How to get onto the partner track at McKinsey and make millions, according to 3 management-consulting headhunters and a former McKinsey HR manager
- Partner salaries at global management consulting firm McKinsey and Company average around $800,000 and can go up to $3 million a year.
- For the best advice on how to break into this role, Business Insider spoke with four experts who recruit and have worked for McKinsey in the past.
- They suggested doing great work and building strong client relationships, thinking one step ahead as to how you can build skills for your next promotion, and networking internally and finding mentors.
- They also recommended bracing yourself for the massive time commitment being a partner entails.
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In terms of total pay, partner salaries at global management consulting firm McKinsey and Company average $806,000, according to job search and review site Glassdoor. While the typical base pay is just under $500,000, a McKinsey partner can expect to make hundreds of thousands more when factoring in bonuses of cash and stock, as well as profit sharing.
Keep in mind, too, that these are just averages - on the high end of the spectrum, Glassdoor reveals some partners at McKinsey can rake in over a million in base pay, plus over two million in bonuses.
In addition to the phenomenal financial opportunity that comes with becoming a McKinsey partner, there's also the elite organization's clout. The company often appears at the top of the list of the "Big Three" consulting firms (which includes BCG and Bain as well) and has been ranked the No. 1 consulting firm for three years running on the "Vault Consulting 50," which identifies the best firms to work for in North America.
Because of McKinsey's incomparable benefits when it comes to pay and prestige, becoming a partner there is notoriously difficult.
Kim Tran, who served for three years as a McKinsey consultant and is now the founder of career-prep advisory platform Management Consulting Prep, wrote in 2014 on the online forum Quora that "the general rule of thumb estimate people often use is: 25% of associates make it to EM [engagement manager]; 25% of EM make it to AP [associate principal]; and 25% of AP make it to partner. So it comes out to be about 1.5 out of 100 associates make their way up to become partner."
Heather Bingham, an organizational psychologist at precision-lending firm BOOST&Co who held a senior role in HR at McKinsey in London for more than nine years, said that "becoming a partner at McKinsey isn't just about being good at the job. It's about becoming part of the McKinsey fabric and about making your own individual, valuable contribution to the success of the firm."
Caroline Stokes, the CEO of talent agency and executive search firm FORWARD, added that being a McKinsey partner "is not like a normal 9-to-5 job," since the rarified McKinsey employees who rise through the ranks "live, breathe, and adapt faster than anyone else."
"At McKinsey … just like being a lawyer, you have to demonstrate incredible aptitude, focus, and determination (long hours, delivering everything that's needed) to make it to partner level," Stokes said. "And just like being a lawyer, becoming a partner demonstrates you have what it takes. This means … an ability to drive projects through in a highly competitive market. Associates who aspire to partner level need to demonstrate incredible energy, analytical problem solving, and executive presence. This is why major corporations hire McKinsey, after all. They are the creme de la creme."
Business Insider asked Bingham, Stokes, and two other management-consulting recruiters to share their insights on what it takes to break into the partner track at McKinsey.
Do great work for McKinsey's clients - periodAs the founder and CEO of ECA (formerly Ex-Consultants Agency) - a specialized executive search firm with its roots in management consulting - Atta Tarki has ample experience with McKinsey recruitment and placements. In Tarki's firm, 10 out of 11 managing directors have served as consultants themselves at firms that include McKinsey.
Tarki's first line of advice for those who aspire to become a partner is: Don't forget about the basics, which begin with excelling at your job and in your deliverables to clients.
"Yes, getting elected to partner at McKinsey requires more of you than simply delivering great work," explained Tarki. "However, if you don't consistently deliver great work, it will be nearly impossible for you to be elected partner."
This means that you really need to love creating impact for clients and "understand how the work you are doing is moving the needle," he said.
"Understand what's the toughest problem on a project and solve that," said Tarki. "If you think the project needs someone who can do a discounted cash-flow model, but no one on team including you has that experience, raise your hand and say you'd be happy to figure that out."
Of course, it's important to only do this for something you think you can actually figure out. "If you think that a client team member is highly skeptical of the project and is likely to oppose your recommendations, start building a relationship with that person so that if need be you can influence them," said Tarki. "This way, partners will be coming to you and asking if you can help them go to the critical client team member and convince him [or] her on a critical piece."
Always be thinking one step aheadTarki noted that at each stage in your development at McKinsey, you need to be proving that you can master what you're currently doing as well as do the next level of work well enough to deserve a promotion.
"As an analyst, you need to master the analytical toolkit and own a portion of a workstream," Tarki said. "At associate, you need to be able to conquer an individual workstream. At EM, you need drive multiple workstreams [for] a single client. At AP, you need to start selling while running multiple engagements across a couple [of] clients. At partner, you need to almost exclusively be selling while managing [at a] high level across all of your clients."
He added that it's imperative for prospective partners to never forget who pays the bills and demonstrate the ability to sell by delivering on the projects that directly lead to repeat business.
"Find other opportunities to contribute to the firm beyond the work you're doing," Bingham added. He said that joining teams that are creating online content that will be published in your industry is an obvious way to be noticed, "but there are lots of opportunities available."
"Get on board a rocket ship rather than a sinking ship," Tarki said. "Savvy consultants don't just sit around for the allocation manager to call them and tell them about their next project. Nor do they only focus on the work they find interesting at the moment."
Instead, Tarki recommended that consultants try to work on projects targeting topics, industries, or accounts that they think have the potential to grow significantly over the next few years.
"Growth often leads to gaps in the talent needs, which gives you the opportunity to fill those gaps," said Tarki. "Shrinking sectors and accounts often end up in turf wars between multiple people wanting to fill the same role."
Also, avoid simply chasing the next shiny object. Tarki pointed out that successful APs often target industries and clients in particular that are "less sexy or under-utilized" because they leave the most room for growth.
"Taking a No. 4 client in a particular industry to No. 1 is much more impressive than increasing spend on a No. 1 client where deep relationships already exist and success can be shared among multiple stakeholders," Tarki elaborated. "There's typically a higher chance to get in based on an industry that touts fewer potential entrants, so selecting an industry that is less popular leads to a higher success rate."
Bingham suggested an additional winning strategy: You can gain visibility with upper management by getting involved in recruitment.
"Press to be trained as an interviewer as soon as you can be, and really contribute to the recruitment program by conducting a good number of interviews each year and attending events (not just at your alma mater)," Bingham said.
Be an intrapreneurPortia Kibble Smith, an executive recruiter at Karat who has four decades of corporate experience and has placed many candidates at McKinsey, suggested doing things that help to "build the firm's capacity." A great way to do this is by being an "internal entrepreneur" or intrapreneuer.
"Being entrepreneurial means identifying customer needs that don't map to current offerings and building out a new function to create solutions," said Smith.
For example, "The best consultants working with engineering teams are always looking for new ways to help their clients solve problems like hitting hiring targets - which is really hard to do for a VP of engineering who doesn't have time to conduct all the technical interviews needed to make their hires," Smith said. "So one solution would be to bring in an external partner to deliver an interview engineering solution, which gives clients the infrastructure they need to grow their teams, and it gives McKinsey a new approach that their competitors haven't thought of."
Other ways to build internal intrapreneurship include focusing on a function that you can perhaps take globally and constantly building a body of knowledge.
"Clients want to know that you can codify things that can be shared with others - whether it's a white paper, an article from HBR [Harvard Business Review], or Trade Press," said Smith. "Are you building your knowledge that can be a true asset for the client?"
Build strong internal relationships and mentorshipsNo one at McKinsey gets to the partner suite alone.
"You must build followership," Bingham said. She offered that if you want to become a McKinsey partner, then you must "force yourself to maintain meaningful connections with all those you work with."
"This isn't schmoozing, but something that will ensure you look as though you're becoming part of the McKinsey firmament," Bingham said.
Tarki stressed that successful consultants don't just focus on picking the right projects and industries, but also on aligning themselves with an existing partner who can take them to the promised land.
"You need to sell internally and make sure there is a lot of support," he said. "Being the 'go to' is equally important internally as it is externally."
To that end, Tarki advised finding a mentor.
"Aligning with folks that are exceptional mentors and have time to mentor compared to those that are average at development and are spread too thin will yield dividends," he said.
Bingham agreed that the quickest way to get yourself lined up for partner is to develop strong relationships with partners you admire who will champion you. She stated that this is best achieved, starting at the engagement manager level, by working with your staffing coordinator or HR to determine how best to specialize in a "McKinsey-recognized area." such as strategy, operations, or McKinsey Digital. She added that you can approach this specialization by either industry or function.
Start networking as early as possible and align yourself with 'star managers'In your first year on the job, it can feel overwhelming to navigate all of the complexities of building strong internal relationships, so Tarki suggested instead focusing on doing great work and trying to line yourself up with what he termed "star managers."
"These managers tend to have more to teach you and are also highly sought after by the star partners," said Tarki. "Start by asking these star managers if there is anything you can do on your end to get the opportunity to work with them. If you get this opportunity, a lot of the other pieces tend to fall in place."
You typically have to put in a minimum of six years at the post-MBA level before being considered for a partner promotion at McKinsey, according to Tarki. However, chances are that "you've already missed the mark" if you only start thinking about how you intend to become a partner four to five years into the job.
"In reality, most partners who will vote on your promotion decision have not worked with you, and they will look to the ones who have worked with you to guide their decision," he said. "You want to make sure that you have aligned yourself with a partner who is senior enough in the system and is well respected among the partner group."
Tarki noted that if you only have the backing of a junior partner or someone who lacks the weight to carry you through the process, then it won't matter how brilliant your work has been or how good you might be in a partner role. "You are highly likely to get dinged for the promotion," said Tarki.
As you grow through the ranks, aspiring partners should also prioritize paying it back to those who mentored and assisted them along the way.
"Remember what was important to you and do what you would have wanted a senior person to do for you at the time," said Tarki. "This way you can attract star team members onto your projects. These people will be critical in building your success."
Prioritize building strong client relationships, tooWhile you focus on developing strong internal relationships, it's simultaneously important to keep your external client relationships front and center. "Having a great relationship with clients is critical," said Smith. "McKinsey will get feedback directly from your clients, and they're specifically looking for people who deliver value above and beyond what the clients were expecting."
Tarki clarified that developing relationship-building savvy with McKinsey clients goes beyond doing great work for them.
"It is easy to think that the only thing that matters is the work done, but the big skill partners all bring to the table is their communication and ability to build relationships and hear the deeper needs," he said. "Become the one person they feel comfortable talking to about internal politics or they are willing to stay 30 minutes extra in the office for to do a data pull - make yourself valuable from a relationship perspective."
Another reason to prioritize going above and beyond with your clients is that everyone who gets promoted to partner at McKinsey has received stellar feedback from clients.
"For many, this [relationship-building] muscle is a bit unnatural and requires flexing to grow," Tarki said. "Therefore start thinking about relationship building early. Try to find client team members that you enjoy working with and are critical to the project's success and become the one they want on all of their projects. With time, as you show you can take more and more off of their plate, they will become a strong proponent for you."
Keep your positive reputation intactSince partner promotion decisions at McKinsey are made by a global committee and require two-thirds of the vote in order to pass, it's critical to keep your reputation in the firm squeaky clean. Bingham shared that when she worked at McKinsey, she saw a really strong candidate - whom she described as "now incredibly successful outside McKinsey and a genuinely lovely chap" - whose election to partner was "scuppered by a team who just didn't like him."
Tarki added that while having a partner with a strong reputation supporting your candidacy will help your case, ultimately most members of the committee will do what they think is right for the firm and for the individual.
"If you have done brilliant work at times, but also displayed some poor behavior at times, you are likely to get passed up on the promotion until you have demonstrated that the poor behaviors are unlikely to repeat," he said.
With this reality in mind, Tarki advised avoiding letting the intense pressures of consulting work get the better of you.
"You've worked hard to build a positive reputation and make sure you keep it intact," he said. "Don't let the quality of your work slip even if you are [working on] a tough project."
Brace yourself (and others) for the time commitmentSince making partner at McKinsey is "one of the most exclusive, lucrative, and taxing (both personally and professionally) achievements in consulting," according to Smith, it's also important to consider how the role might impact your life outside of work, including your family members.
"A partner role means a huge step up in trust, compensation, and responsibilities, so it's also important to prepare yourself (and your family) for a significant increase in work commitments," Smith said.
Stokes emphasized that if becoming a McKinsey partner is your goal, then "constant availability" is a must, since you're going to be "married to the organization" and its quest for excellence in every respect.
Despite all of the challenges involved in grooming yourself for a coveted partner role at McKinsey, Tarki concluded that it's important to enjoy the ride, emphasizing that "you don't have time to derive that happiness in other places."
"You are working very hard in this role. You are often flying into clients every one to two days, solving critical issues, deepening executive relationships, and then rinsing and repeating the next day," Tarki said. "If you don't absolutely get excitement or happiness around creating impact, then you'll never make it."