Mckinsey vs Blackstone
I have an offer to Mckinsey in a regional office for BA and to Blackstone as an analyst in NYC in RE.
I'm not sure if I want to do RE and BX might pigeonhole me, but BX is in a Tier 1 city and is also a huge name, and I could maybe switch to other groups later on in BX. On the other hand, Mckinsey will allow me to have a broad range of exit opportunities in many industries and is in a very LCOL city, but it is also a regional city so it may have fewer exit opps than Mckinsey NYC. Mckinsey hours are probably lower than BX hours, and would have a large analyst class while BX I would be one of only a few analysts.
Any advice?
All I can say is if you work at BX, you can probs recruit to McKinsey later down the line, but doing the opposite is much harder
BX hands down
Reasoning?
McKinsey
Reasoning?
Obviously Blackstone
Reasoning?
Better brand, much more unique - mck churns out thousands of offers a year, better network, better pay, smarter and more impressive colleagues who will go on to land better jobs etc. Effectively better on every dimension, besides when you strongly feel about not doing RE. But even then you can probably switch and do something totally different at another company. Mckinsey is very pedestrian and non unique as an experience compared to Blackstone
bump
REPE or RE Asset Management?
Not REPE, it is RE Capital Markets
Will try to provide some answer since no one else is helping, but I admittedly dont know much about BX RE, which limits how helpful my advice can be.
A regional office for MBB will not really change your exit opportunities from what I know - I wouldn’t let that drive your decision. The regional vs non-regional office distinction isn’t really a thing in consulting. You can recruit for any city + industry without significant disadvantage.
I don't know the flexibility you have starting in RE to move industries. McKinsey on the other hand will definitely allow you to place into top PE funds. These are hard seats to land (not everywhere will take consultants) but definitely very doable.
Of course, Mck will also have more flexibility outside of finance.
So I would base the decision on a) how many people move from BX RE to solid non-RE roles and b) how dead set you are on PE in general
Bump
Second this. And more generally, don't ever join a firm because you think it will be back door to some other (often more highly touted) part of the firm. These high-status departments are well aware of the fact that everyone else at the firm would love to "break in" to their group. So they do things to make sure they're always getting the best candidate instead of letting internals get a leg up.
Not necessarily saying choose McKinsey, I think some others in this thread have made a good case for BX. But don't do it in the hope of sliding over to BX PE.
Keep in mind MBB/Consulting --> investing often orients more towards ops focus.
BX RE is the top group, and I wouldn't discount what others are saying in that the door is significantly more closed at BX/buy-side roles, vs. McK, which is almost guaranteed with BX on your resume. Worst case, you could really just do 1 year (or even like 6 months) at BX and bail for MBB. Plus city. Really feels like a no-brainer to me.
Of course if you feel strongly about future career path in one over the other-- that's what's most important, but considering you landed both gigs I'm assuming it's less skewed.
Update: Took Mckinsey. Was actually a pretty easy decision after thinking about it as I do not know at all if I want to be in RE and I find plenty of other industries interesting as well, and I don't know what I want to do long term. Heard that BX makes it hard to transfer internally and RE is a pigeonhole.
Congratulations on what for me is the right decision in your case
Thank you! While some people I know where surprised to hear that I turned down BX, I’m confident it was the right decision for me because of the aforementioned reasons (I definitely am interested in multiple industries and have no idea what to do long term)
Good choice! If you're unsure then McKinsey will give a much broader set of opportunities to explore, and much better exit options to various industry.
Blackstone is obviously a world-class choice for finance careers but believe it not most folks outside NYC finance don't even know what it is, or how to value that experience (or that it's as elite as it is).
McKinsey
Dude can I pm you? In a similarly situated position (explain over DM) and would like to hear how you made your decisions
Sure
Yea bro username?
Sit veritatis est et natus temporibus. Aut eius voluptatem et voluptas aperiam. Est adipisci tempore sed et hic natus. Beatae cupiditate et voluptatibus nam.
Blanditiis quas quis ea at animi. Reiciendis totam aliquid voluptatem quas et iusto aut. Aut qui commodi aut rem eveniet in deleniti. Excepturi dolorem autem doloribus.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Atque id qui error voluptatem temporibus iste. Qui vel eveniet ratione omnis cumque. Minima iusto itaque velit laborum veniam.
Dignissimos perspiciatis maiores repellendus velit ex. Saepe non non soluta consectetur est est. Rem distinctio quo amet eos sed tenetur rerum. Et voluptas esse facere ut ad quis.
Ab debitis eveniet autem harum aut error id ut. Saepe dolorum officia error est et eum cupiditate. Magnam aliquam quia nisi.