Do most MBA hires at MBB have prior MBB experience?

Do MBB prefer prior MBB experience (as an analyst or associate recruited after undergrad) while recruiting MBA grads? Or is it not much of a factor when compared to MBA prestige, GMAT, networking and case interviews?

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Not hard at all. Would say vast majority actually were not MBB pre-MBA. There is super high attrition rates from pre-MBA levels at MBB (most leave to pursue other opportunities)...I would say maybe only 20% end up going to get their MBA and come back (and now many that want to stay just get promoted directly). In my office most MBA hires came from non-consulting backgrounds. If you are at a target school (top ~10 programs) you'll have a shot no matter your background.

 
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My impression is that it is at least twice as difficult to break into MBB from T15-20 than from M7/T10. At target programs, if OCR doesn't work out then there is not much you can do off campus because OCR is already a huge leverage and if you couldn't take advantage of that then forget about pulling it off on your own. At non-target programs, there may not be much OCR anyway. As a result, off campus recruiting may be the only route. As far as being an international student is concerned, as long as you are eloquent in English and relatively well-versed in American culture, it shouldn't matter, assuming that you also have a very high IQ (a given at the M7/T10 level and mostly true also for T15-20). The only issue could be work authorization.

 

For the middle of the roaders: the lifestyle is hard, the travel is tiring, and the work-life balance of your corporate clients may sometimes leave you wanting, so you leave. Maybe you want to settle down and be home during the week.

Then there's the two segments at opposite ends of the spectrum: the people who leave because they're given an amazing offer they can't refuse, and the people who leave because they're asked to.

Put all those together, and you have the 50% who choose to go by the 2-2.5 year mark.

 

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