✅ Pros
Intellectual stimulation is unmatched. The problems are genuinely complex and high-stakes.
⚠️ Cons
Up-or-out model is brutal and women leave at measurably higher rates than men above associate level.
💡 Advice: Find a senior female partner as sponsor before you need one. Without active sponsorship, the odds worsen significantly.
✅ Pros
The McKinsey brand opens every door that comes after. Worth the sacrifice for exactly 2–3 years.
⚠️ Cons
Travel demands are structurally incompatible with caring responsibilities. Almost entirely male at VP+.
💡 Advice: Go in with a defined exit timeline. Two years, then leverage the brand and move somewhere that values you fully.
✅ Pros
Colleagues are extraordinary. The peer quality here is the single biggest draw.
⚠️ Cons
Women consultants are frequently asked to take on admin or culture work that counts for zero at review time.
💡 Advice: Push back explicitly on non-billable asks. "That's not in my development goals this cycle" is a complete sentence.