Consulting Firm Tiers/Rankings
Maybe I didn’t see the post while I was searching for an answer, or maybe I don’t know the right key words to use to find an answer, but I have a quick question for this community.
Why are consulting firms ranked the way that they are? What factors actually contribute to that ranking? In other words, what actually distinctly makes MBB different from big 4, boutique, or Tier 2 firms?
I know about the differences in size, salary, clientele, specialization, exit opportunities, and, of course, the ever-elusive “prestige” factor. I’m kind of old though, so I’m more curious about things like learning opportunities, development/growth opportunities within the firm, what actually constitutes value-generation as a newcomer, culture (not just WLB because I think that can dilute the idea of culture a bit), etc.
I’m asking this because I have a locked-in internship at ZS for this summer; seemingly is one of the best Tier 2/boutique options out there. However, I also just had coffee with the head of biz ops at my current company (a small fintech startup; working FT while in school) who is ex-Amazon, McKinsey, and MF PE who offered to connect me with his colleagues/friends at McKinsey, Bain, and BCG.
He made a phenomenal case for choosing those firms after I graduate (currently at Penn), and offered to refer me upon the completion of my internship at ZS for an entry-level analyst role.
So, barring salary, status, and other factors that can easily be learned about on YouTube, what do you all think fundamentally differentiates the firms from each other? I’d even appreciate a link to an article that goes into detail about that.
I’m much more focused on making sure I find the right natural fit than the best “on paper” fit, if that makes sense. I’d love the input of anyone who has some wisdom and insight to offer.
MBB have a pretty strong value proposition to their employees. They deliver this by:
- Luring in ambitious young talent with promises of working on high-stakes problems for large and influential clients. It's true that most big consulting firms have exposure to this sort of work, but MBB capture the lion's share of work of "F100 CEO priorities"
- Having a strong culture - lots of visible investment into their people, such as training and development, perks (e.g., generous expense policies, frequent social events, fancy dinners, etc.), and diversity/inclusion. There's a reason why MBB's glassdoor ratings are so high and why most alums (not all, but most) speak fondly of their time at MBB. Many people leave not because they don't enjoy the work or the people, but because they want to go into a less intense field (and they'll likely outperform their peers in that field due to the training they received at MBB)
- Helping alums secure fantastic careers: Because of the reputations that MBB have in industry, it's fairly easy to find a high-paying and impactful role after just 2 years. Because MBB is a career accelerator, alums tend to end up in high positions, and those alums in turn hire MBB alums to their teams. It's a network that you can rely on for the rest of your career. Additionally, all MBB have "transition benefits" meaning whenever you decide to leave, they'll give you X months on full salary and benefits to find a new job. They even have whole teams dedicated to helping you find your next career. This sort of support also increases the goodwill that alumni have for their old employers
Happy to talk more about any of this in detail if you have any follow up questions
I'll add that MBB has much better support networks (page formatting, expert networks, etc.) that allow us to focus most of our time on analyzing and solving the problem.
Because of the investment in people, MBB also has much faster career progression than most other firms for those who choose to stay.
Thanks for the added context! Coming from startups and smaller consulting firm internships, it would be refreshing to be able to focus exclusively on ways to be a producer rather than needing to segment time between friction points in our processes or be limited to our single area of expertise. I definitely wouldn't mind that in the future, but from my understanding, it's much better to develop in rigorous environments so that you can eventually step into a startup or smaller shop as a leader/advisor/expert.
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