London - MBB PE Groups

Was just idly browsing the PE forum when I saw this. I am in the PE Group in London, so lucky you.
 

• Which of the MBB firms has the strongest PE group?
  • Yes, Bain is, and by some margin. I don't know what you consider not to be "strong exits", but Bain places 1.5-2x as many people in PE as McKinsey or BCG (in % of alumni, since the three firms are of different sizes). That being said, just being #1 doesn't mean the others aren't worth considering. All are excellent at it. Same if you start looking at EYP, Monitor, S&, or LEK. All very good at DDs.
• What do the hours and culture look like? Are there any major differences between the MBB firms?
  • For us it's about ~55-60h, depending on the week. Culture is a generally good one, and there is some very intentional efforts by everyone to improve sustainability, and genuinely people will take the time to help you, support you, and answer your questions if you're new (being reasonable of course, no one should ever ask "how do I do sumifs in Excel?")
  • Again, that being said this is never going to be 9-6 or "chilled". Work time is 100% full on, but you get one early night in the week, you finish Fridays between 4-6pm, and no weekend work of course. Also, on one of your normal nights (finishing somewhere between 10-11pm) you can take some time for the gym for instance. That needs to be discussed and of course actively managed, but it is 100% feasible
  • From second-hand accounts (a partner here talking to partners at the other two), we are apparently marginally better at WLB and sustainability, but I would guess this is probably not by a significant margin (happy for my BCG and McK counterparts to chime in)
• How much of your time is spent on CDD / CVDD reports and how much time is spent on more classic strategy consulting?
  • PEG here is probably 80% CDDs, maybe 10% VDDs, and the rest is a mix of ODDs or post-acq work
  • Proper strategy consulting work is in GP (general practice), whereas PEG is a dedicated ring fence, such that if you are in PEG you are only staffed on PEG projects for the duration of your rotation (or forever if you selected to stay there)

• What exits besides traditional PE are possible? Is there any difference between the MBB firms?
  • People go to startups or major corporate cos, pretty typical strategy consulting exits. Some go to non-profit orgs or go start their own company
  • Haven't been here long enough to gauge differences in exits by MBB, but LinkedIn might be your friend there

• How difficult would it be for someone with my background to break into consulting at MBB?
  • Haven't looked at the internships of my peers in my start class, but as for their FT job, some people were in IB / S&T
  • It's still competitive, but you'll probably be in a better position for the CV screen at least, I assume the rest of your CV is solid. Once in the interview room that's only your performance that'll dictate whether you move on or move out (we do CV-blind interviews)
• Do interviews consist of the typical cases or is it different for PE group?
  • Same old same old
  • Cases (+ market sizing for ACs) and behavioural questions
  • As a C or higher you can actually recruit directly (and only, if you so wish) into PEG. As an AC/SAC, you can specify it as a preference and be put there, but only as a rotation before going to GP (can always boomerang later)