Capital One BA vs MBB
Am I crazy for taking C1 BA over MBB offer?
C1 BA starting salary at 106K with up to ~20k bonus. Interested in the tech/fintech industries. And C1 is in a city I would want to be in more after graduation. Also has a faster promotion scheme.
Obviously would learn more at MBB/more prestige. But it C1 is if in a city I want, industry I want to work in, and I’ll be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, does it make sense to take the C1 BA offer?
MBB is so much better…
Are you talking about the strategy team at Cap One or just a finance BA?
I would advise against it unless the city is a big deal for you. Having MBB on your resume and possessing the consulting skillset more generally will open a ton of doors for you in the future. It sounds like you're aware of those cons though, so let's look at the three pros you mention
City - How big of a factor is this to you, and you need to be in that city ASAP? I feel like city should not be a big factor for first job out of college
Industry - CapOne is a bank, you can call it fintech if you want but it's still not really a tech company in the sense of a FAANG. Keep in mind you'll have the opportunity to work in tech and fintech through MBB and will likely have attractive exits in those sectors if you want them
Faster promo - How does the promo vs comp change compare vs consulting? My hypothesis would be that you'd make significantly more after promo to post-MBA level at MBB after 2-2.5 years
One other factor to consider - what is the role at CapOne? one of the great things about MBB is that you can exit into a wide variety of roles since you'll have diversified experience, sampling different project types in consulting effectively lets you sample different career paths
Do whatever you like better..
From a career perspective, I don’t really see an argument to take C1 business analyst role over MBB. C1 strategy? Maybe. But not the BA role at capital one. As much as the capital one gig is a great job, MBB is the best long term play. You can always go from MBB to a company like capital one.
BA role is good man. Great pay and like you said faster promotion scheme - some people are VPs in 8 years, obviously you have to be extremely talented by Cap1 promotes if you are good. Also work life is way better. Theres no expectation to work more than 40 hours to week, and if you want to then you're putting in more work and could be more likely to get promoted. There are a lot of good things about MBB, but don't downplay the work. Also at the end of the day the work is different. Cap1 you could be doing credit policy or more detailed work with SQL whereas consulting is higher level
Wait $106K with 40 hrs/week? How many YOE is required for the job and what city is this?
BA is the position straight out of undergrad.
That said I thought the starting salary was 96k but that's still great for the WLB and I wouldn't be surprised if they did bump it up more
I'll have to double check, but I know they've increased the ADP pay for 2023 from 2022. If I have my numbers right, its; 106K for McLean (DC) & Chicago, 100k for Plano (Dallas) & Richmond, and 113K for NYC. Business Analyst LOBs varies by office; Plano is Auto finance, Chicago is partnership cards (MLB, Walmart, etc.), NYC is primarily retail & commercial banking, McLean (headquarters) does everything (you want to be in Card), and Richmond... I honestly have no idea. The ADP program is the college hire program for Business Analysts, Strategy Analysts, and Data Analysts. Pay-scale is the same for the 3 roles, but I think the Strategy group gets a slightly higher signing bonus. BA signing bonus for 2022 was 9,000 + 1,500 for relocation (Capital One covers taxes on signing bonus). 2022 class was over 200, breakdown was something like 80%+ BAs, ~12% Strategy, ~8% Data Analysts. The vast majority are in McLean, with some in Plano and Chicago, and then a handful in NYC and Richmond. BAs are in all offices, Data is just McLean and Richmond, and Strategy is primarily McLean with I think a few in NYC. Business Analyst role is broken down further, where you are working in either a credit role, product role, or marketing role (you get a fair amount of input for your first rotation and a lot for your second).
Source: Business Analyst ADP hire for 2022 (ignore CorpStrat need to change that to something else). Took offer over a T2 & CB offer. Personally would probably have gone with MBB.
Its a great program, but MBB does a lot for your resume and offers wider exit options. That said if; you're planning on getting an MBA in a few years regardless, know you love finance/tech (CapOne is not fintech but BAs seem to exit a lot to FAANG and FinTech), you aren't interested in Private Equity, or if you know you want a career at Capital One (ADPs get promoted faster than external hires and get better LOB placements), I understand going with CapOne over MBB.
I interned at Capital One and re recruited for consulting full time, ending up at a T2. I now work in media and entertainment.
Capital One is good, but the exits are far more limited than MBB as others have said. Exits are basically to big tech, other consumer finance companies, or business school. Exits from my T2 included PE, VC, CPG, big tech, etc. Your aspirations can change a lot in the first few years out of school and I’d recommend taking MBB to keep your options open and potentially avoid having to go to business school.
Also worth noting that the McLean office is really the center of activity for Capital One, and my impression was that your career trajectory can sometimes be more limited in offices besides McLean.
What is your role in media and entertainment? The Capital One program has the potential to pivot directly into PM roles which I understand are difficult from T2 or even MBB.
MBB has the edge here. But Capital One BA is a great opportunity too. Literally nobody that I know that works in that role dislikes it.
If you're dead set on the industry and exits and prefer the WLB then going to Capital One is definitely worth a look.
Reneged C1 for MBB. Really enjoyed my experience so far. Have buddies at C1 who spoke worlds of it. Can’t really go wrong with either.
Hey! Currently in the middle of interviews at MBB and considering this situation. Would you be willing to DM me and/or talk about your reneg process?
Is the bonus actually up to 20k because no one else I know got that in their offer. They were told up to 6-7k?
BA bonus is 9k sign-in (post-tax) and 1.5k relocation (also post-tax), which is ~$15k pre-tax
There is also a EOY bonus 0-6.6k with a target of $3.3k, add these up and there is ~18k pretax bonus
Consider that C1 Strategy allows people to rotate into Product Management after 1 year, with the potential to join as a full-time PM after 4 months. This is an unheard of opportunity even from MBB, as PM roles generally look for prior experience.
But OP ‘s offer is for capital one business analyst
You can still transition from BA to PM pretty easily.
Considering C1 strat, wondering where you got this idea about product management from? Genuine question
Spoke to people at the firm who made that exact jump
By the way, DM me, I am considering the exact same position
MBB for sure, you can always switch back to cap one but very hard to go other way around
Also BCG just bumped to 110k so the other two will have to follow.
Yes, that's pretty crazy for anyone career-oriented. MBBs also have mobility options, so it's unlikely you'll be living somewhere you don't want to for an extended period of time.
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