Tier 2 Big City vs Tier 1 Outskirts
A quick question to those with the right knowledge.
After a 1.5 years in Tier 1 IB London (post-mba hire), looking for a switch into consulting for a number of reasons. Two options on the table: Tier 2 consulting in London vs Tier 1 in a satellite office. Staffing model for satellite would be regional, thus limited to zero exposure on the global scale + less diverse travel vs the one would assume covering clients from London. Career wise willing to get more exposure to the business from all angles, wrap it with ib experience and end-up in the mid-to-large industry name or mid-focused pe shop, ideally in europe but could also be NAM.
Another point to consider between the two is would they both equally give the recognition on a global scale? is MBB a no brainer here despite the region or does the region (e.g London, NY, HK) gives more weight to experience than the gap between tier 1 and 2.
Comments & recommendations are highly appreciated.
Thx!
Can you be more specific with what the satellite location is? You can give a range for anonymity. Also what is your end goal? Do you want to work your way up to partner? Exit after 2 years? Exit after 5?
Any Eastern European (within EU, but contrary to Western Europe less developed country) offices that give more in-country experience rather than the "hub" base of London/NY locations. Regarding the exit, I would suppose regional offices are "easier" partner-promotion wise. Thus, what do you think if exiting in 2-5 years and be more attractive professional for a next jump on a global level not within one region - are MBB names from not so posh locations are a better choice than tier 2 from the upper cities?
What is your career goal in 5-6 years? Where do you want to be geographically? I think if you have a firm answer for these questions, it would be much easier to make a decision.
Some thoughts: 1) tier 2 in (NY,London etc) beats MBB only if you have some clear career/geographical preference e.g. you want to stay in London and do PE and you have an offer from LEK/RB Otherwise MBB is MBB,it will be on your resume, you can transfer / do a rotation later and put that in your resume (if that even matters)
2) Your perception regarding becoming a partner in a regional office is wrong - it is actually much harder, especially if you are talking about Eastern Europe (EU), where the business is pretty passive (for all three MBBs) and fighting for consulting clients is a blood bath. People normally stay 2.5-3 years in one role as the business is not growing and there is no need in new partners. On the contrary in big cities, if you perform okay you ll be promoted every 2 years. May not be the case in regional offices (I am talking about not only about my experience, but dozens of people whom I know).
If you want to stay long-term in the "big city" you mention, I would probably go tier 2. Otherwise MBB. The only issue with MBB could be going back to your home country and finding it hard to get out again, but internal transfers are usually not a big issue (granted you can get a visa/ work permit if needed).
I've had a few friends try to parlay their MBB experience in less sought after geographies to jobs in more "hot" areas (NYC, SF, London). I've found that it was generally harder than they expected and most followed the path of MBB( (home country) -> MBB (in larger market) -> corporate / tech / PE exit. I don't know anyone who was able to go from say McKinsey in Spain straight to a good US corporate or tech job.
Following on the above, do you think MBB beats other shops for career advancement / relocations as of your friends cases. Would it be different for ATK or Monitor Deloitte?
In my experience, MBB beats other shops in such situations. Exceptions might include niche fields such as Simon Kucher for pricing, LEK for PE-related work (but probably losing to Bain anyway), ...
I'm not sure about ATK, but I know that transfers are difficult at Big 4 firms. Relative to MBB different regions operate with more autonomy and do hiring differently. Firm structure and organization can also defer from country to country. EY-Parthenon and Monitor Deloitte don't even exist in some countries for example...
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