I’ve heard you only find the best exit opportunities to startups once you start letting your network know you’re looking. How do you do that while not compromising your trajectory at your job if you’re not looking to leave immediately but want to know what’s out there?

You can set your LinkedIn profile to be “open to opportunities” and set it so that only recruiters can see that.

Also, many times if there is a venture capital firm investing in numerous startups, they usually pool all of those open positions on their website and often you can submit your resume to the VC firm and they consider matching you with one of those startup positions in their portfolio instead of having to individually seek out each startup and apply.

F

don’t talk to anyone at your job about it. when someone you know gets a job you think would be cool, reach out to them about it. there may be another position available in the coming months.

case in point, a friend of mine exited IB (post-MBA associate) for a startup as a director. like many startups, they bit off more than they could chew and they asked him to take over another part of the business. he negotiated a promo to senior director and approval to hire a couple directors under him. i’m sure someone in his network has a good shot at one of those newly-opened director roles.

also, he found out about the exit opp because his analyst interviewed for a different role. yes it’s IB, where everyone is always looking to exit, but he actually leveraged a relationship with a junior colleague in order to make a huge jump upward. moral of this part of the story: make friends with people who won’t care if you are looking for new opportunities.

... It sounds like y’all don’t trust the people you work around. Maybe it’s not the best idea to tell your career advisor (or partner etc.), you’re thinking about leaving but you have many peers and ex-managers.

Also shockingly ... most people have thought about leaving at some point. Being open to opportunities is a healthy part of being an employee, not an immediate grounds for dismissal.

This is why McK and BCG have Search/Transition benefits.

You don’t lol. Why would someone at your job invest in your trajectory if you’ve stated that you don’t plan on staying?

At least at Bain, it’s a totally accepted (even encouraged by many) thing to explore other options. It would be professionally irresponsible to go an entire career without at least exploring what other options are out there for your tenure (or future tenure) or to wait until the firm decides it time for you to leave to start a search. You can be discrete, but I’d hope that at McKinsey at least, you don’t have to be aggressively secretive. Just explain to the people close to you (mentors, etc, whoever you want to bring into your circle) that you enjoy your role and can certainly see a future at the firm, but at the same time would like to get a sense for what options might be out there for you down the road so you can assess whether McK’s the right place for you with a realistic understanding of what you’re comparing it against. These firms (all the good ones) want you to be successful and satisfied - they’re not trying to handcuff you to your desk. But then again, maybe I’m naive 🤷🏻‍♂️

Reach out to industry contacts that are outside of your firm. Enable the 'open to opportunities' option on LinkedIn. Start looking for jobs that may interest you. If an opportunity opens up in your network, apply.