McKinsey Middle East Riyadh vs Dubai

Question

I’ve received an offer from McKinsey Middle East for their Riyadh office despite having put my preference as 100% for Dubai when I applied.

I also have a competing offer from a T2 in Dubai and would like to see whether somebody has managed to negotiate their office preference to Dubai with McKinsey as I understand they are trying to push everybody to Riyadh office these days. Can I potentially leverage the competing offer or would they not care if it’s a T2?

Any help and insights would be well appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Hi there,

First of all, congrats! Great achievement in the current market. :-)

Unfortunately, since everyone wanted to start in Dubai over the last couple of years, there is a bit of an imbalance/oversaturation.

In the short term, it is usually not possible to negotiate your way out of Riyadh but it could work with >1 year tenure and a strong personal reason + local partners who support the transition.

Cheers,

Florian

Answer 2

Hey!

McKinsey Middle East has indeed been prioritizing placements in Riyadh due to regional growth, so it can be challenging to shift to Dubai. However, it’s still worth politely discussing your preference with HR, especially if you emphasize personal and professional reasons for preferring Dubai. While leveraging the T2 offer may not significantly impact their decision, it can demonstrate your value and urgency, particularly if you frame it as a factor in your overall decision-making rather than a direct negotiation. McKinsey may ultimately encourage you to start in Riyadh, with the possibility of moving to Dubai after some time, based on project needs and performance.

Best, Alessa

Answer 3

Hey there,

Just to add on to what my fellow coaches have said - it is possible but maybe not because of the competing T2 offer. The people that I know that have been successful with navigating moving home office from Riyadh to Dubai at offer stage are those that had very strong extenuating circumstances.

Having said this, I've also seen some having strong reasons (in my opinion) not being given the Dubai office. So it would definitely be a tricky one - but go for it and speak with HR / recruiting and see what's possible

All the best