BCG incoming associate/consultant delayed start date (NA)
It seems that BCG has pushed back start dates (NA, A and C) by 1-4 months based on a lottery system. Does anyone have more information on this? This seems very concerning if true. Any news for Bain or Mck?
Copy and paste from fishbowl -
"BCG has also been growing at the fastest clip among this group, which is surprising given Bain's much smaller size. If I were to guess, BCG has been sacrificing margins for top line growth, and that works in an expansive environment. BCG's practice focus areas don't help either. McKinsey has a growing turnaround practice and its operations/implementation arm is well known; additionally it's still the primary choice for public sector consulting both here and abroad. Bain's been more careful about geographic expansion, and I guess its PE practice would still stay busy with funds getting ready to snatch up companies on the cheap."
Things are hard to judge right now but hopefully this does not become a trend....
Yeah seems like BCG has really shot itself in the foot. No stipend either unless you're almost 6 months delayed. Even Accenure is giving 11k for a few months delay.
Yes all of this is sending mixed messages on how BCG (and the rest of MBB) is doing through this crisis. Everyone I've talked to are saying that pipelines look great but then this happens. Also - wow, Accenture is giving a 11k stipend? That's insane! Do you know if that is only for strategy or across the board?
Thats a very interesting perspective. It does make more sense that BCG has been hedging more on growth than the other two. Higher risk, higher reward it seems.
Interesting. Did not know this. BCG was hiring MBAs left and right from B Schools much lower than you expect them, taking on post-merger, implementation work and lateral hiring from Big 4. Makes sense now.
This...
> BCG has been sacrificing margins for top line growth
Doesn't jive with this...
> McKinsey has a growing turnaround practice and its operations/implementation arm is well known
The answer is that both BCG and McK have been dipping deeper down market with a fair amount of aggression in recent years. Yes it's lower margin, but it's also more stable and relatively countercyclical - not a bad place to be in given the current economic environment, where significantly pro-cyclical and significantly less diversified players like LEK and to a much lesser extent, Bain may struggle . Consider it more of a diversification play, less of a margin dilution vs. growth play.
> BCG's practice focus areas don't help either.
BCG practice area focus is quite diversified, just very regional. Can't really make statements like this.
> guess its PE practice would still stay busy with funds getting ready to snatch up companies on the cheap
PE is quite dead right now, relatively. It's a short but incredibly sharp shock. Expect it to pick up hard with depressed asset prices once we see a light at the end of the market tunnel, but asset price uncertainty, market direction uncertainty, unstable debt markets, and distressed portfolios make it hard to do deals right now - making it a difficult practice area focus.
Great points! I think this forum definitely has a anti-BCG bias (and overly pro-Mck imo). Completely agree on the PE deal flow. The debt markets are still locked up and sellers are not willing to sell at these valuations. However, I disagree that downmarket is more stable in this current market - at least it depends on what you mean by downmarket. Yes, tax and audit are very stable but MBB does none of that. Implementation consulting, on the other hand, has experienced serious cuts. Personally, I know Deloitte's salesforce and dynamics practices have huge bench sizes right now. Implementation arms at the other B4 are also struggling. From what I have seen (and heard), strategy is actually doing much better than downstream implementation. McK and BCG may be different since I believe they interact with C-levels at the client side but still.
They basically randomly select how long until you begin working, with no regard to preference or circumstance apparently. You won't get any compensation unless it's for 4 months or more (as an undergrad at least). The only stopped they offer, even for MBA's, if you are delayed enough, is only 20-25% of your salary for that time period.
This is absurd.
No one is being delayed by more than 4 months.
Undergrads delayed by more than 2 months are being paid a stipend, which is $10k for those delayed by 4 months and (I believe) $4k-$5k for those delayed by 3 months.
I see... I wonder if this means they will significantly reduce hiring this fall since some of this years' class will inevitably spill into next year.
For what its worth, I heard that some folks are being pushed back to mid-to-late January. Not sure what their original start date was... could have been late-August, but for people graduating in June that is 6 months+ out of work.
Feeling sorry for the incoming BCG guys. Far worse deal to get this than no FT offers like Bain. Wonder what’s really going on behind be curtain here. Heard they’re not hiring FT MBAs at a number of normally high priority campuses as well this year
I think the incoming class should be relatively ok. A few months delay is suboptimal but it seems like no offers will be rescinded. For some international students, this may be pretty terrible, however, as the visa situation is already a shitshow. I am also more worried about the class recruiting for 2021 positions. As the comment above mentioned, it seems like an uphill battle.
I was due to start FT recruiting in 2021. You think it’d be a wise idea to hold back on that and recruit next year for the class of 2022? I can hold back a year if I want
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I'm an incoming McK FT NA MBA hire and got a call last week reassuring me that no start dates would be changed. No news from my Bain friends so far
Could be office by office? I have friends that got no such call...
Maybe? I know for certain Northeast (NY, Stam, BOS) offices and Mid-Atlantic (NJ, Phil, DC) offices have both been confirming start dates (at least for MBAs) and are still recruiting for summer start dates.
Feeling bad for internationals, this could really screw their visa. At my MBA business schools">M7 seems like pretty much everyone from BCG got some sort of delay, even internationals
Same here. People have been desperately searching for gigs that can bridge their OPTs while trying to find some form of FT position. It is a rough world.
Can not believe that a firm like BCG would treat internationals this way.
I'm incoming McK full-time and got a call this morning that I'm being pushed back two months from early summer to end of summer. No stipend, not that I was expecting one.
Which office or region?
one month* pushback, not two months. US office.
I got the same call, it's nice to know I am not alone! I did get informed that they were offering relocation bonuses to all new hires and moving the payment of that up to this month. Also, they are offering $5k interest free loans if you need some extra money to help hold you over, which you can apply for now. DM me and I can send you the form.
Do you guys see this being a problem for people in Class of 2021 FT? How? Would this make you reconsider signing with BCG for 2021 FT? Like should one recruit for McKinsey or Bain because the client mix seems more recession-resilient there? Are Co2021 start dates going to be potentially affected by people starting this late for Co2020?
McKinsey is also delaying start dates. If you ignore all the over-reactions, BCG and Mck have so far made very similar moves -- full time offers for interns, 1-4 month delay for FTs.
In terms of applying, of course you should apply to all 3 MBBs, and I'd suggest even the T2s. The chances of getting into an MBB are so slim that If you're applying only to Mck and Bain because of a few comments on the internet, you're seriously shooting yourself in the foot.
This comment is so sensible, it made me forget where I was.
A lot of assumptions there. McKinsey also delayed start dates and we don't know what Bain will do. It is hard to say which firm is more "recession-resilient." They are all great, they will all come out of this stronger. Apply to all - if you get multiple offers, you can decide then.
supposed to start at BCG dubai office in June - got deferred to September with no mention of stipend... any other new joiners for the ME region?
How hard was it to get into the Dubai office? What was the reason you gave to wanting to move there? Do you speak Arabic?
Not sure how to answer your question on "how hard" since it's very subjective. What I can say is that the interview format is no different than those of other offices. The only twist is the more ME-focused cases (think public sector and other industries with a more prominent presence in the region).
Why? No particular reason for me really. I've always wanted to try living in a foreign country and the Dubai office is one that does not have local language requirements. You'd obviously have to make a case for yourself during the interview when you get the "Why Dubai?" question.
No, I do not speak Arabic. I would love to learn it though.
I'll try not to bash Dubai/ME offices for the sake of it, but I can speak to two of the MBBs regarding Dubai hiring. The companies are finding it harder on average to recruit compared with other regions (fewer people are interested in the region for a variety of reasons), so it's slightly easier to get into some ME offices compared to the global average. Don't get me wrong, I've worked with phenomenal people from ME offices but also heard from an employee who had worked in Dubai and Western EU that you could see a difference in co-worker "quality" between the two.
Beyond recruiting, office cultures can be pretty different there. I remember seeing a lengthy goodbye e-mail from (I think) a BA/A/AC that was mentioning some pretty dire conditions.
EDIT: As far as I know, you do not need to speak Arabic to join Dubai offices. It's a plus, but not mandatory by any means.
Hey, Yes, I am in a worse condition here. Was about to join Strategy& in September but got delayed to February without any remuneration. They added that this was done not because of lack of business but traveling and visa restrictions. I am kind of worried though :(
Anyone know what's going on with consulting firms in Asia? Wonder how Tier 2 firms are doing in this situation
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