Dropoff after top 15 firms?
Sorry, I'm a little new to consulting so I have a question about the industry. It's pretty established that MBB is at the top, followed by strategy firms like LEK and Oliver Wyman and then the Big 4.
How big is the dropoff after these top 10-15 firms for career trajectory and comp and business school placement?
For example, I've seen people at my my school go to West Monroe Partners, Protiviti, and Aon Radford. Are these places great starting points to later move into a director position at F200 companies or are they in a completely different tier than Big 4 Consulting. Would they be similar to KPMG since that's considered the lowest of the Big 4?
MBB > HSW
Big 4 Consulting > M7/Top 10
Would the firms listed above mostly send to 8-15 schools?
Comments (32)
I think everyone is going to tell you that the drop off is steep from MBB -> Big 4 + LEK, ACN, OW, ATK -> Everything Else. I'd be interested in hearing from someone who has a bunch of industry experience. I know at the MBA level, MBB is put on a very high pedestal, and the others can seem inferior. Although, the pay is the same across all of them. Not sure about exit opps though.
Any idea why MBA applicants seem to have an extreme MBB or bust mentality? There are so many high quality firms, each with pretty close comp trajectories - this seems to be understood by undergrads but not by MBA's for some reason?
Historically, they are the pioneer general Strategy firms. They are also widely known for their exit.
When do you ever get to reset like this and have the ability to exit to almost any industry? I know ton of MBA were not happy with their industry choice.
Ironically, now MBB are focused on implementation and tier 2 are focusing on Strategy more.
I think MBA programs attract competitive personalities and its just sort of the nature of recruiting. You could almost think of MBB as the HSW of consulting. Are you at a disadvantage because you got into Booth and not Wharton... Maybe in some regards, but at the end of the day they are all great places with the opportunity to do well.
MBB also spends significantly more on recruiting: events, dinners, happy hours, social events, case workshops... And pretty much everyone will get invited to something, so it almost feel like a break up if you don't get an offer.
I'm not sure if it is quite MBB or bust, but it is certainly a weird mentality. I don't think I knew anyone that only recruited MBB. Most MBA classes will have ~20% consulting internships and ~30% consulting full-time. So there are also some people that get nothing and have to go through the process again. You can also go through the process again if you interned at a Tier 2 and want to take another shot at MBB for full time.
MBA admissions teams at T15 programs won't recognize companies like West Monroe, Protiviti, or Aon Radford because they don't recruit MBA candidates. I have not met anyone from those firms at my T15.
However, the question is moot because you wouldn't pick Protiviti over Deloitte. If you want to be a consultant, and your only option is Protiviti, then go to Protiviti for 5 years, do well, and apply to MBA programs anyway. I'm sure you'll get into a good school.
I would expect a Protiviti manager to put together a stronger application than a 4th year analyst at KPMG.
To clarify, when I said KPMG, I meant KPMG advisory, which is considered a top 15 consulting firm. Not Audit or Tax.
One reason I'm asking is because I'm considering transferring to a more expensive but more prestigious school. If Protiviti is considered in line or just below Big 4, it would not be worth it. But if the gap was significant, then I could transfer and have solid odds for OW, LEK, ATK, and the Big 4.
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There is no such thing as a "top 15" consulting firm. Consulting isn't banking. We don't have league tables.
Protiviti is not inline with KPMG because they don't have a brand name that carries like KPMG's. A smart business school would still admit a good Protiviti manager above a bad KPMG analyst.
If you want to transfer schools then go for it, but you should know before you do that many undergraduate students don't get consulting offers, even at great schools, so it may not work out for you.
These 'tier' conversations are complete bullshit, each firm is different, and your experience within each firm is going to vary wildly. For example, within KPMG Advisory, you have Deal, Risk, MC, and Strategy. A KPMG strategy employee will have much better exit opportunities than a KPMG risk employee, but they are both part of "KPMG Advisory."
If you're worried about getting into business school, then do what was suggested below and look at your target school's employment report. You want to work for the firms that hire from your target school.
I would expect a huge drop off after the top 13 generalist firms with an exception for niche consulting firms (ie ZS for healthcare or PE/restructuring focused shops)
You will have the following tiers
Top: MBB
Major PE recruiting Gap
Tier 2A: OW/LEK/ATK Tier 2B: All BIG4 Strategy practices +Accenture
Exit opps differentiation gap (significantly fewer FAANG + top tier startups & F500 roles)
Tier 3: top boutiques and top niche consultancies
Significant exit opps gap but still have shot at above tier 2 exits
Major gap
Tier 4: large / midsize but lesser known consulting firms, typically more technology focused such as IBM, proviti, capgemini, TCS, west Monroe etc..
Tier 5: no name small boutiques. - still get you decent careers at F1000 firms
I don't know if I agree with your Tier 2.
I think most people would consider Deloitte at the top of Tier 2. Not sure why, but that seems to be the perception at my school and Deloitte has done a good job branding itself that way.
LEK is know for mostly due diligence and ATK has a reputation for ops focus. I don't think there is necessarily a 2A and 2B, just a Tier 2, and depending on what you want in your career it could make more sense to go to Parthenon versus Deloitte or Strategy&, this doesn't apply in Tier 1, since people will always take the brand + projects of the Tier 1s over any offer.
Wondering if you have any info on Tier 2 exit ops for non-PE type roles. Also is this drop off for PE portfolio companies or the PE firms themselves?
Agreed it is splitting hairs on Deloitte vs other T2s because some may view Parthenon or Booz&co just as favorably as an OW or AT Kearney.
At the end of the day the exit opps are all going to be nearly identical, with LEK and OW possibly sending a few to PE investment teams. These firms will have the same shot at PE portfolio opps... I've even seen a few examples of KPMG Strategy people make the move so it's possible even at the lower end of T2.
All these firms will place well at for non-PE exits. This is where the brand name recognition kicks in. Coming from here you can move to good roles within FAANG, Fortune 100 (SM/director roles post MBA) & top startups as well as gain acceptances at top MBA programs.
Would Healthscape Advisors, Navigant, and FTI Consulting all be Tier 3?
I don't understand why IBM is tier 4. IBM is thought of as a very respectable solid name imo so I figured IBM consulting would be upper Tier 3.
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