Consulting after university

[rocketblocks]

Has anyone's DC become a "management consultant" after university? Especially at the "MBB firms"?

I've seen banking threads on here but not many for consulting. What's it like? Hours wise etc?

I work in consulting in a tier 1 firm, though I’m not a consultant.

It is well paid, straight from uni is c.£50k and six figures by year 4-5, promotion is expected every 18-24 months and it is an up or out structure, so if you don’t perform then you are asked to leave. However, there is also help to gain the next role because there is value in our alumni being successful. an apprenticeship system effectively. Hours vary, but most generalists on a standard strategy case can expect 9-7-9pm usually, if in private equity then I would expect until 10-11pm.

Grads are expected to learn quickly, as generalists they usually span various sectors and will be expected to own their career, making sure to network etc to maximise staffing opportunities. There is usually some down time between projects so they can recalibrate but when staffed it can be intense. You can have a client call at 6pm and have to deliver for 10am the next day.

We tend to have two types of consultant:

• those who want this to be their career so they work up to Partnership
• those who will pursue other opps but having our name, training and experience will open many doors

Usually a student would apply for our vacation internship for the end of the second year of uni then they often get a job offer for when they graduate.

DS is a recent econ grad working a middle ish firm doing Econ consulting work (not competition policy) but lots of policy analysis where public bodies are the clients.

Does want to move into MBB after a few years of experience.

This is my second MBB gig and I’d say the best and most important thing is building network, if they meet MBB people keeping in touch etc. I’d also suggest they think about where they want to be - the M the B and the B all have very similar structure but they have quite different cultures.

DS has MBB friends. Went to an insight event for one of them at finishing a levels and loved it and found it so so fascinating .

DS tried to get in at MBB grad level got nowhere. Came close to some smaller companies but narrowly missed out. Now is doing some Econ Consulting and does want to perhaps go to a bigger firm after a year or 2.

@AgualusasLover DS has a 2.1 at UG and a merit at MSc (non-oxbridge). He thinks he doesn't have a shot.

I think increasingly MBB are taking Oxbridge and LSE economics graduates despite the inevitable cries of they recruit blind (they really don't).

A Big 4 firm would be a safer bet for him with as you say a move later. Further he may wish to look at some of the larger Magic Circle type law firms who are all now starting their own consulting arms eg. Allen & Overy.

Yeah good point. DS has fallen at the final hurdle for big4.

We've also read that MBB prefer Oxbridge over lse and required 1sts?

We definitely recruit more broadly than just Oxbridge and LSE, but they do still dominate.

I would second @Spirallingdownwards and try for
Big 4 and MBA (not sure if Big 4 fund this). It is usually easier to move laterally post MBA. But always keep talking/networking and follow up with every MBB person they meet.

@AgualusasLover would it have to be a US MBA?

No, but a respected school. LBS and INSEAD are
popular here.

Funding wise how do most people do this?

DS already has a taught MSc

Employer funding. We fund and the expectation is that they come back for a period of time. I have a friend who is a nurse and her Trust funded and a friend in Diplomatic Service who self funded.

Not everyone has an MBA but it is rare past a certain point that they don't and certainly every lateral hire I have met does (but this is obviously anecdotal and I only know who I know if you know what I mean).

It sounds like your son is at quite an early career stage, I would get another year or two before attempting to move and his role currently sounds quite specialised, so I would revert back to previous poster who suggested Big 4 that would be a middle stepping ground.

MBB recruit almost exclusively at Oxbridge (with a few from Imperial/LSE) and even here expect you to be among the best in your class. You need to crack their case interviews. Helps to join some consulting club while at Uni and practice these.

If he's missed out at undergrad level then he can get a second shot at it if he does an MBA from LBS or INSEAD. Most banks offer a loan if you get accepted to these two. Ensure that you apply for an MBA before you reach 28 or so cause despite what they say, they don't like people who are over 30 at graduation.

If he doesn't get in here then unfortunately it's highly unlikely to happen. People do jump from certain lower tier consultancies to M/B/B but it's rare and even here you need very good and part of the right team/sector to have a chance.

Lastly, hours are 12+/day but they tend to look for people who feed of of this type of work/environment. M/B/B is basically a fast-track to upper management within FTSE 100 companies. There's a reason it's so competitive.

In terms of the actual work what makes the MBB clients different to let's say Accenture's clients.

Clients are usually the same. Large multi-national companies or governments. MBB do a lot more strategy consulting, dealing directly with the CEO and other execs whereas Accenture and most of the others are more likely to be doing some work with the Ops or IT teams. Big 4 will likely have projects with Finance teams.

I'd ask a different question - why is he particularly wanting MBB rather than say, a Big? What is it he actually wants to do and get out of his career?

In any form of consulting you live and die by your network. Agree with PP that the cultures within each of the MBBs and Bigs vary hugely. However more importantly the difference between very large and small to medium consulting firms is huge.

The clients will be the same - Fortune 500 top tier companies. The key difference is that MBB solely do strat work, whereas the others have strat as one function they deliver. PWC, Deloitte and Accenture strat divisions will be doing much the same work as MBB but will often follow with wider services.

This means that there is more scope to develop a wider career if interests change in the Bigs and other top strat firms (which is not an uncommon move).

Oh also worth remembering that in the big strat firms the career path is "up or out". Smaller firms tend not to follow this model

@C8H10N4O2 DS would love to work at BCG because of their renewable energy and sustainability practice and their partnership with COP.

DS is doing sustainability work now actually.

All the big consulting firms have big sustainability practices - its flavour of the month at the moment. All can point to partnerships with COP, AI fringe and other large "good works" conferences - we all provide pro bono to these events, our clients expect it.

All the current generation of grads want to do "something" in sustainability without having much of a clue why. In five or ten years the fashion will have moved on - I'm more interested in the raw material than their interest in sustainability but if they express an interest in an area they need to show me they have thought it through and can articulate the interest.
Which specific area of sustainability is he working on at the moment with public sector?

What does he actually want to do longer term? If he is going to get through the interviews and the case study he will need to articulate this clearly. Too many grads want to work for "bigs" without being able to articulate why (or not brave enough to be honest about wanting the money).

I always ask strat candidates is "why strat" and if I get a half decent answer "why <specific area> of strat" and what do you have to offer in this space"? Astonishingly few people can answer this well and woolly answers won't cut it with clients. I'm looking for something more and clear articulation.

Worth noting that sustainability in public sector is incredibly popular with our public school Oxbridge graduates making competition fierce - might be worth casting the net a bit wider but it depends on his sustainability specialism.

The hours can be horrible but five years with us for someone early in their career is worth ten with any of our clients. Our clients know this and many people move into big companies at senior level mid career.

MBB doesn't necessarily only go for Oxbridge and the fact that they have fewer Imperial alumni could very well he because Imperial alumni tend to go for fields in tech/data science/finance related jobs instead more (am an alumna...and tech + finance, especially trading, were popular)

@C8H10N4O2 can I PM?

Echo everything that @C8H10N4O2 has said.

To share more info about his work? Yes sure.

Done

DD had three friends go that route. One has thrived, two had nervous breakdowns and left. It's tough. DD went to a smaller niche consultancy, and is very happy. Well paid, good company, good support. But not any of the big ones.