hey guys,
went to a pre-mba recruiting event at an int'l office for M/B/B.
It wasn't a complete waste of time since I had the opportunity to share time with my future classmates and won a really nice gift (valued at 70 bucks haha).
anyways, they were presenting an example of a project they did. It was interesting, but frankly all I could think about was who were the poor idiots executing the actual work. It was boring as hell. Don't get me wrong, the deliverable seemed nice and interesting, but once i learned that it took them 6 months to do it, I just could imagine the tediousness of the work. Anyways, it helped me realize that consulting is def not for me (I thought it would be a nice back-up plan)
Another thing I did not like was that Partners are responsible for "selling". Currently I am at a different type of consulting firm and as a manager I am responsible of selling and building relationships with my clients, and frankly that is the best part of my job. So, I don't think I could wait that much time (about 9 years post-mba) to start selling in consulting (which would be the only interesting aspect of consulting).
So the question is, why do so many people regard consulting more "prestigious" than banking? The work isn't more interesting, the pay is worse and trying to identify customer buying patterns is not as sexy as it seems. And unless you want to go the MC>PE route, I dont see how the exit opps are any better than a leadership development program at a top company.
Why do you care?
They don't...
I personally don't think so. Nor does my dad, who runs his own firm. He's been in a certain industry for about 25 years. I talked to him (and his business partner) about consulting, and they pretty much just laughed. Their reaction was on the lines of "Are you seriously going to get a 22 year old college kid in his diapers to tell us how to run our own business in our industry?"
Honestly, some 35-55 year old business owners still have a lot to learn about running a business. And some who have been in the business for years still have much to learn, or have forgotten to keep sharpening and developing their skills.
Age doesn't always bring wisdom, and often business owners are too close to the business to see the situation with fresh eyes.
Having sat in on and been apart of many conversations with multiple directors of start-ups, a lot of them needed direction and instruction at times, and some are actually humble enough to get it from a "college kid." And low and behold, sometimes they admitted they learnt a lot, and the advice was helpful.
I've had a partner in a top tier law firm say that he didn't understand why a business owner would ask [someone like me] for business advice when frankly a person like him, who had "been around the block a few times" would be better suited, and then admit once he started listening he started to understand. (That said, I still have a lot to learn).
Sure, it is a whole lot more credible coming from the top tier law partner with age on his side, or the MD or the person who the business owner relates to, [Subconsciously, it's easier for him to take the advice from them, regardless of the quality of the advice].
Admittedly, this is a different situation to your father who has been in the industry for 25 years. But based on path dependance theory, it's common for firms to stagnate, regardless of past experience. As environmental factors change, often firms need to adapt to remain efficient in the developing marketplace. And someone who is very close to the situation, and may be emotionally linked to the current policies, practices, procedures, etc, as it's "their baby" may not be able to rationally and logically analyse potential opportunities in the same way an external party might.
Don't write the younger generation off too soon. We're cheaper to hire, we're more in touch with the emerging market of Gen Y, we are media and technology savvy, we're informed, we're fresh from our studies, and we still have the energy and drive to try and prove our worth in the world. And some of us have been working since before high school.
People considering consulting more prestigious than banking? where? I can see how in the past year or so more college grads seem to be heading the consulting path, but I assume that's an issue of the banking industry being in a downturn... most of my friends who did IBD SA positions soph/junior year ended up going into consulting FT for that reason.
I don't think it's viewed as more prestigious, just less un-ethical.
People see things the way they are presented to them, not necessarily the way things are.
This post is retarded. Firstly your compensation as a manager at whatever firm you're at pales in comparison to a MBB partner selling consulting services, so the final tail end compensation justifies the time it takes to make partner (which is not 9 years). Secondly, at MBB as you continue to move up in the firm unless you're pushed out, you will begin to start selling services along with other MDs/partners on engagements, so the 'selling' and lead generation is not limited only to partners of the firms.
Secondly, management consulting and IB are vastly different. I would argue that pre-mba most think inv banking is more prestigious than management consulting, but post-mba, the two are considered in parity in terms of prestige, insofar as you're talking about the top mgmt consulting firms and not say ACN/Deloittes of the world which do more tech implementation work (low level no prestige). Both have different exit opps post-mba since the skill sets gained are vastly different. Yes, both can lead to buy-side PE, but note that the zenith of one's career is not PE. At the end of the day pick either mgmt consulting or IB not for the so-called street "prestige" but instead that which is the right fit for your goals and skill sets and whatever makes you happy (key to post-grad school jobs), and you shall reach the height of your career eventually.
Post financial crisis, people at top targets consider MBB more prestigious than IBD on average. This site is obviously slanted towards finance. With that said, I can tell you without a doubt that interview process is more challenging and more competitive for consulting. As a result, they typically get the better candidates. This is all from the perspective of someone who goes to a top school where all these places heavily recruit.
I know. But I was just pointing out that the only thing interesting in consulting for me would be the client relationship part. In IB, the selling is not the only interesting thing. What interests me in IB is the "deal" aspect of it.
I know that at consulting you get involved in the proposition part early on, especially for existing clients. However, there is a certain "rush" I get in landing new credentials. It is hard to explain
Consultants, by definition, solve problems, not sell products/services. If you want to get a rush from selling, better off with used cars.
This post reminds of this video
update: I went to another recruiting event for another MBB.
I must say I was impressed. All the people I know that went to the previous recruiting event shared my view and were also impressed today. To clarify, the first event we went to was BCG and today was Bain.
My question now is, is there really that much of a difference between the "top 3" consulting firms or was it just a bad "sample" or office. Bain's people (most of them) were really passionate (a word i dont use often), and the work they did seemed more solid, interesting and "number" driven. They call it "result oriented". BCG seemed boring. Also Bain's career path is faster.
I got a feeling McKinsey will be a mix between both.
You are going to a LatAm office? Standards/type of work may vary widely in that region. Also Bain is apparently fratty and BCG is nerdy, so yeah BCG would feel boring.
Commodi et quo qui ad corporis quia. Velit rerum ut eaque nihil.
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