I'm an undergrad student and this summer, I interned at a T2 (ATK / OW / Monitor Deloitte) and fortunately got a return offer. I really love the firm and the fit with the people and especially my local office that I'm based out of is fantastic. I would be beyond happy to return here and feel really lucky to be here (low income, none of my parents, uncles, etc. went to post-secondary, etc.).
My question is
Is it crazy to (hypothetically) take one of the aforementioned T2's over an MBB (both in the same city)? The gist of my reasoning is that I feel more confident in my ability to be promoted and thrive in this T2 compared to MBB (which I imagine being more competitive) and I'm not interested in the "MBB-exclusive" exits like PE, VC, etc. Below is further context behind this...
The Context
When I was going through recruitment for the summer, I got to final rounds with an MBB whose people I really liked. My feedback on my final round was positive with room for improvement on one of my cases - it seemed like it just came down to the fact that summer slots are very tough to get. If I'm being objective, I think i would have a solid shot at getting a full-time position here in full-time recruitment.
Right now, I'm trying to think through whether I should just accept my T2 offer...or try my hand at recruiting (it would have to be on a slightly accelerated timeline with the MBB due to the exploding offer).
Decision Criteria
Here are the decision factors that are important to me, for context:
- Salary and progression within the firm
- Corporate exit opportunities
- MBA placement
For #1, I can confirm that at least for starting and associate level pay, the firms are the same. Not sure about how it plays out beyond that, however. In terms of progression, my current T2 does actually have a path for people to be promoted slightly faster than what is in place at the MBB. Beyond that though, having spent a summer at the T2, I feel confident in my ability to thrive at the firm and be promoted (whereas I wonder if this would be tougher to achieve at the MBB). Perhaps this is just a bias I have because it's the devil I know vs. the one I don't.
For #2, I'd appreciate your insights on this. I'm not interested in some of the fancier exit opps like PE, VC, etc., and I also have no interest in being in California at a big tech company (due to family + geographical constraints). When it comes to exits, I don't envision myself jumping after a 2-year sint. I would like to stay until the Manager / Principal level, if possible. And if I were to exit, it'd ideally just be an F500 corporate position. I've tried to used LinkedIn to compile a spreadsheet that compares exits between this T2 and the MBB. I haven't noticed any differences to be honest for the sorts of F500 strategy positions I'd likely be inclined towards. People at a given level X within the firm tend to jump 2-3 levels up to level Y at the F500.
Am I missing something behind the scenes that this analysis doesn't account for? Is it way harder for these T2 people to get these positions? In terms of outcomes and time required to get there, my research is showing they're equal in my geography.
For #3, I've had some trouble doing my own research on this. Any insight here would be appreciated. My goal would be an M7 on a firm sponsorship (as I don't have a business undergrad). Can I ask my T2 firm about MBA placement rates (do they track these numbers?). Anecdotally, of the people in my local T2 office, the people I know that have recently gotten their MBA's on sponsorships were at M7's.
Is there anything else I should really be considering here? Any nuance I'm missing? A part of me wants to be at that MBB just for the sake of saying I'm at that MBB...but that's hardly a good reason. The main PULL factor for this T2 is that I feel confident I could be a high performer and get to the manager / principal level. The only real PUSH factor for this hypothetical MBB is that I wonder if the up-or-out will be stronger and I'll be culled out sooner than I hope and not even get MBA sponsorship. Basically, in my mind, I feel that being at my T2 until Manager / Principal would be a 10x better outcome than going to an MBB and getting counselled out after 2 years - not sure if this an unfounded dichotomy.
I know all of this sounds like I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm hoping to just think about this hypothetical of having both offers in hand BEFORE burning a ton of energy going through the hell that is case prep again.
Cheers!
So why wouldn't you at least do the interviews and then ponder this dilemma again? Also Monitor Deloitte might not even technically exist a year from now (if it still does at all) and I'd take a guess that is your "T2", so I would consider this as well
My T2 is one of OW/ATK (not Deloitte). Not sure why I lumped Monitor into that group.
If I could reframe my question, it would be: based on the reasoning I've laid out, would it be a bad decision to take one of these T2 over an MBB? (of course I still have to recruit, but I have to answer this question first before doing that, if that makes sense)
I see nothing wrong with taking the offer that you believe is the best fit for you, prestige be damned. But for argument's sake, starting your career at MBB has ramifications beyond the two-year stint and your first exit. Just like going to an Ivy League school, it stays on your resume forever and gives your brand power for your third, fourth, fifth jobs, etc.
Thanks for the response! This is the impact I was wondering about, but is there any evidence that this is the case? Just based off of LinkedIn scans, I can't see a material difference between corporate exits (although maybe the MBB'ers go on to do better at their respective F500's?). I guess I'm wondering if the value of the brand in the corporate world is just heresay because recruits and people on this site seem to treat it as an axiom.
When talking about a brand, hearsay is almost a self-fulfilling prophesy.
If you sent all of Harvard's undergrads to no-name schools instead, plenty of them would be just as successful simply because they are people who succeed. But many will have more success just because they get to say they went to Harvard. I don't think you'll ever find satisfactory data that 100% convinces you MBB is a direct cause of better career outcomes, but over a large population I think it's extremely likely. There's no way to know how this will apply to you personally.
Again, I'm playing devil's advocate here. The brand matters, but the much bigger factor in your career progression will be you.
Was in a similar situation recently with an undergrad return offer for a T2 firm. Ended up still interviewing for MBBs (made 2 final rounds but didnt get either) so just stuck with the T2 :)
Right now it's all hypothetical since you haven't actually have an MBB offer yet. I'd advise to at least interview for them - don't see any downsides (maybe you have a little bit less time senior year because of prepping but having gone through recruiting once and the internship should make it easier).
Thanks for the response! I'm probably overthinking it - may as well try my hand at interviewing and then re-assess IF I even have to make this decision.
Quick question - did you have to ask the MBB's you were interested in for an accelerated timeline? My offer explodes around the time applications would be due. Any advice on approaching firms about moving up the interview process?
So I actually didn't have to do so. My undergrad set an earliest decision date (I think most schools do something similar) in which firms giving return offers have to abide by to continue recruiting on campus in the future. Pretty much all firms that recruited on-campus, including MBB, finished final rounds before then.
You could check if your school does something similar with return offers and if so, they can chat with your T2 firm to extend your deadline a bit. I honestly don't know much about the accelerated timeline option, but that sounds like another viable option.
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