which defined connection in terms of months worked in a region. J-P

Recent hiring stats from LBS

 Year        Permanent MBA Hires      Summer Internships        Permanent MiF Hires

2006                     16                                 8                                  1
2007                     14                                 9                                  1
2008                     18                                 7                                  1 (at least)
2009                     21                                 6                                  1 (at least)
2010                     18                                 5                                  1 (at least)
2011                     39                               16                                TBA

Kevin Sneader’s presentation
KS continued McKinsey’s recent recruiting presentation style: a senior person giving a very personal account of his McKinsey history.  He emphasised key elements of McKinsey’s culture, business and people along the way, in a highly engaging, not to say charismatic, style.  KS, as well as being smart, charismatic and obviously highly successful, was engaging, humble and self-deprecating.  I’ve heard several people say they would now apply to McKinsey as a result of the presentation – whereas possibly the opposite was true for some people at recent McKinsey CP week presentations at LBS…J-P

This won’t make for a riveting summary, as it was a very personal talk, and brought to life but the many pictures KS had included, but for what it’s worth…

KS joined McKinsey as a Business Analyst in 1989, from an ‘unusual’ background (he’s Glaswegian, with an excellent first degree from Glasgow University).  His career has centred on consumer goods, retails and more lately healthcare (especially pharma).  He worked on the team that introduced Tropicana to Europe in 1990. Interestingly to me, he gave an anecdote about interviewing Spanish customers then – interesting because I worked on a BCG team figuring out how to introduce Tropicana to Spain in around 1994…I think all this proves is that Tropicana spent lots of money on consultants – J-P.  KS was based in Paris then – spending a couple of years between London and Paris.

He did the usual BA thing of taking an MBA ‘break’, and Harvard in KS’s case, and returned to London (as an associate I presume – J-P) in 1993 where he experienced the Financial Services, Telecoms, and Consumer Goods sectors.  After 3-4 years, he specialised in consumer goods and healthcare (pretty much the standard McKinsey model for moving from generalist to specialist, at least back then – J-P).

It’s an intense experience, you work hard together, but bond together, work well together and stay friends long afterwards

He married in 1995 (clearly a policy has been formulated at McKinsey recruiters in the past year or so that every presentation must dwell on what a good place it is to start a family – KS didn’t overegg it, but I still have to say as a father of 2, the only reason family life is at all manageable for strategy consultants is that you can afford to outsource extensively, otherwise I’m afraid it’s down to the stay-at-home wife or husband.  You can have a family despite being a consultant, and many do, but that’s not quite the same thing…J-P)

Much of KS’s McKinsey history revolves around global experience, and as he was at pains to point out

McKinsey is one firm globally – a single global partnership, with lots of international mobility.  Having experienced this as a client, working for several months embedded in McKinsey offices in Sydney, Shanghai and Hong Kong, it didn’t seem too different from Bain or BCG – J-P.

In 1996 KS and family moved to Beijing with the opening of a new office there – he did a lot of work on laying down retail networks in developing countries (something of a theme subsequently…).  As part of those retail relationships he spent many months in Japan around that time too, and in ’97 was in Hong Kong working in the public sector on the economic handback arrangements for the former colony.  KS used this experience to talk briefly about the importance of the public sector practice to McKinsey.

1998 saw KS move to St Petersburg as Russia opened up and he was able to translate his developing market retail experience to a new market.

1999 saw a major shift however, a move to New Jersey – and although short term in design he ended up staying for 10 years in the US, and moved from retail into the pharma sector.

We charge 20-25% more than our nearest competitor (not the last time I looked at competitive proposals from McKinsey, BCG and Bain – admittedly a few years ago now, at Rio – McKinsey’s rates were essentially similar to BCG, with Bain a) ~20% cheaper per week b) planning on spending ~15% less time to get the job done and c) willing to put some of their fees at risk – J-P) 

2009 saw KS return ‘home’ (to London), where he now heads up the office. More than that, he is on McKinsey’s Board of Directors (a sort of ‘shareholders council’).

I joined a firm that did reports and presentations – now it focuses on results and client impact – but in the future?  We are actively working on what that might be, making acquisitions, exploring new areas such as data analytics.  Exciting stuff – for a while I’ve been wondering when Google will be seen as a strat consulting competitor, and when consulting itself will move away from little Excel models and slides…J-P

KS finished with a wonderful little anecdote about a relationship he formed with a client project team member at B&Q, and major British home improvement store.  The anecdote was not about his work, but rather the strength of relationship he formed, how it has endured and how it’s what makes him tick.  At the end of the day, that, not charts and slides, is what strat consulting is all about, in the top tier at least.  Whilst not differentiating McKinsey (BCG and Bain people are the same in this), it is a valuable insight, particularly to junior consultants struggling to see the relationship ‘wood’ for the Excel/PowerPoint ‘trees’.  It did get me thinking warm thoughts about former clients, at TAC and Qantas especially… J-P

So, do you want to work for McKinsey?

We serve clients, see them succeed, have them enjoy and value our relationships

McKinsey people

• Like change
• Want to be leaders
• Want to make a difference
• Get a kick out of helping others succeed

Q&A
From here we skipped to Q&A – here’s a summary:

Q. What were your biggest challenges?

A. Learning to say ‘no’, appropriately; and the disruption of the international moves, especially on home/family life

Q. Could you talk a little about generalist versus specialist careers at McKinsey?

A. Some join McKinsey with a specialist background. However, being a generalist for your 1st 2-3 years as a strategy consultant is still a good place to be. However, it’s very important, if you are to progress through the firm, to ‘know something about something’ as we say – that could be a sector, a function, etc…

Q. What’s the secret of personal success at McKinsey?

A. Hard to generalise, but I think from my personal experience I would say ‘just enjoy it and go with the flow – enjoy learning and gaining experience. Genuinely enjoy work, the people you work with – be genuinely excited!’

Q. What challenges does McKinsey face in maintaining its leadership position in Consulting?

1. Continuing, increasing client satisfaction
2. Challenge of always showing you add value – this is why we’re investing in data analytics
3. Attracting, exciting, retaining top talent (presentations like this one will go along way towards that! J-P!)
4. How do we keep McKinsey feeling small and special, a bit different, as we continue to grow