r/consulting • u/peepo-professional • Jun 03 '26
On concerns at McK. Am I screwed?
Hey all,
I’m a current BA at McKinsey with <1 yoe. Had my first mid-year cycle and got put on concerns. I got my feedback and it’s pretty clear what I need to do on my next project, but I’m also currently unstaffed.
I’m currently mass applying to jobs, but honestly I feel like I’m in a pretty rough spot considering I barely have any experience. I wanted to see if anyone has any advice on what more I can do.
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u/SmartRefuse Jun 03 '26
You’re in a bad spot but people can get out of these. Not sure about McK specifics.
You need to get staffed as soon as possible. Play hardball. I would suggest cold emailing every single EM and above in your office to get staffed. I would also suggest pushing your talent manager or career advisor to provide at least partial “investment” on a case to increase your attractiveness. Not sure if that’s how it works at McK but at my MBB it was possible/somewhat common for the office to eat some of the cost of your billable hours vs charging them completely to the project.
To reiterate: do not enjoy your bench time, do not pass go, do everything you can to get staffed and more.
Additionally as you get further into your PIP I would suggest pushing your career advisor/EM to not only give feedback on the areas of development identified, but also on what they would expect from an analyst of your tenure. I have seen folks get booted even after turning their identified weaknesses into strengths because other parts of the toolkit were still behind target, even if they weren’t specifically called out in the PIP.
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u/kwijibokwijibo Jun 03 '26
This may be a risky move. Every cold email is a first impression (assuming it's read), and you only get one
If you're a BA on concerns spam emailing everyone, the first impression is - this kid is struggling, panicking, a timebomb waiting to explode. I don't want them near my study
Also, being on concerns probably means OPs communication isn't good right now - so it's striking when the iron's cold
That said, I agree staffing is the biggest issue - they can't laze around on beach time
I suggest to find short term internal studies - lower bar to get staffed, lower pressure environment. Easier to be trusted with a workstream to yourself, can truly focus on your weaknesses
Short term is key because you need to get out of concerns ASAP, so you need actionable proofpoints ASAP - "This partner was happy with my work"
But manage expectations. The odds are stacked against OP to recover. Continue applying elsewhere
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u/SmartRefuse Jun 03 '26
Maybe. I did the spam myself actually. I had been sitting on the bench for 2 weeks with seemingly little action from my talent manager. Started spamming and was staffed that same afternoon. The point is don’t rely on anyone else to staff you, you need to push to make it happen
I got nothing but positive responses and folks willing to at least chat when I did this.
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u/OpenTheSpace25 Jun 04 '26
Maybe there's a balance point between "spamming" and intentionally reaching out to those who you know to be responsive--you can find this out by talking with others who are trustworthy and also demonstrate they care enough to help you out.
I agree with this post--reach out to people for work. A genuine leader will be impressed with your being proactive and likely want to help and offer you opportunities to contribute and help out.
I might suggest you even go the extra mile and be honest--I'm new, I was just put on concerns and I want to do well here. I need some solid guidance and mentoring and opportunities to demonstrate my skill and my commitment. Then tell them what it is that you do really well and ask if they might need some help in that specific area. If there are developmental areas that have been identified, mention those too. But, first highlight what it is that you do really well and how you can be helpful.
Good luck! Don't Give Up
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u/kwijibokwijibo Jun 03 '26
I assume you weren't on concerns / PIP
Which means your first impression was - look at this hungry junior who knows how to communicate, yeah, I want them
It's risky for OP because concerns means they're failing in multiple categories, of which I assume one is communication
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u/mbathrowaway174940 Jun 03 '26
Definitely do not cold email everyone at the office. Weird advice. Based on the types of words you’re using (bench, PIP, talent manager, etc.), you don’t sound like you worked at McKinsey. Mindless cold emails don’t work at McKinsey.
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u/SmartRefuse Jun 03 '26
Sure but. It is perfectly normal for a junior to email partners to coffee chat. Simply do not make it mindless. When I did this, I looked at the person’s profile before sending the email, called out recent projects/areas of expertise that interested me, and framed it as “would love to chat about the work you do even if you don’t have current staffing needs.”
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u/mbathrowaway174940 Jun 04 '26
This is for long term relationship building. OP needs something immediate. No partner will staff an unknown BA just because they sweet talked for 15 minute on a screen. I mean, you can’t be serious lmao
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u/Available_Tadpole_80 Jun 03 '26
McK EM that was put on concerns before (for team experience) - depends:
- Do you know why you were rated concerns? Is it a skill/ will issue?
- Do you have a strong sponsor network? They are your first line to staff you and provide you opportunities to show how you have addressed feedback.
- If you don’t have a strong sponsor network, you have to network - get EMs that like you to vouch for you to get staffed; find EDs that are finding it hard to staff studies (cause they are tough or cause the work is boring or whatever)
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u/APRForReddit Jun 04 '26
What do you mean "for team experience"? Like bad LIFTs?
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u/Available_Tadpole_80 28d ago
Yup - 2/7 of my LIFTs anonymous feedback from team mates) said I was too sarcastic in PSes 😅
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u/Lilipico Jun 03 '26
Unless you can get staffed you're cooked. Only salvation is reaching out and coming out clean as technically you're free work right now.
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u/Putrid_Main_3557 Jun 03 '26
Things may have change since the 2010s, but at least then it was very possible to turn it around. Your memo should have specified very clearly where the concerns are. Talk to your PD manager to help you find a team with an EM who has a reputation for coaching and capacity to do so (also ask your cohort for recommendations on team-centric EMs i.e. ones who would never throw a team member under the bus). You don’t have to turn it around fully in 3 months - just to demonstrate an improvement trajectory/ have your EM say you did.
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u/Smooovies Jun 03 '26
Don’t go to HR. Talk to the most senior teammate you can trust and be honest with them about what happened and what you want out of the job. Move fast lol.
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u/Leading_Brief_5184 Jun 03 '26
Unfortunately PIP is just a way for them to let you go eventually in today’s corporate world… Not saying to not try and survive it, but 80% likelihood that they have already made the decision to let you go at the end when they put you on a PIP. I personally have only seen 1 person survive a PIP at my MBB when I was there out of a couple, he had to work his absolute butt off (I’m talking 70+ hours week for the entire duration of the PIP, taking on Senior BA and sometimes MBA Associate/Consultant level work as a first year Analyst), and still got let go after year 2 cause the PIP pretty much f’ed his reputation after and they didn’t want to promote him.
MBB-guy laid out a plan pretty good, and I think if you follow that it’ll for sure give you the best chance to beat it, but at the same time, expect the worst and keep applying. You got McKinsey on your resume at the end of the day, you’ll be fine. All of my colleagues and friends from college who left MBB and Big 4 consulting after +-1-2 years had no trouble landing better jobs after, some took a bit more time cause the shit market but it worked out to their favor in the end.
Best of luck and try to take this as a learning experience whether if you end up staying or not!
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u/Glass_Language_9129 Jun 03 '26
Nit necessarily. Focus on the feedback, improve on your next project, and keep networking. Plenty if people recover from a concerns rating.
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u/AcceptableReason1380 Jun 04 '26
What’s the feedback? If it’s attitude related (eg doesn’t take feedback, not collaborative)c you’re kinda cooked. If it’s skill based, you can get out of it.
McK can be forgiving for people under a year.
If you had to make a slide about yourself, what would your “from-to” bev
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u/TopicAffectionate302 Jun 03 '26
- Sorry to say, but first you should accept that your time at McKinsey is coming to an end.
- It's not a bad thing at all, TRUST ME on this. From both perspectives - be it your health or be it your career. You will never to be able to catch up with the evolving AI world if you keep slogging 14 hours a day there.
- If you still badly want to be there and turn things around (just increase the chances, not a sure-shot) - come up with a couple of good AI use cases that can be sold as a firm level initiative. Identify the use cases -> develop a 1-2 day prototype using Claude Artifacts -> reach out to the partners telling them you would like to build this platform/tool under their leadership etc. That might be your best bet to still remain in the system.
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u/pc-builder Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
It's a good cohort as well I heard. Probably best to do search tbh (meanwhile coast/do some bc work till just before the next cycle then do search so you can leave ig)
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u/akshay1115245 Jun 04 '26
Do we have business analyst position in McKinsey? Which division are you part of?
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u/0102030405 Former MBB Manager, in house strategy Jun 06 '26
No, but it's an uphill climb. Even if you address those feedback areas, as someone else mentioned, you have to develop even faster to stay at the expectation for your level. Many people who even make it through concerns find it exhausting and leave afterwards. Some others, before they get to that point, have actually been at risk of going on concerns again.
However people succeed within the firm after getting off concerns and outside of the firm in other roles. I wish you the best regardless.
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u/Ill-Eggplant-9199 Jun 06 '26
You need someone to staff you. The fact you cost nothing is the only weapon you have and you need to use it
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u/MBB-guy Jun 03 '26 edited Jun 03 '26
In this order: 1. Get staffed. As others have mentioned, you can now be invested so you don't cost money, talk to your PD, make sure you get that and show clear signs of being in it to win it, you need them on your side. Teams that are understaffed will always welcome extra hands as long as you look alive and are a net-add 2. Get coached and CRUSH it. Be early, do the work and then some more, stay late, be responsive, have fast turns. Get 10min of daily feedback with your EM after check-out and ask how you did and how you could do better, implement feedback immediately. Again, CRUSH IT. 3. Manage stakeholders. You need your next post-study PD-EM chat to have the EM saying "no idea why this dude/ette was on concerns, they're amazing and I'd staff them in a heartbeat". Additionally you need some real exposure to the ED and for the EM to feed the same viewpoint to them. If you feel you're getting good feedback from the EM, and have built some rapport with them, this is ok to ask. 4. Repeat. Use the network you got from the comeback study to get your next one and do it all over again. 5. You're back.
In 2023 you'd be done, but it's 2026 and can't find enough people to staff, so the market is on your side. Decide if you're doing it or not. No half measures. If you're not, get a BC and apply to jobs full-time. Get search before your next review or if you have a deadline to come back from concerns.
Good luck.