How can I tell my sister PE/IB is not more prestige than MBB?
I've seen similar topics in this forum but they were largely focused on the US market, which is different from the EU market. So this is a perspective from someone who works in London.
My sister is in her first year of a master's program at a leading European business school (grande école), and she is so obsessed with a career in finance that sometimes I feel it is a bit too much.
Her points: finance is fancier, pays more, is more prestigious, offers better exits to PE, and attracts smarter people.
My points: careers are not always linear, you should do what truly motivates you, and MBB actually gives you more exit opportunities outside of the finance world. People are nicer, and I am really not sure if finance professionals are actually “smarter.”
My sister’s view: all of her classmates prioritize a career in finance and most of them do not even consider MBB. The very best will find or have already found seats in hedge funds or PE, the next tier will land in BB or EB, and only those who cannot secure a finance job will go to MBB, where they can still easily get offers.
What is your view on this? I personally think Europe is unique because of the relatively low pay across industries, and finance is probably the only sector that stands out due to its “global pay” influence from US Wall Street.
Tell your sister to try an internship at each and then decide what she likes.
If she wants to do it, let her do it. A lot of people need to see it for themselves to realize if it’s for them or not. Better to know than be left with regrets of never exploring a career you were excited about.
Not being able to be talked out of this career path is the minimum requirement (in my opinion) to successfully go down this path. The people who burn out fastest are the ones who half heartedly followed the herd into this industry. If you have any doubts, the brutal reality of the job will expose them fast. You have to want it and be so tunnel visioned that you don’t care about the impacts it has on the rest of your life.
If someone can convince you not to do this job, then it’s not for you.
Ask her to watch this
Yeah for me MBB is well below IB/PE but who cares - do whatever you want
PE/IB IS! more prestigious than MBB
choosing a career because it is more prestigious than another option seems like a terrible idea
MBB>>>> I say this as someone desperately tryna get out of Goldman
Elaborate please
If you want to work shitty hours and get bent over till you're 45 years old in PE, by all means. But to exit and aspire towards sr leadership role for the best startups and other corps, MBB just has way more appeal
Is PE really less prestigious than MBB? Why and how? Are you comparing apples to apples? Like the CVC, KKR, EQT etc? Or are you comparing it to regional boutiques?
For real
PE use MBBs like a tool
Your Sr Assoc, VP, Principal, MD, Partner, and Managing Partner use you like a flesh light
Yeah, and they're all in PE. Proving my point
Coffee out my nose with this 😂
Congrats on being the tallest midget.
Because it is. Management consulting is a joke lol
I've done both MBB and PE. PE is more prestigious period lol. And it's not that close (in the USA idc about other places lol).
As others have said, prestige is a terrible way to make career choices. However, if the question is which industry is better to be in, I would think about one as a service provider (MBB) and the other as the client. From a relationship perspective the client is king, and the service providers grovel, it's just the nature of who pays. The other big pro to PE is that you own the business, you get to make real change, drive real value creation and profit from that success. While MBB is largely generating ideas without a ton of real implementation and even if its implemented they will typically be paid a fixed amount for the work while the client captures all of the upside from it.
On the flip side, there isn't a huge amount of risk in the consulting work. You are doing thinking and idea generation and the risks and rewards of putting those ideas to work sit elsewhere. This can be less stressful and perhaps a bit better from the lifestyle perspective too if you are able to stand travel and living out of a hotel room for a good portion of your life.
By being honest and telling her that it is ;)
“Prestige” lol. Cmon man. Both are just jobs. prestigious once you’re a partner but not if you’re a 23 year old kid w no value add
One day you all will wake up and be shocked you put so much of your self-worth into “prestige”
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