HELP: Office Location for Consulting
I go to an east coast target and appreciate your help.
I have an open offer for an MBB in NY and SF. I realize that both locations are highly regarded. Which location will give me the best exit, prestige, and background to lead a company in the future? Also which is typically more coveted/competitive? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Congrats on the offer, as well as two of the most competitive offices. I go to a east coast target myself, though at the MBA level, and am partial towards the NY office for the following reasons.
1) Prestige is pretty much a wash, but there's something to be said about having the "NY" network coming out of an east coast target. May be marginally more difficult to create natural networks in SF, which is more likely staffed with Stanford/Berkeley kids.
2) Exits really depend on where you want to end up. You're on a pretty golden path for b-school a couple years down the line if you choose to do so. With regards to "leading a company", I can say from personal experience the entire vibe in the Silicon Valley is geared towards start-ups, so much so that even consulting engagements are skewed towards the whole start-up world (not necessarily with start-ups as clients, but even f500 companies out there have a good pulse on the start-up community). Thus, if you want to get involved in the start-up world one day, the SF office is a no brainer. For more traditional corporate ladder type of jobs, it's probably a toss-up, but in non-tech industries I would gravitate more towards NY.
You're in a really enviable position, and a lot of the decision will come down to your own cultural fit. Being in an office with colleagues that you're comfortable with will translate into higher performance, which in the end will likely outweigh any intrinsic differences between the NY and SF offices of an MBB.
Thanks Niubi. What do you think about NY vs SF for top PE exits. Also would you say NY is more competitive or in demand?
Can't speak to PE personally, though anecdotally PE is more focused on the east coast and VC is more heavy on the west. Again, from personal experience, I would say the NY office is more competitive, though I could very well be biased based on where I'm coming from. Put it this way, I'd say most Harvard Wharton or Columbia guys would say NY is more competitive, while Stanford and Cal grads would prefer SF. Would be interesting to get the perspective of someone from Booth/Kellogg.
Congrats on the offer man. New York girls are way better so i would pick NYC.
If it's Bain I'd go SF, the two others NYC.
Agree with TheSanchize. Your personal preferences/fit matters a lot more, but in general, Bain is the strongest in SF (especially if you're interested in tech) and BCG is a lot stronger over East in general. McK is great both ways, but McK NY is probably tops prestige-wise.
Lol at prestige/exit options by office location... only on WSO. Does not matter in real life. Which one is best depends on your own industry and lifestyle preferences.
This. I don't see office location as being the primary differentiator when it comes to exit opps - it's more about how you leverage your own network, interests, and past studies/engagements. Just pick wherever you liked the people better and think you might enjoy living more.
If it's McK, New York will give you the top opportunities for pe and large corporate roles. McK basically dominates the east coast.
office location can dictate exit opps to some extent -- if you want to do tech/start-ups or VC, your chances are much, much better coming out of the SF office. if you want to do east coast PE or work at a random non-tech F500, NY is better. beyond just track record of placement, the office you work in does play a very large role in what sorts of projects you work on with respect to industry, which has a ton to do with what's open to you as an exit. the other reason is just physical proximity, as networking is extremely important regardless of what you want to do and generally you want to be able to do that in person.
From a prestige standpoint, NY > SF as it is more competitive
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