Entering Strategy Consulting at 35
Hi All,
I'm set to start business school upcoming August and have set my eyes on entering strategy consulting (MBB) post consulting.
Wanted practical insights on:
1) What is the dirty reality of entering a consultancy at 35? (Considering most 35 year olds will be partners - considering they started much earlier.)
2) Is it even possible to enter at 35 and then fast track one's way to a partnership in three years or so?
Please rip the bandage and provide me with bitter reality.
Sincerely,
-P
Unless you’ve been working for a strategy consulting firm before your MBA and are returning to your sponsoring firm, there’s no chance you make partner in three years.
look - you’re going to be starting at the post MBA level @ 35. It’s a fine place to be, but you need to accept the grind.
Thanks!
And what is the reality in IB? To be able to enter and cut it at 35?
No real difference. You just have to be able to do the work and make it through. The path in IB is well documented as well. So probably 3 years associate -> VP and that’s where it gets less clear to move up to director and then MD.
1. Yes, you will be on the old end of the spectrum for your cohort, however, there have definitely been other cases of people joining consulting at a later age I.E. did med school/residency and then left to join consulting. It's definitely a demanding lifestyle which would be especially challenging to learn and juggle if you have a family and other obligations that your younger peers may not have. So it will be hard, but not impossible.
2. This is actually impossible. There is absolutely 0 chance that you make partner in 3 years if you enter at the post-MBA role.
Most 35 year olds will not be partners. McK and BCG hire more at the post-MBA level, so people typically enter in their late twenties or early thirties.
TL;DR version - nothing wrong with entering at that age (as long as you're okay with the grind), but don't expect to be fast-tracked through the ranks.
1) No 'dirty reality' beyond the fact that you'll likely be older than most of your cohort, and perhaps might be less willing to deal with the day-to-day bullshit that the job puts you through. That said, 35 isn't crazy old to come in at the post-MBA level - plenty of experienced hires who join from industry are around that age. It may even be an advantage in client situations - you'll have a lot more credibility than some 24 year old who joined after undergrad and has just sort of stuck around.
Will also add that 35 is pretty young to be a partner. It's obviously possible to do it, but most partners I've met at my MBB are at least in their late 30s.
2) There's no way to really be 'fast tracked' to partner, at least at my firm (can't say for sure about the other two, but it's likely similar). Every promotion has a tenure window - strong performance will guarantee that you get promoted towards the early end of that window, but there's not a lot of give beyond that in most cases. Even if you somehow manage to get promoted up the ranks faster than usual, partner election requires you to have built a ton of credibility within your pyramid, and a pretty solid commercial platform, neither of which is a quick or easy process. Long story short - I'd temper any expectations as far as being fast tracked to partnership; you'd have to be both very lucky and exceptionally good for that to happen.
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