Advice on McKinsey Coffee Date

How do I take advantage of this coffee date with a McKinsey & Co. senior manager who has worked there for a year and a half. My goal is to get this person to put my resume in front of HR.

No background in consulting, so should I ask for help getting an internship first? Or just go balls to the wall and tell her i'm seeking full-time employment. I'm graduating in Dec. 2015

6 Comments
 

Since its a her, I'd do about 1000 crunches and get a nice pump before you go in. Who needs a job when you have a sugar momma.

"It is better to have a friendship based on business, than a business based on friendship." - Rockefeller. "Live fast, die hard. Leave a good looking body." - Navy SEAL
 
  1. Stop referring to it as a date
  2. Learn her actual title. Senior manager isn't a thing.
  3. It's too late for an internship, you need to look at FT recruiting.
  4. Don't ask her to put your resume anywhere. Ask her to A) introduce you to the HR/recruiter and B) introduce you to other people at the office (like analysts or associates, whoever has the job you would be applying for, so you can learn more about the company and what it would be like to work there. Depending on how it goes, you could also ask her to review your resume before it gets submitted, so you can get some feedback and edit it.
 

I signed up for a BCG coffee chat under the same impression as you, i.e. that it would be a one-on-one, back-and-forth conversation. It turned out that two students had been booked for each slot. Our guy knew there was limited time and did not ask us any questions -- not even to introduce ourselves. He did not bring business cards; when I asked for an email address so I could send a thank-you message, he provided it with a look that said, "Don't get any ideas."

That seems cold now that I write it down, but I'm sure it was arranged so that students could ask tough questions in consequence-free circumstances, without needless interruptions for self-promotion. YMMV.

 
Best Response

I think that you are perhaps overthinking it:

1) Of course that if you are meeting her, it is because you want to work at McKinsey.

2) Since it is too late for internship, it is for FT.

3) Just tell her since the beginning that you find mck very interesting, that you want to learn more about MCK culture and how the recruiting process work.

After she sees that you are interested she might even offer you to transmit your CV to the HR. Otherwise, ask for the HR contact.

Your goal at the end of this coffee, it is to understand better the Mck culture and to skip the screening process. Doing that you will be sure to attend the PST (problem solving test, sort of GMAT/business Case) and then the interview rounds.

But in consulting firms the recruiting process is really standardize, you will not be able to skip interview rounds or the PST...

Good luck !

 

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