I've gotten a lot of useful - and not so useful - information from this site over the last several years, and I'd like to give back by contributing some real content.
Am finishing up a stint at one of the M/B/B firms and would be happy to answer any questions regarding management consulting - getting in, the job itself, and exit opportunities.
I will not respond to PMs; if you have a question, everyone will likely benefit from the answer.
More about me:
- Went to non-Ivy target school
- Studied undergraduate business
- Main focus areas in terms of content have been industrials and earth materials
What are the key skill differences in associates vs analysts?
A good analyst should look and feel like a good associate - most partners would tell you they would prefer to staff a high performing analyst over an associate most times.
In general associates are tasked with less "raw" analysis [e.g., data cleaning, model creation] and are tasked with the "softer" roles [e.g., interviews, market research, leading client teams]. The best place to be in my opinion is a high performing analyst that can act in a standalone role which bridges the two types of skill sets. Don't be too quick to say you want to get out of Excel and PowerPoint; trying to change client mindsets is similar to herding cats, so every now and then it's relaxing to just sit down and crank out some analysis without having to talk to anyone.
1.) Loved it - obviously experiences will differ but I found that I was given an increasing amount of responsibility over time and was able to develop a very real toolkit; there are some less than fantastic parts [e.g., significant travel, useless work purely for packaging our ideas to the client, lack of follow through on client side] but overall believe I made the best choice coming out of undergrad
2.) There was a thread recently that talked about how negativity surrounding many of these topics doesn't make any sense - every job that folks are talking about on these forums will have it's downside [see above] and you will likely work long hours, some of which will suck; I just don't enjoy the threads that dissect all of the potential negatives. If you manage to secure a M/B/B role, you need to own that experience - in my two years I don't think I was ever told "no" when I asked to do something, but that requires having a perspective about what you want to do.
3.) I think there are only two differentiating factors once you get into the actual interview process [and frankly once you get into the job]: intellectual curiosity and confidence. To take the latter first, you will never get anywhere at the M/B/B level if you are unable to take a slightly ambiguous idea and state it confidently as though you have no doubt. You may never be able to get to a perfect answer but you can get to the most "knowable" answer at the time. On the intellectual curiosity point - if you don't actually enjoy case interviews [i.e., you want to know how the case turned out, you think about alternative perspectives an hour after the interview ends] you can still get the job but I'm not sure you'll enjoy it. Having a thirst for learning and being a student of business are a baseline for success.
4.) If you are at a 2nd tier firm, there are few opportunities that are definitely out for you. That being said they will be harder to achieve, because doors won't open quite as easily. You need to know what you want, seek out connections early, and excel in our day to day job so you can get as much responsibility as possible early on. Can't comment on work experience as I've never worked for one - would be happy to hear others' perspectives.