Women at McKinsey. A real sense of belonging.

Sending a message to our younger selves We speak to you as women who were in your position not that long ago. We speak as women who work at all levels at McKinsey associates, engagement managers, partners and as daughters, sisters, spouses and mothers. If we sound urgent, it s because we re driven to attract the most talented women in the world. We want you to join our community, to make a difference alongside us, to enter our circle of support. To make the world and McKinsey better, together. We love this place. We love the excitement it offers intellectually, the support it offers individually, the understanding it offers us emotionally, and the relationships it has allowed us to build personally and professionally. Don t get the wrong idea. It s not only that women are welcome at McKinsey. It s more like women are shaping the future of McKinsey. Of course, we ve been given something wonderful to start with. But as women do, we ve found ways to make it even better. We ve innovated flexible career paths which aren t exceptions to the rule, they are the rule. We started 20 years ago, and today we have a global team of flexibility counselors. They help chart individual paths, including a Ramp Off, Ramp On program for women returning from maternity leave, and there are options that allow for working less than a full week but still offer a path to partner. (These options are so appealing we find many men are taking advantage of them!) Outside McKinsey, we are strong global advocates for recognizing women s contributions to the economy; in fact, we re at the forefront of the study of female leadership. Our work has shown that organizations with a higher percentage of women at the top are more successful financially, and have more creative and collaborative cultures. We could go on and on. And we will, just a little. We ll share some first-person stories of McKinsey women. But what s even better than first person is in person. Please take the time to meet with us. We think you ll like what you hear, because what you ll hear is what we see every day.

Spirited collaboration At McKinsey, you ll be constantly challenged, never abandoned. Helping you to flourish is something we take seriously. Our McKinsey Women network is central to the process. It s both a formal and informal structure for mentoring, training and relationship building. We do our work in small teams but individuals always have the ability to shine. For us, that s the ideal environment for both growing and contributing. So you ll be at one-on-one sessions with clients. You ll be in front of the room leading the meeting and sparking ideas. Because we were the first consultancy to welcome those with nontraditional backgrounds, you ll work with people who are accomplished in a dazzling range of careers. Our teams include professional musicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, and surgeons. We continue to bend convention and seek unexpected talent, and it makes us stronger.

The support you need to grow We hear a lot about personal growth these days. One thing is for certain: real growth doesn t happen in a vacuum. Only the right environment inspires the confidence to spread your wings, even when that voice in your head is telling you to lean back. We ve all found that culture at McKinsey. It s also a culture that puts a high value on career options. Your choices here will be vast. Clean tech. Economic development for women in emerging markets. Big Data. Innovative M&A. Reinventing consumer marketing for the digital age. New paradigms in sustainability. And if the right structure or practice area doesn t exist for you, we say: well then let s go ahead and build it together. To make sure we create a learning environment that s commensurate with these opportunities, McKinsey invests more than $100 million in training programs for everyone. For women, there are programs at every level, ranging from role-playing sessions where we learn to handle difficult situations to Path-to-Partnership workshops. These programs work so well that many have become standard practice for all our consultants. Yet as lovely as it is here, people do leave. We re okay with that. The women who ve left McKinsey are changing the world with a focus and passion we re thrilled and honored by; they re playing leading roles in corporations, in governments, the social sector, and as entrepreneurs. Overall (which means including men) there are more than 300 McKinsey alumni who are CEOs of companies with revenues above $1 billion, and one-in-five of our alumni have started their own entrepreneurial ventures. We think it s just great that there s a lot of McKinsey in places other than McKinsey.

Work that makes a difference. A career that makes a full life possible. One of the first questions women ask us is Can I do compelling work without surrendering my entire life? We once asked the same question ourselves. After all, we ve all worked hard and have big dreams. We want our work to have an immediate impact on the world and leave a lasting one. But we also want a work/ life balance that s highly-evolved and fully supported. McKinsey delivers on both. First, about your work it will be purposeful and future-defining. Our clients include the most respected companies in the world, as well as governments (more than 90) and NGOs solving the most vexing issues of the day. And we re there when need calls. Whether it s an immediate crisis like a hurricane or tsunami or long-standing challenges related to public health and education, McKinsey is making a real and measurable difference. Just one example out of dozens: There are 50,000 children in Africa going to school right now thanks to our innovative efforts with governments and NGOs. Second, about your life. We know it is essential for you to have a full, rich life outside McKinsey; for us too. That s why we ve innovated flexible career structures as well as other programs that let you achieve the mythical work/life balance. (Well, no one actually achieves that ideal, but at least we re getting closer.) Consider our Take Time program, which gives all consultants at McKinsey an invaluable level of flexibility. Working on a novel getting an advanced scuba certification accompanying a spouse on a rural medical residency these are some of the personal pursuits that Take Time made possible last year.

Meet Yael An interview with Danielle, one of our women s initiatives leaders Yael, Principal New York Education: Yale University, Harvard Business School Languages: English, French, Hebrew Danielle: Is it true that when you graduated from Yale you were primed to work at McKinsey? Yael: Well, no, not really. I have a background as a pianist. I studied English. Then I changed my major and wrote my thesis on functional neuroimaging of schizophrenia. I definitely didn t know exactly what McKinsey did, and I was sort of amazed they were interested in talking to me in the first place! Danielle: So you started as a business analyst, transitioned to an associate role and then you were leading engagement teams before deciding to go to HBS. Yet you took a bit of a detour before returning tell us a bit about that. Yael: I took nine months to produce a documentary for Showtime about an HIVpositive woman engaged to be married an amazing, fascinating story. I love that I can keep a hand in the creative side of media while also serving our media clients at a time of radical business model shifts. It s a special vantage point to have. Danielle: You have three small children and serve on a major nonprofit board along with managing a challenging career and teaching a spin class in your spare time! Yael: Well, the spinning class is a point of contention in my marriage. I teach on Saturday and Sunday mornings, which as any parent knows are crazy, all-hands-on-deck moments with the kids. I leave my husband to fend solo on those mornings! In general though, we work together to balance out our commitments as best we can to make sure we re not letting outside responsibilities invade our family time. Danielle: How do you balance work and home along with your other interests? Yael: McKinsey s figured something out that s pretty fundamental. Which is, if your passions are really your passions, you will be a more effective at what you do if you can make them part of your life. This translates into practical options around flexibility, but more importantly, I ve found it to be a real mindset that underpins who we are here.

Meet Sandrine An interview with Danielle, one of our women s initiatives leaders Sandrine, Partner Paris Education: HEC (École des Hautes Études Commerciales) Languages: French, English, German Danielle: The Accidental Intern sounds like an indie movie. But it s actually how you describe yourself. Sandrine: Yeah, I guess I starred in my own movie. I was a McKinsey summer intern, and then came back, figuring I d stay a few years and then really decide what I want to do with my life. Flash forward 20 years and guess where I am! Danielle: But even with all the job satisfaction you had, you came close to joining our alumni group at one point. Sandrine: I believe there are moments of truth in every person s life. While I was expecting our first child, I received a particularly interesting offer to join one of my clients. I considered it, but in the end, I wanted to remain at McKinsey but on my own terms. Danielle: What were your terms? Sandrine: I loved my job, but wanted a different pace. And McKinsey made it happen with no drama whatsoever. So I took maternity leave for eight months and returned on a 60% schedule. Today, after the arrival of our third child, I am still happily pursuing an 80% work schedule. Danielle: They re your terms, but it takes an organization to make it work, right? Sandrine: Absolutely. I ve only been able to craft a career that meets my changing needs because McKinsey has encouraged me to be clear about what I wanted. Danielle: What advice would you give a woman who s considering her options? Sandrine: She should come meet the people here, including me. I ll tell her what s kept me so engaged and satisfied for the past two decades (as long as it s not during the 20% of the work week when I m home!).

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