Banking-like experiences at McKinsey
Haven't been able to find much information on the more technical finance work that it seems like McKinsey in particular does, especially through their NY office. Looking at their website and LinkedIn, they do a lot of corporate finance work and also have a sizable restructuring practice (the one that the WSJ did a less-than-flattering exposé on).
Can someone with previous exposure to these practice areas of the firm comment on the nature of the work and the opportunities it offers a person? It seems like an analyst doing a lot of work in the restructuring practice, for example, would have a great path to distressed funds like Oaktree and Silver Point given the McKinsey brand coupled with a relevant technical background. Am I missing something or is this a unique niche in the consulting world that WSO seems to overlook when saying consulting is always a harder path to the buy-side?
Really appreciate any insight from people who have worked at McKinsey or met people that worked in these practice areas.
I had a close friend of mine work in the restructuring practice at McKinsey for almost 3 years, and as @standard and poor pointed up there it is a very different experience from RX shops at investment banks.
For instance there is little ppt/excel work and more on the ground line management work. The Partner in charge usually takes on a CFO/CRO and sometimes a CEO position within the company being advised, with the EMs and Associates running point on different work streams during the project. Hope that helps.
I work at one of the top 3 RX consultancies. Based on conversations with colleagues who came from McKinsey RTS (the name of their restructuring arm) the work they do is rather operational restructuring and large-scale transformation (as harveyspanskter says - more ground line management work, greater focus on implementation). McKinsey doesn't typically deliver a lot of financial restructuring work such as cash/liquidity management, bankruptcy procedures, creditors negotiations, balance sheet restructuring, wind-downs etc. This type of work is dominated by A&M, Alix and FTI.