Consulting --> MBA --> Consulting
Hi All,
Just wanted to ask what are the chances of getting into the M7/LBS/INSEAD B-schools after doing consulting from big-4 and second tier consulting firms such as Oliver Wyman, Parthenon etc.
How would you rate Accenture MC, Hewitt, Hay, ZS for the same objective?
I hope getting into M7 will pave a path to join MBB.
Many Thanks!!
Large disparity between Big 4 and OW/Parthenon.
Big 4 consulting places fairly well into MBA programs. From my fairly small group, I about half of the people who left for MBAs to M7 schools and the rest went on top-25.
One big plus to the Big 4 (offsetting their many weaknesses) is that they provide the opportunity to get a "manager" title fairly soon (4-5 years) and provide a lot of opportunities to do secondments abroad, work with big-name clients, etc.
interesting piece of info - can you back into the roles/titles before "manager" eg "business analyst" for 2 years then...?
I think it's:
Business Analyst --> Consultant --> Senior Consultant --> Manager--> Senior Manager-->Partner
Source: other WSO posts
So, its okay to get into big 4 if your aiming to get into M7...
And as far as I observe (from the forum discussions) the shift is towards Deloitte S&O. Is that right?
Also would you rate Accenture/Hewitt = Big 4...
Or they are still a tier below...!
MBP's hierarchy is Deloitte's, the other common set of titles is associate>senior associate>manager.
I can't say I've ever seen someone straight from undergrad become manager faster than 4 years-may be possible in special circumstances (like MBP's masters or a small practice with a specific need).
Finished undergrad at 22, went straight to MFE which I finished right as I turned 23. Started working at a boutique firm (70k base 90 all in). Three-ish months later lateralled over at senior consultant level (still 23) and negotiated base of 100k, 120 all in. Getting promoted to manager later this year (already in the works, will take effect in six months) so I'll get the promotion soon after I turn 24. Reason I'm getting promoted so early is because just got a pretty good offer from a FoF which was almost doubling my pay. I told the partner, and he's agreed to fast track me more to keep me around. Base is getting bumped to 125k when promotion kicks in.
Downside is, to get me ready for the new role, they're kicking my ass with responsibility and staffing. Working minimum 70 hour weeks for the next few months for sure. Plus, there's a lot more pressure not to fuck up.
I'll admit that I'm a very unusual case and I've been extremely lucky with the timing of different things happening. I've been in a very strong negotiating position twice now. When I lateralled, they needed my skill set way more than I needed the job. And I got the FoF offer a few weeks ago, while I'm leading 2 workstreams midway through a massive engagement. You can imagine the staffing nightmare if I left right now. Plus they already like me a lot here. I would have been promoted next year anyway, so speeding up the process one year isn't the end of the world for them to keep me around.
The key point here is to make the most of any opportunity given to you, and have some balls to ask for things when you're in a position to do so. If your work is high quality,your bosses won't want to lose you, and throwing a new title or an extra 25k your way is nothing to these guys.
When you lateralled into senior consultant, were there talks about bringing you in as a consultant first and then you negotiated to SC? My impression was that SC was 'strictly' a post-MBA type role. You mentioned that they needed your skillset though, so I'm sure that came into play when decided your title.
I kinda concur with that... even I thought SC is strictly a post MBA role....!!
There was talk about coming in at consultant but I told them what I expected, and that I wouldn't be interested otherwise. The other thing was that 100K base is wayy out of the salary band for consultant, so they needed to give me the title to meet the salary I expected. They needed an MFE skillset, but there are barely any of us in Canada in the first place, and the ones here never ever go into consulting. It's true that SC is a post MBA position, but I do have a graduate degree that I think is better than a lot of the MBAs they hire (i.e. schulich, queens, rotman, ivey). If I only had an undergrad, they probably wouldn't have agreed to bring me in at that level, but then, they probably wouldn't have wanted me in the first place.
The truth is that none of this shit is rocket science. The work I was doing at my old firm was far more challenging than strategy consulting, and picking this stuff up is a joke. You need a little bit of creativity, a little bit of leadership ability, a little bit of intelligence, and a lot of hard work to be successful here. If you exceed these needs by even a bit, the higher-ups get impressed. I'm far from exceptional, which is why I'm saying that my 'success' is definitely replicable assuming you play your cards right.
i must say, that is very impressive. it took me two years to get to senior associate and will probably take me another 2 years to get to manager (i am also at a big4 and on top of that i have a masters in policy analysis and management) and just now am starting to make 80-90k.
And steering back to the OP's question, MBP - what are some example B-school opps you are seeing from your firm in Canada? Is it mainly Canadian schools?
Also, would you consider getting your MBA?
To be honest, I would only get an MBA if I get into HBS (not sure how possible this is...), and only because of the prestige thing. I don't think I need an MBA anymore. I know for a fact that I'm a lock for any MBA in Canada, and probably have a good shot at any school outside HSW.
Former Deloitte S&O people have ended up at schools like kellogg, chicago, columbia, sloan etc.
And there are definitely Deloitte S&O people that have gotten into HBS. I'd capitalize on your rapid promotions and apply to HBS if I were in your shoes.
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