The interview process is extremely tough. Working at McKinsey makes you feel like one of the absolute top, you feel prestigious and that you are among the best and brightest in the country. You will not make it into the company unless you are the top in your industry, specialization, or university.

Mckinsey is the industry leader in consulting, and has been continuously expanding its influence. It has extremely strong ties to high level executives in the Fortune 500 companies since many of them are alumni of Mckinsey. With that said, it is also incredibly difficult to get into the firm. Mckinsey is often understaffed, and at times need to turn down work. However, they are extremely careful with the quality of people they pick to hire. You need to be brilliant and resilient to get in.

I was hired as an Associate at McKinsey in 2006. I received $125,000 in salary and a bonus of 25% at the end of the year.

The people here are of very high-caliber. I can honestly say that I respect every person in the company and feel that they are extremely driven, motivated, and intelligent. The culture is very friendly, everyone works together as a team, and the managers and executives want to see you do well within the company.

Consultants put in very long hours at McKinsey. We work an average of 70 hours a week. The dress code is very formal: men wear suit and ties and woman where dresses or suit pants. Casual Fridays aren't really that casual: no jeans or skirts are allowed.

There is a lot of diversity in the company. I have worked with lawyers, PhDs, MBAs, physicists, athletes, orchestra directors, and artists. The hours at the company are long, about 60 hours a week. The dress at the company is very formal and the culture is very formal as well.

The dress code at McKinsey is very conservative. The whole company culture is pretty much very structured. Your advancement within the company is structured, group projects and client interactions are structured, and it gives you the feeling that you're always being evaluated. The company is very good at giving you feedback whenever your request it.

I truly dislike the environment here at McKinsey. The culture is very cut throat. There is so much competition that people are looking to undermine each other. Everyone is trying to appeal to their superiors instead of focusing on creating good work. They overwork you without really paying you better. Overall, if you worked somewhere else, you could probably shine and be appreciated in your firm. At Mckinsey, you're just one of the folks that people grind to pump out cash.

I was offered the position of Associate Consultant in 2004 and received $105,000 with a signing bonus of $10,000. I get 20 days of paid time off which is standard.

Being the huge brandname that it is, Mckinsey does not go out of its way to create stupendous compensation packages. The compensation is pretty solid in the industry but people aren't compensated more. At least it is not as bad as Google's Compensation package :)

The people here are very supportive and they all want to see you move up within the company. You have to be proactive when it comes to finding a mentor (the company will not automatically set you up with one). You have to make an effort to talk to the partners, but if you do make the effort, then they definitely will give you a lot of advice.

The company is very tied to the economy. If the economy is doing well, then you will feel absolutely great at work. Your pay will increase, perks will increase, and employee morale is very high. During an economic downturn, you will get cut if you are one of the lower performing people. This is a very stressful job, but it is well worth it because the work that you do is amazing and the things that you will learn is unrivaled.

McKinsey is all about bringing value to clients and developing its consultants. We spend a lot of time developing our consultants through training, performance reviews, and mentoring. You will constantly feel challenged at McKinsey and feel that you always need to strive for more.

Coming out of MBA school, McKinsey was definitely my number one choice. I believe that most MBAs and now PhDs and MDs feel that way as well. In terms of the caliber of the people here, you will find that McKinsey only employs the cream of the crop. This firm is extremely tough to get into.

The growth in the company is up or out. If you prove that you can bring great things to the company and create great value, then you will immediately be rewarded for your hard work. If you do not perform well, or are just mediocre, then the company has no need for you and you will be removed from the company. This is good for me because I want to work with people who care about the company and that are able to bring value.

A lot of long hours, a lot of travel, lots of interesting and diverse work, and a group of very intelligent people. The travel is what almost burnt me out. I traveled Monday through Thursday, every week, for about 2 years. The good thing is that I hardly ever work weekends.

Most of the people that I meet at McKinsey are very nice and approachable. There is the occasional person on the team who has a large ego or who has an indifferent personality. I love the diversity in the office and the ability to constantly work with different people on different projects.

The work here is always challenging and exciting. Hours are pretty good with 50-60 hours a week depending on if you are traveling or not. Some DD projects can be done on weekends voluntarily, but is never forced. There's a lot of team work and problem solving. You will also get a lot of feedback from EMs, and you need to improve yourself appropriately.

I got paid $115,000 as a Associate Consultant with 20 days of paid vacations. Quite good.

The growth in McKinsey is up or out. You will be rewarded for the value that you create and your ability to perform well with the clients. If you underperform or just perform at par, you will be booted out of the company. The growth is good, but at times it feels like you get moved up when you had just gotten comfortable in a position.

The firm is all about giving feedback. Every time you work on a project, interact with a client, or finish a task, you will be given a full review and you will know exactly what you did right and what you can improve. Listening to the feedback is very important because if you take it in and demonstrate that you learned on your next project, then you will be immediately rewarded.

There is a physical hierarchy in each team. You will have your senior team members and your junior team members and you will be clearly defined to the company. The beauty is that every member of the team is encouraged to develop solutions for the company. You will not be locked into grunt work; instead, you will be working hand-in-hand with the seniors on the team to develop a solution that the client can implement. The best thing is that if you create the best solution, you will be given the credit for your work. Your input is just as valuable as a Partner's input.

A lot of our alumni go off to Fortune 100 or Fortune 500 companies. McKinsey does a great job at leveraging the alumni network to further business development. The McKinsey name is known throughout the business world. You will be respected at any place you decide to go after McKinsey.

Growth within the company is mandatory. You will not find people staying in one position for more than 3 years. This doesn't suite me that well because I prefer to move up within a company when I feel that I am ready. It is stressful because you constantly feel that you have to move up or you'll be out.

The best advice that I can give is to choose your engagement manager wisely (if you're given the option to choose). If you get a good engagement manager, then you will have an extremely rewarding time at McKinsey. If your manager is bad, then he (or she) will work you to the ground and you'll hate your job.