Parthenon EY vs. Deloitte S&O Federal Offers
Hi WSO!
I got a summer internship offer for Parthenon EY and Deloitte S&O's Federal Practice in DC. I am very excited for both options, but am having trouble deciding between the two. Both have very high conversion rates into full-time offers at my school, so there is also a high chance I will end up there once I graduate.
Do you have any advice on this? Thank you so much!
First off, congrats. These are two great options for a summer internship, and I certainly understand why the decision is difficult. A couple things to consider:
-Do you want to do federal work? Government / public sector projects are often much longer, both because the government moves slower as an organization / is too bureaucratic for rapid change AND because many projects require security clearances thus the firm will not want to roll people on/off projects after paying for them to go through that process
-Deloitte and EY are both excellent brands, but Deloitte does have an edge over EY in the strategy consulting space. That said, Parthenon is the most prestigious place to be within EY, and an excellent place to begin a stategy consulting career.
-Culture fit will be important as well. Take these with a grain of salt as they are gross generalizations, but EY tends to be more nerdy / less fun while Deloitte is known for its young and vibrant culture.
All in all, I personally would choose EY Parthenon, as I am skeptical of all things federal consulting (to me it truly is a slightly different job). With that said, both are excellent options, and if you choose to go the Deloitte route this summer and ultimately decide federal isn't for you, you'll be well positioned to re-recruit with all the top firms next fall. Good luck!
@Strat_Cons12" has the right idea. Additionally someone told me EY doesn't reimburse for alcohol on meals (idk how they would check that), but overall Deloitte has slightly better brand in my opinion and has some interesting work in other departments if you ever decide to transfer within. Their Rosslyn office has amazing views too, but Tysons isn't bad either.
Hmm pretty sure EY expenses alcohol. It’s lunch that they don’t reimburse while traveling, for which they are memed hard on fish bowl.
No lunches..?!
Yeah that was it, knew I was missing something about it.
I would take Parthenon but it also depends on your interests/lifestyle preferences. Parthenon doesn't travel that much but I hear the hours are crazy due to all the PE DD you do and the double staffing model. Their two specialties are PE and education. Parthenon EY is very autonomous from the rest of EY but I think EY does cannibalize some of the actual strategy work so Parthenon is getting even more PE focused.
Deloitte will give you a more traditional generalist experience and probably wider exposure. I've heard a lot of complaints about the staffing model there though.
Thanks for your response! Would this be the same case even if I were federal? I was wondering whether pingeonholing myself into Federal this early on (rather than general) would be a wise decision.
tbh I've heard Federal is a lot worse than commercial for both Deloitte and ACN.
You have two VERY different options on the table. Do you want to do work for the government or due diligences for private equity firms and strategy projects for large corps? Hopefully you have some idea of this already. I think most people would be able to self-select into the appropriate role considering how different they are. I also think that it is useless to compare big 4 as a whole - the only thing that matters is the specific group.
All of that said, I will try to differentiate between the two...
P-EY pros - more prestigious - higher compensation - higher caliber coworkers and clients - better corporate exit opps - better b school placement
Deloitte pros - work/life balance - work/life balance - work/life balance - if you think you want to exit to federal, this will give you a taste of the federal life - more relaxed coworkers - less demanding clients
These are seriously black and white opportunities. It’s disingenous to say that one is better than the other, just because they are so different.
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