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Guys there’s this boot camp that I came across that trains people to get jobs in Top consulting firms and has a fee plan wherein you pay once you get placed. I just wanted to know if someone here has any experience with this ?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQuKa3k-rG3emxJcfbidCjC0Su85E_BKqW9cTeFZMY4xg4LnUVxOLrpcETqf7d-iEePlFh6lJ1knwwD/pubhtml
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McKinsey is all in on BA (undergrads). They are drastically increasing the ratio of undergrad hires to post grads because they realized that a BA is 90% of an associate at 50% of the cost. That drove a change to create a path from BA to partner.
Now the path is:
Undergrad->
2 yrs BA->
1 yr Senior BA ->
2 yrs EM ->
2 yrs AP ->
Partner
So yeah, you could make partner < 30 now.
High performers can also shave 6 months or so off the senior BA and EM levels.
At the risk of being laughed at, does a consultant with 7 years experience really have what it takes to be an AP? I know Mckinsey and their people are supposedly exceptional, but I’ve encountered no, say, 29 year olds who could do the job of a Partner. Perhaps a few as good Snr Managers or even (the true exceptions) a junior Director, but not a Partner. Unless AP at McK is more akin to those SM/D levels at Big4.
OP that’s not really possible. They would be associates, not associate partners.
Oh Jesus
SM1 squeeze associate in between BA and EM.
I’m sure they are exceptional people - how do clients perceive a 26-27 year old Assoc Partner though? That’s what really interests me.
Experienced hires are a different thing.
I don't know of that many folks that join the regular client services track with 5-8 years of experience. If you are director/VP level with valuable experience, you can get hired at AP/partner level based on your expertise. There is also an expert track available, but the progression is slower there.
You don't see people get credit for mid career experience much. I knew folks that joined from Booz after their acquisition but they had to go back to the start, based on their education level. They might have been managers at Booz but they went back to associate when they joined.
@C2, they would normally join as associate. Fundamentally, to be hired in as EM or AP is very rare (either some exceptional knowledge/experience or part of an acquisition)
@mckinsey2 Yeah I was surprised too but the couple of people where Wharton undergrads in the New York office. Must be pretty exceptional people
MCK doesn't really know how it will work out at to have 28 yo partners at scale.
They have long had a program where truly exceptional BA could go direct to EM (always a red flag for projects if the EM was a direct to EM) and then the partner path. But that was for a very small share of BAs. There were a handful of partners in all of the US that had taken this route. They also tended to work in areas where clients prized sheer intellectual horsepower, like PE/M&A. These guys don't sell PMM or org work to giant companies for the most part.
2-3 years ago McK doubled the BA share of the incoming class. They also created a standardized path to partner for BAs who basically met the bar (not the truly exceptional performers). I think the thought was McK lost too many trained BA when they kicked them all out for secondments and B-school. With BAs making up such a large part of the pipeline, there wouldn't be enough EMs.
I don't have the numbers, but based on an unscientific sample from my cohort compared to the one just prior, the number Senior BAs on the EM track has gone up 3-5X. The folks moving through this new track haven't reached senior EM let alone AP yet so we don't know how "normal" clients will react to 28 yo partners selling them work.
Closest analogue to EM is project manager. She/he is responsible for day-to-day delivery by the team. It is not a promotion per we, as EMs are on the same pay scale as Associates (just are closer to the upper end of the range based on tenure and performance ratings). Normally an EM will be leading a team of 1 or more Associates and BAs
McK. Have you been an EM? Our aspirations is for EMs to completely “own” the project - content and delivery, to frame and drive the problem solving, to coach and develop the team, to manage delivery, to lead and manage the client interactions. Our intent is way more than “project manager” at most firms
So is EM really more like a senior consultant or maybe a case team leader at Bain. At least in US, a Manager (which is arguably the hardest promotion) will nearly always have a team of at least 4 and more often 5-6... (2-3 consultants, 2-3 AC).
Fastest track from undergrad would still be 5 years to Manager, another 2-3 to principal and then another 1-2 to Partner.
So if you start at 22, maaayyybe by 30 but more likely 32 ish (which is still somewhat uncommon but not impossible at all)
How long is it typically from partner to senior partner/director (or whatever it’s called for you guys?)?
Associates (,post-MBA) still have the standard 2 years at each level but I have seen high performers make it to AP in as little as 4.5 years
Where does folks without an MBA but work ex of say 6-10 years fall? Does this vary by geographies too
My friends AP and has 7 yr experience. He grew up with mck tho after hbs
What track and level do people with 5-8 yr experience at other firms and industry experience come into
PWC1. Yes they are that good. (Or can be). The market speaks (internally and externally). They leave if they are not good enough. At every level including partner
@McK1, that’s the whole point. You can now skip associate altogether if you’re performing at an exceptional level
What’s the difference between an associate and an EM?