Through my STEM background, I learned how to approach and solve a problem processes I get to apply every day at McKinsey. Meet Katherine Business Analyst, Washington D.C. UVA Biomedical Engineering My last project was a Health Systems and Services project at a hospital. My background in biomedical engineering allowed me to understand many of the technical terms used by the hospital. Additionally, my schooling in engineering gave me baseline understanding of modeling and Excel skills that I can use at McKinsey. Women with STEM backgrounds have excellent analytical skills, strong work ethic, and the ability to overcome adversity definitely a winning combination at McKinsey and in life! At McKinsey, I ve played half a dozen different roles, from designing intake and change management processes for an IT org, to creating business cases for a digital transformation, to coaching project managers on how to engage with stakeholders and mitigate risks to project timelines. Whatever I decide to do with my career in the long-term, this diverse set of experiences will set me up to make informed choices about how to best achieve my goals in the future. Meet Alisha Business Analyst, Toronto Stanford Computer Science, International Relations Breaking down a consulting questions into sub-parts and streams of analysis is incredibly similar to decomposing an engineering problem. While studying Computer Science, I learned how to decompose CS problems into independent classes or functions. At McKinsey, I watch my managers break clients problems up into independent workstreams, which are each assigned to a different team member but come together to form a complete solution. Who knew that decomposition is used every day in consulting! Meet Elizabeth Business Analyst, Houston College of William and Mary Mathematics McKinsey is a great place for someone with a STEM background to use their skills to solve exciting real world problems while developing a broad business skillset. I personally loved the quantitative and problem aspects of my background in math and computer science, but wasn t excited about a technical career McKinsey has provided be a place to use my skills to solve tangible problems and make a huge impact while doing so! At McKinsey, I used both my math and computer science skills to design a pricing model to help a manufacturing client re-price over 300,000 SKUs
Meet Kaitlyn Associate, Houston STEM women understand first-hand how diversity elevates outcome and impact especially when it comes to critical thinking and complex problem solving. It s the same in business. Recently I was part of an Oil and Gas engagement team. One component of the project focused on chemicals and fluids used for different oil and gas well types and life cycle stages. Several times I was able to show off my chemistry knowledge for example to evaluate the portfolios of different chemical and fluids vendors and I believe my STEM background enabled me to make strong contributions to my team. Wellesley Biological Science, Cal Tech PhD Environmental Science, UC San Francisco Post PhD Microbiology My background in computer science has enabled me to more tactically understand and address the many technology challenges that our clients have. In my recent healthcare work, we have been working with healthcare payors to digitize many of their services. Because of my background in computer science I have been able to work with the scrum masters, architects, and developers to ensure that their solutions meet our business requirements. This ability to collaborate and translate business requirements ensures that we can deliver the best solution for our client. My favorite part of working at McKinsey is getting to work with so many different clients from all over the country. I enjoy getting to know them on a personal level, and collaborating with them to achieve impact both for their companies but also for their own professional goals. Meet Lauren Associate, Digital New York Columbia Computer Science, MIT MBA We helped our client at a point where they needed serious cost cutting in the IT department. The CIO told us that we have opened their eyes to what they could do within their department. Hearing that from the CIO made my day! I have a start-up idea in mind, and this job has helped me understand the business world and how companies behave and make decisions in order to prepare myself. You meet so many different people that you develop a good idea of what it is like to run a company with a wide range of talents and opinions. Also, ongoing internal discussions on market and global trends has provided me unique insight into the feasibility and approach to my start-up. My favorite part of the job is problem solving. It gives me a chance to discuss concepts and decisions in a way that reminds me of graduate school. It is a lot of fun to learn from other people s perspectives! Meet Donatela Associate, Digital Silicon Valley Cal Tech Chemistry; UC Berkeley Masters Electrical Engineering, UC Berkeley PhD Chemistry
McKinsey is showing me the inside of almost every type of company -- even non-technology companies have a lot of technology pieces. It is giving me a much more holistic and well-rounded view of different industries to help me figure out where I want to go next. McKinsey fits with my inquisitive and slightly nerdy self. Meet Natalie Business Analyst, New York University of Pennsylvania Systems Science Engineering I was on a really cool project that explored automation technologies, such as machine learning and robotics and what their effect will be on the global workforce. We researched how automation will be transforming everyday life across all sectors and work. The project had a huge impact internally and externally: governments of nations, large and small corporations, were reaching out looking to tap into the rich database that McKinsey created. I came into McKinsey still unclear about what I wanted to do with my career (still am now). With that uncertainty, I found McKinsey to be the perfect place to keep learning about everything I am interested in. I also know colleagues who came to McKinsey knowing exactly what type of work they wan Meet Vicky Business Analyst, Chicago University of Michigan Chemical and Industrial Engineering wanted to do, and that perspective molds well at McKinsey as well. I came from a very technical background as a chemical engineer, and McKinsey has allowed me to stay as technical as possible but also develop those universally important interpersonal skills and business acumen. I have considered technology product management and consulting careers. At McKinsey, although I'm not working as a Product Manager, the projects I've been on have not only allowed me to work directly with Product Managers on a day to day basis, but have also given me exposure and opportunities to build relationships with very senior leaders in Product Management at tech companies. I imagined that joining McKinsey might mean closing the door on doing Product Management but in fact the opposite has been true. Meet Yun Engagement Manager, Digital Silicon Valley MIT Computer Science, Electrical Engineering; University of Pennsylvania Wharton MBA McKinsey has been an amazing experience and tremendous career accelerator. I've learned so much here in just two years, way more than I had expected, and have been able to travel to some cool places and meet a lot of really interesting and amazing people.
There are so many opportunities to teach and learn at McKinsey! It's rewarding to teach a client or team member a new skill and watch as they master it, and I'm surrounded by people who take time to let me learn from their expertise. My education and experience in biomedical research helped me focus on natural curiosity on developing and testing hypotheses. That's served me well when tackling tough client problems: I quickly learn the background and context, identify the key issues, prioritize to form a hypothesis, and then rigorously test and revise until we have solved the problem. More specifically, during a recent operations transformation at a metal manufacturing company, I applied my understanding of chemistry to diagnose and begin solving a series of quality issues. Meet Laura Engagement Manager, Atlanta College of William and Mary Biology; Vanderbilt PhD Cellular Biology I used to think all business people were focused only on money, and I couldn't imagine being motivated in that way. McKinsey has shown me that business success is all about people -- developing, growing, and following passion. Both clients and McKinsey colleagues make this an amazing job. But, even more importantly, my job is to help other people be successful. I can only have success by helping others achieve their goals. I can't think of many other careers where that is true. Meet Catherine Senior Knowledge Expert, Dallas UT Austin Biochemistry; UC Berkeley PhD in Biochemistry After graduate school I joined an early stage startup as one of the first employees. Although this was a great experience and very exciting, there was not much professional development or path. I have found my time at McKinsey to be unparalleled in giving me the management, leadership, and content training required to be impactful. McKinsey is a great place for someone with a scientific background who wants to round out their skillset and get exposure to data-driven business consulting. I believe many tech startups would be more successful if the scientists had some of the insights of the McKinsey approach. I ve also gotten to work with start-ups at McKinsey I recently worked on a project for a leading healthcare big data organization. It was fantastic to see how much they benefited from our perspectives Meet Jennifer and coaching. Associate, Philadelphia Tufts Engineering; Brown MS Engineering; University of Pennsylvania Wharton MBA
The analytical reasoning capabilities you build in STEM majors is the gift that keeps on giving at McKinsey. One of my favorite parts of this is job is working with clients to break down complex, ambiguous problems. Meet Tiffany Partner, Atlanta Georgia Tech Industrial Engineering; Harvard MBA/JD My STEM background has been a backbone of my career. Coming to McKinsey has broadened my exposure beyond the technical day-to-day that I experienced in my previous jobs. I am able to lean on my STEM background for site transformations and I am also able to step above the site to work on operational strategies. The mix of deep client coaching and strategic thinking has made me a more wellrounded person and has opened my mind to what I am capable of doing. There are clear paths at McKinsey that support further growth, but this exposure has created so many more opportunities in industry should I decide to return at some point. Meet Elizabeth Associate, Dallas UVA Chemical Engineering Harvard MBA I have met all of my mentors at McKinsey through my client work and each has stood out to me due to their unique mix of high standards and deep concern for the team. They are all insanely talented and very smart, but are extremely personable, calm under pressure, and just fun to be around. My mentors are the kind of leaders I hope to be. My first project was working on the strategy for a huge transformation of a public safety net hospital system that was heading toward bankruptcy when we started. My time there was very rewarding, formative and fun. However, the best part was hearing back 6 months later that the hospital had not lost money that month for the first time in decades it was such a cool experience to have been part of such a big transformation. Meet Katherine Business Analyst, Houston UVA Systems Engineering During my time at McKinsey, the greatest change I ve seen in my leadership is a big increase in confidence. When I first started, I was always hesitant in my answers, unsure if I should speak up, and apologizing for things that weren t my fault and didn t require an apology. I had one incredible manager who pushed me to focus on understanding how much I really can bring to the table. Since then, I ve been much more vocal and confident, which has allowed me to become more effective and truly lead my own work. Engineering is all about taking a structured approach to breaking down problems one of the core skills I constantly use as a BA.