Mod Note (Andy): Interview/Q&ATuesdays! @karl_pilkington was nice enough to start this one yesterday. Click here to see our full list of interviews/Q&A's
Friends - I'm here to help. Ask me what you want. I'm a PL/EM/CTL at an MBB. Non MBA business schools">M7 but very good MBA, and I am active in my firm's recruiting efforts.
I only ask a few things:
1) Ask one or two questions, not four or five. What are the burning questions?
2) Try not to ask a question that's been asked by someone before
3) I will be as helpful as I can, but I want to also preserve the integrity of the recruiting process. So I will not divulge any confidential stuff
4) Please be patient. I will answer as quickly as I can!
Hope I can be helpful to you all....
Hi there! New BA/AC/Associate coming into MBB here. I'm more curious about the "fun" side of things, which, to be frank, you don't want to ask about during the interview process/in networking chats.
1) How does flex travel work? Is it perceived poorly if you're not in the office in Friday?
2) Can Air Travel/Food/Hotels be paid for on your Credit Cards to maximize point benefits and to see your credit limit go skyrocketing?
3) Can you book any hotel or are there restrictions? Do you need to typically stay with your team? If so, does Starwood tend to be the go to (best redemption)?
4) What can be expensed on the road beyond food? Basically, what type of "incidentals"?
5) What do the food limits look like for reimbursement?
since your burning questions are so inquisitive and are of such importance let me sprinkle a little help. *disclaimer: I am not in MBB nor in consulting, but have heard credible stories from MacKingsey himself ;-)
As long as you show up one day a week in the office you'll be aight. Bonus points for attempting to VC in more than once too or just to drop a few emails to your manager that you're enjoying your time at the firm and all the minibar can offer.
2) Of course you can charge it to your favorite credit card and get those points or miles. From what I hear, AMEX tends to give out black cards to all MBB BA/AC/Associates. You just gotta name drop a bit on the app. The black card service can get Alfred from batman's cave to come wipe your ass if you like. Any consultant with any shred of self respect will demand to have that as part of their perks.
3) Yes, there are only one restriction on hotel bookings. Nothing below 5 stars. You are a brand name consultant and only the best of the best is good enough for the best of the best in the biz. Suites are preferred unless they are out of them, then you will go for the Presidential Suite.
You work as a pack and move as one so yes, it is best you stay with your team. Besides, who you gonna throw work at or under the bus when you are too hammered for next day's engagement? Starwood ain't shit when you compare to the points you get with the king of hotelier Tom Bodett. I'll let you in on a little secret here, there's a Motel 7 coming soon for big shot consultants.
4) You expense what your heart desires. Models? Bottles? Put it on the black card. Want to be chauffeured in a new RR Phantom? Put it on the card!!! Nothing is incidental when it comes to a hotshot's expenses cuz it's a necessity for you to perform your best which is what your clients deserve and expect.
5) You won't be eating at a buffet no more with food reimbursements. You are free to order up like a buffet and just take a nibble at everything on the table. I heard hippie SF recently have a $65 burger, you should order 4 by yourself and wash it down with a bottle of Crystal.
Oh wait, my bad that $65 burger is garbage compared to the $1,000 burger in NYC that have gold flakes and chunks of truffles. Remember you deserve the best as you are the best, limits are for whimps and those that don't cut it.
Best of luck to you Mr. future MBB consultant turn F50 CEO before 30.
1) We put your name on colored ping pong balls. Red is for "target", green is for "semi target", and blue is for "other". Said ping pong balls are all placed in the centre of a large conference room table. An algorithm is run to determine how many of each colour to extract, and these are done at random. The balls are then thrown at a first year consultant dressed in a gorilla suit, who tries to get as many as he can in his mouth in an allotted amount of time. Those that he gets in his mouth are given offers.
2) I don't think new hires are disproportionately judged on their first study, but if you struggle, that tends to be noted. The things that make rookies stand out to me are: - proactiveness: if you are thinking ahead and anticipating things vs just being told what to do - teachability: no one "gets it" from day 1. those that do well are those that realise that and listen/learn - asking good questions: again, no one is perfect from the start. but the questions you ask facilitate learning and can help the team immensely
1) Will be vague here on purpose but my favorite was a strategy project for a major consumer tech company. But the main reason it was my favorite was because of the people. You'll find that people are the common theme of any degree of success or satisfaction with this job. This is both internal, ie finding people you like working with and who will be mentors for you, and also external, ie your ability to develop strong relationships with clients
2) I will put a slightly different spin on this and tell you a little of what I aspire to be, as I think that this represents a picture of success that I personally find attractive: - Humility: I think the ability to distance who you are as a person and professional from the name that comes after the "@" in your email address or where you went to business school is critical. There are far too many people focused on pedigree, names, etc. who have overindexed in their sense of what they have accomplished in the world relative to what they can learn. The most successful people in my eyes are those who know they have more to learn and that they can learn from anyone, not those who believe they know a lot about something and who tell you all about that. It takes a far stronger person to aspire to things which cause them to fail then learn from those failures and become better. - Selflessness: Similar to my experience in b-school, I found that the more I give to my team, client, community, family, friends, etc. dictates how much I am fulfilled by those things. Contribution over consumerism. Invest in the things that are important to you and they will reap rewards. For those who I aspire to be like, it is apparent that they choose to invest in people, specifically teams, mentees, etc. and also in things that are outside the scope of work life - Drive: You also clearly have to have drive. This means you're proactive, goal-oriented, and to some degree, fearless. This doesn't mean brash, arrogant, or outspoken. It simply means you work hard to acheive clear goals and you are not entering life with a sense of entitlement that you deserve success for any other reason than because you earned it the hard way.