Q&A: Lateral to MBB
Hi WSO, I just recently received an offer to join BCG as a lateral experienced hire. For context, I am 1.5 years out of undergrad, currently working at a Tier II strategy shop. I know lateraling to MBB is always a big question mark for a lot of folks so wanted to give back and answer questions about how I went about this process, best practices, etc. I'll answer all questions to the best of my ability, but obviously will refrain from details regarding certain areas (eg salary, specific locations)
What’s your salary? Which specific office are you in??
More seriously though why did you make the switch? Are you hired to be a generalist or a specialize in a certain field? What % salary bump did you get? Finally how did you initiate the process?
Thanks, and congrats!!
I'm joining at entry level so salaries are standardized and you can find them online - just google management consulting salaries. Not meant to be snarky, just avoiding sharing direct compensation data (believe that's against their terms of employment). Salary more or less stayed the same since I lost a year of tenure but runway to promotion remains the same (2 years)
I'm in a major US office (e.g., NYC / SF / Chicago / Boston). Currently work in one of those cities and got an offer at the MBB in the same city
And I'm a generalist at BCG but there are certain project types I have already flagged interest in.
I saw a post and heard through colleagues that BCG was hiring. So I attended an open house they were hosting. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and decided I wanted to invest the time and effort into recruiting so I reached out to several different BCG consultant in my network, including classmates, old alumni, and company alumni who made a similar jump. Several of them were kind enough to offer to refer me without me having to ask and I took one of them up on their offer.
First of all, congrats! That will be an exciting move and certainly will be good for your career. I'm in a similar spot myself in an internal strategy group at a F500 firm (coming up on a year now, 2.5 years total in the workforce). I've been on a wide variety of projects and am looking to possibly lateral over myself to MBB. To provide some context, I made it to 2nd rounds at both Bain and McKinsey in undergrad but ended up ultimately not receiving an offer.
I have contacts at all the three who have offered to put in recs for me, but what do the next steps look like? Should I be talking with partners / directors as well in the office I want to be hired in or stick to getting an interview through a recruiter?
Additionally, do you feel that your professional experience is weighed more heavily in the process or is it still pretty cut or dry regarding performance on the case interviews?
Thanks!
Got it. I personally did not talk with any upper management at BCG - it's pretty darn hard to get in contact with one unless you know them personally. But TBH, it's always been my impression that MBB really trusts their interview process - meaning it doesn't / or shouldn't, matter if you knew the CEO of McKinsey - if you can't demonstrate the rigor or level of thinking they are looking for in the interview then you won't get an offer. Obviously this probably isn't 100% true but MBB definitely adheres to this principle more so than other companies and consultancies. So to answer your question, definitely get that referral to secure the first round, then spend your time preparing for the interview. I think they view your experience in the same vein - helps you secure an interview and gives you talking points during but I wouldn't think it helps you if you do poorly in the actual interview room.
What made you make the move? Significant advantages at the MBB versus your current shop?
Plans afterwards?
For me it was a few things. 1) I never applied for MBB in my UG days, was pursuing more of a finance track and then landed at my current firm because I pivoted last second. So it's always been a big "what-if" for me. 2) One of the things that I felt has always encumbered in me in my current strategy role is research, slide-building, more manual / tactical tasks. MBB's back office and knowledge base is just unrivaled, meaning if you can leverage it properly, you can focus on the strategic thinking and hypothesis-developing skill more effectively. 3) I wanted to keep my exit opps as wide as possible. I have always wanted to pursue an PE role and MBB helps open doors so much in PE it's incredible.
In terms of what I want to pursue, PE is one like I mentioned. But it's just an idea for now. I always told myself I would stick around in consulting until I felt like I was stagnating in development or I found a dream role. So far, I haven't reached either point so planning to stick around in consulting for the time being
Similar to OP, I lateraled to MBB (not BCG) after 1.5 years at a T2 shop last year. Restarted at the entry level, which I frankly think is fine, because the MBBs all have a unique way of working, problem solving, teaming, etc. If you demonstrate strong performance at your level, the MBB will promote early anyways.
Happy to answer questions too.
Thanks - How do you deal with the awkwardness of having to work with fresh grads? Am sure they're smart kids, but in the first few years of work people develop so much... wouldn't you find them different / immature / etc?
Honestly, this isn't something that crossed my mind until you mentioned it. Might be because I'm in a non-US office, where a lot (if not the majority) of people come into entry level roles after a 1yr masters or some other work experience. Might be a little more noticeable in the US, but frankly, I'm not that much older than a fresh 22/23 yr old hire anyways.
Echoing Analyst 2 - it's not that different. I'm 23, most of the UG's are 22/23 as well. It's funny, you'll be surprised how polished most of the kids joining MBBs are. They've all had strong internship experience and participated in leadership roles across different groups - so they come in very polished as opposed to the gawky UG kids.
So it's not that weird. And like Analyst 2 said, there are folks who are joining after 3-4 years of experience in industry / banking, post-masters, etc. People are very accepting and actually are curious to learn from your experiences.
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