MBB or Big 4 - Army Reservist / Experienced Hire with MBA from 2011 / 39yo with young family
Hello WSO,
I'm relatively new to the forum as I've recently come to the realization that I am very interested in strategy management consulting. I have a question about the feasibility of my situation and was looking for some insight.
Background/context:
- I'm in Calgary, AB Canada and wish to stay here.
- I have a family with young kids and want to be present.
- Post MBA 2011 from Canadian target school. I went into industry as at the time did not have interest in MC. I have a Lean Black Belt, Org Change Management Cert and Infrastructure Asset Management cert. and most of my experience is as an internal consultant in operations improvement. I worked in a variety of industries (healthcare (provincial government), finance (exempt market securities), transportation (railway), O&G and most recently municipal government (5yrs) where I current manage capital infrastructure asset replacement. 10 yrs total out of MBA in industry
- As the title states I'm a Canadian Army Reservist. Been in for almost 7 years - am a logistics officer. Took 5 yrs to get fully training as it all has to happen through LOA from civvy job. Army reserve participation typically means we train 1 evening a week, 1 weekend a month during the typical school year and can go on longer training in the summer. There is not yet a mandatory requirement to participate in all of the training scheduled but the general expectation for officers is quite high. Think of it as a part time job with lots of flexibly to choose when you work. However, as a leader, we put in much 'extra' time to manage the unit. There is opportunity for oversea deployment 6-9 mo or sometimes domestic operations (fire, flood, pandemic etc)
I do not currently like my current role/environment for many reasons and have been trying to figure out how to make a change since around 2018. Historically, I had felt that consulting wasn't for me and didn't give it much thought - primary reason was WLB. I had a very closed mindset about this (and other things) up until this year. I've been doing much personal development and self reflection/realization and one thing that became clear to me, is that I do very much enjoy management consulting type work (sofaras I've heard and read about, and as I've been doing something like it over the last 10 years). The most positive working times in this last period has been when I was doing major problem solving for businesses/organizations.
So with that, I began looking into it more and more (blog, YT video, read 'The Mckinsey Way', Case Consulting Secrets etc.) and it's been reinforced that (based on what I see/read) that I would enjoy it.
So I've decided to pursue management consulting. I was initially thinking boutique or even independant, but I feel I could gain much from experience in major firms. I figure 'go big or go home' and have worked on dropping my limiting thinking and now want to at least investigate and try to get into MBB, and/or Big 4. I can't just write off the possibility of MBB if I haven't even seriously looked at it.
So I am trying to gain insight to just what is possible.
So my question:
How possible is it to work in MBB (particularly Mck and BCG Calgary), or Monitor, Strategy&, and maintain my participation in the military, and still spent time with family? I know it's a big ask. I am willing to work more than my current hours (typical municipal gov) and would be willing to work longer weeks (55-60 hr/wk) occasionally but not sustained. Is this even possible or am I totally out to lunch? Is MBB even worth considering?
I'd greatly appreciate any thoughts and insight others may have. My intent is to network my way to speak directly to folks in the firms and do research that way, but I figure I'd try out the forums first.
Thanks!
DS
AmA about Canadian Army Reserve too if you like.
Why does Canada pretend to have a military when in any conceivable scenario they'll be relying on USA to do everything.
Let me try to answer this by analogy.
Let's say that you live in a nice house in a nice neighbourhood. You next door neighbour however has a larger mansion, a bigger yard etc. Would you expect your neighbour with the mansion to pay for your door locks, security bars, vault, security system and a roving security patrol? Or would you feel like you ought to take care of your own house? Do you think the neighbour wants to pay for all that? Let's say you are the victim of a home invasion, and your talking to your mansion neighbour and you say 'Hey! where were you? You've got resources, why didn't you stop them for me?' How would the mansion neighbour respond?
Other thoughts:
If there is another major global conflict, Canada will likely mass recruit or even conscript to address the need (and depending on the seriousness of the conflict, we'd have the ability to). It's much easier to scale up a system that exists then to recreate one that doesn't. Don't forget that by the end of WWII Canada had the world's fourth largest air force, and fifth largest navy. So its conceivable that we can and would scale up as required.
Certainly the population difference between US and Canada is a factor - we have a lot of area to cover and proportionally less people. Does the mean we should just give up? Would the US think we are a good neighbour if we didn't have any resources to defend ourselves? Does the US really want to spend additional billions of dollars projecting force for everyone? What would be the cost and benefit to Canada of divesting all our (albeit limited and aging) assets? Do you think Canadians want Americans traipsing through our country providing our defence?
The Canadian Armed Forces does much work around domestic operations as well. Whenever there is a major flood, or fire or ice storm or pandemic, we are the last line of support when local resources are overwhelmed and we are invariably there to help. I can't even imagine how challenging it would be politically and financially to ask the US for help at every natural disaster. Op LENTUS is a continuous ongoing operation for domestic response. Reg and reserve brigades who aren't on high readiness routinely deploy in response to natural disasters. It used to be a flood in spring, some fires in BC in the summer. Now with climate change, for example, folks were out in BC for flood IN NOVEMBER. The natural disasters are more frequent, longer, more severe and the CAF is the resource to respond. Not to mention the many sorties that our SAR Techs conduct throughout the year. I don't think the US wants to do all that for us.
It's more complicated than 'your military is small so you should just give it up'.
There's an old joke rolling around out there - To make the best military, you'd want German officers, UK enlisted members, Canadian training and US equipment. So there's that.
I think it doesn’t hurt to apply to all the firms. Regardless, your life-stage would be very atypical for beginning a career at MBB. Less so at Big 4.
Thanks! I figured I would do that anyways but was hoping to get some insight as I move through the process!
Booz Allen Hamilton would fit. Mostly government consulting, lots of ex military, at least in the US. Good hours for the industry.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll looking in BAH - I don't think they have an office in Calgary but I dig into it some more.
MBB will be tough for the evening training because you're (often) flying out Monday morning and gone until Friday, on site somewhere in the boonies. I don't know exactly what consulting is like at Big 4 but I think it really depends on the group. If you want to be more 'grounded' you might also consider the slightly less interesting consulting paths like SAP consulting etc.
I'm in IB in Calgary for reference. Have the reserves done anything recently to make joining easier? Last few friends I had that tried had to wait 6 months to a year after they applied to even hear about training, then training was later still. I'd like to join the reserves actually, but it seems difficult to time.
Thanks for you feedback!
Re: recruit processing - there was and still is a large accumulated backlog as a result of the pandemic. Recruiting file processing was paused for a good chuck of time at last year and they are still catching up. So short answer is not yet but it's being worked on. Prior to the pandemic, they had actually decentralized recruiting for reserves and put those processes back in the reserve brigades with the intent of reducing the cycle time, which it did. They were getting to the point where files could be processed in 4-6 weeks. When I joined in 2014 it took 6 mos. Pandemic blew that all up.
After being enrolled, getting on BMQ also can take time depending on when one enrolls. Part time 'local' BMQs usually run in Oct, sometimes one in Jan. Otherwise, recruits would go full time during the summer RST (Reserve Summer Training). So if someone enrolled in Oct and missed getting onto the part time serial, they may have to wait until summer. In this cause they would parade with their unit until they go on BMQ. On the other hand, if someone enrolls in May, and gets loaded right away and has some luck, they could get fully qualified in one summer. I had one solider who managed to get on 3 courses in a row and was promoted to Cpl in like 9 months. I've had some of my soldiers go a few years without figuring out how to get on and pass BMQ - which is frowned upon. Overall though, timing training is relatively flexible so long as the solider has a reasonable plan to get through the training.
I can certainly speak to you directly and give you more insight if you'd like. I'm the recruiting officer for my unit, and previously the recruit platoon cmdr so I can certainly give you some more insight. Let me know and we can figure out a way to connect.
MBB is very unlikely if you want to maintain your participation in the military. Many MBBers barely (or don't) make time for their families. 55-60 hours is a typical week and bad weeks can get longer--plus we travel a lot (usually 4 days a week), which is tough on families.
I'll second the recommendation for BAH or other federal consulting firms.
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