Freshman Going into Target School, Advice on Getting an MBB Job?
Going into consulting at a Canadian Target/US Semi Target (Ivey) aiming for a consulting job in Canada from the onset, want to work in the field for a few years before moving on to entrepreneurship, or something like PE, and pursue professional degrees post-grad.
From what I've heard/researched, the optimal pathway is usually some private sector job experience + club leadership and acing the final interviews, and also joining your school's consulting club. Alongside that, getting good grades.
I'm looking for any advice on how I can optimize my undergrad journey towards a consulting job (preferably MBB, I know that's competitive). I'm also really confused on the whole "networking" thing, I come from a blue collar family, don't really have connections that would be conducive to this career path, and I feel like cold-emailing/cold-reach outs would annoy the hell out of people, but then again, I don't know if it's just part of business culture. My school has a recruitment infrastructure for juniors and seniors, but my worry is getting good experience in freshman/sophmore summers to be competitive for an MBB role. Alongside that, is it possible for me to work in non-corporate environments but econ-related & public policy related fields (economic development & public policy) and still be competitive for an MBB job?
Any advice would be appreciated!
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some detailed steps and advice to optimize your undergrad journey towards securing a consulting job at MBB:
Academic and Extracurricular Strategy:
Maintain High Grades:
Join Relevant Clubs:
Gain Private Sector Experience:
Networking:
Utilize School Resources:
Cold-Emailing and Outreach:
Interview Preparation:
Case Prep Quality:
Behavioral Techniques:
Additional Tips:
Non-Traditional Backgrounds:
Long-Term Planning:
By following these steps and leveraging the resources available to you, you can optimize your undergrad journey and increase your chances of securing a consulting job at MBB. Good luck!
Sources: Q&A: PhD -> MBB (with some steps in between), Admitted to HBS, not sure if I should go. What would I do with it?, NE M7 to MBB: What I wish I knew, observations, and ask me anything, My full time offer got rescinded, Honest question - Would you rather MBB if you don't land at a top bank?
I think you have the right path in mind, so that's a good start, and well done on making it to a target school. That's a lot of work already done.
Now, looking ahead, I'd say the following:
holy fuck you're a try hard. lose your virginity or at least target rbc
At undergrad: if you really want to optimize, focus on 1-2 finance clubs (make sure you prepare as much as you can for top 1 or 2 finance clubs), and another 1-2 clubs that are your "interesting" points or passions. This is good to have leadership in and use as talking points in interviews to show off you're more than a finance hardo.
Make sure you keep a 4.0 or as close as possible. You don't have to take the hardest classes or take a lot, it doesn't mean anything to companies really.
Internships: for freshman year internships, just start cold emailing now. It would be ideal if you got one for the Spring and one for Summer. Find every finance/consulting related firm** in the area (your city, your school's city, and cities all around), and email them a short email. Include resume, don't make the email generic, and show interest. Email 2-3 people per firm and I guarantee you'll find a job.
The reason I said 2 internships, because if one is more finance focused, the other can be more econ/public policy based. Of course try to do finance/finance related work in those experiences as well, but you'll have more leeway.
**this can be investment bank, private equity, search fund, asset management, accounting firm, quite literally anything. Quantity of emails is key!!
Not OP. Can we email VC, PE, and IB firms that are smaller and don’t have official programs even though we don’t have any finance experience? As in, no real IB technical experience? For context, I’m a rising soph at HYPSMW and I only recently decided I wanna pursue finance. However, I have no technical experience. Should I quickly learn the technicals before emailing?
I would recommend that actually. Most places that are small that will take you in Freshmen year won’t have a technical interview. In fact almost no place will. They will ask you a few behaviorals and just see your fit and motivation.
Those shouldn’t be too hard to answer, plus if you’re at a good school you’re more likely to get more positive responses.
But if you choose to interview at a more established place that takes younger kids, you should know some of the basics in accounting. You can find all this easily online.
Thank you so much!
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