Can’t get a first round for consulting internships

Target school junior. Went 3/3 on MBB final rounds—but didn’t convert any of them to offers.

Since then, I’ve applied to tens of other management and strategy consulting firms—but I can’t even get past the resume screening for any of them. What gives? I’m extremely confused and don’t know how to pivot here considering I was clearly doing something right with MBB (to get the interviews)—but the same resume isn’t working for other firms.

9 Comments
 

genuinely confused as well. i feel like half of them are doing some sort of yield protection like colleges do.

 

Probably just a figure of the current market. Hate to be that guy, but MBB is likely outbidding/outperforming similar Strat shops/T2s, and thus MBB is hiring more on average. 

 

It's really just the M&A landscape right now. For Deal-focused consulting, the bigger players MBB are gobbling up the already few deals. This is even reflected in the lower hiring MBB side too this cycle. 

 
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That's just wildly incorrect.

I was both a Big 4 and an MBB partner. Big 4 generally beats the pants off MBB when it comes to large scale deal work, because they can bring actual M&A tax and finance professionals and an army of lower-paid arms and legs to do implementation work together with the small strategy team. Yes, the MBB strategy teams are considered to be "better" but Big 4 often wins the whole package and even when they don't, MBB gets the strategy scope and Big 4 gets the rest.

It's not about prestige, it's that Big 4 brings a capability that MBB simply can't provide.

 

Anecdotally, I know BCG is gradually shifting to hiring less interns and just filling out associate classes with new grad hires. My best guess is some of that is happening at other firms because they're trying to keep high return offer rates without over hiring.

If it's any comfort, you'll probably have an easier time senior year. Good luck.

 

it's so annoying because i did a consulting adjacent internship with a bank this summer (they compete with t2 firms for recruiting) and i'm guessing it's what you said or they mistook that i didn't get a return offer

 

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