A Sy Syms Student Goes for the Gold: A Position at McKinsey

In August 2019, at the begin of her sophomore yr, Rachel Doretsky ’22SB promised herself that by the time she graduated, she would snag a great career that authorized her to make aliyah.

This September, the Very long Island native will preserve that guarantee when she joins McKinsey & Organization in Tel Aviv as a enterprise analyst, getting to be one particular of the to start with YU undergraduates to protected a situation at one of “the most selective employers in the world, a company recognised for its notoriously competitive using the services of approach,” in accordance to The Economist.

How did this Sy Syms alumna get her foot in the door? Doretsky chalks it up to really hard operate, tenacity and, as she pointed out, “the realization that there are no quick cuts. If you want a little something, you will need to be prepared to work for it and do whatsoever it can take to get there.” Encouraging her make the self-assurance and savvy to do just that was an array of sources she named on to navigate the road to McKinsey’s Tel Aviv workplace: mentoring associations with professors and alumni, interning at the YU Consulting Power, membership in YU’s Consulting Society (a new alumni-led group assisting YU students crack into the field) and management roles in the YU chapter of the university student-operate TAMID club.

When she started off at the Sy Syms College of Organization, she was passionate about accounting, “but just after two semesters, I understood it wasn’t the vocation for me.” She sought suggestions from Dr. Sharon Poctzer, Chair of the System and Entrepreneurship Office at Sy Syms, who pointed out plenty of prospects in company other than accounting. Coincidentally, as Doretsky was thinking of her selections for a new major, the YU Consulting Power, an internship program that consists of YU college students in consulting tasks for non-revenue, was accepting programs for its inaugural cohort of interns. (Dr. Noam Wasserman, dean of Sy Syms, made the Consulting Force in April 2020 when Covid forced the cancellation of most internships.)

Doretsky utilized, received in, and identified what daily life as a specialist might be like. That moved her to boost her participation in TAMID, a university student club that assists undergrads build competencies like consulting techniques by connecting them remotely with Israeli corporations. A single of her consulting tasks at TAMID was with Zebra Medical Vision, a clinical software package firm specializing in AI and lately acquired by Nanox.AI.

Her game strategy was shaping up perfectly. She experienced improved majors to finance and method/entrepreneurship and set her sights on McKinsey as a potential employer, a option enthusiastic by her involvement with YU’s Consulting Society. Armed with an Excel spreadsheet and tapping into her YU community, Rachel methodically achieved out more than the program of a 12 months via LinkedIn to McKinsey’s Israel recruiter to discover about the leadership competencies and expertise the organization sought in a prospect, all whilst constructing a rolodex of organization contacts. “I spoke with business enterprise analysts, consultants, engagement professionals, affiliate partners and even a partner—as numerous McKinsey people as attainable. As a result, I fulfilled more than one particular-3rd of the company prior to getting interviewed.”

With the groundwork laid, she used to McKinsey in December 2021. What followed were a demanding series of a single-on-one circumstance interviews with consultants, engagement professionals and senior companions made to assess her analytical capabilities to resolve hypothetical small business problems.

Right after four rounds of effective interviews, which took months of preparation, Doretsky been given an give in February 2022 to be a part of McKinsey Tel Aviv as a company analyst. Before long immediately after, one more Sy Syms graduating senior received an provide from a McKinsey business office in the U.S., earning this a breakthrough year for YU undergraduates in this rising field.

Rachel Doretsky’s tips for success is simple and straightforward. “Be completely ready to pivot. Be individual but passionate, and when you decide what you want, go after it relentlessly, even if it indicates likely outdoors your comfort and ease zone. After I experienced fingers-on expertise in consulting and understood I beloved it, I did no matter what it took to arrive at my purpose.”