McK vs. BCG undergrad offers (Germany)

Hey everyone, I recently managed to receive offers from both McK and BCG for one of their German offices as an undergrad, meaning I directly start after my bachelors degree. In the next days the contracts should arrive with more details about the overall package, but I would assume most of the elements there are quite similar between the two. Is there anything I should know as someone who just got into consulting half a year ago (physics student)? How would you select between the 2 firms, in general but also for the German market, considering business outlook and elements like this?

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Hi there!

The quick answer is: there will be hardly (if any) differences in the career opportunities you'll get out of either. So, pick who you liked best (what I would do).

A more comprehensive answer would include

  • McKinsey has a global staffing model, so you'll work on projects in Germany, but potentially anywhere else too.
  • BCG will have a more regional model, so you should stay relatively within EMEA. So already, if travel is not your thing, maybe BCG would be better as it wouldn't be as extreme.
  • BCG has a more "greenfield" approach and "overwhelm them with data" attitude to problem solving. That's definitely something to consider if you are very data-oriented. BCG also has a lot of thought-leadership and data science oriented ventures if you're into that.
  • McKinsey is known for "if a similar problem was solved before, let's solve it again the same way" (of course with tweaks as no 2 problems are ever exactly the same). But McK will not try to reinvent the wheel every time. They are almost 100yo, so they've essentially done everything, everywhere, in every industry. That can be pretty cool to have access to that much knowledge.

Career-wise, both will lead you to incredible opportunities inside and outside of consulting/the firm. So, this won't be a big differentiator.

I'd go with my gut instinct of the people you spoke to, and your relative preference for heavy travel and being more or less super data-driven.

In any case, congratulations on lending both offers, that is an amazing achievement!(Sorry for the lack of helpful formatting, I'm typing from my phone).

 

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