Banking or Consulting
So recruiting is going to be starting for summer 2022 very soon and I am really perplexed on the path Is should take. I like consulting more, and I want to do consulting. But because of my ultimate goal of PE I know that I have the best option if I do MBB otherwise it may be better to do investment banking. The thing is I dread the idea of spending 2 years slaving away in IB.
So for junior summer, I planned to recruit for IB then recruiting for MBB full time fall senior year. But I am think now would it be better to try for MBB or even a Tier 2 consulting firm then try for MBB. What would be the better option.
If you want to do PE, I wouldn't consider MBB to be an inherently better choice vs BB IB -- i.e. I'd take whichever you got first if that's really all you care about (in either case your job wouldn't be why you don't get an offer)
However, if you're dreading slaving away for 2 years in IB, I probably wouldn't suggest you target PE to begin with (it's probably worse hours-wise)
I chose consulting because the comp is more than enough (albeit slightly lower than IB), hours are typically better (I don't work weekends), and I personally find the work more interesting and people nicer -- but there are of course valid reasons you could choose IB over consulting, so I'd suggest reading the 1000 past WSO threads where it's been hashed out
Bump
If you're set on PE as your ultimate landing spot, banking generally puts you in a much better spot. For example, way more Analysts from top BB banks exit to PE than equivalents from MBB, mostly because the pipeline is so much more focused on banks.
As @AnonymousGoon mentioned, if you are deciding between consulting and IB independent of your PE goal then there is a ton of content here already covering that.
I think one thing to consider... instead of worrying about how IB or Consulting will affect PE recruiting, do whatever the heck you enjoy more. Both fields offer vastly different experiences, cultures, exposures, and opportunities and firms within those fields ALSO offer vastly different experiences. If you're really on the fence, try one for Summer 2022 and a different firm for Summer 2023 or whenever you have your next chance. Although IB is the traditional feeder into PE, a lot of great consulting firms offer similar opportunities - it just depends on the firm and the exposure. EY-Pantheon, LEK, most of the Restructuring giants, Bain, OW all have solid PE pipelines with Bain being the top contender.
Two years later, you may not even care to go into PE, you may exit into FAANG or the public side of AM. You're a student trying to plan five years into the future and although that's great to be forward-looking, don't let it overshadow where you are currently. I'm built the same way, but the thing is, you can plan and plan all you want, and then something like a pandemic that happens once in a decade hits and all those plans you based your last few years on are worthless. So, sure - plan where you want to be in five or 10 years, but also take in where you are currently.
Do you enjoy finance or making school assignments on ppt as a job??
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