“What is it like to work at McKinsey?”, was one of the topics addressed during an online presentation session organised by McKinsey & Company, this Wednesday, November 11th, which brought together more than 160 Técnico students. Six Técnico alumni who currently work in the management consulting firm participated in the session: Nuno Meneses, Associate Partner, Joana Silva, Engagement Manager, Eduardo Mendonça, Senior Specialist, Beatriz Gamito, Recent hire, Pedro Castel-Branco, Engagement Manager, and David Tavares, also Engagement Manager.

The vice-president of Técnico for Operations and Enterprise Relationships, professor Pedro Amaral, stressed the importance of “connecting students and companies”. “These sessions allow students to know what companies are looking for and the different opportunities. It’s very important that students become aware of what they would like to do in the future”, he said.

The students were challenged to share what they really knew about the management consulting firm and why did they have attended the session.

David Tavares made a general presentation of McKinsey and highlighted the unique opportunities, the investment made in knowledge, the fields of action and the different challenges for someone who joins the firm. “In total, we are more than 30,000 and we are about 100 in Lisbon office. We provide support to 15 of the 20 largest Portuguese companies, helping them to improve their performance and to solve their problems”, said the Engagement Manager.

The work dynamics, the opportunity for continuous learning, the diversity of working areas and projects, the network of contacts, and the importance of being a Técnico students were some of the topics addressed during the session.

The recruitment process, the “work environment” at McKenzie and remote work, were some students questions.

Nuno Meneses shared his experience and demystifyied some ideas around consultancy: “I have found a place at McKinsey where I continue to evolve, I continue to work on my engineering training, I can solve various problems. I also discovered that McKinsey is like a big family. I have met many mentors, many people whom I ask for and give advice on how to improve the work we do and that’s amazing”.

“McKinsey is a place that allows us to keep using critical thinking skills, which was something that we learnt at Técnico”, said Nuno Meneses.