Lateral to MBB from Investing Seat
I recognize this is a unique and unlikely scenario. Lately, I’ve been realizing that public markets investing (HF) isn’t necessarily for me. I love the act of analyzing businesses / making calls on what they’re doing well/not well but would much rather be able to help them implement improvement ideas and see actual value be created. In an investing seat, you analyze the business, make the call, and basically are betting on whether it will materialize rather than actually facilitating the materialization (hence my interest in consulting).
Come from a target school background. How does fresh graduate (1 year out of school) lateral recruiting for MBB work and would it be feasible for someone in my shoes to get an interview? I ask as I certainly don’t want to continue down a path that likely isn’t right for me and then have it be even harder to pivot (golden handcuffs, pigeon holed skill set, etc.)
Thank you all for the advice!
Based on the WSO threads discussing lateral moves to MBB (McKinsey, BCG, Bain), here's what you need to know about transitioning from a hedge fund (HF) to a management consulting role at MBB:
Background and Education: Coming from a target school is a significant advantage. MBB firms often prioritize candidates from such institutions due to their rigorous selection processes and the training those schools provide.
Relevant Experience: Although your experience in public markets investing is not the typical background for MBB consultants, your analytical skills and business acumen are valuable. Highlight your experience in analyzing businesses and making strategic decisions, as these are relevant to consulting.
Networking: This is crucial. Reach out to alumni from your school who are currently at MBB firms. Set up informational interviews to understand more about their work and express your interest in making a transition. Networking can significantly increase your chances of getting an interview.
Tailoring Your Application: When preparing your resume and cover letter, focus on your analytical skills, any leadership experience, and your ability to drive results—key qualities that consulting firms look for.
Preparing for Interviews: Be ready to tackle case interviews, which are a core component of MBB's recruitment process. These interviews require you to solve business problems on the spot, demonstrating your problem-solving skills. Given your background, you might also need to prepare for questions on why you are switching from HF to consulting.
Addressing Concerns: Be prepared to discuss why you are moving away from HF and how your skills can transfer to consulting. Emphasize your desire to not only analyze but also implement business improvements.
Timing: Since you're only a year out of school, you're still within a reasonable window to make this transition without being too heavily branded by your current role. It's better to make this move sooner rather than later to avoid the "golden handcuffs."
Making a lateral move from HF to MBB is challenging but feasible, especially with your background and the strategic approach to your application and networking efforts.
Sources: Lateral hire from another consulting firm to MBB, PE Lateral Recruiting Advice/Stories/Help?, Took an Associate job at a tiny firm, how screwed am I?, Q&A: Recent graduate starting at MBB soon, Q&A: MBB, BB S&T+IB, Top MBA, US/Global
Bump / maybe I should move this to a different forum.
At McK you would join as an associate and depending on how good you are could get promoted early. I know of a few people in the who have joined from P72/ Citadel/ Tiger type places
Just re read and realised you’re 1 year out. You’d come in as a BA then and would be applying for grad roles. Your experience will be discounted but some Partners will probably want to put you on DDs
Yes, I figured I would come in as a BA. I’m fine with losing a year / not getting full credit for whatever years I end up doing at the HF. How would you say I go about trying to get interviews / do you have any idea on when they tend to hire people in my shoes (i.e., not a college hire and not really an experienced hire but someone in the middle).
Just my 50ct... a friend of mine went activist HF --> MBB. They heavily discounted his experience, crediting him just 1 out of 2.5 years. Not sure how it would look like for you, considering (a) ordinary HFs are more distant to consulting than activists and (b) you only have one year of experience, so there is not much to discount here.
I would suggest you apply as an experienced hire but get ready to get an offer for 1st year.
FYI: my friend is now back at an HF lol
Yes, makes sense and thank you for the input. Not too concerned frankly with the losing of 1/2 years of progress — just want to make sure I’m in the right career. My concern is more so about getting the interview / being seriously considered for the position without having to do an MBA. Any details you have on how your friend went about the pivot / how it was to get an interview/serious consideration? Also, it’s interesting he went back to investing lol.
He's based in Europe. At least for him, applying via the website worked out. Also, European country units are much smaller than the US, so you can actually find out who in HR is in charge of experienced hires and have a chat with them prior to applying. Not sure if this is something you can do in the US, too.
Re going back to investing: difficult to pin down his exact reasoning. The short story is that he did not particularly dislike working in public markets but wanted to leave the activist and was curious to try out MBB (always wanted to work in consulting during university). Shortly after starting at MBB, he got invited to recruit for a great seat at a top shop.
It looks like you have a very rosy view of what consulting is
If that's what you're looking for, you're going to be disappointed imo
Certainly very possible but I’d always regret not at least trying it. And my logic is it’s easier to switch around this early in my career than it would be if I wait and become more seasoned in something as niche as HFs.
Why not go to PE instead? How big is the HF you’re at? A friend of mine did what you’re trying to do, albeit he had more like 5ish YOE, and regretted it big time
How cooked do you have to be to even consider this. At least go to PE Ops.
Why do you say that? Are you saying MBB is that undesirable to HFs? Contrary to a lot of people on this forum, I don’t put much weight in early career pay optimization so the material pay cut doesn’t really matter to me.
On the roles itself, I feel Iike consulting would be more exciting — curious makes you contend otherwise. And what do you mean by PE ops / how would one recruit for that this early on (I thought operating partners are usually just former super senior industry execs).
If you enjoy the analyzing business and making recommendations part of your job and want more of that, MBB could be the place for you. However, if you are looking to see tangible impact and actually work on making the operational / strategic changes you suggest, MBB is probably not the perfect fit. From what I have seen, most of the time we do some analysis, put it on slides, present to the client, get them all set to go make things happen, and then duck out (at least at a junior level). The closest you get to actually seeing your impact is running into a partner you used to work with and them giving you an update on the client. For a lot of folks, lack of exposure to direct impact / operationalization is why they leave MBB.
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