Consulting: what are my chances?
Rising senior, non-target, decent GPA, very good extracurriculars, sophomore internship was in wealth management, then 2 corporate finance internships at media & entertainment conglomerates (Disney, Sony Pictures, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia) - one in FP&A and one on a strategy-ish team but very industry specific.
I recently discovered my interest in corporate strategy but I’m weighing the pros and cons of starting in consulting first. Based on my background, what are my chances? Not really shooting for MBB because I don’t go to a target school so how about T2?
Intern in CorpFin, sorry there are no responses yet. Maybe one of these topics can point you in the right direction:
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I hope those threads give you a bit more insight.
Consulting firms love name brands on resumes! Case like crazy and once you feel confident there, tailor your stories/experiences so that your interviewer can see that you learned a lot from your previous internships. It doesn't hurt to apply to MBB anyway, even if you think your chances are slim. I also recommend networking with your uni's alum that work at the firms you're at now. You never know if they will give you a referral. It might not always pan out, but you never know unless you try! Hope this helps!
Echoing the above, I think you are actually decently positioned to land a good consulting gig (given the good GPA/corporate internships).
It will be up to you to prepare super well for the interviews, so make sure you dedicate the proper amount of time if you are serious about this. You obviously need to get your behavorals and case skills down, but it’s definitely possible.
I also think you do have a shot at MBB, and you should definitely network with your alumni network. One of my siblings worked for BCG and they had the ability to get anyone they knew an interview (obviously wouldn’t recommend anyone, and would do case prep before to see if they thought the candidate was actually prepared). So point being is that alumni/personal connections may have the ability to get you into the recruting process directly, but you will have to be very prepared.
In this sense I think it’s almost easier than breaking into banking from a non-target, where the most difficult part for me was landing an interview/getting into a process.
Agree with the others, your profile seems pretty good judging off the information you shared
However, there's one thing I want to add. You said:
> Not really shooting for MBB because I don't go to a target school so how about T2?
I get the thinking - since MBB are more desirable and win cross offers vs T2s, that means the T2s will be easier to get into. However, in practice this is not necessarily true for non-target candidates. MBB hire larger classes and take a decent number of non-target students every year. In contrast, the T2s have smaller classes, and some do not take very many non-targets at all (It's been a few years, but I remember when I was going through recruitment you couldn't even apply to some T2s without a referral from somebody senior in the org, and it was certainly a black hole type of application for some others). This means that while the filter of converting from interview to offer is typically harder for MBB vs T2s, the filter of converting from application to interview can sometimes skew the other way
The takeaway is that you should not exclude MBB in your networking and application (you need to network and get referrals as a non-target). Keep in mind all of MBB + T2s will only be like 8 companies, so this shouldn't be impossible if you put some effort in every day
Also, make sure you spend a lot of time prepping for performing in your interviews, not just getting them. Given non-target students have to work harder just to get interviews, I've definitely seen a number of instances where they didn't spend as much time as their target school peers (which remember you're competing against to get the job)
Best of luck. Don't procrastinate on networking or interview prep and you can do it
I agree with this view. I should first comment that I am in Europe and recruited into MBB via the Experienced Hire route. So, those are two dimensions that greatly differ from your experience.
What I noticed is that when I applied to Tier 2/boutique firms, I got direct rejections from all of them, while I was invited to first rounds at both Bain and BCG (first to online tests, but there’s a billion ton of prep material out there, so I’ll pass on that stage). My point on this is indeed to say “Don’t sell yourself short”. Networking isn’t too massive a hurdle, although you might need to pay the LinkedIn membership to send a dozen messages or so (or just add people and add a note on the request).
i sent about 10-12 messages on LinkedIn to alumni, got 3 responses rather quickly, and 1 of them offered to give me a mock interview, which was super helpful. And most of my universities (or companies) don't have a history of placing into MBB at all. One does pretty well in the UK, actually, but I graduated from it 9 years ago.
For prep, I again second the above statements. Take it very seriously. Prepare, practice with people (so so so important), use online resources and websites if you must, most should be free. And maybe, if you can afford it, hire a coach for 1 or 2 sessions to check your actual level.
In the end, I got 1 offer and pulled out of the other (cause the offer was from my preferred target + office location) before Round 2. I didn’t believe I’d make it either, and now I’m starting in 2 months.
So again, make sure to network well, prepare seriously, and trust in yourself.
Best of luck!
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