Offer Decision: OW vs Deloitte Consulting

Hello WSO folks. What do you think of these 2 offers?

UNDERGRADUATE

Salary: Nearly Identical, OW is higher by 2K
Signing Bonus: Identical
Benefits: DC looks better from first glance. They start matching 401K after 60 days where OW matches after a year. Nearly identical amounts of PTO.
Performance Bonus: DC has none for the first year...(WHAT?) at the end of 2nd year, you get a big raise and bonus. OW offers performance bonus up to 15%.

Both firms have great people. Had great feelings interacting with both groups. The offers are in the same city. big hub for Consumer Goods/ Technology / Telecommunications / Retail for both companies. Big city for outsourcing as well(not many local projects = more likely to travel). Seems like OW has more international projects.

It does seem like the work at Deloitte is a bit more towards the implementation side. From what I can tell, a lot of technology implementation projects.

OW is hard to tell, but it seems like they do strategy and implementation? The conversations included many mentions of projects in healthcare, energy and aviation.

Q's to consider:
1) OW is public, is it more bureaucratic? harder to get promoted? more political?
2) Does DC have better exit opps since its more of a brand name?
3) W/L balance is a big factor. Both offered generous amount of PTO, I want to be able to take an advantage of them.

Right now, the goal in 3 years is to attend a top MBA program. Which program would set me up better for my goal?

Any comments and insights are highly appreciated.

 
Emous:

Depends on the group for DC. Some groups will give you a much better experience than others. Care to share?

It is the Business Technology Analyst Program.

I think it would be better if it was S&O. the work BTA program does varies so much... it sounds a gamble every time you try to get staffed. personally i would rather not do IT implementations...

 

I'm about a year and a half into working at OW, and I cannot honestly recommend it. I've been involved in recruiting for two years, and the types of cases they sell you on and the types of cases you actually do as a consultant are COMPLETELY different. A huge amount of the actual work is stress testing for financial services firms, which is pretty similar across projects and altogether not very interesting. Additionally, consultants do go to business school, but it is not encouraged as much as it is at other firms. PM if you want to chat more, I'm happy to discuss.

 
swordfish24:

Interesting to hear. Is that why many people from OW either move to another firm after a year or stay on for a very long time?

I thought that was the norm at all consulting firms?

 
jm442:

I'm about a year and a half into working at OW, and I cannot honestly recommend it. I've been involved in recruiting for two years, and the types of cases they sell you on and the types of cases you actually do as a consultant are COMPLETELY different. A huge amount of the actual work is stress testing for financial services firms, which is pretty similar across projects and altogether not very interesting. Additionally, consultants do go to business school, but it is not encouraged as much as it is at other firms. PM if you want to chat more, I'm happy to discuss.

Thank you for so much insight! JM442!

I did feel like OW did not touch on MBA ops as much as other firms during recruiting.

 

I have enjoyed my time here at OW since i started (experienced hire) but certainly the current work load may not be ideal for some people. People do leave for MBA programs but it is not the norm.

 

If you plan on staying at either of these firms for 3-5 years, then DC BTA may not be that bad. You can easily get off of the typical implementation projects if you network within the firm.

Additionally, having the ability to say you worked on a hardcore technology project will make you valuable down-the-line. I've already had experiences where I was staffed on a project over S&O resources because I actually knew technology. I'm not saying that this always happens, but I find that most people don't ever actually consider the benefits of being on tech projects. They may not be glamorous, but you will get experience that differentiates you later.

 
Best Response
Voco90:

If you plan on staying at either of these firms for 3-5 years, then DC BTA may not be that bad. You can easily get off of the typical implementation projects if you network within the firm.

Additionally, having the ability to say you worked on a hardcore technology project will make you valuable down-the-line. I've already had experiences where I was staffed on a project over S&O resources because I actually knew technology. I'm not saying that this always happens, but I find that most people don't ever actually consider the benefits of being on tech projects. They may not be glamorous, but you will get experience that differentiates you later.

This. I had a (strategy) Partner tell me seriously that if you want to succeed in this business, you will need to understand technology. You might not focus in it, but it will lend you an element of credibility in the strategies that you are proposing down the line. Nothing beats real-life experience so if you end up on a tech implementation, learn as much as you can, because you never know how that experience will benefit you later.

 

I was in this same situation about two years ago, though as an experienced hire, deciding between offers from Deloitte Consulting and OW.

I ended up choosing DC because I made a decision based on where I'd be at the company 10 years from now, and it seemed making partner at DC was more lucrative than being a partner in a public company. From what I've seen, DC is an incredible place to start your career, even if just for a few years. Most undergrads work there for 2 years, get into GSAP (MBA program), and either return as SC or go on to another role in a different company/industry.

If you plan to be in consulting for just a few years before getting your MBA - I'd recommend DC. Being in Tech will not impact your MBA candidacy and if you work hard to network and take control of your career, it's possible to get the work experience you want. I think it would be solid to go from BTA -> MBA -> whichever industry you want. There's a practice in Tech you'll want to network within if you're interested in strategy work - it's called Tech Strategy & Architecture. Almost all S&O projects request junior staff from either S&O or this specific Tech group. I've worked alongside them and they're a solid group. They tend to do shorter-term projects and less implementations, which will get you more exposure to various industries and business problems than a 12-month tech implementation.

I'm actually leaving Deloitte now to go to a smaller firm focused in M&A consulting and I'm extremely happy with the offer I was able to get. Many of my former colleagues have also left for great opportunities, ranging from IB to startups to corp strategy, etc.

Making the decision was tough between DC & OW, and I'm still not sure how OW would have turned out, but I do know that I'm very satisfied with the career trajectory I've had in just 2 years at Deloitte. With that said, you're in a great position to have two great offers to choose from, and I'm not sure there's one right answer. Trust your gut and go with the place you'd be happiest at.

Good luck with the decision and PM me if you have any questions.

 

I'm not sure about the value of IT implementation experience as proposed by @pr4mence and @Voco90

Sure, if you work at a company that does a lot of IT implementation, that experience is great. However, the value of this experience at MBB for example would be much lower. if you become an executive at a big company, unless that's what the company does, the value is also likely lower than other experience

IT systems are great and changing them can have big impact, but rarely is it #1 priority for a large company or top of mind for C-levels. they're more worried about keeping costs competitive (of which IT plays a role), how to grow (of which IT plays a role), shifts in their core industries, etc.

in a nutshell -- IT implementation experience is great if you work at a place that does a lot of IT implementation. it's great in other environments, too, but i would prioritize other experience

 

When you are done with your IT implementation career at DC, you'll do what? Work at company in similar function. Maybe not what you want to do. Not everyone is going to make partner. Even if you do make partner, management consulting partners make more than IT partners. Didn't work on IT projects myself, but heard managing developer teams in India with tight deadlines destroy your early morning/late evenings along with new year time when these things get rolled out cause no one else is working. And yeah, writing and running test scripts (what new analysts do) sounds awful.

 

This is fairly accurate, if all you expose yourself to is your project. If you do work in other areas, it isn't that hard to move on. I've had friends go into strategy roles at all sorts of F100s out of the BTA program. Same story for Wall Street/MBA/Silicon Valley. Again, they made the effort to find different work, and it was part of their overall story.

At a strategy firm, you'll be handed that work early on (presumably). In a more IT-heavy environment, you have to hunt for it. And if you find a new project, you get the experience you want, in whatever service area. And then, at some point, you have the same kind/quality of experience as someone in S&O, but with the advantage of a technology background.

To throw some datapoints into the mix, I've been reached out to by 11 recruiters since I started. Out of those 11, 8 were for strategy and/or product development. Why? Because that's what my experience shows. So what if I was in the technology practice. Is this normal? Probably not. But you can make it happen.

Also, as far as what analysts do, this is not totally accurate. Most of my time has been spent designing systems and managing teams (one of which was in India, yes). Test scripts are present, but that's been a minority of my work. I certainly have friends who have had very boring, dry work for months on end. It, like almost everything else, depends on how well you can network and take advantage of opportunities to meet people doing work you're into + luck.

Tl;dr: networking will get you where you want, whether you're a BA or BTA. The experience you get will determine your exit opps -- not just your title. BTA role is extremely dynamic -- some projects feel like working at an exciting tech startup, and others might bore you to near-death.

 
abacab:

When you are done with your IT implementation career at DC, you'll do what? Work at company in similar function. Maybe not what you want to do. Not everyone is going to make partner. Even if you do make partner, management consulting partners make more than IT partners. Didn't work on IT projects myself, but heard managing developer teams in India with tight deadlines destroy your early morning/late evenings along with new year time when these things get rolled out cause no one else is working. And yeah, writing and running test scripts (what new analysts do) sounds awful.

That is very interesting. Do you think it would be possible for

DC Technology Consulting(BTA) -> MBA -> Management Consulting(Strategy, MBB)?

Seems like OW does not really encourage you to go get your MBA where DC has a whole program sending people to go with full tuition reimbursement if you return to the firm for 2 years.

 

Thanks to a few current and former DC employees! @Voco90 @cvsdjs!

You all mentioned DC tech practice's service lines. Currently the offer does not say anything about service lines and the recruiter told me you can make a preference but it will ultimately be decided when you start.

If I do want to do technology strategy within DC, how would I go about it? You guys mentioned networking... but what if i hit the "jack-pot" and gets stuck on a long term IT implementation project early on?

 

The "DC Technology Consulting(BTA) -> MBA -> Management Consulting(Strategy, MBB)" is certainly possible, especially given the growth in technology projects.

As for your first project, you could always reach out to your recruiters and strongly implore them to recommend you for the TS&A service line. Otherwise, touch base with your resource manager immediately after joining.

Unfortunately if you get stuck on a long-term implementation, it's tough to get out. You don't want to ruin your reputation by complaining so early, but at the same time you need to immediately begin plotting a path to a non-implementation project.

Part of the problem here is that, if you get stuck on an implementation project early-on, it can be difficult to get off, depending on the industry/intensity of the work.

 

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