“It’s great to be able to make your own McKinsey, to follow your passions and carve out a niche for yourself with the firm.”

The first six years of my career I spent in restructuring and corporate-finance roles in London and Doha. Despite the interesting projects I was working on, I was ready for a new challenge. I was passionate about having a more direct impact on my clients and being more involved in pioneering strategy work. I knew McKinsey would provide me with such a challenge. Since joining, I have focused mostly on projects in the oil and gas industry and the public sector, which is markedly different from my previous work. I have had the privilege of working closely with experts in these fields on a wide range of issues, including large-scale strategic transformations, postmerger integrations, and operational-excellence work. It’s great to be able to make your own McKinsey, to follow your passions and carve out a niche for yourself within the firm.

Bringing the best people together

I had a fantastic opportunity to work with a government in the Middle East, assisting in its national strategy of educating citizens for the workplace and preparing them for professional life through short, online courses on key skills necessary in a highly productive environment. The project took about eight months—from initial concept and strategy to full launch of the platform—with around 100,000 unique learners signing up for these courses in the first few months after the launch. It was amazing to see the best of the firm from all over the globe come together—from technology and education experts to consultants with expertise in various sectors—to develop the curriculum for the courses.

No two consultants are the same

On one of my recent projects, I worked with two partners who couldn’t have been more different in their approach. One was very pragmatic and focused on practical approaches, while the other was more conceptual and focused on the bigger picture. These different perspectives helped the team look at all aspects of the issues the client was facing and come up with solutions that met multiple needs effectively. Bringing these diverse perspectives to our clients and teams and getting the best of all worlds is truly only possible at McKinsey. There is not one McKinsey profile, and that’s our strength.

A supportive firm

While the work–life balance can be difficult at times, especially at the beginning or end of a project, the firm is tremendously supportive in allowing time off when you need it. During the summer, I am able to take additional leave under McKinsey’s Take Time program, which affords me a fantastic opportunity to spend more quality time with my kids over their summer holiday and travel the world with them.