MBB BA intern vs FAANG SWE intern

Hey everyone. I’m in a position where I’m working at a FAANG right now as a software engineer intern, I like it somewhat, definitely not what I want to do forever but it’s cool and there are a lot of benefits + great compensation for full time. I have a return Internship offer for 2025 summer (co 2026) but there have been a lot of layoffs recently and the SWE market is not that great right now. I also have an offer for a 2025 summer MBB internship. I’m not sure which to choose. I feel like by deciding one or the other I’m somewhat committing to that path (or atleast I’d like to commit to that path once I choose). I want to get some of your thoughts on what factors I should be considering when making this decision, as well as just your opinion, which should I take?

8 Comments
 

Definitely do MBB. And try to get a return offer. You would be surprised at how many heads of eng in tech have MBB experience. It’s almost impossible to make it to the top of tech without going through MBB.  Promotion times are just too slow and problem space too narrow. 

at MBB you can still do r&d strategy or engineering org design, they even have product labs  now 

so unless you’re set on being pure SWE, MBB will actually set you up for more and better roles within engineering , or in any other function 

 
Most Helpful
WestCoastChimp4521

It’s almost impossible to make it to the top of tech without going through MBB.  

What??? MBB is a great place to start your career, but this is SUCH a stretch. Maybe the strategy/ops function, but MBB is definitely not required for the technical roles.

If you're talking the MBB tech/data science consulting teams (BCG-X, etc...) then maybe I can see the point as to why MBB is helpful. 

Regardless, if you don't love SWE but have an interest in the business side of things, then definitely give the MBB a shot. You can always recruit for tech after the MBB internship- now's the time to try different things. And MBB + tech experience would definitely give you the leg up in product roles if that is something you're into.

 

Lol I work at MBB and this is so false, in tech MBB is not a prerequisite for ANY role. Most leaders in tech do not have any MBB experience and MBB is not even encouraged for tech leadership roles. I’ve worked with many tech clients so I know this is so false. If OP wants to do SWE he should take FAANG. Pay will be higher than MBB for 60% of the hours. If OP wants to take a business role and have a career in strategy then he should take MBB. If he wants to do anything in tech, he should take FAANG. Even for product management roles in tech, FAANG will be FAR more helpful than MBB. It is extremely difficult and competitive to land tech product management roles with just MBB; the vast majority of these roles go to someone with some type of technical experiences such as past SWE experience.

 

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