How ruthless is up and out at MBB for New Graduates?
At the MBB, how soon do people get pushed out if they were hired out of undergrad/returners from the 3rd year internship program? Do people get pushed out in as little as 6 months? I'm aware you they let you know very early on if you're not performing up to expectation, but does that mean you can get permanently beached really early on? I'm considering offers for two of the three and was wondering if anyone can speak from personal experience.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here's what you need to know about the "up or out" policy at MBB firms for new graduates:
Promotion and Exit Statistics:
Early Performance Feedback:
Timing of Exits:
Career Trajectories:
Voluntary Exits:
In summary, while MBB firms do have a rigorous "up or out" policy, immediate exits within 6 months are not the norm. Employees typically receive early feedback and have opportunities to improve before any final decisions are made.
Sources: What I've learned so far after 1 yr at a top MBA program (If I could do it over):, Q&A: Three years of MBB leaving for PE in NYC, Top 10 Undergrad, Top 10 MBA... Unemployed 3 months, 2 not great offers to decide between, Lateral hire from another consulting firm to MBB, Received offers from all three MBB firms and don't know what to do
Giving my perspective from Bain:
We receive formal performance reviews every 6 months, and it's at that point that they tell you what "bucket" you're in. For your first review, you don't get assigned a bucket. If you aren't meeting expectations, you'll be put on a PIP. If you fail the PIP, you'll receive transition benefits and leave the firm.
From what I've heard anecdotally, Bain has annual attrition of something like 10-15%, half of which is voluntary and half of which is involuntary (people being pushed out). The issue that the firms have faced in the last 2 years is that voluntary attrition has gone down substantially because of a cooled job market, and the rate of involuntary attrition has increased to compensate.
In the most general terms, something like 5-15% of consultants every 6 months will receive a PIP, and about half of them will fail the PIP.
This is all accurate as far as I know as well. Only things I'd call out.
1. If your performance is extremely sub-par, you can get fired without a formal pip process. I've seen this happen to a new hire who was not showing up to work / working during work hours.
2. It's not necessarily the case that people fail the pip. Anecdotally, it seems like most people who are offered pip just choose not to take it. In return, they're given a more generous transition package. I've heard that the rate of surviving pip is actually relatively high for those who genuinely give it their all to improve.
Works pretty similar at BCG. Every 6-months you get an official rating; if you are below par, you are put in 'yellow' or even pushed out directly. If you are in 'yellow,' you typically have 6 weeks or 3 months to show improvement or else you're pushed out. As someone who started in 2022, there were a decent amount of 'counsel-outs' in my class (I'd say 20% of the associates who started didn't make the 2-year promotion). This is the earliest 'counsel out' timeline I've seen:
Month 6: put in yellow, given 3-months to improve
Month 9 'check in:' the associate did not see improvement and as a result was pushed out
However, I will caveat that they're typically a bit more lenient for post-undergrad hires. Most of the early 'counsel outs' happen at the 12 - 15 month mark.
Unfortunately due to the staffing climate that was present during my tenure, a lot of people who had 1 'bad case' were stuck on the beach for a long time. So unfortunately it has happened that someone who had a rough first 3 months only had 1 case before their 6-month review, then was counseled out 3-months later. The office will often 'invest' you (put you on a case as a non billable resource) to give you 1 last shot at improvement. But those 'investments' are usually 5-week stints, often with a bad manager who is trying to get extra hands to do menial tasks.
The good news is that you typically know it's coming. It should never be a surprise that you are getting the boot, so once you get those signals, you should begin the job search. And even if you do get kicked out, you get 'transition time' which is 2-months full pay or 4-months half pay to find a job. Out of all my post-undergrad friends who got pushed out, almost nobody has ended up serially unemployed- everyone landed a solid next gig. The story is a bit different for post MBAs, who often had to take significant pay cuts (Because the $190k base is difficult for a corporation to match).
Would you say that the climate at BCG has gotten noticeably better? I'm coming on as a 2025 Summer Associate (out of undergrad) and kind of bet on the economy getting better + employee count getting back to equilibrium at the firm.
1. It's definitely gotten better since then, but so much can happen in the next few years (you won't be joining until fall 2026). If you're a 2025 summer associate, you have sooooo much time before you should be worrying about this. Do well in your internship and you'll get the return offer. Then once you join, worry about doing well on your first few cases.
2. Tough to tell the %, since nobody is going around the office saying "I got kicked out!" I'd say ~10% got pushed out, but a lot of people see the writing on the wall, then they just leave before it happens. So they technically weren't 'pushed out' but they saw it coming (This happened to a buddy of mine, who left voluntarily after not being billable once in a 6-month span). So maybe I'll say 18 - 20% total got pushed out or would have gotten pushed out had they not left already.
Thank you for this!
From your experience, of the 20% that didn't reach the 2 year mark, where did majority of them end up?
Additionally, does everyone who make the 2 year mark automatically get the promotion/corresponding bump in comp? And does the type/amount of work from Associate to Consultant change or is it just kind of a change in name only?
1. Most end up in corporate strategy roles or startups. But there's a lot of variety- some people end up completely changing careers (lateral to IB, public sector work, one associate ended up doing a post bacc and is applying to med school now).
2. Yes, it's an up or out so you are either promoted or cut at the 2-year mark. Once in a while, during a borderline case, they might give someone a few more months to prove their worth (i.e. 'make it or break it'). When you're promoted, you'll get the comp bump, but the day-to-day doesn't really change much, except for the fact that you might be doing more client-facing work streams.
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