Like most people on Blind, I work in tech, among like-minded people. However, I have interviewed with BCG, McKinsey etc in the past, and I noticed that they only hire skinny, upper-class-looking people for Consultant roles. I had a few extra pounds at the time, and I was told by one of my colleagues that they prefer a certain look which I don't have. Their hiring criteria is also a bs case study where they try to gauge a person's energy level. Is this true?
I use to work there. It's literally the business model, but just break it down: Let's pretend you own a business and need some help. Do you want an energetic, hard working person to help you? Or do you want a fat, lazy slob with poor social skills and bad hygiene? Ok so the answer is clear, I want highly educated, social, hard working people. These people usually go to better universities, and are usually in shape, and usually dress well, and usually take time to do their hair and floss... They start to look a certain way. So yes, there is a pattern. But you're missing the point - it exists for a good reason.
Correct. Maybe what OP is getting at what companies really want is to be given advice that increases their value. It happens (naturally being humans) that these things are seen as a proxy for trustworthy, smart, hardworking, etc. OP might disagree with these as valid, but McK and BCG exist to serve clients and what the clients want and pay for is what matters
Yes, they care about charisma. Being charismatic as a fat person is simply harder, although not impossible.
If you think you can do better, open a consulting firm and hire some fat slobs to represent you. Once the business fails, come back and let us know what you learned about sales and marketing(consulting’s real job).
I only know skinny ppl who work there
Previously at Bain. Long time consultant here...sadly appearance matters. It's not that all my colleagues are skinny, but they are all well-maintained, well-dressed, groomed and hygienic. I had a client once that asked us to remove an associate from our team because he didn't cut his nails and wasn't well-groomed. True story. Side note: not everyone in consulting is naturally pretty or good looking. But damn, if you invest in yourself and the way you carry yourself, you'd be surprised how good anyone can look. Lastly, I had a younger (female) colleague once tell me that when men take care of themselves (well-groomed), then that in itself is attractive regardless of he is good looking or not. I think same applies to women too. Bottom line, "few" pounds wont hurt you unless you come across looking like you can't carry yourself well. Sad but true. Appearance is the leetcode of consulting. Keep practicing.
All probably have manzilians
It might be said that overweight people have a compulsive or addictive issue they struggle with. The lack of exercise could be seen as a disbelief of widely proven scientific norm. You personally would disagree but they see certain traits, behaviors and interactions they don’t want to expose to their customers. Unfortunately, it’s easier to complain about “exclusion” than to deal with the real issues.
This is a theory I have that is absolutely fascinating, but not politically correct. I often find myself wondering if fat people have a disconnected wire in their brain. They seem to suffer from an invisible addiction, only made visible by their fat. I think about it all the time, but I'm not socially inept so I don't talk about it anywhere.
Well, it depends on other factors in your life too. Melania Trump doesn't do shit all day, and she is fit. On the other hand, a Harvard PhD with 20 publications in top journals might have a few extra pounds.
Have a roommate in McK. Looks matter in business much Much MUCH more than tech. Got to groom the next class of partners with high end brand clothing and fit people