About Information Analyst / Research Analyst

walkaline

I learn from the JD of McKinsey that the primary responsibilities of Information Analyst / Research Analyst are:

• Support client engagements: retrieve, assess and synthesize company, industry, and economic data
  
• Build McKinsey knowledge base: alert consultants to business trends and support/drive research activities
  
• Develop department infrastructure: expand information sources, industry contacts, and databases/materials for quick retrieval

Does this indicate a lot of desk research? How long will it take for an IA/RA to get promotion to BA?

Thanks & Happy new year!

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-2-3 12:32:18编辑过]

walkaline

Up!

thrillerjs

very good question.

co-ask about its career path and is there a big difference between IA and RA? is the job boring....

does the position also have future chances of going to IB，PE....?

thanks a lot in advance

yich1981

This is an outsourcing sector of MCK, primarily speaking, to relieve ba or consultants from miscellaneous info collection. quite despiriting...

it originates from india, using local poorly-paid graduates to do partial of consultants' work. like many other companies do in india, e.g. call centre...

thrillerjs

i see.. so it's both boring and poorly paid.

could you shed some light on its career path? i mean, is that totally bad?

of course everything based on your performance. i mean if you work well, what regular chances will you have?

yich1981

ra... then senior ra... then, i heard sb. hopped to other companies, same as industry analyst, but a little higher pay.

thrillerjs

thanks. looks like really not a very good position....

about the pay, can it reach half of that paid to the same level of consultants?

and as IA or RA or ...whatever of Mck, is there a better chance or getting admitted by top MBA schools?

remo

interesting answer, but not truly right.

India knowledge center, or called "McKC" is the captive offshoring knowledge processing subsidary of McKinsey (pls note: not "outsourcing", in case you don't know the difference between "captive" and "outsourced")
In terms of China Knowledge Center, it is neither "outsourcing" (becoz it is still part of McK) nor "offshoring" (becoz it mainly supports China-specific engagements).


In terms of working content, you were partially rite that many times ppl do data/information intensive research - as was required by any consulting firm. But, you should also know that different level of research ppl may have different focuses. For most junior ppl, thats the case. For senior RA above, ppl are more "used" as "associate" (aka consultant).

Besides, in McK, there are also consulting line (which is client facing in most cases), and "practice" (which sometimes focuses more on knowledge development, industry study, benchmarking, etc). Different kind of working style, different focuses, different lifestyles sometimes, but not necessarily always like that... again, it depends on what study/engagement you are involved, and how much "impact" you have among the consultants/EMs/partners.

As for pay, yes, less than consultants, but working hrs also less, and more flexible.

thrillerjs

long time no log in..so excited to find such a good answer. looks like it's from some insiders.

thanks very much for you reply. so encouraging and helpful.

yich1981

a concrete answer from remo i bet u r an ia/ra in mck.

logically speaking, an insider's view is also not objective, since it is an insider, a stake-holder who tend to defend his belonging.