Training at McKinsey: The Learning Journey of a Fresh Consultant
Consultants experience a steep learning curve, especially in the first years on the job. This is driven by the intense job, but also by the world-class training programs. In this post we describe the learning journey for new consultants at McKinsey.
Dec 29
/
Case Interview Hub
What does training and learning mean for consultants?
Consulting provides one of the steepest learning curves across all fields you could enter after school. And this holds true no matter which firm you join - MBB (McKinsey, BCG & Bain), Big4, or boutique consulting firms. After even just a few years you can find excellent exit opportunities, simply because the market knows that a consultant comes with a strong skillset relative to the years of work experience. And if you don’t exit consulting, you can become a partner with a 7-figure income in your early 30s. But how do you get such a steep learning curve?
The most straightforward answer is that you work on diverse and super challenging projects early on, put in a lot of hours, and are held to extremely high standards from day 1. While all of this is true, there is another aspect to it than just ‘learning by doing’. We’re talking about actual training and learning programs that consulting firms offer. These training and development programs are top-notch at firms like McKinsey, BCG & Bain. And these programs are what we discuss in this post.
Training at different consulting firms
All consulting firms are looking to develop similar skills in young consultants. These range from hard-skills such as your Excel modelling, to soft-skills such as interviewing a difficult client. In reality, all of the firms view ‘learning by doing’ on actual project work with guidance from more senior team members as the best way to learn. But at the same time, every consulting company also offers formalized training. Some of the trainings may be mandatory, others may be optional, and they can vary substantially in their formats.
In general, the better and more prestigious the firm, the more rigorous, the more extensive, and the better the training. To understand what a learning journey could look like, we’ll discuss how McKinsey trains its consultants.
Mandatory trainings in the first year at McKinsey
Every new hire at entry level (Business Analyst or Associate) has to complete certain trainings or learning programs. There are also mandatory trainings later on in a consulting career, but year 1 is the most standardized and comprehensive program. Below you can find an overview of the trainings that every entry-level consultant has to go through in year 1 at McKinsey. There can be slight variations across offices and over time, but most of these trainings have existed for many years and are a fixture of the curriculum (especially NHO, Embark, and LEAD I).
The NHO is an acronym for ‘New Hire Orientation’. This is a 1-week full-time introductory program that everyone undergoes in week 1. It’s for the most part an in-person session, either in the home office or at another regional McKinsey office. Apart from getting a professional picture taken and meeting your fellow new hires, the NHO is used to familiarize new hires with some of the basics about working at McKinsey. You will learn a bit about how projects usually work, how to submit a research request and how to access McKinsey’s knowledge database (KNOW). But it’s also about administrative issues, like how to file expenses, how to submit a time-sheet, and how to reach IT support. At the end of that week participants usually learn on what project they’ll be staffed starting the following Monday.
Embark is another one-week training, typically after about 1 or 2 months at the firm. It’s an in-person training and it usually takes place at a McKinsey training facility. There are a couple of those around the world (e.g., Alpine University in Austria, Kyoto in Japan, Stamford in the US), and you’ll go to the one closest to you (unless you’re lucky and can go intercontinental). This is really about developing skills that you need on a project, especially soft skills. You’ll do exercises and games with your fellow participants, you’ll hear from experienced partners, and you’ll do role-playing games (e.g., on how to deal with a difficult client).
Functional foundations are online courses that must be completed within the first couple of months at the firm. They are self-paced and can be completed whenever the consultant has a bit of free time on or between projects. The courses are introductions to the practices at McKinsey and the type of work that the firm delivers. You learn, for example, about strategy projects, or about marketing & sales projects.
What we call Offsite academy is not an official term. But very often, offices have (on a regional level) a 1- or 2-day event in which the firm presents all it’s work and practices. Almost like a fair, first-year consultants can learn about the different work that McKinsey does, take part in workshops, and talk to experts of certain practices (e.g., private equity or operations). It doesn’t exist everywhere, and it may be done in various formats, but the idea is that young consultants can start thinking about what they want to do at the firm and what to specialize in. And it's of course a great place to build your network, especially in functions or industries you are interested in.
Lastly, we have LEAD I, and it’s a special training. It’s again a 1-week full-time in-person training at one of the McKinsey training centers. Other trainings focusing on soft-skills teach different techniques, like ‘how to interview a difficult client’. LEAD I, however, is fully focused on getting to know oneself. The idea is that knowing yourself is the prerequisite for becoming a great leader. There are plenty of individual, small-group and large-group exercises in which you think about your own strengths, weaknesses, fears, motivators, and tendencies. Most notably, the training starts with a freaky session on Sunday evening, in which you’ll dig deep into your childhood amidst candlelight and soothing music. They say that LEAD I is the training that gives you a sense whether this career is right for you or what your passion really is - so don’t be surprised if you quit afterwards and open a hipster burger place afterwards. There’s also a LEAD II training, but that’s for more senior consultants.
Optional trainings for young McKinsey consultants
Aside from the mandatory trainings, courses, and webinars listed above, there are numerous optional learning opportunities. They typically take anywhere from 2 hours to 2 days and are sometimes in-person. In this section we’ll give a high-level overview.
Hard-skill courses for Excel and PowerPoint can always be useful. The ability to work efficiently and effectively with these programs is crucial for young consultants. You’ll often be stressed but should still deliver high-quality, error-free, user-friendly and good-looking output. Some extra training sessions can be super helpful here.
Soft-skill courses are plentiful, for example on communication. Key skills here are presentation skills. Sooner or later you’ll have to present in front of team members and clients, and this training helps you improve in this area. You’ll get to present to fellow participants and get peer and instructor feedback. Aside from presentation skills, there are further communication trainings. For example, there’s a training on getting and giving feedback.
Soft-skills go beyond strictly communication and can also have psychological aspects. There’s a course on team room presence. A lot of young consultants, especially introverts, have trouble getting noticed in meetings. In this training you develop strategies to overcome that obstacle. There are even gender-specific trainings. Women often face challenges in male-dominated environments. Where a male may be perceived as assertive, a female saying the same thing may be labeled as shrill. This is less an issue at McKinsey as gender diversity is a focus topic for the firm and new hires are split rather evenly. But clients, especially senior management, is often male dominated. So there are trainings to work on strategies against this.
Aside from classic hard-skill or soft-skill categories, there are also trainings to develop specific expertise in a certain area. For example, at McKinsey you can do a one-week digital bootcamp, across a range of topics related to big data, AI, analytics, and so on. Or there are specialized one-week trainings on topics like product management.
If a consultant feels that there’s still something missing, despite all these offerings, McKinsey also offers self-guided training. Each consultant gets 4 days a year to spend on whatever they want. For example, you could do a Udemy or a Coursera class on Python programming, or on a foreign language. As long as it is even just remotely useful for you in your job, it will be approved.
In addition to these trainings and offerings, consultants can also take advantage of coaching sessions. There is a whole database of coaches, many of whom former McKinsey consultants, who can be contacted. Each consultant can take at least 3 sessions a year, which can be on virtually any topic. From how to become more effective at work to general life problems.
We surely missed something in the list of offerings but one last thing we don’ want to miss is the educational leave. This one really stands out among all the others. Essentially, the consulting firm would send a consultant back to school after 2 years or so on the job. The consultant then does an MBA or a Masters degree at a prestigious university, or even a doctorate (popular in Europe). McKinsey then typically pays (part of) the tuition, and sometimes even the consultant’s salary for up to a year. This offering varies across regions. Other firms have similar offers, but usually less generous.
Trainings for senior consultants
Of course, learning doesn’t stop after year 1 or 2 in consulting, it’s a lifelong journey. There are always trainings that will support consultants in the role that they’re assuming. For example, when you start moving from regular team member on a project in the role of a team leader, McKinsey offers the SWITCH training. And once you’re elected partner, there are trainings as well. Then you’re moving into the role of advising senior executives on a personal level, strategizing with them on industry developments or even personal career advice. To become such a CEO whisperer, there are trainings for that. That’s of course not a 1 hour webinar, but rather a 1:1 coaching session with an experienced leadership coach.
So whatever the consultant requires for his or her role, there is typically a training or a coaching offer available.
Takeaway
Consulting firms’ biggest asset are their employees. A lot of corporations will say the same, but nowhere it’s truer than for consultancies. Their extensive training schedule and learning libraries are a testament to that fact. Of course, ‘learning on the job’, so in actual project work, is always most effective, and not all trainings that you do at consulting firms are great. But there is plenty of value in the mandatory trainings for any new joiner, alongside the sheer endless offering of optional learning opportunities. And for that reason alone, consulting firms should be on every graduate's radar.
Check out this article if you want too learn more about why consulting is still an attractive industry for graduates.