Sweaty GS Group or A&M?
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Do the sweaty GS. Survive at least a year and then move to AM. Better for your long-term career and $/hour over time.
If you want to be a lifer in either of the careers (banking vs rx consulting), the lifestyle in RX co is 100% more sustainable. Also, A&M pays better per hour, since you get a % of the revenue you bring in. This is a double edged sword.
At the very simplest though, if you like banking, do banking. If you like RX consulting, do rx consulting.
Fair warning, A&M has a very mercenary culture, which can come as a shock for people who aren't accustomed to it
wait wdym could u elaborate?
It's not meant in a bad way lol, atleast in RX circles, “mercenary” most often gets applied to Alvarez & Marsal bc of how they show up when things go south, not because of ethics or quality or anything. Moreso than the other firms, at A&M, you get paid the big bucks to execute, not to be nurtured. In D2D life, training exists, but the expectation is to figure it out fast or get exposed (minimal hand holding, less emphasis on mentorship, culture building etc).
Same thing goes for how they serve clients. A&M is typically brought in when things are already broken. The mandate is something like : fix it fast, protect stakeholders, don’t worry about feelings or future consulting work. Also, unlike most other firms, A&M's primary thing is to take control, rather than just advise, which's a pretty 'mercenary' take; take command, execute, exit. To top it all off, they charge ridiculously high fees, which clients pay because they're the best.
Seconded the mercenary culture. Also, A&M is one of the relatively few RX consulting firms that has no problem with axing upper level management in the company that's going through distress, as opposed to most other firms that would cut lower level employees and generally try their best to not get on the bad side of upper level mgmt. Saw it happen with one of our former portcos, was brutal. I think the expectation when they're brought on is for them to make tough decisions as part of the turnaround. Which can come as a culture shock for someone who newly joins A&M
sounds fun haha
You don’t know you don’t want to jump to the buy side. I also didn’t want to, until I did. Optimize for optionality at least in your first job. Would pick GS
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