Doubts regarding Management Consulting in UK
I was researching about consulting in the UK and I have a few questions. If anyone is recruiting for consulting or is currently a consultant in the UK it would be very helpful if you could share some of your knowledge.
1) What are the Universities that firms hire from? Ik that Oxbridge basically fills up 60-70% of the spots and I would like to know about the other targets and semi-targets for MBB and T-2 consulting firms.
2) Which are the best Management consulting firms in the UK apart from MBB?
3) What is the base salary range in consulting? I have heard its about 20-30% less as compared to IB
Hi, incoming T2 strategy consultant in London here. To answer your questions:
1) I don't know about the exact %, but yes Oxford and Cambridge is where most come from. I consider LSE and Imperial to be just below them. Realistically, to be getting into MBB or T2 being in those 4 unis gives you an advantage, compared to 'semi-targets' such as UCL, Durham, Warwick and maybe KCL. One thing to note, if you did an undergrad at a non-target but a masters at a target, I think recruiters tend to ignore the prior experience.
2) Rankings within tiers are always subjective, these are just my thoughts based on prestige:
Tier 2: OW, RB, LEK, Kearney, EYP, S&, OC&C, Monitor Deloitte (in order from left to right)
Tier 3: Accenture Strategy, Big4 (I don't really know who else goes here)
Notable boutiques: Elixirr, Marakon, Eden McCallum, CVA, CIL, FTI, CRA, a plethora of life science boutiques
3) Base salary for MBB is around 50k. For T2s it varies a bit more, from 42k-50k. At Tier 3 its 30k-35k, and boutiques probably have the widest variation, from 35k-45k
I assume you're thinking about applying for grad positions sometime soon?
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There aren't really spring weeks for consulting, only 1/2 day insight events for MBB, but I don't think they're convertible to a summer internship anyway. You're best bet is to just get the summer internship and convert that. Even if the internship isn't where you want to end up, you can still use that on your CV to apply for FT consulting positions at firms you like more.
I agree with the vast majority, but I'd like to note that I wouldn't classify CRA or FTI boutique consultancies. CRA (Chares River Associates) is one of the top five firms for Economic Consulting and FTI Consulting is one of the top three firms for Restructuring & Turnaround consulting.
Fair enough, but is your point they're not boutiques because they are top5/3 in those niches? Isn't that the hallmark of a strong boutique - a specialism in a niche area that allows them to be ranked highlg? I always thought boutiques were defined as offering a limited range of services/industries, such as FTI in economic/FS and CRA in LS/economics.
Your T2 order is completely wrong
And what would your order be?
Above post is pretty accurate. Oxbridge % is now probably below 50%, at many firms Imperial or LSE (save McK for LSE) will be at least as well represented as one of those. Drop off to UCL (except for McK) is quite big, and very difficult to break in from a non-target (more so than finance).
Re. salaries, they’re pretty rubbish tbh. £45-50k base across MBB first years, 10% bonus. Some of the T2 are now paying better than that, fwiw.
Yup, salaries suck compared to US, but I guess that goes for most industries.
A little bit surprising that some T2 pay higher than MBB, but I hear the pay gap widens the more senior you are at either firms, such that MBB managers get paid a fair bit more than T2 ones do
how much do T2 pay out of curiosity? thanks
Am aware one T2 is at 52k base. Believe others are in the 45-50k range.
Re. LSE grads at McK, rumour has it that they had a far lower conversion ratio from interviews to offers than Oxford/Cambridge/Imperial/UCL so they’ve stopped handing out as many interviews. Seem to still be well represented but supposedly interview rates are a fair bit lower than the other two big London unis - this is coming from someone I know who was heavily involved with London recruiting but also oversaw a big expansion to UCL as an alum of that school, so I can’t say whether this is actually true or not.
Conversely, Bain AC offers this year had very few UCL people (only one who attended the offer day), very much dominated by Oxbridge/Imperial/LSE with a smattering of Bath, Bristol and Durham. Have heard BCG is also not a big fan of UCL and the leaked screening guide suggests this is also the case.
As I understand, targets look something look like this:
McK: Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, LSE (but less favoured than the others). Offers outside these five are rare.
BCG/Bain: Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, LSE. Bain has more of an Oxbridge bias than the other two but is also more open to semi-targets too.
Do Mckinsey not like LSE grads?
I go to LSE and most people i know, complain that given most interviewers are ex oxbridge its quite hard to make small talk as another interviewee who went to oxbridge can relate with JCRs and the other bullshit they do up there. Whilst it is very handy to have an ex LSE interviewer, I think its quite a lot of shit and most LSE people just dont prep the case study hard enough, LSE is definitely finance heavy/focused whereas Oxbridge, from what ive heard, is more case study heavy if that makes sense. Theres a reason why GS' number one university is LSE whereas I assume MBB on average have Oxbridge the most.
Will an MiM from Imperial help me to get into MBB or T2?
I’m an Indian applying you Imperial MiM
Hi there,
Top MiMs in London for MBB / T2 are LBS and LSE. Imperial MiM is a strong programme but I would argue it is a notch lower than the other schools as regards placement in top London consulting firms (according to LinkedIn data). All three programmes should put you in good shape to pass the CV screening stage assuming you have a good overall profile (i.e. solid undergraduate grades, relevant internships, leadership / extracurricular activities), a strong application CV & Cover Letter, and perform well in the online tests. I myself came across a few Imperial MiMs during the recruitment process for London MBBs and T2s!
If you want to work in consulting in London, I recommend you apply to all three programmes if feasible on your end (depending on finances, admission test requirements etc).
Best of luck!
Will an MiM from Imperial help me to get into MBB or T2?I'm an Indian applying to Imperial MiM
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Thank you for post
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