Her Story
About Jo
Jo Kakarwada serves as Senior Expert Engagement Manager at McKinsey. She has held this position for the past three years and has been with the firm for approximately eight years overall. In this role, she counsels clients on growth strategies, investment theses, and identifying risks in the semiconductor market from a global, geopolitical, and investment perspective. Jo began her career in 2009 as a design engineer in semiconductors. She transitioned into consulting after realizing she preferred systems-level thinking over grassroots engineering work, allowing her to understand the broader context behind technical decisions.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jo
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Get very clear on what you want out of your career. Get as vivid and as clear as possible, as specific as possible on what you want. How you want your day to look like, what do you want, what kind of impact do you want, what kind of financial return do you want out of the hard work you're putting in? What are your priorities? Unless you can figure out what you actually want out of your career, it's very hard to build a path to navigate. And once you have figured that, find people who inspire you, who have crafted a similar path, and who inspire you, who are aligned with how you want to live your life, or how you want to show up in that role. Diligently get advice from them. The 5 minutes of conversation you will have with them will help you either navigate your path better, or understand that this is not for you. Either of them are helpful. So the only suggestion I would give anybody is figure out what you exactly want, find people who have petted that path, and go talk to them. Even if it's for 5 minutes, talk to them.
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