Career Advice for MBA (Mckinsey vs PE)

Hey everyone,

So, to keep this short and to the point:

I've been working for ~1 year at a local PE firm (~1bn AUM) as an Analyst (I'm from a small country - it's one of the largest PE firms in the country and has a branch in another Country). I was offered a job at Mckinsey starting this January as Business Analyst. After an MBA - which I'd want to do for the experience/change country post-MBA - I would like to remain in PE, albeit in a larger firm (i.e Blackstone etc if possible!)-

I'm doubting over whether joining Mckinsey would i) increase my chances of joining an MBA (the smaller nature of my PE firm allows me more responsibility and ownership) and ii) compromise an exit back to PE (not the easiest story to tell).

For what it's worth, longer hours don't affect me, albeit I think I do prefer the work in PE overall. The majority of the partners at my current firm went to HBS, so that might factor in come recommendation letter time...

So, joining Mckinsey vs remaining at my current place - what would help me more into getting into a good MBA and into a larger PE firm aftewards?~

I've got about a week to make the decision so... any help is appreciated!

Cheers

2 Comments
 
I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
Most Helpful

Provident aut inventore dignissimos consequatur. Excepturi iusto autem animi aut. Debitis non et explicabo nulla non et. Non molestias ut fugit. Rerum quis possimus mollitia aut quibusdam occaecati sunt.

Assumenda eaque ut maxime sed temporibus. Quis et qui et illo in ut ab. Nam numquam voluptas autem tempore quia dolorum dicta ea.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (66) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”