Consulting - is it worth it?
Dear fellow monkeys,
I am right now doing my Bachelor's in IT, I have so far an internship at an IT implementation consultancy, an internship at a Big4 and I am about to do an internship in one of the big car manufactories in digital/strategy. I also already applied for an internship at a t2 and got accepted (I rejected it because I did not have time, I just wanted to learn about the procedure).
I also am the kind of person who focuses on one goal and tries everything possible to reach it. My goal is MBB since this is what I figured would be the pinnacle of consulting.
At both the IT firm and the Big4 I had a talk with my manager about my career and stuff, and they warned me that I could lose myself in work, could lose my family and friends, could lose my health and the person I am.
So far I didn't really listen to it. After all, I knew that management consulting isn't a 9-5. And it's much better than IB, too. The pay is great and the exit options are even better. I have the opportunity to work abroad or stay in Germany, and I could exit anytime and get a well-paid management position at a car company or IT company. I already have searched out my targeted school for my MiM after my bachelor's, but now I start questioning my plan. I had the opportunity to talk to a bunch of partners, both at MBB, T2 and Big4 and the story I've heard was always the same: young, ambitious, went into consulting for a few years, hoping to exit but got lost in the fast-moving working environment and the interesting but demanding work. That sounds like something that would happen to me too. With my profile, I could also get into a good entry position in the industry, while being able to keep a great WLB (in Germany, thanks to unions you usually work 35h in automotive). But then I would never know if I'd made it.
Long story short, I am quite indecisive about the whole thing. I love to grind and to work toward a goal, so I'm not sure if that could kill my motivation completely. Would you go again into consulting if you had to start over? And do you have any tips to keep a decent WLB, including sports, partner, and friends or will I have to give some up?
Thank you for any advice!
No
Why?
I’m incoming MBB so no clue. But what I do know is consultants work on average 65 hours a week with weekends completely free so take that what you will.
My view on it is you can always quit after 1-2 years if the WLB is horrible and you hate it. And the exit opps are good and broad so you can find something by else. But you have to decide for yourself.
Apologies for the misleading title but I went from MM banking to a Tier 2 strategy consulting firm (right below MBB). Honestly one of the best decisions of my life. Yes my paycheck decreased by a little but it wasn’t enough to matter. Everyone works so much more efficiently, the culture is way more flat, and people just respect one another’s time a lot more. Yes the hours can absolutely still suck. But it hasn’t been nearly as bad as my banking days. Also, I think the exit opps are way more interesting. I’m seeing way more people doing startups and venture (and even growth) investing from consulting than IB (IB was way more PE and Corp dev). It really just depends on what you want at the end of the day, but for me personally it was a fantastic move
What are the hours generally at your T2 Firm compared to what you experienced in banking?
Don't you feel IB has longer hours with more down time while consulting is data mining and formatting for constant 65 hours a week?
Worth it
Hours
WLB
I can only speak to strategy consulting, and specifically to MBB, the rest of the industry may be different. Happy to answer any Qs you may have. I also posted a Q&A a couple of months back, so feel free to dig it up too if you like.
thanks for your post dude
my definition of 'worth it' is that i probably want to work in c-suite later on in my career and ideally make CEO, have people from your MBB firm done that or aspire to do that or in the midst of doing that?
Well, that's certainly my plan. However, you got to remember that your MBB career will not grant you C-suite roles. At some point you'll need to exit, and once in your target industry / company, you'll need to climb up the ranks in one of the key verticals leading to CEO (Sales & Marketing / Finance / Operations, etc.). And you'll be against people who've been there 10-15-20 years.
Historically, we've made a lot of CEOs and C-suites over the years (here is a non exhaustive list: link).
As for people in my office, some may have these ambitions, but they're all still pretty young and uncertain what they want to do (it might start becoming something they think about at the SM level, when they have to decide whether they want to stay or not). Some may not be willing to share those ambition in the first place.
Thanks for the post!
Does it happen that you have to cancel your plans often? And do you get your weekly exercise in outside the weekend?
Im willing to put in the hours, but I decided that I want to find a model that doesn’t sacrifice my health
Cancellation
Exercise
As a first year at Big 4 in ERP Consulting, I would say it's not the worst place to get some full-time experience. However, you need to be ready to travel at a couple of days' notice, do a lot of grunt work, deal with sans brain clients and do mind-numbing excel and ppt editing. But, the pay isn't half bad and the perks are decent too. Plus, looking for better jobs after having Big 4 on your resume is much easier.
a note on WLB in DACH region specifically - it is notably worse than other regions. US probably averages 55, I've heard DACH averages 65
I've never heard of that, can anyone confirm?
And I have quite a bit of international experience, and I'll make my Master's abroad - how difficult is it to make the jump to US/CA/AU etc? How does WLB compare there?
Certainly true at my MBB
the better performance you have, the easier it is to pursue the career you want, including an international transfer. but it will be limited by the business overall (e.g., office mobility was much easier in 2021 when things were going great vs now when things have slowed down a ton).
one option to consider if you're starting at the BA/A/AC level and you want to get to the US is to get an MBA, ideally with sponsorship, and then use that to transfer offices (should be easier to get work authorization that way)
I think you've got a few good answers already so I won't repeat them, happy to answer any questions McKinsey specific (here or DM)
Broadly, it seems like it's more intense as a BA/ Associate (post UG/ B school level). Cancelling plans is not uncommon, because you are expected to 'own' your workstream and you are on the hook for it. At 9-12 months of tenure, you are expected to drive forward your workstream, pulling in internal/ external resources/ aligning with your EM/ client relationships as you see fit. There is pressure (arguably more than most jobs place on 23 years olds), and a steep learning curve but incredibly fulfilling and formative.
I've seen the best BAs become Senior Associates and go on secondments after 2 years into Senior Manager/ lower tier Director level positions at FTSE100 companies and crush it.
To some extent you get out what you put in. The BAs that get the most out are almost always the ones that made McKinsey their life. Most BAs are more balanced, some BAs take 'lifestyle' studies (i.e., 50 hour weeks) for months at a time. They keep an active social life, but come away having learnt less, working on less interesting topics and broadly less well rounded professionals.
The toughest lifestyle I've had is 110 hour weeks for 3 months while my client struggled to escape going bankrupt. My average is about 65- 70 hour weeks. My most relaxed was 50 hour weeks with a public sector client.
How did you manage a 110 hour week? I assume you worked weekends (is that typical?) otherwise you would be working 22 hours a day.
Yes weekends were just more work days. We stayed in a hotel opposite the client HQ and just powered through for the 12 weeks.
I should say, this was an exceptional circumstance and is exceedingly rare. We were starting a strategy refresh with the CEO/ CFO when political circumstances changed suddenly and our scope had to change to simply helping the business survive.
At the end of it, the entire team had to roll off due to burnout and were given a couple months of paid leave.
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