Hi Monkeys,
Hope this post finds you well. I currently have been working a Big 4 Advisory firm for the past 2 years since graduating from university. My role is titled as "management consulting" role, but I have been doing pretty purely operations work. I currently have an offer from a boutique consulting firm (3 offices, maybe 100-200 consultants). The cool thing about the boutique is that they're a pure play strategy shop, 0 operations and 0 implementation work. Extremely long hours and pay almost on par with MBB, maybe a few thousand less (and about 15-25K more than I'm currently getting at the big 4). However, I'm still thinking about exit opps and business school placement - is there really any point at working at a boutique consultancy? If I'm looking to leave my firm, should I decline this offer and keep trying to exit straight into finance or industry?
Thanks in advance - your comments and opinions are appreciated. Heck, even your shitty jokes are appreciated, you damn dirty apes ;).
As far as applying to b-school, staying or switching wouldn't matter. It's all about whatever story you tell them when you apply. So don't let that deter you.
As far as exit opps (without going MBA route), that'll depend on what you want. I'd look at to alums from your Big 4 group and see if they're getting the types of jobs you want compared to those from the boutique. Do you even like the work that the boutique does?
Definitely. As a pureplay strategy shop, the boutique does about 25% PE diligences, and the rest is pure market entry/corporate strategy, etc., as opposed to the boring outsourcing/operations type of work I'm doing now. The flip side is that I could continue trying to move into the M&A, Strategy, or corporate finance practice at PwC, at try to go straight into a PE role from there, then to B-school, instead of having to do a 2 year stint at another consultancy, then PE, then b-school (which would put me in Bschool at like age 30 instead of 28).
Also depends on the Big4 management role you're talking about. Is it Monitor Deloitte, then it's probably worth to stay as the exit opportunities won't be much different from MBB in the US (PE/ IB are probably not in reach though).
How well known is the boutique firm?
It's not Monitor Deloitte. I'm hesitant to say which firm it is (although I'm not exactly sure why all the secrecy on the boards about the names of firms, but heck, I'll go along with it). The exit opps from this firm seem to be kind of all over the place, with a lot of folks going into industry.
The boutique is not well known at ALL. For example, it is not listed on Vault. However, Vault's "boutique consulting firms" list has firms that are smaller than this one, so I don't know if that's merely a function of marketing. They seem to have a good client mix (including large, well known tech firms, some PE clients, etc), and ongoing work on the horizon. While I try to avoid the "prestige" game, I can't help but think that it matters a bit in consulting, where the brand name of the firm is actually a component of the service offering. Trying to exit from a Big 4 Management Consulting or M&A role, vs. trying to exit from a no-name boutique...well, there's a difference.
So you're at PwC Advisory or Strategy&?
If your company is Strategy&, then it won't be worth switching. The exit opps there are better than any/most boutique consultancies and it is definitely a better stepping stone for PE (try to get into the deals group) and MBA than a no-name boutique. Are you US based?
PwC Advisory, NOT aligned to Strat&, and yes, US based.
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