I hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science and always wanted to be a technical analyst. Before joining McKinsey, I was an analyst in another organization for two years. I wasn’t actively looking for a new role, but one day a McKinsey recruiter called me. I did my research, and the decision to join became a no-brainer.
One of the most relevant factors for me was the learning opportunities, I asked myself: “How long can I collect meaningful experience and develop at this organization?” From McKinsey colleagues, I heard “there’s always an interesting problem to solve here” many times, and this is still true for me after over 12 years here.
Joining McKinsey
My journey at McKinsey started in October 2007. At first, my role was fully focused on internal projects, I solved technical problems related to our firm members and resource catalogue. Throughout the years, McKinsey evolved and so did my role. We’ve offered more and more digital support to our clients, which pulled me into client work in 2013.
Work-life Balance
I’ve been married for ten years, and I have a six-year old son. I have been intentional in finding balance; I block time to have a dinner with my family or spend time with my son. During the pandemic, we worked out our team’s remote working norms. We had a clear conversation about the times we are available and the communications channels we use for different purposes. For instance, I save 15-minute slots to talk to friends at the firm on Monday mornings because it energizes me for the week ahead. Each day during the morning, I run and listen to music. All these small rituals keep me sane and happy.
Mentorship and Support
Every day I’m surprised by how people help me; there is help at every corner and all I need to do is ask. A few years after I joined, I wanted to expand my expertise into product management. Leaders I worked with helped me upskill to scrum and agile and create opportunities to speak at multiple international conferences.
Work with purpose
One of the most meaningful projects I had was supporting a telecom client in Indonesia. We identified three main challenges: sales target struggles, work inefficiencies, and data disconnection. It was rewarding to solve for them all with one app we created. It saved at least ten hours a week for the client’s sales agents and gave them peace of mind in terms of meeting their targets.
Access McKinsey
I first heard about Access McKinsey at a Diversity & Inclusion session. It’s our firm’s network for colleagues with disabilities. Its members include colleagues with visible disabilities like mobility impairments, as well as non-visible ones like learning disabilities and chronic health conditions. In my childhood, I struggled with stammering. I had smart things to say, but I couldn’t express myself well in school. I was determined to embrace words and situations I feared most. I worked a lot on my vocabulary to make it more friendly and minimize the chance of stammering. Today, the majority of colleagues and clients I interact with don’t even notice it and, if they do, they rarely bring it up, focusing on the content instead. Still, when I heard about Access, I reached out to one of the colleagues driving it. I then connected with other colleagues and we started talking regularly. Through our conversations, I learned they’ve gone through much more challenging experiences than I did and they’ve discovered how to be the best versions of themselves despite obstacles they’ve faced. This group helped me put my situation into perspective. I got energized and inspired by the attitude of my colleagues.
Throughout the years, I haven’t seen a more caring group of team members in any other place. There’s no other organization that embraces diversity to the extent McKinsey does. It creates opportunities for people to excel. Evolution and growth are inevitable when that happens.
If you’re curious and interested in growing and tackling challenges, consider joining McKinsey.
