I was immediately attracted to the McKinsey mystique while listening to consultants’ stories during a campus recruiting event. McKinsey was love at first sight—and it has never failed me since then.
Why McKinsey
My introduction to McKinsey came at a recruiting event in an auditorium. The group of people took turns at the podium, all looked very professional and confident, and all shared their own stories about McKinsey. They all had different experiences but delivered the same essential message: McKinsey is a great place to work. And my McKinsey experiences have confirmed that message based upon two elements: our values that enable us to relentlessly pursue a noble purpose and our independence to do the right things for our clients.
Our values
I believe what makes our values so authentic and powerful is the motivation behind those values and our collective dedication to live by them everyday. Marvin Bower once said in his book that McKinsey seeks to employ only people of character and responsibility and to create an unrivalled environment that encourages them to follow the golden rule: “Do unto others only that which you would have them do unto you.” It’s hard not to believe in that! McKinsey is committed to hiring those with character and integrity and training them to the highest ethical and professional standards. To achieve this, McKinsey creates a culture of excellence, mutual respect and caring, and self-control and discipline. My personal conviction and trust in the firm values evident in daily decisions is what motivates me to stay.
Our independence
McKinsey is an independent, private partnership. That independence is structurally protected by its ownership and enforced by its culture. The result is that it gives us the freedom and courage to do the right thing. I’ve personally observed many cases where McKinsey faced tough challenges when it would have been easier to not deliver our objective views to clients, especially when multiple stakeholders are affected. Because of our independence, we have repeatedly been able to help clients make fact-based, difficult objective decisions, which makes me proud to be a part of McKinsey.
Shaping “My McKinsey”
McKinsey deeply cares about individual growth and the success of its professionals. I am an example and a beneficiary of the firm’s commitment to allowing each person the flexibility to pursue and shape their own McKinsey, as long as decisions and direction are aligned with our values.
Pursuing my passion
While serving various clients on diverse set of topics, I became fascinated by the topics of leadership, talent development, and organizational transformation. Once I found my passion in these areas, McKinsey helped me fully dedicate my time to organization/leadership studies, pursue them during my MBA program and even after. When McKinsey offered me an opportunity to serve our people side of the mission, I grabbed it without hesitation and am so glad that I did. As director of professional development and recruiting, I am now devoting my time and energy to identifying and developing our talented people into great leaders and creating an unrivaled environment for our people.
Balancing personal life and professional growth
Throughout my career at McKinsey, I’ve taken leave four times: the first one was my maternity leave for my first child, the second leave to pursue my MBA program, the third was personal leave to be with a family member with a severe health condition, and finally leave to spend time with my two children who were starting at new schools. This is one of the benefits of working for project-based services where you can balance intensity of work and flexibility of time. During my leaves from work, McKinsey and my colleagues continuously reached out to help me stay connected with the firm professionally and personally.
There is a time for everything—and McKinsey has provided tremendous support and care not only to help me pursue my professional passion but also to devote undivided attention to what matters most in life.
Education
Harvard Business School
MBA
Korea University
MA, international relations; BA, English education