Related Posts
Best headphones to buy for work and play? 🎧
Conversation Starter
Bowl Leader
Additional Posts in Consulting
Any Guidehouse 🐠 willing to refer!?
Rising Star
Rising Star
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Thank you everyone for the advise and your perspective. After contemplating for a week I let the HR know that this is not the right time for me to move into this role.
Not sure if I will I have big regrets later in life about this decision, but the thought of staying away from my family and in a hotel room for 4 days scared the shit out of me.
Speaking with a few other consultants made me realize that just doing 40 hours a week is not an option even if you are ready to let go of Bonus $.
Lastly, its a hard pill to swallow to let go of a chance to make big money (at least comparing it to my current salary), but realizing I am not ambitious or would not survive in the environment long enough to have a meaningful exit.
Good for you.
Firstly, congrats! McK will definitely be a lifestyle shift towards a more stressful WLB. It depends on a couple of things - if you need more financial help and you have additional help at home for your child, then go for it. If not, you’ll be working much longer hours
Thank you for the insight.
As I am new to this world, wanted a few questions answered.
The bonus for high performance is $40k - how likely is that achievable? Also, I see that most consultants will be younger in their 20’s/ early 30’s and wanted to see how work culture is in terms of collaboration, colleagues helping out etc
How is the relationship between you and your wife and how is your health overall? I would have a transparent conversation with her and discuss it as a family. Yes, you will be working super long hours, and most likely you will have to travel and not be at home several nights a week. She will have to take care of everything regarding your child and your home. She may or may not be prepared or capable of doing that.
However, think of it this way: it's harder to get into McK than Harvard or MIT, some people will pay $250k (and forego 2 years of salary) to go to business school just to get a chance at applying to McK. So you will be considered in a different class altogether once you work at McKinsey, even if it is for 1-2 years. So it should absolutely help your career in the corporate world, but you need to determine your priorities, bc it may not be worth it if it results in divorce or if you have a health condition that would be exacerbated by the stress and lack of sleep. However, if you and your wife discuss it, and she understands that you both making this sacrifice for ~2 years, then maybe it will be ok. As you can imagine, you will likely learn a lot in a short period of time and you will forever be part of the McKinsey network. Also, remember. McK really helps their people get great next step opportunities, as you may be a future client, and it helps maintain their brand.
Your career earnings potential would likely increase meaningfully if you accept. Your spending may also come down due to more time spent on work. If you want to optimize for earnings/financial freedom in your 40’s I would do it. If that isn’t a concern and you feel you are already on track/ahead than you can stick to current gig and enjoy your life
Be ready to work for 28-30 hours in a 24 hours span. Calculate your per hour rate now and after and then take informed decision.
nothing personal against you D2 but I think the per hour argument is flawed here - 2 years at McKinsey should open up much higher paying opportunities that a per hour calculation just doesn’t factor in. it’s a short sighted metric.
the exit opp im going to wouldn’t have been possible without my consulting experience, and i admittedly didn’t have a life during weekdays for quite a while.
OP, i’d lean mckinsey here even if just for a year or two - it will meaningfully change your trajectory even if you need to sacrifice your personal life for that time period. it will be tough, no way around it.
Yea you are going to be working longer hours, but if you have high career ambition, then this opens some real doors for you. Plus it allows you to run up the ladder and be the one calling the 'AI' layoffs instead of being one. So you trade off time with your family, miss the best years of being a parent and what energy you have left, but you make enough money that you can afford to live in late-stage capitalism
That 80k uplift is (a) danger money for a shitty WLB and/or (b) apology money for all the time you kiss with your kid that you’ll never get back. When my children were younger I deliberately slowed down to enjoy the time while they were small, because it really goes so fast. Now they’re older, I’m more able to driver my career forward again without guilt.
I didn't know anyone was hiring. Congrats though
Congrats! And you are smart to pause and recognize the enormity of how accepting this job could impact your WLB. $80k increase in salary is a sizable bump that will allow for some luxuries that will help soften the impact of the significant increased hours and work demands. For example, hiring additional childcare coverage, more ordering meals to save time from food prep/cooking, upgraded vacations for those fewer family time, more savings for your retirement funds, etc. I would recommend your discuss with your wife to see if shes ok with all of these, she will be impacted also and she may either welcome or be anxious of all these changes