Why did I choose to leave McKinsey?

It's been a few years since I left the company. Although I really appreciate the firm for taking a chance on me and allow me to learn and start my career, I don't regret the decision of leaving.
In this video, I will explain why.

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[massivefoodbaby]

Great video! I'm a former MBB and currently transitioning to a startup. All points ring true but for me, the reasons for leaving have been (in no particular order): 1) The constant anxiety and stress of meeting internally inflated deadlines 2) The elitism aka the fishbowl effect. I often found myself only doing things because of the constant comparison to my peers 3) The thanklessness of our jobs and everything starting to feel superficial. Hope you find whatever it is you're looking for!

[angelathenerd]

Another ex-McKinsey here, doing my own startup now! This is bringing me back so many memories of getting car sick in a cab while making decks, flying in and out red-eye to join meetings, and all the anxiety and panic attacks I had. Thought I was going to enjoy cut throat industry myself, but truly it isn't for everyone. Great video, Angie!

[Stoic_Cat_]

I'm currently considering a consulting career and this video was very candid and useful .. especially the future me test :) thank you for sharing!

[vwmusicplaylist]

Brilliant video. Love how you speak as it's engaging, honest and gets straight to the point with no waffle or flim flam.

[bdo]

Imagine if people had the guts to put so much energy and determination to do their own thing instead of “prestigious” careers, we would witness a lot more geniuses…

[cmonster]

The one thing that helped me was that I made sure to fly out to customer sites on Sunday and get a good night's sleep at a nearby hotel and I left on Thursdays. No, it's not what most of my teammates did but they never negotiated anything for their positions, not even their salaries. Anyway, I stopped being a consultant for other companies and just started my own firm. I run it how I want to, choose only the clients that I want to work with, plan the engagements and hire other talented consultants who are rockstars in their own rights. I'm still busy but it's a good kind of busy.

[emilyau]

It's so interesting that during my research for this career I came across so many consultant YouTubers who hyped up the life, and then after a few months passed they'd post how they quit/left. Just goes to show in-depth research is important cause if I just watched the videos that showed they were happy then I would still believe I wanted this career.

[RT-xjel]

Great video! I am a consultant too and can vouch for the fact that the high end consultants are extremely arrogant. When I was a Sr. Engineer, I went back to college part time to get another Master's Degree. Accenture was on campus recruiting, so our prof told us we should go and check it out. I've never been more turned off by a company. I was a Sr. engineer and worked with Ph Ds daily and these 20 something kids were big timing the students and were so arrogant. I was not impressed had no respect for them. I felt horrible for the students that were there and just looking to start their careers. I could not imagine working with a more miserable bunch of condescending people.

[ignaciocordovapou]

This content is real and straightforward, thanks for being sincere.

[petrusgimbad]

I was a Consultant and everything you say is true. There is always the fight to find balance which is a luxury if ever you can get.

[mbbconsultinghacks]

Ex-BCG here and a lot of these really resonated. Thanks for sharing and loved the video!

[Tiberius_Gracchus]

Thanks for this video. Recently I got my MBA and have been considering a pivot to consulting.
The one thing giving me pause is the long hours. Putting in more than 10 hours a day (perpetually), just seems so wild to me. I don't understand how people can live like this. You put your physical and mental health (also personal relationships) in so much jeopardy.

[家铉陈]

nice video, feel the same even I just did an internship at a consulting company. ex intern at WTW(Willis Towers Watson), saw the "future me" from my colleagues and leader, and found out that the work-life balance did not exist, constant stressful and meaningless work(implementation? nah). so I quit before even had become a consultant. 4 months internship told me to quit...

[RobinOm]

Love this video! Such a realistic preview! As an HR professional this is valuable insight about the consulting employee experience.

[JannikausKölle]

Looking back would you start at McKinsey again and work for some years or would you rather directly start in a startup? I have the feeling that even though the work is really intense, the learnings and even more the prestige in the cv is very valuable while directly starting in a startup would often just lead to a typical Business development role

[mannix]

This is very brave and honest of you. Thanks

[williemsaputra]

All the 'why not' reasons is spot on! Typically a consultant will most likely will lose their inner circle friends that they have before being a consultant and the reason is because consultants are trap in the 'consultant bubble' environment..

[AA-dbcb]

A world that makes us the oblivious, self-centered and arrogant pricks we used to hate.
I really needed to get out before it was too late.

I love poetry.

[Yeah_Buddy_LIGHTWEIGHT]

Soon-to-be former consultant with one of the fastest growing, industry-specialized consulting firms. I am with the federal practice. The experience has been great with the firm and built a wide range of skills. The culture was actually pretty wholesome and positive and not cutthroat like other larger/prestigious consulting firms. However, I definitely echo your other points. I've been on several understaffed projects where I'm overworked, stressed, and anxious. One unique aspect with the projects I worked on and the federal clients I worked directly with: feds love to use and abuse consultants, in order to advance their control and power over the agency they serve. It's certainly been eye-opening and why I'm ultimately pivoting to the private sector. Definitely not a blanket statement that all federal clients are opportunists or terrible to work with, but it seems fairly common.

[zomgkitteh]

Thank you for the honesty! This was very helpful.