So basically I just got done going through recruitment for summer analyst positions with Investment Banking. Despite 3 super-days, I didn't end up for an offer. But I also applied to Bain and didn't even get an initial interview.
Right now I'm interning with a Merchant Bank. He does some M&A advisory and some principle investing. I could stick with this for the summer but I definitely feel that there are better oppourtunities out there.
The more I think about it and the more I talk to people I'm really leaning towards a career in consulting over banking. So with that said, what kind of internship should I be looking for this summer since I won't be getting one with consulting or any bulge bracket/significant MM or boutique investment banks. I could always shoot for some really obscure local boutqiue investment banks.
What sort of summer internship will impress consulting recruiters from MBB the most?
Impressive performance in an elite position / group in an organisation that everyone knows. You can apply this to any private / public sector entity.
Same as m2.
Remember that MBB is harder than BB, so you really need to stand out. The advantage is that they're looking for people with diverse backgrounds.
So I shouldn't bother with local small boutique investment banks then?
when you are young an applying for undergrad positions, name matters more than what you did.
If there is any way you can land big names on your resume, I think you can BS what you did there to have your resume selected. Once you get the interview, its (mostly) about nailing the case.
You mentioned Bain, did you apply BCG and Mckinsey?
How does the Nielsen Company rank in terms of 'name prestige?'
Bain was the only one that recruited at my campus. Going into the process I put most of my focus on banking and as such neglected to apply to boston consulting and mckinsey since I felt the odds of being picked out of the online applications were slim. (I know I should have done it anyways). I also didn't have access to any alums at those organizations to network with.
Would something as mundane as a summer internship with NBC's finance division be worth it? NBC is a large name though I'm sure the actual internship isn't anything spectacular.
In my experience with them, NBC interns do absolutely nothing of purpose and create no transferable skills for non-media industries.
list the consulting firms that recruit at your school in addition to bain
apply to all and decide when u get offers
Only Bain, Mercer, and Deloitte Consulting
Which is odd considering every single BB, boutique, and middle market bank recruits here
C'mon - you really think MBB consulting is harder than getting into MGM-Blackstone banking? Yea, I don't think that's true.
What is "MGM-Blackstone banking"? I assume you were referring to the below, and that when you said MGM-Blackstone banking, you simply meant BX?
In which case, both of you are correct. BX is not a BB, so irrelevant to the statement; BX is more selective then MBB, but MBB is more selective than BBs. You're not getting either MBB or BX with 3.8, while a 3.5 (or lower) is fine for BB IBD.
Nielsen is not really that selective and certainly won't put you over the edge, but MBB will also look at you if you have outstanding experience in some other way; I know guys who are at McKinsey with no prior work experience, but they knocked everything else out of the park: GPA, SAT, extra-curriculars, etc...
Try to land the best internship you can, but at the same time it's really not a huge loss if you don't work at Morgan Stanley or something. If you were good enough to get to 3 BB superdays you'll probably be good enough to get a FT interview, especially considering how much harder it is to get an MBB SA position.
Just FYI, I took an MBB FT offer with a summer internship that virtually everyone on WSO would sneer at.
3.3 alum got into MBB.
any elite firm... MBB people act nice but have gigantic egos and pride themselves on being better than you. You'd really need something elite to impress them... but u don't have to impress them to get a job offer.
is it just that my school is really liked by these guys, or is mbb difficulty really overhyped on here, at least in terms of getting an interview? i know a dude with a 3.3 and really shitty experience who got mbb offer, another who literally spent junior summer taking classes and not working, someone who worked in back office at a bank, and a bunch of other bs. gs/ms/jpm/elite boutiques are way harder.
these guys interview a ton of people and from that point it all comes down to your case.
It is overhyped. I think the reason many people think that it is insanely difficult is because they see crazy smart super resume guys get rejected.
And you are right, it is because of the case. From interviewing, fit is only maybe 10-20%; if you don't nail your case you are toast.
What kind of experience do consulting firms look for? (Originally Posted: 11/21/2014)
I'm inquiring what specific experience consulting firms look for when recuriting MBA candidates. Do they prefer financial experience, or do they diversify in finace, operations, strategy, ect.
Generalist firms hiring for generalist roles (MBB/D) are pretty agnostic about functional background and coursework. They are looking for a proven track record of success, analytic ability, communication skills, team orientation, and leadership potential. For functional practice roles (McK BTO, McK Ops, ACN tech, Del tech) and industry (vertical) practice roles (Strat&, PwC), relevant experience and demonstrated interest/passion can be pretty important.
Key Consulting skill sets - for experienced hire (Originally Posted: 07/21/2012)
Hi all,
I have a question about some of the key skill sets consulting firms (1st & 2nd tier) look at when they interview an experienced hire candidate.
As I'm start looking into strategy/management consulting after 1 year of work experience in risk advisory in one of the big 4s, I was talking to a friend of mine from McKinsey and asked him about some key skill sets required to do his job (he also only has about 7 months in McKinsey). He just said "problem-solving", "Being smart", "intellect", which are obviously essential, but I asked what about client communication, attention to detail, big picture oriented, he said those don't really matter.
I did quite a few consulting interviews back in college so am familiar with case interview and the whole recruiting process. As I'm repositioning myself once again but as an experienced hire, I'm trying to think about the skill sets I picked up at big 4 and match those to consulting requirements.
Any advice on how I should position myself? I am a big picture-driven person and enjoy strategy/planning/analysis-type of work (and that's exactly why I'm leaving big 4).
PS: I've heard a lot about how difficult and rare it is to transition from big 4 to strategy consulting, but I'm gonna try anyway because I applied almost solely to management consulting in college, and I believe my experiences (work & beyond) are distinctive and I can bring something to the table.
Thank you all!
This will not be the answer you are looking for, but if it was me I would be spending my time studying the GMAT and doing whatever else it takes to make me competitive for a top MBA program. It's something you will need after a couple of years in MBB/tier 2 anyway.
Thanks Hopkins!
I'm already done with GMAT, aiming at top 5-7 MBA down the road. But thinking that working at big 4 will not get me to top 5-7 MBA program. Hence, once again looking into management consulting.
Probably reviving a near dead post, but I'm curious: how have you gotten along in your recruiting efforts so far? The reason I ask is because I am also trying to break into consulting after working a year. Thus, I am considered an "experienced" hire though I will be applying for an entry level role.
Hey I'm still actively contacting everyone in my network, reaching out to alumni, etc. to sort of get a feeling of what my options are. And for most firms, you'd have to start from entry level, which isn't really a problem for me since I'm switching industry.
I haven't really applied to any places yet, but will start doing that soon. Your progress?
1 year at Big 4? I suspect you won't be an experienced hire but be applying like any new graduate.
I had a similar situation. I came over to the consulting side after having spent a year + in the working world. Position yourself as someone who will lend your project team a unique perspective. If you have outward facing client contact experience, leverage it, hard. Sell the fact that you understand how working with a team in a high stress enviornment works. You will start out as entry level, but like you said, you are switching industries and it's just something that will need to be done. Separate yourself from the competition by explaining to your interviewers that your competition isn't familiar with delieverables, pain the a** clients (and how to deal with them), etc. like you are. Like every consultant will tell you, you need to speak about results. These people droll over results. You put together a presentation? Ok, cool. Tell them what type, why, what you did to win the responsibility of being entrusted with the task, and what came of it. Speak about the big picture, it most certainly helped me. Best of luck, mate.
Also - it's my opinion, and the opinion of many mid level consultants, that attending B-school after only one year of work is not the best way to move your career. In most cases, top B-schools are looking for an average of 3-5 years of work exp.
How important is previous consulting experience for a consulting internship? (Originally Posted: 01/05/2014)
I know for IB internships, previous finance experience is quite important. I get the feeling that consulting internships are a little bit more lax in terms of requiring any specific type of work experience, but I'm not sure. My previous internships deal with equity research and risk management. I attend a target, and was wondering whether people like me would be crowded out for top consulting internships.
As long as your previous experience is decently impressive, it will suffice. Very few people will have consulting experience before their Junior year internships. Your previous ER and risk experience should do you just fine, as long as you have the GPA to compete with your peers.
the awesome thing about internships... they're designed to give students brief exposure to a field they've likely never directly worked in before. have something interesting to talk about, but internships are designed for students like you
it consulting internship good experience for FT mgmt consulting? (Originally Posted: 11/05/2009)
Hey everyone.
I just fell into an opportunity to intern abroad at an IT consulting firm. It's really tempting because going to another country would just be awesome, but I don't want to get into IT consulting FT so I don't know if it's the best thing I could do this summer. I'll be a rising junior at a target and I have one internship in PWM under my belt already.
Management consulting is really competitive so I don't think I could get anything at a major firm anywhere this summer, so I'm thinking if I don't take this I'll try to get a trading internship at a BB cos trading and consulting are my frontrunners for career paths at the moment and I'd like to see what S+T's all about first hand.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice.
If you want to do trading, you should do a trading internship. Consulting really doesn't care about your background. It's more important to know the field and be smart than to have experience. I know people who did BB internships then went to consulting, but I know as many who worked in a research lab all summer. For IB/ST, internship is way more important.
MBB doesn't take anyone younger than junior for summers. Will you get strategy work at the IT consulting? Otherwise I would shoot for S&T since management consulting firms could care less that you helped set up some company's servers. Not hating on IT consulting, it's just not much like management consulting.
I did S&T/capital markets last summer and loved it. You learn a lot about the markets which is useful anywhere and will also work similar amount of hrs as in consulting.
I do know some people who interned at MBB before junior summer. They had crazy connections, and the internship wasn't the same as the junior summer one (i.e. didn't go to out of town training).
Prior Consulting Experience (Originally Posted: 04/30/2009)
Does prior consulting internship (medium scale) help more than a ibanking internship when applyiing to MBB?
depends
if you had Goldman IBD and LEK Summer, Goldman might have an edge for MBB
however if you had either of those, you will probably get an interview given your other stats do not suck, then it really doesnt matter whether you had KKR on your resume
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