Is M-Th travel the norm for MBB at associate (BCG) and analyst (McK) levels?
I realize M-Th travel is pretty much guaranteed in big cities outside of NYC for post-MBA (right?), but is it the same right out of undergrad?
If so, are there often long periods in between projects where its common to work in the home office?
thanks!
Even out of undergrad, expect 100% travel and be pleasantly surprised if you have a local client.
Bain: no BCG: yes (maybe even some international) McKinsey: yes (maybe even some international) LEK: no Deloitte: yes (within the country) Booz: sort-of-in-the-middle
[double post]
For Bain and BCG, depends a lot on the office. I know plenty of Bainies in the Midwest who travel M-Th every week. Same for BCG.
When you guys say 100% travel, that means leaving on Monday (or Sunday evening), coming home Thursday (or Friday morning), every single week?
Or do you sometimes spend weekends at client sites?
Depending on the firm, client, schedule etc... as far as I know every firm lets you expense a hotel room over the weekend in lieu of a flight home and flight back.
It really is highly dependent on office and firm, plus what kinds of projects you work on.
From what I've heard, McKinsey leans heavily (firm culture, across offices and geographies) towards the M-Th travel model but there has to be some regional variation.
I'm in a midwest office, and I almost never travel. I have never ever done a M-Th on the road case, and they're unusual in my office. Everyone I know in a different office (East Coast, same firm) has traveled 4 days a week every day of their careers.
There is basically no difference in post-MBA and pre-MBA level travel.
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redninja.
If I may ask, are you in a major city? I'm surprised you have had almost no travel at all. I didn't realize that was even possible.
2nd that redninja. I would also like to know what office (or general geography) you're in and what you've heard/seen from fellow BCG'ers. I've followed a number of your MBB posts, but wasn't aware that the travel isn't that bad for you. Thanks to others who have shared as well
Yes for McK. Always M-Th travel. Rare to stay for weekend unless you volunteer to do so (trade the flight home for free hotel stay and covered meals)
McK doesn't differentiate between pre- and post-MBA in terms of staffing.
All BCG offices are in (arguably) major cities. BCG has fewer offices than McK does, so no Pittsburgh offices or anything like that.
Some offices will let you not travel. There is a partner in my office who has only local clients, she was 80% for years and never traveled (the other partners make fun of her for not having the airline status they do). It limits your career some, in the sense that you can only work local clients, but on the other hand she made partner so it didn't impact her too badly.
Other offices you don't have a choice (especially smaller ones). It's all up to the office culture. I just counted; I've been on a case since March 15th for an out-of-town client and I have spent exactly 1 day on the road.
If you are good, you can have a lot of say on which client you want to work for (McK is an exception, firm knows best). Just tell your staffer you want local cases, if they like you and you are wanted on teams, you will be local your entire career if you want.
What? It's the exact opposite - McKinsey and often BCG as well gives you the most choice because they don't force you to be a generalist like Bain.
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