Поскольку все консалтинговые фирмы всегда рассказывают о себе только самое хорошее, многим будет интересен взгляд изнутри (непредвзятость не гарантирую).

Интересно, что Bain почти не критикуют (наверное, не за что  .

Итак...

Boston Consulting Principal:   (Current Employee)
“It was great while it lasted, but now I am completely burnt to a crisp, cynical, and bitter...”

Pros

The first 2 years are an irreplacable experience in getting responsibility beyond your years and learning that you could probably do anything if you tried hard enough, and thought hard enough. That kind of formative generalist confidence building is the gift I'd like to give my kids it's so great. Even when it feels awful or you've stayed up too many nights in a row, and you're beyond recognizing yourself, you know you kick ass. And you're not an arrogant tool about it. That, all in all, is pretty great.

Cons

Now feeling burned out... > 5 years in, and I realize the toll that being commercial and mercenary take on you (meaning, you figure out what the client's agenda is, and you sell them the most expensive thing you can - when you're the product as well as the salesperson, it can be pretty demeaning to say "oh yeah, I know last year I was a sales and marketing expert but now I'm a supply chain expert" or a post-merger integration expert or...). Also, work shifting rapidly to "transformation" or "implementation", or whatever it is, it means doing all the crap work for two massive merging entities, a lot of template filling, stressful, repetitive, high stakes crap work and getting paniced cell phone calls at 2am. Ever heard of people right out of college sleeping with their blackberries on loud next to their pillow? It does happen, even if we try our hardest to make the culture averse to that. Selling these cases makes great margins (can sell more junior folks at higher mark up) and lasts for a long time (it takes forever to stick two big companies together) and generates great relationships (we do get to know all the top people, which helps us sell the next bit of work) and delivers lots of value (cutting 3 months off the time it takes the new organization up and running effectively is worth a hell of a lot of money vs. everyone sitting around complaining) but... I won't do another case like that. My outside opportunities are far more exciting - and potentially more lucrative.

I'm not willing to put up with another year (or 2, or...) to become partner and then be the bottom guy on the totem pole again. My life, my family are worth too much to me. People who succeed here in the long term are those who prioritize work and success above all else. BCG is a very easy place to measure yourself if you like to be measured. If you worked like a hamster in high school to get into an ivy league college, and you worked like a hamster to get the right first job out of college, and you worked like a hamster to get into the right grad program, and you envision working like a hamster for the rest of your life to grab the next brass ring in front of you, then BCG will be happy to provide you with brass rings. As they say, "the learning curve just gets steeper". If you can handle the thought of being a hamster for the rest of your life (albeit a hamster who gets to talk to CEOs and other important leaders about what to do) then come here - you'll be one happy hamster.

And it is true, there is a concentration of very clever, very talented, very interesting people there. But the work is often mindless (eg, "let me do whatever I can to put some crap on paper because the partners will change it anyway, and then the senior partners will change it too, so it might as well be crap") at the same time as it is intellectually challenging (eg, "what an interesting question to be asked the tough open-ended questions like 'what's wrong with my marketing department' by a CEO who's known for having a great marketing department, or 'when and how should I enter China' by a CEO who's known for being good at international expansion"). Ultimately, I wouldn't advise anyone against taking this job if you can possibly get it - but decide early on what your exit point and strategy will be because if you just follow the "path of least resistance" and get promoted every couple of years, it'll sap the life out of you. And you won't know your family / wife / kids / dog / fish / friends as well as you used to any more. And that ain't worth any amount of salary or time spent with senior leaders.

All the above applies to post-graduate school. If you can possibly join BCG post college, do it. Kick, scream, steal, lie, do what you need to do to get that job.

Advice to Senior Management

Accept that there will be a surreal amount of attrition next year, especially among valued senior leadership who are tired out.

McKinsey & Company Senior Associate in Stamford, CT:   (Current Employee)
“THE place for developing razor sharp thought and people leadership through a learn as you go model”


Pros

- Distinctive people: Every individual you meed has a great story, and something unique and distinctive about them
- Exceptional access and exposure: At every client, one interacts with the most senior individuals providing a great opportunity to counsel and impact the way they run business, and also to learn from them (though not actively encouraged...as we "know it all")
- Skill building: Every situation provides an opportunity to learn and develop skills, whether it be to influence clients, build models, create pages and most importantly, the power to structure, synthesize and draw that valuable insight

Cons

- Not a caring meritocracy anymore: This is something that has taken a hit. The importance of people has diminished and the caring part vanishes especially if you need help. When I started 10 years ago, if you raise you hand people will rush to help. Nowadays if one puts the hand up, people rush, more often away from you
- A culture of push, push and push: Nobody joins McKinsey for lifestyle. However, the currently focus of partners seem to continuously push the clients and the team hard without any substance. In one case, we were working late in the night to prepare for a training program the next day, without a client team in place. This is leading to significant strain and excessive pressure on the associate ranks
- Struggle to balance expertise vs generalist: McKinsey is still not sure whether it wants to build experts or generalists and career paths especially within practices are still grey and your career depends on the partners you work for.

Advice to Senior Management

- Bring the caring back into the meritocracy: Respect each individual and don't consider each one the same and put them through the "Review Committee" grinder
- Demonstrate the risk taking and leadership McKinsey is famous for to walk away from work where we do not add value vs destroying client relationships and more importantly the morale of its frontlines


McKinsey & Company Associate Principal in Detroit, MI:   (Current Employee)
“"Terrible place to waste your life"”


Pros

- Looks good on resume
- Learn how to make up stuff, look good
- Learn how to navigate company politics

Cons

- McK consultants lack integrity / honesty; they consistently try to prove their "hypothesis", often rejecting facts/data to the contrary.
- At AP level your chances of being elected partner depend on who your clients are and who your friends are at the firm. To be elected, you will need to kiss ass to at least a few directors, accept all the work you can physically handle, take credit for things you didn't actually do (in McKinsey speak, this is called "leverage"), and create a 'story' around your election 'platform'. A director recently put it to me this way ... "you need to draw that target around the arrow." Election has nothing to do with upward feedback, performance.
- McKinsey partners prey on weak and insecure managers. I've seen partners discuss who is weakest and most insecure, and scheme to take advantage of the situation
- McKinsey has a 'core client' policy that favors selected clients over others. Clients that are not 'core' will get second rate consultants on their studies ('core client' study managers get first pick at staffing a study)

Advice to Senior Management

- Bring back honesty and integrity to the consulting profession
- Respect your clients; learn to be more humble
- Respect your associates/BAs/EMs.

Все это так, но консалтинговые компании очень сильно отличаются от офиса к офису, а уж от страны к стране - еще сильнее. Так что если вы собираетесь работать в московских офисах, то для вас это информация к сведению, но не принимайте ее слишком близко к сердцу. Вот если вы прочитали такой отзыв, оставленный консультантом московского офиса, то это совсем другое дело.