American Express Strategic Planning Group (Undergraduate Internship)

Thoughts on this program, anyone? I've read all there is about it on WSO but I am looking for more up to date info. I've seen a lot of ex-McKinsey, Bain, BCG guys on linkedin end up at AMEX's internal strategy/corporate development arm. How does this internship stack up with MBB, especially with regards to the undergraduate internship. I had my sights set on MBB after undergrad. I really want pure strategy work. Would this internship be a step in the right direction? Is F500 strategy considered "better" than MBB?

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As you say it's a group with a lot of ex-MBB folks, and does very similar strategy work following very much the same playbook. Two key differences to an MBB analyst position are

1) SPG is meant to be an intake / development stage for ~2yrs before people move on to line roles elsewhere at Amex with the consulting toolkit and network under their belts. This means as a role it's more attractive if you want to get to a line role in the medium term, rather than a long-term career in consulting

2) Lifesyle is significantly better which is a big draw for the MBB escapees, but at the analyst level (and never having had 100-hour weeks) you may feel that you are ok to try bad lifestyle first.

 

Thanks for the insight. Anyone have any other thoughts about the internship? B-school? Exit opportunities? Class size? SPG vs MBB? Work/Life Balance?

 

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