Where I should intern to get a full-time at MBB

I am currently a junior at a state school. I want to work full time at either McKinsey, Bain, or BCG. I wanted to know what internships would look the best when applying full time. I have an internship this summer at a tech consulting firm. What else can I be doing to increase my chances at MBB?

Other info:
Fairly good GPA (~3.8)
Community Service/Leadership Experience

 

I was thinking about trying to work PT at a bank with a great brand value cold calling. Would that help at all? I am just worried it's too late to do what MBB typically go for, especially since i go to a non target school. The company I am going to intern for is a really big consulting firm (mainly tech, but they have other divisions)

 
Best Response

For your benefit - and for future readers in a similar situation - this is extremely hard to evaluate in a vacuum. Here are some factors that might influence how much work you need to put in and how realistic your applications to MBB or other top-tier consulting firms are:

(1) What school and major? A 3.8 in mechanical engineering from Cal-Berkeley/Michigan/UVA is very impressive; a 3.8 in English from (insert generic state school here) is actually very poor. If the firm's review team happens to read application materials closely, the difficulty level of classes will matter too: it would be one thing to have a 3.8 in Econ having taken easy intro and applied classes and another entirely to have taken the mathematically intense sequences with advanced econometrics.

(2) What kind of tech consulting are we talking about? Is this cutting edge digital capabilities development, top-level IT op model design, or very low-level staff augmentation? Review teams will look at the individual responsibilities and projects you're involved in for not just your junior internship but for all work experiences as well.

(3) What kind of leadership experience are we talking about? Are you driving major improvements in the way your university's career center is run, on the exec team of a nonprofit, or putting in just 20 hours per year of generic volunteering through your sorority? Review teams will examine not just the titles you hold in groups that you're involved in but also what you did in those extracurriculars.

Hopefully, you're starting to see the common theme here - besides the superficial statistics and brand names, what you've actually done matters the most, and you ideally should have shown leadership and ownership in multiple scenarios for each of the three buckets I've laid out above. So if you're weak in an area, search for opportunities to get more responsibility and make an impact wherever it is that you are. If you're strong in an area, keep it up and see how you can take it to the next level.

 
  1. The school is top 50 - 75 (I think). I am double majoring in Information Systems and Finance
  2. The tech consulting company is fairly cutting edge and very big. It's growing more in America now, but it's really established in Europe. I will be interning in their business transformation service line.
  3. I was/still am on the exec board for two clubs (not that big, but one is totally revamping and has the potential to get big). I also started my own club. I also volunteer through my sorority, but I am not on exec for my sorority. In general, I do not think I have done anything extraordinary, but I have definitely made a difference.

I totally get what you mean. I am just trying to find different ways to get involved even more, but it's fairly late in the game. I am a rising senior and I have to apply for full time positions at MBB during August/September.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on what else I could be doing this summer other than focusing on my internship and preparing for the case interview.

 

RBC. Goldman name might have better overall prestige but wealth management skills doesn't translate well to consulting whereas investment banking skills do. I know of MBB consultants who interned at investment banks junior year before joining their consulting firms, don't know any who did wealth management prior.

 

Honestly I don't think it makes a huge difference. Either way you are getting some "name brand" experience. Most of consulting recruiting (especially for the top firms) is: 1. Have you networked enough to get in the door and have your name passed around 2. Do you kill the case studies 3. Are you personable enough to pass "fit"

Especially from UG they don't care too much about past experience, they want to teach you the "insert firm name" way. Once again, this applies to top firms (especially MBB) most strongly. In my recruiting, I talked for a cumulative maybe 5 minutes about my past experience per firm throughout all of the rounds.

 

From my experience, having 1 brand name internship is enough to solidify someone as a potential candidate. The best thing you can do to get the interview is network and the best thing you can do to get the job is practice cases.

 

I know that your investment banking experience was at a boutique, but that still looks much better than doing a non-FO role, even if that role is at a firm like JPM. I spent a summer at BB in a Finance/Treasury role and it was miserable. Although I used Excel a lot and learned quite a bit of information on how banks operate internally, it left me with very few transferable skills aside from Excel. I don't see how a role like that would help you for consulting when you have many other people your age competing for the same jobs, but with better internship experience. Also, during that summer, I met zero people from target schools in that division of the bank.

"I think I'll enjoy it more" -- you say that now, but that will only hold true if you like aimlessly browsing the web in your free time at work. And trust me, you will have a lot of free time.

 

No, it doesn't really matter. BO/MO at a bank only has negative implications for all the people shooting for investment banking positions. I met a guy that worked in FP&A at JPM and now works for Deloitte S&O.

 

Also look at consumer marketing. A lot of consulting case studies and client problems are heavily focused around market entry/positioning problems, and being able to at least speak to those means you understand the basic ideas involved in CPG/Retail strategy.

 

Looking only at future MBB prospects, Deloitte. Assuming you don't mess up, then you'd have a great Tier 2 firm offer. If you think you'd be happier at Skype, then it could be worth it for you personally (rather than professionally).

 

Go with Skype, Deloitte S&O prospective hires are a dime a dozen at undergrad level. If you think the work at Skype will be interesting and meaningful, go with it. I'd perk up more at Skype than at Deloitte S&O during resume screening for sure.

 

This is a tougher question than I think most people here think... in the US, it would no question be Deloitte if you want to do consulting - S&O is pretty competitive and right below the MBB. However, I've heard that Deloitte's S&O practice is significantly less competitive (and smaller?) in Europe. For instance, while they've expanded their Strategy vertical significantly with the acquisition of Monitor, they didn't take anyone from Monitor Europe.

Interestingly, Skype's HQ are in Luxembourg, which means you'll be at the center of the action and might be doing some pretty cool stuff. Plus you will have strong networking opportunities being in the HQ, and the start-up/laid-back work culture that you won't get in consulting. Still, it's hard to turn down a guaranteed job in MC if that's what you want to do..

 

The Deloitte office where I got the offer is pretty small and would be more operations than strategy. At the same time, there is a much higher chance of getting a return offer at Deloitte. I'm not even sure if skype give grad offers to their interns.

 

pieog, hey, look at the bright side, at least you didn't get a ton of monkey shit thrown at you...here is my best guess on threads that might be helpful:

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  • More suggestions...

Maybe one of our professional members will share their wisdom: HBShopeful2k16 Motty-Perel rbinns03

Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Honestly you should pick the one you would enjoy the most and that depends on your personal criteria (pay, location, type of work, etc).

Both sound like great options, and as long as you have a good GPA, good standardized test scores, and good networking skills you will be able to swing a FT interview with either internship on your resume. Previous work experience is not THAT important for consulting interviews - they care more about how smart you are, how you think, and your fit with the firm. Additionally if you pick the one you will enjoy the most, your enthusiasm will show during your interview for consulting.

 
bendablelamps:
question: would a summer internship at a top group in banking (think GS TMT etc) help with FT MBB? or would they be more like ehh why don't you go back to banking?

It would help a lot. If you can't spin an ibanking internship then you won't be a good consultant. Just say how you liked the analytic side of investment banking but really feel drawn to the corporate strategy and operational aspects of business that drive valuations. Learn to love 'spin'.

 
bendablelamps:
gotcha thanks Matthias. I'm guessing though I would have to secure an offer from my banking summer internship in order to be desirable to MBB, right?
You should secure the offer either way.
bendablelamps:
also, are the MBB recruiters aware/do they care about the "top" groups on the street as opposed to whatever?

Don't over think things like this. Most likely the recruiter won't really know. Knowledge among the people that you are interviewing with will vary depend on their past experiences.

 

Economic Consulting or F500 - depending on the brand name. NERA/Cornerstone versus Mutual of Omaha Insurance (F500) - go for NERA/Cornerstone. If the F500 is Apple/IBM/P&G etc. (big brand name + generally considered prestigious), go for F500.

I would also look at two other things -

(1) Read Glassdoor reviews and/or talk to others from your school who've interned at both places in the past. You want a place that gives your responsibility/interesting work to put on your resume and talk about during your interviews.

(2) Pick a place you wouldn't mind going back to if fall recruiting doesn't turn out the way you want it to. Having a back-up helps with the nerves during the FT season - and it helps. A LOT.

 

Picking an internship based on what future value it will hold during an MBB interview is pointless. If you are having trouble deciding that means there isn't that big of a prestige/difficulty difference between them. Just do the one you will like the most.

Many people interview with and get offers from MBB with absolutely no prior work experience. A high GPA and high standardized test scores will help A LOT in getting an interview. If you don't have that, then marginal differences in your past internship experience won't help you nearly as much as networking.

Also consultingboi is on point. Pick a place where you wouldn't mind being at fulltime.

 

Of course, that is on my radar, but that is INCREDIBLY selective! Other than MBB, any other options that I should be on the lookout for?

 

i summered at deloitte my sophomore year also in the same program...honestly, the only difference is that i makes getting interviews easier...once you get in, pretty much everything resets and the case trumps mostly everything, but i do think that getting interviews was a lot easier having that on the resume...if you have at least like a 3.5-3.6 (though maybe less for an engineering school), having that on the resume will get you an interview to almost every firm

 

Thanks for the info! Are you interning with a consulting firm this summer? That's what everyone keeps saying, that having the Deloitte SS on my resume with description of my work will make it a lot easier to get an interview with MBB and other firms..!

 

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