The Pros of Working at McKinsey (Copy)
What Is Expected of You as a New Analyst or Associate
- Your job as a new joiner is not to solve the biggest problems on your own. It is to be a reliable extension of your leadership — with a can-do attitude, a growth mindset, and positive energy.
- Imposter syndrome is normal. The people who hired you know exactly what to expect. You are part of the plan.
- The best juniors I have worked with all share the same habits. They over-communicate, timebox their work, summarize everything, think about next steps, and speak up.
- Ownership is the thread that ties it all together. A partner I worked with at McKinsey instilled this in me, and I still practice it today.
- The offering: A checklist of everything I look for in new analysts and associates — copy it and use it from day one.
When you start a new role as an analyst or associate — whether that is at a consulting firm, an investment bank, a corporate team, or anywhere else — you might find yourself wondering things like: will I be able to meet the moment? Am I ready for this? What does good look like here? That is completely normal.
When I joined McKinsey at 22, I remember being curious about what was expected of me and how I could make the most of the opportunity. And from what I have seen, that feeling is shared by almost every new joiner across every type of firm.
But here is the thing. The people who hired you know exactly what they are getting. They have a clear gameplan for new joiners. You are not expected to walk in and lead a workstream on day one. You are expected to show up with energy, curiosity, and a willingness to learn. That is the job.
Your primary offering as a new joiner is to provide scale — to be an extra set of hands, an extension of your leadership. You are there to support, to learn, and to grow into someone who will eventually lead. And that is not a lesser role. That is the role. Everyone who came before you started in the exact same place.
Over my time at McKinsey and in everything I have done since, I have noticed that the best new joiners — the ones who grow fastest and earn the most trust — all share a very similar set of habits. These are the things I was told by my colleagues, the things that worked for me, and the things I now look for when I work with new recruits.
- Over-communicate and ask questions. You are not meant to be perfect during your first few months. What you are meant to do is maximize your reps at getting feedback. Feedback is a gift. People will respect you for showing ownership and demonstrating that you care about getting it right. The worst thing you can do is disappear into a corner and emerge three days later with something nobody asked for.
- Be 80/20. What are the few things you can do right now — the quick wins, the no-regret moves — that will genuinely move the needle? Often there are a handful of actions that get you most of the way there. Do those first. Then run to your peers and seek guidance, input, or feedback. People love that from their juniors. It shows initiative.
- Timebox yourself. Nobody is going to give you a task that is meant to take eight hours on your own during your early days. Unless they explicitly tell you otherwise. The general rule of thumb is to spend no more than 30 to 60 minutes getting started on something, get to 80 percent, and then seek guidance or feedback. This is something I naturally observed and practiced, and I heard it reinforced constantly by people around me. Do not spend three hours going down a rabbit hole when a quick check-in after 45 minutes would have saved everyone's time.
- Summarize everything. When someone gives you a task, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking notes and summarizing what you heard back to them. This is critical because it eliminates ambiguity. If there is a moment to be wrong, this is it — right at the start, when the cost of being wrong is close to zero. People would far rather you clarify the ask upfront than discover a misunderstanding days or weeks later. The most senior and smartest people I know do this religiously. There is no reason you should not.
- Think about next steps. This is one of the clearest demonstrations of ownership a junior can show. When you finish a task or leave a meeting, ask yourself: what should happen next? What would I do if this were my project? The beauty of working with new people is that they come with fresh perspectives. Mixing that fresh perspective with a genuine idea about what should happen next is something your team will always appreciate. Share it. They will tell you if you are on the right track or not. And over time, that muscle gets stronger.
- Be prepared. In life we can only control what is in our own hands. Especially when we are new. So preparing yourself — setting an agenda, coming up with ideas before a meeting, reading the materials ahead of time — becomes one of your superpowers. It is the one thing nobody can take away from you, and it is entirely within your control.
- Ask for help. If you can come up with thoughtful questions and recognize when you do not have the answers, you will be able to rally your colleagues and move things forward. Chances are that there is a wealth of resources and knowledge available to you — through colleagues, internal assets, mentors, or leaders. Bring people in. Bring your questions and ideas to life. This is yet another way to demonstrate that you care about the outcome.
If there is one thread that ties all of this together, it is ownership. Every single habit I just described is really just a different expression of the same thing — caring deeply about the outcome and acting like it is yours.
A partner I worked with from the Montreal office at McKinsey was one of the people who really shaped how I think about this. He had two forcing mechanisms that I have adopted and still practice to this day.
- Block time to think. Carve out space on your calendar — even 20 minutes — to step back and think about the bigger picture. Not the deliverable. The people. My mentor would do this on flights to the client or during a walk after lunch. He would ask himself things like: beyond the work, what does success look like for my counterpart? How can I empower my team to be the best versions of themselves? Are my colleagues operating at their best right now? What is the macro reality of my client and how are broader trends impacting the work? How can I make sure the impact persists after the project ends? These are not complex questions. But they require space.
- Block time for retros and check-ins. Once you are deep in a project, it is easy to get tunnel vision. That is why carving out time outside of the actual work — just to take a step back with your team or your stakeholders — can go incredibly far. At the end of the day, we are always operating with humans. Everyone has their own challenges, ambitions, and things they are dealing with. Giving your counterparts the opportunity to vent, share what is on their mind, or talk about where they want to go creates a kind of soft value that compounds over time.
One last thing that I always look for in new joiners and that I try to instill in every team I work with — bring positive energy. Come with a smile. Come with optimism. Come with the kind of youthful enthusiasm that you somehow find a way of losing as you progress through the ranks.
This probably will not be written in black and white on your year-end review. But it matters. When you walk into a team room and the energy is good, the work is better. The ideas flow more easily. People are more generous with their time. And it is contagious.
We have the privilege of doing outstanding work for outstanding people. Let us show it.
Here is everything I just shared, distilled into a checklist you can save and reference from your first day onward. Copy it, screenshot it, whatever works for you.
One last thing. None of this requires genius. None of it requires a specific degree or background. It is all about showing up with the right mindset and building the right habits from day one. The people who do this consistently are the ones who grow the fastest and earn the most trust. Start here, and the rest will follow.
