MBTI - How your McKinsey colleague thinks of you in 4 letters (an introduction)

McKinsey consultants change teams frequently and must quickly understand new colleagues' and clients' personalities, working styles, and preferences.  MBTI is a 4-letter shortcut that the McKinsey consultant in your life uses to do just that.

In this post I'll give you a brief overview of how to figure out your own MBTI type and understand what they're talking about

WHAT IS MBTI?

MBTI is short for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  The MBTI reflects your personal preferences along four dimensions.  Each dimension is expressed as one of two choices or dichotomies, so there are 16 possible MBTI types.  Each type is summarized by a combination of 4 letters based on your preferences across the following dichotomies:

• (E) Extraversion vs. (I) Intraversion
• (S) Sensing vs. (N) Intuition
• (T) Thinking vs. (F) Feeling
• (J) Judging vs. (P) Perception

A person's MBTI type consists of one letter for each of the dichotomies (e.g., ENTJ, ISFP).  There is no shortage of great online resources for learning more about MBTI and its roots in Jung's theory of personality types.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Right or wrong, MBTI is frequently used at McKinsey as a shortcut for understanding and communicating working styles.  The more familiar you are with this alphabet soup, the better equipped you'll be to make the best of it.

Even if you don't know your MBTI type, your McKinsey consultant has already guessed what it might be and is likely adapting their working style accordingly.  It might also influence the type of work they assign to you or how frequently and in what ways they interact with you.  The more you understand your own and your McKinsey colleague's MBTI, the better you can work together.

HOW DO I FIGURE OUT MY MBTI?

There are plenty of great, free, online resources to help with this.  I find this one in particular to be a quick, easy way to get to a preliminary assessment of one's MBTI type.  Before you begin, please consider these...

3 CAVEATS ABOUT YOUR MBTI ASSESSMENT

Please keep in mind that neither I, nor any of my McKinsey colleagues were MBTI experts.  This information is based on my exposure to MBTI at McKinsey, business school, previous employers who also used it, and psychology classes during undergrad.  But based on those experiences, I can offer you some tips about MBTI assessments:

1. Take it with a grain of salt - like anything you find for free, online (like this blog!) consider your results unofficial.  My understanding is that a true MBTI assessment requires an extensive questionnaire followed by an interview with a trained professional.  That said, in general, I've found these results to be directionally accurate.
2. Be honest with yourself - don't answer based on the personality type you aspire to be or think that you should be.  To get the most accurate assessment of your MBTI type, you must answer based on your current, actual self.
3. This is about preferences - for both answering questions and interpreting the results, remember, this is all about what you prefer to do, not necessarily what you do.  So, for example, if a question is about how you spend time by yourself, answer based how you want to spend that time, not necessarily how circumstances are forcing you to.  Similarly, when interpreting your results, remember that MBTI is assessing your preferences.

16 MBTI TYPES, NEATLY SUMMARIZED

One helpful method I've seen help those new to MBTI understand what each type represents is the one-word descriptor.  Here's how each type is often viewed or described:

• ISTJ - Inspector or Detective
• ISFJ - Protector
• INFJ - Counselor
• INTJ - Mastermind
• ISTP - Artisan
• ISFP - Composer or Artist
• INFP - Healer
• INTP - Architect
• ESTP - Dynamo or Doer
• ESFP - Performer
• ENFP - Champion or Inspirer
• ENTP - Visionary or Inventor
• ESTJ - Supervisor
• ESFJ - Caregiver or Provider
• ENFJ - Teacher
• ENTJ - General or Commander

WHAT YOUR RESULTS MEAN

You are a unique, complex, interesting person.  Everything about you is not going to fit neatly into one of 16 MBTI buckets.  But, this could prove to be a helpful tool in helping you understand how to work better with others and how others can work better with you.

In future posts, I'll address:

• How McKinsey teams think about MBTI types
• MBTI types over- and under-represented at McKinsey
• How MBTI types deal with stress differently.

McKinsey case interviews - 6 common math mistakes and how to prevent them

Everyone applying to McKinsey knows case prep, but I’m always surprised to see how poorly some of them prepare to do math during their interviews.  In this post, I’ll go over the six most common quant errors I’ve seen and some tips on how to avoid them

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Quantitative skills are table stakes during case interviews – the scoring rubric used to evaluate your interview performance does not allow candidates to “spike” on the case based on math alone.  That means you can’t get passed to the next round or offered a job on the strength of your quant skills alone.  But, you can get dinged if you screw them up. 

SIX COMMON MATH MISTAKES AND HOW TO PREVENT THEM

 

1.  Fumbling mathematical calculations

We realize that almost any time you would be asked to do calculations at McKinsey you would have access to Excel and don’t need to do math.  We also know that it’s probably been years since you had to multiply or do long division on paper.  Fair or not, being able to do arithmetic is part of how your quantitative abilities will be assessed during the case interview.  If you've done practice cases, you should know you have to do math - yet every interview cycle, I watch candidates fumble these basic calculations.  One candidate even asked me if he could use a calculator... in case you're wondering, the answer was "no"!

 

How to prevent this mistake:

Now that you know you'll be expected to add, subtract, multiply, and perform long division, you have no excuse to not practice.  Your ability to do math is like a muscle - if you have to exercise it or it will atrophy.

Make sure you can add several numbers together, including reminding yourself how to carry digits.  Practice subtracting and remember how to borrow a one.  Multiply large numbers together.  Practice long division.  Based on my experience, long division is the one that gives candidates the most trouble.  It's obvious to me when I'm interviewing someone who has forgotten how to divide and it's interesting to see what methods they invent on the spot to try to get around it.  Don't be that candidate.  Practice.

 

2.  Descending the Spiral of Death

This sometimes happens after a candidate fumbles a math calculation.  Some candidates who know they've screwed up the math will start to get flustered.  When the next calculation comes up, they want to make up for their earlier mistake, psych themselves out, and make another mistake.  This leads to a vicious cycle and it's not a pretty sight.

 

How to avoid this mistake:

In the event that you make a miscalculation, relax.  One math error will not get you dinged, especially if you have the presence of mind to catch your mistake, ask for a moment to go over your work, find your error, and correct yourself.  Even if you miss your chance to correct yourself, shake it off, and move on to the next part of the case.

3.  Doing math in your head

On its own, doing math in your head is not a mistake.  But if you happen to make a miscalculation, having done the math in your head is a big problem for several reasons.  First, you can't go back and find your mistake because there's no record of your calculations.  Second, we can't help you by letting you know if or where you went off track.  Finally, we can't give you credit for the parts of the calculation you did correctly, because you never showed them.

How to avoid this mistake:

This is probably the easiest of the errors to avoid - show your work.  No one is going to be impressed because you were able to do some calculations in your head - in fact, it might cause us to wonder if you were able to set up the numbers properly or just got lucky.  Do what's called "public math" - explain and write out each and every step of the calculation.  Turn your paper to face your interviewer so he or she can follow along and help you, if necessary.  You'll need to do your public math quickly to avoid running out of time to finish the case, so you should practice this in advance.

 

4.  Losing units

Keeping track of the units of the numbers you're using is important for two reasons.  First, the units make the answer meaningful.  If you ask me how fast I run and I say "6", what does that mean?  Am I fast or slow?  Do I run 6 miles per hour, or do I run a 6-minute mile (10 miles per hour)?  Clearly the units associated with the 6 are important.  Second, working with units can help you realize if you're making a mistake.  If you find yourself multiplying $/unit by miles per hour, chances are you've made an error somewhere along the line. 

 

How to avoid this mistake:

Keeping your public math clearly labeled and well organized will prevent you from losing track of your units.  Make sure each number in your calculation is labeled, then carry or cancel out the units as you work with them.  When you finish your calculation, present your answer with the appropriate units.  Be sure to refer to this post on unit conversions in case studies.

 

5.  Not relating the numbers to the business case

Your McKinsey interviewer is never going to ask you to do math for the sake of doing math.  Calculations performed during a case are always part of solving of business problem.  Unfortunately, many candidates get wrapped up in the math, get an answer, but have no idea what the answer means. 

One practice case I liked to give required candidates to determine the value of a company they were selling.  Once they got the relevant facts and figures from me, they were off to the races, setting up their calculations, doing the math, and telling me they'd sell the company for no less than $50 million.  Unfortunately, the $50 million figure they had calculated was the annual profit from the company's product.  They lost sight of the goal and offered to sell me their company for about 1/10 of its value.

How to avoid this mistake:

The key here is to remember the significance of the numbers you're calculating in the context of the business case you're discussing.  One tactical way to do this is to write the question being asked at the top of your sheet of paper.  As you go through your math and as you prepare to present your solution, continue to remind yourself of the question at hand and ask yourself if you're answering it.  Then when you present your answer, do so in a way that shows you understand what your number means.  One way to do this is to explain the implications of the answer on the case you're cracking.

6.  Giving an incorrect answer that makes no sense

As I mentioned before, it's perfectly acceptable to make a math error.  What's not acceptable is to not catch your math error even though the answer you got makes no sense in the context of the case.  Now you've added poor judgment to your miscalculation.

One example of this is the candidate who told me, during an education case, that in this district, there were 30 classrooms per student.  Clearly, this candidate lost track of units - the correct answer was 30 students per classroom.  It didn't matter to me that the math had been done right - any candidate who thought 30 classrooms per student was a reasonable answer was either not paying enough attention to detail or lacked common sense.

How to avoid this mistake:

Every time you reach the end of a calculation, perform a "sense test" or "sniff test".  This means taking a moment to ask yourself:  "does this answer make sense?"

Some examples of questions you might want to ask yourself, depending on the nature of the question:  Is it the right order of magnitude given the other numbers and facts in the case?  Should it be positive or negative?  Should a ratio be greater than or less than one?  Should a cash flow be positive or negative?

3 questions your McKinsey interviewers are asking themselves

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If you're being interviewed by someone from McKinsey - even if they've an ex-consultant who has already left the Firm - it's likely that they're asking themselves 3 questions about you.  In this post I'll explain what those questions are, whey they're important, and what you can do to address them

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Your answers to the personal experience interview (PEI) and case questions are not the only things your McKinsey interviewer is learning about you.  Intentionally or not, consciously or not, they're also getting an overall impression of you that's informing their opinion of you as a potential colleague.  Everything from how you carry yourself, your greeting, your handshake, eye contact, the small talk on the way to the interview room, your final Q&A, and more all inform your interviewers assessment of you.

THREE QUESTIONS YOUR INTERVIEWERS ARE ASKING THEMSELVES

1.  DO I WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH THIS PERSON?

McKinsey teams spend a lot of time with each other during client engagements.  Typical days are long, often extending late into the night and much of that time is spent together in cramped team rooms at client sites.  The lifestyle of a management consultant is tough enough - it's even harder if you don't like the people you work with.  No one wants to work that closely with someone who's arrogant, obnoxious, or boring.  Fortunately, the interview process must be successfully screening for those traits because nearly everyone I worked with on my McKinsey teams was down-to-Earth, interesting, and fun.

2.  WOULD I STAFF THIS PERSON?

Even though each consultant is responsible for their individual workstream(s), the team is ultimately judged on its collective performance.  If one person drops the ball, it's likely that the entire team will feel the pain in the form of extra work, unhappy clients, or upset McKinsey leadership.  So, interviewers will be wondering if you'll be able to carry your weight or if you'll be creating headaches and inconveniencing the team.

The more senior your interviewer, the more important this question is.  During the 1st round, about half of your interviewers might be Engagement Mangers.  Once you advance to the 2nd round, all of your interviewers will be Engagement Managers or higher, often Associate Principals, Principals, and Directors.  These more senior consultants are held directly accountable for the success of each engagement by the client and the Firm.  So, if you screw something up, you're not just inconveniencing them, you're potentially impacting their performance reviews and careers.

3.  CAN I PUT THIS PERSON IN FRONT OF A CLIENT?

There's never enough time in the day for McKinsey teams to accomplish everything on their to do lists.  That means your Engagement Manager has to trust every Associate and Business Analyst to get things done on their own.  Often, that means early tenure consultants are entrusted with client relationships.  Sometimes it's building relationships with client analysts to find the right data.  Other times it's working with line employees to understand the work being done in the trenches.  Often, it's presenting elements of your workstream to very senior clients.

Regardless of the context, your team has to trust that you won't embarrass yourself, the team, or the Firm in front of the client.  There's no shortage of things that can go wrong in a client meeting so this is a difficult question to answer, especially after only an hour of interviewing.  So, your interviewer will be looking for red flags like poor judgment, lack of professionalism, poor social skills, arrogance, and lack of self-confidence.

WHY ARE THESE QUESTIONS IMPORTANT?

Not only are your interviewers asking themselves these questions, but the same questions are often asked during the decision meeting.  When interviewers have a "split read" (one pass, one turndown) - or a "flat read" (average performance with a weak spike) on a candidate, it's common for these questions to be asked of the interviewers.  If the interviewers cannot answer "yes" to the question "would you staff this candidate?", the outcome will be a turndown.  Sometimes, during first-round interviews, an interviewer will feel very strongly that the answer to these questions is "yes" and go to bat for a split read or flat read candidate, passing them to the next round with the understanding that interviewer will help coach the candidate to improve. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

Be aware of what your interviewers are looking for and put your best foot forward.  Make sure the aspects of your personality that make you someone people want to work with, McKinsey leadership can rely on, and clients can trust shine through during your interviews.

Ultimately, you should be yourself.  If you have to adopt a completely different personality during the interview to get past these 3 questions, consider how happy you can be keeping that act up for your entire career at McKinsey.

McKinsey interviews: PEI and 5 tips for doing well - it matters as much as the case interview!

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McKinsey interviews consist of two components, and most people focus on preparing for the case interview.  In this post I'll provide tips on how to do well on the personal experience interview (PEI) and explain why it's risky to neglect preparing for it.  This will be useful to candidates applying for jobs with McKinsey and potentially helpful if you're interviewing for a job with a former McKinsey consultant

WHAT IS THE PEI?

The McKinsey personal experience interview (PEI) is similar to what other companies might call a fit interview.  You'll be asked to talk about an experience that reflects how you demonstrate a particular trait, like leadership.  The format of the PEI question is usually something like "please tell me about a time you exhibited X" where X is the trait the interview is probing for.

WHY IS THE PEI IMPORTANT?

There is a scoring rubric used during McKinsey interviews that allows us to calibrate and hold many  candidates to the same standard.  Your PEI assessment gets roughly equal weight as the case interview evaluation during decision meetings.  The Problem Solving Test (PST) plays an important, but secondary role in the process - one that I'll discuss in a future post.

If you bomb either the PEI or the case, you will not get a "pass" to a 2nd round interview or job offer.  Nor will you get a pass if your performance is adequate on both.  A "clear pass" aces both the case and the PEI, and other candidates who pass are adequate in one and shows a "spike" or clear strength in the other.  As you can see, you need to do well on PEI to have a chance of passing, so being distinctive on PEI is a big advantage.

FIVE TIPS FOR DOING WELL ON PEI

As is the case for resume screens, I know enough about the evaluation criteria that I can help anyone spike on the PEI, but I won't do that for two reasons - (a) quality - I want the Firm to pass the best possible candidates and (b) fairness - I don't want someone to get a resume just because they read a blog post.  However, in this post I will share some PEI tips that are either generally accepted knowledge, common sense, or freely shared by McKinsey with potential applicants.

1.  FOCUS ON THE TRAITS MCKINSEY LOOKS FOR

McKinsey wants you to perform as well as possible during your interview.  They are transparent about what they look for in candidates - you can find the list of what McKinsey looks for on their website.

• Problem solving
• Achieving
• Personal impact
• Leadership

It is critical that you familiarize yourself with these traits your interviewers are looking for and make sure you can demonstrate that you possess these qualities.  The case interview will address problem solving, so you can focus your PEI prep on the other traits.

2.  DEMONSTRATE WHAT MAKES YOU EXCEPTIONAL

Your interviewers are evaluating you against a very high bar, and you need to stand out among a large number of your highly qualified, exceptionally impressive classmates.  On a typical interview day, each McKinsey consultant will see 8 candidates and first-round decision meetings usually review over 30 candidates.  Think about how to make your stories strong enough to be memorable at the end of a long day of interviews.

It's imperative that each PEI response conveys what makes you distinctive in achieving, personal impact, or leadership.  This is not the time to be humble - but be careful that you do not come across as arrogant or self-centered.  You should highlight the traits and contributions you made that others in the same situation could not.  Make sure it's clear when and how you were personally driving progress and impact - for example, don't just tell us you exhibited leadership, give us specific examples and evidence that show us you're a leader.

3.  REMEMBER THE DETAILS

It's likely that you'll be asked for many specific details about your story, like what exact words were spoken or the thought processes you used when making certain decisions.  It's not because we're testing you or doubt your story.  We do this because we want to have a thorough understanding of the context and the specific role you played in your story.  We're also trying to understand how you think through tough issues and challenging situations.

Make sure you've thought through your stories so you can recall these details easily during your PEI interview.

4.  PRACTICE WHAT YOU WILL SAY

It takes time and can feel awkward to practice telling these stories aloud, but it's well worth the investment.  It's easy to underestimate how hard it is to recall details, tell the story without stumbling, and highlighting your distinctiveness without coming across as arrogant unless you actually say the words out loud.

5.  PREPARE AN INVENTORY OF STORIES

One of my business school marketing professors gave us some great advice for preparing for fit interviews.  She suggested we create a table with career stages on one axis and typical questions on the other.  Career stages might include undergrad, job 1, job 2, volunteer work, b-school, b-school clubs, etc.  Typical questions for McKinsey can be replaced with the traits McKinsey is looking for.  Fill in as many parts of the table as you can with relevant stories you can use during interviews

This way you'll be prepared with multiple responses for the questions you're most likely to be asked.  Since your McKinsey interviews will be in pairs (or more for later rounds), you'll want to have more than one answer ready for each topic.  When your interviewers compare notes and realize you used the same story twice, they'll wonder "is that all this candidate has to offer?"  It's also helpful to have some variety in case you're asked something unexpected or in an unexpected way so you can be ready with a story that's relevant and answers the question that was asked.  It's obvious to us when a candidate is trying to shoe horn a story to fit a question - sometimes they pull it off, but more often than not, it leaves us (a) questioning their judgment and/or (b) wondering why they couldn't come up with a better example.

McKinsey's culture of negative feedback - you're probably not performing as badly as you think

Are you getting a lot of negative feedback and constructive criticism from your McKinsey boss?  Is it making you feel like you're underperforming and disappointing your supervisor?

In this post I'll explain the culture of frequent and often negative feedback at McKinsey and why you're probably not performing as poorly as you think

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM VS. NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

McKinsey views feedback as a critical tool for professional development and performance improvement.  Our consultants get a lot of it and there is a tremendous emphasis on pointing out "development opportunities".  Unfortunately, what is meant to be constructive criticism can get lost in all the negative feedback.  Since McKinsey consultants are constantly being reminded of how they could be performing better, all of these development opportunities - taken as a whole - can feel overwhelmingly negative.

DON'T EXPECT A PAT ON THE BACK - HIGH PERFORMANCE IS TABLE STAKES

While McKinsey consultants receive plenty of constructive criticism, it is less common to receive any positive feedback.  If it happens, it's going to be specific and actionable, in accordance with the McKinsey feedback model.  As a result, it's uncommon to get unprompted, positive recognition like "you're doing a great job on this project" or "I really appreciate having you on the team" from McKinsey leadership.  Your McKinsey boss probably thinks you're doing great and does value your work, and hopefully they're not ungrateful.  It's just that they're coming from a culture where excellent day-to-day performance is expected, not celebrated.

RATIO OF POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE FEEDBACK

There is an interesting Harvard Business Review article that cites research suggesting that higher performing teams have a significantly higher ratio of positive to negative feedback (5.6 : 1) than their lower performing counterparts.  Based on personal experience and anecdotal evidence, I'd say the ratio at McKinsey is reversed.  Most consultants probably receive 5 to 6 pieces of negative feedback for each positive one.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

I hope this post has been able to shed some light on why you might feel bombarded by constructive criticism and negative feedback.  Your McKinsey boss is probably either unaware this is an issue or has the best intentions and is trying to develop you develop and improve.  You can either try to recalibrate and try to take the criticism as coaching or give your supervisor some upward feedback - something that is accepted and encouraged at McKinsey

Common coffee chat mistakes - 7 ways candidates screw up pre-interview networking

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During my time at McKinsey I participated in dozens of coffee chats and other pre-interview networking events.  Of the hundreds of conversations I had with candidates, the ones that stand out are the bad ones.

In this post I'll discuss the 7 most common pre-interview networking errors I've seen so you can avoid making them yourself...

DO COFFEE CHATS MATTER?

McKinsey coffee chats and other pre-interview networking events are non-evaluative.  You won't get an interview slot or job offer because of your participation, no matter how charming you are or insightful your questions.  But there is some downside risk - sometimes candidates do and/or say things that can get you dinged.

By the way, you should still participate in these events - even though these events won't help you get an interview, you can learn valuable things about your fit with the Firm.  You can read my earlier post on how to get the most out of coffee chats.

 

FIVE COMMON MISTAKES AND WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT:

1.  Showing up late or missing an event you signed up for

There's no expectation or requirement that you attend these events.  But if you sign up for one, we're expecting you to show up.  If you don't make it or are tardy, that will reflect poorly on your professionalism.  The assumption will be that if you're going to be late to meet with a potential employer, you might miss a client appointment.  So if you have a valid reason for being late or missing an event, let a recruiter know so you don't get dinged for it.

2.  Displaying your ignorance

We understand that many of you are career switchers and might be coming to an event to get your first exposure to consulting.  That's fine, but we would also expect you to do some homework and prepare, just as you should prior to meeting with any potential employer.

If you come to a networking event and ask questions that are easily answered by a simple Google search, it reflects poorly on you.  This is not an environment where there's no such thing as a stupid question.  If you can't be bothered to do some basic research before meeting with a potential employer, we'll wonder if you would be similarly unprepared for a client meeting.

3.  Acting selfishly

I'll describe three types self-centered candidate behavior that reflect this mistake:

• Hogging airtime:  Dominating the conversation and/or continuing to ask questions even though others are waiting to participate
• Boxing out:  Physically preventing others from entering the conversation space
• Asking questions that are too specific:  Forcing the entire group of candidates listen to a consultant answer a question that's so specific, it's only applicable to you

Although these sessions are non-evaluative, consultants are only human (yes, even the McKinsey ones!)  If you act selfishly, we're going to think about what it might be like to work with you.  You might lead us to believe that your lack of consideration for your classmates will translate into a lack of consideration for your colleagues.

4.  Behaving inappropriately

We want you to have a good time, be yourself, and ask anything.  Sometimes, candidates take things a bit too far.  They might have a bit too much to drink at a cocktail event or company presentation.  Or, they might ask questions or make comments that are inappropriate.  I've also seen a candidate get a bit too comfortable and use profanity.  Each of these things would cause us to call your professionalism into question, considering you're doing them in front of potential employers.

5.  Being arrogant

Despite the stereotypes that exist, I found McKinsey consultants to be no more or less arrogant than the general b-school population.  That said, we're well aware of the arrogant McKinsey stereotype so I think we're particularly sensitive about contributing to fulfilling it.  We also know that clients don't react well to arrogance, so if you're exhibiting it, we might doubt if we could put you in front of a client.

6.  Lacking confidence, presence, or poise

Personal presence is hard to define and even harder to coach and improve.  That said, there are a few things everyone should focus on to make sure they come across as well as possible.  The following are good ways to improve the impression you make:

• Make good eye contact
• Speak clearly and audibly
• Listen actively and attentively

When we meet candidates who seem to lack confidence or appear socially awkward, we will worry about whether or not we can put you in front of a senior client.

7.  Appearing indifferent or low energy

Most consultants at these networking events have just left a busy client engagement, traveled to your location, and are squeezing this into an already busy schedule (see my earlier post on the day in the life of a McKinsey consultant for details).  The last thing they want to do is talk with a candidate who appears to be indifferent to the job and the Firm.  It will likely be seen as a lack of interest in the job and your interview slot might go to someone who seems more genuinely interested in the opportunity.

Perhaps your indifference is just the result of fatigue and low energy.  Being a McKinsey consultant is hard work - if you seem tired we're going to wonder if you can keep up with the consulting lifestyle.  Even if you've had a rough week by b-school standards, it's unlikely that it's been tougher than the week the consultant you're talking to is having.

Recruiting coffee chats - 4 tips for McKinsey pre-interview networking events

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If you're applying for management consulting jobs, firms will provide you with opportunities to meet their consultants prior to interviews.  For McKinsey recruits, networking events usually take the form of coffee chats, office hours, cocktail events, and company presentations.

In this post, I'll go over some tips for making the most of these opportunities

WHAT HAPPENS AT THESE EVENTS?

These networking events are for you.  McKinsey wants you to get to know the Firm better, what our people are like, and help you decide whether or not you want to be a part of it.  The intent of the events is the same, but the formats vary:

• Coffee chats - 1-4 candidates have coffee with a McKinsey consultant for 30-45 minutes in a coffee shop near campus.  After brief introductions, the rest of the time is for Q&A
• Office hours - Same as coffee chats but in an office, on-campus.
• Cocktail events - a handful of consultants will meet a larger number of candidates for drinks and hors d' oeuvres.  No specific format, just mingling and conversation.  Invitations often extended to candidates considered high potential.
• Company presentations - often attended by hundreds of your classmates, consists of a 30-60 minute presentation followed by drinks, heavy hors d' oeuvres, mingling and conversation.  Each McKinsey office will have a designated area so you can meet and speak with consultants from the offices you're interested in

 

ARE THEY WORTH ATTENDING?

No one ever got an interview slot or job offer because they went to every networking event.  Nor has anyone gotten dinged because they didn't participate in any.  (Signing up for one and not showing up is another story - I'll deal with that in a post about 7 common mistakes at pre-interview events)

The only reason to go is to learn more about McKinsey and whether or not the job is for you.  If you follow the advice below, they are absolutely worth the time you'll invest.

 

FOUR TIPS FOR MAKING THE MOST OF NETWORKING EVENTS:

1.  TURN THE TABLES - INTERVIEW THE FIRM

Think of this as your opportunity to interview McKinsey.  Try to figure out if the Firm is a place you'd enjoy working and where you can be successful.  Also take this opportunity to think about which office you want to apply to.  Do you find yourself getting along better or worst with consultants from specific offices?

2.  HAVE A PLAN

Go in with a goal in mind - for example, you might want to be able to answer the following questions by the end of this process:

• Do you think you'd enjoy working with the consultants you're meeting?
• Do the things they're working on sound interesting to you?
• Do their reasons for being at the Firm resonate with you?

3.  MEET AS MANY CONSULTANTS AS POSSIBLE

Especially during the larger networking events, try to have conversations at many McKinsey folks as you can.  Think of every conversation as an additional data point that will get you closer to knowing whether or not the Firm and/or specific offices are right for you.  Each consultant you meet will have a unique perspective on the Firm - the more stories you hear, the more likely that you'll find experiences you find compelling.

4. DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Preparing for these events by doing some research in advance.   This way, you won't have to waste timing asking obvious questions you can find the answers to online.  By understanding the basics of consulting and the Firm, you'll have the context you'll need to get more out of every conversation by digging deeper and getting to know more about each individual consultant you meet.

5 Tips for McKinsey Resume (CV) Screens and Cover Letters

It's recruiting season so many first-year business school students are gearing up for their first consulting recruiting cycle.  So, I'll use the next few posts to discuss some pre-interview elements of the recruiting process.  In this post, I'll go over some 5 simple tips for improving your resume and increasing the likelihood that you'll pass the resume review process and be offered a first-round interview.

If you're not in business school but are applying to a job that requires an interview with and resume screen by a former McKinsey consultant, these tips should still be helpful.

WHY I WON'T JUST GIVE YOU THE ANSWERS

In my years at McKinsey, I reviewed and scored thousands of resumes - hundreds of resumes from multiple schools, two times per year.  I know enough about the resume screening process and criteria to help anyone rewrite their resume to pass the resume screen, but I won't do that for two reasons - (a) quality - I want the Firm to interview the best possible candidates and (b) fairness - I don't want someone to get a resume just because they read a blog post.

However, in this post I will share some resume tips that are either generally accepted knowledge, common sense, or freely shared by consultants with potential applicants.  You might also find this related post (on how the McKinsey resume screening process works) to be helpful

CAVEAT - YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE GOODS

It's important to note that these tips are intended to help candidates who are qualified to pass the resume screen.  My underlying assumption will be that you are good enough to get an interview, do well, and get a job offer, but that you might need some guidance to make sure that your resume sufficiently conveys your potential.  Please do not use these tips to manufacture content just to get past the resume screen - you'll eventually falter during the interview process and you'll be taking a valuable interview spot of someone who is actually qualified.

1.  DON'T GIVE US A REASON TO DING YOU

McKinsey consultants are incredibly busy and never have enough time.  Those who participate in recruiting do so on top of their usual 60+ hour work weeks and business travel so they are trying to get through your resume as quickly as possible.  It takes time to review hundreds of resumes per school - if you give a resume reviewer a reason to ding you, they'll gladly take it and move on to the next resume.  Misspellings, typos, poor grammar, and other errors reflect poorly on you and the fact that they made it to the resume screen will call your attention to detail and judgment into question.  Use spell check, proofread, and have others review your resume for you.

A note on cover letters

Let's go ahead and get this out of the way - they will not make or break you at McKinsey.  I'm not even sure if McKinsey even asks for cover letters.  I've gone through dozens of business school resume books and thousands of resumes, but I've never seen a candidate's cover letter during the resume screen process.

If you're asked for one, follow tip #1 and focus your efforts on your resume, case prep, and doing well on the personal experience interviews.

2.  UNDERSTAND THE FOUR TRAITS WE'RE LOOKING FOR

McKinsey makes it very clear what they're looking for:

1. Problem-solving
2. Achieving
3. Ppersonal impact
4. Leadership

You should check their careers website for:

• How McKinsey defines these characteristics.
• Tactical suggestions for a McKinsey-ready resume 
• Sample resume with common resume mistakes

If your interviewer is looking for these traits, it's a good bet that your resume reviewer is, too.  Read your resume again and ask yourself if your resume reflects these traits.  Better yet, ask a friend to read it with those four traits in mind.

3.  GIVE US EVIDENCE THAT YOU'RE DISTINCTIVE

Any management consulting firm is going to be recruiting for the best of the best.  So it's not just enough to show on your resume that you have these four traits - you have to come across as being distinctive in them.  This is not the time to be humble!

Your fellow applicants are all accomplished, impressive professionals.  Make sure your resume communicates why you stand out from the others and support with evidence.  For example, don't just tell us that you're a distinctive problem-solver - highlight examples from your career that show us that you are.  Don't just tell us what a great leader you are - list some examples of your distinctive leadership.

4.  ADDRESS POTENTIAL RED FLAGS

If you think there are aspects of your resume that will raise concerns and give us a reason to ding you, make sure you highlight evidence to the contrary.  For example, if you have no relevant work experience, include the consulting case competition you just won or your leadership position in the consulting club to reflect your commitment to your career change.  If your background is lacking in quantitative experience, you can include your exceptional GMAT scores.

5.  LEVERAGE YOUR RESOURCES

One reason I'm comfortable sharing resume screen advice is because McKinsey is already doing it.  Their Careers page has a section specifically for "Improving your resume" - read it and update your resume accordingly.  McKinsey will also make consultants available to you via forums like coffee chats and on-campus "office hours".  Your b-school's career office, consulting club, and former consultant classmates are also likely to have advice and resources that you will find helpful.

Good luck!

Typical day in the life of a McKinsey consultant - why your McKinsey boss expects so much from you

Image from wallpaperstock.net

In this post, I'll share the schedule of a typical day in the life of a McKinsey consultant.  One of the great things about being at McKinsey is that no two days are the same, but I've tried to capture what a management consultant's day-to-day lifestyle is like.  It's a composite of many days I've had at the Firm, but directionally accurate and representative of how we work.  I'll start with what this might mean for you, depending on your relationship with the McKinsey consultant.


A few things to note about this schedule:

• We spend a lot of time meeting with clients during the day
• That means we have to do a lot of our work at night
• Even though we own our workstreams, we get a lot of help from the client, team, experts, and McKinsey leadership

HOW UNDERSTANDING THIS SCHEDULE CAN HELP YOU

My hope is that by understanding how McKinsey consultants are accustomed to working during the day, you'll gain better insight into how you can improve your relationship with them.  Here's how I think this can help depending on your relationship to the McKinsey person:

• Direct report:  this might be why your McKinsey boss seems so demanding.  They're used to their teams working long hours and being highly productive throughout the day.  If they're too intense in a culture that normally isn't, they might appreciate and benefit from some upward feedback.

• Supervisor:  the former McKinsey consultant on your team is accustomed to an intense lifestyle.  This means they can accomplish a lot at a high level of quality.  But, they left consulting for a reason so be careful about pushing them too hard.

• Personal:  this is why the McKinsey consultant in your life is always tired, has to cancel plans, constantly checking their blackberry, and usually stressed out.  There aren't enough hours in the day so if you can, cut them some slack.

ILLUSTRATIVE MCKINSEY SCHEDULE

6:30am - Wake up

The first thing I do is check my Blackberry to make sure nothing has blown up overnight.  Some consultants get up even earlier to squeeze in a run or work out.  Running is a great way to stay fit, raise energy levels, get outdoors, and actually experience the cities where we work, but I'm usually up too late the night before and need the extra sleep.

7:00am - Check emails

While I'm getting ready for work and dressed, I'll check my inbox.  Even though I was working past midnight, lots of emails have come in since I went to bed.  Urgent ones are dealt with, other can wait until we get to the client site.  I check to make sure that the PowerPoint pages I've received from our overseas, 24-hour production - Visual Graphics India (VGI) - are correct.

7:30am - Depart hotel for client site

Each night the team will decide what time to meet in the hotel lobby for the drive or cab ride to the client site.  Depending on team norms, we might stop to pick up coffee and breakfast to go on the way in.

8:00am - Arrive at client site

It's good practice to start our day in the office before to our clients.  We want to be running at full speed when they arrive and it gives us a chance to get some work done.  Usually we head straight to the team room, which is where spend most of our time if we're not meeting with clients.

8:30am - Team check-in

Many teams start the day with a meeting to go over the work they've done the previous night and align on what they want to accomplish during the course of the day.  It's also a good time to determine what issues need to be discussed and decisions made during meetings with McKinsey leadership

9:00am - Client meeting

We spend a lot of time with our clients.  Early in a study, it's to learn more about the company, collecting data, and building the fact base.  In the middle of a study we do a lot of collaborative problem solving and test hypotheses with clients.  Toward the end of a study we're fine-tuning our deliverables, discussing implications, and syndicating our findings so no clients are surprised or feel ambushed at the progress review.

10:00am - Conference call with McKinsey expert

McKinsey's industry or functional expertise doesn't always reside with the team on the ground - often, you're lucky to have more than a couple of people on a team who have specific experience with the client, industry, or function.  So, we rely on the relevant McKinsey practices and experts.  Using a discussion guide crafted the previous night, we have a quick, product conference call.

10:30am - Side-by-sides with client line employees

To better understand the client situation, build credibility, and make sure our recommendations are feasible, we'll often sit alongside our client line employees while they do their jobs.  Everyone wants exposure to senior clients, but these employees are usually the most fun and can offer great insights into the answer.

11am - Team problem solving

Although we all have our own workstreams, we'll often meet as a team to help with collaborative problem solving.  Even though we're not the workstream owner, insights from our other workstreams might be helpful.  Plus, we might learn something during the session that is useful on our own workstream.

12pm - Lunch in team room

Time is short so we'll often have lunch delivered or picked up.  It's usually the responsibility of the lowest-tenured consultant, but anyone who has a bit of extra time might step up and volunteer.  In order to save time, sometimes we'll just order a bunch of food and let the team graze.

12:30pm - Check emails

Our days are usually filled with meetings so we check and respond to emails whenever we can.  Today we're all on our laptops while finishing lunch, discussing weekend plans, and deciding whether or not we have time to go out for a team dinner.

1:00pm - Meet with client to review data

Studies usually involve lot of analytics.  We build the models, but rely on the clients for the data to populate them.  Often, client data is disorganized, not formatted, or incomplete.  Today's meeting is to go over some new data and discuss ideas for how to clean it up for analysis.

2:00pm - Call with McKinsey leadership

We're at critical decision points for some workstreams and need problem-solving support on others.  We've sent the Partner some PowerPoint pages covering these topics in advance.  The Partner helps us align on decisions and provides valuable insights during problem solving. 

3:00pm - Final prep for progress review

We have a progress review with the client in 30 minutes so we're scrambling to get all of the latest versions of the presentation assembled, edited, and printed in time.  We're printing and collating right up until the minute we have to head to the progress review.

3:30pm - Client progress review

There are two weeks left in the engagement so this is our final progress review before our final Steering Committee meeting.  We update the client team on our latest findings, analyses, and hypotheses.  We agree on next steps, including final analyses and insights that need to be developed and included in the Steering Committee.

5:00pm - Check-in with senior client

Our senior client wants to meet to hear about how the progress review went and discuss our progress on the materials for the upcoming Steering Committee meeting.  It's with the client's executive leadership team, so it's a high stakes opportunity for him and he wants to make sure it goes well.  The next steps coming out of the progress review give him some comfort that things are headed in the right direction.

5:30pm - Team check-in

Our afternoon team check-in centers around the next steps coming out of the progress review.  We figure out who needs to do what in order to be ready for the Steering Committee meeting.  There's still a lot to do and we think we've figured out how to get it done in the remaining two weeks.  We get specific about what needs to be done by the morning and get to work.

6:00pm - Work in team room

As the clients start to head home, we finally have some "heads-down" time and can make progress on our workstreams.  We've learned a lot during the day and are figuring out how to incorporate that information into our work.  I get a few things done and put together a checklist of tasks I'll need to complete later tonight.  Before shutting down our laptops, many of us send sketches of PowerPoint pages to VGI to be produced while we're at dinner.

7:00pm - Leave client site

Today's progress review was a big hurdle we just cleared, so we're able to leave the client site at a reasonable hour.  After packing up our things and making sure there's no sensitive material left in the team room, we head to dinner on the way back to the hotel.

7:30pm - Team dinner

The successful progress review in the afternoon has us in a celebratory mood, so we've decided to have a team dinner.  We return to one of our favorite restaurants for good food and company.  We trade war stories, have lots of laughs, and talk about our plans for what we want to do after the study ends.

9:00pm - Return to hotel

Before getting back on my laptop to do more work, I'll take some time to call my girlfriend and relax for a few minutes.  After discussing our days and making plans for the weekend, I'll turn on the TV so I can keep up with some pop culture while working.

9:30pm - Work in hotel room

We're so busy during the day, a lot work piles up that needs to get done before the next morning.  Tonight I have to update an Excel model with new data from the client, create some new PowerPoint pages based on today's problem solving session, draft a storyline for the upcoming Steering Committee meeting, and review 60 MBA resumes for recruiting.  Our study is winding down, so I also email a few Partners I've worked with to see if they have any client engagements starting up soon.  The last thing I do before shutting down the laptop is sending my draft storyline pages to VGI to be produced overnight.

12:30am - Wrap up

After another long day, I'm ready to call it a night.  I'll iron my clothes for the next day so I don't have to do it in the morning, take a shower, and get ready for bed.

1:00am - Go to bed

After setting the alarm clock on my Blackberry, I'll check my email one last time to make sure nothing urgent has come in and no one has made changes to my calendar for tomorrow.  Time for some sleep to recharge for another busy day.

Leaving McKinsey - 5 approaches to using search time

There countless ways a consultant can choose to leave the McKinsey.  In this post, I'll describe five common strategies I've seen people apply to using their search time and separation from the Firm, and list some pros and cons of each.  I hope these examples will help you decide how to optimize your departure from consulting.

Image from www.freedigitalphotos.net

Even after you've made the decision to go on search time and leave the Firm, you still have some major decisions to make.  Choosing an overarching approach for how you want manage your search time (what is search time?) can inform your next steps.  Your personal preferences will define the best approach for you to take in terms of timing your search time and separation from the Firm

1.  RISK MINIMIZING

I've seen this risk-averse approach applied by consultants with families.  The intent is to nearly eliminate the risk of going without work, pay, and benefits for any period of time.  Typically, this means not going on search until an attractive job offer is in hand.  Since most employers hiring from McKinsey are looking to fill existing needs, they will expect new employees to start quickly.  As a result, this approach can result in leaving nearly all search time unused.
PROS:  No risk of going unemployed, unpaid, and uncovered by benefits
CONS:  Little or no time to decompress between jobs, requires fitting interviewing into McKinsey lifestyle, leaves search time on the table

2.  ACTIVE SEARCH TIME

This is the most literal approach, in which the consultant begins searching for work immediately after going on search time.  They treat search like their new job and think of remaining search time as a contingency plan in case they don't find a great job quickly.
PROS:  Relatively high likelihood of finding a job before search runs out
CONS:  Potentially little or no time to relax, likely to leave search time on the table

3.  DECOMPRESS, THEN SEARCH

In this case, the consultant takes some time off prior to searching for a job.  Search time is a fantastic opportunity to relax, travel, spend time with family, and generally get the Firm out of their system.  Once they've had some time away from work, they'll eventually enter active search mode, described above.
PROS:  Opportunity to take many weeks off, reasonable likelihood of finding a job before search runs out
CONS:  Underestimating search time needs could lead to period of unemployment and gap in benefits

4.  SEARCH TIME MAXIMIZING

The goal of this approach is to make sure no search time goes unused.  This means timing interviews, offers, and negotiations so that a final job offer is accepted on the last day of search time.  This requires quite a bit of planning and comfort level with the risk of going unemployed, unpaid, and uncovered by benefits for some amount of time if things take longer than planned.
PROS:  Opportunity to take time off, minimizes unused search time
CONS:  Requires planning and coordination to get timing correct, period of unemployment and gap in benefits if anything disrupts plans

5.  SEARCH TIME AS VACATION

My friend and former McKinsey colleague's quote sums up this approach nicely:  "I'm almost out of search time... I guess I better start looking for a job".  It's often used by consultants who want to take full advantage of what might be their last chance to take months of time away from work until retirement.  When search time is combined with accrued PTO, your paid vacation can go on for several months.  It's a good time to redeem a lot of those airline miles for an around-the-world ticket or two.  A variation on this approach is to use search time to keep getting paid while launching a start-up.
PROS:  Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take months of paid time off from work while covered by benefits
CONS:  Requires digging into savings while looking for work once search time and PTO run out

Always have your 30-second answer ready - the elevator pitch version of your latest hypothesis

Image from www.cartooncliparts.com

If you ever work with someone from McKinsey on a project, you're likely to be asked at some point for your hypothesis on the 30-second answer.  The question you're answering is whatever is at the heart of the project (e.g., how do we improve profitability?).

In this post, I'll explain...

1. What is a 30-second answer?
2. Why it's important to always have one up-do-date and handy
3. Recommendations on how to structure it

WHAT IS A 30-SECOND ANSWER?

The 30-second answer is based on the concept of the "elevator pitch", but instead of being prepared to briefly summarize yourself for interviews and networking or explaining your startup to potential investors, the goal of the 30-second answer is to concisely convey your latest hypothesis on the answer to the client problem being solved by your workstream or client engagement.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE A 30-SECOND ANSWER?

There are several reasons you should always have your 30-second answer constantly updated and top of mind.

You will be asked for it

Your McKinsey boss has a lot on their plate so this is one way for them to get a quick update on what's going on in the engagement and inform their own 30-second answer.  It's also not uncommon to run into a senior client who asks you how things are going or what you've learned and this is a good way to be sure you can provide a quick, current, thoughtful response and build credibility with the client.

Shows that you're on top of things

Having a good 30-second answer will give your McKinsey boss some comfort that you're managing your workstream effectively, especially if your response includes all of the latest analyses, knowledge, and problem solving, as well as proactive consideration of next steps

Reflects top-down thinking

You have to be able to synthesize in order to boil down everything going on in your workstream or engagement into a 30-second answer.  If you can do this well, it will convey your ability to apply the 80/20 rule and focus on the vital few, most relevant, highest impact issues.

 

SUGGESTED FORMAT FOR YOUR 30-SECOND ANSWER

Now that you've thought about your 30-second answer and made sure you understand the most recent information and analyses that support it, here are some recommendations on how to best present it.  For people applying for jobs at McKinsey or interviewing with a hiring manager who is a former consultant, this is also a good way to close your case interview.

1.  Lead with the answer

Not only does this align with a top-down storytelling approach, but it makes sure you communicate the answer if your time is cut short.  You never know when your McKinsey boss or senior client might have to attend to something else, so the sooner you get to the point, the better.

2.  Support with key points

Follow-up the answer with your most critical supporting facts.  Tick through the list quickly, highlighting a short list of topics and a synthesis of why each is important to the answer.  Provide enough information so that your audience gets the point and can ask for more detail if they want it.

3.  Offer relevant caveats

In many cases, your answer will still be a work in progress.  Like any good hypothesis, you should be constantly testing and refining it.  This might be a good opportunity to highlight issues that might cause the answer to change - an example would be pending data or analyses.

4.  Highlight next steps

Show that you are proactive and pre-empt questions or concerns by explaining what your plans to further support or refine your answer.  Examples would include actions being taken to address caveats or, if the answer is ready, your plan to syndicate it with the client.

How to impress your McKinsey boss - Consulting rock stars are five-tool players

In this post I'll review the five consulting skills we look for and provide examples of how to demonstrate excellence in each of them.  The best consultants are good at all five and are distinctive, or "have a spike" in at least one.

Image from mensfitness.com

Knowing what a McKinsey person is looking for can help you make the right impression on your former McKinsey boss, your current Engagement Manager, or the management consultant who is interviewing you for a job.

This post is about the abilities of a great management consultant.  To learn more about the behaviors of a great consultant (or direct report to a former consultant), check out this earlier post on the 3 things you can do to keep your McKinsey boss happy.

WHAT IS A ROCK STAR AT MCKINSEY AND HOW CAN I BE ONE?

The highest compliment a McKinsey consultant can receive is to be referred to as a "rock star" by their colleagues.  There's no specific definition for the term, but it's generally accepted to mean someone who is a top performer across every dimension that you'd look for in a great consultant.  Considering how selective the Firm is in hiring and how effective it is at developing talent, being called a rock star is high praise, indeed.  To be truly distinctive, you must be the consulting version of a five-tool player.

WHAT IS A FIVE-TOOL PLAYER?

The concept comes from the sport of baseball and refers to the five most important skills for position players (everyone other than pitchers) - 1. fielding skills, 2. throwing arm strength, 3. running speed, 4. batting for average, and 5. hitting for power.  To be referred to as a "five-tool player", an athlete has to be exceptional along all of those dimensions.  Most Major Leaguers excel in at least one of the five tools.  All-Stars might be outstanding in three or four.  Five-tool players are rare and can often transcend the sport of baseball - examples include Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Ken Griffey, Jr.

THE FIVE TOOLS OF CONSULTING

Based on my experience, there is an equivalent list of five tools that any good management consultant must have.  Rock star consultants will outshine even their most talented colleagues along every one of these dimension.  The more you understand how your McKinsey boss evaluates talent, the better you can focus on becoming truly distinctive in your strengths and address your weaknesses.

ANALYTICS

Why it's important:  Building a credible fact-base often requires analyzing and making sense out of a large amount of data.  Also, deliverables often include models that the client will use after the study is over.
What excellence looks like:

• High level of comfort working with numbers and understanding implications of data on the problem at hand
• Ability to prioritize and focus on the areas, data, and analyses that will generate the greatest impact
• Excel skills to build models that functional, error-free, and easy to hand-off to clients

STORYTELLING

Why it's important:  Consulting recommendations and insights are only helpful to clients if they can communicated in a clear and compelling way.
What excellence looks like:

• Understanding of stakeholder needs and how to make topics relevant to them
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of information and highlight the key takeaways
• Crafting storylines that drive understanding and acceptance

COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING

Why it's important:  Help in solving their most pressing business issues is ultimately why clients hire management consultants.  Collaboration - both with the client and McKinsey leadership - ensure we consider the greatest range of and most applicable solutions.
What excellence looks like:

• Extensive creativity, insight, and content knowledge to inform the best possible answers
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues and clients to generate buy-in
• Leveraging all available resources and expertise and incorporating them into solutions

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Why it's important:  Our goal is to become the trusted advisor to our clients, not just deliver impact on individual engagements.  Getting clients actively engaged in our work increases the likelihood of buy-in, impact, and success.  It's also important that your McKinsey boss know that you're "client ready" and can trust you to lead client meetings on your own.
What excellence looks like: 

• High emotional IQ and ability to empathize with and relate to clients at all levels of an organization
• Genuine interest and investment in clients' long-term success
• Professionalism, confidence, and poise that build credibility

PRODUCTIVITY

Why it's important:  Consultants are expected to drive a large amount of impact in a short amount of time.  Timelines are often compressed so
What excellence looks like:

• Talent for multitasking and driving impact across multiple workstreams
• Efficiency and able to prioritize and focus on the highest-value tasks
• Commitment to getting the job done, no matter how difficult or how long it takes