Dear Fellows,
Here I am seeking your advice on my career. I did tons of cases and networking with the firms and offices of my interest and yet have failed all my 1st round interviews (FT MBB). Needless to say that I am devastated and don't know what to do now. I am a 2nd year MBA (M7+1, target school) and interested in MC (long term goals- strategy roles in Tech). As I don't have PWA and strong brands in my CV, my options are very limited-- i.e. big names in industry (marketing, supply chain, finance roles) or boutiques (very few of them will sponsor my Visa). What might be a better option for me to re-apply for MBB in future (as an experienced professional)? Does any one have any experience on re-applying to MBB post-MBA or off-campus?
Appreciate your thoughts.
There's a ton of tier 2 consultant firms that take internationals, dd you not apply for them? Deloitte, Accenture, Strategy&, PwC, AT Kearney, etc
Thank you for your input. I have applied for Strategy&, RolandBerger and some others (Did not make closed list with Deloitte and ATK). These companies recruit mostly off campus at my school and I haven't heard back from them so far. However, I should admit networking was never among my strengths. Will try to reach alumni and work with Career office.
Which school do you go to? I go to a M7 and Deloitte/ATK/Strategy& recruit heavily on campus. Only M7 I could think of them not being heavily on campus would be Columbia. Do you have bid points? Can you use them on these companies, or is it too late in the game? Where did you intern over the summer?
Also, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but its absolutely ridiculous that you didn't have a back-up plan, especially when you were already aware you had weaknesses in skills that are required for consulting (e.g. networking). This should be a lesson for other business students. I don't know where I'll end up, but I'm applying to MBB, all the tier 2 consulting firms, and planting a few seeds in corporate strategy if those don't pan out. It's time consuming, but I'm going to networking events/coffee chats for the tier-2 firms, to ensure I'm on the closed lists if need be. Even at top schools, only slightly more than 1/3 of the people who apply (and I'm excluding people who throw out an app without a high interest) get into a MBB.
MBB isn't the end all be all of consulting. Open your options to tier 2/3 firms and your chances of finding a job will definitely increase. Who knows? You might not really mesh well at a McKinsey, but find yourself loving life at AT Kearney
Thanks for your thoughts. These companies recruit mostly off campus at my school, I have submitted my application yet haven't heard back so far. However, I should admit networking was never among my strengths. Will try to reach alumni and work with Career office.
I'm no expert, but it seems like if you were cut from all 3 firms recruitment after round 1 then you should be considering other options. I wouldn't make reapplying to MBB after a year your priority, there are lots of other great places to work and if you focus on where else you can have a strong career you'll probably be happier at where you end up then if you're just looking for a stepping stone to MBB that may never materialize.
Perhaps, you're right. I was so psyched about MBB that I've never really thought of my plan B or what I'd like to do in long term. Maybe it's just a time to pause and look around
Hey man,
In a similar boat. At a top 10 MBA program. I actually made it to final rounds for all the MBB+ Booz last year for summer internships and got one offer but decided to work in a industry role instead. This year, I did not even get closed listed for two of the places- made it to final rounds for 2 top firms but then dinged. It's a shitty a feeling. I could go back to my summer internship job, but my wife is being placed somewhere different so I am now recruiting again and mostly off-campus as I missed most of the off campus opportunities.
I too am curious if anyone working after a few years from a top MBA program made the transition into consulting. I am thinking if you build up a specialized skill set (e.g. tech marketing, etc), you can transition into a practice group at the Big 3.... but who knows. I am interested in this topic as well and look forward to hearing what folks think.
Sorry to hear that man. I know quite a few people at my school who plan to "do something different" for their summer internship and then apply for consulting during full time recruiting...seems very risky.
Yea I never figured that firms would hold grudges against folks who did not accept their offers and b. other firms care a lot about networking over the summer. Feedback I got from alums as to why I was not closed listed when I made it final rounds last year was that I did not show the interest over the summer. Lesson learned for future MBA's...
It's not really a grudge, it's more -- firms don't want to waste interview slots (manager time costs $$$) on someone who isn't actually interested in consulting, who won't take the offer. Getting a summer offer and then turning it down for a non-consulting role is a good way to demonstrate you're not interested in consulting (even if you are)
Couldn't agree more. This is almost the exact approach I took, although my commitment to corp. strat. as a backup wavered due to limited bandwidth. I settled for the prospect of JIT strategy roles which get posted in the spring. I felt I was in great position going into interviews with 3/4 MBB+D close-listed and the other on bid points. In the end, I got one MBB offer. The line between success and failure is pretty thin.
Yup. I've heard acquisition costs for MBB MBA hires pegged at over $100k each. It's not a grudge; it's just about devoting resources to more promising candidates.
It surprises me how thin this line is. Was talking to two people who got McKinsey last year...both of them didnt even get past the first round in Deloitte or Oliver Wyman. One bad day on cases,and it can be all over for you.
Yup. Almost everyone I cased with felt like the difference between an offer and not was within their range of good and bad days. I have friends who struck out last year that have 2 MBB offers this time around. Think they fundamentally changed over the summer?
On your last comment, there could also be a different dynamic at play. Certain firms index much higher on "Why this firm?" and demonstrated interest than others.
Couple of things:
1) Have you got any feedback from the MBB interviews? If you haven't got an internship offer and failed all interviews first round, it seems like you might be pretty far away. Is there something in your interview style, attitude, approach to cases? I agree on the advice of trying 2nd tier firms, but it's not a walk in the park there either, so it's important to find out what went wrong to the extent you can.
2) Why demonstrated interest is important: Most firms measure and manage recruiting performance very strictly. One KPI they look is offer acceptance rate. This is especially critical for 2nd tier firms - there are more people than you might imagine who interview at 2nd tier firms only to get live case practice for their upcoming MBB interviews, while having really no interest whatsoever to join that particular firm. So it's important to weed those out ideally beforehand.
MBB people come from all different backgrounds. Business, finance, engineering.... They're just looking for experts who can think strategically. Go do what you want to do.. If it's 2nd tier consulting do that, if its something else do that... You're lack of name brands on the resume might not be helping either, if you want to make the leap at some point I'd recommend getting a name brand either in consulting or elsewhere on your resume.
Use anonymous username on WSO. Recruiters and HR will google your name over and over and if this thread shows up on their screen, they are likely not going to give you a chance, given that they will be able to see that other companies (MBBs) disliked you before.
Based on your LinkedIn profile (yeah, I googled you myself) I think that your chances would have been better had you applied for internship in Europe, preferably in Moscow. Consultancies will always want to hire somebody who knows the local business scene, and while you are probably acquainted with the US economy, comparatively speaking, you likely cannot compete with other American wannabe consultants at your b-school.
It's interesting to see how people phrase which school they go to. "M7+1" means Tuck or Haas? "Top ten MBA" means Darden, Stern, Yale, Fuqua? Either way, there should be plenty of F500 corporate recruiters on campus ready to scoop up anybody who falls out of consulting recruiting. Although, at this point, I'd imagine most resume drops have concluded so those seeds had to have been planted already.
The mergers of some strategy firms with the big four audit firms have created a higher stakes game for recruiting than existed 5 or 10 years ago. Previously if you missed out on the Holy Trinity (BCG, McKinsey, Bain), there was Booz, LEK, Monitor, Parthenon, OW, and AT Kearney that provided a solid tier 2 before the tier 3s of Accenture, Deloitte, PwC, etc. With all of the mergers, the second tier and third tier distinctions have become less clear. LEK is the closest to a near-MBB that exists anymore.
Russians manage to blow sip circles up pretty well. There is a tendency for them to think they are way too smart and hurt themselves w all the pride.
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