MSc after bachelor’s or first job experience to land a MBB job offer?
Hi all,
I’m an economics students currently in the 4th and last year of my bachelor’s degree in a good public school in California (UC).
I would be interested in starting my career as a MBB consultant, either in the US or in Europe.
My problems are the following:
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The only relevant professional experience I have is being the CEO and co-founder of a small early-stage startup currently in development;
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I’m French with no green card, so landing a competitive job in the US is even harder.
I’ve been admitted to the EDHEC MSc in Corporate Finance and Banking, and I’m currently waiting to receive the decisions from ESCP/ESSEC MSc in Finance and in Big Data/Data Science & Business Analytics.
Do you think it would be smarter for me to apply for consultant jobs in less competitive companies to then switch to MBB, or to attend one of these Master’s programs right after my bachelor’s?
Thank you for your help.
You should definitely go to the masters program. There are two reasons:
a) Lateraling in consulting isn’t that common. There was a big spike in lateral hiring in 2021, but that is over. You’d be gambling as to whether you could switch over, and even if you could, MBB usually reset you anyways if you have 1-2 YOE. So aside from the one year of income you would get from your first year of consulting, you aren’t losing much by comparison if you take a year to get a masters.
b) More importantly, recruiting is over (in the US at least). These “less competitive” consulting firms recruit during the same time as MBB. I can’t imagine that any decent firms are still recruiting, especially since we’re in a recession.
Go back to Europe, get a masters, and recruit for MBB on solid footing. Don’t try to get an offer at some other consulting firm last minute, and then hope a lateral is possible
Thank you for your answer!
Assuming I’m admitted to all the masters I mentioned, which ones (top 2 or 3 in order) do you think would give me the highest chances of landing a MBB offer right after the end of the program?
ESCP/ESSEC>EDHEC
if you go to a target school for your master's immediately after undergrad, it will be easy to get picked up by MBB recruiting since you'll still be categorized as an entry level consultant. that's what i did. Only thing to watch out for is the early app deadlines in july, so if you're doing a 1 year masters you might end up applying/interviewing before you even start classes. M has a good track record of hiring non MBA graduate students, but that might be bc the firm is larger than the other tier 1 firms
Among the masters I cited (EDHEC MSc in Corporate Finance and Banking, ESCP/ESSEC MSc in Finance and in Big Data/Data Science & Business Analytics), which ones you think would be « good enough » to be considered target programs for MBB?
i personally dont think the program matters that much. what matters is if you're at a school that MBB recruit heavily from for undergrads, and that your grades/work experience can make you stand out from the crowd. but if there's a masters program that clearly has better internship opportunities that would boost your MBB app, then that's the one i would pick. Like data analytics is a unique talent, especially if you could get an internship in this field on your resume before you apply to MBB
You said I might have to apply even before the program begins.
I don’t have any relevant internship experience at the moment, and the programs include an internship, but only at the end.
How should I proceed to be able to get hired by a MBB soon after the end of my program?
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