Do US consulting firms look down on internships in Asia?

Background: I'm a rising senior at a target school who wants to go into management consulting after graduation. I have two summer internship offers on the table:

(A): advisory at a Big 4 accounting firm in Seoul. (B): boutique health policy consulting firm in the U.S.

Wondering whether it is better to go for (A) because of the brand name and hope that I get more interviews during fall recruiting, but also risk U.S. employers looking down on the internship because it was in Asia? Or should I go for a no-name firm in the U.S.?

Problem: I had trouble getting interviews this past junior fall for consulting, so I'm wondering whether an internship in Asia will overall be beneficial or harmful for recruiting... How important is location and brand name in getting interviews?

Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated :)

2 Comments
 

At targets, it is really common for Koreans to intern at Big 4 in Seoul after sophomore year then do a junior internship in the US, not necessarily at more 'prestigious' or large firms. My personal impression was that for sophomore internship they don't care as much about the location of your internship, but for junior internship companies want to see work experience in the US. One thing to consider is that at targets, a LOT of Korean students (I'd say almost half) recruiting for IB/Consulting have done internships at Big 4 advisory in Seoul so it is hard for you to stand out, especially when a lot of them worked there for sophomore year. I personally would go for the boutique then focus on fall recruiting, but it really depends on what feels right for you

 

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