Basically the question. I'll be recruiting for consultant friendly firms but was disappointed by a less than stellar rating (had a project that went sideways) - am I screwed?
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I am former consultant at MF and I along with all the consultants I am close with at my MF got top box for all our rating cycles before making the jump (albeit fairly small sample size so not the ultimate truth or anything)
Look obviously have top box ratings helps especially when going for MFs but it’s not the end of the world. You can still definitely swing a strong landing spot without perfect ratings (I know people from my former MBB firm that got into reputable PE firms who I’m quite sure didn’t have top box ratings).
If you search around on this site there are people who have provided advice on this topic before. My two cents would be to just have a strong story for head hunters that explains the lower rating without just blaming people super obviously (ie your story can’t be “I got low rating cuz my manager sucks” but it can be stuff like “it was a tough client who was upset with us for a poor engagement earlier before I joined and it created xyz but I’ve learned a lot from that and I’ve gotten excellent ratings on all my projects before & after etc”). Obviously I dont know the exact situation so don’t make it up but if you’re truly a strong performer who got screwed there is probably a decent way for you to package it. And then just focus on all your other strengths and make sure the rest of your skillet / story air tight and you should be fine.
It’s obviously not ideal but you’re not screwed people have overcome far worse setbacks to end up in great slots in PE. Best of luck
ratings matter far more for consultants than bankers.
I was a 4/5 at an MBB and know a few colleagues like this and we all ended in UMM/MF so don't think you need the absolute best rating. The best rating often times is also not given depending on the office, at least at my MBB (but my office did FYI)
Am I screwed if I got a middle bucket rating?
This thread is mostly for consultants who do oncycle 1-2 years in... so their rating matters much more
If you have already signed a PE offer, no one cares about your rating unless you are like a 1/5 about to get fired, and so bad the MDs feel the need to warn your next firm. If you are still recruiting, they will ask your rating but honestly most people end up in mid bucket anyway so that's not a big deal
Yeah, still recruiting. am ~1.5 years in an just got a mid bucket rating, so scared that this dings me.
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