Johan, Specialist, McKinsey & Company

I work exclusively on sustainability topics. To be more specific, I work on electric vehicle, energy storage, and batteries. The clients we advise are among the largest auto makers in the world (VW, Renault, Stellantis, Mercedes, BMW, JLR, Volvo, etc.). Think of any electric car you see on the streets of Paris, 99% chance that McKinsey is consulting them.

I am project leader 4 years after graduating from SciencesPo and we advise the auto makers on strategy-related topics such as: make or buy decision (e.g., do I make the batteries in Europe or import them from China), JV strategy (if I make the batteries in Europe, which company should I partner with) and ramp-up support (once I decide to build in Europe, how do I best set up my factory to achieve operational excellence and be competitive against China).

I don’t do this alone of course, but McKinsey has a huge expert network including people that actually ran these factories and ex-CEOs of battery producers.

Don’t forget the basics: the bread and butter of any analytical job is still (even in the age of AI) – top notch PowerPoint and excel skills. These things you can practice at Uni, and should be refined there before you hit the job market.

SciencesPo in particular helped me find my internships which in the end helped me land this position at MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain).

Weekly interactions with CxO (CFO, CSO, CEO) of global companies. How else would you be able to advise CFO, at the age of 30, of a global automotive brand?

Taking a gap year during the Master was key. I did two internships there (EU and BMW), which were super valuable to learn the skills I needed for McKinsey.

Internship experience is key. If you are reading this text, you are already at Sciences Po so you check most employers ‘Educational’ boxes. Now your work experience has to match your education background. As I am also doing interviews now at McKinsey, I can tell you, I would rather have a student with medium grades from Sciences Po with 3 relevant internships than a top-grade student with 0-1 internship only.