IB BB vs McBCG

Although I have already spent a couple of days thinking about this decision I would welcome some suggestions on it.

I am from France, did my bachelor at a target uni here and interned both with BB (GS/MS/JP) in London and McK/BCG in Paris. I enjoyed both internships and received both offers - that's where the problem starts.

I don't really care about the amount of work for my next 2 yrs and I don't want to start another lifestyle discussion of working longer vs. travelling all week. It is more about the future perspectives of both jobs. Those are my top 3 pro arguments for both choices and maybe some member here can add to that and help me figuring it out.

IB: Liked my team and the people, strong industry-sector focus in which I would like to stay long-term, (at first view) better exit opps

Consulting: Intellectually more challenging, not just finance and I would not consider myself a strong finance guy who checks FT and dealalert every 30 mins, pays MBA (though not sure if I want to do it or if bachelors degree is enough)

Please don't aks me where I want to work in the long-term. I don't know. Thus the next question is if it would be easier to switch from IB to consulting or vice versa.

Any input appreciated! Thanks already.

 

imo, IB beats consulting anytime in EU

since you are in Europe, you probably know that average MD @ BB here considers MBA a crap and that you can (extremely) rarely see successful associates who went through UG->MBB->MBA->IB/PE route. if you are considering a career in US, it would obviously be a different story, but i'd still pick IB.

i think that IB @ top BB will give you much stronger exit opps, better brand on the resume, higher bonus, good experience, better network etc. life will be harder, but those 2 years really are something unique

that's just my 2 cent

good luck

 

well, I'd say it's tougher to switch from consulting to IB than vice versa...but you already have banking experience under your belt that'd def be useful if you ended up going consulting full time and later changed your mind.

I guess exit opps from IB are better in terms of flexibility? ex if you want to go to a hedge fund or do PE. but again, these routes are still open if you did consulting too (although perhaps a bit tougher).

 
Best Response

Thanks so far for you thoughts!

@Battleship: Is the career path you described really so untypical? The team I interend in had some 3-4 Summer Associates, of those the majority had a consulting background (not even McBCG but OW and Roland Berger SC). I think they converted pretty successfully. How to you rate that the brand name is better? And that you will build a bigger network?

@Whiskey5: Troll or any reasoning behind that?

@justaburner: Is HF and PE really open if I was doing consulting?! PE somehow (although it is easier to break into teams like KKR Capstone than the investing teams, right?) but HF?

 

I would say, personal preference, McK > GS > MS/JPM > BCG

If you want the doors to open that's how I would see it, personally. I don't think you could rule out any exit ops from working at McK. But I think it might be the case if you worked at BCG that you wouldnt get the same opportunities at PE and HFs as you would from IBD. Shoot me down if I'm wrong.

 

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