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McKinsey to McKinsey Solutions/Research etc.

A week ago I was recruiting for the consultant role within McKinsey but was unsuccessful at the final round. The partner said I did not meet the problem solving requirements but I had the leadership and interpersonal skills, therefore he offered to refer me to any of the other divisions and do an extra interview there. He also said that moving among the different divisions is possible, however maybe he meant Finata to New ventures for example and not to consulting.

What would you advice me if my ultimate goal is to be a consultant? Is it realistic to try and transfer in an year?

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Top answer
on Dec 31, 2017
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success: ➡ interviewoffers.com | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching

Hi Anonymous,

I would suggest the following:

  1. Continue the process with Bain, BCG, OW, RB, ATK and equivalent top strategy companies first
  2. If you are not successful go for the research path

I believe it would be easier to transit from a second tier consulting firm to MBB than from research McK to McK, as the job is pretty different. You can find some additional information on that at the following link:

https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/which-responsibilities-research-analyst-has-881#a1708

Best,

Francesco

Anonymous C
on Oct 26, 2021
how would you advice between a Mck solution analyst offer vs. a small no-tier/non-boutique consulting firm strategy ba offer if the mid-term goal is a strategic role in MBB/tier 1.5/Fortune 500?
on Oct 26, 2021
#1 Coach for Sessions (4.500+) | 1.500+ 5-Star Reviews | Proven Success: ➡ interviewoffers.com | Ex BCG | 10Y+ Coaching
Difficult decision. None will lead you directly to MBB consulting. I guess the best option may be research at McK + MBA, but it depends on the non-tier company current track record for exits as well. Hope this helps
Anonymous B
on Nov 16, 2017

I think it depends on what other offers you have at the moment. Even if you cant transfer to a consultant role after 1y of doing McK solutions, you will have a higher chance landing a good job with McK on your resume.

Also, I would ask the partner about the possibilities that he sees, maybe he refers to McK Implementation for example.

2
Vlad
Coach
on Nov 16, 2017
McKinsey / Accenture Alum / Got all BIG3 offers / Harvard Business School

Hi,

If you really want to be a consultant I would recommend to apply to other big3 companies for several reasons:

  1. There are not many cases, I've heard of a couple so far. But I would assume that mainly because if you go to research it means you have already made a choice not to work in consulting. I've never heard of anyone transferring from ventures since it's a new entity with completely different requirements. I would not expect that it will be easy to make this transition
  2. As a researcher, you'll have to work with lots of teams, all of which are quite demanding. I don't know your background but I assume it will be quite hard to be a top performer in a 1st year, get all brilliant feedbacks and make this transition. Realistically I would think that transition is possible in 2-3 years horizon.

Best,

 
Anonymous B
on Nov 17, 2017

Can you transition from Implementation to Generalist?

0
Clara
Coach
on Oct 31, 2020
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Agree with Francesco, best approach to gain more barganing power in the negotiation to end up in consulting

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