The people here believe in going the extra mile. It’s built into our DNA, and I can’t imagine working a different way.
Since graduating with a degree in industrial engineering from the Latin University of Costa Rica, I’ve had several roles including quality analyst, workflow analyst, and operations analyst. At one point, I even stepped away from the corporate world and opened a restaurant in Monteverde, Costa Rica.
I came back to the field largely because I had some friends at McKinsey. They were excited and happy with the work they were doing at the firm, and when one of them called to ask if I wanted to interview, I did. The role was for a data-analyst position to work on Wave, an online program management and collaboration platform. My friend sold me on the idea by explaining that while I would have all the benefits of a global organization, the day-to-day work would feel like a start-up, which excited me.
I interviewed for the role and received an offer—and I am glad I made the move. The people here believe in going the extra mile. It’s built into our DNA, and I can’t imagine working a different way.
MY PATH THROUGH THE FIRM SO FAR
I worked in data analytics and eventually moved into product development, mainly testing the new application—Wave 2.0. I also led migrations for our North American, Latin American, and some Asia–Pacific clients moving from Wave 1.0 to the new platform and worked with clients who were new to it entirely.
Then, I stepped away from client-facing work and took on the role of senior-solution delivery analyst for the data catalog, which is the firm’s marketplace for data. It contains information on the different practices and sectors we serve and includes both third-party and McKinsey’s proprietary data.
Every colleague in the firm has access to the data catalog to support client engagements. If a colleague wants data on any topic, they can log in and search different data sets to see everything we have available. They can also filter by multiple fields, including geography, to narrow the results. All this information has meta data attached to it, so colleagues can see the description, how much it costs, the geographies for how it can be applied, and so on, so they can make informed decisions about what data to purchase.
The challenge is, it can be a hassle to get to the actual owner of the data you need, so we’re trying to reduce the friction for colleagues to find external data.
In my role, I was initially focused on how to promote the data catalog and build user awareness and adoption, but that shifted toward meta-data refresh campaigns to ensure the content we have stays up to date and relevant. I also collaborate with our vendors to enhance features, create new metrics and reports, and develop dashboards and key performance indicators, with the goal of making the data catalog more valuable to colleagues.
MAKING MY OWN MCKINSEY
During my interview process, I was promised I could make my own McKinsey and focus on the type of work that would personally fulfill me.
Early on, I was working with people on the product development and spending time with them trying to problem solve issues for clients. I realized I wanted to understand the product development side, so I reached out to some colleagues and asked them to contact me if a position opened. When one did, I took the opportunity, and I learned how agile teams work and experienced “sprints.” I got a real feel for how to collaborate with developers to build tools. The development knowledge, coupled with the analytics background and project-management skills, has served me well both in client-facing and internal roles.
MORE ABOUT ME
I am active in McKinsey’s initiatives to bring colleagues together. For example, I am involved in the “cup of tea” sessions, where for 30 minutes twice a month, colleagues come together to discuss different topics of interest that are unrelated to work. For example, we had one on soccer and another on our pets.
Outside of work, I love being active. I swim and trail run, and love hiking to volcanoes, lakes, and waterfalls. Eating is probably my number one passion, and I love to cook.