This is my 2 article series on why I left McKinsey.

One of the most frequent questions that I get is why I left McKinsey. Until now, I’ve been hesitant to address this in-depth – mostly because I didn’t feel it was relevant for what I was doing with Management Consulted, but also because I didn’t want to be perceived as a naysayer.

However, I think my story has valuable lessons for people entering the field, and for those that are currently working at a top firm.

In article #1, I’ll explain why I left and dive into what I perceive to be McKinsey (and generally speaking, the consulting industry’s) shortcomings for me personally. That’s important to keep in mind.

In article #2, I’ll dig into why I loved working there and the general benefits of a management consulting background.

I enjoyed my time at McKinsey, and wouldn’t have done it any differently. I actually tried leaving the company earlier than I did, but am glad in hindsight that I was persuaded against it.

There were 3 main reasons why I left – my entrepreneurial bug, a lack of interaction with customers/end users, and the service-oriented nature of the business.

Let’s dig into each of these.

1. An entrepreneurial bug

The interesting thing is that in school, I didn’t consider myself entrepreneurial. There were several half-assed attempts to start the occasional student group or business idea which never got far.

Instead, I was very much an “organization guy” – spending years at various organizations to achieve leadership positions in everything from SURJ (an undergraduate research publication) to student government.

I think a lot of people in life figure out what they want to do as a series of “anti-experiences”. In my case, working at several big companies (Google, Credit Suisse, McKinsey) taught me that I definitively did not want to work at a big company as a long-term career.

There were both mature reasons for that (the slow pace, the inefficient work processes, the lack of created value going into my own pocket) as well as immature reasons (having the occasional uninspiring boss, the 7am wake up times, the business casual dress code).

Regardless, my “anti-experiences” convinced me to start a company. That’s how I caught the entrepreneurial bug.

Oh, it also didn’t hurt that I loved technology, and in particular, the web. I wrote my first HTML website in 6th grade, and would often stay up at night reading HTML training manuals (don’t mention this to my future girlfriend).

2. Lack of consumer focus

Management consulting is at its core B2B. It may touch consumers indirectly (for example, when you’re consulting for a large consumer-packaged goods company), but your primary focus is delivering value to other companies.

This in itself is not a bad thing, but my passion is in working with consumers…and in most projects, we rarely interacted with them, if at all.

On one project, we needed to understand the behavior of small and medium-sized businesses (in particular, restaurants) and their purchasing behavior – so we spent a lot of time interviewing restaurant owners and managers and talking about their customer experiences.

On another project, we were helping a large yellow-book advertising business streamline their debt collection practices – so we spent a lot of time analyzing call-center employees and their interaction with customers.

That’s about as close as I got.

3. Consulting is a service, not a product

I use these terms loosely, but the key distinction to me is whether the outcome is repetitive or incremental.

For example, a barber is in a service industry – each outcome (the completed haircut) is repetitive. Facebook is a product business – the “Newsfeed” feature that was released is incremental and builds upon the existing Facebook website.

Consulting at its core is a service business. Every project is in many ways a new beginning – you go through the same process to pitch potential clients, scope a project, recruit a team, and solve the problem(s).

The output is remarkably similar across projects – generally a mixture of Microsoft Word memos and Powerpoint decks of findings delivered in presentations to client executives.

In fact, a favorite partner of mine once said, “we’re masters at reinventing the wheel”.

In addition, because you are an advisor and not responsible for execution, sometimes your work may be totally ignored – a .ppt file stored in some company intranet folder to be referenced 5 years later when the new CEO asks for a review of strategic options (“Oh, I remember we hired McKinsey a long time ago…let me see if I can dig up their stuff”)

To be clear, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t incremental aspects of the business – many of which I touch upon below (such as the accumulated knowledge base, the client relationships, etc).

However, what I like about being in a product business is its primarily incremental nature – it’s like building your own house and then renovating it over time.

With consulting, I felt as if I were renting an apartment, decorating it to my tastes, and then moving on 6 months later to a new apartment only to begin the process again.

These are the 3 main reasons. Of course, there are small nits – sometimes, I felt like a kid running around acting like an adult – it was tough pretending I knew something about life insurance marketing when I’d been on the project only one week, sitting across from executives 15 years my senior who had spent their professional lives focused on the problem.

There are always the engagement managers who manage workload poorly, the clients who have unpredictable and poorly defined demands, etc

But these are all small problems that aren’t unique to consulting, and weren’t the main contributors for my exiting McKinsey and moving on to start a company.

Hope that helps clarify. Please see part 2 (when it’s out) for reasons why I loved McKinsey, and why I would do it all over again.

Anything I said not make sense? Anything you disagree with? Please comment below!

I’m back in blog-posting mode now, so expect a major content injection in the next few days. Coming up, I have an interview with Steve Shu (of consulting blog fame).

For now, here’s a roundup of popular reader questions:

For a complete list of reader questions I’ve answered here at MC, visit the FAQ page. Ctrl-F to find what you need

I missed the summer recruiting cycle here at XYZ university. What can I do now?

The short answer is that you’ve missed out on your best shot at consulting internships. Its worthwhile now to initiate contact with your school recruiting office, recruiters at consulting firms that come to campus, etc – and explain your situation in brief with a resume attached.

At the same time, I’d look into alternative summer employment options – while helpful, it’s not mandatory to have a summer consulting internship for fulltime recruiting (there are very few of these to begin with).

What should I do with my Facebook and Myspace accounts? What about my blog?

Be careful when managing these resources. To be safe, remove all sensitive information and embarrassing photos. Even if you great control of privacy settings and your friend list, you never know how recruiters may wind up with potentially damaging information.

As to your blog – it can be a plus to mention that on your resume. At least a small percentage of the time, resume reviewers will visit your site. Make sure the content and site design are high-quality and leave a positive impression on visitors.

I’d be careful with tough-to-substantiate claims on your resume. If you state that you founded a private equity firm in college and a quick Google search for your “Rising Equity” PE fund shows a picture of 4 teenagers on a dumpy-looking website, you’re in trouble.

What�s the difference between first and second round interviews?

First rounds are broad in scope � used as a tool to make sure you reach a general bar in whatever characteristics that firm is looking for � typically some combination of analytics and communication skills. First round cases are straight-forward and cover general concepts (e.g., declining profits, expansion into new markets).

Second rounds are more particular, and focused on two things. One, probing any weaknesses that your first round interview may have shown, and two, ensuring that you�re a good fit in that particular environment/office. That�s part of the reason why first rounds are local (e.g., at your school) and second rounds are on-site (e.g., in the office that wants to hire you). In second rounds, you also meet and interview with more people and typically have contact points across the firm (e.g., with analysts, more seasoned consultants, and partners).

There have been some important changes in my life that I think firms will want to know. How should I update them (if at all)?

This is a popular question. My advice here is to only communicate updates when they are critical to decision-making.

Small GPA increases, school-wide prizes, new leadership positions – not important.

International awards and fellowships, brand-name firm internships – important.

In your update, you must not come across as arrogant. The best way is to send an updated resume to your firm recruiter contact with the following:

“Dear Sir/Madam, I wanted to send you an updated resume for my file. I recently received the Harry Truman Scholarship for public service and wanted that to reflect in my record. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!”

I’m still too young to apply for management consulting jobs but want to get a head start. What types of jobs teach you the skills that will be helpful in consulting?

Anything business-oriented where you can show the following things: ability to manage people and teams; capacity to learn sophisticated concepts; ability to drive measurable impact in your team/group/division. The firm’s brand-equity is important (eg, Goldman Sachs is more valued than Wachovia).

After several years in finance, I’ve decided to transition into consulting. How do I start?

No direct experience here, but the parallel/experienced hire process is similar across professions. It’s best to have “internal champions” – those within your target firm that forward your resume to recruiters internally, write positive recommendations, help get the ball rolling. Headhunters play a role – but less so in management consulting than in private equity/hedge funds. Reach out to your extended network and generate contacts. Talk to peers/colleagues that have made similar transitions. And keep me posted as this is one area I need to understand better and share with readers.

How do you find boutique consulting firms to see if they’re a good fit for you?

Tough question. Unlike investment banking, there is no centralized database of boutique consulting firms. They’re tough to define (since there are countless one-man consulting shops). The
Vault Guide to the Top 50 Management and Strategy Consulting Firms, 2009 Edition is a good start. Google Search is another resource. Finally, there are many forums where you can receive advice (WallStreetOasis Consulting Cabaret and Vault Consulting Message Boards among them). I’ll be writing a short article on good consulting forums soon.

A reader recently posted data on their post-MBA salary/signing bonus offer at a major consulting firm. It’s lower than the data in my salary post so I wanted to share below:

“I accepted an offer this year with a top Consulting Company (post MBA in June) for $115 base, 20% bonus, and $10K signing. Consulting companies are not offering starting packages this year as high as they did the in the past 3 years. I expect to �catch up� in the next few years as times get better.”

Are thank you letters necessary?

While in finance, they can be optional – I’d strongly recommend writing one in consulting. Why? Because decision-making timeframes are typically longer in consulting; consultants have blackberries and continuous access to email; most interviewers appreciate the gesture and at the very least, it’ll keep your name in their minds for longer.

Thanks for reading! If you’re new, here are some recommended posts: The Consulting Industry 101; Investment Banking vs Management Consulting; Day in the life of a Management Consultant; Overview of the recruiting process; The Management Consulting Dictionary

UPCOMING POSTS: Life as a Consultant: Interview with Steve Shu; Great forums and other online resources for current and aspiring consultants; You were turned down. Now what?

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