Which Are the Best US McKinsey Offices

Hey Guys,

Which are the best US McKinsey offices in terms of prestige and experience (perhaps even size)?

Particularly the Marketing and Sales Practice offices?

Furthermore, How do San Fran, New York and Chicago compare?

Thanks.

30 Comments
 

london is more difficult simply because you are physically located in the US now

west coast seattle is easier than san fran, however Chicago is a huge office for McKinsey

my suggestion: probe to see what happens if you mention you want to start in seattle, if not secure the office in mid west then eventually in 1-2 years you can transfer to san fran or london or wherever

 

interested in this as well. if anyone has similar info for bain or BCG, that'd be helpful. how competitive are the SF/LA offices compared to Chi?

 

And Calgary?

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

Went through MBB recruiting cycle this year, recieved all three offers and ended up becoming very familiar with all three firms as I did my diligence process. What became readily apparent is that there is indeed a hierarchy between offices for Bain/BCG, but less so for McKinsey since they don't use the local model.

The hierarchy is generally understood as: NY > SF > Chicago + Boston + London > LA > Seattle > Atlanta/Austin/Dallas/Philly/etc. > Miami/St. Louis/Cleveland/Houston/etc.

 

It honestly depends on the firm. Also there is no such thing as "prestige", there is high demand/low demand. I would say choose the city based on practice area you are most interested in.

NY/Boston = consumer, media, health, financial services, PE DD SF = tech, health, some FS Chicago = industrials, auto, some consumer, some supply chain/ops etc. Dallas/Houston = energy

There are some outliers and differences but that's basically it. To be honest, most of the time you will not have a choice (if you go to Stanford, you will probably end up in SF/LA for example). Just pick the city you want to live in and has work in areas you are interested.

 
bNothing to do with this thread:

Boston is the best city in the world.

with the second best football team in the world, behind NY BABY!

 
 

I'd also add Charlotte to your second tier. Home to BofA and Wachovia's headquarters, as well as regional offices for many MM firms.

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

McK has a Charlotte office. Aside from the lifestyle and industry characteristics, location really doesn't matter. I don't think too many people are going to hold it against you that you worked at BCG Indianapolis, for instance, unless of course you try to get into fin services afterward, where those firms will ask, "wtf were you doing in Indiana?" I think NY and London are comparable--both markets have similar characteristics and the consulting firms have similar-sized presences in both places. It just depends on what you want.

 

I would add one more city to the mix - Washington. Sure, it leans almost exclusively to the public sector, but pretty much every player in every industry has a presence in Washington, if not to serve the government than to serve its own interests (read: lobbying). Booz has a huge Federal practice and I'm starting to see some of the top tier firms creep into the space.

 

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