Hey everyone, Over a year ago, I made an Q&A after I received offers from 2/3 MBBs out of a non-target undergraduate school. That Q&A is here: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/non-target… Here I am again, 6 months into my new role. I just rolled off my 3rd project and figured I'd answer a few questions before I'm re-staffed.
| +16 | REPOST, SOMEONE PLS HELP… | 3 | 1d | |
| +12 | Big 4/MBB Reality Check - Am I cooked? | 1 | 2d | |
| +11 | Berkeley or Columbia GS | 12 | 9h | |
| +10 | UCSB vs Super Non-Target | 2 | 3d | |
| +10 | MBB office doesn't matter for exits | 5 | 18h | |
| +9 | consulting out of undergrad or after? | 0 | 1d | |
| +9 | Pivoting towards consulting at a semi-target (rising junior) | 1 | 4d | |
| +3 | Brown Econ vs Cornell Dyson vs Dartmouth Econ | 1 | 2d | |
| +2 | Consultants on Tesla Price Cuts | 1 | 39m | |
| +2 | Management/Strategy consulting firms in Kansas | 1 | 3h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
1) So far I've been on 3 projects, which have ranged from 1 month to 3 months. My 1-month project involved creating a go-to-market strategy - lots of research on the industry, competitors, customers, and ultimately hashing out an initial 1-2 year game plan for the client. Our team set up the "blueprint" and then the client (or another consulting team) is meant to execute. This is probably your "traditional" strategy project.
My 3-month project was a complete diagnostic on one of the client's business lines and then figuring out what changes would be most beneficial in the long-run. Unlike my 1-month project, this project required me to completely learn how the business line operated. I spent several days observing the operations (from manufacturing to store-front), interviewing 50+ employees (from line to executive), and even played "undercover" boss in a few stores.
Generalizing, I think longer projects (often more operations focused) allow the consultant team to almost become part of the company. By the end of my 3-month project, I almost forgot that my clients weren't my coworkers because there had been so much collaboration. I think this is less-so the case with shorter projects. In these instances, the team truly acts as an advisor and then is finished. Obvious pros and cons to both.
2) To be completely honest, I probably had 0 pull on my first project. I had an hour coffee chat with my professional coach and then I ended up getting staffed in a random industry and a random function. But it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. You're essentially a full-on liability for your first project. You're providing very little value-add and your manager basically has to babysit you. The best tip I got it just to completely kill your first project. I came out of that first project with really good reviews and quickly transitioned to an industry that I was more interested in. I'm on a fairly good trajectory right now where teams are even reaching out to me before I'm up for staffing.
In terms of Partner relationships, I definitely know others in my analyst class that have been staffed with one of their interviewers. Unfortunately, all of my interviewers worked in industries that I was not interested in so there wasn't much alignment.