I have a feeling that he’ll be surprised by my response because it wasn’t as touchy-feely as he likely expected it to be. I can say with total certainty that my words are exactly the kind of advice that he NEEDS to see, given the situation that he’s about to walk into. Hopefully, he sees the value in it and takes my words to heart.
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AB wrote:
Hi Marquis,
I’m currently a [college junior], and although I haven’t subscribed to your blog I’ve read your interview on the excellent managementconsulted.com and was impressed by the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of what you had to say. Through some strange mix of luck, determination, skill, and fate I’ve managed to land a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to intern with McKinsey in any office where I meet the language requirement, without having to go through the usual case-interview process. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t nepotism.)
Needless to say, I’m incredibly excited and humbled by the opportunity, but simultaneously am slightly apprehensive: through reading and talking to individuals throughout the career spectrum, I’ve learned that consulting offers a terrible work/life balance. Given that I have a significant hobby which in another life could have easily turned into a career (music), successfully walking that difficult tightrope is of tantamount importance to me. Furthermore, I highly value the interpersonal relationships I’ve managed to build, and don’t want to lose them to the job.
In your interview, you state that (at least, as of two years ago) you still wonder how things would have turned out differently for you, had you been more prepared to deal with this aspect of being a consultant. Given that I still have time before taking my first steps into the consulting field, and given that I’m highly concerned about this aspect of preparation, I would say I have the means and the motivation to prepare. I was wondering: what advice would you have for how to best prepare to meet this challenge? I realize you must be busy, but any brain droppings you may have will doubtlessly prove to be helpful.
All the best, and thanks for your time,
AB
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My response:
Hi AB,
Thanks for reaching out to me with your question. Let me start by congratulating you on scoring this fantastic opportunity for an internship with McKinsey. I have no idea what you did to secure such a sweet arrangement, but I wish you the best of luck in taking advantage of a great situation that most of your peers would kill for.
It’s always interesting to see the many ways that people find me. That ManagementConsulted.com interview seems like it was so long ago, but I guess the contents of it are still relevant to folks today, which is a good thing. The work-life balance thing is a HUGE DEAL when someone is transitioning into Consulting and it definitely shouldn’t be taken lightly. I’m glad that you’re being proactive about understanding it and are trying to take step to prepare for it. Good for you!
I’ll kick off my response with something that you probably weren’t expecting…In your specific case, I would advise you to prepare yourself to just suck it up and deal with the possibility of having a rough work-life balance during your summer internship. I know that this may sound blunt and harsh, but I stand behind this piece of advice 150%! Here’s why…
Getting an offer to be a Summer Business Analyst at McKinsey is probably the toughest internship to get in the entire business world and, as such, you have to go in there prepared to grind as hard as possible to get a full-time offer. In general, summer internships are seen as a chance for college students to have fun, learn some good stuff, and get a little work experience at the same time. I understand why people look at internships this way, but I have a whole different philosophy about them. I see summer internships as a 10-week long job interview. If all goes well, you’ll learn a lot, make some money, and MAYBE have some fun, but the primary goal should be to finish your summer with a full-time job offer in hand. If one isn’t able to accomplish that, then the summer internship could be seen as a HUGE wasted opportunity.
There are often factors out of the intern’s control that could affect whether he/she gets an offer, but there’s nothing that can be done about that. All the intern can control is how hard he/she works, how well he/she performs, and the impression that he/she makes during that 10-week internship. That’s it. I understand that you have a really active hobby in music and that you have personal relationships that you want to maintain, but, for the 10 weeks that you’re in your McK internship, I recommend that you de-prioritize those things and focus your attention on maximizing your on-the-job performance. McK will have plenty of summer intern activities (e.g., weekly meet-and-greets, summer intern conference, etc.) as a way to bring some fun into your summer, but don’t get it twisted…they’re hiring you to do work and, if you want a full-time offer, you’d better be ready to grind as much as you need to. You’ve been given a once-in-a-lifetime shot here and I’d hate to see you fumble it because of being too focused on trying to get work-life balance. There’s always time to work on that once you have the full-time offer secured and know that you’ll be going back to McK after your graduation.
Regarding your specific question pertaining to lifestyle and how to maintain it, I’ll refer you to a couple of my past blog entries. I had a guy email me with pretty much the same concern as your a few months back and I think my response to him will be pretty relevant to you:
- Candidate interested in Consulting, but with concerns about lifestyle
- Follow-up to Consulting candidate with concerns about lifestyle
Hope the advice above helps. Be ready to work hard this summer, but also be prepared to learn a LOT in a relatively short amount of time. You’re going to come out of the summer feeling like a business veteran after a relatively short 10 weeks.
Take care and good luck on your upcoming internship with McK.
Marquis
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