Dubai BCG VS HK BB S&T

I am currently an analyst 1 at a BB with less than 1yr YOE. I have an offer to join BCG Dubai as a junior associate.

  1. My career goal is to become a commercial cofounder of a startup so consulting learning seems more relevant

  2. Trading offers way higher salary, almost twice as high as consulting (12% tax in HK VS 0 in Dubai but I live with parents and have virtually no living cost if I stay in S&T, and can realistically save $150K after a year)

  3. I am pretty young (fresh out of undergrads) so i thought going to a brand new place and get exposure to more industries can be valuable

  4. I don't plan to stay in either job for too long, thinking of joining a startup after max 1 yr, so will I learn that much more in consulting than S&T?

 
Most Helpful

I'd probably take the BB S&T role, especially if you're netting more money than BCG.

BCG Dubai does a lot of public sector work in Saudi Arabia, so your experience learning a commercial skillset could be limited. The culture in BCG Dubai is also not the best, as the hours and travel are more demanding than other regions and people are quite political (e.g., partner fiefdoms, gamesmanship with staffing and promotions, very optics driven). 

 

Current junior with <1.5 years at MBB Dubai chiming in.

Consulting makes more sense for your career goal; however, you say that you only want to stay for a year so not sure how helpful the experience would be for you.

The project durations in the Middle East are much longer than North America/Europe. In one year you'll probably do 2 or 3 projects on average. Given the project mix in the Middle East region (highlighted correctly by the user above), you might not come out with the experience you desire to get.

I haven't been to HK so can't compare it much with Dubai, but I truly love the Dubai life and am content with the experience so far at my MBB. Financially, you will probably be indifferent or maybe even better off at HK given the low tax rate and living rent-free.

 

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